What happens in China absolutely affects the rest of the world… About a week ago we covered a market report from KPMG showing that the used car price bubble should be popping in late 2022 or early 2023. Well, it’s a dynamic situation and things are shifting quickly, only not for the better. Thanks to a growing shortage of semiconductor chips made in China, used and new car prices might stay sky-high for another two years or longer. Check out our previous story about the used car price bubble here. The newest Consumer Price Index shows just how bad things have…
Author: Steven Symes
Steven Symes
Steven has loved all things on wheels from an early age. He started off admiring Corvettes and Porsches, but his tastes have grown to include a variety of everything, from classic to modern vehicles.
Once again, drivers get screwed by politicians in DC… Back in 1998, sci-fi TV series “The X-Files” aired an episode called Kill Switch about an AI gone rogue. Told when the internet was still accessed by most using dial-up modems, it was a fascinating tale of technology run amuck, a message about not handing too much of your life over to the digital world. While it might also seem like a sci-fi tale, soon enough the United States federal government could force automakers to install kill switches authorities can access and use to shut down any newer vehicle. Refresh your…
Do as you’re told, scofflaw! If you’re lucky enough to live where snow falls and ice forms on your car parked outside, you need to be careful about warming it up in the mornings. Depending on where you live, the act of warming up your car before you get inside and drive off could be a violation of city code or even state law, with stiff penalties for violators. That might sound ridiculous because it absolutely is, so time to wake up and smell the government overreach. Learn why your new car might come with a government kill switch here. For…
Will this come to America next? It seems like lately the nanny state is really flexing its muscles, especially in places like Europe. One of the latest encroachments on personal choice is what the European Union calls “Intelligent Speed Assistance” or ISA. This exciting new technology will be made standard on all new car models sold in Europe starting this year and in all new cars starting in 2024. Learn how the UK is moving toward eliminating private cars here. At its core, ISA is all about stopping drivers from speeding. Plenty of people will see no problem with this, considering…
This seems pretty optimistic… A recent report from Reuters says Ford is capping orders for the new F-150 Lightning at 200,000 units. That’s right, the Blue Oval is expecting demand to be so high that it will sell 200,000 of the all-electric pickup trucks. CEO Jim Farley said, “We had to stop taking reservations because we had so many.” SEE ALSO: Stellantis CEO: EV Costs Threaten Automakers Learn about Harley-Davidson’s aggressive electrification plan here. Just for reference, Ford says through the end of November of this year it sold 663,508 F-Series trucks in the United States. That includes not only F-150s…
Once again, I hate to say I told you so… I warned everyone that the disbanding of Dodge’s SRT team was the beginning of the end for high-performance for the brand, but some people just didn’t want to hear it. Then when it came out recently that the Hellcats are getting canceled at the end of 2023 I predicted that would also be the curtain call for all the Hemi V8s, something which was just confirmed. Remember Dodge’s eMuscle car announcement? I break it down here. Replacing the Hemi V8 will be the GME T6 or the Global Medium Engine Turbocharged…
He blames “external pressure” for the march into oblivion, and he’s not wrong… Most people these days are shocked at how much new and even used cars cost. Price inflation has become a fact of life when shopping for a vehicle, but Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares is sounding the alarm that things could get much, much worse thanks to the push for electrification. Depending on your view, you might be thinking this is shocking, old news, or absolutely enraging considering what Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis has been telling the media lately. Check out Toyota’s warning about rushing into electrification here. According…
I hate to say I told you so, but I did… Back in February of this year when it leaked that Stellantis was disbanding Dodge’s SRT Division I said the “wonderful Hellcat V8 engines are likely on the chopping block.” For the egregious sin of questioning our automotive overlords I was called a crazy conspiracy theorist, a Dodge hater, and all kinds of other things I can’t publish. Well, it’s vindication time because Dodge brass has confirmed it is axing the Hellcat engine entirely. I told you so and I’m rubbing it in. See what I said during the summer…