Motor News

The 2024 ZDX is Acura’s first EV, and it’s slated to launch sometime in 2023.The ZDX will have a Type S performance variant, likely with extra horsepower.This model is part of Honda’s collaboration with General Motors, and it will use GM’s Ultium battery platform.Acura’s new electric SUV is starting to take shape, thanks to these new photos of a 2024 ZDX Type S prototype released by the automaker. Though the S-patterned camouflage obscures the details, we can see the overall profile of this new EV model, which will be a mid-size SUV and a more luxurious counterpart to the upcoming Honda Prologue.Both the Honda and the Acura are part of a collaboration with GM, meaning they will ride on GM’s Ultium battery platform. The ZDX is rumored to be built alongside the Cadillac Lyriq in Tennessee, while the Prologue may share its production line with the Chevy Blazer EV in Mexico.AcuraAcura previewed the ZDX’s design language with its Precision EV concept car earlier this year, and this prototype shows similar proportions. The hood is long and low, but the greenhouse has a relatively conventional squareback shape, meaning this won’t be a spiritual successor to the previous ZDX, a daringly styled crossover that was an early adopter of the “coupe-SUV” sloped roofline craze.More from AcuraIf the ZDX shares mechanical components with the Cadillac Lyriq, we might expect a base model with a 340-hp electric motor powering the rear wheels. The Type S, then, could adopt the Lyriq’s all-wheel-drive dual-motor setup with over 500 horsepower. The Lyriq’s battery pack, a 102.0-kWh lithium-ion unit providing an EPA-rated driving range of 312 miles, may also indicate the ZDX’s potential offering.AcuraWe’ll have to wait a bit longer to learn more about the 2024 ZDX, as Acura says it will reveal the new electric crossover in 2023.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

It’s safe to say that more people know who the CEO of Tesla is than could tell you who runs General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, or Hyundai. Elon Musk may own a lot of companies, but it’s Tesla that made him a household name. Not since Henry Ford and his Model T has the head of a car company been so associated with its wares. For many of the brand’s fans, veneration of Elon has gone hand in hand with veneration of Tesla, but what happens if people start thinking Elon is not so swell? Will they sour on Tesla’s products? We may be about to find out.After his high-profile purchase of Twitter for $44 billion, Musk assumed control of the social-media giant and has made an almost daily series of controversial moves. He reinstated formerly banned accounts, attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci, retweeted QAnon memes, and spouted off about “woke mind virus.” Advocating for “free speech,” Musk has gutted Twitter’s content-moderation function, with the result being that hate speech has skyrocketed and advertisers have fled. Now, he says he’ll be stepping down as Twitter CEO, but it remains to be seen whether he actually steps away.Wall Street, which has bestowed upon Tesla a sky-high valuation that has helped make Musk the planet’s richest man, has of late been tapping the brakes. Tesla’s stock price has been cut by 55 percent so far this year, and the selloff has accelerated since Musk’s takeover of Twitter. Of course, many factors can affect the share price (among them, Musk himself selling nearly $40 billion worth of stock this year). But is Wall Street concerned specifically about Elon’s behavior? Interviewed on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street on Friday, Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi said, “Absolutely, to some degree Musk may be disenfranchising potential customers.” Sacconaghi, whose firm has a $150 price target on the stock, saw bigger headwinds facing the company.Teslas TodaySome investors are voicing similar concerns. Quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Gary Black with Future Fund LLC, which is a major Tesla shareholder, said, “The $TSLA brand has been negatively impacted by the Twitter drama. Where before EV buyers were proud to drive their Teslas to their friends or show off Teslas in their driveways, now the Twitter controversy is hurting Tesla’s brand equity.” On Twitter, Black expressed hope that Elon would see the error of his ways: “He will realize soon (if not already) that his polarizing political views are hurting customer perceptions of [Tesla] EVs.”A recent story in Forbes echoed this sentiment, as does a just-released report on automakers’ brand equity, by the automotive research consultancy Strategic Vision. Strategic Vision says, “Tesla’s brand image is heavily tied to its CEO, Elon Musk” and that Musk’s recent actions “all have had a direct impact on his own image and that of Twitter and Tesla.” Strategic Vision president Alexander Edwards notes: “These problems are magnified in that battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are more often purchased by self-identified Democrats who have generally opposed Musk’s actions with Twitter.”Elon seems to be going out of his way to antagonize this core audience. And research shows Democrats’ view of Tesla has dimmed lately, while Republicans’ opinion of the brand