Tires are the next frontier for automotive data collection and safety

Tire sensors are likely to become smarter and generate more important data for drivers in the coming years as electric vehicles become more prominent, industry executives say.

That's an important safety factor. EVs are generally heavier than gasoline-powered vehicles and generate massive torque, leading to faster tire wear rates, said Yagil Tzur, vice president of product at Israeli tech startup Tactile Mobility.

"EVs have longer service intervals," he said. "They don't get to repair shops as frequently, so no one professional is looking at the tires. That leads to increased risk."

Major tire manufacturers such as Goodyear, Michelin, Continental and Bridgestone are developing advanced sensors and experimenting with products to help tires last longer and to give drivers notice of when they might need to be serviced.

"If you don't personally monitor them, you end up with increased risk of accident and risk of tire blowouts and greater braking dista…

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N.M. dealer to pay for kids to play sports

When a New Mexico city began talking about charging children $5 to play in sports leagues that use municipal fields, a local auto dealer stepped in.

Gary Hamilton, the owner of Hamilton Auto Group, told the Clovis parks committee that he would foot the bill for every child in town. He estimated that it would cost him $30,000 to $60,000 a year.

"If it was $100,000 a year, I'd still do it," he told The Eastern New Mexico News. "It's the right thing to do."

The city originally discussed charging $50 but received numerous complaints. Officials said they would send an invoice to Hamilton, who has General Motors, Ford, Stellantis, Hyundai and Toyota dealerships near the New Mexico-Texas border.

Hamilton said it's important to make sure the fees don't stop any child from playing a sport.

"If we've got more kids doing wholesome things," he said, "we've got less crime."

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Proposed FTC regulations met with dealer hesitancy

Just over half of dealers surveyed by Automotive News think stricter regulation of dealership advertising and finance and insurance practices would have a negative impact on the industry, but opinions are mixed on changes to day-to-day business.

Roughly 54 percent of dealers surveyed believe the Federal Trade Commission's proposed regulations would be a net negative, according to the 2023 Dealer Outlook Survey of 264 dealers and dealership managers. About 15 percent believe the change would be positive, and 19 percent think it would be neither. The remaining respondents were unsure.

The survey respondents had mixed thoughts on what the impact would be on their own business practices, with nearly equal percentages recording moderate, mild and no impact.

Under the proposed regulations, products that do not provide additional benefit would be banned, and dealers would be required to disclose both an offering price and a list of add-…

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EVs are attracting younger consumers to BMW, Mini, Subaru, Volvo, Cadillac

Five automotive brands placed in the top 20 brands gaining recognition with Generation Z, according to the latest quarterly report by Automotive News sibling publication AdAge and Harris Poll.

The poll ranks brands by how much their equity has changed with Gen Z — that is, how much their perception of brands is changing from quarter to quarter. It surveys U.S. consumers ages 18-24.

BMW was ranked fourth overall, and it was the highest of any auto brand in the study. No. 1 was discount grocery chain Aldi, followed by the WNBA and ice cream brand Blue Bunny.

The automotive brands' showing has to do with how "EVs are driving a lot of momentum," said Harris Poll CEO Will Johnson.

Here are highlights.

No. 4 BMW and No. 19 Mini: BMW announced in October that it would invest $1.7 billion to build EVs in the U.S., "the biggest single investment we've done so far," BMW Group Chairman Oliver Zipse told Reuters.

BMW-owned Mini hyped its EVs in…

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Continental sees software as Everest of challenges

BERLIN — Continental Chief Technology Officer Gilles Mabire has a unique way of explaining the difficulty of the industry's move to software-defined vehicles.

"We are not climbing the Alps anymore. We are in the Himalayas," he said, likening the challenge to summiting the famous mountain range's high peaks, with Mount Everest being the highest.

That means the German supplier has to develop its products in a completely different way, he said.

Under Mabire's guidance, Continental is also helping automakers maximize the benefits of over-the-air updates and tap into the power of artificial intelligence to slash the time it takes to solve complex tasks.

He discussed this and more with Automotive News Europe Managing Editor Douglas A. Bolduc and Correspondent Nathan Eddy. Here are edited excerpts.

Q: What are the main challenges in the move toward software-defined vehicles?

A: We need to understand the magnitude of the transformation. We …

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January new-vehicle inventories on the upswing again

New-vehicle inventories were back on the growth track last month after a slight deviation in January, rising despite strong demand as production continues to recover, according to estimates from Cox Automotive and the Automotive News Research & Data Center.

Cox estimated U.S. inventories at 1,828,290 in its most recent assessment, a 58-day supply, up from the 1,726,828 vehicles, or a 57-day supply, it said were available for sale the previous month. The inventory figure is about 73 percent above where it was a year earlier but about 850,000 vehicles less than the same point in 2021, right before inventories started falling precipitously.

Cox said midsize, compact and subcompact cars had the tightest supplies among volume segments, while full-size pickups and full-size cars had the highest days' supply among nonluxury vehicles. Asian nameplates represented 14 of the 15 vehicle lines with the lowest days' supply.

