This isn’t usual fare for news around these parts but the ever-expanding market for UTVs and side-by-sides is notable – especially as they become more like road-going pickup trucks than ever before.

A group of gearheads from Down Under have apparently set a new world record for driving a car underwater, taking a specially prepped old-school Land Cruiser about 7 kilometers (approximately 4.5 miles) across the floor of Darwin Harbour.

After emerging from the briny deep, one onlooker told the team to “drive this thing straight to the pub.” It doesn’t get more Oz than that.

Parking brakes can be very useful, but only in limited situations and when the driver intends to use them. Unexpectedly engaging the parking brake while the vehicle is moving can cause a loss of control and cause the vehicle to crash. Ford recently issued a recall for several hundred thousand F-150 pickup trucks for an issue that could cause their parking brakes to engage while driving.

Hyundai’s EVs are some of the most buzzed-about models on sale today, but it appears not everyone is happy with the ownership experience. The Drive recently reported that the automaker’s facing a class-action suit from owners who say their EVs’ charging ports can overheat and prevent the vehicle from getting a full charge.

Ford is all-in on EVs, but The Blue Oval is finding that there are still plenty of buyers wanting fuel-efficient gas vehicles. That’s why CEO Jim Farley announced that his company would come up with a range of new hybrid models over the next few years as it continues its march toward electrification.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will soon release its proposal to increase Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) requirements and General Motors has signaled its concerns regarding how much more money it will cost the automotive industry. GM is estimating that the new rules could result in manufacturers paying $100-300 billion in emission fines between 2027 and 2031.

However, the Biden administration has reportedly said it’s highly dependent on which plan is implemented — suggesting industry penalties would vary heavily between companies and average out to be far lower than GM has claimed.

An enormous vehicle carrier that caught fire at sea earlier this week appears to have far more electric vehicles on board than first suggested.

On Wednesday, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares suggested that Tesla’s profitability was on the decline due to the automaker having to confront some of the issues of a legacy manufacturer.

"They are entering my world, the world of tight pricing, cost competitiveness, and the operational issues that a big company like ours may face," Tavares told the press during a presentation of Stellantis’ half-year financial report. 

Since everyone loves a little industrial drama, the statement became national news. But is Tesla really on the decline because it’s finally on the level of other multinational automakers or is Tavares just coping? 

The slow drip of information about the upcoming square-as-a-box Toyota Land Cruiser continues with the teaser photo you see above. 

The UK-based wheel specialist from Dymag and composites wizards from Korea's Hankuk Carbon have announced the development of a line of hybrid carbon-fiber wheels for Hyundai’s N cars. 

A prototype of the new N Performance carbon hybrid wheels were showcased at the Hyundai stand at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed alongside the spicy and all-electric Ioniq 5 N. Based on statements from Dymag, it may be the first model to receive them. 

Kia’s SUVs are surprisingly premium and well equipped for the price, and the automaker has had great success with its Telluride three-row. The long-running Sorento is due for a facelift after a few years on sale in its current form, and it appears it’s getting one – at least in South Korea. 

It will surprise precisely zero of our readers to learn that some carmakers apply optimistic range estimates to their electric vehicles. Prior to EVs taking the stage, it also wasn’t uncommon – especially prior to changes in methods at the EPA – for cars with internal combustion powertrains to bear outsized fuel economy ratings thanks to twisted testing protocols.

The 2024 Mitsubishi Triton has made its global debut and everyone is already talking about how the midsize pickup might perform in our truck-heavy market. Though it could be argued that the vehicle was never intended to accommodate our needs and therefore has no business coming here.

Assembly of the Triton (also known as the L200) has been focused on Thailand and Brazil for over a decade because those are its most important markets. That was kept in mind when developing the new model, as it comes with a 2.4-liter diesel engine and drum brakes at the rear.

If you want to add what Tesla calls full self-driving capability (FSD) to one of its new vehicles, you’re looking at up to $15,000 on top of the price of a new model. In an effort to juice sales this quarter, the automaker is letting existing FSD customers transfer their services to a new model, but only in the next couple of months. 

Tesla’s Supercharger network seems to have taken over the world, with several major automakers recently announcing a shift to the standard in the coming years. However, that hasn’t stopped many others from banding together to form their own charging network, including some who signed on with Tesla.

With reports of Toyota developing a turbocharged version of the GR86, many are wondering when Mazda is going to release a boosted variant of the MX-5. Toyota’s coupe already delivers a smidgen more oomph and so does the Subaru BRZ. So it seems plausible that the Miata might see a bump in power to remain competitive. 