has turned more favorable, although to a lesser degree. “Tesla has offered among the best, if not the best, electric vehicles for over a decade, but these buyers aren’t necessarily making the choice based on how environmentally friendly it is,” counters Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions. He adds: “An aura has grown around Tesla ownership. It shows the financially green status of the owner rather than their eco-green mindset, which doesn’t automatically equate to being left-leaning. Given Tesla’s popularity, its buyers will cover a wide political spectrum, and a portion will likely be offended by Musk’s opposing political views, but the numbers aren’t likely to put a huge dent in Tesla’s totals.”The Marketplace TodayTesla, by and large, created modern EV demand. At one time, those who were turned off by Musk’s statements or behavior might nonetheless have overlooked them, owing to the dearth of EV alternatives. Today, though, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, Genesis, GMC, Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia, Lexus, Lucid, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Polestar, Porsche, Rivian, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo all offer electrics, with legions more heading to the on-ramp. And all of them are from automakers whose CEOs keep their politics to themselves.This content is imported from OpenWeb. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

A Buick spokesperson confirmed to C/D that Buick’s first EV will be an SUV called Electra, scheduled to debut for the U.S. in 2024.Buick has just debuted the Electra E5 for China, and we think this model is likely to come to the U.S.Buick has trademarked Electra E1 through E9 names, hinting at its future lineup.Buick is bringing back its Electra nameplate, first used in 1959, for a new range of EVs. We knew that much from a previous trademark filed for the name, but now a Buick spokesperson has confirmed to C/D that the brand will launch the first Electra model, an electric SUV, in the U.S. in 2024. We think this first model could be the Electra E5, just revealed for the China market, that you see here.BuickThe new Electra E5 uses GM’s Ultium battery platform and is a compact SUV. This model appears to be closely related to the Equinox EV, as it rides on the same 116.3 inch wheelbase as the Chevy. It incorporates design elements from Buick’s Wildcat concept and features the latest iteration of the tri-shield logo. Full specs and interior photos are still under wraps, but we’d guess that the Buick will be more luxurious inside than the Equinox.More on BuickBuick declined to comment on the exact size and nomenclature of the Electra model it plans to reveal for the U.S. market in 2024. But we do know that the brand has filed trademarks for Electra E1 through E9, covering all its bases for a wide lineup of electric SUVs ranging from subcompact to full-size. Even if the E5 isn’t the first Electra model to come to our shores, we still think it’s a likely candidate for the U.S. market at some point. It would compete in the compact EV SUV segment that currently includes the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Tesla Model Y, and Volkswagen ID.4.Stay tuned for more news on the Electra E5 and plenty of information still to come about Buick’s new Electra lineup of EVs.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

Hyundai has shown off the first images of the 2024 Kona, with the second-generation subcompact crossover bringing a fresh, angular design. The Kona will yet again offer electric and gas powertrains, with a hybrid powertrain potentially coming to the United States for the first time.The 2024 Kona also grows, adding 5.9 inches of length, with 2.4 extra inches in the wheelbase.The subcompact Kona crossover has been a hit for Hyundai, consistently coming in among the Korean automaker’s top five bestsellers since it was launched for 2018. Now Hyundai has revealed the first photos of the second-generation Kona, showing off a sharp, futuristic design that will continue to house a diverse array of powertrains. The 2024 Kona will be offered with varying degrees of electrification, with an all-electric model, a hybrid, and internal combustion engines including a sportier N Line variant. Unusually, Hyundai says the new Kona was developed as an EV first and then adapted to fit the other powertrains. The Kona has also grown, now measuring 171.5 inches long, 5.9 inches longer than the previous electric Kona. The crossover is also nearly an inch wider and has a 2.4 inch longer wheelbase than before. The pointy front end features a thin LED light bar stretching the width of the car, with the main headlights once again housed within a black plastic piece that stretches around the bumper to encapsulate the front wheels. On the electric model, the light bar gains a pixelated appearance to tie it in with Hyundai’s Ioniq EVs, and the electric Kona also has body-color wheel arches. A closely cropped image of the rear shows a similar design theme to the front end, with a narrow light bar atop larger taillights units incorporated into the wheel arches. The 2024 Kona’s expressive bodywork echoes the Tucson with heavily creased diagonal character lines on the side. The