Through our Dealers Do Good campaign, AIADA is recognizing dealers for the positive impact they have in the communities they serve. If you’re a dealer doing good, let us know here, tag us on Facebook or Twitter, or join the conversation with the #DealersDoGood hashtag. With gas prices reaching record highs, Passport Auto Group wanted to give back to their community. On March 29th, Passport Auto Group gave over 300 drivers free gas across stations in Virginia and Maryland, totaling over $16,000 in donations. Passport posted to Instagram to share with their followers where and when they would be giving out free gas the day of the event. Click here to see photos of the event. Click here to watch a news segment about the event.
Car Wars Study: By 2026, 60% of New Models Will Be EV, Hybrid
Automakers are expected to keep up a brisk pace of new-vehicle introductions over the next four years as the industry recovers from supply constraints and continues pivoting toward electric vehicles, according to the annual "Cars Wars" study of the U.S. product pipeline. John Murphy, a senior auto analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said he expects automakers to launch roughly 245 new models over the next four years. That averages out to 61 per year — 50 percent higher than the average over the past two decades. Of those new vehicles, 60 percent will be either electric or hybrid while 40 percent will be internal combustion reports Automotive News. "It is still very clear from our analysis that the advent of alternative powertrain vehicles, most notably battery-electric, is here, which is encouraging," the study said.The new model mix from 2023 to 2026 is expected to be 78 percent crossovers and light trucks and 22 percent cars. Click here for the full story.
New NHTSA Chief Ready to Crack Down on Wayward Self-Driving Technology
With federal data revealing hundreds of crashes involving automated vehicle systems like Tesla’s Autopilot, Steven Cliff, the new administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said it’s time for closer scrutiny and new regulations. ADAS-based self-driving technology meant to keep occupants safe and ease the burden of driving has been linked to a total of 522 crashes since July 2021, according to data NHTSA released last week. And that number is believed to be incomplete. Tesla’s Autopilot system accounted for about 70 percent of those crashes in the Level 2 category reports The Detroit Bureau. The list also covered manufacturers including General Motors, Honda and Google’s autonomous ride-sharing service, Waymo, on Level 3-5. That study is the first step in understanding the risks, as well as the benefits, of the automated vehicle technologies that are becoming ever more commonplace. And NHTSA plans to use that to help it determine how to regulate the technology, NHTSA Administrator Cliff told the Associated Press in his first on-the-record interview since he was confirmed by the Senate. Click her for the full story.
Audi Plan of Attack: EV and non-EVs Get Equal Love and New Models
Audi is investing in a full slate of new models, both electric and with internal combustion engines. Like the rest of the Volkswagen Group, and the industry overall, Audi is planning for a future that is ultimately EV-only. But during the transition, the automaker is allocating just as many resources to next-generation vehicles on a new, dedicated platform with upgraded powertrains centered around the internal combustion engine. Audi has said in the past that by 2025, its U.S. lineup will be 30 percent electrified with a combination of battery-electric vehicles, but also plug-in hybrids that still have a gas-powered engine under the hood. Motortrend traveled to Ingolstadt for a better overview of Audi's strategy and a sneak peek at models to come. Board members said globally Audi will have 20 electric vehicles from 2023 to 2027, up from eight now, which means new nameplates as well as electrifying the current lineup. It will be a real party, says Oliver Hoffmann, member of the Audi board of management for Technical Development. No new ICE models will be introduced after 2026; the only all-new vehicles you will see from Audi will be battery electric. Click here for the full story.
Hyundai Drops More Cars from U.S. Lineup
Hyundai Motor Co. is trimming its car lineup to focus on crossovers and its budding battery-electric Ioniq sub-brand. For model year 2023, the Korean automaker will cut the Accent subcompact sedan, the Veloster N hatchback and both the hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants of the Ioniq compact car. Automotive News reports the last sedans standing for the brand will be the forthcoming Ioniq 6 all-electric midsize sedan that will go on sale in early 2023, and the midsize Sonata and compact Elantra, which Hyundai says are both still in demand in a market now dominated by crossovers. "Like some of our competitors, we have decided to stay in the passenger car business, and some of our best-performing vehicles, like Elantra or like Sonata, are still doing quite well," said Hyundai Motor Co. COO Jose Munoz, during a media briefing this week at the company's R&D center in Michigan. Click here to learn more about Hyundai’s future plans.
Around the Web
Apple CarPlay Will Let Drivers Pay for Gas From the Dashboard [Jalopnik]
Lamborghini is Selling So Many Cars Right Now [Road & Track]
Porsche 944: A Look Back at Porsche’s Bold Future [US News and World Report - Cars]
BMW Takes to Twitter to Remind its Drivers to Use Their Turn Signals [Carscoops]
