It’s increasingly difficult to find cars with manual transmissions in the U.S., but occasionally automakers surprise us. My Toyota GR Corolla is a great example of an unexpected treat, but BMW recently announced a much quicker, open-top manual. The 2025 Z4 M40i is getting a manual option for the first time as part of an options package with other performance goodies.

People poked fun at Stellantis in the U.S. for stretching the Hellcat engine as far as it could possibly go, but the automaker is now eying electrification. Even Jeep is involved, first announcing the Recon EV and now, the Wagoneer S. The sharply styled EV is set to debut this fall.

Automakers have seen wavering demand for EVs across the country, but California has always been the stronghold for electric adoption and infrastructure. Even so, the tides turned late last year, which could signal slower times ahead for the industry.

Despite previously having committed itself toward a future where it builds all-electric vehicles, General Motors has made plans to bring plug-in hybrids back to our market. That’s according to CEO Mary Barra, who announced on Tuesday that the automaker would be leaning on hybrid vehicles to help contend with increasingly strict emission regulations.

Tall hats at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have indicated they have wrapped an investigation into the gear selector design found in some Durango SUVs and Ram pickup trucks.

Electric vehicle demand among potential buyers is growing, but it’s slower than many had hoped. That said, commercial buyers, especially those with large fleets, may be the short-term savior for automakers with deep EV investments. Ford recently announced that Ecolab would purchase more than 1,000 EVs to electrify its California operations through the next year.

The Volvo EX30 promises to be one of the most affordable new EVs on the market, but it’s not quite ready for primetime. Volvo recently announced that it was delaying European deliveries of the SUV to fix software issues.

Imagine this: You're looking for a crossover with a pinch of sportiness. None of the current crop of two-rows in the upper $30K to $50K range are doing it for you. You like the swoopy Mazda CX-90 but it's too big for your wants and needs. You hear the phrase "zoom zoom" whispered by unseen forces. You get to your Mazda dealer and see that a new contender has emerged. Enter the 2025 Mazda CX-70.

While we’re constantly hearing about tightening emissions regulations, the relevant timelines issued by government actors are rarely adhered to. Electric vehicle subsidies went from temporary to indefinite and combustion bans have gone from right around the corner to anyone’s guess. This is also true of the industry itself, which often makes bold promises designed to appease a subset of the public only to repeatedly move the target date back a few years. 

With this in mind, Porsche’s CFO was recently quoted as saying European combustion bans will probably need to be delayed and there’s good reason to believe him. 

The all-new 2024 Toyota Tacoma is starting to land on dealers’ lots, but the EPA hasn’t released fuel economy figures for the truck. Natural Resources Canada has posted its estimates, however, and they’re in line with the numbers seen on window stickers in the United States.

General Motors is pushing ahead with plans to become an electric automaker, but the road toward that goal hasn’t been the easiest so far. Cadillac and Buick dealers accepted buyouts in large numbers to avoid making investments to sell EVS, and now the automaker’s dealers are pushing it to develop more hybrids instead of releasing new electric models.

If you’ve never attended a Barrett-Jackson event, think of it as a massive car show blended with the insanity of an auction and the food trucks from a county fair plus a SEMA’s worth of retail vendors. The whole thing is wonderful, glorious, organized gearhead chaos – and its marquee event is happening right now in Arizona.

Tesla recently recalled almost every vehicle it has sold to update the Autopilot system with new driver monitoring features and safeguards. We’re now learning of another significant recall, this time involving almost 200,000 cars for issues with the backup camera software that could obstruct visibility.

Every new car has a limited top speed programmed in at the factory, but for most, it’s usually deep into triple-digit numbers that most people never see. A proposed bill in California could drastically change the way automakers limit vehicle speeds, as one state senator wants to keep vehicles traveling within 10 mph of the speed limit.

Despite trying to stay away from politicians during last year’s labor strike, United Auto Workers’ leadership endorsed Joe Biden for president on Wednesday. This comes after union-head Shawn Fain said UAW dealings with domestic automakers would not be undermined by those seeking to garner political support. Now, Fain is backing Biden on claims that his administration supports the American workforce.

