Drew Dowdell

Ford is taking the frustration out of lining up to your trailer. At the New York Auto Show today, Ford will unveil Pro Trailer Hitch Assist, an A.I. powered driver's assist technology that uses machine learning to automatically line the truck up to the trailer. From distances of up to approximately 20 feet, the system uses the rear camera and two corner radar units to control the truck's speed, steering, and braking while the driver monitors the progress. Computer vision learning uses the truck's rear camera to identify the ball and trailer coupler. If the system detects an obstacle while in operation, it will alert the driver and stop the vehicle. Ford used hundreds of hours of video were collected to help train the system initially, but Pro-Trailer Hitch Assist will get smarter over time as more trailer image data is added and the vehicle's Ford Power-Up system receives over-the-air updates. The system will work in a broad range of terrain and weather conditions. Ford developed the technology in-house and has received 60 patents with 4 more pending. Pro-Trailer Hitch Assist is available now in the 2023 F-150, F-150 Lightning, and all-new 2023 F-series Super Duty. Pro Trailer Hitch Assist_04.mp4 View full article

I find it highly suspect that GM is #2 on that list. I expect they are being outsold by Hyundai. Hyundai and Kia count their sales separately, but Genesis sales get counted in with Hyundai as the parent company. Even if GM is actually number 2, the Ioniq 6, GV60, and GV70E are on the lots today, so that position won't last long. Ultium production ramp-up is painfully slow. The Hummers were on a stop-sale for the entire first quarter. I'm not expecting to see my EValanche until 2025 at the very earliest.

When you’re used to driving luxury cars and you end up with a base Ford Escape from the work fleet

It was a weird sequence of events. It did get some premium stuff. 1. When the LX cars came out, the Intrepid sedan was only replaced by the Magnum wagon. Daimler-Chrylser assumed that they could get people out of their sedans and into a wagon. 2. The 300 was originally released mostly in top trim forms powered by the Hemi. 3. DCX quickly realized that people were not going to buy the Magnum in Intrepid type numbers (Intrepid was a best seller at the time), so rather than rush out a Charger, they quickly added lower content trims to the 300. They used the low-end seats and interior bits from the base Magnum, the 2.7 liter engine, 17-inch plastic hubcaps, etc. 4. DCX, in an attempt to keep volumes up, pushed these low-end 300 models with cheap lease deals. This devalued the prestige. 5. The Charger came out 2 years after the Magnum/300 to take over the low end of the market, but the damage to the 300's prestige was already done. 6. With the 2011 refresh, Chrysler introduces the C Executive (later renamed Platinum), the S, the John Varvatos edition, and the SRT. The Executive series is what you see in the pictures I posted above. Unfortunately, in spite of the attempt to move up market, people didn't buy them that way.

I'd have Chrylser aim for more Semi-lux like what Buick was trying to do a few years ago before they switched almost entirely to sub-compact 3-cylinder crossovers. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the CT6. It was better than any E-Class aside from the 63 at the same price, and it gave the space and ride of the S-Class. What happened was brand snobs like you insisted it wasn't an S-Class, so it was no damn good... when it was never intended to be an S-Class, it was E-Class price but Cadillac sized. It had a far more advanced platform than anything Benz had, it had self driving before Benz did, it had 4-wheel steering and the most advanced suspension.... and even after it was canceled, they still look better than an E-Class The Continental had some packaging issues but was still a very nice luxury car. Chrylser is perfectly capable of putting a nice interior in the 300. They just need to drop the rental spec trims.

While I applaud the charger being made optional with the turbo inline-6, they really need to do a new 300 with that setup and give it the interior quality the Grand Wagoneer is getting. Make an EV version also, and the Chrysler brand is back on the map faster than you can say Genesis.

This year I am taking part in https://www.facebook.com/gentlemansride to raise funds and awareness for men's health and prostate cancer on behalf of the Movember foundation. Prostate cancer affects more men than any other cancer, taking the lives of 307,000 men each year. That number is surpassed by 500,000 men dying from suicide. That's 807,000 men every year. This is a number that must change. Please reach out and give what you can; help support me on my ride by going to https://gfolk.me/DrewDowdell and donating. Thank you, Drew.

Hyundai today released images of their latest Hyundai Sonata refresh for 2024. This is a rather quick turnaround as the current Hyundai Sonata was released in 2019 as a 2020 model. This could be the last hurrah for the Sonata because it is rumored that Hyundai will ax the Sonata nameplate at the end of this run. While the current Sonata is one of the more handsome designs in the dwindling sedan market, Hyundai felt the refresh was necessary to bring the Sonata in line with their EV lineup. The visual similarities between the 2024 Sonata and the recently released Hyundai Ioniq 6 aren't by accident. While riding on the same platform, externally, the 2024 Sonata adopts the wide front-end styling of the Ioniq 6, including a full-width and seamless LED bar. Headlamps are camouflaged low into the bumper area, leaving viewers with the expectation that headlights should pop up from somewhere. The tail light bar gets a similar treatment with obvious edges in the new H-lights. The interior of the Sonata has also been refreshed with this horizontal theme similar to the Ioniq 6. A first the any Hyundai model, the panoramic curved display combines both the 12.3-inch driver cluster and a 12.3-inch infotainment unit. Hyundai must have noticed the recent pushback on all-touch controls at competitors because they left physical buttons for climate control and some entertainment functions. Similar to the drive selector in the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6, the gear selector in the Sonata has become a stalk on the steering column. This opens up the center console space to the driver. Standard and N-Line variants will be available. Powertrain details will be released later, but we expect much to carry over from the existing car. The 2024 Sonata officially debuts at the Seoul Mobility Show on March 30th and will go on sale in the U.S. later this year. View full article