CES may have overshadowed the 2016 Detroit Auto Show in our eyes, but President Barack Obama saw the latter event as an illustration of the car industry’s recent resurgence. The Commander in Chief visited the Chevrolet, Fiat Chrysler, Ford, and ZF booths at Detroit’s Cobo Center, and for him, a few vehicles clearly stood out.
Obama spent most of his 30-minute visit admiring the new Chevy Bolt, taking a moment to sit behind the electric vehicle’s three-spoke steering wheel. According to journalists on the scene, the president declared it a “nice-looking car.” He also took time to check out the redesigned 2017 Chrysler Pacifica, which may end up replacing Obama’s armored Cadillac as his primary mode of transportation.
“You guys remember, ‘Get Shorty,’ right?” Obama joked to the media. “It’s cool driving a minivan.”
When he wasn’t cruising the show floor or peeking at Corvettes, the head of state commented on the automotive field’s progress over the last eight years. The Obama Administration managed the industry’s bailout package and restructuring following the 2008 financial crisis.
“More than one million Americans would’ve lost their jobs at the worst possible time. Not just auto workers, but the people in communities who depend on you,” Obama said. “The teachers who teach your kids, the small business owners who know your name. Their livelihoods would’ve been at stake as well, so we decided we couldn’t let that happen.”
“In exchange for help, we demanded responsibility. We said the auto industry would have to truly change, not just pretend it was changing,” he continued. “The industry retooled, it restructured. Management and labor got together to settle your differences. Everybody put some skin in the game, everybody sacrificed for the sake and survival of this industry.”
The President claims the auto industry has added more than 640,000 new jobs since mid-2009.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.