General Motors’ sole electric vehicle, the cheerful Chevrolet Bolt, will see its MSRP stand firm in the face of an EV tax credit that drops by half come April 1st, the automaker claims.

In the fourth quarter of last year, GM sailed past the volume barrier that triggers a wind-down of the federal credit, meaning Bolt buyers will see less of an incentive to get behind the wheel. The $7,500 credit falls to $3,750 next week, before halving again in six months time. Knowing that EV buyers still need a push, GM plans to make the Bolt more attractive to green penny pinchers. (Read More…)

Union officials in Windsor, Ontario were blindsided Thursday afternoon by Fiat Chrysler’s announcement of job cuts at the company’s minivan plant. The automaker plans to cut a third shift at the plant, home to the Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Pacifica, putting 1,500 out of work.

It will be the first time the plant has operated on two shifts since the early 1990s. According to properly pissed Unifor officials, lackluster Pacifica sales may be to blame for the move. (Read More…)

When your author hears the word “Masterpiece,” his mind conjures up images of a coveted line of K-frame Smith & Wesson revolvers, one of which still exists on the market. Kia’s not thinking about guns, though the themes of toughness, precision, and premium appeal carry over to the automotive world.

Masterpiece is the name applied to one of two Kia concept SUVs unveiled Thursday at the Seoul Motor Show, but it’s the second of the two vehicles that might be most relevant to North American buyers. (Read More…)

Ford’s troubled Russian joint venture isn’t doing nearly as hot as the Blue Oval automaker would like, so it’s severely paring back its presence in the country.

The memorandum of understanding signed Wednesday kicks off a broad restructuring of the automaker’s business in Russia, with two vehicle assembly plants and an engine plant now slated to close. Ford passenger car assembly will soon be a thing of the past in the Motherland as Ford’s partner, Sollers PJSC, takes a majority stake in the venture. (Read More…)

Contrary to past media reports, the Smart brand will not join the likes of Plymouth, Scion, and Pontiac in the great automotive graveyard. If that’s a good thing in your books, send a note of thanks to China’s Geely Holding, savior of Volvo and Lotus.

On Thursday, Smart parent company Daimler and Geely announced a 50:50 joint venture to develop and build a new generation of global-market Smart models in China. (Read More…)

The fledgling alliance between Ford and Volkswagen took another step towards jointly-developed products Thursday, with VW signing an initial contract for a Ranger-based replacement for VW’s aging, midsize Amarok.

Commercial vans and pickups were top of mind when the automakers officially partnered up back in January, with electric vehicles and autonomous driving serving as (potential) future collaborations. More news on that front arrived today, too.  (Read More…)

Protecting one’s individuality often means isolating yourself from the “in” crowd, sometimes at your own peril. Steering clear of fads. Giving short shrift to the dominant trends of the day. You author never went in for neon or Doc Martens back in Grade 5, despite all the cool kids wearing this incongruous attire combo. The jury’s still out on whether that was a good idea or not.

In the automotive sphere, buyers are making sure builders of SUVs and crossovers are well rewarded for their actions, scooping up boxy, high-riding family haulers like it’s going out of style. You’re not one of those people, are you? (Read More…)

Changes come to Mazda’s midsize 6 sedan slowly, with mild — some might say imperceptible — styling refreshes and content changes usually occurring halfway through the model year. Last year saw a big and long-awaited addition to the slinky sedan: an available turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-four aimed at silencing, once and for all, enthusiasts’ cries of moar powah.

That mill brought 277 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque to a model often regarded as the most engaging midsize on the market, though buyers couldn’t pair it with the base model’s six-speed manual transmission. For 2019, however, it looks like no one will get their hands on a stick. (Read More…)

Let’s get one thing clear right off the bat: unless otherwise stated, the “SUVs” mentioned in automotive studies refer to all utility vehicles, regardless of unibody or body-on-frame construction.

Utility sales surpassed passenger car sales in the U.S. in 2016 and never looked back. There’s an ever-growing number of them out there, and, with automakers now straddling segments (the Mazda CX-30, for example), expect the market swamping to continue apace. In a new Cox Automotive study that contrasts today’s market with 2008’s (while taking a peak at the future), the answer to the question “Has the SUV market peaked?” is most definitely “no.”

The market has legs, but the passage of time means it’s showing signs of saturation —  with a number of headwinds now buffeting automakers looking to clean up in this ultra competitive field. (Read More…)

Eager to generate buzz ahead of the model’s New York Auto Show debut, Lincoln Motor Company has offered up the first official image of its upcoming Corsair — a compact crossover that kicks the brand’s former alphanumeric naming convention to the curb.

Compared to its MKC predecessor, the Corsair should attain higher levels of luxury (and margins), while throwing a new powertrain option into the mix. (Read More…)

The Blue Oval brand stands to seriously pare back its Russian presence, a new report claims, with two of the automaker’s three assembly plants rumored to close. Ford entered into a joint venture in the country in 2011, partnering with Russia’s Sollers. The two recently reached a new agreement, Sollers claims, but details remain scarce.

One person with knowledge of the pact claims Ford will cut its passenger car operations, leaving only its commercial vehicle business. More market share for the resurgent Lada, it seems. (Read More…)

Few — if any — journalists cover Tesla with the same dogged determination as former TTAC managing editor Ed Niedermeyer, and he’s just shed light on a perplexing mystery: The case of the missing Standard Range Model 3.

We’re talking about the base, $35,000 Model 3 promised at the model’s launch three years ago. The vehicle Tesla finally opened orders for in February, apparently after working some magic that made the long-awaited variant’s appearance financially viable. It seems that not only are would-be owners still waiting, but Tesla is doing its damndest to sway them from the purchase. (Read More…)

A month after a European Parliament committee approved a host of measures designed to reduce roadway fatalities, the European Commission has signed off on the plan. New vehicles sold in Europe starting in 2022 stand to be more connected and nanny-like than ever, with speed limiters being just one of the mandatory safety features.

Other features include connection points for alcohol ignition interlock devices, driver monitoring cameras, and a range of lesser tech that drivers might actually approve of. (Read More…)

According to a report out of Germany, we’ll know by the end of the year whether Daimler AG intends to keep its Smart city car division alive.

Created a quarter century ago, Smart’s focus on microscopic urban runabouts like the Fortwo gave way to a plan to go all-electric in Europe by 2020, two years after ditching gasoline in North America. However, there’s a chance the automaker’s incoming CEO might relegate the badge to the scrap heap of history. (Read More…)

Tim Cain’s observations of his quaint island’s driving habits revealed that electric vehicle ownership, though seemingly feasible given the distance to the sea in all directions, is about as rare as a happy ending on Black Mirror.

Cain, secretly funded by Big Oil and no doubt a part of other shadowy conspiracies, cynically believes that, outside of major urban centers, EVs are generally seen as impractical and unnecessarily expensive conveyances, given their limitations in range and capability. Thus, premonitions of the impending end of gas — or cars in general — are both premature and overblown.

Does your neighborhood’s vehicular landscape reflect this? (Read More…)