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WAIMEA, Hawaii — As the global online reveal of the redesigned 2024 Toyota Tacoma wound down at a posh seaside tropical island resort here, after the fire dancers had departed the volcano-themed stage, Kevin Hunter sat alone, nearly unnoticed, in the driver's seat of a white Tacoma with the door open.

For a few minutes, while journalists and guests just feet away largely ignored him, the president of Toyota Motor North America's Calty design studio let his hands glide across the much improved interior contours of what is easily one of Toyota's most important products.

His design teams in California and Michigan had been working on the Tacoma for more than three years, and this was an early opportunity to touch and feel what had previously existed only in a digital world. He wasn't going to let the moment pass, especially given the scope of a project that not only affected Toyota's third-bestselling nameplate in the United States, but its whole …

Ferrari has zero interest in building a car that can drive itself.

That's the word from CEO Benedetto Vigna, who spoke at the Financial Times' Future of the Car Summit this month in London.

"In a cabin, there are four kinds of software," Vigna said, according to Insider. "There is performance software, there is comfort software, there is infotainment software, and there is autonomous. The last one, we don't care."

The ultraluxury brand is, however, working on electric vehicles and has the talent to develop its own software for those, said Vigna, who became CEO in September 2021. He added that it has secured partnerships with battery makers to introduce an EV by 2025.

But as much as Vigna has sworn off self-driving technology, it's always possible the company might change its mind. After all, Ferrari executives said in 2016 that they had no plans to build an SUV or four-door vehicle. The four-door Purosangue, Ferrari's fir…

When Renault reimagined its Espace as a crossover after five model generations as a minivan, it was an acknowledgement that a once-iconic segment had truly run its course in Europe.

Minivans have been declining in popularity among European consumers, much as they have with American shoppers. Since the early 2010s, minivans have been replaced by crossovers and SUVs, as well as small passenger vans with more and more features.

Dataforce, which tracks sales by model and segment, no longer has a minivan category, instead combining passenger van versions of light-commercial vans with the few remaining minivans on the market.

Renault's Espace was the first minivan in Europe when it launched in 1984. Chrysler Corp.'s popular minivans, the Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager, launched in the U.S. nearly concurrently.

The Espace featured plastic composite body panels and seven seats that could be arranged like a living room, w…

Michigan dairy farmers and a Canadian distillery plan to transform milk into a $41.1 million investment in biofuels.

The Michigan Milk Producers Association, a farmer-owned cooperative of more than 1,000 dairy farmers with two processing plants in the state, created a joint venture with Dairy Distillery, of Ontario, which produces a milk-based vodka called Vodkow.

The venture plans to add onto a 30,000-square-foot facility in southwestern Michigan so it can process a byproduct called milk permeate into 2.2 million gallons of ethanol annually for use in cars and trucks starting in 2025, Crain's Detroit Business reported. That amount of ethanol, when blended with gasoline, can offset 14,500 metric tons of carbon a year.

By using technology developed by Dairy Distillery, which began turning milk permeate into vodka in 2018 and into hand sanitizer during the COVID-19 pandemic, Michigan dairy farmers hope to create more value for the milk…

European auto assembly plants have pulled 42,000 more vehicles out of production this week due to a lack of microchips, according to the newest estimate from AutoForecast Solutions. 

But the North American industry, which has made far more chip-related production cuts so far this year, was able to leave its factory schedules unchanged.

Chinese production plans also were unaffected for this week, the forecasting firm reported, as were the assembly plants of South America.

More than 23,000 of the new schedule cuts involved plants in Eastern Europe, according to the AutoForecast Solutions data.

The new weekly estimate also reports that nearly 11,000 vehicles will be cut from factory schedules in the Middle East and Africa.

Source: AutoForecast Solutions Inc. autoforecastsolutions.com

More than 1.8 million Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicles now alert drivers in the U.S. and Canada of nearby firetrucks, ambulances and road hazards through their Uconnect infotainment system.

The idea for the feature came from a hearing-impaired Stellantis employee who nearly collided with an emergency vehicle she couldn't hear. The employee in 2021 suggested driver notifications to help avoid such calamities, and Stellantis deployed the Emergency Vehicle Alert System from HAAS Alert that it began rolling out last year.

An over-the-air update added the system to vehicles starting with the 2018 model year. The notifications come from HAAS Alert's Safety Cloud platform, a vehicle- to-everything and digital alerting solution used by thousands of public and private roadway fleets in North America.

The alerts demonstrate two of the goals Stellantis wants to achieve with software: continuously improving vehicles and using vehicles to create conveniences …

Sheeva.AI is continuing to develop its in-vehicle payment and commerce system by launching two new automotive product offerings.

The Sheeva technology uses precise vehicle location identification to enable a driver to pay for services such as electric vehicle charging, refueling and curbside pickups directly from the car's infotainment screen, using a digital wallet.

"The good thing about our system is … because [of] it's awareness, it knows exactly where you are and what you are at that moment in time," said Evgeny Klochikhin, founder and CEO of the Vienna, Va., startup.

Industry analysts expect in-vehicle commerce to be a growth market. Some applications are already in place. Apple CarPlay, for example, allows vehicle occupants to order Domino's pizza from the touchscreen.

Sheeva.AI has a pilot in-vehicle commerce program with Stellantis in India, said Mamatha Chamarthi, the automaker's head of software business …

Volvo Cars' entry electric crossover will be the Swedish automaker's first vehicle to offer a safety solution aimed at preventing deadly accidents with cyclists.

The EX30, which will make its world debut June 7, warns occupants with visual and audio cues if they are about to open the door in front of a passing cyclist or other traffic user.

The system will be part of the EX30's standard safety equipment.

"Dooring" accidents account for up to one-fifth of all reported bike accidents in some cities.

Dooring happens when a cyclist is hit by or runs into a vehicle door that is opened into the path of travel. The collision usually knocks the cyclist off the bike, causing serious injuries and, in some cases, death.

Volvo will be the second member of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group to offer the technology.

The first was the Smart #1, which is the first car from Smart Automobile in its new status as an e…

Bosch's reorganization of its biggest business unit, Mobility Solutions, into Bosch Mobility will help the mega-supplier prepare for a future in which software, computers and semiconductors are just as important as engines, transmissions and brakes.

Markus Heyn, who will lead Bosch Mobility when the reorganization goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, said that while business is good at Mobility Solutions, it is crucial to create better processes.

"We are trying to reshuffle big parts of our mobility business sector into a setting that is more suitable for the businesses we want to pursue in the future," he told Automotive News Europe at Bosch's annual news conference this month.

The reorganization will result in seven divisions under Bosch Mobility, covering electric components from seat motors to e-axles; vehicle control such as steering and traction; internal combustion and hydrogen powertrains; computing for self-driving and parki…

Staying late at the office. Covering another employee's shift. Going the extra mile for a customer.

Employees at Raymond Chevrolet and Raymond Kia, both in Antioch, Ill., are rewarded with cash bonuses for these efforts — an incentive that owner Mark Scarpelli said has improved employee retention and workplace attitude.

Exemplary employee behavior is met with a "Q-card." The "Q" stands for quality. The cards, which detail how the employee excelled, are cashed for a $25 bonus.

At the end of every month, employees gather for Cake Day, where they socialize and news updates are shared. More anticipated, however, is the chance to receive an even bigger monetary reward. The names of employees who received a Q-card — typically eight to 10 each month — are placed in a bucket. The employee whose name is drawn from the bucket receives a "crisp $100 bill," Scarpelli said.

"Sometimes it's really easy to focus on areas where we ne…