California

Toyota gets more time to win approval of $1.1 billion legal settlement

7:19 pm U.S. ET | June 13, 2013
Toyota and lawyers suing the company were given more time to win final approval of a $1.1 billion settlement of claims that recalls related to unintended acceleration hurt the value of customers’ vehicles in the United States.... Read More »

 

BEST PRACTICES

Desert dealer goes solar to save

12:01 am U.S. ET | June 3, 2013
In balmy Palm Springs, Calif., the desert sun shines an average of 350 days a year. So converting an auto dealership to solar energy might seem to be a no-brainer.... Read More »

 

Tesla accelerates plan for coast-to-coast recharging

1:49 pm U.S. ET | May 30, 2013
Tesla Motors said today it will expand its network of fast-charge stations beyond California and the Northeastern seaboard within several months to a year. Elon Musk, CEO of the electric-vehicle maker, said the fast-charge stations are being upgraded from 90 kilowatts to 120 kilowatts, meaning they will be able to return most of the vehicle's range in 20 to 25 minutes, roughly twice as fast as the Tesla charging time.... Read More »

 

BEST PRACTICE

Historian-songwriter-developer leads revival of auto row near downtown L.A.

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 27, 2013
Long before Los Angeles became a skein of freeways, Figueroa was the city's Automobile Row. As far back as the mid-1920s, the street was chockablock with dealerships for such brands as Dodge Bros., Buick, Flint Motors and Hupmobile. Nearly a century later, Darryl Holter, the onetime academic who heads L.A.'s Shammas Automotive Group, is putting the finishing touches on a $30 million overhaul of his Downtown L.A. Motors Mercedes-Benz store.... Read More »

 

GM prices Chevy Spark EV below $20,000 after tax credits

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 23, 2013
GM will price its new Chevrolet Spark electric vehicle at $27,495, including destination charges and before federal tax credits, placing it among the cheapest EVs on the market.... Read More »

 

REUTERS NEWS ANALYSIS

The road to a greener America is littered with roadkill

11:43 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
Apart from the recent success of Tesla Motors, the electric vehicle sector has been one of the biggest duds in clean tech. It's all part of green energy's mid-life crisis.... Read More »

 

KEITH CRAIN

You can't mandate human behavior

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
They are at it again in California. The mandates for zero-emission vehicles mean that to sell any volume there, you will need to have some sort of electric car for that market. Some car companies may decide to get out of the California market because it doesn't make sense Keith Crain is editor-in-chief of Automotive News.... Read More »

 

U.S. EV maker Coda files for bankruptcy

May 1, 2013 12:18 CET
U.S. green car startup Coda Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today after selling just 100 of its all-electric sedans. Coda launched its $37,250 electric car in California a year ago.... Read More »

 

Toyota 2015 fuel cell vehicle to cost between $50,000 and $100,000

5:51 pm U.S. ET | April 30, 2013
The cost of a completed hydrogen fuel cell vehicle today is 1/20th of what it was when current prototypes were being developed, Toyota says, paving the way for a workable business model and improved sales prospects.... Read More »

 

California regulator scolds carmakers on EV petition

12:25 pm U.S. ET | April 16, 2013
Automakers are undermining the progress they're making in expanding the market for electric cars and other zero-emission vehicles by petitioning against California's mandates, a state regulator said today.... Read More »

 

Fisker faces suit alleging failure to give advance notice of dismissals

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 6, 2013
Fisker Automotive, hours after dismissing about 75 percent of its employees, was hit with a federal lawsuit accusing the company of breaking the law that requires employers to give workers advance notice of mass layoffs.... Read More »

 

EPA proposes tougher tailpipe, gasoline rules

6:46 pm U.S. ET | March 28, 2013
The EPA proposed a package of rules today that includes cleaner gasoline and stricter limits on pollution from the tailpipes of cars, despite objections from the oil industry. The rules, known as Tier 3, have been supported by car companies because they would bring federal standards into alignment with those of California, where gasoline must have a lower sulfur content to help reduce tailpipe emissions.... Read More »

 

CALIFORNIA SEEN

Porsche's 50 years of evolution

2:01 pm U.S. ET | March 22, 2013
Many automotive journalists, when asked for their fantasy road test, would promptly reply, "A Porsche 911, up the California coast." Although I've been doing this job for 20 years, until a few weeks ago I had never been fortunate enough to embrace this experience.... Read More »

