Trade News

One of the year's biggest product additions is the 2020 Land Rover Defender. The Defender, which began arriving at U.S. dealerships this summer, returns to North America after a 23-year absence. The Defender 110 four-door starts at $50,925, including shipping. Two engines are available, a 296-hp turbocharged four-cylinder and a gasoline-electric hybrid powered by a 395-hp inline six-cylinder engine. That motor is equipped with a turbocharger and a 48-volt electric supercharger. Both are mated to eight-speed automatic transmissions. Here is a roundup of snippets of Defender reviews from the automotive media.

"Like its famous ancestors, Rover comes in two-door (90) and four-door (110) variants. Unlike Defenders of yore, the brute is built on a unibody which Rover engineers say eclipses the old ladder frame for strength. It felt plenty solid off-road, but the Defender was quite comfy on my drive up Interstate 75. Made to shed its doors, the Wrangler is noisie…

The first Toyota built in North America — a white Corolla FX16 — is assembled at New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. in Fremont, Calif., on Oct. 7, 1986, following several months of pilot production.

NUMMI was a joint venture formed by Toyota and General Motors Corp. in 1984. Toyota, after decades of steady U.S. sales growth with imports, was eager to learn how to build cars in the U.S. GM wanted to learn how to build world-class vehicles in the country using lean production techniques.

The Corolla went on sale in Japan on Nov. 5, 1966, marking the beginning of what has become the world's top-selling car nameplate.

The FX16 was based on Toyota's fifth-generation Corolla and featured a front-wheel-drive chassis. There was a base model and a the sporty GT-S variant that featured four-wheel-independent suspension, power rack-and-pinion steering and four disc brakes.

It was slotted on a 95.7-inch wheelbase, was 160 inches…

Join Automotive News Publisher Jason Stein for a daily podcast series about the coronavirus crisis. He’ll speak with industry experts, insiders and Automotive News reporters about how the virus is impacting and reshaping the automotive industry.

Jack Hollis, automotive operations boss at Toyota Motor North America, explains why September's strong sales results are good for the industry and U.S. economy. Hollis also sees the need for marketing to touch more than a person's mind during tumultuous times.

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Matthias Mueller, the former CEO of Volkswagen Group, has been named chairman of Piech Automotive, an electric-car startup run by the son of the late former VW Group Chairman Ferdinand PIech.

Mueller is one of a number of high-profile figures involved in Piech Automotive, which was founded by Toni Piech and Rea Stark Rajcic, a Swiss designer and entrepreneur. They include tech investor Peter Thiel -- a co-founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook.

Piech Automotive said in a statement that it had completed its first round of investment with Thiel’s involvement, but did not provide further details. It announced that a second round to raise capital to launch a production car would be managed in the coming months under the leadership of UBS.

Mueller was ousted by VW Group’s board, controlled by the Piech-Porsche clan, in April 2018 and replaced by Herbert Diess.

Mueller had taken the top job at VW after the automaker's diesel chea…

While sporty luxury cars may be fading from showrooms in the SUV and crossover era, Jaguar is not leaving a segment it helped create more than 50 years ago with the now-classic XJ6.

The 2021 XF arrives at dealers in January sporting a host of changes – inside and out – designed to improve aerodynamics, upgrade connectivity, and reduce dealer service visits for software reflashes. The XF 2021 XF will be available in just one body style and with one engine, a 2.0-liter turbo four available with either 246 or 296 horsepower.

The optional V-6 engine and Sportbrake wagon have been dropped from the 2021 XF lineup. Three models will be offered: the base XF P250 S, the P250 SE, both available with rear- and all-wheel drive, and the P300 R-Dynamic SE, offered only with all-wheel drive.

Jaguar's design team focused on refining the XF's interior with higher quality materials, such as open-pore wood trim, real aluminum accents, and contrasting colors that are plea…

Electric vehicle startup Faraday Future aims to close a deal soon to go public through a reverse merger with a special-purchase acquisition company (SPAC), its CEO said on Monday.

"We are working on such a deal ... and will be able to announce something hopefully quite soon," Carsten Breitfeld said of the possibility of a SPAC deal.

Breitfeld declined to say who Faraday is negotiating with or when a deal would close.

A SPAC is a shell company that raises money through an initial public offering to buy an operating entity, typically within two years.

SPACs have emerged as a quick route to the stock market for companies, particularly auto technology startups, and have proven popular with investors seeking to echo Tesla Inc.'s high stock valuation.

Breitfeld, who joined the Los Angeles-based company as CEO last year, also said the company would deliver its first electric luxury SUV, the FF 91, nine months after securing funding, with volume pr…

Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday it would develop a heavy-duty, fuel-cell electric truck with its subsidiary, Hino Motor Co., for the North American market.

The move expands upon Toyota's existing effort to develop a 25-ton, Class 8 fuel-cell electric truck for the Japanese market, announced earlier this year.

The first demonstration truck is expected to be ready in the first half of 2021, Toyota said.

“Toyota’s twenty plus years of fuel cell technology combined with Hino’s heavy-duty truck experience will create an innovative and capable product," said Tak Yokoo, senior executive engineer, Toyota Research and Development, in a statement.

With the redesigned Rogue compact crossover, Nissan is doubling down on its "value brand" reputation.

The next-generation crossover, Nissan's bestselling model, is loaded up with family-friendly technology and delivers a more powerful engine — for just $160 more than the outgoing version.

The 2021 Rogue, which arrives in late October, will be priced starting at $26,745. The top-of-the-line Rogue Platinum with all-wheel drive is priced at $37,925. Both prices include shipping.

"Rogue is clearly one of the most important launches in the history of Nissan," Chris Reed, Nissan North America's senior vice president of R&D, told Automotive News this summer.

Indeed. The Rogue is a key model in the highly competitive compact crossover segment. It accounted for 12.4 percent of compact crossovers sold in the U.S. last year. The segment was the largest in 2019 behind full-size pickups.

The Rogue is Nissan's equivalent of the Ford F-150, Jeff Schu…

Nancy Sun, co-founder and chief engineer at Ike, discusses her work history, why the automation technology company recently started testing on roads and the meaning behind its “long-term fast” motto.

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Join Automotive News Publisher Jason Stein for a daily podcast series about the coronavirus crisis. He’ll speak with industry experts, insiders and Automotive News reporters about how the virus is impacting and reshaping the automotive industry.

Outgoing Volkswagen dealer council Chairman John Luciano says improved communication among the automaker and its U.S. retailers is allowing dealers to have a bigger voice at the meeting table. 

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. 

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“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"

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Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. together are spending nearly $100 million on a November California ballot initiative to overturn a state law that would compel them to classify drivers as employees.

That sum looks less huge, however, than the potential costs of complying with the existing law, according to a Reuters analysis.

The two ride-hailing companies would each face more than $392 million in annual payroll taxes and workers' compensation costs even if they drastically cut the number of drivers on their platforms, a Reuters calculation showed.

Using a recently-published Cornell University driver pay study in Seattle as a basis, Reuters calculated that each full-time driver would cost the company, on average, an additional $7,700. That includes roughly $4,560 in annual employer-based California and federal payroll taxes and some $3,140 in annual workers' compensation insurance, which is mandated in California.

The companies say they would…