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Automakers drop support for Trump effort against California emissions

WASHINGTON — Toyota, Fiat Chrysler (now known as Stellantis following its merger with Peugeot) and other major automakers said on Tuesday they were joining General Motors in abandoning support for former President Donald Trump's effort to bar California from setting its own zero emission vehicle rules. The automakers, which also included Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi, Mazda and Subaru, said in a joint statement they were withdrawing from an ongoing legal challenge to California's emission-setting powers, "in a gesture of good faith and to find a constructive path forward" with President Joe Biden. The automakers, along with the National Automobile Dealers Association, said they were aligned "with the Biden administrationÂ’s goals to achieve year-over-year improvements in fuel economy standards." Nissan in December withdrew from the challenge after GM's decision in November shocked the industry and won praise from Biden. On Monday, the Justice Department asked the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia to put the California emissions litigation on hold to "ensure due respect for the prerogative of the executive branch to reconsider the policy decisions of a prior administration." Biden has directed agencies to quickly reconsider TrumpÂ’s 2019 decision to revoke CaliforniaÂ’s authority to set its own auto tailpipe emissions standards and require rising numbers of zero-emission vehicles, as well as Trump's national fuel economy rollback. Asked to respond to the automakers' action, White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy said in a statement that "after four years of putting us in reverse, it is time to restart and build a sustainable future, grow domestic manufacturing, and deliver clean cars for America." California Governor Gavin Newsom praised the automakers on Twitter for "dropping your climate-denying, air-polluting, Trump-era lawsuit against CA" and urged them to join the voluntary framework. TALKS WITH BIDEN Separately, an industry trade group on Tuesday proposed to start talks with Biden on revised fuel economy standards that would be higher than Trump-era standards but lower than ones set during the prior Democratic administration. The Trump administration in March finalized a rollback of U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards to require 1.5% annual increases in efficiency through 2026, well below the 5% yearly boosts under the Obama administration rules it discarded.

Apple iTunes Radio picks Nissan as first automotive launch partner

With the launch of iOS 7 last week, those who carry around a certain fruit-branded cellphone got access to a new technology called iTunes Radio. Apple's delayed entry into a market currently dominated by service such as Spotify and Pandora, iTunes Radio allows users to create their own stations or to choose from a number of featured stations. From there, listeners can fine tune their results to deliver more popular songs or newer, deeper tracks. Each song is linked back to the iTunes store, allowing users to easily buy songs they fall in love with.
Now, Nissan has teamed with Apple as the exclusive launch partner for iTunes Radio. This partnership means you'll be seeing some Nissan-specific content when you're surfing through iTunes Radio, with some subtler stuff in the form of material and some not-so-subtle approaches, like Nissan's use of iAd, a system that allows developers to directly insert advertisements into apps. The focus at first will be on the upcoming Rogue, the redesigned Versa Note and the Leaf EV.
Nissan's vice president of marketing in North America, Jon Brancheau, explained the team up, saying, "We see iTunes Radio as an integral part of our new vehicle launches and 'big moments,' riding the wave of interest and usage of this exciting new service to maximize exposure of Nissan's new models." Take a look below for the rundown from Nissan.

Nissan previews Juke-R Nismo for Goodwood debut

Nissan has another trick up its sleeve. The teaser image above gives us our first peek at the Juke-R Nismo which the Japanese automaker is set to unleash at the Goodwood Festival of Speed later this month. The Japanese automaker hasn't provided much in the way of details at this early stage, but there's plenty we can infer from the nameplate. As you may recall, the original Nissan Juke-R hit the scene several years ago, packing the powertrain from the GT-R into the compact form of the Juke. The result was a monster of a little crossover that could run to 60 in three seconds flat and put most any performance-oriented SUV to shame. The addition of the Nismo name to the end would ostensibly suggest that Nissan is preparing an even more extreme version with all the muscle of the GT-R Nismo. That would give it 600 horsepower (instead of 545) and an even meaner disposition backed by even more extreme performance capabilities. Though the image is deliberately obscured, it clearly packs even more aggressive aero than the existing Juke-R. But Nissan isn't saying yet whether this will be a strict one-off or be offered for sale like its predecessor. "Using the latest technology, styling and running gear from NISMO products," Nissan promises a "supercar beating crossover". We'll have to hold on to find out more, but we won't have to wait long as it'll be unveiled at the British automotive celebration on June 25. THE NISSAN JUKE-R IS BACK – AND NOW WITH ADDED NISMO The original was the world's first supercar crossover. Now, Nissan is set to unleash its latest evolution... the Nissan Juke-R NISMO. Using the latest technology, styling and running gear from NISMO products, the supercar beating crossover will be unveiled and unleashed at Goodwood Festival of Speed (UK) on June 25th.