Online Retailer Vroom Completely Suspends Used Vehicle Sales
Though Carvana has famously faced plenty of legal trouble over the years, neither litigation or the declining used car market has forced them to bankruptcy yet. However, Carvana’s top online car sales rival, Vroom, hasn’t been so lucky — though they’re not bankrupt, just shutting down operations.
This week, visitors to Vroom’s website were greeted with the following message on the homepage: “We announced January 22nd, 2024, that Vroom has halted all purchases and sales of used vehicles. We are discontinuing Vroom’s e-commerce operations and winding down our used vehicle dealership business. It has been an honor to serve car buyers and sellers all over the country.”
In December, Vroom settled a lawsuit with the Texas Attorney General’s Office for $3 million. The lawsuit alleged the Houston-based company “engaged in deceptive trade practices.” Along with the payment, Vroom agreed not to advertise or sell used vehicles without having the vehicle’s title (something that frankly should be common sense to a major car dealer). Company spokespersons have denied a direct connection between the lawsuit and shutdown, and say the business closure will not affect their ability to complete the settlement.
Rather, in an SEC filing, Vroom stated that Ally Bank and Ally Financial had suspended their credit line for vehicle purchases, thus leaving them unable to buy more vehicles. Amid the rapidly declining used car market, Vroom has opted to sell all of its remaining inventory via wholesale (auctions) and will be laying off about 800 employees, though the company has no idea how much this will cost and add to their already-immense debt, “due to the uncertainty of the liquidation process of its used vehicle inventory, the Company’s ongoing obligations under its contractual and lease agreements, and ongoing assessment of severance and retention costs.”
On the other hand, Vroom’s two subsidiaries, United Auto Credit Corporation and CarStory, will continue to operate, at least for now.
2025 Volkswagen GTI Revealed With Power Bump, More Real Buttons
We’ve previously reported on a number of changes to the Golf GTI lineup, including the death of the manual transmission and a new AI-integrated infotainment assistant. Just a few weeks after teasing a facelifted GTI at CES, Volkswagen has revealed the 2025 GTI for Europe, with the U.S. model imminent.
As expected, the Mk8.5 update features new light designs along with a more aggressive front bumper. New wheels are available, and we can’t help but notice the similarity of the ones pictured above to one of Alfa Romeo’s iconic designs. The GTI badge has also been relocated from the front fenders to the front doors.
More significant upgrades take place inside and under the hood of the GTI. As detailed previously, the infotainment system now features a Chat-GPT based artificial intelligence voice assistant, which should improve on the notoriously limited functionality of voice commands in cars. The steering wheel reverts to fully physical buttons, a change that will definitely be regarded as an improvement by anyone who’s ever driven a Mk8 GTI. The infotainment screen is also slightly larger than last year’s model, and the touch sliders below the screen are finally backlit!
The GTI’s EA888 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder remains for 2025, but with a slight power increase. In the European model, it now produces 262 horsepower; the U.S.-spec car may be slightly different but output will certainly be bumped up over the current 241 horsepower. A seven-speed DSG is now the only transmission choice.
U.S.-specific information is expected to come later this year, though we can’t imagine the refresh will be too dissimilar on our shores. The range-topping Golf R will also be receiving a facelift for 2025.
2024 Macan Electric Adds A Plug To Porsche’s Most Popular Crossover
Say what you want about crossovers in general, but since its launch in 2015, the Porsche Macan has been widely regarded to be one of the best at mixing performance, driving dynamics, and luxury. In the last nine years, the Macan has only had one generation, with two facelifts sprinkled in. However, Porsche has just taken the covers off a fully redesigned Macan — and one that’s fully electric, at that.
While the Taycan sedan deserves credit for helping Porsche begin transitioning more heavily to electrification, the 2024 Macan EV is expected to play an even more important role, as the Macan has been Porsche’s best-selling model for several years in a row. It also debuts the company’s new Premium Electric Platform, an 800-volt architecture which will be shared with upcoming Audi models in the near future.
Initially, the Macan EV features two models: the Macan 4 and Macan Turbo. Both variants are powered by a 95-kWh battery pack and motivated by a dual-motor all-wheel-drive setup. In the base Macan 4, the system puts out 402 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque, while the top-end Turbo gets a significant bump to 630 hp and 833 lb-ft. Of course, knowing Porsche, there will undoubtedly be other trim levels to bridge that gap soon enough.
