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The subcompact crossover segment has been one of the hottest in recent years — nearly doubling in size to more than 1 million sales since 2016 — and General Motors' biggest division is ready to double down in it, again.

Chevrolet was one of the first major brands to market a subcompact crossover, in 2016 with the Trax. Now, it is resurrecting the nameplate after a brief hiatus, with the Trax sitting out the 2023 model year.

The redesigned 2024 Trax — bigger, wider and lower; part hatchback and part sporty crossover — is being positioned as a clean break from its predecessors.

"This car shares nothing with the current one," said Scott Bell, global vice president at Chevrolet. "This is only a Trax by name."

The re-imagined baby ute will be slotted as the gateway to Chevrolet just below the Trailblazer in the smallest crossover segment, allowing shoppers multiple entry points to the brand.

The Trailblazer, introduced in 2020 with traditional …

A Volkswagen dealership employee was taken to a hospital in Seattle after an explosion in the store's designated smoking area, firefighters said.

The Volkswagen of Kirkland employee was burned, but conscious when taken to a local hospital around 6 p.m. local time Monday, according to Kirkland Fire Battalion Chief Seth Buchanan.

The Kirkland, Wash., fire department said the dealership's smoking area is next to 55-gallon containers that were empty at the time but were previously filled with flammable liquid. The employee was vaping in that area when the explosion occurred, according to a news release from Kirkland Fire.

"We believe that it flashed, so the fire in the container was immediately out. It was just a flammable gas, but it kind of exploded and blew up a 55-gallon drum and, unfortunately, it was the patient that caught on fire," Buchanan said.

The resulting explosion caught the employee's clothes, hair, hands and face on fire, Buchanan told…

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The first crossover from Swedish electric vehicle startup Polestar is a coming of age for the Volvo affiliate.

Whereas the brand's first mainstream model — the Polestar 2 sedan — represents Volvo DNA, the Polestar 3 is a clean sheet for the automaker.

The midsize Polestar 3, revealed at an event here, is built on a new all-electric platform, sports dual motors and has an estimated EPA range of up to 300 miles. It will arrive at U.S. stores late next year and start at $85,300, including shipping.

Polestar's U.S. CEO, Gregor Hembrough, told Automotive News the U.S. will be the largest single market for the Polestar 3, with North America accounting for about 30 percent of global sales.

"We now enter into the largest segment in North America, with the newest offer on the market," Hembrough said on the sidelines of the launch event. "The luxury SUV segment arguably is one of the most revered, most sought after, and we're really t…

WASHINGTON -- General Motors said on Tuesday it will invest up to $69 million and take an equity stake in Queensland Pacific Metals to secure a new source of nickel and cobalt for battery cells for use in the U.S. automaker's vehicles.

GM said the investment will help support EV eligibility for consumer incentives under new, clean energy U.S. tax credits. GM said the nickel laterite ore is expected to be processed using a new, proprietary process that helps reduce waste.

Under a law passed in August, automakers must source battery minerals from countries with free trade agreements in order to qualify for the U.S. consumer EV tax credits.

The GM investment is to assist in the development of its proposed Townsville Energy Chemicals Hub (TECH) Project in Northern Australia. High-grade nickel laterite ore will be imported from nearby New Caledonia, GM said.

GM already has binding agreements securing all battery raw material supporting its goal of 1 mi…

The rear-wheel-drive M2, one of the most celebrated and revered nameplates in BMW's lineup, is getting a bigger footprint and power boost to enhance its driving dynamics.

The second-generation car, redesigned and reengineered for 2023, will be powered by a turbo inline six-cylinder engine with 453 hp, up 48 hp. Transmission choices are a standard six-speed manual gearbox or eight-speed automatic.

The latest M2 is 180.3 inches long, 74.3 inches wide and 55.2 inches tall, making it 4.1 inches longer, 1.3 inches wider and 0.3 inch lower than the outgoing version.

