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  • 2020 Detroit Auto Show canceled as venue becomes a field hospital

    Yet another major 2020 auto show has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, although now it's less about timing and more about supporting the current fight. Organizers have canceled the Detroit Auto Show (officially the North American International Auto Show) as its venue, the TCF Center, is being turned into a field hospital for coronavirus patients. The next show now won't take place until June 2021, or over two and a half years after the last event.

  • 2019 Detroit Auto Show: Ford Explorer, Toyota Supra, & More

    Yahoo Finance's Adam Shapiro, Julie Hyman, and Rick Newman discuss the 2019 North American International Auto Show live in Detroit, MI.

  • Ford's 2020 Explorer Hybrid adds range without losing storage capacity

    While Ford already revealed its redesigned Explorer SUV, today at the Detroit Auto Show we're learning more about the new Hybrid version. Ford claims that this year it's introducing a whole slew of hybrid vehicles that combine performance and extended range via their efficiency, and this one is just the first. While we don't have all the details on its powertrain yet, the 2020 Ford Explorer Hybrid has a 3.3-liter V6 that's part of a hybrid system producing 318 HP (no word on torque -- yet), while pulling more than 500 miles of range from its 19.3 gallon gas tank. Beyond making life a little greener for SUV owners, Explorer chief engineer Bill Gubing points out that "Reduced cargo space in hybrids is a thing of the past for Ford customers." Unlike other Ford hybrid vehicles that sacrificed space for big, awkwardly-placed battery packs, this one slides its specially designed liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery into the chassis beneath the second row seats so owners don't have to give up legroom or cargo space. At 4,969 pounds it's even lighter than the 400 HP ST version Ford is also showing off today. Still, we'll want to see its storage capabilities for ourselves -- as well as the optional 10.1-inch vertically-oriented touchscreen -- and hear more about how much it tows before hooking up the boat and taking a trip up north. Update: Ford mentioned it's capable of towing up to 5,000 pounds, and the model I saw here on the show floor looked like any other SUV with three rows of seating. The battery pack is tucked somewhere under that second row and while you won't be shoving anything under those seats, there's nothing awkwardly poking out to block other parts of the cabin.

  • Cadillac drops teaser pics of its first electric vehicle

    Shortly after GM revealed Cadillac will take the lead in its electrification push, the brand has given us a peek at its first-ever electric car. Following a couple of hybrid attempts, the new vehicle doesn't come with a name or any details, but from the looks we'd expect a Model X-fighting luxury crossover. The most important part may be what's under the skin, as this shows off the "BEV3" platform that GM plans to use for a number of electric cars going forward. Cadillac president Steve Carlisle said: "The architectural design will allow the battery packs to fit into the vehicle like ice cubes in an ice cube tray, you can put in as much water as you want to make as many cubes as you need -- the tray still takes up the same space in the freezer." The point of the design is flexibility, so that any kind of vehicle can have a unique design without reducing range. The drive units are similarly targeted for flexibility, with front-, rear- and all-wheel-drive configurations supported.

  • '2 Dudes' see big trends at the Detroit auto show

    Freezing weather aside, we did encounter a couple big trends at this year’s show, as Rick Newman and I discuss in the video above. From Chevy (GM) teasing the new Silverado only weeks before the show to Ford (F) debuting the new midsize Ranger on Sunday night and Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) busting out its new 2019 Ram full-size pickup, it was all-truck, all the time. The 2019 Ram 1500 debuted at this week’s 2018 Detroit Auto Show with a new look, its first hybrid system, and more tech than ever.

  • Lamborghini’s 650HP Urus is equal parts muscle and infotainment

    Lamborghini's Urus is more than just an absurdly overpowered SUV, it's packed with technology both on the entertainment and safety sides too. That means along with its 650 horsepower twin-turbo aluminum 4.0 liter V8 (whew) you also have the option for a pair of Android Auto tablets mounted to the back of the driver and passenger seats. Oh, and there's a digital instrument cluster as well, which will either make keeping it under the 305 KMH (189.5 MPH) top speed easier or harder, depending on your driving style.

  • GAC's En Verge concept packs a digital dash and AR for passengers

    Chinese automaker GAC is making waves at the North American International Auto Show. "We want you to give us a chance to challenge ourselves," GAC group president Feng Xingya said from the stage, before unveiling GAC's first all-electric concept, the En Verge. The En Verge is a two-door compact crossover SUV. The first thing you'll notice are those massive ports on the front bumper. While they look like they're for cooling, they're actually removable fog lamps. Called G-Torches, they double as flashlights for when you want to do some off-trail exploring. Handy!

