Trade News

LOS ANGELES — Hyundai continues its heavy emphasis on new product as it gains U.S. market share and pledges to become a leader in hybrids, plug-in hybrids, battery-electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell technology.

The Korean brand's approach going forward is to accelerate an "all of the above" philosophy to its vehicle lineup and trim offerings to take market share from Asian rivals such as Toyota, Honda and Nissan.

Unlike some other automakers, Hyundai is generally sticking with its core passenger cars in the coming years, along with an expanded crossover lineup and the launch this fall of its EV subbrand, Ioniq.

For the 2022 model year, there's a new rugged XRT appearance trim for crossovers and an expansion of the track-ready N performance package to more models.

Accent: The subcompact sedan will return for 2022 with minimal changes. When Hyundai rolled out the entry-level Venue subcompact crossover in 2019, the automaker said it would con…

Loyal Final Assembly readers might remember the story this month of a Chevrolet service technician who took a customer's Corvette on a high-speed joyride that was unknowingly captured on video. The dealership, Fremont Chevrolet in California, agreed to give the car's owner an extended service contract to make up for it, and the situation seemed to have been resolved amicably.

But the store's owner, Inder Dosanjh, ended up going much further than that. He's taking back the customer's Corvette and giving him a brand-new 2022 model instead.

"After I saw the video, I felt this is the right thing to do," Dosanjh told The Drive last week. "I heard it, and then it was worse when I saw it. Until you see things, sometimes, you don't really understand them."

The customer, identified only as Michael, met with the general manager and placed a new order with General Motors. He even was able to get a few options that his 2021 model was missing.

Dosanjh said h…

LOS ANGELES — Give Hyundai credit for courage.

The new Santa Cruz adventure vehicle now rolling into showrooms faces a U.S. market that has not been kind to small, car-based trucks with quirky styling — among them, the Dodge Rampage from 1980s and the Subaru Baja from the 2000s.

And tougher still, the Santa Cruz is coming to market just as a mighty competitor, the new Ford Maverick, goes into production. The Ford is also a crossover-based vehicle, but one that looks like it's ready for tougher jobs.

For all of Hyundai's "adventure vehicle" marketing and deliberate avoidance of the truck moniker, the Santa Cruz is a compact pickup, and so is the Maverick, though they may be intended for different audiences.

The Santa Cruz can handle 6-foot surfboards or mountain bikes with the cargo bed's tailgate up, and a 4-by-8-foot sheet of plywood or an adult-sized motorcycle with the tailgate down, according to a Hyundai presentation. It can also tow up to …

TOKYO — Not too long ago, Nissan was wrestling with what to do about its iconic Z car.

Sports cars are a shrinking niche in a market conquered by crossovers. Then there is the industry's new obsession with all things electric, and Nissan's considerable financial woes don't help either.

Splurging to invest in a rubber-peeling internal-combustion car — especially one that seats just two people — seemed a bit out of sync, if not outright overindulgent.

But instead of hitting the brakes, Nissan Motor Co. has doubled down to make the seventh-generation Z car the most powerful in the line's history, a fire-breathing, twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6 speedster that delivers 400 hp and plenty of old-school street cred for petrol-head purists.

For Nissan, which has been struggling to reignite brand excitement amid waves of red ink and falling sales, keeping the Z alive was an almost spiritual imperative for rebooting the entire company.…

NEW YORK — After a foray into the countryside to test the off-road prowess of the Jeep Wagoneer, I was on a freeway heading back to Manhattan in its swankier counterpart, the Grand Wagoneer.

The massaging seats were hard at work, the McIntosh sound system was blaring, and the tri-pane sunroof let plenty of natural light into the expansive interior as I maneuvered through a construction zone that temporarily cut traffic to one lane.

The hefty Grand Wagoneer, with a smooth ride that belied its size, felt like a rolling living room. And it happened to be driving itself.

My hands were on the wheel, but the active driving-assist technology was doing all of the work. The vehicle features Level 2 automation that combines lane-centering with adaptive cruise control. The system, which uses sensors, radar and cameras, "dictates the appropriate roads for the technology" to engage on, Jeep says.

Jeep eventually plans to offer a hands-free version.

The…

First created to usher in a fully autonomous era of driving, lidar technology is now a cornerstone of the emerging driver-assist market. And lidar companies are drawing the attention of customers — and perhaps equally importantly, investors — as they race to make their systems better and less expensive.