However, Mazda doesn’t seem to think there’s any need and has suggested that chasing power would risk spoiling the model’s sublime balance. 

If there’s one thing at which Stellantis excels, besides stuffing the largest engine they can find into most of their models, it’s the creation of endless special editions to create a bit of buzz. This time, the subjects need no further promotion – but they’re getting it anyway.

Canada’s Unifor is slated to negotiate terms with Stellantis, General Motors, and the Ford Motor Company starting next month. But it appears to be taking a softer approach than what we’ve been seeing from its counterpart in the United States. 

The UAW has been promising to play hardball with automakers in an effort to regain lost ground stemming back to the early 2000s. It’s going into contract negotiations with an adversarial tone and has said it would withhold support of any politician that refused to support its demands. But Unifor seems to be taking up a more cordial tone.

If you’re a child of the 1970s and 80s, there’s almost nothing more nostalgic than faded rainbow-colored graphics on cars and old t-shirts. Ford seemed to know this at the time, offering a Free Wheeling package for several models, including the Bronco. The automaker is back at it heading into 2024, as it recently announced a new package for the Bronco Sport.

With General Motors plowing full-speed ahead toward electrification, there are bound to be a few vehicles that don’t make the transition. Chevy’s long-running EVs, the Bolt and Bolt EUV, were two names not expected to make the jump, but the automaker recently announced a new Bolt variant.

When Apple's next operating system drops later this year, it’s supposed to include a feature that will help drivers decipher what those little symbols on the dashboard mean. While unlikely to offer the same amount of information as an OBD-II scanner, iOS 17 will come with an improved version of Visual Look Up. The new system offers users help when they can’t figure out what the warning light displaying the little oil can is trying to convey.

Volkswagen has announced they will begin production of a limited 40th Anniversary Edition of the 2024 Jetta GLI, a trim that is promised to be made available exclusively in North America. 

The Subaru BRZ got more power with its recent overhaul, but the automaker apparently isn’t stopping there. According to Redditors that attended the recent Subiefest, Subaru is gearing up for the release of a new BRZ tS model for 2024.

Saab hasn’t been a thing in several years, but the funky Swedish cars still have a significant enthusiast following. After the company went defunct in 2016, its assets were eventually picked up by a company called New Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS). A Chinese company purchased the new entity and faced bankruptcy before a group of investors stepped in to save it, which  could revive plans for a new 600-mile EV.

UAW leadership headed to Washington last week to drum up support from politicians as it engages in contract negotiations with Detroit-based automakers. While this has often been the status quo for the union, UAW President Shawn Fain has suggested the government would help ensure a fair deal with the automotive industry.

While union leadership has opted to meet with the usual roster of Democrats, it has said it would withhold support of Joe Biden’s reelection campaign if it didn’t think the White House would be offering the kind of help it needs.

A tractor-trailer leaking sewage onto a portion of I-95 in Connecticut resulted in numerous crashes and some impromptu off-roading this week. Vehicular casualties included a couple of totaled police vehicles that found themselves at the mercy of a truck sliding through human waste. 

While the situation certainly stinks for those involved, it’s okay to laugh. No injuries were reported and the fact that the suspect was charged with having an “unsecured load” is pretty funny.

As if tagging drivers in a questionable speed trap wasn’t enough, it is being alleged troopers in the Nutmeg State have falsified thousands of traffic tickets.

Copyright laws in other countries often aren’t as robust as they are here, which is how we ended up with several Chinese vehicles that look exactly like American and European models. Indian automaker Mahindra has long sold the Roxor, a surprisingly strong lookalike of the Jeep Wrangler, but it has faced a legal challenge from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Jeep’s parent company. The battle recently ended and didn’t go FCA’s way.

Owners of late model Wranglers and Gladiators can now jack their rides skyward courtesy of a new kit from the official Jeep Performance Parts catalog.

Hey, it beats sketchy wooden logs and some hockey pucks.

As the automotive world moves closer to semi-autonomous and someday, autonomous driving functions, vehicles will need more sensors and advanced tools to “feel” their way through the surrounding environment. Volvo plans to do that with the upcoming EX90 EV, but it appears the advanced sensor array could be causing delays.

Mini has released interior images of its next-generation Cooper hatchback. While the model is technically called the “Mini Hatch,” with variations of Cooper denoting the trim, the new car will do away with all that and get back to basics.

Everything else is throwing the model well into the future with one important caveat. Tomorrow’s Cooper will boast the brand’s latest technology and a dashboard that’s supposed to draw inspiration from the 1959 original with all the hallmarks of the digital era.

