Motor News

CHRIS AMOS, THE MANUFACTURER

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is looking into complaints that water has leaked into Jeep Cherokee SUVs and caused the parking brake to activate while the vehicle is moving.The investigation, which involves 1.3 million Jeep Cherokees from 2014 through 2020 model years, is looking into 80 reports of problems with the vehicle’s electronic parking brake module.These are investigations only at this time, and neither NHTSA nor the manufacturer has announced recalls. NHTSA has announced it is investigating the 2014–2020 Jeep Cherokee SUV after receiving 80 complaints from Cherokee owners regarding problems with the electronic parking brake. The problem appears to be that the brake may activate while the Cherokee is moving, which causes the vehicle to stall and stop. According to the reports and documentation from repair invoices, NHTSA is theorizing that water may be leaking in, causing damage to the electronic parking brake module. An estimated 1,341,055 Cherokee vehicles could be involved, and the investigation is currently at the “preliminary evaluation” stage.One example of a consumer complaint found on the NHTSA recalls website reads: “While driving on a four-lane highway at 65 mph the vehicle partially lost power and would not accelerate, upshift, or downshift, the brake lights started flashing, along with many other lights on the dash including check engine.” The owner reported being shown the parking brake module of the car by a mechanic and informed that water had seeped into the system, leaving the electronic parking brake module corroded. The NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation noted that a previous recall in 2015 of nearly 100,000 2014–2015 Jeep Cherokees addressed issues with the power liftgate module being damaged by water leakage, noting in the current documents that the liftgate and brake modules are “located in a similar area of the vehicle.”For now, NHTSA has not called for the Cherokee to be recalled for the brake issue, and there are no reports of accidents or injuries. Owners can check the NHTSA recalls website for updates.

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Lamborghini has teased a new Huracán variant which appears to be a production version of the 2019 Sterrato concept.The Sterrato will be a V-10–powered supercar that isn’t afraid to get dirty, sporting a raised suspension, plastic body cladding, and rally lights.The Sterrato, presuming it keeps the same name, should debut in full before the end of the year.At the start of the year, Lamborghini boss Stephan Winkelmann revealed that 2022 would bring two new variants of the V-10–powered Huracán supercar. The first, called Tecnica, appeared in April, packing the same rear-wheel-drive, 631-hp powertrain found in the track-focused Huracán STO but with less extreme aerodynamic components. Now Lamborghini has confirmed the identity of the second new Huracán model, releasing a video that teases the impending arrival of the off-road-oriented Sterrato.
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Lamborghini first hinted that it was interested in turning its 200-mph wedge into a rally machine in 2019 when it showed the Sterrato concept. At the time, the Sterrato was simply referred to as a one-off concept, but the new video showing a camouflaged prototype tearing up a dirt road indicates that the Sterrato will reach production.

Lamborghini

There are a few noticeable differences between the concept and the test vehicle that stars in the teaser video. The production version still wears a pair of rectangular LED rally lights atop the front bumper, but the third LED light bar mounted to the roof rails has been removed—although the presence of the roof rails will allow owners to install their own aftermarket auxiliary lights. The production car appears to feature similar black plastic cladding around the wheels as the concept, as well as the same slatted engine cover, but there also appears to be an air intake emerging from the engine bay.

The teaser did not include a reveal date, but the Sterrato is expected to arrive before the end of 2022. No technical specifications are known at the moment, but the Sterrato will presumably feature all-wheel drive and the same 631-hp version of the 5.2-liter V-10 found in other AWD Huracán models.
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Volkswagen started production of the ID.4 at its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.The 2023 ID.4 models built in the U.S. will be slightly different from the existing Europe-built models.A cheaper version of the ID.4 with a smaller battery pack is coming later this year.Volkswagen ID.4 models have begun rolling off the assembly line in Chattanooga, Tennessee and will reach dealerships starting in October. The electric SUV first went on sale here for the 2021 model year, but has been imported from VW’s plant in Germany since its launch.VW says it intends to ramp up production in the U.S. to 7000 cars per month by the end of the year; for reference, it has sold just 4415 ID.4s on our shores through the first half of this year and moved 16,742 units in 2021.

