Toyota is recalling about 751,000 large SUVs in the U.S. to fix a problem with the tabs that hold the front bumper covers on
ByThe Associated Press
October 26, 2023, 1:08 PM
DETROIT — Toyota is recalling about 751,000 large SUVs in the U.S. to fix a problem with the tabs that hold the front bumper covers on.
The recall covers certain Toyota Highlanders from the 2020 through 2023 model years including gas-electric hybrids.
The company says in a statement that the SUVs have resin front lower bumper covers that are connected with mounting tabs. If there’s a even a minor impact to the lower bumper cover assembly, the mounting tabs could detach, and parts of the assembly could fall into the road and become a hazard.
Dealers will inspect the bumper cover tabs for damage. If there isn’t any, they’ll install improved hardware to hold the covers. If damage is found, dealers will replace the upper and/or lower bumper covers and add the improved hardware.
Toyota says it will notify owners by late December. Owners can check to see if their Highlander is affected by going to nhtsa.gov/recalls and entering vehicle identification or license plate numbers, the company said.
KYIV — Sergeant Yegor Firsov, deputy commander of a Ukrainian army strike drone unit, sounds exhausted in a voice message he sent to POLITICO from Avdiivka, an industrial city at the center of intense fighting on the eastern front.
Russian troops have been storming Avdiivka relentlessly for more than two weeks in an all-out effort to encircle the Ukrainian forces there.
“The situation is very difficult. We are fighting for the heights around the city,” Firsov said. “If the enemy controls these heights, then all logistics and roads leading to the city will be under its control. This will make it much harder to resupply our forces.”
Facing an enemy with superior numbers of troops and armor, the Ukrainian defenders are holding on with the help of tiny drones flown by operators like Firsov that, for a few hundred dollars, can deliver an explosive charge capable of destroying a Russian tank worth more than $2 million.
The FPV — or “first-person view” — drones used in such strikes are equipped with an onboard camera that enables skilled operators like Firsov to direct them to their target with pinpoint accuracy. Before the war, a teenager might hope to get one for a New Year present. Now they are being used as agile weapons that can transform battlefield outcomes. Others are watching, and learning, from a technology that is giving early adopters an asymmetric advantage against established methods of warfare.
“It’s hard to handle the emotion when a drone pilot hits a tank. The whole group and the whole platoon are happy like babies. Infantry units are rejoicing nearby. Everyone is screaming, and hugging. Although they do not know the guy who gave them this happiness,” Firsov wrote in a Facebook post.
A typical FPV weighs up to one kilogram, has four small engines, a battery, a frame and a camera connected wirelessly to goggles worn by a pilot operating it remotely. It can carry up to 2.5 kilograms of explosives and strike a target at a speed of up to 150 kilometers per hour, explains Pavlo Tsybenko, acting director of the Dronarium military academy outside Kyiv.
“This drone costs up to $400 and can be made anywhere. We made ours using microchips imported from China and details we bought on AliExpress. We made the carbon frame ourselves. And, yeah, the batteries are from Tesla. One car has like 1,100 batteries that can be used to power these little guys,” Tsybenko told POLITICO on a recent visit, showing the custom-made FPV drones used by the academy to train future drone pilots.
“It is almost impossible to shoot it down,” he said. “Only a net can help. And I predict that soon we will have to put up such nets above our cities, or at least government buildings, all over Europe.”
Contagious technology
Commercial drones were first weaponized in Azerbaijan’s — ultimately successful — campaign to retake the Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region from Armenian separatists. Their use has expanded rapidly in the 20-month-old Russian war in Ukraine.
And, earlier this month, Hamas militants flew drones to knock out Israeli border defenses during a surprise attack in which they massacred more than 1,400 people and took around 200 hostages. For Ukrainians, the video clip of a Hamas drone destroying an Israeli main battle tank by dropping a grenade was a film they had seen before.
Ukrainian drone experts and intelligence officials are convinced that Russian specialists have trained Hamas in the art of drone warfare — although Moscow denies this.
Some experts worry that militants across the world will soon learn how to use FPV drones to sow terror | Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP via Getty Images
“Only we and the Russians know how to do this — and we definitely did not teach them,” Andriy Cherniak, a representative of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate, told POLITICO.
Ruslan Belyaiev, head of the Dronarium military academy, shares that view. He warns that other militants will soon learn how to use FPV drones to sow terror.
“No one is immune from such attacks,” said Belyaiev. “In theory, a specialist with my level of expertise could plan and execute an operation to liquidate the first persons of any European state … Pandora’s box is open.”
Secret training
While NATO militaries hesitate to use commercial drones that are mostly made in China, or made from Chinese components, some Western democracies have already shown interest in learning from Ukraine’s experience of drone warfare.
Several figures in Ukraine’s drone community, granted anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, told POLITICO that special forces and anti-terrorist units of two NATO countries bordering Russia have taken courses from Ukrainian drone operators over the past six months.
Their focus is on countering small kamikaze drones and commercial drones that can be successfully used for reconnaissance, correcting artillery fire and video signal transmission, one person with direct knowledge said.
Basic training for a drone pilot takes five days. Learning how to pilot a kamikaze drone takes more than 20 days, Tsybenko said.
Battlefield experience has led the Ukrainian government to shift its preference away from conventional military drones, which are miniature fixed-wing aircraft with a long enough range to strike targets inside Russian territory. The effectiveness of FPV drones at closer quarters has led Defense Minister Rustam Umerov to simplify approvals for new models to be deployed.
“FPV drones are effective tools for destroying the enemy and protecting our country. The Ministry of Defense is doing everything possible to increase number of drones,” Umerov said in a statement on Wednesday.
Team players
Every FPV drone pilot works in tandem with aerial reconnaissance units, who fly a DJI Mavic or other type of drone with video and audio transmitters to observe their mission. “An FPV loses its video signal close to the target. So, the other drone helps the pilot and supporting units to understand the target was indeed hit,” Tsybenko said.
Firsov confirmed that in a Facebook post from the front. What looks simple on video in fact requires close coordination between dozens of people.
“Everything seems so simple, put on glasses — and “Bam!” you destroyed a tank,” said Firsov. “In fact, aerial scouts spend hours looking for targets. A decryptor looks at video and finds targets that the enemy has carefully hidden. A navigator who is nearby helps the pilot to fly along the route. An engineer attaching explosives, a sapper, who twists standard ammunition for drones and many, many others.”
Russian forces use FPV drones to target single soldiers | John Moore/Getty Images
Most FPV drones are kamikaze, Tsybenko said. And their effectiveness has changed the stakes. The Russians, who at first lagged behind Ukraine in mastering drone warfare, have learned from their mistakes. And now they are scaling up Ukraine’s methods of drone warfare.
Russian forces now have “countless” FPV drones that they now use to target single soldiers.
Russia has also launched its own production lines and is devising new tactics to deploy drones in swarms. “One manager and all the others will repeat the movement. This controlled pack is a very big threat on the battlefield,” Tsybenko warned.
China factor
However, neither Ukraine nor Russia are able to produce drones for warfare by themselves. They still source crucial parts from China — the leading maker of commercial drones. Earlier this year the Chinese Ministry of Commerce imposed restrictions on drone exports to both Ukraine and Russia out of “fear it would be used for military purposes.”
Still, it’s possible to obtain components and drones via third countries. “Yes, China can either stop or stall the export of parts if it sees ‘Ukraine’ in export data. But it can’t control what we buy in Europe. Russia has fewer problems and a common border with China, and that makes drone imports way easier.”
“Every lock has its key. Indeed, the commercial drones we buy in stores are synchronizing their data with a server. But we learned how to create user logins that are completely anonymized. Even the drone might think it is flying somewhere in Canada — and not in Donbas,” Tsybenko said.
“When we talked to Europeans, they were amazed at how easy it is to hack and anonymize Chinese drones. It is safe to use them, we tried to persuade our partners,” Tsybenko said, adding that Ukraine did not have the luxury of time to independently develop and certify its own drones.
“If we waited, the war would be over when they finally arrived.”
Takero Kato, the executive in charge of electric vehicles at Toyota, said that not once, but twice, to emphasize what he considers the message at this year’s Tokyo auto show.
It’s a message ringing clear at the Tokyo Mobility Show, which will run through Nov. 5 at Tokyo Big Sight hall and where battery-powered electric vehicles are the star at practically every booth.
