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Henry Payne/The Detroit News/TNS

'Best of the best': 2026 North American Car, Truck and Utility of Year finalists announced

Automotive / Automotive News /

And then there were nine.

The North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year awards unveiled the 2026 model year finalists Thursday with three contenders in each category. Finalists for Car of the Year are the Dodge Charger, Honda Prelude and Nissan Sentra. The Ford Maverick Lobo, Ram 1500 Hemi and Ram 2500 will fight it out for ...Read more

Henry Payne, The Detroit News/The Detroit News/TNS

Auto review: Charger unplugged! Dodge Sixpack muscle car is large and in charge

Automotive / Automotive News /

ANN ARBOR, Michigan — In the early morning light, I rotated my gorgeous red 2026 Dodge Charger Sixpack Scat Pack onto empty Huron River Drive. I floored the throttle and awakened the beast. WAAUUUUUGHH! All four paws translated 531 pounds of torque to the asphalt and I exploded toward the twisties — my fingers rifling through the gears with ...Read more

Marc Grasso/Boston Herald/TNS

Auto review: 2025 Subaru Ascent moves people and stuff

Automotive / Automotive News /

In 2025, the options are endless for seven-passenger people movers, as a lot of manufacturers have gotten smart by adding two extra seats in the trunk section to accommodate additional passengers. In Grasso’s Garage today, we consider the Subaru Ascent, another model taking advantage of the usable space and accommodating those who need to move...Read more

Stellantis/TNS/TNS

Auto review: Affordable Italian glamour: the 2026 Alfa Romeo Tonale

Automotive / Automotive News /

In a building at Alfa Romeo’s test track in Balocco, Italy, there’s a hallway lined with photographs of impossibly glamorous people driving impossibly glamorous cars. They’re the sort of images that make you want to light a cigarette and say something dramatic in Italian, even if you don’t speak a word of it. It’s from a time when ...Read more

Henry Payne/The Detroit News/TNS

Ford aluminum supplier's plant catches fire again

Automotive / Automotive News /

Another fire broke out Thursday morning at a major aluminum plant supplying Ford Motor Co.'s full-size pickup trucks, sending down shares of the automaker.

Aluminum makes up the bodies of the F-Series trucks, the country's best-selling vehicles that drive the company's earnings. Atlanta-based Novelis Inc.'s Oswego, New York, plant accounts for ...Read more

Charly Triballeau/Getty Images North America/TNS

Driverless ride-sharing company Waymo expanding to Minneapolis

Automotive / Automotive News /

Waymo, the driverless ride-hailing company, is bringing its fleet of autonomous electric vehicles to Minneapolis.

Testing of the signature white Jaguar I-Pace SUVs and Zeekr RT vehicles is set to begin Thursday, but it will likely be several months before passenger service will begin.

“We are here and telling you what we are doing,” said ...Read more

Charly Triballeau/Getty Images North America/TNS

Driverless ride-sharing company Waymo expanding to Minneapolis

Automotive / Automotive News /

Waymo, the driverless ride-hailing company, is bringing its fleet of autonomous electric vehicles to Minneapolis.

Testing of the signature white Jaguar I-Pace SUVs and Zeekr RT vehicles is set to begin Thursday, but it will likely be several months before passenger service will begin.

“We are here and telling you what we are doing,” said ...Read more

Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Hyundai CEO: White House apologized for raid on Georgia battery factory

Automotive / Automotive News /

A White House official telephoned Hyundai Motor Co. Chief Executive José Muñoz to apologize for the September immigration raid at the South Korean company’s electric vehicle manufacturing campus near Savannah, Muñoz said Wednesday.

Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore, Muñoz said the unnamed official told him he or she...Read more

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS

Amazon's Zoox offers free robotaxi rides in San Francisco

Automotive / Automotive News /

Amazon-owned Zoox is offering free rides on its San Francisco fleet of boxy, driverless taxis.

The company said Tuesday it is providing the rides to people who download the Zoox app and join a waitlist. The sneak peek is part of a program in which riders provide feedback about the robotaxis before they become more widely available.

The preview...Read more

Amazon Autos adds Ford certified pre-owned vehicles to platform

Automotive / Automotive News /

Ford Motor Co. has partnered with Amazon.com Inc. to have participating dealers sell used vehicles on the e-commerce giant's platform.

Customers in Los Angeles, Seattle and Dallas looking to buy their next used vehicle online now can browse, finance, purchase and schedule pick-up of Ford Blue Advantage certified pre-owned models available from ...Read more

Robin Buckson/The Detroit News/TNS

Ford's new Dearborn world headquarters to help the automaker operate differently

Automotive / Automotive News /

DEARBORN, Michigan — Hundreds of visitors on Sunday braved chilly temperatures to get the public's first view of Ford Motor Co.'s new world headquarters, which aims to help the company compete for talent and technology leadership in a rapidly changing global auto industry.