  • Nissan's Xmotion concept swaps key fobs for fingerprints

    Infiniti's eye toward the future has manifested itself with the Xmotion (pronounced "Crossmotion;" it's a crossover SUV). The suicide-door clad ride boasts hand and eye motion and gesture sensors for the generous door-to-door digital dashboard, climate controls and infotainment system. The latter is compatible with both Android Auto and Apple's Car Play setups, as well as surround sound for the 4+2 seating arrangement. In the stage demo, the display showed off swimming koi and driving information. The fish are actually a virtual assistant, and you can see them in action below.

  • Acura puts its 'True Touchpad' Android UI in the 2019 RDX

    In 2016 Acura showed off its "Precision Cockpit" concept that included a touchpad with 1:1 mapping to a central display. It's supposed to improve on both touchscreens, which can require an awkward reach from the driver to somewhere out of their line of sight, and existing remotes that try to copy a mouse-controlled UI. Now the company has announced that technology is coming to the 2019 RDX branded as a "True Touchpad." This Android-based car OS is the first use of a touchpad with absolute positioning in a car, making sure that wherever the driver taps on the pad corresponds to what is shown on the central 10.2-inch screen, which is mounted high up, in the driver's line of sight. Combined with a new natural language interface and an interactive heads-up display for the driver, it's supposed to be easier to use than any car software we've seen before.

  • BMW's latest hybrid is the i8 Coupe

    BMW's newest hybrid i8 Coupe is the 2+2 answer to your "What if I don't want a convertible?" question. Like its Roadster sibling that debuted at the LA Auto Show last November, the Coupe hits 369 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque thanks to the internal combustion power plant driving the rear wheels, and 34 amp-hour electric motor powering the fronts. This is how BMW does all-wheel drive. There are improvements abound, with energy capacity jumping from 7.1kWh to 11.6kWh and an overall 12 horsepower increase over last year's model. BMW says that this and the Roadster can go 18 miles on pure electric power, with the equivalent of 70 miles per-gallon fuel efficiency pending EPA testing.

  • Mercedes CEO: 'Stay tuned' for an electric G-Wagen SUV

    Mercedes-Benz's G-Class Wagon isn't changing for the future in the ways you might expect. Yet. From a preview event at Detroit's crumbling, historic Michigan Theater for the North American International Auto Show, chairman Dieter Zetsche was joined onstage by Arnold Schwarzenegger to talk about the iconic SUV's improvements. Given where Schwarzenegger used to hold office -- California -- and his environmental bend, The Governator had a pressing question for Zetsche: "What is the future [of Mercedes] in fossil fuels? Does this G-Wagen eventually come out as an electric G-Wagen?" He has the world's first one at home in Los Angeles, he said.

  • Ford teases 'Mach 1' electric performance SUV for 2020

    At its NAIAS 2018 preview event, Ford just dropped a few details about an electric vehicle it plans to release in 2020. The "Mach 1" (cribbing its name from the famous Mustang model) is an all-electric performance SUV under development by Team Edison in Ford's recently-opened Corktown facility. It won't be the company's only EV either, as chairman Bill Ford revealed the company plans to have 40 electric vehicles by 2022 while investing $11 billion in them.

  • Ford is bringing Chariot's on-demand shuttles to 8 cities in 2017

    When Ford bought up San Francisco-based public transit alternative Chariot last year, the automaker promised to roll its private commuter shuttle service out to even more cities in 2017. Today at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Ford CEO Mark Fields stepped up that goal to include eight new cities in 2017, plus one outside the US.

  • Volvo is testing self-driving cars with real families

    Picture a self-driving car test in your head and you probably see an engineer or two scrutinizing data... and no one else. Everyday people, if they're present at all, tend to be relegated to the back seat. Volvo is trying something different: it just revealed that it's conducting autonomous vehicle tests with an ordinary family, the Hains from Gothenburg, Sweden. The four-person household is convenient for marketing, of course (we care about people!), but they serve an important purpose: they'll help Volvo understand how non-engineers deal with self-driving tech. How do they react when the car switches between manual and autonomous modes, and what do they do at those times when they aren't taking the wheel?

