Auto Lovers Land

Ford Motor Co.’s long-standing commitment to sustainability is bearing fruit as it recruits new employees and lines up financing for its push into electric vehicles, Ford executives said during a web conference.  Ford officials said the company will double the initial planned output of the F-150 Lightning. It’s in the process of expanding the plant. Bob Holycross, Ford vice president for the sustainability, noted Ford first made a commitment to sustainability more than 20 years ago. “We’ve been on this journey for a long time,” he noted during an online conference organized on ESG or Environmental, Social and Government issues by RBC Global.  However, Ford’s commitment is now paying dividends with customers, and with investors, who are increasingly concerned about the company’s environmental record. “Investors are looking at this very closely,” Holycross said, and it is a priority.    Green bonds a big success  David Webb, Ford Motor Co. treas...

Mercedes-Benz is seeking regulatory approval to introduce its new Drive Pilot technology into the U.S. market this year, the automaker’s CEO told reporters, and hopes to launch the hands-free system in China, as well. Mercedes chief Ola Källenius said he company would begin building cars with its Level 3 autonomous technology, Drive Pilot. There is an ongoing, industry-wide race to commercialize hands-free and even fully driverless technologies. German regulators recently approved the use of the Mercedes system, marking the first Level 3 technology capable of operating on public roads. Several other manufacturers, such as Tesla and General Motors, have introduced systems capable of some hands-free operation in passenger vehicles, though they fall into the less capable Level 2 category. But a yet more advanced, fully driverless technology could soon be in commercial operation, GM now seeking approval to deploy Cruise Origin ride share vans in San Francisco. Those shuttles would h...

The number of U.S. motorists who say they’d give serious consideration to buying a battery-electric vehicle when next in the market has grown sharply during the last several years, said Steve Carlisle, president of GM’s North American automotive operations. GM’s research shows more and more car buyers are considering EVs, which is good because the company’s got a bunch coming. It couldn’t happen at a better time, the largest of the Detroit automakers set to roll out at least 30 BEVs by 2025. GM CEO Mary Barra has set a target of selling 400,000 battery-powered vehicles next year, with the automaker planning to boost capacity to 1 million BEVs in North America by 2025. The number of people considering BEVs “is getting very high,” said Carlisle — who also serves as Cadillac brand boss — during a conference sponsored by Citi on Thursday. “In some clinics we can see over 50% of consumers saying they’re willing to consider an EV for their next purchase. And that number is up substant...

The average all-electric vehicles costs about $4,000 more than a comparable gas-powered model, but improvements in battery technology and manufacturing processes could turn that formula upside down over the next five to six years, a panel of experts forecast during a industry forum on Thursday. GM’s battery chief Tim Grewe, center, said battery prices have been dropping faster than expected. At least, that’s where things appeared to be heading before Russia invaded Ukraine this week . Perhaps the single biggest challenge the auto industry faces in the transition to battery power is lining up the necessary raw materials, starting with lithium, nickel and cobalt. And the crisis in Europe threatens to send prices skyrocketing while limiting supplies, the panelists warned. Battery prices have, until now, been “going down faster than we thought (they) would,” said Tim Grewe, General Motors’ Global director of Electrification and Battery Systems, during a virtual panel hosted by Wolfe...

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation is opening a “Preliminary Evaluation” of 2018-19 Honda Accord midsize cars and 2017-19 Honda CR-V compact crossovers for unintended automatic emergency braking.  The 2019 Honda Accord is among the models affected by NHTSA’s investigation. The agency opened the inquiry after receiving 278 complaints — 107 for the Accord and 171 for the CR-V. The inadvertent incidents include those “with large speed changes, occurring with nothing obstructing the vehicle’s path of travel”  according to NHTSA’s document , which was posted Thursday. “The complaints allege that the inadvertent braking events occur without warning and randomly,” the document states. “ODI is opening this Preliminary Evaluation to determine the scope and severity of the potential problem and to fully assess the potential safety-related issues.” The agency is concerned because unexpected emergency braking activation can greatly...

The 2022 Subaru BRZ boasts more refined styling. To visit a Subaru showroom is to see motorized anxiety personified. These vehicles are automotive ointment meant to soothe the ongoing terror that at any moment, the weather will turn biblical and you’ll be unable to get to the Piggly Wiggly while carrying boatloads of lifestyle debris. But residing in this bastion of motorized all-wheel-drive balm is an anomaly: the rear-wheel-drive Subaru BRZ — a sports car.  It is the corporate thumb in your eye to Subaru’s usual nervous nelly customers — a bratty, fun automotive indulgence for a nation of drivers whose driving habits revolve around the words me, myself and I. Overview The 2022 Subaru BRZ’s integrated duckbill spoiler unifies a design element that otherwise might have looked tacked on. As before, the Subaru BRZ, and its identical cousin, the Toyota GR86, return sporting a redesign for 2022. While they share much in common, the Subaru is slightly different, with a...

Mercedes-Benz Group capitalized on a favorable pricing environment to more than double its profits during 2021 even though the company’s sales of cars, utility vehicles and vans dropped by 5% during the year.   The new EQS, presented by Ola Källenius, Mercedes-Benz Group AG chairman, has enjoyed a positive response from buyers. Despite the ongoing semiconductor shortages, the fourth quarter of  Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans showed a strong adjusted return  on sales of 15%, driven by the strong pricing, good product mix and excellent performance of its used car business.  Mercedes-Benz Group revenue from continuing operations increased by 10% to $151.4 billion, while group EBIT from continuing operations more than doubled to $18.1 billion from $6.9 billion. Group net profit from continuing operations was $12.5 billion, up from $4.5 billion, according to the company, which  separated from Daimler Truck in 2021 .  Earnings per share, excludin...