Trade News

The consultant and transportation strategist argues in favor of creating a “czar” position to oversee AV and EV policy efforts across the federal government, and underscores the importance of pushing beyond one-size-fits-all transportation technology.

How do I subscribe?

Apple Podcasts: “Shift: A podcast about mobility” is available on the iTunes Store and through the ‘Podcast’ app pre-installed on all iOS devices. Click here to subscribe.

Spotify: "Shift: A podcast about mobility" can be streamed through Spotify on your desktop, tablet or mobile device. Click here to subscribe.

Google Play: "Shift: A podcast about mobility" is available on Android devices through the Google Play store. Click here to subscribe.

NEWARK, Calif. — Lucid Motors is moving upmarket with the $249,000 Sapphire edition of its Air sedan, leveraging its in-house technology to take on Tesla and legacy rivals such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW at the high end.

Electric vehicle maker Lucid launched last year with the limited-run Air Dream Edition at $169,000, excluding shipping, and quickly sold out. That laid the groundwork for the Sapphire subbrand as a performance-oriented next step.

"We're certainly taking the brand even further upmarket from a price-point and positioning perspective," Jeff Curry, vice president of marketing, told Automotive News at company headquarters. "We're going after those folks who might be in a Mercedes AMG product or BMW M product and want to go electric but need a place to go. This is our representation of the pinnacle of electric performance."

The Air Sapphire launches next year.

Lucid, with just one model so far, says it's still on track to deliver the $87…

The senatorial compromise between Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer known as the Inflation Reduction Act resulted in a complicated and annually changing program that nominally expands the federal electric vehicle tax credit, though in reality it reduces taxpayer support for EVs in the short term.

In later years, it may encourage Americans to buy more EVs — maybe a lot more. And it could be glorious: with millions of clean-running cars and crossovers made in North America with key inputs from economic allies for middle-class consumers.

Alternatively, the cost of earning the federal subsidies could be too high to justify even a whopping $7,500 incentive. If that's the case, the government might largely get out of the incentive business, leaving the EV market to its own devices. I would suspect that would mean a slower pace of growth for most companies and continued rapid expansion for Tesla, which hasn't had a feder…

Elon Musk doesn't want to hear complaints from customers trying out the driver-assistance system that Tesla plans to start charging $15,000 for in the coming weeks.

The CEO scolded a Tesla owner who posted videos on Twitter last week showing that a new beta version of the system marketed as Full Self-Driving at times struggles with right turns and other basic tasks.

The customer wrote that he's spent more than $32,000 paying for the system multiple times.

"10.69 is in limited release for a reason," Musk replied, referring to the latest version of the system rolled out to select customers this month. "Please do not ask to be included in early beta releases and then complain."

The comments came days after Musk said Tesla would start charging $3,000 more for Full Self-Driving, which still requires active supervision and doesn't make the company's vehicles autonomous. The California Department of Motor Vehicles has accuse…

The U.S. Postal Service is getting some extra horsepower with a new set of stamps honoring five iconic American sports cars.

The Pony Cars Commemorative Forever stamps feature oil paintings of the 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302, 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T, 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, 1967 Mercury Cougar XR-7 GT and 1969 AMC Javelin SST.

The stamps, which cost $12 for a panel of 20, were released last week at the Great American Stamp Show.

"My challenge was to create five jewel-like, descriptive portrayals that every person who fell in love with this era can appreciate," Tom Fritz, the stamps' artist, said in a statement. "The adventure isn't just painting the cars' details but capturing their emotion and power. Cars don't just 'sit there.' They hunker down, they lurch, they shake, they shimmy and skitter. Those are the thrilling moments I look for."

Other new Forever stamps released this summer include former First Lady Nancy Reagan, elephants, marine …

Lucid Motors has appointed a former Apple Inc. executive, Derrick Carty, as vice president of platform software engineering amid a slow rollout of key software features on the EV startup's Air sedan.

Carty's responsibilities at the newly created post include advanced driving assistance systems, audio, embedded software, and systems architecture, Lucid said a news release.

"Carty brings decades of global experience in software development and user interface expertise to Lucid, including 23 years with Apple, and most recently as a consultant for Lucid's infotainment software team," the automaker said.