It’s no secret that the Dodge Challenger and Charger as we know them are going away, but learning that production is ending at the end of July really brings the point home. So, if you’re on the hunt for a new Dodge muscle car, you’ve only got ten days left to act. 

Volkswagen’s head of design is on a mission to normalize EV styling. Speaking with MotorTrend, Andreas Mindt said the company’s current EV offerings are styled to appeal to early adopters, and he acknowledged that the automaker has work to do to regain confidence in its designs.

The Buick Regal may have been removed from our market. However, the model persists in China and has recently undergone a refresh that includes the updated tri-shield emblem.

Despite U.S. sales volumes having been lackluster, with the Regal failing to break 20,000 annual units after 2014, the model offered functionality, all-wheel drive, and even a couple of desirable powertrains. There was even a TourX wagon variant that arguably mixed some of the vehicle’s best qualities in an ultra-practical package and the performance-slanted GS that offered a 3.6-liter V6 that developed 310 horsepower. It could have been more focused and aspects of the interior should have been better. But one cannot help but feel like the Regal failed to get the attention it deserved.

If you’ve been in a recent model-year vehicle, the number of screens and digital displays can be overwhelming. While they’re becoming prevalent, big screens aren’t for everyone, nor are they for every automaker. Alfa Romeo boss Jean-Philippe Imparato recently told Autocar that his brand’s customers don’t want giant displays and don’t care about all the digital assistance features many new cars come with.

It’s only a matter of time before nearly every major EV manufacturer hawking cars in this country moves to the so-called North American Charging Standard.

With all the odd press it’s gotten over the last year, it’s easy to assume VinFast is looking to roll up the carpet and head back home. That’s not what’s happening, however, as the automaker recently announced a groundbreaking date for its new manufacturing facility in North Carolina.

Last week, General Motors published an advertisement for its Cruise autonomous vehicle company in The New York Times. The marketing effort makes the claim that “humans are terrible drivers” and has subsequently been chided by former NHTSA administrator and safety advocate Joan Claybrook.

The ad in question states that human drivers cause millions of accidents each year and asserts that “Cruise driverless cars are designed to save lives.” But Claybrook and the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety are accusing GM of being overzealous with an untested product in addition to exercising some bad taste with its marketing materials. 

With the rate of fatal automotive accidents having spiked dramatically in recent years, just about everyone has been theorizing why. While there still seems to be a level of willful ignorance surrounding how modern infotainment systems and driving aids create more opportunities to be distracted behind the wheel, most outlets tracking safety seem to have come to the realization that size disparities between vehicles play an important factor in crash survivability.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recently published a list of the models with the highest death rate per million vehicles registered. Its takeaway seems to be that the uptick in fatalities could be attributed to smaller vehicles and powerful models that encourage aggressive driving.

Mercedes-AMG’s SUV offerings have ranged from odd to mind-blowingly powerful and quick. There has never been a performance hybrid model in AMG’s catalog until now, however, but that’s changing with the 2024 AMG GLC 43 and the 2025 GLC 63 S E Performance.

Tesla drivers abusing Autopilot and the company’s “full self-driving” tech have almost become a meme at this point, but there are very real consequences when things go wrong. A California man was behind the wheel of a Tesla Model S in 2019 when it collided with another car, killing the two people inside. The Tesla was using Autopilot at the time, and the driver recently pleaded no contest to two counts of vehicular manslaughter.

It's been a long time since your author has seen a redesign as radical as what Hyundai is promising with the new Santa Fe. Quite frankly, it's a bit refreshing to see an automaker make a change this major -- though there are exceptions, redesigns lately seem to be more often about evolution than revolution. I applaud the strategy regardless of what I think of the execution.

The Chevrolet Traverse has, for most of its life, had styling that was mostly "urban" in theme.

Not anymore.

The Tesla Cybertruck has finally made it to production, but hopeful buyers shouldn’t be jumping for joy just yet. The company has already confirmed that volume production won’t start until 2024, and if a new Twitter rumor is correct, the truck will only be available in one battery variant at launch.

Ford made big news when it announced the F-150 Lightning Pro and its sub-$40,000 price tag, but the automaker didn’t leave its entry-level electric truck at that price for long. Inventory and supply chain shortages and production delays caused it to raise the truck's price almost immediately, and it has been selling for top dollar since. That recently changed, however, as Ford slashed F-150 Lightning prices by up to $10,000 in some cases.

We’ve been hearing for years that auto shows are a thing of the past and that the internet has killed the personal touches we all loved about the industry. But while it might be true that auto shows aren’t the extravaganzas they once were, it can also be true that there’s still life in the industry and a reason to attend. 

