Workers are seen at the FCA Windsor Assembly Plant on Oct. 5, 2018 in Windsor.JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP/Getty Images A new trade deal between Canada, Mexico and the United States has taken a major step toward implementation, and it looks like it could be good news for the auto industry.The agreement which the Canadian government calls CUSMA (Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement) but which the U.S., unsurprisingly, refers to as the USMCA will replace NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement), which has been around since 1994.All three countries had tentatively agreed on the deal in 2018 but wanted several amendments, including on automotive rules of origin.The two American political parties have finally agreed on the terms, while Chrystia Freeland, Canadas Deputy Prime Minister, signed on to the amendments yesterday. Mexico has also stated it is satisfied with the new agreement.The CUSMA deal now has to be ratified by all three countries, which could potentially happen as early as the end of 2019. In the U.S., General Motors and Ford issued statements approving the deal, as did the president of Canadas Unifor auto workers union, who told Automotive News Canada that it could level the playing field between Canada and Mexico.Among the agreements rules are a requirement that 70 per cent of the aluminum used in North American-built cars be of North American origin. The amount of domestic steel is also mandated, and the amendment tightens up the definition of exactly what constitutes North American steel.Under NAFTA, 62.5 per cent of a cars components had to be made in North America in order to move duty-free between the three countries. Under the new agreement, that will rise to 75 per cent by 2023. The deal also prevents the U.S. from imposing future tariffs on specified numbers of Canadian- and Mexican-built auto parts.At least 30 per cent of a vehicle must be made by workers who earn more than US$16 per hour, and Mexican workers will have the right to demand fair pay and freely form unions. An inter-agency committee will be put in place to inspect factories suspected of having poor working conditions an amendment to the original deals provision for U.S. officials to enter and inspect Mexican facilities, which Mexico opposed.Its expected this agreement will keep more auto jobs in Canada and the U.S., rather than seeing them moved to Mexico. However, some experts say this could cause car prices to rise and to reduce the number of smaller vehicles available to buyers, since many of these are currently made in
Origin: CUSMA trade deal could keep auto jobs in Canada, but car prices could rise
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These are the top ten cars owners keep the longest: study
Rain or shine, cars like the Corvette Stingray form some of the strongest bonds among fellow gear heads and friends. In today’s era of breakneck-speed technological development, it’s rare for people to hold onto anything mechanized for longer than a few years. Imagine using a cell phone from ten years ago? But according to a study performed by online used car search engine iSeeCars, there are many who keep their vehicles for a good number of years before selling them. Mostly Toyota owners—The research looked at over 5 million vehicles sold by their original owners to come up with a list of the top ten longest-kept vehicles. The ranking includes five sports cars – more than any other type of vehicle – including the second-place Chevrolet Corvette, third-place Mercedes-Benz SL-Class and fourth-ranked Audi TT, all of which were kept by their original owners for an average of just over 10 years. The Ford Mustang and Porsche 911 also make the list in sixth and eighth place, respectively, at right around 10 years of average ownership. The top spot goes to one of Toyota’s most trusted nameplates, the Land Cruiser. The average length of ownership for that popular SUV is 11.4 years, almost a full year longer than the second-place ‘Vette. Three other SUVs landed on the list: Ford Expedition, Toyota 4Runner and Toyota Sequoia. The fourth Toyota to make the cut was also the only sedan. The brand’s North American flagship full-size car, the Toyota Avalon, snuck into the tenth spot with an average of 9.7 years. Are you bringing the ownership period average up or down? Let us know how long you owned your last car in the
Origin: These are the top ten cars owners keep the longest: study
Aston Martin will withhold DBX production just to keep it exclusive
Despite the fact it’s getting into the SUV game so it can simply sell more vehicles, Aston Martin will reportedly limit production of the upcoming DBX in an effort to retain the brand’s exclusive reputation. As the brand’s first SUV, it’s likely that the DBX will sell more than any other Aston — and that’s kind of the problem. Andy Palmer, the British luxury automaker’s CEO, told Australian website Carsales that DBX production will be capped for the first year unlike other luxury brands, which continue to chase larger numbers. “I purposefully restrained production to 5,000 units — for exactly that reason,” Palmer told the publication, speaking to the brand’s rep as a maker of premium automobiles. “There’s always a tendency when you’ve got an order book to turn everything up. And when you do that, you start making mistakes, in my experience.”Despite the self-imposed limits, Aston Martin is still aiming to double its output by 2025. Palmer explains how the overall production numbers will be increased over time. “When the Lagonda comes in 2023, we’ll turn it up to 7,000 but we’ll leave it at that, with around 4,000 DBXs rolling off the line and another 3,000 Lagondas,” he said.The brand anticipates many of the initial DBX sales will go to Aston Martin owners who already own an SUV. The DBX is already in the works at Aston’s Wales plant and is slated for a public debut sometime later this year.
