Tesla’s price cuts have been so significant in some regions that it devaluated some recently purchased vehicles by over 40% and it pushed some owners to literally organize protests. READ MORE...

Breaking loose of its reputation of not being able to handle returns and refunds efficiently, the company further confirmed that from now on drivers will be given up to a week to return their newly purchased vehicles if they aren’t happy. Tesla’s CEO explained that there was no other way to reduce operating costs but to shift to e-commerce.The move will reduce the sales force on the retail side and also avoid dealing with local politics that have prevented Tesla from operating its own stores (dealerships) in certain states including Connecticut, New Mexico and others. The company further emphasized that this move could boost sales of Model 3 vehicles, by getting to the long-awaited base model price of $35,000. But that's not all.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has Twitter-teased a potential entrance to the Indian market for the electric vehicle maker in recent years.If the billionaire does ever bring his renewable-energy vision to India, he may want to lead with battery-based energy-storage solutions for the grid rather than electric cars. Read More...

Electric carmaker Tesla is finally launching its long-awaited standard Model 3 starting at $35,000 and shifting all sales online, the company said. Read More...

In a $4.5-billion move designed to meet growing demand for Jeeps, Dodge Rams and electric vehicles, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles plans to turn an old jeep facility into a new Jeep plant in Detroit, as well as investing in five other Michigan factories.The revamp is expected to create nearly 6,500 new jobs. The new Jeep plant will focus on vehicles with higher margin opportunities for the company, such as larger, three-row SUVs, as well as new electric Jeeps, including at least four plug-in hybrid vehicles. Fiat also plans to open two more assembly plants at Detroit’s Mack Avenue Engine Complex for the new Jeep Grand Cherokee and a new large, three-row SUV, and plug-in hybrid models.

Shares of Tesla witnessed fell 4.3% yesterday after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) asked a judge to hold the Company’s CEO, Elon Musk, in contempt of court for violating a settlement deal.The tweet says that Tesla would make “around” 500,000 vehicles this year which meant a production rate of 10,000 cars per week. Musk did not seek prior approval of the SEC before publishing his tweet.

Vancouver-based Electra Meccanica has confirmed that larger-scale production of its single-seat budget electric car is underway at a facility in central China. Read More...

The report says it will no longer recommend the model, sending Tesla’s shares down by nearly 2%. According to the senior director of automotive testing at Consumer Reports, the reliability issues arise from electronics, navigation/infotainment screens, and other issues in terms of the trim breaking and the glass.He further pointed out the Model 3 owned and tested by Consumer Reports had a rear window with a small stress fracture. The slipping quality of the Tesla models has been a long-term concern among analysts who believe this is due to the ambitious ramping up of Model 3 production since last year.

At least one auto industry analyst is skeptical about Tesla CEO Elon Musk's bold claim that the electric car maker will have all the features necessary for full autonomy by the end of the year. Read More...

Putting an end to its long struggle in South America, Ford Motors on Wednesday announced its plan to stop selling heavy trucks in the region in near future. According to the company, the decision is in-line with its newly adopted restructuring plan, whereby the company would take steps to trim its operations and overhaul its business in less successful regions.The plan will likely take years to take shape and is expected to cost $11 billion. Ford is likely to stop commercial production at its Sao Bernardo do Campo plant in Brazil this year, and would stop selling the Cargo lineup, F-4000 and F-350 trucks along with the Fiesta compact car once it sells all its inventory. This is expected to result in a record pre-tax special item charges of about $460 million for the second largest U.S. automaker. The automaker has been long struggling in the South American vehicle market, but this move does not mean a total pullback.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk expects that the electric car maker will have the technology needed to essentially operate vehicles without drivers by the end of the year. Read More...

A new study published by EnergySage and the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners has found that just 12 percent of solar panel installers in the U.S. have Tesla Powerwall in-home batteries to install.READ MORE...

The European Union vowed prompt retaliation if the U.S. follows through on a threat to impose tariffs on imported vehicles, as trans-Atlantic trade tensions showed no signs of easing. Read more...

General Motors (GM) just unveiled its electric bicycle in a bid to arm itself against an uncertain future for cars. The largest U.S. automaker on Thursday released the name of its bike, Ariv, and said it will start taking orders in select countries in Europe. READ MORE...  

Following a crowd-sourcing campaign, American automaker giant General Motors has finalized the brand name for its newly produced electric bicycles: Ariv.Riders will need to charge their battery approximately once every 3.5 hours enabling 64km (40 miles) of ride time on a single charge.

The move could help Ford and VW save billions of dollars by sharing R&D efforts. But now it seems highly unlikely that both companies can find common ground when it comes to battery-electric vehicles.According to company officials, their programs are out of sync, and the timing just doesn’t seem to match. With the global business environment becoming more challenging every day, auto manufacturers across the globe are continuously looking for partners -- even if they are rivals.

The century-old multinational automaker, Ford Motor Company, in its recent media release revealed that the company plans to invest $1 billion to expand production of the redesigned Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator sport utility vehicles. The investment would be made in the assembly and stamping plants in Chicago and is expected to add at least 500 more jobs in the plant, but it comes as the automaker cut jobs overseas, particularly in the European region. The plan to expand certain productions is in response to a decline of sedans and sports cars in favor of SUVs, crossover-utility vehicles and trucks.It is also likely to spend $40 million to upgrade the facilities for employees, including new LED lighting and cafeteria updates, new break areas as well as parking lot security upgrades. Ford is not the only automaker to restructure its production in the face of changing demands.

The automaker expects total industry sales for North America to decline in 2019 to 17.2 million, down from 17.7 million in 2018. Chrysler attributes this downsized sale partly to its decision to not sell two generations of the Jeep Wrangler side-by-side, as it did in 2018.The company is also looking at retooling factories to gear up for the launch of the plug-in hybrid version of the iconic off-road machine in early 2020. Other challenges include higher-than-expected capital expenditures that could see the company shelling out nearly 500 million euros related to U.S diesel emissions cases.

Most of the strong profitability apparently came from the North American market. Tailwinds came in the form of solid market for pickup trucks whose average transaction prices reached a record of nearly $36,000 (as indicated by the company).Sales of Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickups and the midsize Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups, increased +3% from the fourth quarter of 2017. GM is in the process of slashing 14,000 jobs, which that company expects would save about $6 billion in cash by 2020.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said on Tuesday it would recall 882,000 pickup trucks worldwide in two new recalls to address steering and pedal issues. The Italian-American automaker said it was recalling about 660,000 heavy duty Ram 2500 and 3500 pickup trucks from the 2013 through 2017 model years, including 574,000 in the United States, as drivers could potentially experience steering loss. READ MORE...