different variants get distinct faces, with the EV receiving a pixelated design in the front bumper and the standard gas and hybrid versions wearing a faux skid plate and chunky chrome details. The N Line sees a black grille linking the headlights, as well as a blacked-out roof and a rear spoiler. The 19-inch wheels also vary in design depending on the powertrain.More Hyundai EVsThe interior is completely reimagined, with an airy feel and two 12.3-inch screens combining to make up the digital gauge cluster and infotainment system. The gear selector has moved from the center console to a stalk behind the steering wheel, freeing up more storage space in the center console. Hyundai didn’t reveal any powertrain specifics, and it’s unclear if the hybrid will be sold stateside, since the first-generation Kona did not offer the hybrid model in the United States. Hyundai says more information on the 2024 Kona will arrive next year, and we expect to see range and power increases for the electric version. This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an investigation into 242 Chevy Bolt–based robotaxis operated by the General Motors subsidiary Cruise in San Francisco.The investigation follows three crashes where the Cruise vehicles braked abruptly as a car approached quickly behind, causing the approaching vehicle to rear-end the Cruise cars.Cruise said it will fully cooperate with NHTSA. The company is looking to expand operations in 2023 as it readies its podlike Origin autonomous vehicle.Cruise, the autonomous-driving subsidiary of General Motors, has been testing its robotaxi service in San Francisco since summer 2021. That entity is now under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The safety organization is looking into a series of crashes in which Cruise’s Chevy Bolt–based prototypes were rear-ended after the electric cars performed a heavy braking maneuver. NHTSA says it has received three reports of the Cruise vehicles “initiating a hard braking maneuver in response to another road user that was quickly approaching from the rear.” Each time, the result was the car behind hitting the rear of the Cruise vehicles. Two injuries were reported in the three collisions. The upcoming Cruise Origin.CruiseThe organization says that the Cruise vehicles “may engage in inappropriately hard braking or become immobilized,” leading the modified Bolt EVs to become “unexpected roadway obstacles.” NHTSA will now begin an evaluation of 242 Cruise vehicles, investigating the logic used by the cars’ computer systems when they performed the hard braking action. Depending on the results, this could lead to a recall of the autonomous vehicles.Stranded RidersNHTSA also says it has reports of Cruise vehicles “becoming immobilized,” which “may strand vehicle passengers in unsafe locations.” This is not the first time Cruise has faced scrutiny—a crash in June that left two people injured prompted a recall of 80 vehicles to update the self-driving software.More Futuristic Pod VehiclesCruise responded by pointing out that, after “nearly 700,000 fully autonomous miles in an extremely complex urban environment,” there have been “zero life-threatening injuries or fatalities” but said it will “fully cooperate with NHTSA or any regulator,” as reported by Reuters. The company also noted that the police did not issue tickets to any of its vehicles in the three crashes. Despite the investigation, Cruise is charging ahead with its ambitious goals, planning to expand into new markets and introduce thousands of autonomous vehicles in 2023. The company announced last Thursday that it had received the first of two permits needed from California that will allow it to charge riders for trips across all of San Francisco in its self-driving cars. The company also petitioned NHTSA in February 2022 for permission to use autonomous vehicles that do not have steering wheels, mirrors, or other physical controls as it develops the pod-like Origin first revealed in 2020. This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

Today you can listen to whatever you want on Apple Music or Spotify, but back in the 1960s, your Christmas music was on the radio or on vinyl.It seems unlikely today, but Goodyear and Firestone sold holiday music alongside tires during holiday seasons of the 1960s and early 1970s.As an Ohio-based LP-to-MP3 conversion company is still doing a booming business with these classic discs, although the era of getting them at tire stores is long gone.From Spotify playlists to radio stations starting holiday tunes on Black Friday, it’s nearly impossible to avoid the sounds of the Christmas spirit. But back in the 1960s, if you wanted a compilation of holiday tunes, chances are you picked it up at the same place you’d get a new set of whitewalls. From 1961 to the mid-’70s, well before Mariah Carey’s monopoly on the holiday spirit, tire manufacturers such as Goodyear and Firestone offered Christmas records in their stores for about $1 (the equivalent of approximately $9.40 today).Stanley Arnold was the man responsible for the unlikely, yet successful, pairing of rubber and Rudolph. Arnold worked at an advertising agency before striking out on his own and convincing executives at Goodyear to lure customers into its stores with something