Carty will report to Michael Bell, Lucid's senior vice president of digital.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Carty joined Lucid in June and previously worked at his consulting firm, Carty Consulting. Prior to that, he held posts as director and senior director at Apple.

"Derrick's wealth of experience with systems architecture and his abilit…

WASHINGTON — When news broke this month that NHTSA chief Steven Cliff was leaving the agency to run the California Air Resources Board less than three months after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Jennifer Homendy said she was "disappointed."

"I am concerned for the agency," said Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, the independent federal agency tasked with investigating the nation's accidents. "I don't want to see the agency without a leader."

Cliff's departure next month comes as U.S. traffic deaths continue to surge. In the first three months of 2022, NHTSA estimated 9,560 people died in vehicle crashes — the highest number of deaths between January and March in 20 years.

For Homendy, the uptick in fatal car crashes is alarming — and also personal. In November, the NTSB chief was rear-ended by an SUV traveling at about 45 mph. She left her vehicle — a Subaru Crosstrek equipped with advanced safety featur…

A Volkswagen dealership in Marion, Ill., is deploying strategies traditionally used to foster vehicle sales to encourage staffers to buy more used cars directly from consumers to help the store stock its lot.

The efforts have helped reduce Volkswagen of Marion's reliance on buying from wholesale auctions, lowered its per-vehicle acquisition costs and boosted used-vehicle sales and overall dealership profitability, said Ashlee Church, general manager at Volkswagen of Marion.

Store leaders ramped up efforts to purchase directly from consumers in early 2019, bolstered tracking procedures around those acquisitions and subsequent sales and implemented bonus opportunities for sales reps who were successful at the new approach. The dealership also scaled back emphasis on its business development center.

"We really had to work to get everybody to embrace this philosophy ... that acquiring a vehicle from a customer today generates a future …

Acura's Precision EV concept, which serves as a roadmap for the brand's upcoming electric vehicle lineup, shares some design and aerodynamic elements with Honda Performance Division's next-generation ARX race car.

The ARX-06's exterior design was crafted at the Acura Design Studio in Torrance, Calif., by the team that developed the Precision EV concept. It uses a new hybrid power unit and will compete in the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar GTP Championship.

The Precision concept designers worked closely with performance division engineers, who guided them on what they should and shouldn't be doing in terms of aerodynamics and fluid flows, said Dave Marek, Acura's executive creative director at Honda R&D Americas. The group also worked with French racing chassis-maker ORECA to help maximize aerodynamic performance of the race car.

"The race car dictates knowledge to us, and it's just logical thinking to put it into these cars,"…

Commercial vehicle manufacturer Shyft Group is developing a portable charging system it believes will help fleets transition to electric vehicles without making costly infrastructure investments.

Shyft, which was formerly Spartan Motors, launched marketing of its Blue Arc Power Cube remote-controlled, portable charging station in July.

The Power Cube carries three megawatts of onboard power, enough to power six vehicles at once, according to the company.

It has fast-charging capabilities that the company says can charge passenger cars and all classes of commercial vehicles.

The new offering comes several months after the suburban Detroit commercial vehicle maker established its Blue Arc EV Solutions unit, which sells an electric chassis and a Class 3 electric delivery van.

As potential delivery van customers voiced concern over charging infrastructure, Shyft developed the portable charger to address their…

DETROIT — Dodge believes there's an opening in the compact crossover segment that it can speed through with its upcoming Hornet, even if the muscle car brand seems out of step with someone who buys a Toyota RAV4 or Honda CR-V.

Dodge is sticking with the performance-driven messaging that has been its bread and butter for years, while pushing the Hornet as the latest entry into its "Brotherhood of Muscle."

Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis is ready to emphasize the Hornet's fleetness, even though buyers in the segment tend to be focused on practicality. He believes there's a contingent of compact utility shoppers who can be lured by this focus on speed and unique features such as a temporary horsepower boost called PowerShot.

"You could say the way we're positioning Hornet is a total failure because you're going into a segment that buys on price, value and fuel economy and you're not talking about price, value or fuel economy," Kuniskis told …