Category: Wagon

BMW’s Profitability Hits Lowest Since 2010 Amid Tech Rivalry

BMW AG reported its weakest profitability since 2010, capping a negative year for Chief Executive Officer Harald Krueger after the luxury-car marque lost its crown to arch-rival Mercedes-Benz. Amid higher spending on battery-powered and autonomous-driving technologies, BMW’s automotive profit margin narrowed to 8.9 percent in 2016 from 9.2 percent a year earlier, according to a statement on Thursday.

Here are the 10 best cars of 2017

This week, Consumer Reports released its latest list of the top cars on sale in the US. The venerable consumer publication picked out 10 cars – all representing different segments of the auto market – for its Top Picks list.

Here are the 10 best cars of 2017

This week, Consumer Reports released its latest list of the top cars on sale in the US. The venerable consumer publication picked out 10 cars – all representing different segments of the auto market – for its Top Picks list.

Who made my car?

They have been making trucks at the factory, outside Detroit, since 1938, and you don’t get much more American than the chunky, no-nonsense, big-tyred Dodge Ram 1500s that roll out from the 87-acre site every day. The Kogod School of Business at American University in Washington DC compiles an annual index of the cars Americans drive – and where they are made.

The Toyota Camry is Getting a Facelift.

CEO Akio Toyoda unveiled the company’s plans to soup up the Camry. Listen to this segment from Industry Focus: Industrials to hear what will change with the midsize sedan and why Toyota seems to be focusing so much effort on this model.

Volkswagen surpasses Toyota in 2016 sales

Toyota has relinquished the title of the world’s biggest automaker, reporting Monday that it sold 10.175 million vehicles worldwide in 2016, fewer than Volkswagen’s 10.31 million. Toyota has relinquished the title of the world’s biggest automaker, reporting Monday that it sold 10.175 million vehicles worldwide in 2016, fewer than Volkswagen’s 10.31 million.

Detroit Wants Something From Trump in Exchange for Those Tweets

The way Bill Ford tells it, you’d think he and Donald Trump are like two old buddies chitchatting all the time about cars, economics and taxes. “When needed, I can always get to him or he calls me,” Ford, the chairman of Ford Motor Co., said in an interview Monday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Waymo’s John Krafcik Lifts the Veil Slightly on Alphabet’s Driverless Strategy

Alphabet’s Waymo self-driving vehicle subsidiary revealed a bit of its business strategy in an address Sunday by CEO John Krafcik, who said the company intends to develop its own sensors and software rather than rely on other suppliers, as most suppliers and automakers are doing. Krafcik, a former Ford and Hyundai executive, said at the press preview of the North American International Auto Show that Waymo had succeeded in lowering by 90% the cost of a $75,000 LIDAR sensor, which uses lasers to sense objects.

Detroit auto show: Google, Camry and the shadow of Trump

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, center, and North American International Auto Show Chairman Sam Slaughter, right, are given a tour of the Mopar area from Ron Stallworth, left, of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Friday, Jan. 6, 2017, in Detroit. The show opens to the media on Monday, Jan. 9 and to the public on Jan. 14. less Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, center, and North American International Auto Show Chairman Sam Slaughter, right, are given a tour of the Mopar area from Ron Stallworth, left, of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Friday, … more The Ford display is seen at the 2017 North American International Auto show, Friday, Jan. 6, 2017, in Detroit.

Alphabet’s Waymo Cuts Cost of Key Self-Driving Sensor by 90%

Alphabet Inc.’s self-driving car unit, Waymo, has slashed the cost of a key technology required to bring self-driving cars to the masses and rolled it out Sunday in an autonomous Chrysler Pacifica minivan. Waymo has cut costs by 90 percent on LiDAR sensors, which bounce light off objects to create a three-dimensional map of a car’s surroundings.

Google’s Waymo to Show Off Self-Driving Minivan at Auto Show in Detroit

The autonomous Chrysler Pacifica features technology developed inside Alphabet, but it’s unclear how the company will make money on it. While Alphabet ‘s newly spun-out Waymo unit sat out the Consumer Electronics Show , CEO John Krafcik will demonstrate its new self-driving minivan for the first time this Sunday during a presentation at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Amazon’s Alexa is officially coming to Ford cars

Ford has teamed up with Amazon to bring Alexa into its cars, the automaker announced at a press dinner at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Wednesday. The integration will let Ford users with SYNC 3 access Alexa, Amazon’s cloud-based voice service, inside the car to do things like check the weather, play audiobooks, add items to shopping lists, and even control Alexa enabled smart home devices.

Fiat Delivers Alphabet’s Waymo 100 Self-Driving Hybrid Minivans

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV announced the production of 100 Pacifica Hybrid minivans which will join Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo self-driving vehicle fleet. The minivans are currently being being outfitted with fully self-driving technology, including purpose-built computers and a suite of sensors, telematics and other systems, and will become part of the test fleet of Waymo, formerly the Google car project, in early 2017, the Italian-American manufacturer said Monday in a statement.