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Trump to meet with CEOs from Ford, GM, and FCA

In the wake of his inauguration, President Donald Trump is set to meet with the CEOs of Ford, General Motors, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Tuesday morning to discuss jobs, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and potential tax cuts. Trump has been highly critical of American automakers for shipping jobs to Mexico and has threatened to impose heavy import fees on foreign-made vehicles. Trump has threatened to dissolve NAFTA in order to encourage automakers to manufacture cars in the US. Automotive News and Crain's Detroit Business are reporting that the group is set to discuss how to bring more auto industry jobs back to the US. Under NAFTA, many automakers, both foreign and domestic, have moved vehicle production out of the States to Mexico in order to cut costs. White House spokesperson Sean Spicer said Trump is looking forward to the meeting and discussing how to bring jobs back to America. Dismantling NAFTA would be a major blow to automakers. Trump blasted Ford during his campaign for manufacturing in Mexico, but FCA and GM also have factories south of the border. Earlier this month, Ford nixed plans for a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico, instead investing $700 million into an existing facility. At this year's Detroit Auto Show, the unspoken theme was America and American manufacturing. Expect the automakers to fight to keep NAFTA alive. Related Video: News Source: Automotive News - sub. req., Twitter Government/Legal Plants/Manufacturing Fiat Ford GM FCA Mexico NAFTA

Shelby boosts production of 575-hp Raptor on early demand

Shelby American unveiled its all-new Shelby Raptor at the New York Auto Show last month, saying that it would build just 100 examples of its off-road bad boy, a pickup priced at $17,995 over the cost of the donor Ford F-150 SVT Raptor. But the Las Vegas outfit apparently underestimated just how popular the supercharged 575-horsepower 4x4 would actually be.
Strong early demand reportedly has Shelby singing a whole new tune, as the company is now saying it will build upwards of 500 units annually. While the increased production will likely make for at least 400 more happy owners, those who were on the original short list - possibly speculating on future values - might not be grinning as much. Needless to say, the company has assured everyone that each and every one of the modified Raptors will still be listed in the official Shelby registry.
Keep in mind that Ford isn't sitting idle on its trophy-truck-for-the-street, either. The company will reveal its own 2014 F-150 SVT Raptor Special Edition this month.

FCA UConnect fiasco could set over-the-air updates back years

Since cars have become more software dependent, most major automakers have been inching toward enabling over-the-air updates to keep vehicle electronics, ranging from infotainment systems to safety features, current. But there are only two car companies — Fiat Chrysler and Ford —± currently doing OTA updates, and on a limited basis. GM CEO Mary Barra announced last summer that the automaker will launch a new EV architecture and infotainment system capable of over-the-air updates "before 2020." The one exception, per usual, is Tesla. Since the release of the Model S almost six years ago, the maverick EV automaker has made routine OTA software updates a core part of its vehicle platforms and value proposition, and has sent out updates for everything from adjusting ride height to enabling Autopilot, largely without incident. When I've asked automakers why they can't do the same thing, I've heard reasons ranging from running afoul of their dealers (and archiac regulation) to security concerns. Automakers like Ford and General Motors say they want to act like tech companies, which routinely send out OTA updates for a wide range of devices, but overall the car industry still moves at a very cautious snail's pace. And when automakers do try to move faster and take more risks — unlike with a smartphone update, which people bitch about but live with — the consequences can be significant when things go wrong. That's the case with Fiat Chrysler America and its recent public-relations nightmare when an OTA update went awry. The update went out at the end of last week for the Uconnect system in late-model vehicles, and it made head units go into a near continuous reboot, which caused owners to not only lose access to entertainment features, but also critical functions like emergency assistance. Almost immediately, owners took to Twitter to express outrage, and FCA was caught flatfooted. A tweet went out on Monday on the UconnectCares Twitter account that read, "Certain 2017 & 2018 Uconnect systems may experience a reboot every 45-60 seconds. Our Engineering teams are investigating the cause and working towards a resolution.