that today anybody with a smartphone can access: a who’s who of classic Christmas covers. Arnold’s idea helped Goodyear sell more than 15 million records—not to mention millions in tire and accessory sales—over 17 years. The albums even remain popular today. “They are still our bestsellers, particularly the Goodyear and Firestone albums,” said David Feinauer, co-owner of Christmas LPs to CD, a Cincinnati, Ohio, company that converts vinyl into downloadable MP3s and CDs. “For Goodyear, the 1965 and ’66 [albums] are the two most popular; the Firestones have a more even demand.”A Lucky StrikeBut how did Arnold associate Christmas music with tire companies? The idea, as he wrote his 1968 book Tale of the Blue Horse and Other Million Dollar Adventures, started after a meeting at Lucky Strike’s headquarters in Durham, North Carolina. Arnold and others were invited to pitch ideas that would help boost cigarette sales. “All the way back to the office I kept humming the tune of the Lucky Strike television commercial that had been played at the meeting,” Arnold wrote. “I decided that music would reverse the sales decline of Lucky Strike.” Arnold’s idea was to offer a collection of music, pulled from Columbia Records, to those who mailed in $1 and proof of purchase of Lucky Strikes. It wasn’t long until sales climbed. The plan proved successful, and Arnold set out to repeat it with another billion-dollar industry: tires.A Goodyear for Christmas MusicWith the runup to Christmas being a big season for tire sales, Arnold bet that music could draw people into Goodyear’s then 60,000 retail outlets. Arnold pitched the idea that buyers would be interested in a Christmas music album.One of the ways he made it easy for a tire company to agree to sell records was by proving it wouldn’t cost them anything. Arnold worked with Columbia Records, which agreed to put together a collection of its best recording artists, which it would offer to Goodyear as an exclusive for only $1 per record. As long as Goodyear sold the records for the same amount, the tire company wouldn’t pay a penny for the albums. Even if no one bought a tire, chances were that these companies wouldn’t lose money from this scheme. For the inaugural Great Songs of Christmas, Arnold amassed a collection of timeless songs that included the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing “Silent Night” and the Leonard Bernstein–led New York Philharmonic’s version of “Unto Us a Child Is Born,” as well as classics such as “The First Noel,” “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” and “Deck the Halls.” Despite Arnold’s suggestion to order 3 million copies, Goodyear countered with 90,000 records. Arnold worked to get the order up to 900,000. Christmas by the Fire(stone)It was around this time Arnold heard that Firestone was working with RCA Records on a Christmas album. Of the conspicuous timing, Arnold wrote: “These coincidences are common in the world of ideas, but the deciding factors are the relative quality of the ideas and the determination with which management supports them.”By December 1, 1961, after only a few weeks of sales, Goodyear stopped promoting the Christmas album—the tire giant had sold every record it ordered. When Goodyear’s second Christmas album came out in 1962, it sold every one of the 1.5 million copies it ordered. This trend continued, too. By the time Goodyear’s sixth Christmas album came out, the tire company had upped its order count to 4 million records. Once again, they sold out. Eventually, distribution for the Goodyear Christmas compilations switched from Columbia Records to RCA Records. As a result, a different set of artists appeared on these albums, including Julie Andrews and Ella Fitzgerald. Firestone, meanwhile, released a total of seven Christmas records starting in 1962 and ending in the 1970s. Whereas Goodyear’s records often featured images of the artists, Firestone’s featured a bow. Feinauer categorized the Goodyear albums as having more of a pop twist with songs such as “Jingle Bells.” The Firestone collections, meanwhile, skewed a bit more traditional, as shown by the records’ more modest branding. By the mid-’60s, the trend of tire companies selling Christmas music was firmly established, with other tire manufacturers, including BFGoodrich, joining in. Other stores, such as JCPenney and Sears, soon offered Christmas records of their own. With this increased competition, sales of such albums from tire companies began to wane. Before long, the era of tire manufacturers selling Christmas records came to a close. This content is imported from OpenWeb. 