Mazda Motor Corp. is highlighting a sportscar concept that is a plug-in EV packed with its signature rotary engine. Honda Motor Co. is showing off its Prelude sportscar EV concept. Toyota Motor Corp.’s lean angular Lexus concept, set to go on sale in 2026, is an electric vehicle running on lithium-ion batteries.
Journalists got a preview Wednesday ahead of the show’s public opening Saturday.
U.S. automakers like General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. aren’t exhibiting at the show and have not taken part for some years. The Americans make up a very tiny fraction of Japanese auto sales and have had a hard time cracking a market where domestic makers remain powerful.
Among the foreign makers taking part are Mercedes-Benz, a perennial Japanese favorite, and China‘s BYD.
Kato denied he repeated his words because he is worried Toyota isn’t perceived as loving EVs enough.
Toyota executives have acknowledged that Japan’s top automaker has fallen behind rivals in EV development like Tesla of the U.S. and China’s BYD Auto. That is partly because of Toyota’s past success in hybrids, exemplified in the Prius, which have a gasoline engine in addition to an electric motor.
Toyota already sells a tiny two-seater called C+pod and the bZ4X, co-developed with group company Subaru, as electric offerings, but not much else. And it is eager to play catchup.
As the first serious EV from Toyota, the Lexus LF-ZC will serve as a true test for how Toyota fares in a sector that still comprises a minority of the global market but is growing quickly, given priorities like climate change.
In Japan, EVs make up less than 5% of the auto market, according to the International Energy Agency. In the U.S., where Tesla dominates, EVs account for just under 10% of auto sales, although President Joe Biden is pushing for requiring at least 54% of new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2030. In China, a third of vehicles sold are EVs.
Tesla’s global vehicle deliveries last year grew 40% from the previous year, to 1.31 million EVs. BYD sold more than 1.85 million electric cars, including plug-ins.
Toyota, meanwhile, sold fewer than 25,000 EVs worldwide last year, although in the first eight months of this year, it sold 65,000, mostly outside Japan. Toyota is targeting sales of 1.5 million EVs a year by 2026 and 3.5 million by 2030.
“We are looking toward an electrified future that we hope to build together with our customers,” Kato said.
Catching up is a challenge but not impossible, said Joshua Cobb, senior automobiles analyst at BMI.
“Over the short term, we see Chinese EVs from brands such as BYD, SAIC-GM-Wuling and Tesla-branded EVs will continue to gain market share as there is little competition at the moment,” he said.
But, Cobb added, “One thing not to underestimate is the strong brand loyalty in Japan.” He said Japanese consumers may hold off on EV purchases until more domestic models hit the market.
Nissan, an early EV maker among the Japanese with its Leaf going on sale in 2010, is showcasing four EV concept cars.
Among them is the Hyper Tourer minivan concept that Nissan says has advanced technologies like autonomous driving. It runs on high-energy-density solid-state batteries.
Senior Vice President Alfonoso Albaisa said Nissan is focusing on virtual reality and other breakthroughs that allow vehicle designers to shorten model development time.
“At Nissan, we have been racing forward with our dramatic digital shift just as other industries, like gaming,” Albaisa said.
Manufacturers are also noting that EV technology is bringing changes for how a vehicle drives.
Batteries and a motor for an EV generally take up less space than a gas combustion engine. That means EVs can have a lower center of gravity while offering more cabin space, making it a nifty powertrain for sportscars, vans, pickups and SUVs.
In Nissan and elsewhere, a key issue for EVs is battery charge time and driving range. While all the world’s major automakers are working to shorten charge time and lengthen cruise time per charge, the U.S. startup Ample has come up with a different solution — battery swapping.
Instead of charging the battery in the car, a module containing the battery is taken out and replaced by a fully charged battery at a drive-in facility built especially for the procedure. The swap, done by robots, takes just five minutes.
The approach is already being used by Uber drivers in the San Francisco area. Ample’s battery-swapping arrives in Japan this winter through a partnership with Mitsubishi Fuso, a Daimler group truck company. The swapping is being demonstrated at Mitsubishi Fuso’s booth.
De Souza said another attraction of battery swapping is its greenness. A battery can be charged flexibly, using renewable energy at times of the day with low demand for power, he said.
“We decided what worked really well about gas is that you stop for a few minutes,” said John de Souza, Ample’s president and founder.
___
Yuri Kageyama is on X, formerly Twitter: https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
Takero Kato, the executive in charge of electric vehicles at Toyota, said that not once, but twice, to emphasize what he considers the message at this year’s Tokyo auto show.
It’s a message ringing clear at the Tokyo Mobility Show, which will run through Nov. 5 at Tokyo Big Sight hall and where battery-powered electric vehicles are the star at practically every booth.
Mazda Motor Corp. is highlighting a sportscar concept that is a plug-in EV packed with its signature rotary engine. Honda Motor Co. is showing off its Prelude sportscar EV concept. Toyota Motor Corp.’s lean angular Lexus concept, set to go on sale in 2026, is an electric vehicle running on lithium-ion batteries.
Journalists got a preview Wednesday ahead of the show’s public opening Saturday.
U.S. automakers like General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. aren’t exhibiting at the show and have not taken part for some years. The Americans make up a very tiny fraction of Japanese auto sales and have had a hard time cracking a market where domestic makers remain powerful.
Among the foreign makers taking part are Mercedes-Benz, a perennial Japanese favorite, and China‘s BYD.
Kato denied he repeated his words because he is worried Toyota isn’t perceived as loving EVs enough.
Toyota executives have acknowledged that Japan’s top automaker has fallen behind rivals in EV development like Tesla of the U.S. and China’s BYD Auto. That is partly because of Toyota’s past success in hybrids, exemplified in the Prius, which have a gasoline engine in addition to an electric motor.
Toyota already sells a tiny two-seater called C+pod and the bZ4X, co-developed with group company Subaru, as electric offerings, but not much else. And it is eager to play catchup.
As the first serious EV from Toyota, the Lexus LF-ZC will serve as a true test for how Toyota fares in a sector that still comprises a minority of the global market but is growing quickly, given priorities like climate change.
In Japan, EVs make up less than 5% of the auto market, according to the International Energy Agency. In the U.S., where Tesla dominates, EVs account for just under 10% of auto sales, although President Joe Biden is pushing for requiring at least 54% of new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2030. In China, a third of vehicles sold are EVs.
Tesla’s global vehicle deliveries last year grew 40% from the previous year, to 1.31 million EVs. BYD sold more than 1.85 million electric cars, including plug-ins.
Toyota, meanwhile, sold fewer than 25,000 EVs worldwide last year, although in the first eight months of this year, it sold 65,000, mostly outside Japan. Toyota is targeting sales of 1.5 million EVs a year by 2026 and 3.5 million by 2030.
“We are looking toward an electrified future that we hope to build together with our customers,” Kato said.
Catching up is a challenge but not impossible, said Joshua Cobb, senior automobiles analyst at BMI.
“Over the short term, we see Chinese EVs from brands such as BYD, SAIC-GM-Wuling and Tesla-branded EVs will continue to gain market share as there is little competition at the moment,” he said.
But, Cobb added, “One thing not to underestimate is the strong brand loyalty in Japan.” He said Japanese consumers may hold off on EV purchases until more domestic models hit the market.
Nissan, an early EV maker among the Japanese with its Leaf going on sale in 2010, is showcasing four EV concept cars.
Among them is the Hyper Tourer minivan concept that Nissan says has advanced technologies like autonomous driving. It runs on high-energy-density solid-state batteries.
Senior Vice President Alfonoso Albaisa said Nissan is focusing on virtual reality and other breakthroughs that allow vehicle designers to shorten model development time.
“At Nissan, we have been racing forward with our dramatic digital shift just as other industries, like gaming,” Albaisa said.
Manufacturers are also noting that EV technology is bringing changes for how a vehicle drives.
Batteries and a motor for an EV generally take up less space than a gas combustion engine. That means EVs can have a lower center of gravity while offering more cabin space, making it a nifty powertrain for sportscars, vans, pickups and SUVs.
In Nissan and elsewhere, a key issue for EVs is battery charge time and driving range. While all the world’s major automakers are working to shorten charge time and lengthen cruise time per charge, the U.S. startup Ample has come up with a different solution — battery swapping.
Instead of charging the battery in the car, a module containing the battery is taken out and replaced by a fully charged battery at a drive-in facility built especially for the procedure. The swap, done by robots, takes just five minutes.
The approach is already being used by Uber drivers in the San Francisco area. Ample’s battery-swapping arrives in Japan this winter through a partnership with Mitsubishi Fuso, a Daimler group truck company. The swapping is being demonstrated at Mitsubishi Fuso’s booth.
