For the first time in Toyota’s history the automaker will produce parts exclusively in the U.S.. The carmaker will invest $373.8 million into hybrid powertrains here. The money invested will be split between 5 U.S. manufacturing plants, and each new project will begin this year, and must be completely operational by 2020. "This investment is part of our long-term commitment to build more vehicles and components in the markets in which we sell them," Toyota Motor North America CEO Jim Lentz. New production of hybrid transaxles will begin at the company's Buffalo, ...
We’ve been waiting for something to change dramatically the automotive industry, just like the iPhone did to the mobile industry 10 years ago, and that one thing that could make it all different is the electrification of cars. The rise of Tesla and its rivals could be boosted by complementary services from Uber and Alphabet's Waymo unit, just as the iPhone rode the app economy and fast mobile internet to decimate mobile phone giants like Nokia. The culmination of these technologies — autonomous electric cars available on demand — could transform how people travel and...
Volkswagen will launch a number of fully autonomous Level 5 electric cars, vans and trucks starting as early as 2021. In the near feature it will start testing them at its headquarters. The Sedric self-driving concept, which debuted in Geneva in March was only the beginning. Volkswagen’s team is already working on ideas for a whole Sedric family of fully autonomous vehicles for the city, for luxurious long-range mobility, through self-driving delivery vans and heavy commercial trucks. Developers also are working on concepts for a robotic sports car. VW's ambitious time fra...
When it comes to driving cars with an internal combustion engine, catastrophic is not a word you generally want to hear. That’s especially true when the car in question has 707 hp and goes by the name Hellcat, be it the two-door Dodge Challenger or the four-door Dodge Charger. Going through the latest recall from FCA – which affects 1,209 Hellcat models sold only in 2017 – we don’t see catastrophic mentioned specifically. However, we can’t think of a better word to describe a rapid and sudden loss of oil that can seize the engine, spray onto the windshield, and po...
Chevrolet aims to update its lineup by adding a budget V8 Camaro. Offering a cheaper V8 would be fantastic both from an enthusiast standpoint and from a sales perspective. Everyone likes the current Camaro with its 455-hp V8, but the $37,995 price makes it a tough sell when it's a full $2,000 more than the now more powerful 2018 Ford Mustang GT. It's also almost $4,000 more than both the outgoing 2017 Mustang GT and the Challenger R/T, the most affordable V8 Challenger. We think that if Chevy could offer a bare-bones model for a couple-thousand dollars less, perhaps without...
