Now that startups have tried and failed to beat the car salesman, many are taking a different route: catering to them. There are many car web-sites who stumbled in their attempts to bring more Amazon-like e-commerce to car shopping, a new wave of auto finance upstarts has emerged. Rather than fight a dispersed and politically-connected dealer industry, they’re bringing the country’s 17,000 new-car dealers into the digital age, meaning consumers aren’t going to be bypassing the dealership to buy new rides anytime soon. The market is so big that there’s nothing...
The dozen owners of Lamborghini Venenos – an ultra-rare supercar that cost $4 million and up – will be receiving some bad news via registered mail: their Italian dream machines are being recalled. The 12-cylinder, 750-horsepower models that Automobili Lamborghini SpA billed as a “street-legal racing car” are among about 5,900 Aventadors the automaker will recall worldwide over risks that a fuel system fault could lead to fires. Included in the recall are the only three Venenos hardtops sold, which carried a price of about $4 million (3 million euros), plus an...
According to the new electric vehicle charger operator report, more than 500,000 electric cars have been sold in the United States. Between November 2015 and November 2016 were sold 30,000 plug-in hybrid or battery-powered electric vehicles. California, home of Silicon Valley and Tesla, has the highest number of electric vehicles in operation, ahead of Georgia, Washington, Florida and Texas. Tesla received 276,000 pre-orders for the “mass-market” Model 3 within two days of it going on sale in April, making it the most popular electric car ever produced Tesla t...
A U.S. judge in New Jersey on Tuesday threw out a proposed class action lawsuit alleging that Mercedes misled consumers about emissions standards in "BlueTec Clean Diesel" vehicles. Plaintiffs claimed Mercedes falsely advertised the BlueTec vehicles as having lower emissions. They said that they later found that the emissions were higher than U.S. standards permitted. The judge said the plaintiffs failed to show they actually viewed any of Mercedes' advertisements touting the cleaner technology. He gave them leave to revise their complaint. Automakers that market diese...
BMW is recalling 136,188 vehicles in the United States and another 18,284 in Canada due to improperly crimped wiring for the fuel pump in the gas tank. The affected models are: 2010-2011 5-Series Gran Turismo2011-2012 528I2011-2012 535I2011-2012 550I2012 640I2012 650I2007-2011 X52008-2011 X62010-2011 X6 ACTIVEHYBRID The in-tank fuel pumps on these vehicles have insufficiently crimped wire contacts. This causes an increase in contact resistance and extra heat. Over time, the plastic around the contact pins can melt, and this can allow fuel to leak. If the pump isn’t workin...
