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Thursday, January 14, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for January 14, 2021

Jan 14, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

2021 Ford Bronco standard and optional features and accessories list revealed

In 2020, Ford pledged to offer over 150 factory-developed or factory-authorized accessories for the 2021 Bronco. Not only will it keep its promise, it will go above and beyond by giving buyers a list of over 300 parts to choose from. It hasn't publis…

The Subaru Way Outback? New extra-rugged Wilderness version appears in spy photos

Last year, reports came out from The Drive and AutoGuide that Subaru would be adding some extra-rugged versions of its crossovers , including the Subaru Outback , and that they'd be getting the Wilderness name. Thanks to one of our spy photographers, w…

2021 Volkswagen Arteon First Drive | The niche within a niche

Volkswagen could easily give up on the Arteon in the United States. Only 3,602 sold in 2020. That's better than the short-lived Phaeton's best year (1,939 units in 2004) but just edging out the Phaeton is more of a diss than a success story. Countles…

2021 Audi e-Tron Sportback Luggage Test | More spacious than expected

Mercifully, Audi does not refer to the versions of its sedans and SUVs with aggressively raked rooflines as "coupes." Instead, they are "Sportbacks," in part to indicate they have a hatchback trunk in addition to that roofline. The Audi e-Tron electr…

Renault brings LeCar's spirit into the EV era with the 5 Prototype

Renault beat most of its rivals to the modern, mass-market electric car segment when it released a futuristic-looking hatchback named Zoe in 2012. After looking ahead, it's doing a 180 and exploring its past. It introduced a concept named 5 Prototype…

Alpine joins forces with Lotus to develop an electric sports car

Renault's performance-rooted Alpine division linked arms with Caterham to develop the current-generation A110, but it brought the project in-house after the partnership collapsed . It's again looking across the English Channel to design the model's re…

VW T7 prototype shows Multivan's lines in new spy photos

Spy photos from across the Atlantic are giving us a look at Volkswagen's T7 Multivan prototype. If you're feeling the drag of these January doldrums and looking for something to lift your spirits, might we present this plucky (and unobtainable) littl…

Drone company DJI reportedly working on self-driving technology

BEIJING/SHENZHEN, China — China's SZ DJI Technology, the world's largest drone maker, is building an engineering team to work on self-driving technologies, according to job posts and people familiar with the company's strategy. The Shenzhen-based co…

NHTSA asks Tesla to recall 159,000 cars over touchscreen failure

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has asked Tesla to recall 158,716 examples of the Model S and the Model X to fix or replace the touchscreen, which is also known as the media control unit (MCU). Government officials aren't c…

This 1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car is very green

Autoblog Green editor John Beltz Snyder asked me to come up with something for his side of the room, so I happily obliged. Team player and all. This may not be what he had in mind, but Mr. Snyder cannot deny that the car you see here is in fact extre…

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for January 13, 2021

Jan 13, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

Hyundai's next electric car, the 2022 Ioniq 5, is like the 1980s on wheels

Unveiled at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show, back when there was a Frankfurt show to introduce cars at, the retro-inspired Hyundai 45 concept is well on its way to becoming a production model. It will wear the Ioniq 5 nameplate when it lands in showroo…

Porsche celebrates 25 years of the Boxster with GTS-powered limited-edition model

Porsche is celebrating the 25th birthday of one of its most significant models: the original Boxster. Released in 1996, it played a significant role in saving the German company from a grim fate. Porsche is commemorating the anniversary by releasing …

2021 Ram 1500 TRX Back Seat Driveway Test | Jump that gorge with the kids!

The TRX is the newest and sexiest 2021 Ram 1500 . It's also the most powerful by a few hundred horsepower and its eye-popping suspension makes it capable of truly eye-popping things off road. As in both "off the paved road" as well as "we've jumped of…

Lucid looking to go public through SPAC in $15 billion deal

Electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors is in talks to go public through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition companies run by former Citigroup rainmaker Michael Klein, according to people familiar with the matter. A transaction could be valued a…

Cadillac Celestiq previewed as a flagship luxury electric car

Last year, our Autoblog Green editor, John Beltz Snyder, got a sneak peik of GM's upcoming electric car roll out. No photos were given, but he described them in great detail. Now we finally get our own peek at one of those cars, the Cadillac Celestiq…

GM may have teased a whole group of electric vehicles

During GM's big CES press conference, the automaker highlighted a number of its upcoming electric car-related projects from delivery vans to the upcoming flagship Cadillac Celestiq . In the middle of it all, a collection of mystery cars sat in the bac…

2021 Chrysler Pacifica First Drive | More features, better van

Ever since its introduction as a 2017 model, the Chrysler Pacifica has been one of our favorite minivans. It offers stylish looks inside and out, traditional minivan practicality, excellent infotainment and some of the most compelling powertrain opti…

Sorry, Sedona, but Kia is bringing the Carnival to America for 2022

Sedona, Arizona, will stop lending its name to Kia's entry in the minivan segment for the 2022 model year. NHTSA documents confirm that the company's next people-mover will receive the Carnival nameplate. Kia began using the Carnival name in 1998, w…

Mahindra cuts over half of its workforce in North America

CHENNAI/NEW DELHI/DETROIT — Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra has cut more than half of the workforce at its North American unit, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and an ongoing legal tussle. The…

Traffic congestion was way down nationwide in 2020, but L.A. was still the worst

Traffic in 2020 was significantly down compared to previous years. This comes as no surprise given the pandemic that was and still is plaguing the world, but now we have some hard numbers to back it up. TomTom measures traffic congestion in cities ev…