De Souza said another attraction of battery swapping is its greenness. A battery can be charged flexibly, using renewable energy at times of the day with low demand for power, he said.
“We decided what worked really well about gas is that you stop for a few minutes,” said John de Souza, Ample’s president and founder.
___
Yuri Kageyama is on X, formerly Twitter: https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
Today’s happiness and personal-finance gurus have no shortage of advice for living a good life. Meditate daily. Sleep for eight hours a night. Don’t forget to save for retirement. They’re not wrong, but few of these experts will tell you one of the best ways to improve your life: Ditch your car.
A year ago, my wife and I sold one of our cars and replaced it with an e-bike. As someone who writes about climate change, I knew that I was doing something good for the planet. I knew that passenger vehicles are responsible for much of our greenhouse-gas emissions—16 percent in the U.S., to be exact—and that the pollution spewing from gas-powered cars doesn’t just heat up the planet; it could increase the risk of premature death. I also knew that electric cars were an imperfect fix: Though they’re responsible for less carbon pollution than gas cars, even when powered by today’s dirty electric grid, their supply chain is carbon intensive, and many of the materials needed to produce their batteries are, in some cases, mined via a process that brutally exploits workers and harms ecosystems and sacred Indigenous lands. An e-bike’s comparatively tiny battery means less electricity, fewer emissions, fewer resources. They are clearly better for the planet than cars of any kind.
I knew all of this. But I also viewed getting rid of my car as a sacrifice—something for the militant and reckless, something that Greenpeace volunteers did to make the world better. I live in Colorado; e-biking would mean freezing in the winter and sweating in the summer. It was the right thing to do, I thought, but it was not going to be fun.
I was very wrong. The first thing I noticed was the savings. Between car payments, insurance, maintenance, and gas, a car-centered lifestyle is expensive. According to AAA, after fuel, maintenance, insurance, taxes, and the like, owning and driving a new car in America costs $10,728 a year. My e-bike, by comparison, cost $2,000 off the rack and has near-negligible recurring charges. After factoring in maintenance and a few bucks a month in electricity costs, I estimate that we’ll save about $50,000 over the next five years by ditching our car.
The actual experience of riding to work each day over the past year has been equally surprising. Before selling our car, I worried most about riding in the cold winter months. But I quickly learned that, as the saying goes, there is no bad weather, only bad gear. I wear gloves, warm socks, a balaclava, and a ski jacket when I ride, and am almost never too cold.
Sara Hastings-Simon is a professor at the University of Calgary, where she studies low-carbon transportation systems. She’s also a native Californian who now bikes to work in a city where temperatures tend to hover around freezing from December through March. She told me that with the right equipment, she’s able to do it on all but the snowiest days—days when she wouldn’t want to be in a car, either. “Those days are honestly a mess even on the roads,” she said.
And though I, like many would-be cyclists, was worried about arriving at the office sweaty in hotter months, the e-bike solved my problem. Even when it was 90 degrees outside, I didn’t break a sweat, thanks to my bike’s pedal-assist mode. If I’m honest, sometimes I didn’t even pedal; I just used the throttle, sat back, and enjoyed my ride.
Indeed, a big part of the appeal here is in the e part of the bike: “E-bikes aren’t just a traditional bike with a motor. They are an entirely new technology,” Hastings-Simon told me. Riding them is a radically different experience from riding a normal bike, at least when it comes to the hard parts of cycling. “It’s so much easier to take a bike over a bridge or in a hilly neighborhood,” Laura Fox, the former general manager of New York City’s bike-share program, told me. “I’ve had countless people come up to me and say, ‘I never thought that I could bike to work before, and now that I have an option where you don’t have to show up sweaty, it’s possible.’” (When New York introduced e-bikes to its fleet, ridership tripled, she told me, from 500,000 to 1.5 million people.)
But biking to work wasn’t just not unpleasant—it was downright enjoyable. It made me feel happier and healthier; I arrived to work a little more buoyant for having spent the morning in fresh air rather than traffic. Study after study shows that people with longer car commutes are more likely to experience poor health outcomes and lower personal well-being—and that cyclists are the happiest commuters. One day, shortly after selling our car, I hopped on my bike after a stressful day at work and rode home down a street edged with changing fall leaves. I felt more connected to the physical environment around me than I had when I’d traveled the same route surrounded by metal and glass. I breathed in the air, my muscles relaxed, and I grinned like a giddy schoolchild.
“E-bikes are like a miracle drug,” David Zipper, a transportation expert and Visiting Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, told me. “They provide so much upside, not just for the riders, but for the people who are living around them too.”
Of course, e-bikes aren’t going to replace every car on every trip. In a country where sprawling suburbs and strip malls, not protected bike lanes, are the norm, it’s unrealistic to expect e-bikes to replace cars in the way that the Model T replaced horses. But we don’t need everyone to ride an e-bike to work to make a big dent in our carbon-pollution problem. A recent study found that if 5 percent of commuters were to switch to e-bikes as their mode of transportation, emissions would fall by 4 percent. As an individual, you don’t even need to sell your car to reduce your carbon footprint significantly. In 2021, half of all trips in the United States were less than three miles, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Making those short trips on an e-bike instead of in a car would likely save people money, cut their emissions, and improve their health and happiness.
E-bikes are such a no-brainer for individuals, and for the collective, that state and local governments are now subsidizing them. In May, I asked Will Toor, the executive director of the Colorado Energy Office, to explain the state’s rationale for a newly passed incentive that offers residents $450 to get an e-bike. He dutifully ticked through the environmental benefits and potential cost savings for low-income people. Then he surprised me: The legislation, he added, was also about “putting more joy into the world.”
The number of carjackings soared last year, with more cars being stolen by groups of thieves, FBI statistics released this week show.
Nearly 90 percent of thieves were carrying a weapon when they forced the owner out of the car.
Experts told Newsweek that the end of lockdown last year had given robbers more opportunities to pull car owners from their vehicles.
Motor vehicle theft jumped 10.9 percent from 2021 to 2022, with nearly a million vehicles stolen in the latter year. According to the FBI report, nearly 70,000 people were arrested for motor vehicle theft in 2022, including 2,000 who were carrying a firearm when arrested.
Carjackings were up 8.1 percent in 2022. Nearly 90 percent of them involved a weapon, and more offenders worked in groups, marking a 13 percent increase in arrests involving two or more suspects. Males under the age of 18 accounted for 17.8 percent of those arrested.
The FBI statistics show that nearly half of all carjackings occurred at night, between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m.
Officer Daniel Arteaga chases a man who stole a car and sped away in Chelsea, Massachusetts on May 1, 2021. FBI and other statistics point to an increase in car thefts and carjackings across America. AFP via Getty Images/JOSEPH PREZIOSO
Thief Sped Away With Child
Although the FBI report does not list individual cases, carjackings in 2022 included a case in New York where an 11-year-old was trapped in a car with a thief.
In February 2022 David Perez left his 11-year-old son, Daniel Perez, in an SUV while he ran into a supermarket Sunday, WABC reported. He said the keys were in the car, and it was running. Surveillance video shows an unknown man get into the car and take off with the 11-year-old still in the front seat. Daniel was crying and texting his father as the thief sped away at 100mph.
The thief crashed twice before dropping Daniel off on a street corner.
‘A Masterclass in Criminology’
Alex Piquero, professor of Criminology at the University of Miami and former director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics, told Newsweek he is worried about the number of guns being used in carjackings.
“Not all violent crimes went down, in fact I’m still concerned about carjacking increases—including the increasing use of guns. At the same time motor vehicle theft continues its post-pandemic increase,” he said.
Piquero said that “some of the strains and stress associated with the pandemic may have abated, others may have emerged”, which helps explain why some crimes are up and some are down.
He said that people should also be aware that not all reported crimes are covered by the statistics and that there can be big differences in crime rates between cities and within the cities themselves.
“We need to be mindful that the FBI numbers are national estimates among those agencies that reported, and do not include the many crimes that are not reported to law enforcement,” he said.
Adam Gelb, president and CEO of the Council on Criminal Justice, told Newsweek that the end of lockdown meant more opportunities for carjackers.
“Behind every crime is a motive and the means and an opportunity to carry it out. COVID sparked changes in all three of those elements, especially opportunity. People stayed home. Stores were closed. It was much harder and riskier to steal stuff,” he said.
Gelb said it was interesting to study which crimes have increased as travel and work returned to normal levels last year. “Now that we’re coming out of [lockdown], theft opportunities are reemerging as well. The pandemic is giving us a masterclass in criminology,” he said.
