Auto Industry News: Doug’s Day in NHRA, LA Auto Show Debuts, Prime Amazon Partnership, & Cruise Control Changes
Gear up, as it’s been another news-filled week in the auto industry. Doug Kalitta nabbed his first (and well-deserved) NHRA World Championship title in Pomona — a remarkable achievement 26 years in the making. In nearby Los Angeles, the LA Auto Show kicked off with a noticeable amount of hybrid vehicles taking the spotlight from EVs. Over in Detroit, those new auto-making contracts the UAW fought so hard for were finally ratified; though, some workers were keener on voting yes than others.
The Engine Block has all the details, plus an update on the drama unfolding at Cruise as well as some interesting new developments between Amazon and Hyundai. All that and more in this week’s auto industry news.
A First For Kalitta
After 26 years, Top Fuel veteran Doug Kalitta finally took his first career NHRA World Championship win. The 59-year-old drag racer has racked up plenty of successes throughout his career – including an agonizing six runner-up finishes, but the ‘big one’ always remained out of reach. That changed last week in Pomona when Kalitta sealed the deal in a historic winner-take-all final round.
Kalitta went 3.673 seconds at 334.98 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Mac Tools/Toyota dragster, defeating Leah Pruett’s run of 3.720 at 326.16 and securing him the event win and – finally – a well-deserved world title.
“It’s going to take a while for that to settle in, but I’m definitely going to be grinning here for quite a while,” Kalitta said.
This season’s fellow champs included Erica Enders, who took home her sixth world title in Pro Stock; Gaige Herrera, who took a first-time title in Pro Stock Motorcycle; and Matt Hagan who not only enjoyed his fourth title in Funny Car but also secured a first world championship for Tony Stewart Racing.
In Case You Missed It
Formula One’s Las Vegas Grand Prix hit the Strip this past weekend, amid much criticism and drama from fans and competitors alike. The event got off to a troublesome start, marked by traffic-choking street closures and a disastrous practice session during which Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz struck a loose drain cover at 200mph, resulting in severe damage to his vehicle.
However, the race ultimately ended up one of the most thrilling of the season, delivering a three-way fight for the win which saw its biggest critic, Max Verstappen, take home his record-extending 18th victory of the Formula One season. “It was a lot of fun out there,” the Red Bull racer conceded, after previously dubbing the Las Vegas Grand Prix “99% show and 1% sporting event.”
LA Auto Show Debuts
Last week, the LA Auto Show rolled into town with several new vehicle debuts on the menu. Festivities run Nov. 17-26 for everyday folks, but media personnel got a chance to peek behind the curtain a day early.
The general consensus seems to be that things are a little quiet this year, though that’s hardly a surprise considering the event is not only riding the coat tails of a very successful Tokyo show but also feeling the absence of one of its biggest exhibitors, Stellantis. The parent company to Jeep, RAM, Chrysler and a host of other brands skipped this year as a result of the UAW strike.
Regardless, there were a few buzz-worthy unveilings on the show floor. Catch a quick-hit recap below.
Toyota Goes Heavy on Hybrids
Toyota kicked things off early on Tuesday night, with the reveal of its new ninth-generation Camry and all-new Crown Signia SUV.
The Camry, which has been America’s #1 selling mid-size sedan for the past 21 years, will shake things up by becoming a hybrid-only model. Yep, say goodbye to that class-exclusive 3.5-liter V6, as the only options now will be whether you want a front-wheel or all-wheel drive system with your hybridized 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine. The new model also gets some suspension upgrades, a much more modern interior, and lots of fresh tech.
As for the Crown Signia SUV, that also serves up hybrid-only power; but as the Crown sedan’s SUV sibling, it’s more expected. The 2025 model replaces the Toyota Venza in the automaker’s lineup, but delivers a much more luxurious interior with nice standard equipment and a lot more elbow room. The 243-hp hybrid powertrain uses the aforementioned 2.5-liter four-cylinder, but pairs exclusively with all-wheel drive.
Honda Brings a Surprise Guest
Honda’s new electrified Prelude concept ended up being a surprise guest at the LA Auto show. While its covers first came off at the Japan Mobility Show, the sporty-looking hybrid coupe seems to be gauging American excitement in California. The new Prelude aims to fill in gaps left by discontinued Civic and Accord coupe options, and should arrive sometime in 2026. Not much else is known, but if the production version looks anything like the very sleek-styled, two-door model on the show floor, we think it will perform well.
Subaru Shows Off a Fresh-Faced Forester
Subaru debuted its new Forester compact SUV, ushering in the six generation with a stiffer chassis, tweaked exterior design, updated tech, and 8.7 inches of ground clearance. Under the hood is the familiar 2.5-liter boxer engine, making 180 hp and 178 lb.-ft of torque, while inside the cabin is a new 11.6-inch high-resolution touchscreen for everything above the base trim. Expect a Wilderness trim to join the lineup eventually, as well as a first-ever hybrid. Subaru says the latter will arrive roughly a year after the redesigned model launches for 2025.
Kia Showcases Small EVs
Kia showed off a refreshed Sorento in LA, wearing a Telluride-inspired exterior design and new infotainment system. More notable however, were the two small EV concepts the automaker toted along: the EV3 SUV and EV4 sedan, both of which are expected to join the automaker’s electric lineup in the U.S. The two models clearly draw design inspiration from the upcoming EV9 three-row electric SUV, and should start production in South Korea in 2024. Expected pricing is in the mid-$30,000 range.
