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UAW members at the Detroit 3 agreed to let the union call a strike if contract talks break down with a Sept. 14 deadline looming.

About 97 percent of workers who voted cast their ballot in favor of authorizing a strike, the UAW said Friday. The vote is a routine part of contract negotiations and does not necessarily mean a strike will occur.

"The only way we're ever going to have a better quality of life for ourselves and our families is if we fight for it," UAW President Shawn Fain said Friday morning on a Facebook livestream. "Employers don't give higher wages or better benefits out of the kindness of their hearts. They give it because the union bargains and we make them, and that's exactly what 97 percent of you said you're ready to do."

Fain and other union leaders have been preparing workers for a potential strike since negotiations with Ford, General Motors and Stellantis began last month. Fain said the Sept. 14 expiration of the companies' curren…

The Chrysler 300 was considered the businessman's muscle car when it arrived in 1955 with a blend of style and rear-wheel-drive performance flowing from the early Hemi V-8 engine.

Chrysler went back to that formula nearly 50 years later with a reimagined descendant that became a pop culture icon and rejuvenated the company's image. The automaker sought to create a cool but affordable car that was "unabashedly Am- erican," recalled Stellantis design chief Ralph Gilles, who was design director for the 300 that debuted in 2004.

The 300's run comes to an end in December, when production concludes so Ontario's Brampton Assembly Plant can be retooled for electric vehicles. A relic of the DaimlerChrysler era, the 300 was the lead vehicle on the LX platform that also underpinned the Dodge Charger and the short-lived Dodge Magnum.

A well-kept 2005 model, Gilles said, still looks good on the road after all these years. He said the nostalgia factor of the design …

Two Canadian auto retailers expanded their U.S. portfolios, while two large Midwest retailers expanded in their home states with transactions that closed in the first three quarters of the year.

Here's a look at the deals involving import, luxury and domestic brands and stores in Michigan, Ohio, Texas and New York.

Two transactions involved auto retailers ranked on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups.

Fox Motors grew its Michigan footprint with the Monday purchase of a Kia dealership.

Fox Motors of Grand Rapids, Mich., said it bought Kia of Grand Rapids North from Liechty Auto Group. The dealership was renamed Fox Kia North.

It marks the second Kia dealership for Fox Motors. In a statement, Fox Motors CEO Daniel DeVos said the group's existing Kia store, also in Grand Rapids, was one of the group's first dealerships.

"The Kia brand has enjoyed significant growth in the U.S. market and our acquisition of Kia North…

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has a plan to help tackle soaring car thefts in the city: Sue the automakers. 

The city has filed a civil suit against Kia Corp. and Hyundai Motor Co. for failing to include engine immobilizers in various models, causing “a steep rise in vehicle thefts, reckless driving, property damage, and a wide array of related violent crimes in Chicago,” according to a statement on Thursday.

Hyundai said in response that it’s committed to helping customers and communities affected by the theft of vehicles not equipped with push-button ignitions and engine immobilizers. Engine immobilizers, meanwhile, are now standard on all Hyundai vehicles produced since November 2021.

Thefts of Kia and Hyundai cars have surged across the country after social media users exposed security flaws, sparking what’s been termed the “Kia Challenge” where people livestream their larceny. At least 20 state attorneys in the U.S. have urged Hyundai and Kia…

A joint venture battery plant said on Thursday it will hike the wages of workers at its Ohio plant by an average of 25 percent after some U.S. senators blasted the company for paying workers as little as $16 an hour.

Ultium Cells, a joint venture of General Motors and LG Energy Solution, said workers must still ratify the interim wage increase that takes effect Aug. 28. The UAW said the increase is worth $3 to $4 an hour for workers.

The interim wage increase will be retroactive to December 2022 and some workers will receive between $3,000 to $7,000, based on hours worked.

"Providing this wage increase is the right thing to do for our team members," Ultium said.

Workers voted in December to join the UAW but have not yet reached a contract. "We continue to bargain in good faith with the UAW to reach a comprehensive contract for our employees, including a final wage scale," Ultium said.

UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement "after mo…

Electric-first automakers such as Tesla and Nio outshined established brands such as Jaguar Land Rover and Toyota in a new ranking that grades companies on their software skills.

The Digital Automaker Index was created by consultancy Gartner to assess automakers in eight software-centric-areas. Those scores are tabulated to come up with an overall ranking, which this year covers 20 automakers.