Rising Crime in Big Cities
While the end of lockdown may account for some of the increase, there appears to be an overall trend towards more carjackings in larger cities.
For example, Washington D.C. had 140 carjackings in 2018, compared with 485 in 2022. There have been 651 reported so far in 2023.
The FBI’s 2022 crime report compiles crime statistics from national and state police agencies across the country.
Violent crime, which includes murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, aggravated assault and robbery collectively decreased by 1.7 percent last year.
Homicides dropped by 6.1 percent, aggravated assaults by 1.1 percent and rape by 5.4 percent.
Unsurprisingly, firearms were the most common weapon used in violent crime, and were used in 80.3 percent of murders and manslaughters.
While fatal and non-fatal gun deaths decreased for adults, the number of juvenile victims of gun deaths increased by 11.8 percent, from 1,300 to 1,500. The non-fatal shooting of juveniles also increased, by 10.6 percent, from 61,800 to 68,300.
More than 15,000 police agencies nationwide submitted crime data to the FBI, an increase of 1,500 agencies, compared with 2021. According to the FBI, the 2022 statistics cover roughly 93 percent of the U.S. population. For the first time, the 2022 report includes data from every city with a population of 1 million or greater.
It isn’t just the FBI reporting an increase in carjackings and car thefts.
In May, the National Insurance Crime Bureau released statistics showing a 7 percent increase in vehicle theft nationwide from 2021-2022, with more than 250,000 thefts reported in the fourth quarter of 2022 alone.
Additionally, the Council on Criminal Justice has reported that vehicle thefts and carjackings in America’s largest 30 cities rose an average of 59 percent from 2019-2022.
In Illinois, car thefts rose 35 percent between 2021 and 2022, and in Washington state by 31 percent.
Earlier this year, Mayor Eric Adams handed out 500 electronic tags to New Yorkers to hide in their vehicles so they can track them if they’re stolen.
Five years ago, auto insurance companies in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and the Atlantic provinces paid out $400 million in theft claims. In 2022, that figure ballooned to $1.2 billion, the worst on record. Amanda Dean, interim vice president of Ontario region for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, says the situation isn’t likely to improve for 2023.
“As theft rates increase, and along with it claims costs, insurers are certainly worried about what the future could hold,” she says. For drivers, even those with no history of theft or damage, auto insurance is likely to get more expensive so long as theft rates remain high. Fortunately, experts say there are some things drivers can do to minimize their chances of losing their ride.
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Why car theft is on the rise across Canada
Joyriders and opportunists aren’t responsible for most Canadian car thefts, according to insurance experts. Organized crime groups, using sophisticated techniques, bear much of the blame for Canada’s billion-dollar-a-year auto theft problem.
Bryan Gast is the vice president of investigative services for Équité Association, a national not-for-profit that helps Canadian insurers fight fraud. He says one common technique is a relay attack: intercepting the radio frequency used by a key fob to unlock a car remotely. Another is by using the electronic diagnostic port found under a car’s steering wheel to reprogram the car.
Once inside, a thief can drive away with your ride and sell it off. In the most extreme cases, it may end up smuggled through a port—generally on Canada’s eastern seaboard, Gast says—and shipped to West Africa or the Middle East. “We have thousands of vehicles, that have been identified, that we’re working to repatriate back to Canada,” Gast says.
Alternatively, a car might be given a false vehicle identification number (VIN) and used as a car by an organized crime group for its operations. Then there are old-fashioned “chop shops,” where stolen cars are stripped down and sold off for parts. “It’s extremely lucrative,” Gast says.
Experts blame a couple of factors on the rise in auto thefts over the past few years. Dean points to outdated anti-theft standards for Canadian vehicles—the last update, in 2007, was before keyless entry became a common feature on many cars. Then there’s the price of cars themselves. Thanks to persistently-high demand, the average new vehicle cost $66,288 in June 2023, according to Autotrader.
The most stolen cars in Canada
Many of the most-stolen vehicles in Canada aren’t all that flashy. Gast says the models vary by region. In Alberta, for example, pickup trucks are high on the list. According to Équité Association, the most commonly stolen vehicle model in Canada last year was the Honda CR-V. The Ford F-150, Honda Civic and Toyota Highlander—all mainstays of Canadian driveways—made the list of top five most stolen vehicles, as did the Lexus RX, a higher-end model.
Even if you don’t own one of these vehicles, Dean says you’re still on the hook for the ongoing auto theft epidemic. “Claims made by the few are paid for by the premiums of many—this is one of the basic principles of insurance to ensure that claims can be paid.”
BANGKOK — Shares tumbled in Asia on Thursday following a retreat on Wall Street after big U.S. companies delivered mixed profit reports and Treasury yields added pressure on stocks.
Worries about war in the Middle East also are dragging on markets.
Benchmarks in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul fell about 2%.
Japan reported its exports swung into positive territory in September as vehicle shipments surged.
Exports rose 4.3% while imports sank 16.3% in September and the trade balance swung to a surplus of 62.4 trillion yen ($410 billion). Exports to the U.S. were up 13% while those to the rest of Asia declined 4.3%.
Imports fell as the price of oil moderated for a short time before surging once again with the start of fighting following the Oct. 7 surprise attack by the militant group Hamas on Israel.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost 1.9% to 31,430.62. The Kospi in Seoul lost 1.9% to 2,415.80 as the Bank of Korea left its key interest rate unchanged.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined 2.2% to 17,349.79 and the Shanghai Composite index was down 1.6%, at 3,010.03. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 sank 1.4% to 6,981.60.
India’s Sensex was 0.2% lower and Bangkok’s SET fell 0.9%.
“Another surge in Treasury yields, lingering geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and higher oil prices seem to dampen appetite in risk-taking for now,” Yeap Jun Rong of IG said in a report.
A big threat for the global economy is what oil prices will do to inflation. Crude prices jumped sharply on Wednesday following a deadly explosion at a hospital in the Gaza Strip, which sparked protests across the Middle East.
Early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil was down 11 cents at $87.16 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It had surged $1.83 on Wednesday to $87.27 per barrel.
Brent crude, the international pricing standard, fell 28 cents to $91.22 per barrel. It climbed $1.60 on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 sank 1.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1%. The Nasdaq sank 1.6%.
Tesla’s share price fell 4.2% in afterhours trading after it reported its net income slumped in the third quarter, as price reductions helped drive strong sales growth but ate into the automaker’s profit margins.
Shares in Netflix jumped 12.8% in afterhours trading after it disclosed summertime subscriber gains that surpassed analysts’ projections, signaling the video streaming service’s password sharing crackdown is converting freeloaders into paying customers.
United Airlines slumped 9.7% after it said surging fuel prices and the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv will take a toll on its business. Other airlines fell in concert, with American Airlines down 4.9% and Delta Air Lines down 4.4%.
Morgan Stanley tumbled 6.8% as investors focused on a weaker-than-expected showing by the company’s wealth management business, analysts said.
On the winning side was Procter & Gamble, the giant behind such brands as Charmin, Febreze and Oral-B. It rose 2.6% after reporting stronger profit than expected for the latest quarter as its revenue rose after it hiked prices.
The earnings reporting season for the summer is just starting and the broad expectation is for S&P 500 companies’ overall earnings per share to have climbed in the last quarter for the first time in a year.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury surged to 4.97% early Thursday after topping 4.90% Wednesday for the first time since 2007, just before the global financial crisis. It was at 4.84% late Tuesday and in the spring was at less than 3.50%.
The sharp jump in yields followed a report by the Treasury Department showing Chinese investors sold off the most U.S. bonds and stocks in four years in August.
Yields have climbed as the U.S. economy has remained remarkably resilient, even after the Federal Reserve raised its main interest rate to the highest level since 2001. High rates and yields hurt prices for stocks and other investments.
In other trading early Thursday, the dollar fell to 149.80 Japanese yen from 149.93 yen. The euro rose to $1.0539 from $1.0536.
Gold lost $10.30 to $1,958.00 per ounce early Thursday. It rose $32.60 to settle at $1,968.30 per ounce a day earlier as investors sought safer investments.
