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A $60 million project that will feature garage condominiums along a 2.2-mile European-design driving circuit is getting underway in Michigan.

The developer of an "automotive country club" called Motorsports Gateway Howell says 75 percent of the 92 garage condos are reserved and that it aims to have the track ready for members to drive on by next summer.

A group of private investors is paying for the 273-acre project, which will have an automotive innovation business park, mixed-use zone for retail, entertainment and restaurants, and public nature trail.

"The idea that a new state-of-the-art track, that can have multiple configurations, is going to be so close to home is fantastic," Vince Messina, a founding garage condo owner, said in a statement.

Most amenities will be restricted to members, but the public will be able to access the automotive innovation business park as well as restaurants and retail areas.

The concept has been around f…

Electric vehicle startup Canoo has provided its first look at the transport vehicle it's developing for NASA's project to return astronauts to the moon.

Canoo, based in Arkansas, showed off the vehicles it won a contract to supply within the next year in two Instagram posts. The vehicles are designed to have enough room for four astronauts, three additional crew members and a driver, plus cargo space for equipment and cooling units.

The company plans to provide NASA with modified versions of the Lifestyle Vehicle it aims to begin selling to consumers this year or in early 2023.

They'll be used for Project Artemis, which has a 2025 goal of sending humans back to the moon for the first time since 1972. General Motors has partnered with Lockheed Martin to design the lunar rover that Project Artemis will use to traverse the moon's surface.

SUVs tend to cost more than sedans. But does the relation hold for traffic-law violations?

Perhaps in Germany.

A court in Frankfurt, according to Autoblog, has ruled that a driver who ran a red light should pay more than the usual fine because he was driving a sport utility vehicle. The verdict dated June 3 could set a precedent.

In its ruling, published late last month, the court ordered the driver to pay €350 ($365) — almost twice the regular fine of about $200 — for running a red light. It also imposed a one-month driving ban.

The court argued that the shape of the SUV, with its high, boxlike hood, meant the driving infraction posed a greater risk to pedestrians than if the defendant had driven a smaller car.

The verdict, which also took into account the defendant's previous driving convictions, can be appealed.

It's clean, it's environmentally kind and it's utterly indistinguishable from ordinary car paint.

But sometimes a technological innovation just makes you blink.

BMW and the global coatings supplier BASF are partnering to create vehicle paints out of bio-waste from sewage treatment plants.

The organic material replaces traditional petroleum-based building blocks, such as naphtha.

The solution will be used at BMW's factories in Leipzig, Germany, and Rosslyn, South Africa.

The companies claim the resulting corrosion protection and matte paint process lowers CO2 emissions by 40 percent.

BMW also points out that the process reduces the total consumption of fossil resources and avoids emissions associated with the production, transport and processing of crude oil.

"As we strive to secure the most sustainable supply chain in the automotive industry, we are working with all our suppliers to pinpoint potential CO2 savings," Dirk Bube…

The 4xe family of plug-in hybrid Jeeps dropped the SUV brand into the world of electrification for the first time.

This has created some interesting shopping behavior around the 4xe version of the Wrangler, a nameplate not known for being eco-friendly. The hybrid powertrain added a layer to the versatile utility vehicle, with its promise of quiet rides and 21 miles of electric range.

Edmunds cross-shopping data gives a peek into how the electrified Wrangler has broadened its reach and taken on some unlikely competitors.

The Wrangler 4xe is being researched alongside gasoline vehicles such as the Ford Bronco as well as battery-electric options.

It's no surprise that the Bronco is high on the list of competitors for the conventional Wrangler and the Wrangler 4xe. It was the most cross-shopped non-Jeep model and No. 2 overall for both versions in May on Edmunds.

But the Wrangler 4xe also is finding itself in competition with vehicles from To…

The manager of vehicle technology at Consumer Reports sheds light on federal reports related to crashes involving driver-assist systems and clarifies terminology that manufacturers and drivers use in describing new features and in-car tech.

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Every winter, the holidays take many of us by surprise. The Yuletide season arrives the same time each year — we know it's coming — and yet we annually find ourselves at the last possible moment raiding the shopping malls and scouring the Internet in the frantic search for gifts.

