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The "lumpy" road to affordable EVs just got a little longer

Oct 25, 2023
Even though prices have come down and the federal government is helping with rebates, the average price is still above $50,000.
It’s hard to build up new supply chains of EV parts like batteries and electric-motor systems.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

UAW strike strategy sets companies against each other

Sep 25, 2023
The union is making a bet that inconvenienced drivers will side with them – which would put pressure on the Big Three car companies to make a deal.
On Friday, the UAW expanded its strike to several Stellantis and GM auto parts facilities, including this one in Naperville, Ill.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

How 3D printing could revolutionize auto manufacturing

Mar 27, 2023
Kevin Czinger, of Czinger Vehicles and Divergent Technologies, envisions flexible, local factories that are fixtures in their communities.
Kevin Czinger, the founder and CEO of Divergent Technologies, poses with the Czinger 21C at Czinger’s production facility in Torrance, California.
Maria Hollenhorst/Marketplace

Southern car plants are humming, but worker vaccinations have stalled

Jun 21, 2021
Auto makers are trying to figure out the best way to encourage more workers to get vaccinated.
General Motors’ Spring Hill, Tennessee site, along with most car plants, is continuing to require masks for employees building cars as many plants struggle to reach a level of herd immunity.
Courtesy of GM

What's been driving strong auto sales?

Nov 3, 2020
Automakers are still trying to meet demand after production dropped in the early days of the pandemic.
People look to buy a car at a dealership in New Jersey.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Ford records $2 billion first-quarter loss from shutdown

Apr 29, 2020
The auto manufacturer says its global operations hit the "off" switch, and anticipates higher losses in the second quarter.
A Ford worker at an F-150 truck plant in Michigan.
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

GM Canada's company town has learned from past layoffs

Dec 6, 2018
As the automaker's Oshawa, Ontario, plant has shed jobs, the local economy has been forced to diversify.
Image of the General Motors plant and headquarters in the 1940s.
Courtesy of the Archival Collection at the Oshawa Museum

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Why the auto industry (mostly) opposes proposed tariffs

Jul 19, 2018
Even so-called "domestic" carmakers are global companies with international supply chains.
Volkswagen Golfs hang on the assembly line at the company's factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, in March.
Alexander Koerner/Getty Images

"We make German cars, in America"

Aug 16, 2017
Spartanburg County made a big bet on globalization when they landed a BMW manufacturing facility 25 years ago. Here's what that looks like today.
Inside Assembly North at BMW's Spartanburg manufacturing facility, the biggest BMW factory in the world.
Bridget Bodnar/Marketplace

The place where globalization kept its promise

Aug 15, 2017
It's clear today that not all boats rose in the tide of globalization...but in some places, it sure does feel like it.
A collection of newspapers from BMW's early days in Spartanburg county.
Bridget Bodnar/Marketplace