Perspectives on Technology

Buying a car has evolved from the days of brick and mortar dealerships to e-commerce, where consumers can select their preferred dealer, reserve, order, finance, and purchase a new or used vehicle in a seamless transaction. Is the metaverse the next evolution for buying a car?

With the COVID-19 pandemic, dealers are handling complicated health and business issues. We talked with Aaron Jacoby about the impact of FMLA amendments and how they are designed to provide relief for employees and employers. 

Consumers are stuck at home. How does business continue? We talked with Aaron Jacoby and Russ McRory about the impact of state and local “Stay at Home” orders in California and New York and how dealers and manufacturers can navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

Automotive leader Aaron Jacoby spoke with Law360 about how the construction industry is already considering how automated vehicles could be used on job sites and change infrastructure and development projects.

You’ll need a plug for that. As Uber tries to build its reputation as a good citizen, it’s unveiling a new plan.

It’s time to pass the ball. Local transportation agency chiefs and researchers told a U.S. Senate panel Wednesday that the federal government’s lead on coordinating investment and fine-tuning regulations will be crucial to getting the nation’s highway infrastructure ready for connected and autonomou

California federal judge granted O’Reilly Auto Enterprises bid for partial summary judgment on an employee’s Private Attorneys General Act claim, finding her proposed wage-and-hour class action suit did not offer any evidence that O’Reilly violated state labor codes with respect to other workers.

If you are tired of simply racing cars in arcades, then this could be the job for you. Consumer surveys point to lingering public concerns about the safety of self-driving cars even as the technology launches this year with Waymo’s robot-taxi service in Phoenix.

Those taxi and Uber drivers will have some Olympic competition of their own! A self-driving car service could be on Tokyo’s public roads in time for the 2020 Olympics as Japan looks to drive investment in new technology to drive economic growth, according to a government strategic review announced.

Will we be hailing driverless cars sooner rather than later? California regulators have allowed self-driving cars to pick up ride-share passengers for the first time in the Golden State.

Well, it looks like Waymo and FCA US are getting along. Google affiliate Waymo will purchase up to 62,000 additional Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans from FCA US starting later this year to begin a national expansion of the company’s public driverless ride-hailing fleet, the two companies said.

Kon’nichiwa Motor City. Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp will invest $2.25 billion in General Motors Co’s autonomous vehicle unit Cruise, the companies said, a deal that validates the venerable Detroit automaker’s leadership in self-driving cars and sent GM shares up nearly 13 percent.

Say it isn’t so! Tea leaves are notoriously imprecise when it comes to divining the future, but as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne has left us no other signs about what the next five years hold for the automaker he is about to leave, tea leaves will have to do.

Location, location, location. Mapping startup Mapbox Inc said it is teaming up with Microsoft Corp, Intel Corp and Softbank Group Corp’s ARM Holdings chip unit to deepen its push into providing maps for self-driving cars. Mapbox does not make a mapping app itself.

If you can’t beat them, join them!

It’s not just planes and subs that will be unmanned. Detroit carmakers say autonomous vehicles will change transportation forever.

It’s not just planes and subs that will be unmanned. Detroit carmakers say autonomous vehicles will change transportation forever.

The checkered flag hasn’t come out yet, but in the race to start the world’s first driving business without human drivers, everyone is chasing Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo.

The dealers (and lenders) got a big win when the US House voted to strike down an Obama-era auto-lending safeguard a novel maneuver that consumer watchdogs warn could expose decades of federal regulation to the same fate.

Jump on the bandwagon and go for a ride …. Car makers BMW, General Motors, Ford and Renault are the big names behind a new group announced to explore the potential of the blockchain in the automotive and mobility space.

Big brother is starting to watch and pay attention. Advocates for automation have maintained that the recent tragedies involving autonomous cars shouldn’t detract from the likelihood that driverless technology is eliminating human error and making driving safer.

Who said that science was boring? Students at the University of Michigan-Dearborn are building a self-driving vehicle system from scratch. It’s the only way to learn, their professors say.

A few pennies saved could be a net profit earned. Dealerships are making savvy moves to combat the pressures of narrowing margins, rising insurance costs, higher wages, and an expected downturn for the personal vehicle.

Conditions are icy, and we’re not talking about the road. Recent autonomous technology incidents involving Uber and Tesla have hit the breaks on the AV START Act’s progress in Congress.

Feeling chatty? Your car might soon be conversing too.