Trade News

Cruise, the self-driving vehicle company majority owned by General Motors, is in talks to acquire Voyage, an autonomous technology startup that operates in retirement communities, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

The companies are in serious discussions, one of the people said, but no deal is imminent. If an agreement is struck, it would merge Cruise’s engineering and software capabilities with Voyage’s presence in the retirement community market, which is well suited for a driverless taxi business. The people asked not to be identified discussing private matters.

“We have nothing to announce but Cruise is always looking to add to our world-class engineering team as we work to solve the greatest engineering challenge of a generation,” Cruise spokesman Ray Wert said.

The talks highlight the current state of autonomous vehicle development. Two years ago, investors thought self-driving cars could be on public roads relatively quickly, but del…

The automotive industry is currently undergoing an exciting period of transformation. While electric cars and autonomous vehicles get the big headlines, there are changes happening across the board—whether it's new digital cockpit technology or a move from car ownership to car subscription.

One of the biggest drivers for change in the industry is real-time technology. It touches every part of the automotive pipeline, from design to engineering to sales and beyond. 

Unreal: Build Automotive is the annual event that explores the latest developments in this field. Presented by Epic Games, this year the event will have a digital twist due to the restrictions caused by the pandemic. Epic will broadcast part of the show from its London Innovation Lab with the same cutting-edge virtual production techniques that are being used to create—and instantly swap between—photorealistic backdrops for automotive events and commercials. 

If you’ve not experien…

American Motors Corp. introduces the Pacer on Feb. 28, 1975, and the novelty car goes on sale the next day.

A revolutionary design, often derided as a flying fishbowl, the Pacer featured 5,615 square inches of glass — some 37 percent of its surface area. It was available in hatchback and wagon body styles and equipped with a short, low hood, thick B-pillars and an extra-long passenger door.

"When you buy any other car, all you end up with is today's car," AMC said in its advertising. "When you get a Pacer, you get a piece of tomorrow."

AMC, an automaker renowned for smaller cars, from the Rambler to the Hornet to the Gremlin, racked up 72,158 sales of the Pacer through Dec. 31 that year.

AMC initially planned to slot a twin-rotor Wankel engine in the Pacer. Instead, it offered three engines over its lifetime: a 232 straight-six (1975-79), a 258 straight-six (1976-81) and a 304 V-8 (1978-79).

The Pacer was "f…

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Ken Konieczka, vice president of North America sales, says the next-generation Outlander midsize crossover will help feed the appetite of product-hungry U.S. retailers.

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There was an admittedly off-brand report last month by GM Authority — an online blog that religiously follows all things General Motors — that the revival of the Ram nee Dodge Dakota had gotten the axe.

Stellantis nee FCA declined to comment on the report, which the blog had sourced to "sources inside Stellantis." A source told Automotive News that the resurrection of the Dakota nameplate is still moving ahead.

Frankly, given the recent ownership and management changes in Auburn Hills and what's happened in the midsize pickup segment, this game of Schrödinger's Dakota isn't all that surprising.

Think about it; if you're Carlos Tavares and you've just smashed together two disparate global automakers into one thing that you pray will eventually work, you might be casting about for ways to simplify your operations. And an expensive project launched by your predecessor to jam a second vehicle into a now-crowded segment where the market leader still commands …

Henrik Fisker knows there's plenty of baggage leftover from his first attempt at building a car, the Fisker Karma gasoline-electric luxury sedan, a decade ago.

Investors got burned. Jobs promised at a former General Motors plant in Delaware never materialized. Worse, the 2,450 or so cars that were built had more problems than a calculus textbook.

One chance is usually all anyone gets at starting a car company. But Fisker is getting another a shot. He's a raised a billion dollars through a special purpose acquisition company, or reverse merger, and he's signed a production contract with Canadian supplier Magna that will see the $37,499 Fisker Ocean electric crossover debut in the fourth quarter of next year, if the project remains on track.

I recently chatted with Fisker, now 57, for a half hour on a Zoom call — he ensconced in his sunny, airy Los Angeles headquarters, me in Detroit in full view of GM's giant downtown headquarters.

Although the Ka…

The redesigned 2021 Buick Envision, imported from China, is lower and wider than the first-generation crossover and features a revamped interior, more safety features, added infotainment options and a premium trim package. The Envision is powered by a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder turbo engine with 228 hp and 258 pound-feet of torque along with a nine-speed automatic transmission. Here's a roundup of Envision reviews from the automotive media.

