DETROIT – Today, GMC shared a glimpse of the refreshed 2025 Yukon, the brand’s flagship nameplate. The 2025 Yukon will be the next GMC SUV launch following the all-new Acadia hitting dealerships this spring.

The image features the 2025 GMC Yukon AT4 and shows its refreshed front fascia, updated headlight and redesigned grille executions.

2024 marks the fifth anniversary for GMC’s popular AT4 trim. Since launching on the Sierra 1500 in 2019, the AT4 lineup has established itself as the industry standard for premium off-road capability. This year also marks the 25^th anniversary of GMC’s Denali sub brand, which first debuted on the 1999 Yukon Denali concept.

Earlier this year, GMC announced plans to expand its brand presence into more global markets. The 2025 Yukon will spearhead the brand’s rollout for the first time in Australia, New Zealand and China.

The 2025 GMC Yukon will be revealed later in 2024.

About GMC
GMC offers a range of premium trucks and SUVs designed and engineered to the highest standard. With vehicles like the compact Terrain and full-size Yukon, all-new Canyon and Sierra light-duty, as well as the world’s first all-electric supertruck the GMC HUMMER EV, our trucks and SUVs deliver GMC’s signature combination of intuitive technologies, precise engineering and premium execution. Built on a strong foundation of manufacturing trucks since 1902, GMC now sells in a dozen countries across the world. Details on all models are available at gmc.com.

WASHINGTON — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Thursday it is investigating a March 3 fatal crash between a Ford Mustang Mach-E and two stationary cars in Philadelphia in which an advanced driver assistance system could have been in use.

This is the second recent Ford crash under investigation by the auto safety regulator and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in which a driver assistance system is suspected of being in use.

The March 3 crash involved the Ford striking two stationary vehicles on the I-95 interstate highway in Philadelphia killed two people and shut down traffic for hours. The NTSB said it is investigating in coordination with the Pennsylvania State Police, which declined to comment.

Ford offers BlueCruise, an advanced hands-free driving system that operates on 97% of U.S. and Canadian highways with no intersections or traffic signals.

In March, NHTSA and the NTSB said they were investigating the use of an advanced driver assistance system in a Ford Mustang Mach-E that was involved in a Feb. 24 fatal crash in San Antonio, Texas in which the Mach-E struck rear of a Honda CR-V that was stationary in a traffic lane on Interstate Highway 10. A San Antonio police report said the Ford had “partial automation” engaged at the time of the crash.

Ford said it was recently made aware of this incident by the NTSB and informed NHTSA, which requires automakers to report all fatal crashes involving advanced driver assistance systems.

“We are researching the events of March 3 and collaborating fully with both agencies to understand the facts,” Ford said.

NHTSA has opened special crash investigations into the two recent Ford crashes. The agency typically opens more than 100 special crash investigations annually into emerging technologies and other potential auto safety issues.

Since 2016, NHTSA has opened more 40 Tesla special crash investigations in cases where driver systems such as Autopilot were suspected of being used, with 23 crash deaths reported to date. Tesla in December agreed to recall 2 million vehicles to install new safeguards for Autopilot.

The NTSB has opened several investigations in recent years into advanced driver assistance systems including Tesla’s Autopilot.

No matter where you live, bellyaching about potholes and road quality is an American tradition. It’s not hard to find people in every state who claim their roads are the worst, but Pennsylvania pesonal injury firm Munley Law recently studied data from the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics to determine which have the highest average rates of acceptable road quality.

Bad roads aren’t just an annoyance. They can wreak havoc on tires, suspension systems, and can cause vibrations that loosen cosmetic components. With 94.78 percent of its roads meeting the acceptable quality standard, Idaho was found to have the best roads in the country. Georgia wasn’t far behind, with 94.5 percent, and Tennessee came in third at 94.17. The complete list appears below.