  • VW's I.D. Buzz concept is a self-driving, electric microbus

    As Volkswagen works towards rebuilding itself as an EV automaker, one great way to avoid losing diehard fans is to clean up and refresh a few of those old classics that won them over in the first place. While the company has teased electric reincarnations of the iconic VW bus before, the company's latest microbus concept, the I.D. Buzz, is the first to go all out with a fully autonomous driving mode.

  • BMW just made the M3 and M4 even more insane

    BMW, like its European compatriots Mercedes-Benz and Audi, has an entirely separate division dedicated to taking some of its standard models and cranking up the performance by several notches. For BMW, that would be the M Division — or BMW M, for short. BMW fans know that a BMW M car is something special — endowed with more-powerful engines, track-inspired chassis, and all manner of exterior and interior enhancements designed to make the cars meaner, like a controlled hurricane that tears through avenues and highways.

  • Panic In Detroit? No, We’re Busy Disrupting Ourselves

    For an industry hitting record profits and selling more new cars than ever, this year’s Detroit auto show was filled with worries about who will control the future of the car—and not enough big new models to keep those worries at bay.

  • Major Car-Safety Initiatives Coming Soon From NHTSA

    The top U.S. car-safety administrator is urging the auto industry to work with regulators to develop safety technologies instead of waiting until the government mandates them.

  • 2017 GMC Acadia: First Look

    GMC’s new runner looks surprisingly masculine, and meaty. It’s a vehicle I’d drive without shame. The whopping 700 lbs. diet is due in part to a significant shrinking of the SUV, both in terms of length and width, squarely placing it in the midsize crossover division. Those weight savings grant you 28 mpg on the highway and an estimated 22 in the city, using the standard 2.5-liter motor.

  • 2017 Lincoln Continental Brings Back The Name, And The Quiet

    Last year’s Lincoln Continental show car was a sensation, of sorts, imagining an American luxury sedan with enough Bentley touches throughout that Bentley itself was a little put out. Today, Ford took the wraps off the production car—toned down in most respects, but still designed to offer a quiet alternative to other luxury cars.

  • Acura Precision Concept: First Look

    While its SUVs have been selling well, Acura has had issues moving its sedans–namely the flagship RLX, whose sales pale in comparison to the RL years back. To reverse the trend, the company is trying to breathe new life into its four-door lineup by showing off the Acura Precision Concept, a bold if not overwrought statement that previews the styling that’s to come. Acura will be jettisoning the Power Plenum in favor of a new diamond pentagon grill.

  • 2017 GMC Acadia Wants To Rock The Suburbs

    The world skipped a beat today as the reveal of one of the most important production vehicles of our time graced the Detroit auto show. The crowd gasped when learning of its 700 lb. weight loss, and the inclusion of its Herculean V-6 sent shock waves—at least for those of us that live in Indiana. The 2017 GMC Acadia, at first glance, does not seem like the machine to cause such a ruckus.

  • Detroit Auto Show 2016: All Of What’s New

    Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will attempt to return to those halcyon days by unveiling the Chrysler Pacifica – the new nameplate for Chrysler’s minivan. In a world of smart gadgets and mobile devices, Mercedes-Benz would like to position the 2017 E-Class sedan as the most intelligent mobile device on the planet.

  • Kia Takes Aim At Escalade With The Telluride Concept

    Kia has been trying to appeal to ballers—literally—with the LeBron-approved K900, and it’s now eyeing the fullsize luxury SUV market with the Telluride Concept. Since gesture-driven infotainment is yesterday’s news, Kia aims for “health and wellness” features that include LED ceiling lighting, which unlike a Rolls Royce is supposed to emit therapeutic patterns to offset fatigue and jet lag. As a seven-seater, the Telluride is a hulky machine—its length of 196.9 inches slots between a Toyota Land Cruiser and a Cadillac Escalade.

  • Hyundai Reveals Its S-Class Rival, the 2017 Genesis G90

    The 2015 Hyundai Genesis surprised many. What we do know is that up close, the G90 looks every bit the luxury car Hyundai promises it to be. Both motors link to an 8-speed automatic transmission, a gearbox Hyundai says is 18 lbs. lighter than the one it replaces.

  • Lexus Names New Flagship

    The Lexus LC 500 wowed the media at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit with its powerful exterior, luxurious interior and 467-hp engine.