Ford is recalling more than 238,000 Explorers in the U.S. because a rear axle bolt can fail, potentially causing a loss of drive power or allowing the SUVs to roll away while in park
ByThe Associated Press
October 13, 2023, 8:51 AM
FILE – The Ford company logo is shown on Thursday, Nov. 25, 2022, outside a Ford dealership in southeast Denver. Ford is recalling more than 238,000 Explorers in the U.S. because a rear axle bolt can fail, potentially causing a loss of drive power or allowing the SUVs to roll away while in park. The recall on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, comes after U.S. safety regulators opened an investigation into the problem after getting two complaints that repairs didn’t work in two previous recalls this year and in 2022. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
The Associated Press
DETROIT — Ford is recalling more than 238,000 Explorers in the U.S. because a rear axle bolt can fail, potentially causing a loss of drive power or allowing the SUVs to roll away while in park.
The recall comes after U.S. safety regulators opened an investigation into the problem after getting two complaints that repairs didn’t work in two previous recalls this year and in 2022.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents posted Friday on its website that the rear axle horizontal mounting bolt can fracture and cause the driveshaft to disconnect, increasing the risk of a crash.
Dealers will replace a bushing and the rear axle bolt. They also will inspect the rear axle cover for damage near the bolt hole and replace the cover if damage is found. Owners will be notified by letter starting Nov. 6.
Ford said in documents that it knows of 396 reports of rear axle bolt failures, and fewer than 5% caused loss of power or let vehicles roll while they were in park. The company says it’s not aware of any crashes or injuries.
NHTSA opened its investigation in June after getting complaints alleging loss of power due to failure of rear axle bolts even though the Explorers had received repairs under the previous recalls.
Ford’s remedy was to update software that automatically applied the parking brake to keep the vehicles from rolling away. But the agency said in documents that there was no remedy addressing the failed axle bolt.
Ford said Friday that it was replacing axle bolts under service campaigns before the latest recall.
DETROIT — 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 2019.
Here’s what you need to know about the recalls and what to do if your car is impacted by it.
According to documents posted this week by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an anti-lock brake control module in recalled vehicles can leak fluid and cause an electrical short, which can touch off a fire whether the cars or being driven, or are parked.
Hyundai has already reported 21 fires in the U.S. vehicles, and another 22 “thermal incidents” including smoke, burning and melting of parts, according to government documents.
No related crashes or injuries have been reported by the companies as of Wednesday.
Affected Kia models include the 2010 through 2019 Borrego, the 2014 to 2016 Cadenza, 2010 through 2013 Forte, Forte Koup and Sportage, the 2015 to 2018 K900, the 2011 to 2015 Optima, the 2011 to 2013 Optima Hybrid and Soul, the 2012 to 2017 Rio, the 2011 to 2014 Sorento, and the 2010 to 2011 Rondo.
Hyundai models covered by the recall include the 2011 to 2015 Elantra, Genesis Coupe, and Sonata Hybrid, the 2012 to 2015 Accent, Azera, and Veloster, the 2013 to 2015 Elantra Coupe and Santa Fe, the 2014 to 2015 Equus, the 2010 to 2012 Veracruz, the 2010 to 2013 Tucson, the 2015 Tucson Fuel Cell, and the 2013 Santa Fe Sport.
Owners can go to www.nhtsa.gov/recalls — as well as Kia and Hyundai’s websites — and use their 17-digit vehicle identification number to see if their vehicle is affected. Automakers also have 60 days to notify owners of recalled vehicles by letter, but the mailings can happen sooner, the NHTSA said.
Both the automakers and the NHTSA are warning impacted owners to park their vehicles outdoors until repairs are made. Kia and Hyundai also advised parking the recalled cars away from structures.
Dealers will replace the anti-lock brake fuse at no cost to owners. Kia says in documents that it will send notification letters to owners starting Nov. 14. For Hyundai, the notifications will begin is Nov. 21.
Hyundai says that owners can continue to drive the vehicles. The company said an O-ring in the antilock brake motor shaft can lose sealing strength over time due to the presence of moisture, dirt and dissolved metals in the brake fluid, causing leaks. The new fuse limits the operating current of the brake module, the company said.
In a separate statement, Kia said an engine compartment fire could happen in the area of the brake control unit due to an electrical short that results in excessive current — but the exact cause of the short circuit is unknown.
Michael Brooks, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, questioned why the companies aren’t fixing the leak problem and why they are waiting so long to send letters to owners.
The remedy is replacing one fuse with another, but brake fluid can still leak, potentially causing a safety problem, he said. Brooks also questioned why NHTSA is allowing the companies to only replace a fuse, and why owners aren’t being sent interim letters immediately warning them of a serious problem.
Statements from both companies don’t address why the fluid leaks aren’t being repaired or why it will take about two months to notify owners by letter. Spokespeople for both companies said Wednesday they would look into the questions.
NHTSA said that under the federal motor vehicle safety act, automakers can choose the remedy to fix a defect. The agency said it will monitor the effectiveness of the repairs and open an investigation if warranted.
Hyundai and Kia have been plagued by fire problems since 2015. The Center for Auto Safety successfully petitioned U.S. regulators to seek recalls in 2018 and says on its website that the automakers have recalled more than 9.2 million vehicles for fires and engine problems, not including the recalls announced Wednesday.
In addition, NHTSA is investigating 3 million vehicles made by the automakers from the 2011 through 2016 model years. NHTSA says it’s received 161 complaints of engine fires, some of which occurred in vehicles that had already been recalled.
In June 2018, NHTSA said it had received owner complaints of more than 3,100 fires, 103 injuries and one death. Hyundai and Kia were fined by NHTSA in 2020 for moving too slowly to recall vehicles that were prone to engine failures.
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AP Business Reporter Wyatte Grantham-Philips contributed to this report from New York.
What César really wanted was to get out of Cuba. A bartender struggling to make ends meet in Havana, he tried last year to reach Miami in a rickety boat but was forced to abandon the attempt when he was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard.
He’s now preparing a second escape attempt: with a direct flight to Moscow. His ticket has been paid for by a Russian recruiter but it comes with a hefty price tag nonetheless: As part of the deal, he will have to join the Russian army and fight in Ukraine.
“If this is the sacrifice I have to make for my family to get ahead, I’ll do it,” said César, who turned 19 this year and whose name has been changed to protect his identity.
“You can be a nuclear physicist and still die of hunger here,” he said. “With my current salary I can barely buy basic things like toilet paper or milk.” He said he hoped he would be allowed to work as a paramedic.
The news of Cuban fighters in Ukraine splashed across global headlines earlier this month when Havana announced it had arrested 17 people for involvement in a human trafficking ring recruiting young men to fight for Russia.
The news raised questions about the extent of cooperation between the two Cold War allies, and whether cracks were beginning to show in Havana’s support for Russia’s invasion.
Conversations with Cubans in Cuba and Russia reveal a different side of the story: of desperate young men who see enlistment in the Russian army as their best shot at a better life — even if not all of them seem to know what they were getting themselves into.
One recruit in his late 40s in the Russian city of Tula, whom we will call Pedro, said he was promised a job as a driver “for workers and construction material” but on arrival in Russia was being prepared for combat, weapon in hand.
“We signed a contract with the devil,” he said, recalling the moment he enlisted. “And the devil does not hand out sweets.”
Cold-war allies
Until recently, Havana — though formally neutral on Ukraine — made no secret of siding with Moscow in what it called its clash with the “Yankee empire.” The Castro regime is dependent on Russia for cheap fuel and other aid. But unlike, say, North Korea, it has little to offer in return other than diplomatic loyalty.
Since the Kremlin launched its full-scale assault last year, the countries have exchanged visits by top brass.
Critics have warned that, keeping with Soviet tradition, Cuba could send troops to help fight Moscow’s cause. They point to a May visit to Belarus by Cuba’s military attaché, where the “training of Cuban military personnel” was top of the agenda, and a trip to Moscow by Cuba’s defense minister several weeks later to discuss “a number of technical military projects.” But there has been no evidence of direct involvement.
Havana’s crackdown on the recruitment network followed the publication of an interview on YouTube in late August, in which two 19-year-old Cubans claimed they had been lured to Russia for lucrative construction jobs, only to be sent to the trenches in Ukraine. They said they had suffered beatings, been scammed out of their money and were being kept captive.
Cuba’s foreign ministry vowed to act “energetically” against efforts to entice Cubans to join Russia’s war effort, adding: “Cuba is not part of the conflict in Ukraine.”
The change in tone in Havana suggests that the recruitment of Cubans through informal backchannels has “hit a nerve,” said Christopher Sabatini, a senior fellow for Latin America at Chatham House.
“Cuba and the Soviet Union fought side by side in Angola and other places, but for ideological reasons,” he said. “Now it’s boiled down to the ugliest, most mercenary terms, giving it a transactional quality that goes against decades of friendship.”
