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A federal judge has denied Hyundai and Kia's $200 million settlement agreement in a multidistrict class action against the automakers following a car theft frenzy that targeted certain model years, ruling that the amount is not enough for some owners.

The settlement had offered different awards based on the severity of financial loss, and it was reached by Hyundai and Kia as well as lawyers representing plaintiffs who claimed their vehicles are too easy to steal because they lack engine immobilizers, a crucial anti-theft device.

About 9 million Hyundai and Kia vehicles spanning the 2011-2022 model years use a physical key instead of a push-button start system and do not have the capability to prevent the engine from starting without a key fob present. Last summer, videos on social media demonstrated how to easily hot wire the vehicles, sparking a nationwide crime spree.

Following the rampant spike in car theft, lawsuits against the automakers began popp…

U.S. auto regulator NHTSA has sent a special order to Tesla Inc.  asking questions about changes to the driver monitoring system for its Autopilot software, documents released on Tuesday showed.

Federal regulators are honing in on the systems Tesla uses to ensure that drivers are paying attention while their vehicle is operating on Autopilot.

In its order dated on July 26, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration raised concerns about a change by Tesla which allows drivers to use Autopilot for extended periods without prompting the driver to apply torque to the steering wheel.

"The resulting relaxation of controls...could lead to greater driver inattention and failure of the driver to properly supervise Autopilot," NHTSA said in its letter to Tesla.

The agency is investigating the performance of Autopilot after identifying more than a dozen crashes in which Tesla vehicles hit stationary emergency vehicles. It is also investigating…

Mitsubishi Motors North America had sufficient grounds to terminate a New York City dealership that had paid more than $500,000 in civil fines and $304,902 in restitution after pleading guilty to committing "at least 7,939" consumer protection violations in the sale of used vehicles, a federal court has ruled.

U.S. Magistrate Judge James Wicks refused to nullify the termination of Brooklyn Mitsubishi's franchise, finding ample evidence the dealership violated its sales and service agreement. He cited provisions about impairment to Mitsubishi's reputation, submissions of false reports to customers, license suspensions and failure to maintain good customer relations.

In June 2022, the dealership signed a consent agreement with the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection that included the financial penalties and a one-week prohibition from acquiring and selling used vehicles, the Aug. 14 decision said. In addition, the settlement…

General Motors is using artificial intelligence technology from Google to improve voice recognition through its OnStar safety and connectivity service and quickly answer some customer questions.

The automaker on Tuesday said its collaboration with the technology giant, dating to 2019, has woven Google Cloud's Dialogflow technology into OnStar's Interactive Virtual Assistant that debuted last year. It can give users turn-by-turn navigation help and improves OnStar's ability to pick up on a customer's spoken request the first time, GM said.

The virtual assistant's help with route assistance and other nonemergency requests through the in-vehicle OnStar button frees up advisers to handle issues that need human intervention.

The Google technology also is present in chatbots that GM has placed on its corporate and vehicle brand websites, enabling conversational responses to consumers' questions, the automaker said. GM and Google are piloting other uses for A…

AutoNation Inc. has acquired Aston Martin Summit in New Jersey from Kevin Flanagan and his brother Sean Flanagan.

AutoNation confirmed the acquisition closed Aug. 17. Both sides declined to discuss the purchase price.

Aston Martin dealerships in the U.S. are rare, with just 35 franchises as of Jan. 1, according to Automotive News' annual dealer census. The Summit store appears to be the auto retail giant's only current Aston Martin dealership, according to AutoNation's website.

Kevin Flanagan said he owned a 68 percent majority of the store, while Sean Flanagan owned 32 percent. Kevin Flanagan, who said he owns other luxury dealerships selling Volvo, Lotus, Karma and McLaren vehicles in the New York metro area, told Automotive News that he hadn't shopped his Aston Martin dealership around. He owned it for about a decade.

"I wasn't really looking to sell, and I got several offers," Flanagan said. "It seemed like there was a surprisingly strong ma…

China’s biggest-selling auto brand withstood a raging price war that engulfed the country this year, with BYD posting second-quarter profit that surged 145 percent.

Net income more than doubled to 6.8 billion yuan ($930 million) after the company sold a record number of plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles during the three months ended in June.

While fierce competition in China led to the slowest revenue growth in more than a year, BYD still generated 140 billion yuan in quarterly sales, according to Bloomberg calculations based on its first-half earnings.

