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WASHINGTON, May 12 (Reuters) -The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration demanded the recall of 67 million air bag inflators because it believes there is a safety defect, but auto supplier ARC Automotive Inc. rejected the U.S. regulator's request, documents released on Friday show.

ARC air bag inflators are in General Motors, Stellantis, BMW, Hyundai Motor, and Kia Motors vehicles.

GM on Friday agreed to recall nearly 1 million vehicles with the ARC air bag inflators after a rupture in March resulted in facial injuries to a driver.

The GM recall covers 994,763 Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, and GMC Acadia vehicles from the 2014 through 2017 model years with modules produced by ARC Automotive Inc. Dealers will replace the driver's air-bag module.

GM said in its filing Friday in March it learned of a report that a 2017 Chevrolet Traverse was in a crash and that the front-driver airbag inflator ruptured during deployment. An April 25 insp…

WASHINGTON -- A group of U.S. Tesla Model S and Model X owners filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the electric vehicle maker in California on Friday over automatic software updates that reportedly decreased driving range or cause battery failures.

The lawsuit claims Tesla’s updates and their effects violate state and federal laws because they can cut driving range by up to 20% and can require some owners to replace batteries at a cost of $15,000.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, argues impacted Tesla vehicles are “protected computers” under the definition outlined in the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and that automatic updates violate consumers’ rights under the law.

"Tesla owners and lessors are uniquely at the mercy of the maker of their cars, and Tesla imposes software updates without consent whenever their vehicle is connected to Wi-Fi,” said …

Join us at noon Wednesday for a LinkedIn Live talk with Michael Robinet, executive director of automotive advisory services at S&P Global Mobility.

He will be joined by Automotive News Executive Editor Jamie Butters and Staff Reporter John Irwin to discuss the labor shortage, distressed suppliers, the costly shift to electric vehicles and the risk of strikes at automakers this year.

Robinet has more than three decades of experience in automotive forecasting, strategic analysis and manufacturing finance.

We welcome questions in advance.

Tesla and other EV makers likely cost California dealers $910 million in profit opportunity last year. Tesla recalls just about every car it has sold in China. Plus, a conversation with dealership marketing director April Simmons, who says more retailers should start marketing their sales and service in tandem.

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A freshly formed group purchased its first dealership, another snagged its fourth store in Oklahoma, two stores selling General Motors vehicles traded hands, and a Ford dealership got new ownership in transactions that closed in the third and fourth quarters of 2022 and the first quarter of this year.

Here's a look at the deals involving domestic dealerships in Michigan, Oklahoma, Indiana and New York.

One transaction involved a retailer ranked on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups.

Maxey family buys Fowlerville Ford

The Maxey family on Nov. 10 acquired Fowlerville Ford in Michigan from Ken Hagar, according to Mike Maxey, owner-operator of the store renamed Bob Maxey Ford in Fowlerville.

The dealership "is kind of a consolidation between the Fowlerville location and my Howell location," Maxey told Automotive News.

Maxey said the Fowlerville store offers service and used-car sales and is a satellite location to Bo…

The U.S. Department of Energy on Friday said it plans to loan $362 million to help California wiring components startup CelLink open a factory in Texas.

The conditional commitment from the government's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan program is for the development of lighter, more efficient flexible circuit wiring harnesses for automotive and other industries. Once fully operational, the Georgetown, Texas, facility is expected to produce flex harnesses to support some 2.7 million electric vehicles per year, the department said.

The loan commitment comes after CelLink last year closed on a $250 million funding round with backers including BMW and suppliers Lear Corp. and Robert Bosch. Ford Motor Co. was also an early backer of the San Carlos, Calif., company, which was founded in 2011.

"Factory construction is pretty expensive," CelLink CEO Kevin Coakley said in an interview with Automotive News. "So having an entity like [the Energy Depar…

Volkswagen is committed to moving completely to electric vehicles by the mid-2030s, but until then, an interim step makes sense while the U.S. continues to build out charging infrastructure, the new head of the brand's North American arm argues.

In an interview with Automotive News, Pablo Di Si, who is also in his first year as CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, said VW is looking hard at adding at least one plug-in hybrid to its U.S. lineup in the immediate future.

"It takes you a long time to develop a technology. If I wouldn't have any plug-in hybrid in the group, it wouldn't be an idea" worth pursuing, Di Si said this month. But because of Audi, it's a possibility.

"When you're talking Volkswagen Group in North America, we do have a plug-in hybrid: The [Audi] Q5 e, in Mexico, is a plug-in hybrid. I drove the car in Mexico; it's beautiful, and the [plug-in hybrid] system works very well," Di Si said. "So we do have plug-in hyb…

Linda Yaccarino is the next CEO of Twitter, according to people close to the situation, who confirmed that she did accept the position.

On Thursday, Twitter owner Elon Musk tweeted that he was ready to hand the top job to a person he had not yet named. Immediately after that announcement, sources told Automotive News sister publication Ad Age that it was Yaccarino, chairman of NBCUniversal’s advertising and partnerships group. On Friday, a person with direct knowledge of the move said that it was official.

That came after NBCU announced that Yaccarino was leaving the company, without saying where she was headed. Mark Marshall, NBCU’s president, advertising sales and client partnerships, is now in Yaccarino’s former position as interim chairman of advertising and partnerships, NBCU said.

Twitter declined to comment.

Yaccarino is coming to Twitter as a fixer for its advertising problems, bringing deep connections with brand…

Elon Musk said on Thursday he has found a new chief executive for Twitter without naming the person and that he will transition to the role of chief technology officer of the social media platform within the next few weeks.

"Excited to announce that I've hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!," Musk said in a tweet.

Musk has previously not named any prospective candidates, and it was unclear who he had named as his successor, although Blind, an anonymous messaging app for tech employees, was ripe with speculation.

Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and a top executive at Musk' brain-chip startup Neuralink, Shivon Zilis, were among the names being discussed on Blind, according to a former employee who viewed the comments.

Top female executives from Musk's other companies, such as SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell and Tesla Inc TSLA.O Chair Robyn Denholm could also be named, according to Jason …

The unusual taillight clusters of the imposing DS 4 hatchback – the latest model from the French premium brand, DS Automobiles – are reminiscent of a sparkling jewel. Vehicles from DS Automobiles are easily recognizable from a distance thanks to their unique signature lights.

The shimmer of the taillight covers sets the perfect scene for the light design. Supplier Marelli Automotive Lighting manufactured the covers using a crystal-clear PLEXIGLAS® molding compound, which was then framed by a black gloss contour made from PLEXIGLAS® Hi-Gloss 8N black. This interplay completes the high-quality overall look of the taillights.

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The unusual taillight clusters of the imposing DS 4 hatchback – the latest model from the French premium brand, DS Automobiles – are reminiscent of a sparkling jewel. Vehicles from DS Automobiles are easily recognizable from a distance thanks to their unique signature lights.

The shimmer of the taillight covers sets the perfect scene for the light design. Supplier Marelli Automotive Lighting manufactured the covers using a crystal-clear PLEXIGLAS® molding compound, which was then framed by a black gloss contour made from PLEXIGLAS® Hi-Gloss 8N black. This interplay completes the high-quality overall look of the taillights.

PLEXIGLAS® ensures the taillights of the DS 4 shine like diamonds The material for contemporary automobile design that saves resources Brand PMMA from Röhm provides both aesthetic and functional properties Emotional product design with PLEXIGLAS®