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CHENGDU, China/SHANGHAI -- Chinese EV maker Nio Inc. on Saturday launched its first sedan model, eyeing a greater share of the world's largest car market.

The launch of the ET7, at an event in China's western city of Chengdu, comes as rival Tesla started selling its China-made Model Y crossover.

Nio is aiming to expand its product lineup to attract more customers. In China's passenger car market, sedans and utility vehicles separately make up around 46 percent of the overall sales.

CEO William Li said Nio's new battery technology will give the ET7 a driving range of more than 621 miles between charges.

The starting price will be 378,000 yuan ($58,378) for the car without the battery pack, one of the most expensive EV components, which can then be leased from the company. With the battery pack, the starting price is 448,000 yuan ($69,185).

Li said the ET7 will be fitted with lidar sensors -- which help the car perceive its surrounding…

Ford Motor Co. is launching an advertising campaign Saturday designed to raise awareness of the new Bronco Sport crossover and help differentiate it from the larger Bronco SUV.

The first of three commercials will air during the NFL playoff game between the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks. Although Ford will not advertise in this year's Super Bowl, Matt VanDyke, U.S. marketing director, said he challenged the team to create a Super Bowl-worthy commercial to catch viewers' attention.

The result is a 60-second spot called "Raised by Goats" in which an injured colt is rescued and reared by a pack of mountain goats until it becomes confident traveling on snow, up rocks and through water.

The commercial is a nod to the original Bronco's code-name, "G.O.A.T.," which stands for "goes over any terrain." The spot, produced by New York ad agency Wieden+Kennedy, was shot in October on Mount Baker in the Seattle area. It was directed by …

Watching a glimpse of the Bell Nexus flying-taxi concept remains a prominent CES memory, but not for reasons you might expect.

With its six tilting fans, the vertical-takeoff-and-landing craft was an undeniable showstopper at the 2019 CES. Whether air taxis are a figment of science fiction or a viable mode of travel, for a moment, was beside the point. The Nexus was an ambitious, full-size sculpture representing tomorrow's transportation.

Moments later, I stood in a nearly two-hour line waiting to board the Las Vegas Monorail for a ride back toward the Strip.

Future transportation has always been the great calling card within the walls of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Present transportation has always been the great challenge outside those walls during CES. The juxtaposition was never more apparent than in those moments.

Even though there's no in-person CES this year, I've reflected a lot on that particular experienc…

DETROIT — Sales of the Chevrolet Bolt doubled in the fourth quarter as General Motors ramped up promotional efforts for the only electric vehicle it currently sells in the U.S. in preparation for the wave of EVs it has coming.

Chevrolet officials said an expansion into new markets, additional training and advertising, and increased dealer buy-in propelled sales. More cash on the hood helped, too.Incentives on the Bolt reached an average of $17,877 in the quarter, according to TrueCar, a 27 percent increase from a year earlier and more than triple GM's average incentive spending per vehicle. The Bolt's average transaction price dipped 12 percent to $32,780, according to TrueCar.

"They're trying to drum up a little bit of excitement and show that they have some traction in the EV sector as they go into this rollout of this whole new onslaught of EVs," said Paul Waatti, an analyst with AutoPacific. "They need to build a little bit of credibility…

LOS ANGELES — One week after starting a new position as chief operating officer and executive vice president at Kia Motors America, Bill Peffer has resigned "in conjunction with his pursuit of a new opportunity in the automotive industry," the company said Friday.

Peffer, 50, had been promoted from vice president of sales operations in mid-December after a strong sales year at Kia. He formally started the COO job on Jan. 1. The operations position is the No. 2 spot in Kia's U.S. hierarchy behind Sean Yoon, president and CEO of Kia Motors America and Kia Motors North America.

Kia said late Friday it has not yet appointed a successor to Peffer after his abrupt resignation tendered Thursday. Kia did not offer any details on the automotive job that Peffer is pursuing.

"Bill Peffer's contributions helped Kia's U.S. sales outperform the industry and we are grateful for his service to the company. We sincerely wish him well in the next chap…

NHTSA is creating an initiative to coordinate research, conduct investigations and develop safety standards related to electric vehicle batteries.

As part of the initiative, the agency on Friday said it will collect and analyze data, conduct special investigations of EV crashes and noncrash events, conduct research on battery diagnostics and prognostics and explore risks related to cybersecurity and vehicle connectivity.

The move by U.S. safety regulators to address battery safety comes as EV fires have become a growing concern for the auto industry, with complaints of battery-related fires starting to stack up. Meanwhile, EV options in the U.S. are expected to grow through 2024, as automakers unveil more models.

Several incidents have involved Tesla vehicles bursting into flames after crashes, including a March 2018 accident on a freeway in California when a Model X caught fire twice in one day. Tesla has also been the focus of several investigations by…

TOKYO -- Honda could production in Japan due to a global shortage of automotive microchips.

The automaker plans to reduce domestic output by 4,000 units in January, a slowdown mainly affecting the Fit small hatchback at Honda's Suzuka plant, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Friday.

The bottleneck might result in the loss of tens of thousands of units through March for Honda, the report said. The cause is a tight supplies of computer chips for cars.

A Honda spokeswoman said the company is aware of the industrywide microchip shortage and is considering countermeasures. But it is too soon for Honda to say when the company might announce any output adjustments or how many vehicles might be impacted, she said.

Automakers and suppliers firs…

Mark Del Rosso, CEO, Genesis Motors North AmericaJoe Cardinale, President & Dealer Principal, Genesis of CoronaChris Pullara, Regional Director, Southern California Automotive Operations, CardinaleWay Automotive

Mark Del Rosso and Genesis of Corona dealership execs discuss GV80 sales projections, new facilities, Genesis Concierge and big opportunities for growth.