Of the seven automakers continuing to…

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Hyundai and its first Black agency connect to customers with positivity

"We have your back."

That is the message from Hyundai Motor America and Culture Brands, the automaker's first Black marketing agency.

The automaker and agency began working together in 2021, producing ad campaigns with uplifting overtones that depict everyday Black people living their lives.

For example, "Dad's Precious Cargo" shows a father chauffeuring his daughter and her friends to a dance in a Palisade, highlighting the large crossover's spacious second and third rows and intercom. Another spot, "Leading by Example," shows a boy being picked up from school by his uncle in an Ioniq 5 for a "guys night." They stop for snacks while recharging the electric vehicle from 10 to 80 percent in 18 minutes, and when they get home they plug a video game console into the vehicle, demonstrating its reverse charging capability.

Culture Brands has also produced campaigns for the Santa Fe and Tucson crossovers.

Hyundai's search for an agency to help a…

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Gotion floats bigger battery plant plan as it awaits approvals

Gotion Inc.'s multibillion-dollar electric vehicle battery factory proposal in Michigan has swelled by 1 million square feet and 200-300 additional jobs despite lingering uncertainty that the project will even happen.

The Chinese battery parts manufacturer has presented a revised plan to local officials that would increase its initial footprint by a third, calling for the addition of two 500,000-square-foot plants on the site near Big Rapids, Mich., according to township Supervisor Jim Chapman.

That would expand its footprint to roughly 3 million square feet across six buildings in Mecosta County in western Michigan. How much that would increase the originally planned $2.4 billion investment is not clear. The company had originally announced 2,350 jobs with the plant.

Chuck Thelen, vice president of North American operations for Gotion, said he "cannot confirm at this time" the new details.

The company shared its revised plans with township offi…

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Ford development boom west of Detroit creates opportunity — and uncertainty

For some in Marshall, Mich., an hour and a half West of Detroit, the $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery factory planned by Ford Motor Co. is seen as a business boon. But for others, it is a threat.

Work is ramping up on the automaker's lithium iron phosphate battery plant with Chinese giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., which promises to create 2,500 jobs in Calhoun County and secure Michigan a spot in the automotive future, according to officials.

Workers with Detroit-based general contractor Walbridge Group were seen this week shuttling to and from a large barn at the center of the 2,000-acre megasite that appears to be serving as a command center for the gargantuan construction project at hand.

While the long-term economic impact of the project remains to be seen, it has longtime Marshall resident Michael Kelley, 56, wondering what sort of future his small business has in the quiet town.

"It's bittersweet with an emphasis on bitter,…

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Need a charge? 2024 GMC Hummer EVs can help

GMC is expanding the charging capability of its Hummer EVs so that they can act as generators and send a charge to other electric vehicles.

The 2024 GMC Hummer EV pickup and SUV will be upgraded with standard 19.2-kilowatt Level 2 onboard charging capability on certain trims. The Hummer EV Edition 1 pickup available before the 2024 model year has 11.5-kW AC charging capacity.

The boost will give the Hummer EVs the ability to not only charge faster, but also offboard power for the first time through the Power Station generator — including the ability to send 6 kW of charge to other EVs, GMC says.

The capability and the 19.2-kW onboard charger will come standard on the 2024 vehicles in trims 2X and above, GMC said. The brand has said that includes the SUV's Edition 1, 3X and 2X trims and the pickup's 3X and 2X trims. A plug accessory to enable vehicle-to-vehicle charging will be an option, GMC said.

Before, "you could not effectively take power fr…

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Kentucky Ford dealership provides 2nd chances

James Collins Ford is more than a source of income for some of its workers.

The Louisville, Ky., store has served as a lighthouse during stormy periods for staffers who have been incarcerated and battled addiction as they work to turn their lives around.

It has employed more than 50 men from the Beacon House, a Louisville transitional living facility founded in 1997.

The dealership has worked with the Beacon House for nearly a decade to support men during their recoveries and allow them to flourish, with some becoming master service technicians and leading salespeople. It starts them off in lower-level positions such as porters and gives them a chance to prove their reliability before moving them up the ladder, said Daniel Mekuria, the store's managing partner.

About 40 percent of the staff today came from the Beacon House. Workers say having colleagues they know from the facility has proved invaluable because they understa…

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VinFast EV production in U.S. now not expected to start until 2025

VinFast's bold ambitions to sell electric cars to consumers in the US have suffered another setback with production at its as-yet-unbuilt facility in North Carolina now not expected to start until 2025.

The Vietnamese company had most recently said it planned to start trial production at the plant by 2024. Earlier this week a company spokesperson said VinFast had "received the air permit and we are preparing for sub-contractors bidding and will start the construction soon."

An updated filing for VinFast's planned U.S. initial public offering released Friday however said that commissioning of the facility is targeted for 2025.

"Pre-construction work for phase one commenced in the third quarter of 2022, with commissioning targeted for 2025," the filing said. "Phase one of the facility is expected to have an initial capacity of 150,000 vehicles a year" rising to 250,000 cars upon completion of phase two.

Tesla Inc.'s factory in China, by way of compa…

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