Trade News

Truck production and rising prices help GM generate record revenue in the third quarter. Hyundai breaks ground on its $5.5B U.S. EV plant. Bosch expands its U.S. plant to produce more EV motors. Plus, a look at auto supply and demand with LMC Automotive President of Global Forecasting Jeff Schuster.

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Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk seemed to kill off plans to build a $25,000 car for the masses earlier this year with comments that such a vehicle was no longer in the works — only to revive speculation this month that it's still on the way.

The tech billionaire said during the company's Oct. 19 earnings call that Tesla is actively working on a third vehicle platform that would cost Tesla about half as much to build as the platform underpinning its current volume vehicles, the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover. The base Model 3 starts at $48,440 with shipping.

"We don't know the exact dates, but this is the primary focus of our new vehicle development team," Musk said. The new vehicle eventually will exceed the volume of all other Tesla vehicles combined, he added.

Some analysts and Tesla observers are interpreting that to mean the company is reviving the $25,000 model that Musk had strongly promoted at an event in September 2020. Musk predicted then that th…

Volvo will use colors to signal the difference between driver-assisted mode and what it calls "unsupervised autonomous driving" mode in its full-electric flagship.

The EX90 driver-focused display screen visual through the steering wheel will use green to signal when the car is using assistance solutions such as lane keeping and adaptive cruise control.

This color, which will be used on the lane markings, on the car directly ahead and on a steering wheel symbol on the bottom right of the screen (see image, below), is carried over from current-generation Volvos.

The new color -- blue/green or aquamarine -- appears as a thin horizontal line across the top of the screen, on the lane markings, and on the car directly ahead (see image below).

This signals that the car has taken control of the driving.

Volvo said Tuesday its goal with the EX90 is "to make the transition from manual to assisted driving modes (and in the future, autonomous drivin…

Jeep went a decade without an SUV with a legitimate third row after the demise of the Commander in 2010. But that changed with the arrival of the 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L and later with the revival of the flagship Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer nameplates for 2022.

Jeep has added some frosting to the big SUV recipe with the stretched Wagoneer L and Grand Wagoneer L. They are designed to rival the Cadillac Escalade ESV, GMC Yukon XL, Chevrolet Suburban and Lincoln Navigator.

The 2023 Wagoneer L and Grand Wagoneer L measure 12 inches longer than the standard wheelbase models.

All of the luxury, technology and safety gear on the standard models remain, but there is more storage in back. The long-wheelbase models offer up to 44.2 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third row, 15.8 cubic feet more than the shorter models.

The L models feature a 130-inch wheelbase, a 7-inch increase from the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer.

The third row in the L va…

Spy photographers have finally caught the U.S. version of Toyota's extended three-row crossover, the Toyota Grand Highlander, at the company's research center in Michigan.

The upsized version of the Japanese brand's popular large crossover — which will be built at Toyota's plant in Princeton, Ind., and go on sale in 2023 — is designed to address a primary complaint about the standard Highlander: The third-row seating is too cramped.

The spy shots show a higher rear roofline and extended overall length compared with the Highlander. The Grand Highlander will be joined about six months later by a Lexus version, the Lexus TX.

Toyota divulged some details about the future models last year when it announced an $803 million plant investment at Princeton. The automaker said the two vehicles would feature "a semi-automated driving system — which will allow for hands-free driving in certain conditions — a remote parking system allowing the driver to park and un…

A major blaze in South Korea that knocked out a wide range of key digital services for days — snarling banking, ride-sharing and online deliveries — is reigniting safety concerns in a nation that's a key global supplier of lithium-ion cells used in electric vehicles.

The days-long outage followed a fire Oct. 15 at a data center in Pangyo, engulfing batteries used in backup power systems and impacting key local tech firms including Kakao Corp., South Korea's almost ubiquitous social media giant and provider of the country's most popular instant messaging service.

Kakao users were left unable to hail a taxi, pay for groceries or chat with family members, disruptions which prompted the company's co-chief executive officer to resign and led lawmakers to question the risks of concentrating too much digital power in a single entity.

Even with SK C&C, the operator of the data center, still investigating the cause of the fire, the incident has stoked a new b…

Hyundai’s profit margin was squeezed in the third quarter as recall costs offset growing sales. Toyota scrambles for an EV reboot. Tesla looks for a factory site in Mexico and cuts prices in China. Plus, Energy Innovation’s Sara Baldwin provides a primer on the Inflation Reduction Act’s impact on electrification.

How do I subscribe?

Can't wait to hear the next episode of "Daily Drive"? Subscribe through a podcast app to receive episodes days in advance. If you don't have a podcast app already, here are some options. 

iPhone / iPad

“Daily Drive” is available on the iTunes Store and through the ‘Podcast’ app pre-installed on all iOS devices. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Android

“Daily Drive” is available on the Google Play store. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Spotify

"Daily Drive" is available on Spotify. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Mullen Automotive has tapped former General Motors executive John Schwegman to be the electric vehicle maker's chief commercial officer.

Schwegman spent 35 years at GM in a variety of marketing-related roles, most recently senior director of global Chevrolet product marketing, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Mullen, of Brea, Calif., said Schwegman will primarily focus on growing the electric Class 1 through Class 6 light- and medium-duty truck segment, including the Class 1 and Class 2 Mullen One, which are yet to be released.

Schwegman's experience in fleet vehicle sales, particularly when he was GM's commercial product director in the 2010s, provides ample background for the task. Schwegman was a key player in GM's bid to compete with Ford in the commercial fleet market.

"John has tremendous experience in commercial automotive sales, and this makes him a highly strategic addition to Mullen," David Michery, CEO of Mul…