The states with the best roads likely invest more in highway maintenance. Tennessee, for example, funds its highway improvements with vehicle excise taxes, and the burden of paying for roadwork is shared by federal, state, and local governments. The state has managed to go 45 years without needing to borrow money for road construction, indicating that its funding is stable and robust. Of course, there are exceptions in every state, such as my hometown of Knoxville; Tennessee’s roads have seen better days, despite I-40 seemingly being under construction since the early 1980s when I was born.

On the other end of the spectrum, New Jersey had the worst roads, with just 50.71 percent meeting the standard. Rhode Island had 51.51 percent and Connecticut landed at 58.14 percent. The law firm blames heavy traffic and bad weather, saying they contribute heavily to potholes and deteriorating road surfaces in those Northeast states.

Ranking states with the best and worst roads:

There’s a lively debate right now around consumers’ desire to own and drive EVs, but data from the federal government shows that diesel reigns supreme when it comes to annual average miles driven. Energy.gov recently published the 2022 National Household Travel Survey, which found that diesel miles dwarf gas and electric vehicles. And if that weren’t surprising enough, the second-most-driven fuel type will be.

Diesel vehicles averaged 17,500 miles in 2022, while gas and electric only managed 14,100 and 12,400 miles, respectively. The annual average for plug-in hybrids was just over 16,000 miles, making them the second-most driven vehicles that year. Traditional hybrids saw around 15,000 miles driven.

It’s important to point out that we’re talking about household miles driven, not commercial miles, so these averages don’t include large trucks and similar vehicles. That suggests a large number of diesel pickup trucks, as Americans haven’t really ever been hot on diesel cars, especially after VW’s Dieselgate scandal.

This study is also from two years ago when EVs weren’t quite as common as they are in early 2024. Cox Automotive noted that the EV market share of the U.S. vehicle market was just 5.9 percent in 2022. It rose to 7.6 percent last year and will likely grow further in 2024, but sales didn’t crest 1 million units until 2023.

Plug-in hybrids are the real shocker here, as EVs have outpaced their sales for a decade. There’s also a decent amount of anecdotal data that Americans don’t take full advantage of their PHEVs, using them more without charging them than using their modest electric range. Jeep has sold a ton of Wrangler 4xe PHEVs since it debuted in 2021, so it’s possible they’re propping up the miles numbers a bit.

That said, the government’s data doesn’t define how the miles are driven and only breaks them down by fuel type, so there’s no way to guess if any of them were traveled on battery power alone.

Filed under:
Buick,Crossover,SUV,Luxury

Continue reading 2025 Buick Enclave revealed with new looks, technology

2025 Buick Enclave revealed with new looks, technology originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 9 Apr 2024 10:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | 
Email this | 
Comments

Filed under:
Green,GMC,Car Buying,Truck,SUV,Electric,Off-Road Vehicles,Performance

Continue reading Base GMC Hummer EV2 reportedly dead for the planned 2025 launch year

Base GMC Hummer EV2 reportedly dead for the planned 2025 launch year originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 8 Apr 2024 09:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | 
Email this | 
Comments

Filed under:
Green,Podcasts,New York Auto Show,Buick,Lexus,Tesla,Toyota,Volvo,Coupe,Crossover,SUV,Electric,Hybrid,Luxury,Off-Road Vehicles,Racing Vehicles,Performance

Plus, we review the Lexus LC500h and Lexus TX 350

Continue reading Driving Volvos on ice, and the 2025 Toyota 4Runner is almost here | Autoblog Podcast #826

Driving Volvos on ice, and the 2025 Toyota 4Runner is almost here | Autoblog Podcast #826 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 5 Apr 2024 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | 
Email this | 
Comments

BIG SUR, Calif.  — Motorists crept along one lane of a scenic stretch of California’s iconic Highway 1 on Monday after a giant chunk of it collapsed into the ocean following heavy weekend rains, stranding as many as 1,600 people in the coastal community of Big Sur.

