Automakers step up autonomous car plans

Jan 16, 2018
The future of driving may be closer than we thought. General Motors has announced plans to mass produce a fully autonomous car without a steering wheel or pedals in 2019 — if it gets the go-ahead from federal regulators. Ford and other manufacturers aren’t far behind.  Click the audio player above to hear the full […]

U.S. automakers help Mexican auto export surge in 2017

Jan 10, 2018
The number of vehicles imported to the United States from Mexico reached an all-time high last year. Mexico’s auto industry exported 2.3 million vehicles, which is nearly a 10 percent increase from the year before. Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

A seven-year uphill ride for auto sales has hit the brakes, sort of

Jan 4, 2018
Sales of light trucks keep tears for auto dealers at bay.

Subprime loan market losing its appeal for lenders

Dec 27, 2017
Subprime loans give money to borrowers with less-than-stellar credit ratings. In return, lenders collect higher interest. But the shine is off lending to riskier borrowers these days. There’s word this week that Uber is selling off its subprime car-leasing division. That’s according to the Wall Street Journal, although Uber would not comment. The company originally […]

The Tesla for the rest of us is here

Jul 3, 2017
The $35,000 Model 3 is on track for production this week.

New car sales are falling back to earth

Jul 3, 2017
Pent-up demand from the Great Recession has been mostly fulfilled.
Carl Court/Getty Images

Does a new CEO really mean a new start for Ford?

Mark Fields is out, but is new CEO Jim Hackett the answer to transforming Ford?
"We need to move faster with great clarity so that everybody understands where we're going, our employees, our investors, and the public" said Bill Ford, Ford's executive chairman. Above, a picture of Ford and former CEO Mark Fields.
William Thomas Cain/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Ford announces job cuts as it seeks to balance near-term profits with long-term goals

May 16, 2017
There’s news that Ford will cut about 10 percent of its global workforce in an effort to help lift its stock. Ford’s CEO Mark Fields has been out there talking about the future of his company as a “mobility” firm that could offer services like car sharing. These are long-term strategies for Ford’s health, the […]

Is generosity enough to prop up this post-recession town?

Apr 19, 2017
Janesville, Wisconsin's resources are stretched thin after GM left the city and took jobs with it.
“I wanted to tell the story of a perfectly ordinary place that had lost a slew of jobs in the Great Recession,” said author Amy Goldstein.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Goodbye Obama, hello Trump: how will carmakers deal with the political shift?

Jan 9, 2017
The 2017 Detroit car show kicks off today. Last year, President Barack Obama attended, a symbolic moment for a president who had fully backed the bailout of the auto industry. That image stands in sharp contrast to the incoming president-elect. Donald Trump has frequently criticized the auto industry for its offshore manufacturing operations. So, how […]