The U.S.-built 2023 ID.4 will also feature a few changes compared with the Europe-built car. VW says that the center console is revised, and that the 77.0-kWh battery will come from a different, U.S.-based supplier, SK Innovation in Georgia. Some interior materials will also be sourced from suppliers in the U.S. There will also be a new entry-level model added by the end of the year that will come with a smaller battery pack, rear-wheel drive, and a lower base price that VW previously estimated at around $35,000. Pricing for the 2023 ID.4 models will be released next week.

Volkswagen

Even still, these differences will be subtle, and Tennessee-built ID.4s will likely be found alongside Germany-built models at dealerships as production ramps up. So if you’re shopping for an ID.4 starting in October, when the first U.S.-built cars are estimated to arrive, you’ll have to check the VIN to see where any given car was made.
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Cadillac has revealed three Track Editions for the CT4-V Blackwing to celebrate the brand’s success in the IMSA SportsCar championship.The Track Editions each come with special colors meant to evoke the racing circuits they are named after: Sebring, Watkins Glen, and Road Atlanta.There are also special interior trim pieces, IMSA logos, and decals, and only 99 units of each will be built.Cadillac recently revealed the Project GTP Hypercar, which will do battle in the IMSA Sportscar Championship starting at next year’s 24 Hours of Daytona, scrapping with a host of new endurance racers from a large field of factory-backed teams. But Cadillac has already been competing and succeeding in IMSA with the Cadillac DPi-V.R since 2017, racking up 28 wins and 84 podiums across multiple entries in 59 races. To celebrate its IMSA achievements, Cadillac is launching the 2023 CT4-V Blackwing Track Edition, with three different versions that each honor a different American road course that is part of the IMSA schedule.
The Sebring IMSA Edition celebrates the Twelve Hours of Sebring in Florida—which Cadillac won in 2021 and 2022—with a dark Maverick Noir Frost paint job, chosen because the race ends in the dead of night. This moody color is paired with Tech Bronze brake calipers and interior accents in either Signet or Sky Cool Gray.
The Watkins Glen IMSA Edition has the same interior trim but is decked out in Electric Blue paint with Royal Blue brakes, calling to mind the light blue guardrails that mark the boundaries of the iconic track. The Road Atlanta IMSA Edition meanwhile features a Rift metallic paint job, said to emulate the “overall elevated environment of Road Atlanta” and “the sophistication of the city.” The interior comes with either Adrenaline Red or Sky Cool Gray accents, and the exterior adds Edge Red brakes, Radiant Red side mirrors, and a red pinstripe along the carbon fiber side skirt.

Along with special colors, the Track Editions add the CT4’s two optional carbon fiber packages as standard, as well as the carbon-fiber front seatbacks. Either the standard six-speed manual transmission or the optional 10-speed automatic gearbox will be available, with manual cars receiving a 3D-printed medallion on the shift knob. Plaques on the B-pillar and the bottom of the steering wheel feature the serial number and verify the authenticity of the Track Edition, and a sill plate recounts Cadillac’s racing triumphs at each circuit. The vehicles also come with an IMSA logo on the front splitter and rear spoiler, a checkered graphic pattern on the hood and doors, and a track outline decal for each track on the rear quarter glass.Only 99 examples of each Track Edition will be built. Production of the Watkins Glen version will run from October to December, with production of the Sebring edition starting in January of 2023 and the Road Atlanta variant being built from February to March of next year. There’s no word yet on price, but we expect a sizable bump over the standard CT4-V Blackwing, which starts at $60,390.
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Audi has revealed a new SUV for the China market called the Q6.It’s a three-row model based on the same MQB platform as the VW Atlas.We don’t expect to see this come to the U.S. anytime soon.Audi is expanding its SUV lineup in China with a new model called the Q6. Though its name places it below the Q7 and Q8 models, it is larger than those and is based on the same MQB platform as the VW Atlas three-row SUV that’s sold in the U.S. It’s part of Audi’s joint venture with Chinese automaker SAIC and will be built locally in China.