Origin: Aston Martin will withhold DBX production just to keep it exclusive
VW’s working on tech to keep you from getting sick in autonomous cars
Motion sickness sucks. For the percentage of the population who are susceptible to this rotten affliction, simply going for a drive with someone else at the wheel is cause enough to turn greener than a twenty-dollar bill, money soon to be spent on a bottle of Febreze to get rid of the smell. The crew at Volkswagen, mindful that bouts of sick can come on even faster in a self-driving car, are working on ways to quell the queasy. At its root, the confusion between the motion your eyes see and the motion your body feels. This is why your author cannot read for an extended time as a passenger. According to VW, about a third of all people are susceptible to it – women more than men, children more than adults – but under the right conditions, anyone can suffer. At the VW research labs in Wolfsburg, scientists are studying what can trigger car sickness and potential ways to help prevent it from happening in a future where the car can mostly drive itself. In one test, researchers are exploring whether changes to the vehicles themselves might help prevent motion sickness, such as via special movable seats that can react to driving changes; and an LED light strip on the door panel that illuminates in green or red. The latter is intended to provide a visual cue for the passenger of braking or acceleration. Out on the test track, volunteers don various sensors and cameras designed to measure pulse, skin temperature, and changes in skin tone. On a 20-minute drive, the sedan will use Automatic Cruise Control to follow a semi-autonomous Passat. During this particular test, a tablet plays video of swimming fish for the volunteer to watch. As the car drives, the volunteer rates their state of health on a tablet. For most, it doesn’t take long to feel ill. VW’s boffins are hoping their inventions can help remove that feeling, though they haven’t released that data quite yet. Autonomous cars are coming – not today, not tomorrow, but eventually – and it’s research like this that’ll help deal with problems most of us haven’t thought of yet. Until then, the rest of us can just keep a bottle of Febreze
Origin: VW’s working on tech to keep you from getting sick in autonomous cars
Pagani will keep Zonda, Huayra alive forever by modifying existing models
2017 Pagani Huayra RoadsterHandout When the final North American Ford Taurus is produced later this year, it will mark the end of a nameplate. Sure, dealers and mechanics – even some tuners – will work on the Taurus perhaps forever, repairing and modifying it, but Ford itself will no longer have anything to do with it. Technically, this is how a nameplate dies. (At least in North America, as the Taurus lives on in China.) And it’s in this sense, technically, that the Pagani Huayra and Zonda will remain immortal—for now. In a recent feature interview with Top Gear, founder Horacio Pagani explained how the Zonda and Huayra will be kept forever young by Pagani’s commitment to ‘modify’ any existing model should the owner request it. On existing Zondas, if a customer asks, we can do it,” Pagani explains in the interview. “But only modifying an existing chassis. One of the latest trends is customers asking for one of the very first original Zonda chassis, to perform some modifications on—and then buying another one to fit their own tastes.” And these aren’t mild modifications either. In Pagani’s own words, it’s “er, very expensive.” Right now, a customer who owns one of the very first Huayras has been asking to do some special additions, modifying it,” he said. “We will deliver that in May 2019. I mean, we’re talking about modifications which can cost $1 million, not just a few hundreds or thousands. It’s effectively a new car…” So if you’ve got a Huayra or Zonda or one of each, and the millions of dollars required, by all means, have it dipped in Pagani’s pool of Eternal Automotive Youth. In this way, the car may live forever. You, on the other hand, just like the Ford Taurus, are definitely going to die.
Origin: Pagani will keep Zonda, Huayra alive forever by modifying existing models
Aston Martin wants to keep the V12 candle burning
The twin-turbo V12 in the Aston Martin DB11.Derek McNaughton / Driving Aston Martin won’t be dropping the V12 anytime soon. According to Top Gear, Aston executive vice president and chief creative officer Marek Reichman said the V12 will be able to be produced for some time, as it is one of the hearts inside Aston Martin. “It gets harder and harder to meet emissions, obviously,” he said. “But I think we have the capability to keep V12 engines going within the business. We’ve just got to be very aware of the compliance and the emissions rules that will come out in the future. Although Aston wasn’t necessarily built on V12s — they started with four- and six-cylinder motors, after all — they have become a fabric of its cars since the early 1990s. Now, the brand has a few models with the configuration: the DB11 uses a 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12, while the upcoming Valkyrie uses a 6.5L V12 that produces over 1,000 hrosepower without the help of forced induction. The most frequent killers of big engines like the V12 are regulations and legislation, and Reichman says Aston Martin is keeping a close eye on that to ensure the V12 lives on for as long as possible. Furthermore, future Astons could also feature the engine, such as its upcoming mid-engined sports car. In a nudge-nudge-wink-wink sort of way, Reichman told Top Gear a turbocharged V6 would be fine, but it might just stick a V12 in it just because it
Origin: Aston Martin wants to keep the V12 candle burning
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