Articles written by Tom Krisher


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  • Lower-priced new cars are gaining popularity, and not just for cash-poor buyers

    TOM KRISHER|Oct 23, 2024

    DETROIT (AP) — Had she wanted to, Michelle Chumley could have afforded a pricey new SUV loaded with options. But when it came time to replace her Chevrolet Blazer SUV, for which she'd paid about $40,000 three years ago, Chumley chose something smaller. And less costly. With her purchase of a Chevrolet Trax compact SUV in June, Chumley joined a rising number of buyers who have made vehicles in the below-average $20,000-to-$30,000 range the fastest-growing segment of the nation's new-auto market. "I just don't need that big vehicle and to be p...

  • US to probe Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving' system after pedestrian killed in low visibility conditions

    TOM KRISHER|Oct 18, 2024

    DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government's road safety agency is investigating Tesla's "Full Self-Driving" system after getting reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents that it opened the probe on Thursday after the company reported four crashes when Teslas encountered sun glare, fog and airborne dust. In addition to the pedestrian's death, another crash involved an injury, the agency said. Investigators will look into the ability o...

  • Auto workers union seeks NLRB investigation of Trump and Musk comments about firing striking workers

    TOM KRISHER|Aug 14, 2024

    DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers union has filed unfair labor practice charges against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk after the two discussed on social media about Musk supposedly firing striking workers. In documents filed Tuesday with the National Labor Relations Board, the union alleges that both men interfered with workers who may want to exercise their right to join a union. The NLRB said it would look into the charges, which are a request for the agency to investigate. UAW President Shawn F...

  • After crash that killed 6 teens, NTSB chief says people underestimate marijuana's impact on drivers

    TOM KRISHER|Jul 19, 2024

    DETROIT (AP) — A horrific crash that killed six high school girls in Oklahoma two years ago has the head of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board urging parents to warn teenagers about the risk of driving after using marijuana. Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy made the appeal to parents Thursday as her agency released the final report on the March 22, 2022 collision between a tiny Chevrolet Spark hatchback and a gravel-hauling semi in the small town of Tishomingo. The board, after an investigation by its staff, determined that the crash w...

  • Elon Musk wins back his $44.9 billion Tesla pay package in shareholder vote

    TOM KRISHER and DAVID HAMILTON|Jun 14, 2024

    DETROIT (AP) — Tesla shareholders voted Thursday to restore CEO Elon Musk's record $44.9 billion pay package that was thrown out by a Delaware judge earlier this year, sending a strong vote of confidence in his leadership of the electric vehicle maker. The favorable vote doesn't necessarily mean that Musk will get the all-stock compensation anytime soon. The package is likely to remain tied up in the Delaware Chancery Court and Supreme Court for months as Tesla tries to overturn the Delaware judge's rejection. Musk has raised doubts about h...

  • Average US vehicle age hits record 12.6 years as high prices force people to keep them longer

    TOM KRISHER|May 22, 2024

    DETROIT (AP) — Cars, trucks and SUVs in the U.S. keep getting older, hitting a record average age of 12.6 years in 2024 as people hang on to their vehicles largely because new ones cost so much. S&P Global Mobility, which tracks state vehicle registration data nationwide, said Wednesday that the average vehicle age grew about two months from last year's record. But the growth in average age is starting to slow as new vehicle sales start to recover from pandemic-related shortages of parts, including computer chips. The average increased by three...

  • Waymo is latest company under investigation for autonomous or partially automated technology

    TOM KRISHER|May 15, 2024

    DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government's highway safety agency has opened another investigation of automated driving systems, this time into crashes involving Waymo's self-driving vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration posted documents detailing the probe on its website early Tuesday after getting 22 reports of Waymo vehicles either crashing or doing something that may have violated traffic laws. In the past month, the agency has opened at least four investigations of vehicles that can either drive themselves or take on at l...

  • Solar storm puts on brilliant light show across the globe, but no serious problems reported

    TOM KRISHER and JOSH FUNK|May 10, 2024

    A powerful solar storm put on an amazing skyward light show across the globe overnight but has caused what appeared to be only minor disruptions to the electric power grid, communications and satellite positioning systems. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said extreme geomagnetic storm conditions continued Saturday, and there were preliminary reports of power grid irregularities, degradation of high-frequency communications and global positioning systems. But the Federal Emergency Management Agency said that so far no...

  • Small, well-built Chinese EV called the Seagull poses a big threat to the US auto industry

    TOM KRISHER and KEN MORITSUGU|May 10, 2024

    LIVONIA, Mich. (AP) — A tiny, low-priced electric car called the Seagull has American automakers and politicians trembling. The car, launched last year by Chinese automaker BYD, sells for around $12,000 in China, but drives well and is put together with craftsmanship that rivals U.S.-made electric vehicles that cost three times as much. A shorter-range version costs under $10,000. Tariffs on imported Chinese vehicles probably will keep the Seagull away from America's shores for now, and it likely would sell for more than 12 grand if i...