"Reworked like the exterior, the quiet cabin is a pleasing place to be. Comfy front thrones. Roomy rear bench. Sculpted dash. Familiar GM steering wheel volume and cruise controls. Taking a page from Corvette — Corvette! — the center console is driver-centric, its big 10.2-inch infotainment screen rotated toward the driver.

Not that you'll confuse the Envision's handling with a 'Vette. The Buick is a Goldilocks ute: not too stiff, not too soft. Just right. Its suspension, 9-speed tranny and 228-horse turbo-4 are plenty peppy …

With its newest model, Volvo is doubling down on a sweet spot — luxury compact crossovers.

The battery-powered C40 Recharge, which arrives in the second half of the year, is a sporty-looking version of Volvo's popular XC40, whose U.S. sales soared 35 percent last year.

The C40 is Volvo's second electric vehicle, but the first designed to be an EV from the ground up. It also introduces an online-only sales strategy Volvo plans for its expanding EV portfolio.

The new crossover, along with the XC40 Recharge P8 launched last year, signals Volvo's ambitions to become an EV-only brand by 2030.

The C40's sporty styling delivers the utility of a crossover — easy entry and exit, higher driver position, good visibility — without the "conventional" body style, Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson told Automotive News Tuesday.

"It could be a very interesting alternative if you want to have the advantage of an SUV, but maybe don't need that really big lugg…

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. received a bid from Knighthead Capital Management and Certares Management to purchase the rental-car company out of bankruptcy for as much as $4.2 billion, according to court documents.

Under the plan, Knighthead and Certares would take control of Hertz when it emerges from its Chapter 11 reorganization, with the final value of the deal dependent on how much existing lenders participate in the financing. The bid is backed by a travel industry-focused investment fund that Knighthead and Certares created last year to take advantage of an expected rebound in companies that were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hertz was unable to weather the blows from the pandemic that peers Enterprise Holdings Inc. and Avis Budget Group Inc. also felt after decades of mismanagement -- a plight that one former top executive summed up as a slow-moving train wreck.

Knighthead and Certares’s position would include a direct investment, a rights of…

NEW DELHI -- India is ready to offer incentives to ensure Tesla Inc.'s cost of production would be less than in China if the carmaker commits to making its electric vehicles in the South Asian country, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari told Reuters.

Gadkari's pitch comes weeks after billionaire Elon Musk's Tesla registered a company in India in a step towards entering the country, possibly as soon as mid-2021. Sources familiar with the matter have said Tesla plans to start by importing and selling its Model 3 electric sedan in India.

"Rather than assembling (the cars) in India they should make the entire product in the country by hiring local vendors. Then we can give higher concessions," Gadkari said in an interview, without giving details of what incentives would be on offer.

"The government will make sure the production cost for Tesla will be the lowest when compared with the world, even China, when they start manufacturing their cars in India. We will…

DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler U.S. on Monday pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to violate the Labor Management Relations Act as part of a criminal probe tied to the ongoing UAW corruption scandal.

As part of its plea agreement, the automaker, now part of Stellantis, will pay a $30 million fine and accept an independent compliance monitor for three years.

Speaking in front of U.S. District Judge Paul Borman, representatives for the automaker admitted that between 2009 and 2016, FCA made more than $3.5 million in illegal payments to UAW officials for lavish parties, home mortgage payments, fancy meals and expensive golf outings. Much of the money was funneled through the National Training Center operated jointly with the union, which both sides have agreed to shut down.

"Through its participation in this conspiracy, FCA violated federal labor law and undermined the collective bargaining process and the faith of the UAW's membership in their leaders…

CDK Global Inc. has completed the sale of its international business to private equity firm Francisco Partners.

The deal, valued at $1.45 billion, closed Monday, the Hoffman Estates, Ill., dealership management system giant said. The transaction was announced in November.

"We are very pleased that the transaction closed on schedule and appreciate all the efforts made by both companies to successfully complete the sale," CDK CEO Brian Krzanich said in a statement.

"I look forward to continuing our growth strategy and focus on our North America business," he added.

Francisco Partners has offices in San Francisco, New York and London and specializes in working with technology companies. CDK has said the private equity firm is acquiring 100 percent of CDK's international business, with operations in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South Africa.

CDK has said it will use the proceeds to focus on its North American operations, which include DMS …