The Prius Plug-In by Toyota, the Japanese automaker is already commercially available. The company launched another model in the series named as the Prius Prime. The new model is quite much different from the previous one.

The new car receives many noticeable changes on exterior. For instance, changes in anterior and the grille of the vehicle. The front end of the Prius Plug-In looks outdated and plain, while the new model is more defined grille design that's connected to the slim headlights. There is a major facelift on its overall shape.

The new design has a lower arching back making the side windows appear longer. On the other hand, Plug-In has traditional aerodynamic styling of the original Prius cars. The Prius Prime has sporty design and its back is almost unique.

The FIA Formula E Series and Kinetik announced collaboration on Friday that is all geared up to see the first autonomous motor racing series, starting in 2016. The new series have been named ROBORACE, which is going to follow the all-electric FIA Formula E series in the 2016-2017 season.

While talking about the motive behind the move, Denis Sverdlov, Founder of Kinetik and ROBORACE, said that they passionately believe that all vehicles in the world will be assisted by AI and powered by electricity in the coming time, which would improve environment and road safety.

As their contract was about to terminate, the United Automobile Workers union (UAW) and General Motors (GM) on Sunday night announced a tentative agreement on a latest national agreement that covered around 52,000 employees.

Dennis Williams, the union president, mentioned in a statement, “We believe that this agreement will present stable long-term significant wage gains and job security commitments to UA members now and in the future”.

The details weren’t disclosed yet, and the union said that the tentative agreement continued to have the wage progression formulation forged in the last week agreement with Fiat Chrysler.

General Motors (GM), American Multinational Corporation headquartered in Detroit, is involving LG, which is famous for its TVs, appliances and smart phones, in the development of its forthcoming Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle. This deal makes LG a part of electronics manufacturers and a partner of GM in developing one of the upcoming cars.

LG, multinational electronics company headquartered in Seoul, is a huge company with multiple businesses and it is not shocking to see that the company would want to enter into this risky voyage. Besides electronics and devices that are consumer-ready, LG also deals in batteries and display. The latter is the reason for the partnership with GM.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV has started the process of sale of a near 10% stake in luxury sports car brand Ferrari to Wall Street investors. On Monday, Fiat Chrysler gave a statement, saying that the initial public offering is going to price Ferrari at $48 and $52 per share, valuing one of Formula 1's most famous marques at $9.8 billion.

According to Fiat, the stake sale belongs to a ‘series of transactions to separate Ferrari from FCA’. It added that the motive of the sale is to distinguish the luxury brand from its mass-market parent, while unlocking value in sports car maker for raising money to support the growth plans of Fiat Chrysler.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) recently revealed that it has added Tesla Motors Inc’s Model S P85D and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG i3 to its police car fleet. Both the vehicles will very soon be tested, LAPD said.

It has been said that the two luxurious cars have been loaned to the police department, and were unveiled as part of the city’s new plan. Los Angeles hopes that it will have nearly 300 new electric and hybrid vehicles in the fleet soon.

Mayor Eric Garcetti, while speaking about the plan, said that the Los Angeles police, fire, and four other departments will lease 160 electric vehicles.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and General Services Department will also lease 128 hybrid vehicles. The new additions will replace the old vehicles, he said.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) has planned to accelerate its bargaining efforts with Fiat Chrysler Automobile NV to form a template for new labor contract. The UAW disclosed its decision on Sunday.

The decision of choosing Fiat Chrysler’s FCA US unit as the target company for shaping the new contract was disclosed by the union on Sunday. The decision has kick-started the intense negotiation period which is expected to focus on a two-tier wage system that has financially benefitted auto makers but ranked workers.

The current contract of UAW with Fiat Chrysler, General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. expires on Monday. The labor talks between the union and Detroit's auto makers routinely extend beyond that deadline.

It seems that Google will speed up its autonomous car project as it made an announcement on Sunday that auto-world veteran John Krafcik will be first CEO of their project. Prior to the new post, Krafcik has been serving as a president of consumer-focused pricing site TrueCar. Earlier, he was CEO of Hyundai's US operations.

Later this month, he will start working at the company. According to him, "This technology can save thousands of lives, give millions of people greater mobility, and free us from a lot of the things we find frustrating about driving today. I can't wait to get started".

Lyft Inc. along with parent company of First National Bank have been cited by the Federal Communications Commission for their policies on marketing messages and calls. The companies force customers for using their services through such policies.

According to reports, both companies have been warned by the commission that their policies breach the Telephone Consumer Protection Act as they do not let users avoid autodialed messages, which are used for marketing.

The FCC has issued just a warning to the companies and said it could start imposing fines if the two don’t change their policies. A first warning is issued to companies, not holding licenses with the FCC.

A big win for Uber drivers in California, as a judge has allowed them to take legal action to find out whether they are contractors or employees. Three Uber drivers have filed case against Uber stating that they were employees of the company.

Lonnie Giamela, a labor lawyer in Los Angeles, said, “Today's ruling sets the stage for a trial and a legal battle that will have dramatic implications for Uber's business model as well as more generally how independent contractors are viewed under California law”.

US District Court Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco made the decision. In the case, many plaintiffs said that they were employees of the company, but due to expenses and tips they have been shortchanged.