Dubbed “the Hub,” the glass-faced building anchors a campus that ...Read more

Toyota/Toyota/TNS

Auto review: 2026 Toyota RAV4's rare qualities are what make it so popular

Automotive / Automotive News /

Twenty-nine years ago, somewhere between the death of the station wagon and the rise of the electric pickup, the RAV4 debuted as an anomaly: a three-door SUV riding atop a car platform, with all-wheel drive and a Patagonia wardrobe. At the time, SUVs were little more than body-on-frame pickup trucks in different attire, with refinement to match....Read more

Luke Ramseth/The Detroit News/TNS

EV and battery investments boosted GOP districts. Under Trump, it's going away

Automotive / Automotive News /

GLENDALE, Kentucky — Congressional Republicans opposed sweeping electric vehicle and battery incentives passed under former President Joe Biden, but many praised the individual projects they funded — welcoming new jobs to their districts, hailing developments in press releases and attending ground-breaking ceremonies.

Now, though, many of ...Read more

Jeff Kowalsky/Getty Images North America/TNS

UAW watchdog raises doubts about reform efforts at troubled union

Automotive / Automotive News /

The United Auto Workers union does not appear to be on the path to sustainable cultural reform, a court-appointed watchdog said Friday in a critical report that raises questions about President Shawn Fain's leadership and the union's willingness to emerge from a corruption scandal that led to two dozen convictions and sent numerous labor leaders...Read more

Breana Noble/The Detroit News/TNS

Lear, Bosch discuss playbook on navigating tariffs, supply-chain challenges

Automotive / Automotive News /

SOUTHFIELD AND PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP, Michigan — Local sourcing, backup vendors, onshoring, alternative designs and support for key trade agreements are part of major automotive suppliers' strategies in navigating constant supply-chain strains.

From the COVID-19 pandemic to President Donald Trump's tariffs on vehicles and their parts to halted ...Read more

Marc Grasso/Boston Herald/TNS

Auto review: 2025 Mercedes G-Wagon goes electric with G580

Automotive / Automotive News /

In 2025, Mercedes electrified its flagship G-Wagon, and the G580 EQ was born.

As a lover of boxy exterior styling on modern SUVs, in my opinion the G-Wagon has few peers, such as the Land Rover Defender. I'm not alone in my enthusiasm for this shape, judging from the demand for boxy entry-level SUVs such as the Honda Element and Dodge Nitro.

...Read more

Henry Payne/The Detroit News/TNS

Auto review: Stylish Honda Prelude changes gears for new hybrid generation

Automotive / Automotive News /

TOCHIGI, Japan — The last manual Honda Prelude Type SH coupe I drove was a 2001 model. Stylish and whip quick, I took it by the scruff of the neck and whipped it around Oakland County, rowing its high-revving VTEC engine with abandon.

The 2026 Honda Prelude is not that vehicle.

The sleek, all-new Prelude, which enthusiasts have been ...Read more

Luke Ramseth/The Detroit News/TNS

Unplugged: EV battery boom fizzles despite $28B in public help

Automotive / Automotive News /

KOKOMO, Indiana — Two years ago, this city of 60,000 an hour’s drive north of Indianapolis was on the fast track to becoming an electric vehicle battery boomtown.

A Stellantis NV and Samsung SDI joint venture announced it would build a second battery gigafactory on the city's northeastern flank, next to the 2.4 million-square-foot facility ...Read more

Andrew Trahan/Scout Motors/TNS

Scout Motors rolls into Charlotte: 5 key things about the automaker and its new HQ

Automotive / Automotive News /

Much fanfare accompanied Scout Motors’ announcement Wednesday that it plans to make Charlotte, North Carolina, its new, $207 million global corporate headquarters.

The governor was there. So was the mayor, alongside other local bigwigs. And why not. It was one of the biggest job creation announcements in Charlotte over the past decade. Plus, ...Read more

John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Illinois sees record EV sales as Trump administration ends federal tax credits, but state goals still far off

Automotive / Automotive News /

Illinois squeaked in a record share of electric vehicle sales last quarter, on par with a national trend tied to the Trump administration’s decision to end lucrative federal tax credits.

Still, the state remains far short of Gov. JB Pritzker’s ongoing push to get 1 million electric vehicles on Illinois roads by 2030.

“Sales definitely ...Read more