General Motors CEO Mary Barra said Wednesday the industry-wide shortage of semiconductor chips will not affect production of GM’s highly profitable pickups and SUVs this year. It’s a bold statement given that Ford Motor Co. has seen its F-150 production disrupted due to the parts shortage. Barra said while discussing GM’s annual earnings report that the chip shortfall also will not derail… Continue reading GM’s Mary Barra: Semiconductor chip shortage won’t disrupt truck production
Category: US Motoring Press
2021 Ford Ranger Tremor pickup delivers off-road performance and value
The off-road trails will be a bit more crowded this spring, because the 2021 Ford Ranger Tremor pickup is about to hit the road. Boasting more ride height, Fox off-road shocks and more, the Ranger is Ford’s answer to off-road pickup models like the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2, Jeep Gladiator Mojave, Nissan Frontier Pro-4X and Toyota Tacoma… Continue reading 2021 Ford Ranger Tremor pickup delivers off-road performance and value
GM’s UAW workers to get $9,000 profit sharing checks this year
General Motors reported solid fourth-quarter and year-end results Wednesday despite an eight-week production shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the Takata airbag-inflator recall announced in November. GM’s total market share rose to 18.32% compared with 17.09% in the year-earlier quarter, said Cox Automotive. It is the largest year-over-year gain in total U.S. market share since 1990.… Continue reading GM’s UAW workers to get $9,000 profit sharing checks this year
Video first drive: 2021 Ford Ranger Tremor
Off-road pickup boasts great ground clearance, locking rear differential, unique looks Go to Source
G.M.’s Profits From Trucks and S.U.V.s Fuel Its Electric Quest
Despite a pandemic that shuttered auto factories for nearly two months and sent car sales tumbling, General Motors made more than $6 billion last year, one of its highest profit totals ever. The automaker is going to need every penny and more for years to come to meet its lofty ambition of an all-electric model… Continue reading G.M.’s Profits From Trucks and S.U.V.s Fuel Its Electric Quest
Toyota to add electric, plug-in hybrid vehicles next year
Detroit – Toyota says it will roll out two new battery-electric vehicles and one plug-in gas-electric hybrid in the U.S. this year as the parade of new EVs continues. The company gave few specifics on the vehicles during a presentation Wednesday, but said one electric vehicle would be an SUV. Toyota said it has a… Continue reading Toyota to add electric, plug-in hybrid vehicles next year
Magna CEO talks driverless cars, COVID-19 response at Detroit Economic Club event
When Swamy Kotagiri considers whether true autonomous driving will ever be achieved, the CEO of Troy-based Magna International uses a comparison to COVID-19. “If someone had told you that the industry would be able to come up with a vaccine in a matter of months versus years, we wouldn’t have believed it. I believe in science, and I think… Continue reading Magna CEO talks driverless cars, COVID-19 response at Detroit Economic Club event
Detroit Diesel plant to get $20M boost to make electric truck parts
A Detroit-area factory known for making diesel engines is slated to get a $20 million investment to produce components for medium- and heavy-duty electric trucks. The investment means the 3-million-square-foot Detroit Diesel plant, which is in both Redford Township and Detroit, will be the North American source of Detroit ePowertrain components, according to the announcement Monday by Daimler… Continue reading Detroit Diesel plant to get $20M boost to make electric truck parts
I just tested Cadillac’s hands-free Super Cruise on a 500+ mile trip. Here’s how it went.
Self-driving cars just got meaningfully closer to reality. How much closer? I touched the steering wheel of a 2021 Cadillac Escalade just three times in 280 miles from when I entered I-96 in Detroit to exiting I-94 in Hammond, Indiana. I touched the wheel four times driving the same route home; the fourth was to… Continue reading I just tested Cadillac’s hands-free Super Cruise on a 500+ mile trip. Here’s how it went.
GM to idle 3 plants until March for deepening microchip shortage
Detroit — General Motors Co. said the three plants it shut down this week because of a deepening microchip shortage hammering the global auto industry will remain closed through at least mid-March. GM has halted production at the Fairfax, Kansas, plant where the Cadillac XT4 and the Chevrolet Malibu are built, the CAMI plant in Ontario where… Continue reading GM to idle 3 plants until March for deepening microchip shortage