Regulators in Germany have opened an investigation into alleged diesel exhaust rule circumvention on the part of BMW. Claims have been made that the automaker used an illegal defeat device on select models to achieve lower tailpipe emissions during testing. It’s a situation reminiscent of the Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal from 2015. However, government regulators have been on the offensive ever since — roping in loads of manufacturers and leaving a subset of the public wondering whether modern emission laws are even tenable.

It’s a great time to be a fan of burly off-road pickup trucks from the Bowtie brand. With multiple flavors of dirt road fun in three different sizes, Chevy has covered just about all bases.

Tesla was recently overtaken by Chinese automaker BYD as the world’s largest EV builder, but the American company had the world’s best-selling vehicle overall last year. According to a new report from data company JATO Dynamics, the Model Y sold 1.23 million vehicles, making it the global best-seller by a large margin.

The Detroit Lions have never played in a Super Bowl, but the team’s appearance in this Sunday’s NFC Championship game may pave the way for its first Big Game. The whole city is understandably excited, and to help its employees enjoy the game, General Motors is delaying a shift at its Flint Assembly Plant.

Cadillac will soon be an electric automaker, but before it’s got some tricks left before it makes the leap completely. The company recently revealed the 2025 CT5-V and CT5-V Blackwing with refreshed exterior styling, an updated interior and new features.

A Detroit-based startup hoping to normalize robotic tire changes has filed for bankruptcy, perhaps offering hope to all the humans worried that they're about to be displaced by automation. RoboTire, which launched in 2019, had stated its intention to speed up vehicle maintenance for auto repair shops, fleet operators and dealerships. Now its status is Chapter 7.

If you’ve been putting off picking up a new Wrangler just because Jeep doesn’t offer the Xtreme 35 Tire Package on two-door models of the Rubicon and Willys, you have officially run out of excuses.

The long-rumored affordable, entry-level Tesla is almost here – maybe. Four years after the automaker first said it would build a cheaper EV, it appears things are in motion. Tesla reportedly alerted suppliers that it would start building a mass-market compact crossover in the middle of 2025, which would become one of the most affordable electric models on sale if it becomes a reality.

Volkswagen is giving the Golf a makeover for its 50th birthday, adding an illuminated badge along with some novel LED headlight and taillamps. VW doesn’t like to make aggressive changes to the iconic hatchback, so the alterations made on the Mk8 Golf are fairly subtle. They’re also largely irrelevant because the only version of the model still sold on our market is the sporting GTI. 

Maserati has delayed the launch of the seventh-generation Quattroporte, citing concerns that the model needs to adhere to a certain level of performance outlined by the manufacturer. However, the benchmarks the brand intends on reaching are largely a mystery and the company has already expressed some troubles related to transitioning its lineup toward all-electric vehicles.

These days, given customer preferences and the current state of our car market in this country, the announcement of a new Equinox is as important to GM’s bottom line as was rolling out a new Impala back in the day.

The United States Postal Service has been moving toward electrification for a while now, though it’s not made the progress some had initially hoped. The EVs are coming, however, and the USPS is looking to support that fleet with thousands of chargers located at post offices across the country.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought a seismic shift in how people work, play, and live, and that includes car shopping. Faced with the existential crisis of having no physical customers, dealers began offering remote car-buying services and shipping. Online retailers took off, too, but the party never lasts forever. Vroom, an online used-vehicle retailer, recently announced that it would sunset its e-commerce business, suspending sales on its website.

Google has announced plans to update Android Auto to reduce the time drivers are required to look at screens. This includes the obligatory mention of leveraging artificial intelligence. But the phrase has become a blanket term for any advanced computing integrated into other systems, meaning we have to dig a little deeper to understand what AI brings to the table. While Google hasn’t gotten overly specific, it has said it wants to place an emphasis on improving safety.

The tri-shield brand continues to push forth into that good night, bragging about sales increases in this country whilst showing off a shadowy image of what is said to be the next three-row Enclave.

