JANUARY 28, 2019

2019 NAIAS: Long-Awaited Toyota Supra Breaks Cover in Detroit

The fifth generation of Toyota’s Supra rear-wheel-drive sports car was a co-development with BMW and uses the German automaker’s B58 3.0L turbocharged and direct-injected I-6, a 2019 Wards 10 Best Engines winner in the X5.

Wards 10 Best Engines Announces Name Change

The awards program still is focused on its original mission: recognizing engineering achievement. Now that electrified powertrains account for about 40% of the annual awards, the name is being changed.

Shelby Mustang GT500 Brings the Swagger

NAIAS 2019
Ford Performance pushes the sixth-generation Mustang platform to peak power with a supercharged, plus-700-hp 5.2L V-8 under the hood and racing-bred upgrades throughout.

VW Working Toward U.S. Launch of Upgraded 1.5L TSI 4-Cyl.

The updated 1.5L high-compression engine, known as “evo,” relies on the Miller combustion cycle, which helps improve efficiency and reduce emissions and heat by allowing the intake valves to remain open during part of the compression stroke.

BMW’s Upmarket 7-Series Gets Literal Facelift

The facelifted 7-Series reflects the shift brought to upmarket BMW models by a new brand strategy announced by Chairman Harald Kruger in 2017, with a greater emphasis on interior luxury and a move to a more formal design language.

2019 North American International Auto Show Coverage

Click here for articles and photo galleries from Detroit's 30th annual auto show, the last to be held in January.

Brawny 2020 GMC Sierra 2500 HD Bows

Under the hood of the new Sierra 2500HD is a familiar, but thoroughly updated, Duramax 6.6L turbodiesel V-8 making an SAE-certified 445 hp and 910 lb.-ft. of torque.

Ram HD Trucks Cross 1,000 Lb.-Ft. Torque Threshold

NAIAS 2019
“Simply stated, the Ram heavy duty will out-power, out-tow and out-haul every other heavy-duty pickup truck on the market,” Reid Bigland says.

Ford Reconsiders Level 3 Autonomy

Ford appears to be changing gears when it comes to adopting Level 3, part-time autonomous-driving capability into vehicles. The Dearborn automaker had planned to skip that step en route to offering a fully autonomous Level 4 vehicle by 2021.

Toyota’s Lentz Worries Industry ‘Over-Stimulated’ on EVs, Tesla Is New Category

While sales of BEVs did grow in 2018 – 103.7% to 208,573 units – the growth was almost entirely Tesla, Wards Intelligence data shows.

Veoneer Promotes Collaborative Approach to Autonomy

A “tiny fraction” of fully autonomous vehicles on roads by 2030 won’t be able to cut down on the 1.4 million traffic-related fatalities occurring annually around the world, says an executive of the Swedish automotive supplier.

Report: EV Mileage Fee Would Cover Gas-Tax Losses

“The California zero-emissions vehicle registration fee doesn’t support the long-run funding of transportation infrastructure, nor is it equitable for drivers of electric and hydrogen vehicles,” report author Alan Jenn says.

Prophetic Nissan IMs Concept Bucks Trend

NAIAS 2019
The car previews the spirit of eight battery-electric vehicles from Nissan by 2020 and the dozen coming from the Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi Alliance by 2022. It follows other Nissan EV concepts.