It’s been another wild week in the automotive industry. Here are some stories you might not have heard about.
1. GMC Canyon Gets An Upgrade
GMC’s midsize truck, the Canyon, just gained a new top-of-the-line trim called the AT4. It’s being heralded by the brand as “the most advanced off-road midsize truck” but you’ll pay dearly for it. Actually, all the 2023 GMC Canyon trucks get a healthy price bump with the base model selling for around $40,000 versus the current base model going for about $30,000. Yes, price inflation is making cars across the board more expensive.
Read the GMC press release about the Canyon AT4 here.
2. Ford Quality Control Problems
I’m not a brand loyalist by any means, but I know people who are hardcore Ford fans and they’re not going to like a recent report from The Wall Street Journal. It details out the recent slate of quality control problems and subsequent recalls Ford has endured. Then it gets into the company’s history of QC problems – ouch.
Check it out here.
3. Unforeseen Safety Consequences
If you’ve noticed the hoods on vehicles getting taller, that’s all thanks to ever-increasing government regulations to keep pedestrians safe in a collision with the front of your car. However, these taller hoods along with higher beltlines on trucks and SUVs (again, thanks to regulations) has created a problem where drivers can’t see children in front of them. Senator Richard Blumenthal thinks this is a problem and I can’t disagree, but his proposal to add front-facing cameras will only make vehicles more complicated and expensive. Somehow, increasing safety standards also makes us less safe as on-road fatalities are on the rise. This is what the current obsession with safety above all does to the industry.
Read about it here.
4. Volkswagen’s Game of Thrones
I won’t get into it here, but Volkswagen Group has a long history of the different prominent families from the brands vying to gain control over the company. Yet again, the Porsche and Piech families are trying to sit on that throne and there’s plenty of drama to go along with it.
If you want to know more, read all about it here.
5. Mitsubishi Colt Makes a Return
With economic woes all over the globe (just don’t call it a recession) we’re going to see more “cheap” cars making a return. An early leader is Mitsubishi bringing the Colt back, only this time it’ll be a retro-styled EV. The sad part is as prices continue to increase thanks to inflation and supply shortages, even the cheap cars will be expensive. Hello, 1970s yet again!
Read about the return of the Colt here (yes, it’s in German).
6. Faster and More Furious
The rumors keep flying that the Fast and Furious franchise is just about done. I don’t know, as long as they keep selling truckloads of tickets to the movies I doubt Universal will let the series end. I personally gave up on it after the third film. Anyway, Michelle Rodriguez keeps making moves to ensure her continued success after F&F is done. She’ll be starring in a new competition show for Discovery and apparently it will be based on the F&F series. Called Getaway Driver, contestants will compete in all kinds of events to show how good of a wheelman they are. It sounds a lot like the Hyperdrive on Netflix.
If you want to know more about this upcoming series, read about it here.
7. The Potomac Two-Step
One of my favorite lines from Clear and Present Danger is when the President and Jack Ryan are verbally sparring and POTUS backs him into the corner, explaining “the ol’ Potomac Two-Step.” Well, automakers are getting a lesson in that as the Inflation Reduction Act might actually cut into their ability to sell electric cars, despite the supposed opposite intent.
Find out why here.