In November 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree offering fast-tracked naturalization to foreigners who signed up as contract soldiers. “We are all getting Russian citizenship,” one recruit texted this reporter. That week, he and others told POLITICO, some 15 recruits, some of whom had been in Russia for only a couple of months, had been personally handed their passports by the local governor.
With heavy losses in Ukraine, Russia “needs the cannon fodder,” said Pavel Luzin, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). He added most foreign recruits come from Central Asian and African countries, Syria and Afghanistan.
It is unclear exactly how many foreign citizens have joined Russia’s ranks. But Luzin says their limited numbers mainly serve to boost Russia’s narrative that it has international support for its war.
“Without speaking the language, knowing the local terrain, or the right training for modern warfare, they’ll be swiftly killed and that’s it,” he said.
Joining the 106th
For most of the Cubans with whom POLITICO spoke, their involvement with the Russian army began in late 2022, when somebody using the name Elena Shuvalova began posting on social media pages targeting Cubans looking to go abroad or already in Russia.
One post showed a woman in a long skirt in front of a car decorated with a Cuban flag and a “Z,” Russia’s pro-war symbol. In the accompanying text, Shuvalova offered a one-year contract with the Russian army, “help” with the required language exams and medical tests, and “express legalization within two days.”
Pay consisted of a one-off handout of 195,000 rubles (about $2,000) followed by a monthly salary of 204,000 rubles ($2,100). By comparison, Cuba’s average GDP per capita in 2020 was $9,500 per year.
Of the four recruits currently in Russia who shared their stories with POLITICO, three said they had been flown in from Cuba this summer. At home, they worked in hospitality, teaching and construction. One said he had a professional military background. Two others had completed two years of standard compulsory military service.
While they knew they would be employed by Russia’s military, they were reassured that they would be working far from the front line as drivers or construction workers. “To dig fortifications or help rebuild cities,” one recruit’s exasperated wife told POLITICO.
Because they could face charges of joining a mercenary group in Cuba or of treason or espionage in Russia for talking to a reporter, POLITICO changed the names of the recruits quoted in this story.
Each of them said they were flown in from Varadero along with several dozen other men. They said their passports were not stamped on departure, and that upon entering Russia their migration cards were marked “tourism” as their purpose of stay.
On landing at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, the recruits were met by a woman who introduced herself as Diana, who said she was a Cuban with Russian ties. They were then loaded onto a bus and brought to what one recruit described as “an empty school building” near Ryazan, a city in western Russia 200 kilometers southeast of Moscow.
There, they underwent a cursory medical check and were subject to a mountain of red tape, including the signing of a contract with the Russian defense ministry. One recruit said a Spanish version of the text was made available to those who specifically requested it, but others said that a translator simply summarized its content verbally.
The recruits said that some of the new arrivals remained behind at a military unit in Ryazan. But most were transferred to the 106th Guards Airborne, a division based in the city of Tula near Moscow that has been deployed into some of the fiercest fighting in Ukraine.
Kyiv claims the 106th was largely “reduced to fertilizer” in the early days of the invasion when it tried to capture Kyiv. In recent months, it has been stationed around Soledar and Bakhmut, hotspots in eastern Ukraine.
“When they handed us the uniform and told us to go train I realized this was not about construction at all,” one recruit said. By then, however, he was locked in.
A legal adviser who is well-known within Russia’s Cuban community told POLITICO he has delivered the same tough message to scores of Cuban recruits who have appealed to him for help: “Once you’ve signed the contract, defecting is tantamount to treason.”
When POLITICO spoke to Pedro in Tula, he said he felt trapped by his decision.
“I came here to give my children a better life, not to kill,” he said, breaking down into tears. “I won’t fire a single bullet.”
He added he had considered trying to escape. “But where do I go?”
On landing at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, the recruits were met by a woman who introduced herself as Diana, who said she was a Cuban with Russian ties | Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images
Willing participants
POLITICO could not determine whether Shuvalova or Diana were working for Russian or Cuban authorities. Neither woman responded to requests for comment — though Shuvalova told journalists at the Russian-language Moscow Times that she worked pro-bono.
While the Cuban Embassy in Moscow did not respond to multiple requests for comment, the government itself has sent mixed messages. Shortly after Cuba’s announcement that it had broken up the human trafficking ring, Havana’s ambassador to Moscow told the state-run RIA agency that “we have nothing against Cubans who just want to sign a contract and legally take part in this operation.”
Russia’s defense ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
It’s not easy to tell just how many Cuban citizens have joined the Russian military.
In conversations with POLITICO, the recruits said roughly 140 Cubans were currently in Tula. And a caller to a Miami-based Spanish-language television channel in early September said that he had some 90 Cubans under his command in Ryazan.
A trove of 198 hacked documents, allegedly belonging to recent Cuban recruits and published online by the Ukrainian website Informnapalm, showed the ages of those who joined the Russian army ranged between 19 to 69 years old. More than 50 of the passports were issued in June and July this year.
Not all Cubans POLITICO spoke to said they had been tricked into joining the war. In photos shared online and in messenger apps, many pose proudly in military gear, some carrying weapons.
“No one put a gun to their heads,” Yoenni Vega Gonzalez, 36, a Cuban migrant in Russia, said of his acquaintances in Ukraine. “The contract makes it clear that you’re going to war, not to play ball or camping.”
He said he had been refused the opportunity to join because he does not speak Russian. “Otherwise, I would have gone [to the front] with pride and my head held high.”
During the reporting of this article, several Cubans still on the island reached out saying they wanted to enlist. All cited economic, and not political, reasons as their core motivation.
Accounts of daily life behind the fences of the training sites differed greatly.
Some recruits described their interaction with the Russians as friendly and the atmosphere as relaxed. In their free time they smoked cigarettes and sipped on Coca-Cola (officially not available in either Cuba or Russia). On the weekends they went sightseeing and reveled in the city’s bars.
But those who say they were tricked into service, seemingly a minority, complain about payment delays and said they are threatened with incarceration for resisting orders.
When asked about the moral implications of his decision, one recruit in Tula said it wasn’t his primary concern.
“This is the way we found to get out of Cuba,” he said. “No one here wants to kill anyone. But neither do we want to die ourselves.”
DALLAS — Car shoppers are heading for a new round of sticker shock if the strike by the United Auto Workers doesn’t end soon, particularly for popular vehicles that are already in short supply.
The number of vehicles on dealer lots will shrink the longer the walkout goes on. Dealers are likely to lose incentives that the manufacturers pay them to boost sales by cutting prices.
And consumers might make things worse with panic-buying.
Many analysts think it will take several weeks before dealer lots start to look a bit empty. Ford, General Motors and Stellantis built up inventories of vehicles ahead of Thursday night’s strike, and the UAW decided to limit the walkout to just three plants – at least for now.
“Guys at the dealerships are going to tell you, ‘The UAW this and that,’ but their lots are full of cars now,” says Ivan Drury, the director of insights at Edmunds, a provider of information about the auto industry. He estimates that at current inventory levels and the pace of vehicle sales, most car shoppers shouldn’t notice much change for a couple of months.
Vehicles from the Detroit Three sat in inventory an average 52 days before being sold in August, up from 31 days at the start of last year, according to Edmunds data.
The UAW began striking at factories that make only a few vehicles – Ford Broncos and Rangers, Jeep Wranglers, Chevrolet mid-size pickups and GMC vans. Dealers have good inventories of those.
The union said it had “reasonably productive conversations” with Ford on Saturday, while Stellantis gave details about its most recent offer to the union.
Mark Stewart, chief operating officer for North America at Stellantis, also said his company has contingency plans to limit the impact on consumers, though he declined to give details about them.
“We really want to encourage customers: Don’t be afraid,” Stewart said, while suggesting they see the deals available at dealerships.
If the strike isn’t ended soon, however, there could be shortages of some makes and models –big sellers or vehicles that are already in short supply, such as Chevrolet Silverado and Tahoe, GMC Sierra and Ford F-Series pickups. The car companies have plants in Mexico that could keep producing some models – as long as they have a supply of parts.
While the supply of cars from Detroit’s Big Three will largely depend on how long the strike lasts and how quickly it spreads to other plants – there were rumors Friday that additional factories could be added next week – there are other factors.
Garrett Nelson, an auto analyst for CFRA Research, expects manufacturers to eliminate incentives they pay to dealers to boost sales. Those incentives let dealers reduce their sticker prices, and they’re often targeted at slower-selling models.