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There are 1.9 million vehicles on the road today with incorrect numbers on their odometers, according to Carfax. That is up 7 percent from a year ago.While California has the most of these kinds of vehicles on the road today, the rate of increase was especially high in Texas, Florida, and Arizona.Digital odometers can make it easier to falsify a dashboard reading but also harder to get away with it if someone takes the time to investigate.Used-car prices continue to decline in the U.S., but that doesn’t mean everything on the secondhand market is running perfectly. One unfortunate, old-fashioned trend that’s making a bit of a comeback is odometer fraud. The digital age has, in some instances, made it easier than ever to roll back time.Almost 2 million vehicles on the road today have an odometer number that’s been reduced in some way, according to a new report from Carfax. The 1.9 million incorrect readings represent a 7 percent increase from last year, Carfax said. As the largest car market in the U.S., it’s not a surprise that California has the most affected vehicles—more than 437,000, Carfax said—but that number is only 2 percent higher than last year. There were three states in the top 10 with the most affected cars that saw double-digit growth in odometer fraud in the past 12 months: Texas (up 15 percent), Florida and Arizona (both up 12 percent). These rollbacks can have a real impact, causing buyers to lose an average of $4000 in value with their purchase, not counting any unexpected maintenance costs, Carfax said.Trouble in the Car MarketThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been tracking odometer fraud for decades. In 2002, it said there were around 450,000 cases of odometer fraud reported each year and that these misreported numbers ended up costing used-car buyers over a billion dollars a year. NHTSA said there is about a 3.5 percent chance that a car will have its odometer messed with in the first 11 years of its life. As we wrote in 2018, the digitization of vehicle odometers introduces a host of other factors to an odometer rollback, as so many other parts of the car use that number. This, plus increased data capture by auto repair shops and other sources, mean that even if the odometer is messed with, there are now more ways to confirm any changes. In 2021, NHTSA changed its rules for required ongoing odometer reporting so that any vehicle built in or after the 2011 model year now needs to be tracked for 20 years instead of just 10, as it was before. NHTSA said it made this change because the average age of the car on the road was increasing, and a change in the rules was required “to address an increase in odometer fraud involving older vehicles.”How to Protect YourselfIf you are looking to purchase an older vehicle with a mechanical odometer, there are some key things to look out for, NHTSA said. Ask for the title to see what the officially reported odometer reading is, and make sure that that detail is not difficult to read. If the car includes maintenance records, especially oil changes, they can be a good start to estimating accurate mileage. For relatively new vehicles (with under 20,000 miles), the tires should be original. NHTSA also recommends getting a vehicle history report, which Carfax (unsurprisingly) offers as an organization interested in selling information about used cars to buyers. The group’s Odometer Fraud Check compares your Vehicle Information Number (VIN) to information in state DMV databases of vehicles that have been reported as having their odometers falsely changed.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

After increasing pricing for the Ford F-150 Lightning in August and again in October, Ford has raised the bar for entry yet again, this time to $58,514.The price increases struck the more budget-oriented Pro and XLT trim levels, with the more expensive Lariat and Platinum trims being spared the increase. Destination charges were raised by $100 across the board.Ford issued a statement to Car and Driver saying customers waiting for delivery on current orders are not affected by the increase. The adjusted prices began with the new retail order bank on December 15 and will go into effect for the Q2 commercial order bank when that opens.Looking back now, the original 2022 F-150 Lightning was a bargain at the starting price of $41,669. When it reopened order banks for its electrified pickup, Ford quietly increased the price of the 2023 model for the third time since August, raising the base price to $58,514. The new price reflects an inflation of nearly $5000 since only the last round of adjustments, and it pushes the needle further out of reach for customers in search of a base electric truck. Unlike the price increases from August and October, which raised the price on each trim level, this most recent hike only seriously affects the cheaper trim levels. Apart from a $100 increase in destination charges (which happened across the board), the top two trim levels are unaffected by the recent changes. Earlier Price IncreasesC/D’s preferred model, the XLT, now starts at $66,014 when equipped with the standard range battery, while the XLT Extended Range moves up to $82,869. The more expensive Lariat and Platinum trims only move up with the $100 destination charge increase, to $76,369, and $97,819 respectively. FordAccording to a statement from a Ford representative to Car and Driver, the price increase is a standard business practice due to rising material costs, market factors, and ongoing supply-chain constraints. The updated pricing went into effect December 15, when order banks reopened for retail customers. Commercial pricing will increase when the Q2 order banks next open. Customers who ordered in a previous order bank and are still awaiting delivery will be unaffected by this increase. This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More