William Maley

Last month, we reported on a rumor that that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) was in talks about possibly providing funding to electric car start-up Lucid Motors. The fund would provide an initial investment of $500 million, but would expand it to a billion if certain milestones were met. This morning, Lucid Motors announced that it signed an agreement with the PIF totaling over $1 billion, subject to necessary regulatory approvals. If given the go-ahead, Lucid will use the money to finish building their plant in Arizona, complete development on Air, and begin production by 2020. “By investing in the rapidly expanding electric vehicle market, PIF is gaining exposure to long-term growth opportunities, supporting innovation and technological development, and driving revenue and sectoral diversification for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” said a spokesman for the PIF. The PIF made headlines last month when Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed the fund as being the provider for the automaker to go private. This was based on discussions between the two, along with the fund purchasing a small stake. But as we reported later in the month, officials at the fund were not so keen on this idea. Source: Lucid Motors View full article

Yes, a rebadged version of the Mitsubishi Triton/L200. I believe this new Ram truck will replace the Fullback.

In the most recent five-year plan for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ram Trucks revealed that it planned to have a new midsize truck by 2022. Thanks to a new report from Automotive News, we have some tantalizing details. According to supplier sources, the new Ram truck will be built at FCA's Toledo, Ohio plant - home to the Wrangler and upcoming Wrangler pickup. Half of the plant has been shutdown since April for retooling to make way for the Wrangler pickup. The line regularly built more than 230,000 JK Wranglers per year before undergoing the retooling process. FCA is not expecting the Wrangler truck to sell in high numbers, leaving a fair amount of capacity ready for another vehicle. Hence where the Ram midsize comes in. This also reveals that the midsize truck will be body-on frame. We've heard previously that Ram was considering unibody construction. The truck is expected to debut in 2020 as a 2021 model. Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required) View full article

As part of their ambitions to compete with European automakers on their home soil, Cadillac was working on a range of four- and six-cylinder diesel engines. According to Automotive News, the upcoming XT4 was expected to have a diesel engine by 2020 and other models would follow. There was also plans about selling diesels for Cadillacs in the U.S. But Cadillac President Steve Carlisle said development has been put on hold. "We have been working on diesel, but the markets may be changing more quickly than we anticipated," he said to AN. "Going forward, we will focus on electrification." The diesel program at Cadillac got hit with a double whammy over the past few years. First was the Volkswagen diesel emission crisis that broke in September 2015. There was talk about killing the project, but "executives felt it had progressed too far to kill". Then last year, General Motors sold Opel to PSA Group. The German division was working with Cadillac with development. Still, the brand continued with progress. It is unclear as to why Cadillac has put the program on hold now, but we're guessing the combination of stricter regulations coming into Europe and more competitors deciding to go all-in electrification are the main reasons. Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required) View full article

I wonder if the production model will be called the iSore. I'll be showing myself out.