BMW says the M2's 108.1-inch wheelbase is a critical factor in its agility. The wheelbase is 4.3 inches shorter than that of the BMW M4 coupe but 2.1 inches longer than the previous M2, helping to enhance front and rear legroom.

BMW said track width has increased by 1.5 inches, to 63.7 inches, in the front and 0.16 inch, to 63.2 inches, in the rear, matching the M4.

Notable exterior…

NEW YORK -- Authorities found children as young as 13 working at a Korean-operated supplier to automakers Hyundai Motor Co. and affiliate Kia Corp., and have fined the company and a labor recruiter, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Alabama Department of Labor said Tuesday.

In August, authorities accused Alexander City, Ala.-based SL Alabama in federal court of violating child labor laws.

Regulators did not accuse Hyundai and Kia of wrongdoing in the case.

The action against SL Alabama, which supplies lights and mirrors for Hyundai and Kia assembly plants in the U.S., came following a July Reuters article that documented child labor practices at another auto parts supplier in the state, Hyundai-owned Smart Alabama LLC.

The U.S. Department of Labor said in a release that workers aged 13-15 were found at the SL Alabama plant and said it had fined the company, a unit of Korea's SL Corp., around $30,000. SL Alabama agreed to implement new monitorin…

Honda makes a massive battery investment in Ohio. A look at GM’s latest effort to connect EVs with the power grid. Nissan takes a bath to get out of Russia. Plus, a conversation with the CEO of Amprius and the head of its new investment partner about the battery company’s ambitious plans and what makes its technology unique.

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For more than a decade, Germany dominated the U.S. luxury sales Grand Prix. But it's 2022, and American luxury is back.

Texas' Tesla Inc. has entered the final quarter with a mile-long U.S. sales lead, leaving former premium segment champions BMW and Mercedes-Benz squabbling over second place.

While Tesla does not break out sales by market, the Automotive News Research & Data Center estimates Tesla delivered 114,000 cars and crossovers in the third quarter, rocketing 47 percent higher from a year earlier.

So far this year, the EV maker has a 112,050-vehicle sales lead over No. 2 BMW.

Overall, premium-brand sales tallied 539,807 cars and light trucks in the third quarter, up 7.1 percent while the broader industry's deliveries flatlined.

The lift in quarterly sales comes as luxury vehicle supply improves.

As of Sept. 26, the average dealer days' supply for luxury brands in the U.S. was 47, slightly higher than the 44 days' supply …

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Toyota is partnering with Google Cloud to bolster its artificial intelligence-based speech services.

The partnership aims to improve in-vehicle infotainment systems' voice recognition, something drivers have continuously complained about in the past few years.

Improvements will go toward Toyota Voice Assistant. The system has been leveraging Google Cloud technology since 2018, according to a Tuesday press release.

The new partnership's results are already being seen in some models' infotainment systems — including those of the 2023 Toyota Corolla, Tundra and Sequoia and the 2023 Lexus NX, RX and RZ, the release said.

In the future, the partnership will help develop Speech On-Device, a new product from Toyota and Google Cloud. The main draw is its ability to use speech recognition without the Internet, keeping the system local to the vehicle's multimedia system processors.

Part of the goal is making speech reco…

Improving the Shipping Experience to Grow Cross-Border E-Commerce

Not only has the pandemic accelerated the growth in online shopping domestically in most parts of the world, it has also meant more consumers are now willing to make online purchases from abroad. And retail and direct-to-consumer e-commerce brands are keen to tap into the potential to build online sales internationally.

A key challenge is getting the customer experience right—especially the shipping and delivery strategy. Eliminating friction, delays, and doubt is crucial. You should make it as easy and straightforward for crossborder shoppers to order, track, and if necessary, return their goods as if they were making online purchases domestically.

Based on a e2open survey of 2,035 online shoppers in the US, UK, Germany, and Australia, this report explores consumers’ views on cross-border e-commerce. How open are they to placing online orders with companies in other countries and why? Which prod…