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The first vehicle in history considered to be an automobile was the Benz Motorwagen of 1885. It was also the first vehicle from an automaker that has been around for the duration of the industry: we know it today as Mercedes-Benz. In other words, the company has been building cars for 132 years. DON'T MISS: Mercedes to launch 10 electric cars by... Mercedes plant to make batteries, electric motors after 113 years of engines
The first vehicle in history considered to be an automobile was the Benz Motorwagen of 1885. It was also the first vehicle from an automaker that has been around for the duration of the industry: we know it today as Mercedes-Benz. In other words, the company has been building cars for 132 years. DON'T MISS: Mercedes to launch 10 electric cars by... 
Electric-car maker Tesla is at a pivotal time in the 13-year-old company's history as production of its mass-market Model 3 ramps up and ambitious plans to roll out additional vehicles loom. Coinciding with the production start of the Tesla Model 3 are plans for a major expansion the Silicon Valley automaker's assembly plant in Fremont... 
Now that the Tesla Model 3 has officially entered production, the electric-car maker's main goal will be to ensure the manufacturing process ramps up smoothly. With 1,800 new reservations reportedly placed each day for the affordable electric sedan, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to confirm the company needs to get through six months of... ![2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric cars outside dealership [photo: Patrick Reid]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/2017-chevrolet-bolt-ev-electric-car-photo-patrick-reid_100605961_t.gif)
One of the biggest tests of an automaker's discipline is what it does when sales start to ebb and inventories of unsold cars swell. Does it keep the production lines churning, and dial up its incentives to keep new-vehicle deliveries flowing? Or does it prioritize profitability and suspend production until inventories are back where they should... 
Mini, despite being owned by BMW since 1994, has long been a decidedly British brand. But its British roots may be overlooked as a decision on where Mini's electric car is to be built closes in. Most Mini production takes place at the brand's Oxford plant in England, but both supply-chain factors and Brexit may sway BMW board members into... 
Tesla is closing in on a deal to begin production of its cars in China, after it signed a preliminary agreement to explore building cars near the major city of Shanghai. By signing the preliminary agreement, Tesla will begin the first step towards local production in China, a move that would significantly lower costs. More importantly, it will... 
The issue first came to light in a question from a reader. It boiled down to this: "What's going on with the Hyundai Ioniq Electric, and why can't I get one at my local dealer in California?" The e-mail even included a link to a Korean business-news article, which is unusual for reader queries. DON'T MISS: 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid: gas mileage... 
Toyota has reached yet another significant milestone in global hybrid sales. The Japanese automaking giant has surpassed 10 million hybrid sales globally since the launch of the first-generation Prius in 1997. That total includes hybrids sold under Toyota's Lexus luxury brand, as well as sales of two plug-in hybrid models. CHECK OUT: Toyota at 9... 
While the auto industry will start to report December and year-end sales totals today, Tesla Motors issued its year-end delivery and production results yesterday. The Silicon Valley car maker, now completing its ninth year of production, delivered 22,230 electric cars during the fourth quarter of 2016. That brings its total for last year to 76,230... 
With anticipation of the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV launch growing, General Motors has started to ramp up production of its groundbreaking 200-mile electric car. (It's actually rated by the EPA at 238 miles combined, but it joins a segment of the electric-car market with 200 miles or more of range that has only been occupied to date by cars with a... 
A very brief article on a single sentence uttered on Tuesday by an executive at Korean battery maker LG Chem has reverberated around electric-car circles for most of this week. The executive was vice president Kang Chang-beom, and he spoke on a conference call for financial analysts on the topic of LG Chem's third-quarter earnings. His comment has... 
Plug-in electric cars are going to be a bigger part of the vehicle mix in future than they have been to date. That much is abundantly clear. Electric cars are one of four significant forces that will likely change what we think of as an "automobile" forever, the others being autonomy, connectivity, and sharing. DON'T MISS: Tesla and China: why an...