For $1,000, Tomi Mikula will do something most people dread: negotiate with a car dealer. The 33-year-old spent more than a decade selling cars and auto financing at dealerships before starting his own business doing the opposite. Now he uses dealer speak and an encyclopedic knowledge of inventory to talk down sticker prices for buyers.
At Stellantis headquarters, driving a company car gets you the best parking spots - but driving anything else can get you the boot. When the Jeep parent company ordered employees back to the office five days a week at its Auburn Hills, Michigan campus, workers discovered that parking a Tesla or Hyundai in a spot reserved for Stellantis vehicles could earn them a ticket from security.
If you've been dreaming of adding a mid-sized SUV to your cart alongside a bulk pack of granola bars and a new air fryer-well, we're not quite there yet. But that day is getting closer: Amazon has officially rolled out its car-buying program. But before you prepare your driveway to make room for a two-ton Prime delivery, you should know that buying a car on Amazon isn't exactly like buying a Kindle.
Porter complained about difficulties when trying to insert lines in Excel. (Which, to be fair to Microsoft, is relatively straightforward - need to insert a row? Right-click on a selected row. Need to insert a line in text? Alt+Return is probably going to be your friend.) But then Porter turned to that other productivity stalwart, Word. "Never underestimate Microsoft's ability to make things more complicated," he said.
The Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday it has finalized an order that bans General Motors and its OnStar telematics service from sharing certain consumer data with consumer reporting agencies. The finalized order, which comes a year after the agency reached a proposed settlement with GM, also requires the automaker to be more transparent with its consumers and obtain their explicit consent on any data collection.
Cars, parts and the manufacturing of both are closely tied together on both sides of the border, so what's been good for one country has long been considered good for the other. But that partnership saw its biggest breakdown yet this week as Canada struck a deal to reduce its 100% tariffs on Chinese-imported electric vehicles, opening North America's deeply intertwined auto industry to a whole new level of competition.
Google seems to be testing showing call assets on Vehicle Ads within Google Search. So on the Vehicle Ads there is a way to call the dealer or seller, like you see on some other ads. I scoured the web looking to see if this is new and I couldn't find any mention of this before, nor any screenshots of this.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Friday that his country will slash its 100% import tax on Chinese EVs to just 6.1%, paving the way for companies like Geely, BYD, Xiaomi, and others to establish a second foothold in the North American automotive market. Canada is not going all-in on Chinese EVs, though. The country will initially cap annual imports at 49,000 vehicles. That cap will slowly increase to about 70,000 in around five years, according to the Associated Press.
For years, car dealerships had a terrible reputation. Pushy sales tactics, confusing pricing, and long hours spent negotiating made the entire experience feel more like a battle than a purchase. Like many buyers, I assumed that avoiding dealerships altogether was the smartest way to buy a car, especially as online platforms and direct-to-consumer models gained popularity. Over time, however, my perspective began to shift.
It has never been more expensive to buy a new car. The average transaction price last month for buyers in the United States was $48,576, up nearly a third from 2019, according to Edmunds. The "affordable" car-$20,000 or less- is dead. The high prices have been pinned on plenty of economic dynamics: lingering pandemic-era supply chain issues, the introduction of expensive technology into everyday cars, higher labor and raw materials costs, and new tariffs by the Trump administration affecting imported steel, aluminum, and cars themselves.
As vehicles become platforms for software and subscriptions, their longevity is increasingly tied to the survival of the companies behind their code. When those companies fail, the consequences ripple far beyond a bad app update and into the basic question of whether a car still functions as a car. Over the years, automotive software has expanded from performing rudimentary engine management and onboard diagnostics to powering today's interconnected, software-defined vehicles.
When shopping for a vehicle, most buyers are looking for more than just a good deal. A vehicle purchase isn't worth it to them without peace of mind. While style, technology, and performance all play a role, affordability and reliability consistently rise to the top of the priority list. A car that's reasonably priced but frequently in the shop quickly becomes an expensive headache. Drivers know that long-term dependability is just as important as the sticker price.
It was not exactly mourned by the types of auto hobbyists who read car magazines: If you'd ever driven a Versa rental car, you'd probably understand. It was a tiny thing even by subcompact standards, and not rich in features, style or horsepower. But what it was, was a relatively cheap and affordable new sedan you could purchase in the United States.
During the automaker's Tuesday earnings call, CEO Mary Barra highlighted the rapid growth of GM's in-vehicle software and subscription business. In the past nine months, GM's software generated $2 billion, and customers have already signed up for about $5 billion in future subscriptions. The company said it now has 11 million subscribers for its OnStar safety system, up 34% from a year earlier. Another half a million customers are also paying for Super Cruise, its hands-free driver-assistance system.