The categories include culture and leadership, talent, architectures, connected vehicle, autonomous driving, electrification, smart cockpit and online sales potential.

The core goal of the index is to determine which brands are in the best position to monetize their software capabilities, which will be an essential part of their future success.

Stellantis, for example, plans to generate about 20 billion euros (about $22 billion) by 2030 from software-enabled product offerings and subscriptions. The automaker, however, ranks No. 14 out of 20 in Gartner's ind…

<!--*/ */ /*-->*/ In San Francisco, being a human instead of a robot will cost you

Want to drive a taxi in San Francisco? You're better off as a robot.

Hundreds of human taxi drivers in the city purchased taxi medallions for $250,000 — then some saw their wages plummet. Human drivers may receive tickets for violating traffic rules. They are required to participate in programs that provide rides for elderly people and those with disabilities in San Francisco.

Robotaxis such as those run by Waymo and Cruise are subject to none of those pesky regulations, and they're about to operate in greater numbers following a vote by the California Public Utilities Commission last week. At the root of most of these disparities is the way vehicles are categorized and managed in California. Cities govern taxis while the state regulates buses, limousines, ride-hailing vehicles and, yes, robotaxis.

"It is a deeply felt sense of unfairness amongst the taxi d…

WASHINGTON — Tesla Inc. and Rivian Automotive Inc. have endorsed an agreement backed by major automakers and independent repair shops on automotive right to repair that would include necessary telematics data.

In separate letters sent to executives at the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, Automotive Service Association and Society of Collision Repair Specialists, the two EV makers pledged their support for tenets outlined in a new commitment unveiled in July.

"Rivian agrees that our customers should have access to safe and proper repairs throughout a vehicle's life cycle and further is aligned with supporting the independent repair community as provided in the commitment," Alan Hoffman, Rivian's chief policy officer, wrote in a letter sent Aug. 9.

Tesla's Rohan Patel, vice president of public policy and business development, also said the EV maker agrees with the commitment's standards and is "happy to support this effort."

"In addition to sup…

Mercedes-Benz's entry-level electric crossover receives an update that delivers design tweaks and technology upgrades.

The 2024 EQB will arrive at U.S. stores in the first half of 2024. Pricing was not disclosed.

With a newly designed black panel surface with its star pattern at the front, the EQB visually catches up with its electric model siblings. A light band connects the headlights' daytime running lights, while a new bumper emphasizes the compact crossover's wide front.

The EQB gets Mercedes' current-generation steering wheel with touch control panels.

Technology upgrades include updated driving assistance systems, a new backup camera and Mercedes' latest MBUX infotainment system.

The EQB arrived in the U.S. last summer. The electric version of the GLB is similar to its internal combustion sibling and available as a three-row, seven-seater.

The EQB delivers up to 288 hp and can accelerate from 0 to 60 in as little as six seco…

Nissan Motor Co. gave dealers a peek at its future product lineup — both electric and internal combustion — and laid out an ambitious data-driven retail model that calls for greater customer information sharing between dealerships and the factory to boost the customer experience.

The new retail model is intended to "create an ecosystem where customers love Nissan and buy Nissan for the [brand's] value and not for the most recent rebate out there," the automaker's North America sales and marketing boss Michael Colleran told Automotive News ahead of a Las Vegas meeting on Wednesday with some 3,000 dealership executives and managers from across the Americas region.

Top Nissan executives in attendance previewed what will be a rapidly electrifying product portfolio of about a dozen new and updated vehicles.

Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida committed to a diversified powertrain strategy in which the company invests in both internal combustion vehicles and electric ve…

The supply chain is becoming synonymous with disruption. And now a new one could further cloud what was shaping up already as an uncertain holiday season.

Drought conditions have led to a backup of ships looking to traverse the Panama Canal, potentially putting retailer inventory restocking in jeopardy just as North American retailers are looking to build stockpiles back up.

“Ongoing challenges at the Panama Canal are making existing worries for industries even worse," Christian Roeloffs, co-founder and CEO of Container xChange, said in a blog post this week. “New industry information shows that the U.S. economy’s consumer spending has seen an uptick, which is good.  With inventories falling and demand expected to rebound, the Panama Canal, which carries 40% of container traffic from Asia to Europe, is likely to experience increased pressure.”

Backlog begins dropping

The Panama Canal Authority, in an update on Tuesday, said the backlog of vessels wa…