Tag: automotive news canada

Germany’s auto industry must defend itself in moving to EVs

By on September 16, 2024

Germany for decades led on well-engineered combustion cars. It’s now facing a watershed year in the quest to retain an edge in the age of electric vehicles. Europe’s biggest economy is under growing pressure to retool dozens of fossil fuel-era factories employing tens of thousands of workers in a race for clean-technology leadership with the US and China. Volkswagen Group, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are rolling out several new battery-powered models in the coming months that will be pivotal to proving they can finally start to narrow the gap to Tesla and China’s BYD, the two clear leaders in EV sales.…

Amazon deploys 5,000 Rivian vans

By on July 15, 2023

“To date, Amazon’s Rivian vans have delivered more than 150 million packages across the country,” Amazon said in a blog post Thursday. More than 800 cities now have the electric vans delivering packages, the retailer added. Amazon first deployed the EDV van about a year ago. For the US, the van comes in three cargo sizes: 500 cubic feet, 700 cubic feet and 900 cubic feet, according to Rivian. “This expansion marks a major milestone for Amazon as we continue to drive the fastest rollout of an electric delivery fleet at this scale in the US,” Amazon said. Since Rivian…

Here’s how US auto sales shook out in the first half of 2023

By on July 11, 2023

Six months into 2023, the supply shortages that had handcuffed sales for several years were fading, and volume was up year over year in nearly every vehicle segment. General Motors outsold Toyota at the halfway point for a second consecutive year, and Ford was on pace to become the top brand for the first time in three years. Hyundai-Kia leapfrogged Stellantis to become the No. 4 automaker, as Tesla — based on estimates since it doesn’t report US results — climbed to No. 8. Tesla still has three of the four most popular electric vehicles, though others are grabbing more…

The latest numbers on the automotive microchip shortage

By on July 10, 2023

There are more signs that the microchip shortage is easing, even as automakers cut 82,573 vehicles from production plans worldwide last week, according to the latest estimates from AutoForecast Solutions. North American factories lost 38,677 vehicles because of a lack of semiconductors last week, in addition to 21,700 cut from assembly plants in China and 22,196 removed from production schedules elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region. For the second consecutive week, AutoForecast Solutions lowered its full-year production-loss estimate for North America. It now expects about 954,206 vehicles to be cut in the region by year’s end, an improvement from the 1.01…

Tesla’s 20-year transformation of the auto industry

By on July 2, 2023

“Over time we should cover all areas. It would probably make sense to develop a compact car as well as a van or minivan,” Musk said in September 2020 in a – rare – interview with Automotive News Europe sister publication Automobilwoche. Meanwhile, the model plans have progressed further, but there is a lack of concrete statements, especially on the compact model. Breaking conventions The reasons for the success of the company, which is 20 years old on July 1, are well known and widely discussed. Musk broke with industry conventions from the start. All-electric drive, central control architecture, smart…

Reasons DIY Auto Glass Solutions are a Bad Idea

By on June 27, 2023

You may be tempted to try DIY auto glass solutions to resolve cracks in your windshield or other damage to your auto glass. However, these at-home kits can fail to produce the desired results and can even cause additional damage to your vehicle’s windshield in many cases. A Low Chance of Success According to the National Windshield Repair Division of the Auto Glass Safety Council, less than 10 percent of all auto glass damage can be repaired safely with DIY auto glass solutions. Even if your windshield falls to this 10 percent, the chance that you could repair it to…

Car quality is getting worse, JD Power finds

By on June 27, 2023

New-vehicle quality improved at 12 of 33 brands ranked in the study: Dodge, Ram, Alfa Romeo, Porsche, Maserati, Jaguar, Subaru, Jeep, Mitsubishi, Audi, Chrysler and Volvo. “It’s not one thing that’s detrimental in the industry,” said Frank Hanley, senior director of auto benchmarking at JD Power. “There’s just a lot of little things going wrong, and it’s adding up to big problems for customers.” The number of problems tracked per 100 vehicles rose 6.5 percent from 2022 to 2023, following an 11 percent rise from 2021 to 2022, Hanley said. Before then, the largest increase in problems in a given…

EV makers are dividing into leaders and stragglers in US

By on June 26, 2023

Some of the recent darlings of the EV market, including Kia and Rivian Automotive, are off to a slow start this year due to supply chain issues and the loss of the federal EV tax incentive because of tougher eligibility rules. Overall, new EV registrations grew 72 percent in the January to April period, according to Experian, driven primarily by Tesla, with 52 percent growth and a 60.8 percent share of the electric-car market. Non-Tesla brands split the rest of the EV market among 24 marques. But not all makers are enjoying the EV sales surge evenly. And some promising…