The biggest wild card could be consumer psychology – panic-buying that would drive up prices.
“The impact on prices would be almost instantaneous,” Nelson says. “Dealers will say, ‘Look, we’re not sure how many additional vehicles we’re going to be getting.’ There could be somewhat of a panic effect that could stimulate consumers to make that purchase sooner rather than later.”
As cars from Ford, GM and Stellantis, the successor to Fiat Chrysler, become harder to find, there will be a ripple effect. Consumers who need a vehicle would likely turn to nonunion competitors like Toyota, Honda and Tesla, who would be able to charge them more.
“You’ll start to see that pricing gets affected everywhere — and not just on the new end of the business,” Drury says. “Used-car values, which have been seeing a bit of a decline from last year’s highs, could start going back up” as consumers look for an affordable alternative to new vehicles.
Consumers who lease their vehicle and are coming to the end of the term could be especially vulnerable. Drury says leasing companies want their cars back while the used-car market is hot, and might be unwilling to extend the lease.
Anyone shopping for a new, used or leased car right now will also be hit by higher interest rates. The average rate for a new-car loan this week stood at 7.46%, and for a used car, it was 8.06%, according to Bankrate.
High rates are contributing to a spike in rejections for consumers looking to buy a ride. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said this month that the rejection rate for auto loans is now 14.2%, the highest since the bank started tracking figures in 2013 and up from 9.1% six months ago. (Rejections are also up for mortgages, credit cards and other loans, as lenders recoil at the growing number of people falling behind on payments. Household debt is rising.)
Car prices were rising long before the auto workers even raised the possibility of a strike. A chip shortage, disruptions in the global supply chain and strong demand pushed prices higher.
The average price for a new vehicle jumped from $39,919 in 2020 to $48,798 so far this year, according to Kelley Blue Book. Cheap cars have all but disappeared, and consumers are forced into ever-longer loans to limit their monthly payments. Prices for used cars rose sharply in 2021 and 2022, but have slipped slightly this year.
Prices are almost certain to rise even if the strike is settled quickly, because the auto makers’ labor costs will increase.
“It’s almost a foregone conclusion that the UAW will succeed in getting substantial wage increases,” says Patrick Anderson, the founder of Anderson Economic Group, a research firm that conducts market analysis. “Part of that is simply due to inflation, part of that is due to the profits of the automakers, and part of that is due to the leverage that the UAW has right now with a short inventory and an economy that still has a lot of people that want to buy cars.”
The UAW is asking for a 36% increase in wages over four years, plus other demands that would increase expenses for the companies. On Saturday, Stellantis detailed its latest offer for cumulative raises of nearly 21% in hourly wages, roughly in line with proposals from Ford and GM.
Politicians also have been pushing automakers to consider workers who gave up pay and benefits to help their employers during the Great Recession.
“Now that our carmakers are enjoying robust profits, it’s time to do right by those same workers so the industry can emerge more united and competitive than ever,” former President Barack Obama said in a statement Saturday.
UAW President Shawn Fain is sensitive to the impression that the union’s gains will come out of consumers’ pocketbooks. He points out that prices were rising before the strike, and says labor accounts for a fraction of the Big Three’s total costs.
“They could double our wages and not raise car prices and still make billions of dollars in profit,” he said during an online presentation to union members this week.
It’s all enough to make many motorists consider avoiding the car lot and keeping their current car a while longer. Their bank accounts will be healthier without car payments.
“Holding on to your car is not a bad thing,” said Drury, the Edmunds analyst. “It’s a lot more durable than you think it is.”
Booming social media application TikTok needs to pay up in Europe for violating children’s privacy.
The popular Chinese-owned app failed to protect children’s personal information by making their accounts publicly accessible by default and insufficiently tackled risks that under-13 users could access its platform, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) said in a decision published Friday.
The regulator slapped TikTok with a €345 million fine for breaching the EU’s landmark privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The penalty comes amid high tensions between the European Union and China, following the EU’s announcement that it plans to probe Chinese state subsidies of electric cars. European Commission Vice President Věra Jourová is also set to visit China next Monday-Tuesday and meet Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing to discuss the two sides’ technology policies, amid growing concerns over Beijing’s data gathering and cyber espionage practices.
“Alone the fine of [€345 million] is a headline sanction to impose but reflects the extent to which the DPC identified child users were exposed to risk in particular arising from TikTok’s decision at the time to default child user accounts to public settings on registration,” said Helen Dixon, the Irish data protection commissioner, in a written statement.
The Irish privacy regulator said that, in the period from July to December 2020, TikTok had unlawfully made accounts of users aged 13 to 17 public by default, effectively making it possible for anyone to watch and comment on videos they posted. The company also did not appropriately assess the risks that users under the age of 13 could gain access to its platform. It also found that TikTok is still pushing teenagers joining the platform to make their accounts and videos public through manipulative pop-ups. The regulator ordered the firm to change these misleading designs, known as dark patterns, within the next three months.
Minors’ accounts could be paired up with unverified adult accounts during the second half of 2020. The authority said the video platform had also previously failed to explain to teenagersthe consequences of making their content and accounts public.
“We respectfully disagree with the decision, particularly the level of the fine imposed,” said Morgan Evans, a TikTok spokesperson. “The [Data Protection Commission]’s criticisms are focused on features and settings that were in place three years ago, and that we made changes to well before the investigation even began, such as setting all under-16 accounts to private by default.”
TikTok added it will comply with the order to change misleading designs by extending such default-privacy settings to accounts of new users aged 16 and 17 later in September. It will also roll out in the next three months changes to the pop-up young users get when they first post a video.
The decision marks the largest-ever privacy fine for TikTok, which is now actively used by 134 million Europeans monthly, and the fifth-largest fine imposed on any tech company under the GDPR.
The platform popular among teenagers has previously faced criticism for insufficiently mitigating harms it poses to its young users, including deadly viral challenges and its addictive algorithm. TikTok — like 18 other online platforms — also now has to limit risks like cyberbullying or face steep fines under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The costly fine adds to TikTok’s woes in Europe, after it saw a wave of new restrictions on its use earlier this year due to concerns about its connection to China.
The social media app, whose parent company ByteDance is based in Beijing, has struggled to quash concerns over its data security. The company said this month it had started moving its European data to a center within the bloc. Yet, it is still under investigation by the Irish Data Protection Commission over the potentially unlawful transfer of European users’ data to China.
The social media app, whose parent company ByteDance is based in Beijing, has struggled to quash concerns over its data security | Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images
The Irish data authority in 2021 started probing whether TikTok was respecting children’s privacy requirements. TikTok set up its legal EU headquarters in Dublin in late 2020, meaning the Irish privacy watchdog has been the company’s supervisor for the whole bloc under the GDPR.
Other national watchdogs weighed in on the investigation over the summer via the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), after two German privacy agencies and Italy’s regulator disagreed with Ireland’s initial findings. The group instructed Ireland to sanction TikTok for nudging its users toward public accounts in its misleading pop-ups.
The board of European regulators also had “serious doubts” that TikTok’s measures to keep under-13 users off its platform were effective in the second half of 2020. The EDPB said the mechanisms “could be easily circumvented” and that TikTok was not checking ages “in a sufficiently systematic manner” for existing users. The group said, however, that it couldn’t find an infringement because of a lack of informationavailable during their cooperation process.
The United Kingdom’s data regulator in April fined TikTok £12.7 million (€14.8 million) for letting children under 13 on its platform and using their data. The company also received a €750,000 fine in 2021 from the Dutch privacy authority for failing to protect Dutch children by not having a privacy policy in their native language.
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The road can be a crazy place. Whether you have drivers out there with deliveries to make or are driving your own car or truck daily, having a camera pick up all that happens while on the road could be beneficial.
Accidents happen, and people can be unpredictable, which is why this Rearview Mirror-Mounted Dash Cam — stacked with features and super easy to use — is such a great idea. It’s even available here for a better price than you’ll find on Amazon.
Clip it onto your car, van, or truck’s regular rearview mirror, and you have access to a 4K 170° adjustable front and 4K 160° rear camera. Monitor real-time traffic situations on the road on the expansive 10″ IPS touchscreen display. The cameras work harmoniously to provide comprehensive, simultaneous recording for complete on-road protection.
Thanks to its advanced sensor and dynamic resolution switching, you’ll be able to capture crystal-clear 4K footage day and night. And because of its responsive, user-friendly interface, this dash cam offers seamless operation.