Thanks to the 800v platform, Porsche says DC fast charging up to 270 kilowatts is possible, and a 10-to-80 percent charge will take roughly 21 minutes. Range estimates have not yet been announced, but taking the Macan Electric’s competition into consideration we’d expect somewhere between 250 and 300 miles.
On the outside, the styling appears to be based heavily on the existing gas-powered Macan (although tweaked, of course) with Taycan front and rear fascias grafted on. Compared to the old Macan, the more hunchback shape isn’t the most beautiful in our eyes, but the seemingly low ride height is attractive.
Inside, the cabin also draws its main cues from other current Porsche models; the binnacle-less 12.6-inch gauge cluster display is lifted straight out of the updated 2024 Cayenne, while the infotainment screen and optional passenger display are also very similar to the Cayenne and Taycan. In front of the driver, the heads-up display uses augmented-reality tech; the system acts like an 87-inch display that appears to be 33 feet in front of the driver, providing typical HUD information.
Pricing for the Macan 4 Electric starts at $80,450, with the Macan Turbo Electric coming in at $106,950. Both models are available to be ordered now, with deliveries beginning in the second half of this year.
New California Bill Proposes Strict Speed Limiters In All New Cars
In the near future, it may not be possible to drive a brand-new car faster than 80 mph in the state of California. That’s because a new bill proposed this week aims to mandate electronic speed limiters on new vehicles, capping them at 10 mph over the posted speed limit.
The Speeding and Fatality Emergency Reduction on California Streets is a package of bills introduced by a man named Senator Wiener, includes SB 961, which essentially calls for an “intelligent speed limiter system” on all new cars and trucks built or sold in California starting with the 2027 model year.
According to the bill, the speed limiter tech would not apply to emergency vehicles, and there’s language in the bill that the passive device would have the ability to be temporarily disabled by the driver, however it’s unclear in what situations that might apply. The governors would also be able to be fully disabled by automakers, but presumably only for authorized emergency vehicles. In addition, the commissioner of the California Highway Patrol could authorize disabling the speed-limiter at their discretion.
The proposed legislation is said to be an attempt to address rising traffic fatalities — hence the name — which have reportedly increased in California by 22 percent from 2019 to 2022. “I don’t think it’s at all an overreach, and I don’t think most people would view it as an overreach, we have speed limits, I think most people support speed limits because people know that speed kills,” senator Scott Wiener told ABC7 News.
If the bill gets signed into law, California would become the first US state to require speed limiters on cars. Protesting individuals will almost certainly find a way around the electronic limiters, though repercussions remain to be seen.
Ford Cuts F-150 Lightning Production As Bronco, Ranger Soar
Recently, the growth rate for adoption of electric vehicles has been in somewhat of a lull, and automakers are definitely taking notice. This month, Ford officially announced a scale-back of F-150 Lightning production, following a previous leaked internal memo.
Towards the beginning of 2023, Ford planned to triple Lightning production with the goal of building 150,000 units annually by the end of the year. In the internal planning memo, Ford reportedly told suppliers to expect an average volume of 1,600 trucks weekly at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn. However, the company is now reducing production to just one shift effective April 1st, in order to “continue to match production to customer demand.”
While some employees will not be retained, most will be migrating to Ford’s truck plant in Wayne, Michigan. There, a third shift has been added to meet increased demand for the Bronco and Ranger. Last year, Ford increased production of the Bronco Sport and Maverick by more than 80,000 units, so SUVs and pickups are clearly still desirable overall.
2025 Honda Civic Gets New Face, Available Hybrid Model (Finally!)
Honda previously announced the return of a gas-electric hybrid to the Civic family, but the addition is now official for the 2025 model year, along with some styling revisions for the entire lineup.
The exterior of the updated Civic sedan features an front end that’s strikingly similar to the aggressive Type R hatchback. New alloy wheels are also on offer. While interior photos and further details have not yet been released, Honda says it will be adding a number of new features to the 2025 Civic.
The hybrid models will use a similar powertrain setup to the Accord and CR-V, but likely with a smaller engine than its siblings. Instead of the 2.0-liter inline-four, we expect to see a 1.5-liter engine in the Civic Hybrid, much like the now-discontinued Honda Insight.
There’s also no official word on what this will mean for the Civic’s existing engine choices, but Honda says the lineup will be arranged similarly to the CR-V and Accord. This means that certain trim levels will be non-hybrid and others will be hybrid-only. Given the above photos showing a new Sport Touring model, it’s likely the top trims will be hybrids as in the other vehicles.
Honda hopes the hybrid will make up 40 percent of overall Civic sales. The refreshed Civic is set to go on sale in the U.S. this summer.
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