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Texas is moving forward with efforts to woo Tesla Inc. and lure its next electric-vehicle factory after the county that’s home to the state capital signed off on a tax-relief package.

Commissioners in Travis County voted Tuesday to approve a 70 percent property-tax rebate on the first $1.1 billion the company invests in a site near Austin. The abatement is worth at least $13.9 million.

The areas of Austin and Tulsa, Okla., are the finalists for landing the facility where Tesla plans to build the Cybertruck pickup that CEO Elon Musk first unveiled late last year. He has said on Twitter that the site also will supplement production of Model Y crossovers already being made at the company’s lone U.S. car-assembly plant in Fremont, Calif.

Tesla has told Travis County that its planned factory will eventually employ 5,000 full-time workers with an average salary of roughly $47,000 a year. At least half of those will be county residents.

The weeks-long ef…

TOKYO — Nissan's next electric vehicle, the long-awaited Ariya crossover, is a technological powerhouse with performance chops and a 379-mile range that the Japanese carmaker hopes will rekindle its reputation as a leader in battery-powered vehicles.

In showing the production version of its Tesla fighter in an unveiling online Wednesday, Nissan Motor Co. promises an EV that beats the brand's all-electric Leaf hatchback in almost every way.

The Ariya will be longer, wider and taller, while packing more power and a longer driving range. Lower grade models will target eco-friendly, tech-savvy customers, while high-end variants go for gusto.

"For Nissan, the Ariya is not just another new model. It is a model that opens a new chapter in the history of Nissan," CEO Makoto Uchida said at an online launch on Wednesday. "The Ariya itself represents the future Nissan envisions."

To herald the new nameplate, Nissan also unveiled a new logo. The refreshed br…

After more than two years of protest from California dealers, Volvo Cars USA will replace a controversial subscription program in its biggest market.

The Swedish automaker plans to introduce an updated — and more dealer-friendly — version of the Care by Volvo program in California.

But still unclear is whether the changes in the newer version will satisfy the California dealer complaints.

The original Care by Volvo launched in 2017 as a two-year subscription service. The program bundles the use of a vehicle, insurance and maintenance costs into a monthly payment that ranges from $700 to $800, depending on the vehicle. After a year, subscribers can swap for a different vehicle.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles earlier this year deemed the subscription service to be in violation of several state franchise and consumer protection laws.

Last fall, Volvo broadened the service to include more models and make some dealer-friendly updat…

Massachusetts on Tuesday followed California in suing Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. over allegedly misclassifying their drivers as independent contractors instead of employees entitled to extensive benefits.

The complaint filed in Suffolk Superior Court claims Uber and Lyft violate state minimum wage, hour and sick time laws.

"Uber and Lyft have built their billion-dollar businesses while denying their drivers basic employee protections and benefits for years,” Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement.

Uber and Lyft argue that the vast majority of their drivers enjoy the flexibility that comes with on-demand work, and a recent analysis by Cornell University of Seattle driver data supplied by the companies showed that some 75 percent of drivers work fewer than 20 hours.

Massachusetts' lawsuit comes roughly two months after California filed a similar complaint, accusing Uber and Lyft of evading workplace protections and…

Leaders from NADA, TrueCar, CDK and the Carter Myers auto group discuss what's working and what they've learned during the pandemic.

Speakers:Mike Darrow, President & CEO, TrueCarBrian Krzanich, President & CEO, CDK GlobalLiza Borches, CEO, Carter Myers Automotive GroupKerri Wise, VP Communications, TrueCarRhett Ricart, 2020 Chairman, NADAJason Stein, Publisher, Automotive News

This conversation was originally broadcast on July 14, 2020 as part of the Automotive News Retail Forum: Dealer Discussions series, which runs through August 4. To learn more and register to watch future broadcasts live, visit http://autonews.com/retailforum.

DETROIT -- General Motors said its filtering facepiece respirators have received N95 certification from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

To achieve the N95 rating, a filtering facepiece must filter out "at least 95 percent of airborne particles during 'worst case' testing using a 'most-penetrating'-sized particle," GM said in a statement Tuesday.

The automaker said this required a new manufacturing process at its plant in Warren, Mich. The process mandates that N95 masks include certain components, such as a wire nosepiece and a sonic weld that extends from the nose to the chin.

After excess material is trimmed off and ear bands are welded into place, the masks are subjected to a "quality check." The masks are then "cleaned, bagged and prepared for shipment," the company said.

GM also said sonic welders that were used in its Brownstown Township, Mich., battery assembly plant have been repurposed for the N95 respirators. T…

Join Automotive News Publisher Jason Stein for a daily podcast series about the coronavirus crisis. He’ll speak with industry experts, insiders and Automotive News reporters about how the virus is impacting and reshaping the automotive industry.

Ford's product development boss explains why the automaker waited so long to bring back the Bronco SUV and how the iconic off-roader and its variants will stand out in the market and differentiate itself from rival Jeep.

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WASHINGTON -- A group of 15 U.S. states and the District of Columbia on Tuesday unveiled a joint memorandum of understanding aimed at boosting the market for electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and phasing out diesel-powered trucks by 2050.

The announcement comes weeks after the California Air Resources Board approved a groundbreaking policy to require manufacturers to sell a rising number of zero-emission vehicles, starting in 2024 and to electrify nearly all larger trucks by 2045.

The 14 states said the voluntary initiative is aimed at boosting the number of electric large pickup trucks and vans, delivery trucks, box trucks, school and transit buses, and long-haul delivery trucks, with the goal of ensuring all new medium- and heavy-duty vehicle sales be zero emission vehicles by 2050 with a target of 30 percent ZEV sales by 2030.

The states include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oreg…

SEOUL -- Hyundai Motor Group leader Euisun Chung said Tuesday flagship Hyundai Motor and sister company Kia Motors aim to sell 1 million electric vehicles in 2025, together targeting more than 10 percent of global market share of EVs.

Hyundai Motor plans to launch a next-generation electric vehicle with a driving range of 280 miles per charge and charging time of 20 minutes or less, Chung said in a televised video message. It aims to export 1,600 hydrogen-powered trucks to Europe by 2025, and develop a new system that doubles battery life at half the price, he said.

Chung's statement came as South Korea outlined a plan Tuesday to spend 114.1 trillion won ($94.6 billion) on a "New Deal" to create jobs and help the economy recover from the coronavirus fallout, anchored in part by investment in electric vehicles and hydrogen cars.

The six-year plan will build digital infrastructure and a stronger safety net for job seekers, but its "Green New Deal" aspects …

BEIJING -- Volkswagen Group and its Chinese joint venture partner, SAIC Motor, plan to invest 4.13 billion yuan ($590 million) to revamp their car plants in Shanghai to make new Audi A7L sedans, according to a government document seen by Reuters.

SAIC Volkswagen, the joint venture of the German company and China's biggest automaker, currently sells cars under the VW and Skoda brands.

With the revamp at its Shanghai plants, the JV is aiming for an annual manufacturing capacity of 60,000 Audi A7Ls and 60,000 new Volkswagen utility vehicles. The total capacity at the plants will remain unchanged.

The revamp, expected to be done by the end 2020, comes as demand for luxury cars in China remained firm even as sales in the world's biggest auto market slumped over the past two years.

SAIC Chairman Chen Hong has previously said the JV plans to roll out the first Audi product in early 2022.

ID4 output

VW hopes to start production based on its …