 

Arnie Addison, founder of Bay Cities Auto Auction in Calif., dies

5:21 pm U.S. ET | March 20, 2013
Arnie Addison, a founder of Bay Cities Auto Auction in Hayward, Calif., died March 1. He was 83.... Read More »

 

Automakers ask EPA to pull back on Calif. ZEV mandate

4:22 pm U.S. ET | March 12, 2013
Three months after the Obama administration gave California permission to start mandating the sale of zero-emission vehicles, automakers are again seeking to block the state's ZEV program.... Read More »

 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Calif.'s leadership is bold, vital

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 21, 2013
California's zero-emission vehicle program is already showing signs of success. The policy has helped make California the leading U.S. market for hybrid and electric vehicles.... Read More »

 

Toyota settles Utah unintended-acceleration suit, attorney says

2:04 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 16, 2013
Toyota agreed to settle an unintended-acceleration lawsuit stemming from a 2010 fatal crash in Utah that was scheduled to go to trial in February, an attorney for the plaintiffs said.... Read More »

 

Toyota Prius line grabs crown from Honda Civic in Calif. sales race

12:34 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 16, 2013
Toyota's Prius hybrid passed Honda's Civic to become the best-selling vehicle line in California, the largest U.S. auto market, for the first time as higher fuel prices and new versions of the car drove up demand.... Read More »

 

Toyota wins order dismissing Prius brakes class-action claims

12:33 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 10, 2013
Toyota has won a federal judge’s ruling blocking a class-action lawsuit by owners of Prius and Lexus models who sued over a 2010 recall to install a software update that fixed a concern with the cars’ anti-lock braking system.... Read More »

 

NADA picks California dealer advocate Welch as new president

5:35 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 8, 2013
The new president of the National Automobile Dealers Association will be Peter Welch, 59, who as head of California's dealer group led a legal fight against Chrysler Group's factory-owned dealership in Los Angeles. NADA's board of directors unanimously approved the pick this afternoon during a meeting in Dallas, ending a five-month search, a top official told Automotive News.... Read More »

 

ZEV 'straitjacket'?

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 7, 2013
They rarely say so in public, but automakers are worried about California's law requiring that zero-emission vehicles account for 15 percent of sales in the state by the 2025 model year.... Read More »

 

California's clean car goal

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 7, 2013
California's zero-emission vehicle mandate will require large automakers to sell plug-in hybrid, hydrogen fuel cell and electric vehicles in increasing quantities. By the 2025 model year, 15% of new-vehicle sales in the state must be zero-emission vehicles.... Read More »

 

Toyota wins preliminary approval of $1.1 billion settlement

6:19 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 28, 2012
Toyota and lawyers suing the company won preliminary court approval of a $1.1. billion settlement of claims that recalls for unintended acceleration hurt the value of U.S. customers' vehicles. The terms of the settlement filed Dec. 26 are "fair, reasonable and adequate," U.S. District Judge James V. Selna in Santa Ana, Calif., said in granting preliminary approval. Final approval will be determined following a fairness hearing set for June 14, Selna said.... Read More »

 

Toyota to settle U.S. unintended acceleration claims for at least $1.1 billion

5:03 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 26, 2012
Toyota is setting aside $1.1 billion to settle various lawsuits and other claims in the United States stemming from reports of unintended acceleration that plagued the automaker in 2009-2010. The company has agreed to install new braking override systems in certain vehicles and reimburse owners who suffered economic losses because of the problems, Toyota said in a statement.... Read More »

 

EDITORIAL

CAFE is enough; ZEV rules defy logic, buyer choice

12:01 am U.S. ET | Dec. 3, 2012
California and the 10 states that typically follow its tailpipe emissions and fuel economy policies must rethink the mandates that would require automakers to deliver a specified number of electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell vehicles.... Read More »

 

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Dealer O.C. Welch's big-truck turnaround

Dealer O.C. Welch's big-truck turnaround

After Mercury's demise, South Carolina Ford-Lincoln dealer O.C. Welch had to find a way to replace lost revenue. He decided to load up on Super Duty pickups – and sell them online. Mon., June 17
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    Don Davis Dealerships, Inc. -- Lake Jackson, Texas, United States
     
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    Performance Toyota -- Memphis, Tennessee, United States
     
 
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