  • Tractor-trailers with no one aboard? The future is near for self-driving trucks on US roads

    TOM KRISHER|Apr 26, 2024

    PITTSBURGH (AP) — On a three-lane test track along the Monongahela River, an 18-wheel tractor-trailer rounded a curve. No one was on board. A quarter-mile ahead, the truck's sensors spotted a trash can blocking one lane and a tire in another. In less than a second, it signaled, moved into the unobstructed lane and rumbled past the obstacles. The self-driving semi, outfitted with 25 laser, radar and camera sensors, is owned by Pittsburgh-based Aurora Innovation. Late this year, Aurora plans to start hauling freight on Interstate 45 between t...

  • Wall Street is looking to Tesla's earnings for clues to Musk's plan to restore company's wild growth

    TOM KRISHER|Apr 24, 2024

    Faced with falling global sales and a diving stock price, Tesla has slashed prices again on some of its electric vehicles and its "Full Self Driving" system in an apparent effort to boost the company's earnings growth. But Wall Street was unimpressed and will be looking for other answers from CEO Elon Musk when Tesla releases a report on its first-quarter finances after the U.S. stock market's closing bell Tuesday. Many industry analysts say a nearly 9% sales decline in the opening three months of 2024 raises questions about demand for Teslas...

  • Tesla asks shareholders to restore $56B Elon Musk pay package that was voided by Delaware judge

    TOM KRISHER and STAN CHOE|Apr 17, 2024

    DETROIT (AP) — Tesla is asking shareholders to restore a $56 billion pay package for CEO Elon Musk that was rejected by a Delaware judge this year, and to shift the company's corporate home to Texas. The changes, to be voted on by stockholders at a June 13 annual meeting, could be a tougher sell than when it was first approved in 2018. The Austin, Texas, electric vehicle maker is struggling with falling global sales, slowing electric vehicle demand, an aging model lineup and a stock price that has tumbled 37% so far this year. In January, C...

  • As electric vehicle sales slow, US relaxes plans for stricter auto emissions standards for a while

    TOM KRISHER and MATTHEW DALY|Mar 20, 2024

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration this week is expected to announce new automobile emissions standards that relax proposed limits for three years but eventually reach the same strict standards proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. The changes come as sales of zero-tailpipe emissions electric vehicles, needed to meet the standards, have begun to slow. The auto industry has cited lower sales growth in objecting to the EPA's preferred standards unveiled last April as part of the most ambitious plan ever to cut planet-warming e...

  • EPA issues new auto rules aimed at cutting carbon emissions, boosting electric vehicles and hybrids

    MATTHEW DALY and TOM KRISHER|Mar 20, 2024

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced new automobile emissions standards Wednesday that officials called the most ambitious plan ever to cut planet-warming emissions from passenger vehicles. The new rules relax initial tailpipe limits proposed last year but eventually get close to the same strict standards set out by the Environmental Protection Agency. The rules come as sales of electric vehicles, which are needed to meet the standards, have begun to slow. The auto industry cited lower sales growth in objecting to the EPA's pref...

  • A court rejected Elon Musk's $55.8B pay package. What is he worth to Tesla?

    STAN CHOE and TOM KRISHER|Jan 31, 2024

    Even when compared with other CEOs, who routinely get paid roughly 200 times more than their typical employees, Elon Musk's pay package was eye-opening. A judge in Delaware on Tuesday struck down the package that Tesla established for Musk in 2018, ruling that the process was "flawed" and the price "unfair." Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick called the package "the largest potential compensation opportunity ever observed in public markets by multiple orders of magnitude." So, if Musk isn't worth the maximum $55.8 billion value of the...

  • 'Honored to have your back, and you have mine': Biden endorsed by United Auto Workers in election

    TOM KRISHER and FATIMA HUSSEIN|Jan 24, 2024

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden picked up an endorsement from the United Auto Workers union Wednesday, an important boost to the Democratic president's reelection bid as he pushes to sway blue-collar workers his way in critical auto-making swing states such as Michigan and Wisconsin. "I'm honored to have your back and you have mine," Biden said to the cheering crowd. "That's the deal." Biden spoke as the union closed out a three-day gathering in Washington to chart its political priorities. The event follows Tuesday's primary vote in N...

  • Engine maker Cummins to repair 600,000 Ram trucks in $2 billion emissions cheating scandal

    ALEXA ST. JOHN and TOM KRISHER|Jan 10, 2024

    DETROIT (AP) — Engine maker Cummins Inc. will recall 600,000 Ram trucks as part of a settlement with federal and California authorities that also requires the company to remedy environmental damage caused by illegal software that let it skirt diesel emissions tests. New details of the settlement, reached in December, were released Wednesday. Cummins had already agreed to a $1.675 billion civil penalty to settle claims – the largest ever secured under the Clean Air Act – plus $325 million for pollution remedies. That brings Cummins' total penal...

