It's a beautiful day for electric car fans in the Midwest: according to Auto News, Missouri's efforts to prevent Tesla from selling directly to consumers have been put on hold for at least another year. This time last week, the forecast in Jefferson City wasn't quite so rosy. Tesla had learned of a...Read More»
It's been a weird week for Tesla. On the one hand, the company issued a first-quarter report that showed the automaker meeting sales goals, making a strong entry into China, and laying the groundwork for its eagerly anticipated battery-development "gigafactory". On the other hand, even though...Read More»
You have to hand it to Elon Musk: he doesn't shy away from a challenge. In launching Tesla, he faced three. First, like any startup, Tesla had to let consumers know about its products. Because of Musk's outgoing personality and Tesla's attractively designed cars, that wasn't hard to do -- though...Read More»
Two General Motors [NYSE: GM] brands, Cadillac and Buick, do the best job with service after the sale, while a few brands that do well in reaching (and impressing) shoppers with their products aren't doing such a good job at the dealership. The two brands topped the J.D. Power 2014 Customer Service...Read More»
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently investigated auto lender Ally Financial amid concerns that the company regularly charged higher interest rates to non-white borrowers. According to AutoNews, Ally has now agreed to cough up $98 million to settle the probe. Could this make things...Read More»
Consider the poor auto saleperson: the source of much mistrust, the butt of countless jokes. Most of us tend to keep anyone who works on commission at arm's length, but car salespeople are flat-out loathed. In fact, a recent study showed that car salespeople are the least trusted professionals in...Read More»
Crossing borders to purchase things on the cheap is a centuries-old tradition -- and a centuries-old problem. For example, Canadian pharmacies made headlines in recent years, offering Americans cheaper prescription drugs than they could ever get in the U.S. Now, however, the snowshoe is on the...Read More»
Tesla has made plenty of headlines the past couple of years -- not just because its Model S sedan is selling better than critics expected (despite the occasional fire), but also because of its unusual sales strategy. According to the Wall Street Journal, General Motors plans to follow Tesla's lead...Read More»
Honestly, Tesla can't catch a break. First, it had to make a fully electric car that didn't look like a doorstop or a computer mouse from 1997. No small task, that. Then, it had to find a few backers, which caused consternation in some corners. And then it had to jump perhaps the biggest hurdle of...Read More»
Yes, you read that headline correctly: Elon Musk is essentially calling himself a Freedom Rider, comparing Tesla's push to sell all-electric vehicles to America's Civil Rights Movement. CEOs say the darndest things. TESLA, TEXAS, AND TESTIMONY As we reported on Monday, Musk has spent the past week...Read More»
If you haven't been to Texas in a while, it might be time to pay a visit. Oil is still big business there, but wind farms are picking up speed. And although there's plenty of farmland, today's Texas -- especially the Austin area -- is a high-tech hub, home to start-ups, gaming firms, and more...Read More»
In 1974, the United States enacted the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which "prohibits credit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or because you get public assistance." But nearly 40 years after that law went into effect, some institutions...Read More»
New-car dealerships are doing much better—even compared to last year—in satisfying customers who return to the shop for service. That's one of the findings from J.D. Power's latest Consumer Service Index (CSI) Study, released today. The latest 2013 CSI finds that thanks to automaker and...Read More»
Chrysler has some work to do on the customer satisfaction front. In the most recent Sales Satisfaction Index published by J.D. Power and Associates, Fiat was the only one of the automaker's five brands to score above the industry average, while Dodge and Jeep battled it out at the bottom of the...Read More»
Last fall, Tesla was making headlines -- not because of its snazzy Model S sedan, but because of its unusual (and potentially illegal) showrooms. Now, one judge in Massachusetts has vindicated the electric-car startup and its unorthodox sales techniques. Is this the shape of things to come? A QUICK...Read More»
When your car conks out, where do you take it for TLC? According to a new study from DMEautomotive, the answer may depend on when you were born. DME surveyed 4,000 vehicle owners across the U.S., collecting data about their cars and their auto service spending. What they found should be of interest...Read More»
Each year, thousands of consumers answer surveys about cars and the people who sell them. Those studies -- like the ones we recently mentioned about brand loyalty and the shopping habits of men and women -- can tell us a lot about buyers, but for an insider's look at the auto industry, you need to...Read More»
If you're planning to replace your current vehicle with a new one at any point this calendar year—especially a small car—you might want to step up the timeframe and consider heading out to the showroom. Now. Why? Because if price matters—as it should—you'll probably have to...Read More»
If you're set on getting a particular vehicle this year—especially a small-car model or a Japanese-brand model—you might want to go get it sooner than later. Inventories are definitely getting tighter as a result of the earthquake (and resulting tsunami) in Japan a month ago. According...Read More»
