Automakers follow California's emissions rules to help reach Obama-era reduction targets

Aug 22, 2019
Automakers are deciding whether to choose stricter emissions standards set by California, or a regulatory "freeze" proposed by the Trump administration.
Morning commuters travel the 210 freeway between Los Angeles and cities to the east near Pasadena, California.
David McNew/Getty Images

How the closings of two auto plants changed Hamtramck and Detroit's Poletown

Aug 14, 2019
When the Dodge Main plant closed in 1979, local leaders offered GM tax breaks and more land to move in. Now the GM plant is closing, too.
"The Spirit of Detroit" monument sits downtown. In the background is the Renaissance Center, where GM is headquartered.
Tommy Andres/Marketplace

Stay or move? Laid-off GM workers face a tough choice

Aug 6, 2019
GM says it has jobs for nearly every one of the 2,800 laid-off workers, but they must decide whether they're willing to relocate.
Lincoln Fegley and his brother Joshua Fegley move furniture into Lincoln's new home in Troy, Mo. (Courtesy of the Fegley family)

To retrain or not? Two laid-off manufacturing workers, two different paths

Aug 6, 2019
On one hand, a government program that pays workers to learn new skills. On the other, jobs.
Dominic Johnjulio is learning to operate heavy equipment as part of a federally-funded retraining program after being laid off from Magna Seating, a General Motors supplier.
Tracey Samuelson

California signs deal with 4 automakers to raise gas mileage

Jul 25, 2019
Ford, BMW, Honda and Volkswagen are parties to the deal with the California Air Resources Board, which apparently is designed to pressure the administration and the rest of the auto industry into joining or reaching a compromise.
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

VW, Ford broaden alliance to autonomous, electric vehicles

Jul 12, 2019
The two automakers will become equal owners of Argo AI, a robocar firm that was majority-owned by Ford, with plans to put autonomous vehicles on the roads in the U.S. and Europe.
Jim Hackett (R), president and chief executive officer, Ford Motor Company, and Herbert Diess, chief executive officer, Volkswagen Group, pose for a picture ahead of a press conference July 12, 2019 in New York City.
JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images

The most "American-made" vehicles may surprise you

Jul 8, 2019
A Jeep takes the number one spot, but Honda takes second, third and fourth place.
A Jeep Cherokee drives in front of Fiat Chryslers's Belvidere Assembly Plant.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Mexico tariffs could hike car prices by $1,500

May 31, 2019
The Trump administration has threatened to levy a 5% tax on Mexican imports next month, which could go as high as 25%.
“We have the highest prices in the world right now for aluminum and steel,” said Kristin Dziczek, a vice president at the Center for Automotive Research. Above, Ford Mustangs are assembled at a plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, in 2004.
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

U.S. and Japan at odds over auto imports

May 24, 2019
Or whether Japan can actually deliver.
This December 8, 2017 picture shows workers assembling fourth generation Toyota Prius cars on the production line at the company's Tsutsumi assembly plant in Toyota City, Aichi prefecture.
TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images

Ford layoffs necessary to fund bets on its future

May 21, 2019
The future of the auto industry is uncertain as ride-sharing, self-driving vehicles and other technologies evolve.
Cars are reflected in the grill of a new Ford truck in Richmond, California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images