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Robotaxis open for business in Los Angeles
Anyone in Los Angeles will be able to digitally hail a Waymo robotaxi beginning Tuesday, but don't expect the driverless vehicle to jump onto a freeway.
Waymo announced it will begin Waymo One service in Los Angeles County but will limit its vehicles to surface streets, where the startup owned by Google's parent, Alphabet, has been testing the ...Read more
Motormouth: Staying charged up
Q: I read your column every week and have learned a lot. Thank you for all the info. I live in Chicago and have a deep-cycle battery for my pop-up camper that I keep in my unheated garage between trips. I have it on a maintenance charger. Should I bring it indoors during the Chicago winter, or will the charger keep it ready (and undamaged) for ...Read more
Eric's Autos: 2025 Lincoln Corsair
The daunting thing about the car market right now is how expensive non-luxury-brand vehicles have become. On average, they have increased in cost by an astounding $20,000 over the past roughly four years.
But there are, interestingly enough, some luxury-brand vehicles that aren't particularly expensive -- relative to what it costs to buy a ...Read more
Tesla was told to temper robotaxi fervor months before US probe
Tesla Inc. was admonished by a US agency over how the carmaker was promoting its driver-assistance technology on social media months before the regulator opened a defect investigation of the system.
In a May 15 email sent to Tesla representatives, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration official flagged seven social media posts the ...Read more
Stellantis cutting 400 jobs at Detroit parts warehouse
Stellantis NV plans to cut about 400 workers at an east Detroit warehousing facility early next year.
The indefinite layoffs will affect all workers at the Freud Street parts sequencing facility, which is near the company's Detroit Assembly Complex-Jefferson plant. Stellantis said it's transitioning the operations to a third-party.
"As ...Read more
Auto review: 2024 Acura TLX Type-S is the perfect sedan
As the sedans continue to be a backburner choice for American car consumers, Acura pushes forward and does the unthinkable: manufacturing a sporty sedan with all-wheel drive, power and luxury. The 2024 Acura TLX Type-S is exactly what consumers in many categories are looking for.
With Acura’s long lasting history of great value, excellent ...Read more
Auto review: 2025 Lamborghini Urus SE Plug-In Hybrid is still a righteous raging bull
NARDÒ, Italy — Don’t look now, but Lamborghini builds nothing but gas-electric hybrids.
As Lamborghini develops its first battery-electric supercar, due in 2028, it’s also busy fielding gas-electric hybrid powertrains in the interim. It started with the Aventador’s replacement, the Revuelto. With 1,001 horsepower flowing from its 6.5-...Read more
GM ending Cadillac XT4 production in January
General Motors Co. is ending production of the gas-powered Cadillac XT4 small SUV in January 2025, the automaker confirmed Thursday.
The XT4 is built at GM's Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas, where production of the Chevrolet Malibu sedan is ending this month. GM is still investing $391 million in Fairfax to make a new version of the Chevrolet ...Read more
EV maker Rivian falls short of revenue projections for third quarter
Electric vehicle maker Rivian missed Wall Street's expectations for revenue on Thursday, with sales coming in lower than anticipated in the third quarter.
The Irvine-based company reported revenue of $874 million in the three months ending Sept. 30., which fell short of the $992 million projected by analysts, according to FactSet. The company ...Read more
Stellantis will cut 1,100 jobs at Toledo's Jeep Gladiator plant
Stellantis NV said Wednesday it plans to cut a shift at its Toledo plant that builds Jeep Gladiator pickups, which will result in about 1,100 indefinite layoffs by early next year.
The move from two to one shifts does not come as a surprise, with Gladiator sales slowing this year and the automaker seeking to slash pent-up inventories of the ...Read more
After delays, Chicago begins automated ticketing of drivers parked in bike, bus lanes
CHICAGO — Owners of vehicles parked in bike and bus lanes downtown can now receive warnings and, soon, tickets in the mail, as a delayed program to test automated ticketing for the parking infractions has begun.
The pilot program, which uses cameras on eight city vehicles to enforce parking violations, began Monday. For the first month ...Read more
GM could find opportunity in chaotic European market with EV play
DETROIT — General Motors Co. is pushing ahead with its reentry into Europe using a direct-to-consumer electric-vehicle sales model despite a slumping market there — and experts contend the play could pay off for the Detroit automaker.
GM started selling the Cadillac Lyriq EV in Europe last year and has opened what it calls Cadillac City ...Read more
Power play: Will Ford's charger promise electrify interest in its EVs?
Ford Motor Co.'s commitment to pay for home electric vehicle chargers and their installation didn't prevent the automaker from reporting an 8.3% decrease in U.S. electric vehicles sales in October compared to a year ago, its first year-over-year decline since January.
The Dearborn automaker, starting Oct. 1, said buyers through the rest of the ...Read more
UAW workers strike at Woodbridge plant in Lithonia
About 70 union production workers have gone out on strike at a Woodbridge Corp. factory in Lithonia, Georgia.
Members of the United Auto Workers Local 472 want raises and better benefits, including sick days, according to union officials and workers.
The plant makes seating and dashboard components for manufacturers of cars and golf carts. Its...Read more
Eric's Autos: 2025 Kia Sportage Plug-in Hybrid
Plug-in hybrids like the Kia Sportage are ingenious things. Not so much because they can be driven entirely on battery power until they run low on charge -- just like a vehicle powered entirely by a battery -- but because you don't have to stop when the plug-in hybrid runs low on charge. You don't even have to plug it in, if you prefer not to.
...Read more
China files WTO complaint over the EU's electric car tariffs
China has lodged a complaint with the World Trade Organization over the European Union’s final tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports, escalating a dispute that’s straining an already fraught relationship.
Beijing brought the case to the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism on Monday to “safeguard the development interests” of the...Read more
Motormouth: When should I get an oil change?
Q: I drive a 1998 Toyota that has 62,000 miles on it. I have read your column faithfully for years and have learned so much from you. As you can tell from the mileage on my car, I barely put 2,000 miles on it in a year. The most I might drive in a day is 3-5 miles and sometimes I go days without driving at all. Also, I never do expressway ...Read more
Auto review: With RHO, Ram unleashes a rhino to take on the F-150 Raptor
HOLLY OAKS, Michigan — Raptor, meet Rhino.
The 2025 Ram 1500 RHO supertruck is here and it’s a worthy competitor to segment pioneer Ford F-150 Raptor. RHO is short for Ram High Output, and the acronym’s similarity to rhinoceros is no accident. This is a full-grown, armor-plated, earth-pawing, terrain-chewing, bone-crunching beast.
Better...Read more
Auto review: 2025 Nissan Kicks is competitive, but no standout
It’s been six years since Japanese authorities arrested Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn over allegations of false accounting. It marked the end of a tenure that had started strong, with Nissan fielding impressively rejuvenated products. But Ghosn’s vision ultimately faltered as he became consumed by increasing market share at the expense of all else...Read more
Auto review: Mercedes GLC43 AMG is one speedy SUV
As Mercedes has been pressed for years to deliver outstanding luxury vehicles, they have also instilled a great amount of sportiness to their fleet. When sports and luxury come together, it’s easy for consumers to demand more and more. With Mercedes historically leading the way in the German market, the GLC43 AMG is here and wow is an ...Read more