  • Tesla recalls nearly all vehicles sold in US to fix system that monitors drivers using Autopilot

    TOM KRISHER|Dec 13, 2023

    DETROIT (AP) — Tesla is recalling nearly all vehicles sold in the U.S., more than 2 million, to update software and fix a defective system that's supposed to ensure drivers are paying attention when using Autopilot. Documents posted Wednesday by U.S. safety regulators say the update will increase warnings and alerts to drivers and even limit the areas where basic versions of Autopilot can operate. The recall comes after a two-year investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into a series of crashes that happened while t...

  • UAW reaches deal with General Motors that ends strikes against Detroit automakers pending votes

    TOM KRISHER|Oct 29, 2023

    DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers announced Monday that it reached a tentative deal with General Motors, capping a whirlwind few days in which GM, Ford and Stellantis agreed to generous terms that would end the union's six weeks of targeted strikes, pending approval of the rank and file. The deal UAW President Shawn Fain closed on his 55th birthday is modeled on the ones agreed to with crosstown rivals Ford and Jeep-maker Stellantis, and would give workers higher raises than they've received in years. If approved, it would also claw b...

  • UAW's confrontational leader makes gains in strike talks, but some wonder: Has he reached too far?

    TOM KRISHER|Oct 22, 2023

    WAYNE, Mich. (AP) — Throughout its 5-week-old strikes against Detroit's automakers, the United Auto Workers union has cast an emphatically combative stance, reflecting the style of its pugnacious leader, Shawn Fain. Armed with a list of what even Fain has called "audacious" demands for better pay and benefits, the UAW leader has embodied the exasperation of workers who say they've struggled for years while the automakers have enjoyed billions in profits. Yet as the strikes have dragged on, analysts and even some striking workers have begun t...

  • Drive a Hyundai or Kia? See if your car is one of the nearly 3.4 million under recall for fire risks

    TOM KRISHER|Sep 29, 2023

    DETROIT (AP) — Nearly 3.4 million Hyundai and Kia vehicles in the U.S. are under recall due to the risk of engine compartment fires and it's important for drivers to check if their car is one of them. Both the companies and federal regulators are warning owners of the recalled vehicles to park them outdoors until repairs are made. Mail notifications about the recalls won't begin until November, but owners can check right now to see if their vehicle in on the list — which covers multiple car and SUV models from the model years 2010 through 201...

  • Why the United Auto Workers union is poised to strike major US car makers

    TOM KRISHER|Sep 15, 2023

    DETROIT (AP) — Auto workers are poised to go on strike at a few targeted automotive factories unless General Motors, Ford and Stellantis grant big pay raises and restore concessions that the workers made years ago, when the companies were in financial trouble. Shawn Fain, the combative president of the United Auto Workers union, has outlined a strategy of using what he calls stand-up strikes in which a small percentage of the union's 146,000 members would walk off the job at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday. Fain says the targeted strikes w...

  • Tesla is allowing no-hands driving with Autopilot for longer periods. US regulators have questions

    TOM KRISHER|Aug 30, 2023

    DETROIT (AP) — Tesla is allowing some drivers to use its Autopilot driver-assist system for extended periods without making them put their hands on the steering wheel, a development that has drawn concern from U.S. safety regulators. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has ordered Tesla to tell the agency how many vehicles have received a software update making that possible and it's seeking more information on what the electric vehicle maker's plans are for wider distribution. "NHTSA is concerned that this feature was i...

  • UAW to vote on strike authorization next week as president says talks with Detroit 3 moving slowly

    TOM KRISHER|Aug 16, 2023

    DETROIT (AP) — About 146,000 members of the United Auto Workers union will vote next week whether to authorize their leaders to call strikes against the Detroit automakers. Union President Shawn Fain told members in a Facebook Live appearance Tuesday that the talks, which started in mid-July, are moving slowly and have yet to get to wages and other economic issues. The union's contracts with General Motors, Ford and Stellantis expire in about a month, at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 14. "If we want to make progress at the bargaining table, we need to s...

  • With GM and Ford embracing Tesla's EV charging technology, here's what it means for consumers

    TOM KRISHER|Jun 9, 2023

    DETROIT (AP) — Starting next year, owners of electric vehicles made by General Motors and Ford will be able to charge their EVs at many of Tesla's charging stations, the largest such network in the country. As part of their move, both Detroit-area automakers have decided to adopt Tesla's EV charging connector, the plug that links an electric vehicle to a charging station. With GM and Ford joining Tesla's charging system, the rest of the auto industry may be forced follow suit. If so, it would provide a major victory to Tesla, which would be a...

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