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We Predict CEO James Davies discusses how predictive data analytics is helping automakers and suppliers detect faulty components, improve manufacturing processes and unlock new revenue streams.

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TOKYO – Toyota has pulled the wraps off its next-generation 86 coupe, giving the redesigned sporty car a boost in power to answer customers clamoring for more oomph.

Toyota also rechristened the nameplate, in the Japan market at least, as the GR 86, in a nod to the brand’s Gazoo Racing tuner line. The overhauled GR 86 launches in Japan this autumn.

The entry-level driver’s car was jointly developed by Toyota Motor Corp. and Subaru Corp., with Subaru providing the engine and manufacturing and Toyota doing the design. Subaru said it had a bigger hand in this redesign, helping envision the front fender lines and other tweaks.

The first generation went on sale in 2012, with Subaru calling its version the BRZ. Subaru unveiled the second-generation BRZ last fall, saying it would go on sale as a 2022 model.

Toyota presented the GR 86 on Monday in an online event that also featured the overhauled BRZ under the banner “Let’s make ever-better car…

Scott Keogh, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, spoke with Automotive News Publisher Jason Stein for the "Daily Drive" podcast after the Voltswagen prank. Here are edited excerpts.

Q: A number of reporters came to your company after the release was posted briefly on your website and then taken down and story after story, including our own Automotive News story, said the change to Voltswagen was true, attributing it to a source. Your people had an opportunity to knock the story down, yet didn't. Give me your side of that.

A: This is an idea that came up from the marketing side. We could do two things. Let's do something cheeky, a little bit of a gag. Here we are at April Fools' to say we are so fanatical about electrification that we're going to change the very name of the company.

I think clearly, without a doubt, there was zero point zero intent to deceive and mislead. The intent was to get people to bite on the joke.

One respected national re…

<!--*/ */ /*-->*/ Said the dealer, 'You call this a crisis?'

We're starting to get used to this new normal in the auto industry — the reality that no matter what goes wrong out there, or how wrong it goes, auto dealers are going to make out just fine.

A pandemic darkened the world a year ago — and yet auto dealers burst through it like a squadron of Navy fighter pilots. The U.S. economy crashed — and yet retailers rallied for one of their best years ever.

Last week, it was true once more: Despite months of a confounding global shortage of microchips that shut down factory production of some of America's most popular vehicles, auto retailers delivered pretty much a bang-up first quarter of sales. Several brands excelled during the quarter, even as they feared chip-related interruptions at their factories, we report.

And as it happens, those thinning inventories of products around the industry are actually goosing dealer profitability. S…

Move over, Uber and Lyft? Raven Hernandez, founder and CEO of startup Earth Rides, discusses why she’s launched a Nashville ride-hailing network with Teslas, a Ford Mustang Mach-E and Polestar electric vehicles, and how she’s found quick success.

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President Joe Biden's sprawling infrastructure proposal unveiled last week echoes many of the goals outlined by the auto industry through its persistent attempts to influence the administration's strategy on expanding clean energy, speeding the adoption of electric vehicles and competing with China.

In a six-page letter dated Monday, March 29 — two days before Biden introduced his American Jobs Plan — groups representing automakers, suppliers and union workers urged the president to consider a "comprehensive approach" as the industry and government work toward a net-zero carbon transportation future that relies heavily on a shift to EVs.

In the letter, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association and the UAW outlined efforts that incentivize EV adoption, build out charging and refueling infrastructure, expand consumer awareness and spur investments by automakers and suppliers in the U.S.

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DETROIT — Jeep Wrangler enthusiasts who take their trail cruisers off-road are no strangers to tree-lined forests that provide a natural cover overhead.

Now Jeep, which is jumping into electrification with the Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid and other models down the line, is building a different kind of canopy that will send juice to its green vehicles before excursions in the wilderness.

The outdoorsy brand has partnered with Electrify America to create a network of Jeep-branded charging stations that will be situated at or near trailheads across the country. The charging stations will be by trails with Jeep Badge of Honor status, which allows owners to earn trinkets to put on their vehicles after conquering them.

Jeep is bringing its free- spirited mentality to the EV world and ushering in an era of environmentally friendly off-road adventures that could reshape public perception of electrified models, their capabilities and the br…

An unexpected silver lining to the yearlong coronavirus crisis has been record profits for auto dealers, as consumer demand for heavily optioned crossovers and pickups keeps transaction prices and gross profits high.

But dark clouds are moving in again.

Shortages of semiconductor chips continue to crimp global auto production, bringing inventories of popular vehicles — even American pickups — to worrisome levels on some dealership lots. Improving weather and widespread COVID- 19 vaccinations could now push retail traffic even higher — meaning still-tighter vehicle supplies if chips remain scarce.

"Our inventory level is dwindling to a fraction of what it's been in the past," said Jim Moshier, general sales and service manager at Ricart Ford in Groveport, Ohio. "It looks like it's going to be a pretty desperate April.

"I'd say we're at 20 percent of our F-150 inventory that we're used to. I usually keep a few hundred Supe…

DETROIT -- GMC is expanding the Hummer EV lineup with an SUV, a more urban and family-oriented version of the 2022 pickup, and will begin sales with a special launch model priced at more than $100,000.

The 2024 Hummer SUV Edition 1, which General Motors plans to start building in early 2023, is powered by the company's proprietary Ultium battery. It will have a range of about 300 miles, 830 hp and a GM-estimated 11,500 pound-foot of torque, to power from 0 to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds.

GMC unveiled the SUV in a commercial Saturday during the NCAA Men's Final Four basketball tournament. The ad, narrated by NBA star LeBron James, highlights signature Hummer features, such as Extract Mode and CrabWalk, GMC said. Reservations for the Hummer SUV opened at 5 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.

"GMC Hummer EVs were envisioned to be the most capable and compelling electric supertrucks ever," Duncan Aldred, vice president of Global Buick and GMC, said in a statement. "The new…

Tesla Inc. is appealing a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board that it repeatedly violated U.S. labor law, including by firing a union activist, and an order by the agency that CEO Elon Musk delete a threatening tweet from his account.

The electric-car maker filed a request Friday with the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals to overturn a decision issued by the regulator on March 25.

“Because the board’s decision and order is contrary to law, petitioner respectfully requests that the court grant the petition, review the board’s decision and order, set it aside, and grant petitioner any further relief which the court deems just and equitable,” Tesla said in its petition.

The ruling, issued by two Republican and one Democratic member of the agency, stated that the company must offer to reinstate the fired employee. The board members also ruled that Tesla broke the law by retaliating against another union activist, “coercively interrogating…