Hyundai Turns Heads
Hyundai gave people an up-close-and-personal look at the 2024 Santa Fe, which debuted earlier this year. The next-gen SUV sports a longer wheelbase, standard third-row seating, and a turbo-four in place of the old V6. It also wears styling that looks remarkably similar to the Land Rover Defender, especially in its newly-revealed XRT trim. The off-road-inspired version bumps up ground clearance and adds black trim pieces, all-terrain tires, and a tow rating of up to 4500 pounds.
Lucid Dreams Big
Lucid turned many heads on the show floor with its much-anticipated Gravity model. The brand’s first electric SUV is a pure luxury hauler, serving up premium styling, a lavish and spacious interior, impressive performance, and a hefty price tag. Due in 2025, the upscale ride will deliver an expected 440 miles of range and whip 0 to 60 mph in less than 3.5 seconds – all for about $80k.
Did You Know…?
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a recommendation on Tuesday, urging automakers to install intelligent speed-assistance technology in all new vehicles that would, at the very least, warn a driver when the vehicle is speeding. The call comes after a horrifying multivehicle crash in Las Vegas last year that left nine people dead when a 2018 Dodge Challenger sped through a red light and into an intersection at 103 mph. The driver, who had multiple speeding offenses, was found to be high on cocaine and PCP. In light of the state’s failure to hold the driver accountable on previous violations, the NTSB stressed the importance of safety redundancies to save lives. The technology, which can employ passive or active methods to limit speed, is already mandated in the EU but has found resistance in the U.S.
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UAW Contracts Ratified at Big 3
Rank-and-file members at Ford, Stellantis, and GM officially ratified their new 4.5-year contracts that deliver record pay hikes and benefits. While the deals passed with respectable numbers at Ford and Stellantis, the margins were noticeably thinner at GM.
According to Automotive News, the GM deal owes its passage to the workers at parts plants, distribution centers and battery facilities who will see the largest boosts to their paychecks. “At those sites, about 4,500 more people voted for the contract than against it,” the publication noted. “Without those workers — some of whom only joined the UAW at the end of last year — the deal would have failed by about 1,200 votes.”
The lukewarm response at GM is multi-faceted. First, some hot-button issues remain largely unsettled, specifically improvements to retirement plans. (Indeed, the current deal better favors younger and newer hires than it does veteran workers with decades on the books.) Additionally, GM’s relationship with the UAW has long been more contentious than that of its Detroit rivals, which no doubt affected negotiations as well as union workers’ reception.
Now that passage is official, automakers will begin looking for aggressive cost-cutting measures. (Already, Stellantis is offering buyouts to about half of its salaried U.S. employees not represented by a union.) As for the UAW, it’s next steps will include unionizing at non-rep’d plants like Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and Tesla.
What Else You Need To Know This Week
Here are a few headlines we’re keeping an eye on and think you should too.
If You Can’t Beat ‘Em…
GM stuck it to Tesla last week by purchasing the EV maker’s key U.S. supplier for giga-casting projects. The company, Tooling and Equipment International (TEI), possesses priceless expertise in the production technology, which uses giant die-casting machines to produce a vehicle’s underbody in one single piece — effectively eliminating hundreds of small (and costly) individually-stamped pieces. The manufacturing strategy is critical to mass-producing cheap EVs, and with GM’s new labor expenses, will be an important step toward cost-cutting.
Changes in Cruise Control
Kyle Vogt, CEO of GM’s Cruise, resigned on Sunday amid federal investigations into the safety of the company’s autonomous technology. The recent power shake-up stems from a high-profile incident last month, in which a Cruise robotaxi struck and dragged a pedestrian who had already been injured in a hit-and-run by a human driver.
California DMV officials accused the company of misrepresenting information about the accident, which Cruise denies. After losing its license to operate driverless cabs in San Francisco, the tech company grounded its robotaxi fleet operations across the U.S. This set off a chain reaction of PR damage control, including an external investigation by the board of directors, a recall of 950 Cruise vehicles, and the appointment of GM general counsel Craig Glidden as the company’s chief administrative officer.
Amidst this backdrop, Vogt’s departure is not exactly shocking. And really, the 38-year-old tech mogul — who founded Cruise in 2013 and sold it to GM in 2016 for an undisclosed amount rumored to be near $1 billion — should be just fine following the exit.
How Cruise will fare is another matter. Uber’s self-driving endeavors never recovered after one of its robotaxis killed a pedestrian in 2018. GM already warned that it will need to adjust Cruise’s valuation and push out its commercialization and revenue generation timelines.
“Alexa, order me a new Hyundai please.”
Would you buy a car on Prime? Amazon certainly thinks so, and the tech giant is set to offer Hyundai vehicles for sale on its website in early 2024. You’d still have to take delivery at an official Hyundai store or dealership, but all the purchasing and financing can be done online from the comfort of your own home.
While Amazon certainly isn’t the first to offer no-haggling online car buying (AutoNation, Carvana, and Carmax all offer some version of this already), it does have significantly more muscle in the digital retail space. The Amazon name – to some degree – also instills more trust with consumers.
Beyond the car-buying arrangements, Hyundai also will now use Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its preferred cloud provider, migrating its current on-premises applications—which support everything across research, product engineering, and customer engagement—to AWS. And, of course, as a part of this deal you can expect to find Amazon’s Alexa built in to nearly every feature on next-gen Hyundai vehicles.
The Engine Block is your one-stop source for any and all auto industry news. Keep an eye on our weekly round-up of enthusiast coverage, product reviews, vehicle spotlights, auto show/expo features, and more. Check back Wednesday for tips on backing up that towable and then loop around on Friday for the next installment in Competition Corner. We have a great roundup of can’t-miss automotive events for December, sure to end your year on a high note.
