Three of Ford’s most senior and veteran executives are retiring, global design chief J Mays, North American manufacturing head Jim Tetreault and Martin Mulloy, who is in charge of labor relations. Mays’ replacement will be Moray Callum, design director for Ford’s North American operations. All three men had important roles in turning Ford around. Mulloy negotiated contracts with the UAW that were critical in reducing costs, while Tetreault had a big hand in reshaping Ford’s manufacturing strategy towards efficient and flexible factories. Mays has  supervised the styling the cars and trucks that have helped turned Ford’s fortunes around, implementing Ford CEO Alan Mulally’s “One Ford” directive in a visual sense. He also had an important role the shape of the Jaguar XK and XF, developed while Ford owned that brand. (Read More…)

When Toyota teamed with General Motors, they gave us the Vibe/Matrix twins. With Subaru, a trio of rear-driven sports cars with boxer power up front. So, what will Toyota deliver in its partnership with BMW? How about the ultimate hybrid supercar based off the bones of the Lexus LFA, for starters.

(Read More…)

To help celebrate the 100th anniversary of when Horace and John Dodge started selling automobiles in November 1914 under their own brand name after years of supplying Henry Ford with components and rolling chassis, Dodge is going to bring back a feature from its storied past, albeit from a period more recent than when Horace and John walked the floor of Dodge Main. The Chrysler Group’s brand used the occasion of this year’s SEMA show to announce that it will be making 1,000 special edition Challenger R/Ts with “shaker” hoods, as used in Mopar products during the golden age of muscle cars in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It’s called a shaker hood because an engine mounted air intake protrudes through an opening in the hood and shakes from the torque as the engine rocks on its mounts. The limited run of cars will also come with an electronically operated exhaust dump, to allow a more free flowing, and louder, exhaust. (Read More…)

If you’re one of the few, proud owners of the slightly angrier-looking 2014 Camaro, or one of the many to own the slightly less angry 2013 model, you may need to send it back to correct a problem. No, not spiders this time. The recall is about stickers. That don’t stick.

(Read More…)

Looking for a change in leadership once CEO Steve Ballmer steps down, Microsoft has announced its shortlist of five potential candidates, including current Ford CEO Ford Mullaly.

(Read More…)

For those of us who love the Jaguar’s F-Type’s zazz but would prefer to keep the wind out of our hair (along with the rain, sleet and snow) on a more permanent basis, Jaguar now has an option for you.

(Read More…)

In the new $29,900 CLA coupe’s first full month of U.S. sales, Mercedes-Benz sold 4,895 units in October, helping the brand post a 25% increase over last October’s sales and double it’s lead over BMW, the number two luxury brand in this market.

(Read More…)

Hyundai used the SEMA show to announce a new crate engine program starting in December that will offer the company’s Lambda 3.8-liter, direct-injected V6 and Theta 2.0-liter, turbocharged 4-cylinder engines to aftermarket tuners at significant discounts over the cost of similar replacement engines.

(Read More…)

Renault will be returning to the United States, but not with Meganes or Kangoos sold under the diamond brand. Instead, the Renault-derived products will be variants of jointly-developed Renault Samsung cars sold under the Mitsubishi brand, as part of a new alliance between Renault-Nissan and Mitsubishi.

(Read More…)

At Toyota’s recent Hybrid World Tour event, managing office Satoshi Ogiso made it clear that the company continues to see hydrogen fuel cells as part of the future drivetrain mix and that Toyota’s first commercially available hydrogen fuel cell vehicle will go on sale in 2015. Ogiso indicated that at the upcoming Tokyo and Detroit auto shows Toyota will be showing “a well-defined mid-size four-door sedan concept” powered by the company’s latest fuel cell. Images of the Toyota FCV (Fuel Cell Vehicle) Concept have now been released in advance of the Tokyo show. “Well-defined” appears to mean close to production ready. (Read More…)

In lieu of short-term monetary gains over their competitors at Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen (via Audi), BMW is spending its earnings on building up their i sub-brand through the city-focused i3 and the plug-in hybrid supercar i8.

(Read More…)

Nissan. Cadillac. Chevrolet. All brag about being the Lord of the ‘Ring, upsetting the German automakers to no end. Yet, one of them may still have the last laugh through the act of saving the Nürburgring from certain doom.

(Read More…)

In response to charges that it’s California electric bus building operation has been violating that state’s labor and minimum wage laws in the way it employs Chinese nationals, the company issued a statement saying that it is  “dedicated to ensuring that its employees are treated fairly” and that it would be hiring more American employees at its California electric bus factory. BYD explained that the Chinese nationals in question were engineers and experts that had been loaned by the parent company to transfer technology and train local employees and that they are not displacing any American workers. California labor officials had hit BYD with a $100,000 fine, charging that the company was paying its Chinese employees only $1.50/hr. The company is appealing that fine. BYD currently employs about 40 local workers at the plant. The state investigation was the result of charges by labor rights group Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy of minimum wage and other labor violations. Last week, BYD had said that the group was spreading “misinformation”.

BYD is stepping up efforts to sell electric vehicles overseas. The California facility is intended to supply contracts for electric buses for the Los Angeles and Long Beach municipalities. In Europe, BYD’s electric buses are in trial service in a number of cities and Amsterdam’s  Schiphol airport has ordered 35. The company plans to build those buses somewhere in Europe.  “We need to have around 100 sales in Europe to justify a plant and we believe that day is really near now,” Isbrand Ho, BYD Europe’s managing director, said in a statement. As yet no location has been chosen.

BYD electric buses have been tried out in Paris, Bremen, Bonn, Madrid, Barcelona, Salzburg, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Brussels and Budapest, and trials will begin in London as well. The electric bus is 12 meters (37 feet) long and is claimed to have a range of 250 kilometers (150 miles) in urban use, powered by lithium iron phosphate battery cells.

At the opening of his company’s London store, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk had some comments about the company’s upcoming falcon-winged crossover, the Model X. He said that it will offered only in an all wheel drive configuration that features electric motors in both the front and back of the car, and that it’s starting price will be slightly more than that of the Model S, which starts at $60,000.

The Model X’s price will be very similar to the Model S. It might be slightly higher, but… I can’t imagine that it will be… It’s probably going to be a slightly higher starting price because the Model X will only be offered as all-wheel drive. It will be dual motor, all-wheel drive.

[The relevant remarks start at ~24:00 of the video]

Two of the newest Lexus products got an early reveal prior to their Tokyo Motor Show debut. The Lexus RC (above) is a coupe version of the new IS, with the IS350’s 3.5L V6 carrying over. World markets will get a hybrid version, dubbed the RC300h. Also debuting is the LF-NX concept, expected to preview a sub-RX sized crossover.