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DETROIT -- U.S. electric commercial vehicle maker Electric Last Mile Solutions said on Monday it has signed a letter of intent for Cox Automotive to supply service and repairs for the delivery van it will launch later this year.

Under the deal, Cox's Pivet unit will provide warranty repairs, vehicle maintenance, roadside assistance, collision repairs and EV battery servicing to ELMS' customers, the companies said. Cox boasts a network of more than 6,000 service centers, 3,000 partners and over 800 mobile technicians. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"The opportunity to collaborate with industry leader Cox Automotive helps put us on track to offer customers one of the most comprehensive service solutions that addresses their fleet needs in the most time and cost-efficient manner," ELMS CEO James Taylor said in a statement.

Cox, a subsidiary of privately owned Cox Enterprises, owns the Autotrader online automobile market, Kelley Blue Book car valuation …

BEIJING -- Electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc., facing scrutiny in China over safety and customer service complaints, is boosting its engagement with mainland regulators and beefing up its government relations team, industry sources said.

Tesla's change of strategy leading to more behind-the-scenes interaction with policymakers in Beijing compared to relatively little previously shows the seriousness with which the U.S. automaker views the setbacks in its second-biggest market.

It also comes at a time when China is trying to regulate large and powerful private companies, especially in the technology sector, on concerns about their market dominance.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday, a public holiday in China.

As they do elsewhere, regulators in China, the world's biggest auto market, discuss industry policies and standards with global and local companies, industry associations and think tanks.

Manufacturers …

"The voice recognition system is quite poor, so I gave up on it pretty much at the very beginning."

I've been analyzing vehicle owners' opinions of quality and dependability for more than two decades, so this is one of thousands of consumers I've encountered expressing their frustration with their infotainment system. In fact, among the hundreds of thousands of survey responses we've analyzed in recent years, many comments end with the owner giving up and abandoning built-in voice recognition technology. I've done it myself.

Before delving more into this topic, let's talk about some good news.

Automakers have made significant strides throughout the years to build better vehicles and there is no question that vehicles are, on average, more dependable than ever before. The J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study measures the level of problems experienced by owners of 3-year-old 2018 model-year vehicles. This year, the overall …

Whoops.

Lordstown Motors says its failure to make a $570,000 tax payment on the assembly plant it bought from General Motors in northeastern Ohio was "an unfortunate administrative error."

Missing the March 5 payment means the startup now owes a penalty of $57,178 as well, according to the Tribune Chronicle in Warren. Another payment is due Aug. 6, and if Lordstown Motors doesn't pay about $1.2 million by then, the county would consider the company delinquent.

"We are in the process of paying all property taxes, fees and any assessed penalties that are due," company spokesman Ryan Hallett told TV station WFMJ in Youngstown.

Lordstown Motors bought the GM plant for $20 million in November 2019. The company aims to begin production of the Endurance, an electric pickup, this fall, followed by an electric delivery van in 2022.

The company's path toward production has been bumpy, with its stock rising to $31 a shar…

Tesla Inc.'s new European factory is not expected to start production until the end of January 2022.

CEO Elon Musk has given the team in charge of the plant six more months to complete the project, company sources told Automobilwoche, the German affiliate of Automotive News.

Tesla had said on April 26 that production is on track to start in late 2021, instead of its earlier target of July. But there will be a further delay due to problems in getting the plant ready for battery pack production and gaining regulatory approval, company sources said.

Battery production will not start by the end of the year, the sources said. But construction of the main factory structure, along with the press shop and paint shop, is well advanced, they said.

Tesla has made changes to a planning application that must be approved before it can start production. The revised application means there will be another round of public consultation, pushing back regulatory appr…

The CEO of sensor startup Light discusses the company’s 3D camera technology, how it can perceive objects at ranges three times farther than current industry standards and its potential for improving automated-driving systems.

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LOS ANGELES — The redesigned Honda Civic is getting a more grown-up design and feature set for its 11th generation as it battles to stay relevant amid America's crossover surge.

Long popular among younger drivers as easy on the wallet and entertaining on the roadway, the Civic is not taking a radical departure in the new iteration. But it does take a step toward Honda's more stylish Accord midsize sedan.

For the 2022 model, the Civic offers an all-digital instrument panel, a sport driving mode, a premium Bose stereo system and a tasteful metal honeycomb accent across the dash as part of a simplified interior design.

"Inspired by classic elements of past Civics, you can really see how the Civic's new thin and light body has taken shape," said Gary Robinson, assistant vice president of Honda Automobile Product Planning. "We've stretched the wheelbase and adopted a cleaner, more sophisticated look."

The new-gen Civic was …

CEO Elon Musk often uses Tesla Inc.'s earnings calls to make wild, headline-grabbing predictions, many of which never come to pass.

Here's a closer look at four notable assertions from the company's first-quarter report last week, as Tesla posted record net income of $438 million yet continued to lose money on its core business of selling vehicles.

Musk previously said he expects the Model Y crossover to outsell all other Tesla vehicles combined. Now he's aiming higher.

"We think Model Y will be the bestselling car or vehicle of any kind in the world and probably next year," he said on the call. "So I'm not 100 percent certain next year, but I think it's quite likely. I'd say more likely than not that in 2022, Model Y is the bestselling car or truck of any kind in the world."

He later amended the claim on Twitter, saying it would be the bestselling vehicle by revenue in 2022 and No. 1 by volume in 2023.

Either way, it's a tall task.

FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen expects semiconductor supplies to the car sector to remain tight in coming months, the head of the autormaker's namesake brand was quoted as saying on Saturday.

"I think the situation will remain tense," Ralf Brandstaetter, CEO of the Volkswagen brand and member of the carmaker's management board, told German news agency dpa.

He said a fire at a factory operated by automotive chip maker Renesas Electronics Corp., as well as snowstorms in Texas that have hurt factory production, had effectively idled output.

"The impact will certainly be felt in the coming months," Brandstaetter said, adding Volkswagen's procurement task force was busy around the clock dealing with the issue which remained at the top of the agenda of Volkswagen's management board.

Volkswagen AG has been unable to build 100,000 cars due to the shortage, CEO Herbert Diess said in March, adding the group would not be able to make up for the shortfall in 2021. Read more about VW brand boss expects chip supply to remain tight in coming months