The BIg 2

Fiat has taken full ownership of Chrysler, and the combined entity will be called Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), and will be headquartered (for tax purposes) in the UK, not Italy.  With that, the "Big 3" are now the "Big 2", as GM and Ford are the only remaining American owned major auto makers.  (Sorry Tesla, you don't count yet, come back when you make over 100,000 cars/year)

I see some bruised feelings all around.  Auburn Hills is once again second fiddle.  Italy loses Fiat's corporate registration. And the "A" in FCA lost its cross bar for some reason.

Tesla's First Fire Related Recall

They don't want to call it a recall, but, NHTSA does.  And that's the law.

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchResults?refurl=email&searchType=ID&targetCategory=R&searchCriteria.nhtsa_ids=14V006

Of course, this is for faulty charger pigtails, and not battery road damage induced fires. 

"Military Grade" Aluminum F150?

I'm trying to absorb Ford's marketing for the just revealed 2015 F150.  The most significant new feature, of course, is the aluminum body (fenders, hood, cab, doors, and cargo box).  Ford keeps calling the aluminum ally "military grade", but I'm not sure what that means.  It may just mean that the alloy they chose for the truck (something in the 6000 series) has an official U.S. military specification.  

Ford's job, of course, is to convince the guys in Texas that the new truck will be as tough and durable as the steel truck.  I think the up-coming webisodes about durability testing will go a long way towards that.

(Image courtesy of Ford.com)