Nissan is issuing a global recall on roughly 1.4 million vehicles over a handful of reasons pertaining to acceleration. Based on early reports, owners are either getting a sudden increase in throttle after shutting off cruise control or a short that kills the motor while driving. The cars in question include models like the Note, Kicks, Leaf, and Serena. 

The Ford Mustang Mach-E is many things, but its crossover body has meant that it isn’t the performance stalwart that its namesake gas counterpart has been for decades. The Mach-E GT took a significant step in the right direction, and Ford recently showed off another performance variant at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. 

A new study from the American Automobile Association (AAA) has suggested that raising vehicle speed limits offers negligible benefits to drivers while decreasing overall safety for all travelers.

“Our study analyzed before-and-after data on a dozen roadways that raised or lowered posted speed limits and found no one-size-fits-all answer regarding the impact of these changes,” said Dr. David Yang, president and executive director of the AAA Foundation. “However, it is critical to consider the safety implications when local transportation authorities contemplate making changes with posted speed limits.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed a new national program to update the regulations surrounding autonomous vehicles this week. Updated rules would presumably allow automakers to field more self-driving test vehicles on public roads than we’ve seen thus far in exchange for those companies sharing the data those cars collect with the government.

Due to the fact that any autonomous vehicle lacking human controls (e.g. steering wheels and pedals) have to be given exceptions from the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) to legally operate in populated areas, NHTSA leadership believes that having access to the data they’ve collected will be useful in informing decisions on how the rules could be changed. The claim is that the resulting information will help regulators update safety standards to incorporate self-driving vehicles. But it’s also going to be a privacy issue, as citizens have already expressed their dismay with automakers even considering sharing AV data with local authorities.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is one of the more compelling and attractive EVs on sale today, but the automaker isn’t resting on its early successes. After a few teases and months of speculation, Hyundai took the wraps off of the performance-oriented Ioniq 5 N at the Goodwood Festival of Speed today, showing a vehicle that should rival the impressive Kia EV6 GT’s performance.

The Subaru BRZ and Toyota GR86 recently got makeovers that finally gave them more power and the spirited driving dynamics they needed. New rumors point to the Toyota half of the duo getting even more power in the future via the GR Corolla’s turbocharged 1.6-liter three-cylinder.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) is commencing contract negotiations with General Motors, Stellantis, and the Ford Motor Company this week. Members of the union’s executive board, along with UAW President Shawn Fain, appeared outside Stellantis' Sterling Heights Assembly Plant early Wednesday morning to draw attention to the talks.

The plan is to see each manufacturer as a preamble to the formal negotiations, which technically begin on Friday. But the union is also desperate to show itself in a better light after expansive corruption scandals implicated some of its now-ousted top brass. For most people living in North America, wages haven’t kept pace with the cost of living and inflationary pressures are exacerbating the issue. If there was ever a time to get the American public back on the side of unions, it’s now.

We’ve been hearing about the rise of electric vehicles for years, but while they are growing rapidly in number, there’s still a disconnect between an auto industry hell-bent on electrification and the desires of the people they rely on to buy new cars. Axios recently highlighted the issue and found that dealers have EV inventory sitting on their lots for extended periods, suggesting that supply is significantly outpacing demand.

The entire world is seeking ways to mitigate climate change, but big changes don’t always slide by without some pushback from the public. Some European capitals will ban certain types of vehicles, and others have devised taxes and fees to incentivize driving less. Paris sees tens of thousands of cars on its roads each day, and city leaders recently approved a plan to increase parking fees.

In a move that will surprise absolutely no one, Ford is making a more rugged off-road version of the Mustang Mach-E and teased the vehicle on YouTube. The now well-worn path has been traveled by Porsche, Lamborghini, and countless homebrew mechanics, so it was only a matter of time before we started seeing more mainstream brands getting in on the action. 

A handful of Honda models, and one from Acura, are under recall over a defect that could limit braking functionality. Impacted vehicles include the 2020-2021 Honda Civic, 2021-2023 Honda Passport, 2021-2022 Honda Pilot, 2020-2023 Honda Ridgeline, and 2020 Acura MDX. 

Tesla appears to finally be ready to start deliveries of the Cybertruck, nearly four years after its reveal event. Despite the delays surrounding the truck and the elusive Roadster, Tesla has a number of side projects going on, including an electric minibus.

While certain other companies (ahem, General Motors, ahem) are busy and inexplicably running away from Apple CarPlay, brands like Porsche are making a concerted effort to further integrate the tool into their vehicles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is launching an investigation into the Kia EV6 after 11 complaints were filed regarding sudden power losses.