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for January 12, 2021

Jan 12, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

One of the world's largest muscle car museums is auctioning off its cars

Rick Treworgy's Muscle Car City is one of the biggest collections of high-performance American cars in the world. With over 200 cars of mostly GM makes, it's a mecca for fans of the golden age of Detroit iron. Unfortunately, the museum will be shutti…

2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium AWD Road Test | The Cayenne of Mustangs

The name and the badge are what everyone wants to talk about. I mean that literally, as every person who stopped me to talk about this Iconic Silver 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium AWD (and there were many) zeroed in on that mid-gallop horse and had…

Driving JLR Classic's factory-restored Jaguar Reborn E-Type

COVENTRY, England – Moviegoers of a certain age will likely draw an association between the flag-emblazoned E-type "Shaguar" driven by Austin Powers and the car's image as an icon of Swinging-Sixties cool. For sure, the Brits cling to this era, recal…

Green-on-green Alfa Romeo 8C-based Disco Volante Spyder listed for sale

There is no unwritten rule that states an Alfa Romeo must be red, and there is no secret decree that claims an Italian car can't wear British Racing Green. Proving both of these points with aplomb is this rare 2019 Alfa Romeo 8C-based Disco Volante S…

Hyundai previews the 2022 Kona N hot crossover

Hyundai confirmed that its N division's next new model will be a high-performance evolution of the Kona. The hot-rodded people-mover will take the burgeoning sub-brand into a new segment when it arrives for 2022. Based on the face-lifted Kona reveal…

Ford and Ken Block are breaking up but remain friends

One of Ford's star drivers, Ken Block, is parting ways with the Blue Oval after 10 years. The partnership is ending amicably, with both Block and Ford CEO Jim Farley sending out thanks via social media. "I want to thank you for everything you've don…

Cadillac Celestiq previewed as a flagship luxury electric car

GM announces new BrightDrop commercial arm spearheaded by EV600 vans, self-propelled pallets

DETROIT — The market for battery-powered delivery vehicles and equipment has so much potential that General Motors is forming a new business unit to serve it. Dubbed BrightDrop, it will be GM's one-stop shop for commercial electrified vehicles and bu…

1967 'Eleanor' Ford Mustang that starred in 'Gone in 60 Seconds' is for sale

While enthusiasts can buy a replica of the 1967 Ford Mustang that starred in the 2000 movie "Gone in 60 Seconds" from a number of aftermarket tuners, the real Eleanors rarely come up for sale. One of the three cars that survived filming is up for gra…

Tesla Model Y earns 5-star score in NHTSA crash tests

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released the results of a battery of crash tests of the 2020 Tesla Model Y , and the news is good. The Model Y earns an overall rating of 5 stars from NHTSA . In fact, the Model Y knocked out 5-st…

Monday, January 11, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for January 11, 2021

Jan 11, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

2021 Ford Bronco Sport Review | Bronco for the masses

The 2021 Ford Bronco Sport is Ford's more affordable, mainstream foil to the big Bronco 2-Door and 4-Door. It's a car-based small crossover, not the body-on-frame Wrangler competitor that the standard Bronco is. Despite Escape-based underpinnings, th…

BMW offers preview of next-gen iDrive in electric iX at CES

BMW is participating in this year's virtual CES show , and it's using the opportunity to take a closer look at the next-generation iDrive infotainment system. We've seen a few photos of the massive, curved screen in the BMW iX that was revealed last y…

Mercedes-Benz EQA electric crossover spied with hardly any camo

The Mercedes-Benz EQA's official reveal is surely just around the corner, but one of our spy shooters just caught a pair of them driving around with hardly any camouflage. Last we glimpsed Mercedes' electric version of the GLA, both the front and rea…

Ford Maverick pickup leaked in new assembly-line spy photo

We're getting our best look yet at the new Ford Maverick thanks to a photo of a still-camouflaged prototype that appears to be sitting alone on an assembly line. While it's still wearing some of its disguise and quite a few bits are missing, this is …

These are the best new car deals in January 2021

These are the best new car, truck and SUV deals in January 2021. If you're in the market for a new vehicle, click here to find out how to save thousands of dollars.

2021 Toyota GR Yaris commercial banned on Australian television

One of our favorite forbidden fruits, the rally-bred Toyota GR Yaris , now has the notoriety of being banned on Australian television. A recent Toyota commercial featuring the car was pulled because it exhibited "unsafe" driving and "breaking the spee…

VW once built a supercharged Polo that returned over 100 mpg

Volkswagen's quest for efficiency began well before lawmakers started linking emissions to fines. It sold several fuel-sipping, Formel E-badged models during the 1980s, and its research and development department took fuel economy to the next level b…

1980 Aston Martin Bulldog concept will reattempt to break the 200-mph barrier

Aston Martin's 1980 Bulldog concept will receive a second chance to break the 200-mph barrier after it emerges from a complete, 18-month restoration. It was developed with all-out speed in mind — the British company had hoped the coupe would become t…

New Hampshire House holds drive-in session in university parking lot

DURHAM, N.H. — Bumper-to-bumper parking replaced the usual shoulder-to-shoulder seating for the New Hampshire House of Representatives as one of the world's largest legislative bodies convened from the socially distant confines of their cars instead …

Junkyard Gem: 2002 Jaguar XJR

One thing that's a constant in the big self-service car graveyards is the presence of massively depreciated European luxury sedans . These cars come from the factory stuffed full of complex leading-edge technology, and they require the owner to check …