Convoys of vehicles resumed at 8 a.m. Monday for one lane of the highway, although most of the people trapped in Big Sur were allowed to leave when a single lane was reopened Sunday after being closed overnight, said Kevin Drabinski, a spokesperson for the California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans.

“During the time the convoys are passing, we physically have observers on sight to put eyes on the condition of the roadway to make sure it’s still safe to travel,” Drabinski said.

The collapse occurred Saturday near Rocky Creek Bridge about 17 miles (27 kilometers) south of Monterey, and traffic backed up for miles in both directions.

Kirk Gafill, the manager of Nepenthe restaurant in Big Sur, said about a dozen of his employees who were working that day were trapped in town and had to find friends or family members to spend the night with.

“That’s probably true for every business in Big Sur,” he said.

The Big Sur Lodge opened its conference room to offer some trapped motorists a place to stay, while others spent the night in their vehicles.

Linda Molinari of Hollister, California, told Fresno’s KFSN-TV that she and her boyfriend ended up sleeping in his van after they went to lunch in Big Sur on Saturday.

“It was really hard when the firefighters said, ‘Oh, you get to sleep here tonight,’” Molinari told the station on Easter Sunday after they returned home. “It’s amazing to get home, but still bittersweet. You missed a holiday from just trying to go to lunch on a random day.”

Another convoy of vehicles was escorted through at 4 p.m. Monday, but motorists were urged to avoid the area. The next convoy was scheduled for 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Caltrans said crews will start installing concrete barriers to provide a safe lane for vehicles and to protect construction workers. Engineers will focus on stabilizing the edge of the roadway, but it’s not immediately clear when the road will be ready to reopen.

The famous route has seen frequent closures because of collapses, mudflows and rockslides during severe weather.

Road workers got a break from the heavy rains that fell over the weekend, with dry conditions expected for the next several days and just a chance for light rain on Thursday, said Dalton Behringer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in the Bay Area.

The COVID-19 pandemic quickly shut down almost every part of American society overnight, emptying roadways and making many areas feel like ghost towns. At the same time, many people took advantage of the open roads with reckless driving and extreme speeds. So, while there were fewer people on the roads, more people died in traffic accidents than before, with fatalities reaching almost 39,000 in 2020. The numbers continued climbing through 2021, reaching a peak of 42,915, but they’ve fallen for two years in a row, according to a recent report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The NHTSA noted that traffic deaths fell 3.6 percent last year to 40,990. That’s down from 42,514 in 2022 but still higher than any year pre-pandemic since 2008. Greater numbers of intoxicated drivers, speeding, and people driving without seatbelts significantly contributed to the totals.

Though traffic deaths fell between 2022 and 2023, the number of pedestrian and cyclist deaths grew in 2022. A total of 7,522 pedestrians and 1,105 cyclists were killed, the most since 1981 for pedestrians and 1980 for cyclists. More drivers 65 or older also died in 2022, up 4.7 percent to 7,870, the most since the NHTSA started record-keeping in 1975.

The agency released the numbers while kicking off its “Put the Phone Away or Pay” safety campaign, which aims to remind drivers of the dangers of distracted driving. It noted that 3,308 people were killed and an astonishing 289,310 people injured due to distracted driving. So, while traffic deaths are on a slow decline, distracted drivers remain a significant threat to “vulnerable road users” such as pedestrians, cyclists, and others.

The NHTSA recorded 621 such deaths in distraction-related crashes in 2022. Deputy administrator Sophie Shulman said, “Distraction comes in many forms, but it is also preventable. Our rebranded campaign reminds everyone to Put the Phone Away or Pay, because distracted driving can cost you in fines – or even cost your life or the life of someone else on the road.”

Filed under:
Buick,Technology,Crossover,SUV,Luxury

Continue reading 2024 Buick Envision debuts with family styling, massive interior screen

2024 Buick Envision debuts with family styling, massive interior screen originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 2 Apr 2024 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | 
Email this | 
Comments