Auto Industry News: Musk Steps Down, Honda Recalls Millions, Ford Looks Forward, & Hennessey Goliath is Exactly What It Sounds Like

Ford steps up the competition with an electric SEMI of its own to compete with Tesla.This week’s Auto Industry News talks self-driving trucks, massive safety recalls, and the current status on everybody’s favorite, friendly, neighborhood CEO. Our buddy Elon Musk steps down as chairman, reaching a huge settlement with the SEC over “misleading” tweets. And while the billionaire does damage control, Ford seeks to compete with his company by entering the electric semi-truck market. The Hennessey Goliath challenges our own concepts of a lifted truck. And poor Honda recalls another 200,000+ vehicles due to safety issues.

Elon Musk Steps Down as Tesla Chairman

Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: It’s been a weird week for Elon Musk. After raising some eyebrows with his offbeat Joe Rogan podcast appearance, that moment now feels like a drop in the bucket compared to the $40 million settlement he and Tesla just coughed up.

The SEC was on Musk’s case after he tweeted that Tesla was worth $420 per share thanks to funding he “secured” for a proposal into private ownership. Subsequently, the company’s value rose after the statements, offsetting Wall Street short sellers in the process. But there was one little problem: Tesla never followed through with the proposal.

The feds have claimed that these tweets were false and misleading. And knowing their blood was in the water, Musk and Tesla have agreed to a settlement, paying $20 million each. Also part of the deal is that Elon Musk steps down from his position as chairman for three years. He will, however, retain his CEO title. Considering the circumstances, he may have to patent a vehicle that runs on hot water.

Honda Recalls Present Headache for Automaker

Honda recalls almost a quarter million 2018 Accord and 2019 Insight models after discovering that malfunctioning software disables the vehicles’ back-up cameras. According to reports, the programming error prevents the screen from displaying the proper rear view image and, in some cases, causes the screen to completely black out.

Thankfully, reports indicate that no injuries or accidents resulted from this flaw. However, this issue arrives as Honda recalls another 1.4 million U.S. vehicles in an effort to replace front passenger air bag inflators made by Takata. While it’s not certain that all the air bags in these vehicles are defective, Honda is continuing the program in accordance with a government-mandated recall schedule set by the NHTSA in 2016. The automaker continues to stay on track, as it has fixed roughly 77% of its recalls already.

Ford Gets in E-Semi Game

Meet the F-Vision, a new concept recently introduced by Ford. The design is a self-driving semi truck that “debuted,” so to speak, at the IAA Commercial Vehicle Show in Germany on Thursday. Its development at this point is merely conceptual and founded in aesthetics. (This model was supposedly inspired by Marvel.) But the F-Vision joins a group of competitors looking to make hauling more efficient and green.

Ford’s work in the semi game is essentially non-existent, but perhaps they can gain some ground with autonomous innovation. Now, how one should feel about robots moving their goods as opposed to sleep-deprived humans is up to them. The job security vs. safety debate has grown stale at times but, admittedly, this growth of the market is exciting and can hopefully inspire future competitors’ designs.

2019 Hennessey Goliath Makes an Impression

If you’ve got $375K burning a hole in your pocket, then here is the truck for you. The 2019 Hennessey Goliath 6×6 lives up to its biblical name in every way. (Except that it realistically wouldn’t lose to anything in a fight—especially not to a boy with a slingshot.)

The 6.2-liter V-8 comes standard, but there is a HPE700 Supercharged engine upgrade, which includes a 2.9-liter supercharger system producing 7 psi of boost. The Hennessey Goliath generates 705 horsepower and 675 lb-ft of torque. And don’t be fooled by its hulking frame, because this rig is surprisingly quick. It can do 0-60 in around 4.5 seconds. So not only can it drag an armored tank from quicksand, but it would be fun as hell to watch compete at the drag strip!

Around the Circuit

In the Outgoing Tour, Ash Sutton took home the checkered flag in the BTCC finale. By a narrow margin of 0.0032 seconds, the BMR Subaru racer outgunned the likes of pole position starter Josh Cook. This is Sutton’s sixth win of the season and it was enough to nudge him in fourth overall in the final standings. And as for this year’s champion, that honor goes to Colin Turkington representing BMW.

Hailie Deegan, the 17 year old phenom and daughter of X-Games legend Brian Deegan, made history as she claimed her first ever victory in a NASCAR series event. Deegan showed the skills that have made her one of the most prominent rising stars in the sport, blowing past teammate Cole Rouse to seal the deal. She is the first female driver to win a K&N Pro Series Race. And while this a historic and exhilarating moment for the young driver, we can be confident that we’ll see her in the winner’s circle for years to come.

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