The advanced voice control enables you to turn the screen on and off, lock the video, show both videos, take a photo, and start and stop the video, all without taking your hands off the wheel. And because the cameras are 4K, they deliver much clearer footage, capturing things like license plates from a distance.
Use the rear camera as the ultimate backup camera that gives you high-resolution video of the rear of the car streaming right to the rearview mirror. And when the vehicle is put into reverse, the screen image will display park assist lines for a safer and easier parking experience.
A loop recording feature gives a continuous recording, even if the memory card reaches full capacity. At the same time, the G-sensor will detect a sudden collision and lock the collision footage in place. And if you or your crew are working in an unknown neighborhood, the parking monitor functions as a surveillance camera system while the vehicle is off.
Don’t leave the safety of your business’s vehicles up to chance.
German automaker BMW is set to announce plans to build the next generation electric Mini in Britain after securing U.K. government support for a multimillion-pound investment in the company’s Oxford factory
ByThe Associated Press
September 11, 2023, 4:13 AM
LONDON — German automaker BMW is set to announce plans to build the next generation electric Mini in Britain after securing U.K. government support for a multimillion-pound investment in the company’s Oxford factory.
The government on Monday confirmed its backing for the project, which will protect 4,000 jobs. While the Department for Business and Trade didn’t specify the level of taxpayer support, British media put the figure at 75 million pounds ($94 million). BMW is expected to release a statement later in the day.
The move is the latest boost for the U.K. auto industry, with vehicle makers announcing plans to invest more than 6 billion pounds ($7.5 billion) in Britain over the past two years. While car production jumped 36% from a year earlier in July, output remains far below pre-pandemic levels.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the BMW investment “is another shining example of how the U.K. is the best place to build cars of the future.”
The Austrian government has presented a series of measures meant to counter the impact of inflation
BERLIN — The government of Austria presented a series of measures Wednesday to counter the impact of inflation, including a three-year cap on rent increases for many apartments and a freeze on fees to use highways.
The package foresees a 5% cap on annual rent increases in 2024-2026 even if inflation is higher than that. According to the government, the cap will prevent hikes of some 15% next year in some public housing.
Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler said the limit would benefit 1.2 million housing contracts in the country of some 9 million people, the Austria Press Agency reported. Kogler’s Green party said that number represents three-quarters of all rental contracts, according to the news agency.
Austria’s annual inflation rate stood at 7% in July.
The government’s package also caps the cost of the sticker that cars must have to use Austria’s highways at 96 euros ($104) per year, rather than increasing it with inflation. The price for a “climate ticket” that allows the use of public transportation across the country will top out at 1,095 euros ($1,192) per year.
The latest package from the coalition of Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s conservative Austrian People’s Party and Kogler’s Greens comes as Austrian politicians look ahead to a national election expected in late 2024. The far-right opposition Freedom Party has led recent polls.
BOGOTA, Colombia — Thousands of protesters on cars and motorbikes took to the streets of Colombia’s main cities on Monday to reject recent hikes in gasoline prices that have drastically increased the price of fuel in the South American country.
Protesters say that the monthly price hikes set by Colombia’s first leftist government are making it harder for small businesses to operate, and could push up the price of food.
But the government of President Gustavo Petro says the gasoline subsidies cost about $11 billion a year. It says it must eliminate the subsidies to pay debts to the national oil company Ecopetrol, which produces most of the country’s fuel, and to free up more funds for social programs.
The protest comes as discontent grows with Petro’s administration a year after he took office promising to reduce poverty and make peace with the nation’s remaining rebel groups.
Petro’s administration has struggled to stop violence in rural parts of the country, and to boost Colombia’s economy, which is expected to grow by just 1% in 2023, according to the International Monetary Fund.
“This government is making decisions that are anti-business,” said Alejandra Mendoza, the manager of a small company that transports frozen food and other goods for supermarkets in Colombia. She attended Monday’s protest wearing her company’s yellow jacket.
“Our costs have gone up by a third, and we have to adjust our budget each month because of the gasoline hikes” Mendoza said.
The price of gasoline in Colombia has risen from 9,000 pesos a gallon in August of last year (US $2.50) to more than 14,000 currently ($3.40) as Colombia’s government cuts back on subsidies each month.
Officials in Colombia’s Finance Ministry have said they want gasoline to reach a price of 16,000 pesos per gallon –about $4 — by the end of the year, which would mirror current gas prices in the U.S., where the federal minimum wage, however, is more than four times greater than Colombia’s minimum wage of $280 a month.
In July, the ministry said that subsidies for diesel, which is used by most cargo trucks in Colombia. will be removed after municipal elections in October, and that the price of diesel fuel will double by the end of next year.
Petro has argued that the nation’s gasoline subsidies mostly benefited wealthier Colombians who own vehicles. But he has shown signs that he is willing to negotiate gasoline prices with some groups.
Over the weekend, Petro’s administration cut a deal with the nation’s taxi driver unions, under which gasoline prices will be frozen for the country’s estimated 200,000 yellow taxis.
However members of Colombia’s opposition say that the government needs to go further because gas hikes are also hurting delivery workers, drivers and small business owners who are struggling to recover from the pandemic.
Jennifer Pedraza, a congresswoman who helped to organize Monday’s protest, pointed out that the government could moderate the hikes in fuel prices, by charging less sales taxes on gasoline and diesel.
“The people are asking the administration to negotiate a different gasoline policy” she said, adding that its time for Colombia’s national oil company to “take an interest, in making gasoline affordable for all.”
Last Thursday, California regulators granted approval for robotaxi companies to have their vehicles operate around the clock in San Francisco. A day later, chaos ensued.
Videos shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, displayed approximately 10 stationary Cruise vehicles (a self-driving car company) in San Francisco’s North Beach district on Friday, where the Outside Lands music festival was occurring nearby. Residents called out Cruise self-driving cars on social media for triggering a major traffic jam, CNN reported.
One user who documented the incident described it as a “complete meltdown.”
@Cruise self-driving operations had a complete meltdown earlier in North Beach. We overheard on the scanner that all Cruise vehicle agents were tied up at the time (not literally) and so North Beach was going to get a delayed response. But wow, WTF!pic.twitter.com/D89xrSxAdu
The traffic jam occurred just a day after the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), responsible for overseeing self-driving cars in the state, voted 3-to-1 in favor of Waymo and Cruise expanding their services and granting approval for robotaxi companies to have their autonomous vehicles operate 24/7 throughout the city.
Witnesses told CNN affiliate KPIX-TV that the driverless cars obstructed intersections for around 15 minutes on Friday evening, triggering concerns that emergency vehicles might be hindered from reaching the area.
Self-driving cars were granted approval to operate throughout San Francisco 24/7 on Thursday August 10. Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Cruise responded to the social media outrage on X stating, “We are actively investigating and working on solutions to prevent this from happening again. We apologize to those who were impacted.”
Still, the response on social media has been less than forgiving.
So apparently @cruise vehicles don’t know that they need to come to a complete stop when a pedestrian is in a marked crosswalk.
Just had one pass my dog and me within 2ft. This is not the safe, law-following behavior I was promised.
Some individuals, on the other hand, have welcomed human-less cars. When Cruise co-founder and CEO, Kyle Vogt posted on X following the CPUC approval for Cruise to operate 24/7 in San Francisco, some users responded by saying, “Finally” and “Love seeing your cars around. Looking forward to riding.”
Love seeing your cars around. Looking forward to riding.
— Pedro | Break into Tech Sales ? (@PedroCastenada) August 11, 2023
Meanwhile, local officials still have reservations.
The President of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, Aaron Peskin, expressed concerns to KPIX-TV, suggesting that Cruise should halt its operations temporarily to refine its technology.
“They’re deploying hundreds of cars on our streets. They should take a timeout and a pause, until they perfect this technology,” Peskin told the outlet.
Text messages between Peskin and a Cruise government affairs manager, reviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle, reveal that the two discussed how cell connectivity issues hindered the company’s ability to reroute connected cars, resulting in about 10 vehicles being stalled at an intersection. Peskin told the outlet that Cruise is now considering establishing a dedicated cellular network for San Francisco operations.
Despite the state’s approval of autonomous vehicles, local authorities have expressed their reservations. Transportation and fire officials have voiced concerns to state regulators that the robotaxis have led to disruptive incidents such as unanticipated halts and erratic driving, The Chronicle reported, and that these occurrences are likely to become even more frequent as companies expand their services.
According to the San Francisco Fire Department, there have been 55 incidents in 2023, up until last week, where driverless vehicles interfered with their emergency operations, per CNN.
