News
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Ford Quietly Tested Its “Quality Comes First” Ads on Factory Towns Before Anyone Else Saw Them. That’s Not a Coincidence
Ford just won its first J.D. Power quality crown since 2010, and its new “Quality Comes First” campaign celebrates it. Its first move wasn’t a Super Bowl spot. It was full-page ads in the newspapers of Kansas City, Louisville, Chicago, and Dearborn — the towns that actually build the trucks. That’s not how you sell…
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Denver Cab Companies Say Waymo Found A Loophole In Colorado’s Taxi Law — And They’re Not Wrong
Two Colorado transportation companies filed paperwork this month arguing that Waymo doesn’t belong in the same regulatory category as a chauffeured Mercedes. They’re technically correct. A fleet of purpose-built robotaxis has about as much in common with a limousine service as a vending machine has with a butler. But that’s exactly the point, and it’s…
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IIHS Handed Out Its Top Safety Pick+ Award This Week, and Audi Couldn’t Even Win It Twice
Here’s a detail buried at the bottom of this week’s safety news that matters more than the headline: Audi currently has two sedans in front of crash-test engineers, and only one of them was good enough for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The redesigned 2026 A6 made the Institute’s top list. The A3 did…
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Waymo’s “Free” Robotaxi Rides Have Nothing to Do With Generosity. They’re Buying Time With Regulators
Waymo wants you to believe the free rides in its new robotaxi are a nicety. The company’s own blog calls it a “Trusted Tester” rollout, a chance to gather feedback before charging full fare. That’s technically true. What the blog does not mention is that Waymo currently has no legal way to charge for those…
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Your Mercedes Speedometer Can Just Go Dark While You’re Driving. Regulators Finally Made It a Recall
Here’s a fun trait of modern luxury cars: when the speedometer is just pixels on a screen, a software hiccup can erase it. Mercedes-Benz USA has now filed a recall covering 144,049 vehicles whose digital instrument cluster can go blank for a moment while you’re driving, taking your speed readout and warning lights with it.…
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A $105K Corvette Blew Up a $1.3 Million Supercar Theft Ring. The Getaway Kit Cost Almost Nothing
Two men are sitting in a Ventura County jail cell on $250,000 bail apiece, accused of running a luxury car theft ring that had accumulated a Lamborghini Aventador, two Porsche 911s, a BMW X7, a Ford Shelby GT500, a GMC Hummer, and a couple of Chevrolet trucks, north of $1.3 million in exotic and near-exotic…
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Summer Heat Is Quietly Wrecking Your Car Right Now. You Won’t Feel It Until Winter Strands You
Every summer brings the same warning, repeated by news anchors and safety groups alike: never leave a child or a pet in a hot car. It is the right warning, and it may be the only one most drivers ever hear about heat and their vehicle, which is exactly the problem. The heat damage that…
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O’Reilly’s Reported $10 Billion Bid for NAPA’s Parent Isn’t Really a Merger Story. It’s a Vote of No Confidence in GPC’s Own Spinoff Plan
Genuine Parts Company spent the better part of this year building an elaborate exit ramp for its automotive business. Tax-free spinoff, new stock ticker, standalone board, a target date of early 2027 — the whole production. Then, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter, O’Reilly Automotive showed up with a simpler…
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The 2026 Ram 1500 Has Been Recalled Four Times for Wiring Since December. This Week It Was the Headlights.
Stellantis is recalling 12,592 copies of the all-new 2026 Ram 1500 because the headlights can quietly turn themselves off. That’s a real defect, and Ram is fixing it for free. But treat the headlights as the least important part of this story. This is the fourth time since early December that an electrical system on…
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BYD Tried Twice to Buy Its Way Into Renault. Renault Said No Twice, and Money Had Nothing to Do With It
For most of the last two decades, if a Western automaker wanted to sell cars in China, the price of admission was simple: hand over your technology, accept a Chinese joint-venture partner, and settle for a minority stake in your own operation. General Motors did it. Volkswagen did it. Ford did it. Everyone grumbled, and…
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Toyota Just Pulled the Tacoma Out of Mexico, and It Buried the Real Reason in One Sentence
Toyota’s $3.6 billion press release out of San Antonio arrived with a governor, two U.S. senators, a lieutenant governor, a House speaker, a county judge, a mayor, and a school superintendent all lined up with quotes. That’s a lot of applause for an assembly line. Buried underneath it is a decision far bigger than 2,000…
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BMW’s Brake Defect Has Survived Three Recalls in a Row. Yes, That Includes a Rolls-Royce.
Three times since February 2024, BMW has told a group of owners the same thing: a brake recall exists, dealers will fix it, and the danger is over. Three times, the company has had to come back and admit the fix didn’t hold. The newest chapter, filed with federal regulators this month, covers only 428…
