This 1934 Mercedes-Benz 500K will by offered by Bonhams | Cars without reserve on January 30. Get all the latest auto industry news in the Executive Briefing.
Today’s headlines:
+ The U.S. new-vehicle market is expected to remain steady in 2026 with sales reaching about 16 million units, according to the latest market projection from Edmunds. More at CBT News.
+ Mercedes-Benz has reached a $149.6 million settlement with 48 U.S. states to resolve a long-running investigation into allegations of cheating on diesel emissions standards. More at World Auto Forum.
+ Legislators in Arizona have proposed the Reasonable and Prudent Interstate Driving (RAPID) Act, a pilot program to remove speed limits on the state’s most rural highways. More at Car and Driver.
+ NASCAR Cup stars Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell, both previous winners of the Chili Bowl Nationals, have filed entries in this year’s premiere dirt midget racing event. More at Jayski.
+ Ford is on track to double the previous record for product safety recalls for an automobile manufacturer in a single year with 152 recalls in 2025 on a range of vehicles. More at Autoblog.
+ ZF of Germany has agreed to sell its advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) business to Connecticut-based Harman International in a deal valued at $1.76 billion. More at Automotive World.
+ Waymo is updating the software in its fleet of self-driving taxis after a power outage in San Francisco caused the vehicles to stop in intersections or freeze up completely. More at TechCrunch.
+ EV maker Rivian Automotive is forming technical partnerships with five educational institutions in Georgia, including Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia, to train engineers. More at The Detroit News.
+ Bonhams | Cars will present at auction “Les Belles Endormies” a collection of 11 exceptional classic cars all offered without reserve, at its Polo de Paris Sale on January 30. More at Old Cars.
+ Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti will come out of retirement next month to drive a Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO in the Michelin 24H Dubai on January 17-18. More at Racer.
Photo courtesy of Bonhams | Cars.
Review the previous MCG Executive Briefing from December 22 here.
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Established by executive order and managed by DriveOhio, the Ohio government’s very own experimental autonomous big rig test program conducted on public roads unconstitutionally exploits nonconsensual road users as uncompensated lab rats IMHO.
Evidently the green new deal interns, rent seekers & private equity lobbyists now in charge of the ODOT in Ohio are also prioritizing the latest new fad of crash tax wealth extraction over genuine public safety by booby-trapping intersections, traffic signals, school zones, crosswalks, railroad crossings and construction detours using virtual reality AI algorithms (Streetlight Data??) while screaching “immunity, immunity, immunity”…
It’s a fact that ODOT in Ohio shamelessly swears a virtual reality synthetic 2 hour traffic count created out of thin air is a traffic signal warrant analysis justifying removing any traffic signal now, especially if it leads to a 5,000+% increase in crashes and 3 years worth of injuries in the first 90 days. This actually happened on a busy downtown federal highway intersection in Ohio recently. The accident response fees (crash tax), ambulance runs, hospital admissions and traffic tickets generated by removing the traffic signals there also means increased insurance premiums for all drivers in the zip code, even perfect drivers…
??????