China’s auto market has been embroiled in a fierce price war this year, with Tesla leading bold price cuts.

BYD’s still-robust financial performance will help as it navigates another period of market discounting with a preferred strategy of cutting prices on newly released models.

On the weekend, BYD unveiled a slightly cheaper range of 2023 Tang vehicl…

TOKYO -- Toyota Motor Corp. said it will restart operations at its assembly plants in Japan on Wednesday, after a production system malfunction brought domestic output to a halt at the world's biggest-selling automaker.

Toyota will resume operations at 25 production lines of a dozen plants in its home market from Wednesday morning and add the final two plants from the afternoon, it said.

The company continues to investigate the cause of the glitch, which it said was not due to a cyberattack and prevented it from ordering components.

The plants together account for about a third of the automaker's global production, Reuters calculations showed.

Toyota's domestic production had been on the rebound after a series of output cuts it blamed on semiconductor shortages. Output was up 29 percent in January-June, the first such increase in two years.

Its Japan output averaged about 13,500 vehicles daily in the first half, Reuters calculations showe…

The 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid is boosted by the automaker's fifth-generation hybrid technology.

The Corolla Cross Hybrid has an extra 25 hp and delivers a 23 percent increase in combined fuel economy compared with last year's model. It comes equipped with a hybridized 2.0-liter engine delivering 194 hp with an estimated 37 mpg combined in fuel economy.

As in the nonhybrid model, the Corolla Cross Hybrid comes standard with Toyota's new touchscreen infotainment system and safety features including lane-keeping, blind spot monitors and rear cross-traffic alert. The vehicle is available in five trim levels: LE, XLE, S, SE and XSE.

Journalists had a chance to drive the Corolla Cross Hybrid and we've collected some early reviews.

Drives tame

"The Corolla Cross hybrid comes with a 196-hp powertrain that combines a 2.0-liter four-cylinder and three electric motors. Toyota packs in plenty of standard driver assistance and infotainment tech…

Porsche will dial up the Cayenne lineup's performance with its most powerful variant yet.

The 2024 Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid, available in crossover and coupe body styles, will arrive in the second quarter.

The crossover will start at $148,550, while the coupe version starts at $153,050. Both prices include shipping. The midsize Cayenne is Porsche's second-best seller after the Macan compact crossover, accounting for 8,911 sales in the first half of this year.

This summer's midcycle freshening feels more like a redesign. It features a significantly changed powertrain, chassis, design and in-car technology.

But the third-generation Cayenne is likely the final combustion engine version. Production is expected to end in early 2029, according to AutoForecast Solutions.

Porsche aims to put sports car performance in a crossover body with the latest electrified Cayenne variant, which can do a 0-to-60-mph sprint in 3.5 seconds and hit a top spe…

Join Automotive News for a LinkedIn Live discussion at noon Thursday on the future of hydrogen fuel cells for automotive and adjacent industries.

Guests Jackie Birdsall, senior engineering manager for Toyota’s fuel cell integration group, and Bernd Heid, senior partner at McKinsey & Co., will be joined by Automotive News Staff Reporters Hannah Lutz and Molly Boigon.

They’ll discuss the challenges and opportunities for hydrogen fuel power and take your questions. We welcome questions in advance in the comments section on our LinkedIn post.

Stellantis has added Charge Enterprises to its roster of partner companies helping its more than 2,600 U.S. dealerships prepare to sell electric vehicles.

Charge Enterprises, whose president is former General Motors and Ford executive Mark LaNeve, is the automaker's fourth recommended partner for dealer EV readiness in the U.S., Stellantis said Monday. It joins Future Energy, Vehya and AG.

"As our partners in the automotive industry transition to electric-vehicle sales and service, our goal is to provide our 2,600-plus U.S. dealers with high quality options that meet their individual EV integration needs within every area of the dealership business," Jeff Kommor, Stellantis' head of U.S. sales, said in a statement.

"Charge is equipped with the automotive experience, client-centric approach and technical expertise needed to help support our dealers and make this implementation safe, reliable, scalable and flexible for future demands."

Dealers can w…

Unifor members vote to strike the Detroit 3, if necessary. South Korea clears a path for Hyundai to strike. And a study says it has gotten much harder to find late-model cars under $20K. Plus, why Boston consulting group is so optimistic about the pace of EV adoption.

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