Driving while using medical marijuana not necessarily illegal in Michigan

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal It's going to be a while before we've figured out our brave new marijuana-approved world. The next lesson comes courtesy of the Michigan Supreme Court, which has reportedly ruled that it isn't necessarily against the law for a medical marijuana user to drive with [more]

Holden vows to stay the course in Australia despite Ford exit

Filed under: Government/Legal, Plants/Manufacturing, GM, Earnings/Financials, Holden, Australia With arch rival Ford of Australia having announced earlier this week that it will cease all in-continent manufacturing in 2016, you might think that General Motors' Holden division might be feeling a bit [more]

Nissan's NY taxi deal faces court obstacles

Filed under: Minivan/Van, Government/Legal, Work, Nissan, Specialty Nissan scored a big win for itself when the NV200 was named New York City's Taxi of Tomorrow, but the compact van has been under attack ever since. The latest setback for Nissan comes from the New York Supreme Court, which has repo [more]

Denso executives plead guilty to US price-fixing case

Filed under: Government/Legal The three-year investigation by the US Department of Justice into price-fixing allegations by auto parts suppliers continues, with two more fish from the swamp of corruption the latest to be sentenced. Reuters reports that Denso executives Yuji Suzuki and Hiroshi Watan [more]

Former Saab chairman Muller faces summons in tax inquiry

Filed under: Europe, Government/Legal, Saab, Earnings/Financials Former Saab Chairman Victor Muller may be called in for questioning as part of an official inquiry into suspected tax evasion by three of the automaker's former executives. A prosecutor has officially named former CEO Jan-Ake Jonsson [more]

Move over Audi, now Chrysler has a beef with Tesla's claims

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Chrysler, Earnings/Financials, Tesla In the same week that Audi said "not so fast" to some claims from Tesla, Chrysler has responded to a new press release from the California-based EV-maker by saying "not exactly, Tesla." The statement, released through the com [more]

Automakers lining up to support US-EU trade pact

Filed under: Europe, Government/Legal, Plants/Manufacturing The Detroit News reports automakers are coming out in support of proposed free trade legislation between the US and the European Union. The Association of Global Automakers, representing major Asian manufacturers, says the Transatlantic Tr [more]

NY State puts kibosh on RelayRides car-sharing service

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal Three-year-old peer-to-peer car rental service Relay Rides has run into a rough ride in New York, accused by the state's Financial Services Department of "repeated false advertising and violations of insurance law." The two sides present different takes on what' [more]

3 former Saab execs charged with tax evasion

Filed under: Europe, Government/Legal, Saab The Associated Press reports three former Saab executives have been arrested on charges of accounting fraud. Swedish prosecutor Olof Sahlgren has refused to identify the individuals, but says they're suspected of attempting to evade taxes by falsifying Sa [more]

CO2 credits: The ultimate rebate?

Filed under: Government/Legal, Earnings/Financials, Tesla, ElectricTime For Buyers To Have Some Skin In The EV Game Politicians know that $8- or $9-a-gallon gas like in Europe would end their careers. The back-and-forth between those writing the fuel economy rules and auto manufacturers is des [more]

Of course, Dubai Police add Bugatti Veyron to fleet

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Etc., Government/Legal, Bugatti, Police/Emergency, Middle East Well, now it's official: Nobody in Dubai is going to be able to outrun the police. You see, in addition to the Aston Martin One-77, Ferrari FF and Lamborghini Aventador that were already part of its stab [more]

Lexus LFA owner gets town to remove speed bump

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Europe, Government/Legal, Lexus What do you do if you have enough money to buy a Lexus LFA but can't get the car safely to your house? Get local government involved, of course. Rune Berge Vik, of Stavanger, Norway, did just that after he bought a Lexus LFA (the only [more]

F1 boss Ecclestone staring down bribery charges

Filed under: Motorsports, Government/Legal Controversial Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone is facing bribery charges from German prosecutors. The long-rumored indictments stem from the 2006 sale of the racing series from Germany's Bayern LB bank to CVC Capital partners. The charge could result in [more]

Ford sued over alleged 3.5-liter EcoBoost defects

Filed under: Government/Legal, Ford Three Ford owners from Ohio have filed a lawsuit against the automaker over defects that they allege exist within the company's twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 EcoBoost engine. Automotive News reports that the lawsuit claims the engine "contained serious latent de [more]

Toyota sudden acceleration class action may cover 22 million owners

Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety, Toyota, Earnings/Financials A total of 22.6 million current and former Toyota owners have been sent notices that they may be eligible to receive compensation from the automaker for damages related to the unintended acceleration fiasco that has dominated headli [more]

NTSB proposes lowering blood alcohol limit on drunk driving laws

Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety In an effort to reduce the number of alcohol-impaired driving crashes, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a set of recommendations, 19 in total, calling for more stringent laws and enforcement. "Most Americans think that we've solved t [more]

Florida DOT quietly changed yellow-light standards, municipalities issuing more tickets

Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety, Videos Red light cameras don't appear to be going away, so it should come as no surprise that neither are the controversies around them. We're told again and again that they're about safety, not revenue collection, yet year after year, the studies and headlin [more]

Porsche again staring down another $1.8B in hedge fund lawsuits

Filed under: Europe, Government/Legal, Porsche The sequence of events from 2007 that began with Porsche's secret attempt to take over Volkswagen, and instead lead to Porsche being taken over by VW, continues to instigate lawsuits against the Stuttgart sports car manufacturer. A group of hedge funds [more]

New Hampshire town suing "Robin Hood" group for filling strangers' parking meters [w/poll]

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal A lawsuit in New Hampshire, a state where they take their slogan - Live Free or Die - seriously, is setting the city of Keene against a group of citizens fighting "the violent monopoly" by putting money in the about-to-expire parking meters of strangers. The acti [more]

Cars made in Brazil blamed for country's high death rate

Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety, South America The Detroit Free Press reports the new generation of Brazil-built cars are to blame for the country's high death rate. Thanks to a booming middle class, Brazil is the fourth-largest vehicle market in the world, but four of the country's best-sell [more]