We don’t have much in terms of specifications, but we know that the Q6 will be offered in three configurations, all with Quattro all-wheel drive. The base 40 has a 2.0-liter engine, likely a turbo-four, with 228 horsepower, while the 45 has a slightly more powerful version of that engine with 262 hp. The top model is the Q6 50, which has a 2.5-liter engine (possibly the same VR6 that’s in the Chinese version of the Atlas, called Teramont) with 295 horsepower.

Audi

The key differences between the Q6 and its downmarket VW sibling are in its design. The front end incorporates Audi’s singleframe grille and similar headlights as other Audi models, while the rear has taillights that stretch across the width of the vehicle. Inside, we can see nicer materials than what you get in the VW, plus touchscreens running Audi’s MMI infotainment system.

Audi

Audi

The Q6 starts at the equivalent of around $74,000 in China at current exchange rates, with the top model commanding $88,000. We doubt we’ll see anything like this vehicle in the U.S., as the Q7 already has the mid-size luxury SUV market covered for the four-ring brand.
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Toyota has released EPA fuel economy numbers for the 2023 Sequoia, and the new 3.4-liter V-6 hybrid powertrain brings a noticeable benefit.The Sequoia returns 22 mpg combined with rear-wheel drive, while choosing four-wheel drive lowers that figure to 20 mpg. This is a marked improvement over the previous model, which was powered by a 5.7-liter V-8 and maxed out at 15 mpg.The new 2023 Toyota Sequoia brings a much needed update to the full-size SUV based on the Tundra pickup. Replacing the second generation model that had languished on the market for 15 years, the revised Sequoia arrives with sharper styling, a more modern interior, and a standard hybrid powertrain. While looks are subjective and the giant touchscreen may turn some shoppers off, the Sequoia’s new V-6 hybrid setup provides an undeniable advantage over the previous generation, with Toyota recently releasing much improved EPA fuel economy ratings for the 2023 Sequoia.

Toyota

All Sequoias are powered by the same twin-turbocharged 3.4-liter V-6 engine paired with an electric motor, with the only choice being rear- or four-wheel drive. The two-wheel drive 2023 Sequoia is rated by the EPA at 21 mpg in the city and 24 mpg on the highway for a 22 mpg combined rating. The four-wheel-drive system—optional on all trims except the TRD Pro, where it comes standard—drops the ratings to 19 mpg city and 22 mpg highway for a 20 mpg combined figure.

This represents a sizable improvement over the 2022 Sequoia with its 5.7-liter V-8 engine, which returned 15 mpg combined for the two-wheel-drive model and 14 mpg for four-wheel drive. The 2023 Sequoia hybrid is also substantially more fuel efficient than the 2023 Chevy Tahoe fitted with the 5.3-liter V-8, which returns 17 mpg combined with rear-wheel drive. It also beats out the most efficient 2022 Ford Expedition (19 mpg combined from a two-wheel-drive twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6) and 2022 Nissan Armada (16 mpg combined from a two-wheel-drive 5.6-liter V-8). The only full-size SUV more that can travel more miles on a gallon of fuel than the Sequoia is the Tahoe equipped with its 3.0-liter turbo-diesel inline-six, which gets 24 mpg in two-wheel drive configuration or 22 mpg as a four-wheel drive model.
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A new website run by GM offers live, one-on-one question and answer sessions for anyone curious about the benefits of owning an EV.You can book a “tour” with an EV specialist to learn about home and public charging, battery technology, and other topics. Users can see the specialist and ask questions via voice or text, but the video stream only goes one way.GM says the mission here is to sell the EV experience, not just more GM EVs.Starting today, GM is offering EV Live, a free educational platform that allows anyone curious about electric vehicles the chance to talk with an EV specialist over the Internet as part of a personal virtual tour that provides answers on how you can make the shift to an electric car.“EV Live lets us meet people where they are and have a real conversation about electrification,” Hoss Hassani, GM vice president of EV Ecosystem, said in a statement. “We’re selling the EV experience, rather than specific EVs.”