We’ve known about the Porsche Macan EV for quite a while now, with spy shots and previews popping up all over the internet. Until recently, however, we’d not had an official look from Porsche, but the automaker pulled back the curtain – sort of – by sharing a design sketch of the upcoming electrified SUV.

Updated with new information from Waymo after publication. We corrected dates for the company's Arizona operations, and Waymo noted that its expansion plans are not tied to Cruise's in any way.

General Motors’ Cruise has had a rough few months, ending with it pulling back on autonomous testing efforts across the country. Now, Alphabet’s Waymo is looking to expand, asking the California Public Utilities Commission for permission to grow its services in Los Angeles.

While most car dealerships are honest, legitimate businesses, some don’t hold their customers in such high regard, charging more than they should without the right disclosures about what the fees are for. Hidden fees aren’t just annoying and shady, though, they can be very expensive, and last year, a Federal Trade Commission ruling aimed to shut the practice down.

The National Automobile Dealers Association protested the decision, joining the Texas Auto Dealers Association in filing a petition in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, leading to a pause on the FTC's rule.

After facing significant challenges ramping up production and meeting customer demand for the F-150 Lightning, Ford recently announced layoffs that will drastically cut volume at its electric vehicle factory in Michigan.

Whilst the machine shown in these digital images are technically for a European model, it is all but certain this electric N Line will be available in America very soon.

Looking ahead to the 2024 calendar year, Honda has laid out some of its plans for the forthcoming 12 months. While we’re sure they’ve still a few things up their sleeve (after all, the phrase “We can’t comment on future product” is a PR mainstay), the news does give us a good idea as to what’s in store – plus a shot of the 2025 Civic Hybrid.

While there are plenty of people that remain annoyed that the Ford Mustang Mach-E continues carrying the Mustang name, the vehicle itself is probably one of the better examples from the electric-crossover segment. Hoping to sweeten the pot, Ford has elected to offer the vehicle with an optional appearance package and some new paint options allowing for one of the best color combinations in automotive history — bronze and green. 

Maserati recently rolled out its first fully electric vehicle in the GranTurismo Folgore, but its roadmap to converting the rest of its lineup is murky. Multiple delays have slowed the Italian automaker’s progress, and we’re now learning that the Quattroporte Folgore will become Maserati’s third delayed EV.

Ford has long offered beefy off-road variants of the F-Series pickup, but the electric F-150 Lightning’s introduction raised questions about how robust a non-internal-combustion truck could be in the dirt. Ford Performance and RTR recently teamed up to find answers to those questions, and the result is the F-150 Lightning Switchgear, a high-performance concept truck with Raptor-like looks.

Huawei has announced it will continue becoming intertwined with the automotive sector after signing onto a joint venture with Chinese state-owned carmaker Changan Automobile. The telecommunications giant has established Shenzhen Yinwang Intelligent Technology with a registered capital of 1 billion yuan ($140 million USD) and a focus on smart car equipment manufacturing, artificial intelligence system integration services, and AI software development.

The Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 blends the brand’s iconic off-road capability with a stunning Hemi V8, but the SUV’s time on the market is limited. A JL Wrangler Forums member got ahold of a letter from the automaker to dealers, telling them that it will allocate a single Final Edition of the V8 Wrangler if they can beat last year’s January sales numbers.

Seventy-five years ago, a pair of Volkswagen Beetles were imported to this country, marking the start of this brand on our shores. Tempus fugit, VW plans to roll out numerous advertisement efforts to mark the milestone.

Lamborghini has broken its own sales record by delivering over 10,000 automobiles in 2023. While that’s still less than mainstream manufacturers are pushing out the door in a given week, it represents a major shift in how the brand does business and will likely open it up to additional regulatory scrutiny.

Automakers love putting out teasers, using us media dopes to build anticipation.

You know what’s great about gearheads being at the helm of a car company instead of dour bedwetting accountants? Entertaining product tends to crop up, that’s what. And while the machine shown here is not intended for the North American market, we think there could be a case for it on this side of the pond.

