Here are the automotive news stories you might have missed this week.
With the Thanksgiving slowdown behind us, automotive-related news has definitely picked up this week, so it would be easy for you to miss the items included in this week’s list. Hold onto your hat and let’s dive into the topics you need to know about as November wraps up and December begins.
1. Production begins for the BMW XM
If you didn’t know, BMW has a new super SUV and you should start seeing them in your neck of the woods soon since production started this week. That’s right, the XM is already rolling off the assembly line in Spartanburg, South Carolina where the X7, X6, and X5 are made. Besides sporting a comical front-end design, the XM is the first electrified BMW M vehicle, but plenty more are coming. However, this thing is no SUV, but instead has a V8 paired with an electric motor.
Read more about it here.
Learn how Kia is confusing consumers here.
2. Ferrari puts the brakes on Purosangue orders.
Demand for Ferrari’s first crossover, the Purosangue, has surged so much the Italian automaker has stopped taking them for now. If the company wanted to sell more it could, however it said from the get-go Purosangue sales would be capped at below 20% of total group shipments throughout the model’s lifecycle.
By the way, “Purosangue” means “pureblood” as a way to reassure the Ferrari faithful the crossover won’t be a bloated soccer mommy SUV.
Read more about this topic here.
3. Ford steps up Mach-E production.
Many an enthusiast has been upset with Ford for calling the Mach-E, its all-electric performance crossover, a Mustang. Ford even went so far as to include a light-up pony badge on the nose where a grille would normally be. Despite that, it seems plenty of people want the things, with Ford celebrating the 150,000th made and saying it has plans to expand production in 2023 so it’s making 270,000 a year and accelerating that to a rate of 600,000 per year by the end of next December. Even if enthusiasts despise the Mach-E, it is admittedly selling at a healthy rate, for now.
4. Chinese cars are coming to Mexico.
China desperately wants to sell its domestic-branded vehicles in the United States and has been making a concerted effort to do so for at least a couple of decades. Facing no success, it instead has turned to our southern neighbors. BYD says it will be selling EVs in Mexico starting in 2023 and is targeting moving 30,000 units by 2024. How long until they try leveraging that to get into this market? And will they be successful?
Read more about it here.
5. Stellantis wants to build Jeeps and more in India.
With the Chinese Communist Party getting more aggressive towards foreign automakers, it seems more are looking elsewhere to build vehicles. For example, Stellantis is reportedly going to build new EVs in India, including the little electric Jeep it showed off recently. We truly live in strange times.
Read more here.
Lead image via BMW