Many in the automotive industry have subconsciously pushed another essential date to the back burner: July 1, 2023, the day Google is set to officially crumble the third-party cookie.

We knew this day was coming as far back as when the General Data Protection Regulation went into effect in the European Union in May 2018. The writing became clearer on Jan. 1, 2020, when the California Consumer Privacy Act was signed into law. Google itself delayed the elimination of third-party cookies last year (and two times more before that), but I promise you, the day is coming. And that day is July 1, 2023.

On this day, those who have not developed a first-party data strategy bolstered with …

North America's auto industry is already weary from two years of supply chain troubles and pipeline interruptions on parts and vehicles. But things could now get a bit worse.

The labor contract between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union expired July 1, and that could squeeze inbound inventories even tighter.

The contract covers 22,000 workers at 29 West Coast ports that stretch from San Diego to Bellingham, Wash. Negotiations are underway, and the ports — already under enormous pressure to process cargo amid COVID-19 — are still operating. But the union is working without a contract.

The association and union issued a joint statement ahead of the contract's expiration assuring onlookers that the ports would remain operational and that they both "understand the strategic importance of the ports to the local, regional and U.S. economies, and are mindful of the need to finalize a new co…

When Jaguar-Land Rover Norwood in Massachusetts was undergoing a facility upgrade for the British luxury automaker's sleeker, more modern Arch concept, the store's nearly 20 salespeople and managers were crammed into two trailers at the bottom of a hill.

Given the disruption during the store's face-lift — which took place from December 2019 through June 2020 and coincided with the worsening COVID-19 crisis — employee morale needed a major boost.

"I was like, 'OK, well, we've got to look at it the other way. Maybe there's an advantage here,' " said Eddy Allen, the store's general manager since 2018. "We get to see the customers the second they pull in. There's parking right here in front of us. You've got to look at the positives."

To promote a fun atmosphere and stir up some friendly competition, Allen created an objective-based game that pitted one trailer against the other.

"We always like to be competitive and have team games and everything l…

The rising popularity of Zelle, Venmo and other digital payment platforms has leaders at some large dealership groups asking: Why not try using such technology to pay consumers for their used cars and trucks?

Zelle is being used at some of the nation's largest dealership groups. AutoNation Inc., Group 1 Automotive Inc. and Penske Automotive Group Inc. all offer it as an option vehicle sellers can select to receive payments. Meanwhile, Tampa, Fla.-based Morgan Automotive Group is testing Zelle this summer.

Consumers' interest in instant payment transfers conducted via apps has shot up in part because it means they could get their money more quickly. Assuming all goes smoothly, sellers can receive the payment for their vehicle within mere hours, dealership group executives told Automotive News.

"Usage definitely has grown over time," said Paige Goodwin, Group 1's director of digital retailing. "We are right now averaging between 400 and 450 Zelle transac…

Tesla Inc.  CEO Elon Musk said on Friday he was terminating his $44 billion deal for Twitter Inc., citing a material breach of multiple provisions of the agreement.

The announcement likely brings to an end a will-he-won't-he saga after the world's richest person clinched a deal for Twitter in April but then put the buyout on hold until the social media company proved that spam bots accounted for less than 5 percent of its total users.

Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor said on the micro-blogging platform that the company's board planned to pursue legal action in Delaware Court of Chancery to enforce the merger agreement.

"The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk...," he wrote.

“We are committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk and plan to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement,” Twitter said in a statement. “We are confident we…

A California dealership group and a former customer have agreed to a $2.5 million class-action settlement in a case surrounding ringless voicemails — a practice that is popular among auto dealers.

The allegations against Moss Bros. Auto Group, based in Riverside, Calif., claim the company continuously used ringless voicemails that amounted to "aggressive unsolicited marketing" that violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Ringless voicemails are phone calls that deliver messages directly to a consumer's voicemail and do not trigger a typical ring on an individual's phone. The plaintiff said the messages are "essentially the same as the method for transmitting text messages."

Due to their nature, ringless voicemails cannot be blocked in the same way other unsolicited calls can. Some car dealers have adopted the method as a way to telemarket to customers without being accused of violating the law.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act prohi…