Perhaps fearful that Lincoln buyers, like most new car purchasers, will take home a new vehicle and spend the remainder of their warranty period interacting with the dealer only when absolutely necessary, Lincoln Motor Company has a plan.

Rewards.

Announced late last week, Lincoln Access Rewards is a customer loyalty program that encourages owners to spend more to get more. More points, that is — redeemable for a number of things, some of them frivolous, but in keeping with the Lincoln lifestyle. (Read More…)

Hauntings normally don’t cost the homeowner $40 million, but that’s what Fiat Chrysler faces after over-reporting monthly vehicle sales for a period of several years. Late last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission hit FCA with a fine for its now-corrected sales reporting practices, claiming the automaker misled investors.

FCA’s sales reporting trickery is also behind a lawsuit filed against the company by one of its top executives. (Read More…)

Rivian, the Michigan-based startup that aims to get electric pickups and SUVs into the hands of consumers starting late next year, may choose a controversial avenue to ownership.

The automaker’s CEO, RJ Scaringe, claims the automaker is seriously thinking about offering a subscription service when it begins rolling out vehicles from its Normal, Illinois assembly plant in 2020. Without a dealer network, Rivian’s plan was always to send vehicles directly to buyers, no doubt earning it the ire of dealer groups country-wide. (Read More…)

As you read here yesterday, Tesla’s biggest over-the-air software update to date has brought Model S, X, and 3 owners a host of new features, with an especially ominous (or exciting, depending on your level of trust) feature reserved for the true believers.

That Software Version 10.0 feature is Smart Summon — a way of getting your vehicle to drive to you upon exiting a building. Open the mobile app on your phone, press the necessary buttons, and your Tesla will pilot itself like the Mary Celeste to your arranged rendezvous point. Presumably, you’ll have your hands full of children and shopping, though Tesla says you’ll have to keep tabs on your vehicle — keeping it in in your field of vision — lest you find yourself liable for a fender-bender or worse.

It kind of defeats the purpose of the feature. If your attention is distracted by whiny kids or something else, how is it more convenient (or even possible) to stand there and watch your car make its way towards you, alert and ready to release that button and stop the Tesla in the event of a wayward shopper, vehicle, or rogue action on the part of your own car? How hard is it to walk over and get into your own car and drive off, especially considering the feature’s beta nature and Tesla’s long list of Autopilot fails?

Naturally, owners began testing Smart Summon the second it arrived. (Read More…)

Chevrolet’s Blazer, a resurrected midsize crossover many claim fails to uphold the prior Blazer’s memory, will gain a new powerplant for 2020, but naysayers could easily find a problem in GM’s decision-making here, too.

Thanks to order guides, we now know what you’ll pay to get behind the wheel of a 2020 Blazer outfitted with the tweener turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder. (Read More…)

As reports point to progress in efforts by General Motors and the UAW to reach a tentative collective agreement and resolve the now 12-day-long strike, the automaker has removed a contentious element of the drama. Announced Thursday, GM will resume covering workers’ health benefits.

GM withdrew the coverage early into the strike, forcing hourly workers to go through their union to fund temporary COBRA plans. As one would expect, GM’s about-face hasn’t left UAW all smiles. (Read More…)

Following a long period of speculation, the future of the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ — affordable, jointly-developed rear-drive sport coupes that American buyers seem allergic to — has now become clear. Following a joint announcement from the two automakers, we now know the slow-selling Toyobaru twins will live on into a second generation.

Toyota and Subaru announced Friday that their ongoing partnership, birthed in 2005, will broaden into a greater alliance in the coming years. Part of that pact will ensure a new pair of low-end sports cars, though Subaru also stands to gain more hybrid vehicles. (Read More…)

If you have less than one thousand foot-pounds of torque, are you even driving a truck? That seems to be the message Ford tried to convey during its spec reveal of the 2020 Super Duty line on Thursday.

In an event held on the sidelines of the State Fair of Texas, where attendees view all things large and powerful with the same rapturous admiration as a Ziplock bag of pills discovered at Burning Man, Ford detailed the output and towing capability of its revamped, third-generation 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel V8. A diesel, Ford was proud to relay, that tops Ram’s torquiest Cummins by 50 lb-ft. (Read More…)

A year and change after his ouster as president of the Cadillac brand, Johan de Nysschen has returned to a familiar place: Volkswagen of America, where, many moons ago, the executive sat on the automaker’s board while serving as Audi’s U.S. boss.

This homecoming sees de Nysschen take on the role of chief operating officer for the VW brand’s recently-created North American region. However, it will probably not, as one TTAC writer opined in a chatroom discussion, lead to the renaming of the Jetta GLI as the Q220. (Read More…)

The man tapped to replace former Lincoln Design Director David Woodhouse is someone whose hands have guided the shape and curves of numerous recent Ford and Lincoln products.

As reported by Automotive News, Lincoln Motor Company’s chief designer, Kemal Curic, will replace the Nissan-bound Woodhouse. Having led design work on the new Aviator and upcoming Corsair and brushed aside competitors to win the job of crafting the 2015 Ford Mustang, Curic is an obvious choice for the job. (Read More…)

As the strike by General Motors workers in the U.S. enters its 11th day, bargaining teams from the automaker and UAW could be close to reaching a tentative labor agreement. Recent reports claim negotiations have ramped up in the past day or two.

UAW Vice President Terry Dittes acknowledged the progress in a letter to members Wednesday night, which should bring some comfort both to workers and dealers facing a dwindling supply of replacement parts. (Read More…)

Just the other day, Bark told us why he loathes comparison tests — those splashy smorgasbords of contemporary metal, each one resulting in a ranking that probably won’t sway a single new car shopper.

Like many of you, this author’s youth was at least partly spent devouring such tests in the glossy pages of Car and Driver and Motor Trend, with a teenage Steph eagerly awaiting those publications’ findings. Would the Ford Contour beat out the Chevy Lumina? Can the Chrysler LHS really hold a candle to the Cadillac Seville? My God, the titillation.

Great entertainment, as Bark said, but most new car buyers only read a review to see if any glaring deficiency plagues their pre-existing first choice. Basically, they already know what they want, and they’re looking to see that decision reinforced. Performance minutiae or minor gripes need not sway the new car buyer. (Read More…)

We’ve already looked at the Nissan Sentra today, so it’s time to focus on the Dodge Journey. Yes, we’re all about the common man here at TTAC.

If it somehow escaped your attention, and we’re not sure how it could, we’re here to tell you that the Journey will stage a return for 2020, continuing a lineage that’s attracted only minor changes since the model’s appearance at the tail end of the Bush administration. It wasn’t supposed to be this way, but Fiat Chrysler has a way of changing plans at the last minute. (Read More…)

In this case, the locale is India — birthplace of the EcoSport and a developing, massively populous market with the potential to make automakers a ton of cash. And yet Ford’s efforts to seize a slice of this pie hasn’t born the fruit the Blue Oval initially hoped. Meanwhile, Ford is in the midst of a major global streamlining effort.

What to do?

Partner up. In this case, with a major Indian automaker — Mahindra & Mahindra, builder of SUVs and ATVs, including the adorable, Jeep-like Roxor. (Read More…)

Volvo, the brand TTAC commenters can’t get enough of (when they’re not talking Infiniti), will soon enter a fledgling segment no automaker seems capable of steering clear of: electric vehicles.

The new model, due for an October unveiling, won’t be an unfamiliar, futuristic blob that leaves viewers feeling cold and scared. Like many of its rivals, Volvo has opted to fully electrify an existing model. And what model has a longer-term viability than a compact crossover? (Read More…)