Automotive News

Diana Kennedy dropped out of high school at age 18. She admits she was never the best student, often cutting class and struggling to stay engaged.

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When Kennedy later took a vocational automotive class, she discovered she enjoyed being around cars and ultimately found a sales position at a dealership.

There is much room for improvement when it comes to the safety of back seat passengers in midsize crossovers, a new Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study shows.

The growing volume of electric vehicles being serviced at dealerships has led to the first decline in service satisfaction in 28 years, according to the 2023 J.D. Power U.S. Customer Service Index Study. Satisfaction with service declined 2 points to an average 846 out of 1,000 this year.

An 'inventory efficiency index' created by software company Cloud Theory allows automakers to view supply and demand across all makes and models in real time, including those of their competitors.

Tesla's brand resonance with ethnic consumers drove its loyalty numbers and diversity retention, S&P Global Mobility said.

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"Ethnic buyers have increased their market share in the industry every year for the last decade, making them an important audience in building loyalty success for the foreseeable future," Palomarez said.

The number of vehicles earning the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's top awards in 2023 dropped compared with the previous year as the group called for better side crash protection and pedestrian crash prevention systems and toughened requirements for headlights.

Friendship Family of Dealerships' wellness program is improving team morale and productivity, according to their human resources director.

The companies will track carbon dioxide emissions from mining the necessary raw materials used in StoreDot battery cells and the cell manufacturing process.

The automotive mirror supplier is typically one of the first major auto suppliers to report its quarterly results.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the top speeds many vehicles are capable of are not necessary for city driving and ride-sharing.

A December court ruling allowed Rivian and Lucid to continue direct EV sales in the state.

 Ford Motor Co.'s top labor executive is retiring ahead of contract talks with the UAW later this year.

His successor will be Bryce Currie, who previously was chief manufacturing officer at supplier Johnson Controls.

Mercedes-Benz is recalling nearly 324,000 vehicles in the U.S. for a water intrusion risk that can cause the engine to stall, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

An engine stall while driving can increase the risk of a crash, NHTSA said.

After a lull in synthetic identity theft during the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of fake identification to commit fraud has started to "explode," an expert says.

The dealership began partnering with John's Driving School in 2019. Since then, the school has administered roughly 1,000 drivers' tests and some of those new drivers have become customers.

A 43-year-old woman was arrested Thursday for allegedly embezzling more than $200,000 from a Stellantis dealership in Dundee, Mich., according to a Dundee Police Department Facebook post. Dundee is about 50 miles southwest of Detroit near the Ohio border.

As the increased availability of electric vehicles leads consumers to focus more heavily on "traditional factors" such as quality and styling, Rivian and MiniCooper are seeing the benefits, a 2023 J.D. Power study shows.

Twice a year, roughly 50 luxury vehicle clients get a chance to drive their vehicles on Sebring International Raceway, North America's oldest permanent road racetrack.

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Select vehicle owners who attend Dimmitt Automotive Group's track days can drive at high speeds at novice, intermediate or advanced levels.

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"Sure, highway speeds can make an engine purr, but if you want to hear an engine sing, you need a racetrack," a post on the group's website reads.

A former Pennsylvania dealership service technician accused of depositing his paychecks multiple times is facing 219 felony charges and 18 misdemeanor charges.

Fourth-quarter net income soared to $233 million from $15 million a year earlier, when one-time special costs and a decline in revenue hurt results.

Teamsters and allied lawmakers push legislation requiring safety drivers in self-driving trucks operating on California roads.

HYLA's mission is to secure supplies of clean hydrogen to distribute it to customers at competitive prices.

Anti-EV legislation in Wyoming is modeled on California's efforts to end internal combustion sales by 2035.

The funding will strengthen the domestic supply chain by yielding batteries that last longer, charge faster, perform efficiently in freezing temperatures and have greater range retention, DOE said.

J.D. Power announced Tuesday its acquisition of ZappyRide, an electric vehicle data company that builds white-label software and tools for automakers, electric utilities and more green technology stakeholders, the company said in a release.

The company credits Bommarito's success in motivating and managing personnel as the reason General Motors in 1971 awarded him an Oldsmobile franchise in Ellisville, Mo. That Oldsmobile store marked the beginning of what would become a large dealership group.