GM is correct that some car buyers could use a helping hand to better understand electric vehicles. A May study by J.D. Power found that 24 percent of car shoppers said they are “very likely” to consider an EV for their next vehicle. Thirty percent of the people who were not interested in EVs said the reason was a lack of information. “Because firsthand experience with EV technology is still not entirely commonplace, shoppers need to be better informed about the ownership experience they offer,” J.D. Power said about the survey results.The Q&A tours happen at a sort of virtual customer information booth called the EV Live studio. To visit, the EV-curious need to make an appointment at the EV Live website or, if you’re lucky, you can sign up for an on-demand live tour, if a host is currently available.During your time with the host, you can ask questions via voice or text chat. The EV specialist will provide an answer, possibly with an assist from one of the website’s dynamic displays about home and public charging, battery technology, the sustainability of EVs, possible commercial applications, and information about how GM’s EVs connect with smartphone apps.Currently, GM is only offering one-on-one tours, but group tours will be available later this year. GM will also provide prerecorded sessions in the future, if you just want to watch and not interact with a host. EV Live offers a one-way live video feed during tours so the guest can hear and see the host, but the host has no ability to see video from anyone taking the tour.EV Live will conduct live sessions seven days a week between 9 am and midnight Mondays through Thursdays, 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. Fridays and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the weekends (Eastern time).
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People are really unhappy about auto warranty scam calls, filing more complaints with the FCC last year than the other four leading topics, like phishing and credit card scams.Now the FCC has named the people and organizations responsible and said other voice service providers have to block traffic from these sources or they might be considered guilty as well.Meanwhile, don’t give out personal information to anyone who calls you when you’re not expecting them to, even if they know what kind of car you drive, the FCC recommended.We’ve been trying to reach you concerning your car’s extended warranty.If you immediately felt frustrated upon reading those words, you’re not alone. The Federal Communications Commission has announced that it is going to block a massive auto warranty robocall scam campaign, and there’s little question why.People have been complaining to the FCC more about these warranty robocalls over the past two years than any other topic. These scam calls are in both English and Spanish, and the FCC said the people responsible are still sending out millions of illegal calls every day.”We are not going to tolerate robocall scammers or those that help make their scams possible,” FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. “Consumers are out of patience and I’m right there with them.”

The FCC’s new order forces all U.S. voice service providers to “take all necessary steps” to make sure robocall traffic doesn’t reach our cellphones. If they can’t do that, the providers have to tell the FCC what steps they’re taking to mitigate the traffic. If the FCC thinks that the voice service provider isn’t doing enough to stop the calls, the companies “may be deemed to have knowingly and willfully engaged in transmitting unlawful robocalls,” it could force other providers to block traffic from the ineffective voice service provider.The FCC named the two main people it said are responsible for these scam calls, Roy Cox, Jr., and Aaron Michael Jones, and said their work was part of the “Cox/Jones/Sumco Panama Operation.” The FCC said the operation has been making scam calls since at least 2018. The Cox/Jones/Sumco Panama Operation ramped up operations in late 2020, when it purchased lists of nearly 500,000 numbers from at least 229 area codes so that it could make its calls appear to come from a local number. The FCC said Cox has already entered into a settlement with the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission and agreed to a permanent ban on all telemarketing activities. On top of the new order issued last week, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau and the Ohio Attorney General are also taking action against the Sumco Panama Operation.Simple Steps to Protect YourselfThe FCC offers a few basic tips to protect yourself if you do answer a call from someone you don’t know about auto warranties. Don’t provide any personal information when someone calls you unexpectedly, and be aware that scammers might have some real information about you or your car that can make you think they’re legitimate. To be sure that you’re dealing with the organization you think you are, hang up and call the company using a phone number from previous legit interaction with them (like a bill) or one you find on their website.American telephone usage has changed over the years. A 2020 survey by the Pew Research Center found that more than 80 percent of Americans no longer answer phone calls from numbers they don’t recognize. Pew didn’t assign any particular cause to this behavior, but the first potential reason cited in the announcement was that people might be “overwhelmed by robocalls.”Complaints about auto warranty scam calls resulted in over 1000 complaints each month last year, other than four dips into three-digit territory in July, August, November, and December. Consumers complained to the FCC about scams regarding credit cards, insurance or health care, legal issues, and phishing less than 400 times each throughout 2021, except for March, when there were around 450 complaints about phishing. In 2020, people filed more complaints about auto warranty scam calls than the other four categories put together. If you would like to file your own complaint, visit the FCC’s Consumer Complaint Center.
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