Toyota Motor Corp’s newest effort to reduce its risk from potentially lethal air-bag inflators supplied by Takata Corp involves purchase of millions of them from smaller parts maker Kayaku Co.

The Japanese car maker talked to the second-tier supplier to boost production in a bid to supply more than 13 million inflators from next July until 2020. The move is a pragmatic approach, prompting more than 10 automakers to issue a recall of tens of millions of vehicles since 2008 to replace Takta air bags.

Eight deaths are believed to have resulted from Takata air-bag inflators and more than 100 injuries after exploding with excessive force, spraying shrapnel inside vehicles.

The gorgeous Galpin-Fisker Rocket was seen first at the 2014 Los Angeles auto show. Fisker has again made headlines about a new version of the Mustang coupe at the 2015 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. It’s a swanky speedster version of the striking Mustang coupe.

The new Galpin-Fisker Rocket Speedster’s bones have a resemblance to a 2015 Ford Mustang. A four-seater convertible has a specially-crafted carbon fiber rear tonneau cover to convert it into a lithe two-seat roadster.

Henrik Fisker is famous for designing the Aston Martin DB9, Vantage V8, and the BMW Z8. Fisker decided to move to the new 2015 Ford Mustang and gave it a wide-body stance with coach-built quality and appearance.

The Guardian has learned that Apple is building a self-driving car in Silicon Valley. The multinational technology giant is looking for some secure locations in the San Francisco bay area to test the car.

In May, engineers from Apple’s secretive Special Project team met with officials from GoMentum Station, a 2,100-acre former naval base near San Francisco that is being turned into a high-security testing ground for autonomous vehicles.

In correspondence obtained by the Guardian under a public records act request, Apple engineer Frank Fearon wrote, “We would ... like to get an understanding of timing and availability for the space, and how we would need to coordinate around other parties who would be using [it].”

It has been reported that an examination has been launched by the Massachusetts attorney general’s office into catering of Uber and Lyft to people having disabilities. It could lead to more regulatory issues for the ride-hailing companies.

Both the companies have been accused of refusing service to the disabled people. The Massachusetts investigation could be for the first time, when a state attorney general is looking into the matter.

The four-year contract between the UAW and US automakers will end at midnight on September 14. Concerns have been raised over automakers increasing their investments in Mexico to take advantage of lower labor markets and Mexico's free trade deals with many other countries.

UAW President Dennis Williams refused to comment on the Ford's move, but said that it becomes a reason to worry for him whenever any corporation starts investing outside the US.

The US automakers will talk to United Auto Workers (UAW) delegates this month over contract issues. There are concerns among some workers at Lordstown and 11 other General Motors assembly plants scattered across the US over their jobs moving to south.

A $350 million investment plan in a Mexican factory was previously announced by GM to build the Chevrolet Cruze compact car. The plant for building the car for all of North America is currently located in Lordstown, east of Cleveland.

Hundreds of United Auto Workers delegates also gathered in March to devise ways to go ahead with contract talks with the US automakers.

Nick Waun, a worker at an SUV plant outside Lansing, Mich., said the partnership with the union will be ruined by moving a lot of stuff to Mexico.

According to Japan's Kyodo News, it is expected that the American Toyota executive who was taken into custody last month after alleged drug law violation will be released on Tuesday. The source of this information has not been identified by Kyoto.

Tokyo prosecutors also did not comment in the matter and Toyota Motor Corp. said that it was not having any information.

On June 18, Julie Hamp, who was the highest ranking woman executive at the Japanese automaker, was taken into custody on suspicion of importing oxycodone, a narcotic pain killer, into Japan. This drug is strictly controlled in the country.

Tesla Motors has reported that it has beaten its car-sales prediction for the second consecutive quarter. The electric car-maker has witnessed a 52% rise in the second quarter of the year.

The shares of the company increased 4% amounting to $280.02. This year, Tesla has jumped 26%. In the second quarter, the company has sold 11,507 Model S sedans. In May, the company has predicted that it would be able to sell 10,000 to 11,000 of the cars, its only model, in the second quarter.

It is said that the output as well as deliveries will increase once the Model X sport utility vehicle will be introduced this quarter. Dan Dolev, a Jefferies LLC analyst, said that there are many expectations from the Model X and the company has to fulfill those expectations.

Things have been going smooth when it comes to auto industry. On Wednesday, automakers posted good US vehicle sales for June. They have even predicted that things will further improve as the year approaches its end.

Experts have affirmed that there are a number of factors driving up the sales of vehicles. To cite an example, low gasoline prices and interest rates have been boosting sales of sport utility vehicles.

“Auto sales continue to push higher and are slated to have one of the strongest years ever. Demand for SUVs and trucks continue to drive the market, which resulted in several top automakers posting higher sales”, said Mark Williams, an analyst for Kelley Blue Book.

A total of 14,000 people in the US who made use of Ford Credit to purchase their cars will be invited for the pilot program. Ford Motor Credit will be collaborating with two car-sharing companies, Getaround in the US and easyCar Club in London.

As per Ford, over the next five years, it is looking forward to increase research on advanced safety technology, together with automatic braking for its vehicle range. According to the company, “As most vehicles are parked and out of use much of the time, this can help us gauge our customers’ desires to pick up extra cash and keep their vehicles in use”.