We’ve been hearing about attacks on shipments on the Red Sea for a while now, but the violence has probably felt like an isolated problem to many people. Shipping delays and logistics challenges have real consequences, though, and Tesla is finding that out the hard way.

The Ariya arrived later than Nissan wanted, but it’s good enough to warrant a look from EV buyers. However, it didn’t have an engaging driving experience or much in the way of performance. Nissan’s changing that for 2024 – at least in Japan – with the new Ariya Nismo.

After a brief flirtation with warmer-weather months, the North American International Auto Show, also known as the Detroit Auto Show, is returning to a January date.

Many states’ highway departments post funny messages on roadside signs that warn drivers to buckle up, slow down, or watch for emergency vehicles. Despite the fact that they’re entertaining and get the message across, the federal government isn’t in on the joke and has released new guidance on the signs, asking state agencies to cut out the funny business.

Companies often tout their green initiatives as a way to drum up new business, but the expensive reality of investing in EVs and other technologies isn’t always clear up front. Hertz found that out the hard way, as it aggressively invested in new EVs for its rental fleet a couple of years ago, only to begin selling them off in 2024.

After several months of spy shots and looking at the updated Tesla Model 3 in European markets, the car is finally available in North America. Tesla added the car to its online configurator without much fanfare, but there are plenty of changes to the automaker’s popular sedan.

With Stellantis opting to supplant the HEMI V8 with the Hurricane inline six-cylinder engine, there was a gnashing of teeth from Mopar fans who viewed the change as unpleasantly European. The manufacturer is well aware of this and has been fielding special editions of V8-powered models to profit as much as possible off the larger displacement engines before they’re discontinued.

It’s now the Dodge Durango’s turn, with Stellantis announcing “last call” editions of the V8-equipped SUV.

Just about everything is more expensive these days. Why, just last week, our Managing Editor was complaining about his trip to buy methylated spirits and a hammer drill as part of his planned New Year’s Eve festivities*. This is why it’s all the more remarkable when automakers essentially hold the line on pricing models for a new model year – especially when it is one of their best sellers.

Honda used CES 2024 to reveal a couple of purely conceptual automobiles and then announced that one of them would serve as the basis for its new EV line coming in 2026. They’ll even have their own logo, which the company also teased this week.

Stellantis will be working with BlackBerry on a new virtual cockpit they believe will allow for faster development and lower production costs. The system, which is part of the company’s Virtual Engineering Workbench, is designed to replicate automotive controls using Amazon Web Services’ data cloud and is supposed to reduce development turnaround cycles by “up to 100 times.” The stated goal is to ensure new infotainment tech is created and then pushed to the public quickly and efficiently.

We’ve often said that building cars is hard – and those difficulties don’t always end even after a company stops making them. It’s like bad news coming in even after one has turned off their phone. 

It certainly seemed like the fabled Honda-Sony EV would stay a rumor, but the pair announced a formal joint venture in 2022 that put the speculation to rest. Sony Honda Mobility unveiled its Afeela EV in early 2023, and at this year’s CES, the car rolled on stage, driven by a Playstation 5 controller.

Nobody’s doubting rapper will.i.am’s legacy in the music business, but his track record designing cars and working with automakers has yielded some… interesting results. Mercedes-Benz hopes to lean more on the music credentials with its will.i.am partnership, as it has recruited the musician to redesign the electric vehicle sound experience.

'Tis the time of year for buzzword-heavy press releases that tend to be word salads. Kia is no exception today with its CES news.

Still, should you take the time to dig through these things and translate them into plain English, you get a sense of what's up.

In this case, the company is showing several modular concept vehicles that are meant to help businesses do their work better.

Some of the best, or at least most memorable, Super Bowl ads of the past few years came from Stellantis or General Motors.

Remember Will Ferrell schilling for GM? Or that Bruce Springsteen Jeep ad? Or when the Soprano children were reunited, again for GM?

Yeah, well, not this year. Both companies are going to sit this one out.