Old stalwarts and newcomers to the field alike are benefiting from the industry's embrace of lidar sensors for driver-assist systems. The near-term plans for lidar to reach mass production for assist systems should give lidar companies the revenue they need while waiting for the self-driving era that's still years in the future.

"We're seeing a lot of these lidars getting down into designs intended for volume production, where they can get a price point at less than $500 per unit in the next few years," said Sam Abuelsamid, principal research analyst at Guidehouse Insights. "We're seeing those being adopted in sub- robotaxi applications."

In March, Honda…

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico sought formal consultation with the United States on Friday over the interpretation and application of tougher content rules for vehicles set out in the USMCA trade pact.

In May, Mexico voiced disagreement over the issue in a three-way online virtual meeting when it cited differences with the United States' methods. Canada and Mexico use more flexible interpretations.

"Mexico has identified a divergent position between our governments on the interpretation of ... provisions on rules of origin for the automotive sector," Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier said in a letter.

In her letter on Friday to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Clouthier said Mexico wanted to avoid or resolve a possible dispute.

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the successor to the North American Free Trade Agreement, requires 75 percent North American content for a vehicle to be considered as being from North America.

The same p…

As her headlamps brighten, Poppy awakes, a hand unplugs her charger, and she cautiously hits the road.

Poppy is one of 200 self-driving vehicles in the test fleet of Cruise, the autonomous technology company majority-owned by General Motors. In a Pixar-esque short film that debuted this month, Cruise shows Poppy's blossoming relationship over several years with the roads of San Francisco.

It's one way Cruise is trying to earn consumers' trust and educate them about the technology as it moves closer to reality on the roads. It's a process that requires more than just facts, figures and diagrams, said Tom Parker, Cruise's head of creative and content.

"There's a trust that we have to build and develop," Parker said. "And that involves the heart."

Cruise's creative team was inspired by beloved robotic characters R2-D2 from Star Wars and Disney and Pixar's Wall-E, Parker said.

"What was so great about those ch…

DETROIT — Dodge's move into electrification could broaden its consumer base, but executives know the success of that shift also will depend on their ability to retain buyers who have been drawn to its high-octane Hellcats and Scat Packs over the years.

Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis said the automaker understands that some are leery about its plans, so the performance brand will be laying out its vision in the months ahead to give enthusiasts an idea of what to expect from its electrified products.

Dodge will present its electrification plans in the fourth quarter as it prepares to launch a plug-in hybrid model in 2022 and a battery-electric muscle car in 2024, Kuniskis said. The brand also will provide a glimpse into the future next year with an electric concept car.

"We hope that we draw a different type of consumer, and keep the consumer that we have today," Kuniskis told Automotive News during a media preview for the Roadkill Nights …

Delivery of goods is commercializing autonomous vehicle technology much faster than transportation of people is, and that gives Walmart a pole position in the race to use driverless vehicles.

America's largest retailer already revolutionized logistics once, beginning a half-century ago, with the industry's first major distribution centers and its launch of "continuous replenishment" of goods in stores. Now, the iconic chain of 4,700 U.S. stores, based in Bentonville, Ark., has deployed a series of autonomous test vehicles, applying lessons learned during the curbside-pickup craze sparked by the coronavirus pandemic while leveraging Walmart's legendary ability to optimize supply chains continuously.

Walmart recently invested in DroneUp, a drone-services provider. Last year, the companies partnered with Quest Diagnostics to conduct trial deliveries of at-home COVID-19 testing kits. That followed Walmart's investment in Cruise, the AV outfit star…

DETROIT-- General Motors is expanding its Chevrolet Bolt recall to include all model years, including the new 2022 Bolt EUV and the redesigned 2022 Bolt EV.

The automaker will spend about $1 billion on the recall, on top of the $800 million it spent last quarter. Dealers are not permitted to sell the Bolts until they have applied the recall repair, which varies by model year.

"Our focus on safety and doing the right thing for our customers guides every decision we make at GM," Doug Parks, GM executive vice president, global product development, purchasing and supply chain, said in a statement Friday. "As leaders in the transition to an all-electric future, we know that building and maintaining trust is critical. GM customers can be confident in our commitment to taking the steps to ensure the safety of these vehicles."

The new recall includes 9,335 Bolt EVs from the 2019 model year that were not included in the previous recall (6,989 were sold in t…