The Auto World

American car buyers hunting for budget-friendly deals might be out of luck, as proposed tariffs loom on the horizon. President-elect Donald Trump wants to impose tariffs on cars imported from Mexico by as much as 25 percent. For now, it’s unclear whether these proposals are simply a negotiating tactic or a genuine policy in the making. For years, buying an affordable car has felt like running on a treadmill set to “uphill”- you’re going nowhere fast, and it’s exhausting. Now, that grind could get even more challenging. President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed import tariffs on vehicles made in Mexico and Canada are shaping up to deliver a serious gut punch to budget-conscious car buyers, hitting them where it hurts most: their wallets. More: Trump’s Tariffs Could Cut 17% From Automaker Profits It’s no secret that Mexico has become a major hub for affordable car production. In fact, today, around a third of vehicles priced under $30,000 sold in the U.S. are made south o...

The designers of the Jaguar Type 00 concept clearly weren’t afraid of making something unique. Tesla also broke the mold of what a pickup looks like when it launched the Cybertruck. Of course, this is just a design exercise as we highly doubt Jaguar will ever build a pickup truck. At the tail end of 2024, Jaguar lifted the veil on its Type 00 concept , a car previewing its next-generation electric sedan. It’s been the talk of the automotive industry since its premiere, not just because it looks like nothing Jaguar has ever built before, but because the British carmaker has tossed aside the traditional design playbook to craft something genuinely original. Let’s just say it’s not the sort of car you’d mistake for your neighbor’s XE in the Whole Foods parking lot. Meanwhile, Tesla’s Cybertruck —love it, hate it, or begrudgingly accept its existence—has spent the past year cementing its place as the poster child of automotive controversy. With its unapologetically radical d...

In Mexico, Chinese cars are being seen as more premium alternatives, with sales rising. Audi and Mercedes Benz sales in Mexico dropped by 21.9 percent and 9.8 percent respectively. Buyers are moving away from luxury sedans and into cheaper options, as well as EVs. The history of premium cars and how they’re perceived is fascinating, and one which shifts over time. Once, not too long ago, Japanese cars were considered inferior to their European counterparts. And yet, as time went on, those brands started to become more recognized, with Lexus being the brightest example of a successful Japanese premium brand. Could the same transition be about to happen with Chinese cars today? Well, Chinese-made cars are priced out of the market in the US, and incoming President Donald Trump’s promise to impose even higher tariffs means that entering America will become practically prohibitive, unless they establish local factories . However, evidence from across the border in Mexico may...

The Kia smashed through hospital doors, shattering glass and barreling down a hallway. Ambulances were diverted for hours while staff scrambled to set up alternate entrances. A security guard sustained minor injuries after leaping aside to avoid the speeding car. A white Kia Forte made an unforgettable (and completely uninvited) entrance into Inspira Health Center Bridgeton in Bridgeton, New Jersey, late Tuesday evening, kicking off 2025 with a bang—literally. Police arrested 38-year-old Delaware resident April Love for the destructive joyride, which ended in handcuffs and a one-way ticket to the Cumberland County Jail. Authorities reported that the Kia smashed through the hospital’s entrance doors around 11:30 p.m., leaving a chaotic scene that no one on staff likely had in their New Year’s plans. Watch: K ia Smashes Into Cop Car At Intersection, But Who’s To Blame? Footage shared on Facebook captures the aftermath of the driver’s rampage, revealing a trail of destr...

A class-action lawsuit alleges 2020-2024 Kia Tellurides have a dangerous brake defect. A plaintiff claims her 2023 Telluride’s brakes failed, leading to a collision with another car. The defect is reportedly caused by a faulty brake master cylinder losing hydraulic pressure. Kia has been sued by two individuals in the US who claim that the 2020-2024 Kia Telluride models suffer from a critical brake defect that could lead to total system failure. The class action was filed on December 18 in California, and the plaintiffs are seeking to represent anyone else who owns or leases a Telluride impacted by the alleged fault. The complaint centers around claims that a defect in the brake system may cause the brake pedal to lose hydraulic pressure, resulting in a “spongy” pedal feel—or worse, brakes that don’t work at all. One of the plaintiffs, Sara Raymond, says her 2023 Telluride experienced complete brake failure while she was driving on November 7. She alleges the malfunctio...

Nearly 9 in 10 new passenger cars sold in Norway last year were electric vehicles. The Tesla Model Y was the best-selling vehicle, followed by the Model 3 and EX30. Chinese brands gained prominence, with BYD and Xpeng outselling Peugeot, Mazda, and Kia. The Norwegian Road Traffic Information Council (OFV) has revealed 128,691 new vehicles were bought in the country last year. That’s a relatively small number, but 114,400 of them were electric . That’s nearly 89% and the OFV says the country is close to achieving its goal of having all new passenger vehicles being zero-emission by 2025. They went on to note the EV percentage jumped from an already impressive 82.4% in 2023. More: Norway Sets World Record For EV Sales With 94% Market Share Last Month Interestingly, customers who didn’t opt for an EV typically bought something eco-friendly. 5.3% of vehicles sold in Norway last year were a hybrid , while roughly 2.7% were plug-in hybrids. Furthermore, customers only snapped...

Florida’s test road made with radioactive waste raises serious concerns about public health risks. The EPA claims keeping phosphogypsum under 4 inches of asphalt is as safe as a storage stack. The Biden administration reversed a 2020 Trump-era decision to use radioactive waste in roads. A Florida company has been given the green light by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to build a test road using phosphogypsum—a radioactive byproduct of fertilizer production. If that sentence makes you raise an eyebrow, you’re not alone. Phosphogypsum contains radium, which breaks down into radon gas, a substance widely associated with cancer risks. Predictably, this decision has sparked heated debate among environmental advocates and the general public alike. The test road will be constructed on property owned by Mosaic Fertilizer in New Wales, Florida. Typically, phosphogypsum is kept in massive “stacks” designed to limit human exposure to the toxic material. Over time, the r...

Police in North Carolina are struggling to combat street takeovers. The problem persists both in urban and rural areas. In one instance, a car that fled the scene hit two patrol cars and injured an officer. Street takeovers and sideshows are a scourge across the USA. Police in North Carolina are seeing the illegal events pop up just about everywhere. In a new development, they cracked down on takeovers both in urban and rural locations. They even managed to impound a bunch of trucks in the process. Officers in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department responded to 10 different takeovers that happened over the weekend. Of them, officers managed to seize two cars, including one that was stolen. They also arrested two people for possession of stolen cars. A separate car that fled one of the scenes hit two patrol cars and injured an officer in the process. That officer is expected to make a full recovery. More: Dodge Charger Driver Arrested After Wild Street Takeover End...

Tesla just recorded its best fourth-quarter sales performance in company history. Despite that, the EV maker sold fewer cars in 2024 compared to its total in 2023. The company’s stock has tumbled over 20% in a week, raising concerns among investors. Tesla’s fourth-quarter sales results are in, and, as expected, they’re a bit of a mixed bag. On the upside, the company set a new record for quarterly sales. On the downside, it missed projections and sold fewer cars in 2024 than in 2023, marking its first-ever annual sales decline in over a decade amid growing competition in the global electric vehicle market. Unsurprisingly, this has contributed to a drop in the company’s stock price. Let’s break it all down. See: Tesla Model Y Juniper Caught With Split Headlights And Rear Light Bar First, Tesla delivered 495,570 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2024. That’s an improvement over its previous record-breaking quarter (Q3 of 2024), which saw 462,890 deliveries. However, anal...