Motor News

CNBC reports that Tesla will shut down its Model X and Model S production lines for 18 days during the holidays, starting on Christmas Eve.
Employees who work the lines will receive one week of pay and one week without pay, although they are being encouraged to try to slot into other shifts or tasks during that time.
The news was shared via email on Friday, the same day an email from CEO Elon Musk asked employees to increase production.
Getting extra paid time off during the holidays can be great. Losing a week’s pay, on the other hand, can mean the difference between paying bills and sinking into debt. That’s what it looks like is happening to Tesla employees who work on the production lines of the Model S and Model X this holiday season.
CNBC reports that on Friday Tesla employees at the Fremont factory received an email informing them that the Model S and Model X production lines would go dark for 18 days starting December 24 and resuming on January 11. During this time, the affected employees are to receive one week of paid time off, from January 4 through January 8. But December 28 through December 30 will be unpaid.

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During that time, Tesla says, affected employees can attempt to pick up shifts in other parts of the factory or volunteer for deliveries from December 26 through December 31. The email states: “There will also be limited paid opportunities for you to support other shops or volunteer for deliveries during some of this time.” If employees want to work in other parts of the facility or volunteer over the holidays, they need to sign up quickly because there aren’t enough opportunities for other tasks to include everyone. Apparently, nothing rings in the new year like working for free.
Why Tesla is shutting down the lines of its two premium vehicles is unknown. It might be due to the lack of demand for these vehicles. For its third quarter, the company noted that those vehicles only made up about 11 percent of the Teslas delivered. It could also be the company retooling the lines because of the ongoing suspension issue with the Model X that’s caused a recall in China and an investigation in the United States. There’s also the possibility that the lines are being retooled to update the Model S and X.
Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent out an email on the same Friday asking employees to increase production as much as possible during the rest of the current quarter. The CEO is currently worth $148 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, making him the second richest person in the world, behind Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
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Alfa Romeo is sending off the 4C Spider with a special-edition 33 Stradale Tributo model that honors the 1967 33 Stradale mid-engine sports car.
The 4C Spider 33 Stradale Tributo is finished in a new, exclusive Rosso Villa d’Este (red) with carbon-fiber trim, gold wheels, and a black and brown interior.
They’re limited to 33 examples in North America and will cost $81,590 when they arrive in February.
Alfa Romeo has discontinued the 4C coupe, and soon the 4C Spider is going to say goodbye, too. Alfa is sending off the little rear-wheel-drive targa with a special-edition model that honors the 1967 33 Stradale mid-engine sports car. Production is limited to 33 cars bound for North America, and they’re finished in an exclusive red with gold wheels.

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Alfa Romeo

The unique exterior color is called Rosso Villa d’Este, a new color specifically reserved for the 33 Stradale Tributo. Alfa Rosso and Rosso Competizione are the other red exterior color options available on the standard 4C Spider. The special red looks great paired with the gold five-hole wheels and the black suede and tobacco leather interior. It also comes standard with carbon-fiber trim and Italian flag mirror caps. And it wouldn’t be a limited-edition model without plaques on the dash, doorsills, and center console.

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A 237-hp turbocharged four-cylinder engine powers the 2020 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, and it sends power to the rear wheels through a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. During Car and Driver testing, a 2015 model launched to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds on its way to a 12.8-second quarter-mile at 107 mph. In 1968, an Alfa Romeo 33 coupe reached 60 mph in 6.0 seconds in our testing. The 4C Spider 33 Stradale Tributo comes with an Akrapovic dual-mode center-mounted exhaust and a race-tuned suspension.

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Alfa Romeo

The 2020 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider 33 Stradale Tributo will arrive in the U.S. in February, priced starting at $81,590. The special-edition cars come with a matching, numbered book that highlights the 4C’s design, technology, materials, the Modena factory, and the history of the 33 Stradale.
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Mini is launching a new special-edition Countryman called the Boardwalk.
The Countryman is the company’s best U.S. seller. The new-for-2021 version of the Countryman went on sale in July.
U.S. pricing and quantities on the Boardwalk are expected closer to its spring 2021 launch.
Mini is launching a new limited-run, special edition Countryman called the Boardwalk. The company says the name comes from “the promenades of traditional seaside resorts in Britain, home of the Mini brand.” It is available in Cooper and Cooper S versions, starting at the equivalent of around $42,000 in the U.K. (Here in the U.S., the regular 2021 Countryman starts just over $27,000.) Mini plans to offer the car here, but an official told Autoweek the automaker is “a bit of a ways” out for the U.S. model, so details are scarce.

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U.S. production is set for a March time frame, with the first vehicles expected to arrive April/May, the official told us, adding that U.S. pricing and product details are still being worked out. “We’ll do a U.S.-specific announcement sometime in the first quarter closer to market launch that includes such details,” Autoweek was told. The Countryman is the company’s best U.S. seller, and the new-for-2021 version went on sale in July.
For now, we know that the European version of the Boardwalk has sharp-looking Deep Laguna Blue metallic paint, rides on 19-inch alloy wheels and has a contrasting black roof and black roof rails as well as a power hatch and LED front and rear lights.

Inside, the doorsills, the cockpit fascia, and the roof sport unique Boardwalk logos. For the Europe market, Mini is offering more standard equipment including a number of options from regular Countrymans as standard—mood lighting, illuminated handles, and external logo projections from the mirrors are among them. The interior also has piano-black detailing. A digital cockpit is included, too, alongside cruise control with automated emergency braking, automatic climate control, and heated seats. The Navigation package includes an 8.8-inch display, Apple CarPlay capability, and real-time traffic information. There’s also park assist, front parking sensors, and front- and rearview cameras.
Remember, though, that this is the equipment Europe is getting. We’ll know more about our specs next spring.

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Audi’s head of design, Marc Lichte, says the upcoming autonomous vehicle that will come out of the automaker’s Project Artemis effort will be a “revolution.”
The vehicle, rumored to be code-named Landjet, will be built on the PPE architecture that will underpin high-end electric vehicles from Audi, Porsche, and Bentley.
It is expected to be unveiled in 2024 and is targeting offerings from Tesla with a focus on long-distance traveling.
We asked Audi design chief Marc Lichte in an interview how the company’s future vehicle designs will evolve thanks to electric powertrains. In response, he shared a few more bits of information about the automaker’s Project Artemis, its effort to build an autonomous vehicle. The upcoming car “will be a revolution,” he said.
The vehicle in question is in a super-high-premium segment, according to the designer, and its use case is long-distance traveling. “We will come up with a radical new concept. This car looks completely different,” Lichte said. At its core, it will be an autonomous vehicle that would remove any need for controls, and that gives the designers at Audi the ability to pursue a new approach to how a car should look.

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Rumors have circulated that the vehicle being developed under Project Artemis, which is being helmed by former Porsche race-car engineer Alexander Hitzinger, is code-named Landjet. Whatever the internal name, the vehicle is expected to be unveiled in 2024 and will be based on the modular PPE EV architecture developed by Audi to be used in Audi, Porsche, and Bentley vehicles.
Lichte’s comments line up with what we’ve already learned about Project Artemis, the automaker and VW Group’s future weapon to take on Tesla. Volkswagen wants to address Tesla’s EV market dominance and also to have a self-driving car on the road as a competitor to its Autopilot.
The car is currently in progress in Lichte’s design studio. He tells us that Audi will completely change the layout of the interior, while the exterior will be equally different than what we’re used to seeing from the automaker. We’ll look forward to seeing it.
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