DETROIT — The reliability of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids has dramatically improved, narrowing a wide gap with gas-powered automobiles, according to the latest survey by Consumer Reports.

The five-star crash test ratings, which most vehicles now receive, would not change under the new system. Consumers would see green check marks for vehicles with the new safety features.

DETROIT — U.S. sales are down and a once-reliably profitable joint venture in China is losing money, but General Motors still managed to post a third quarter profit of $3 billion.

Stellantis, formed from the 2021 merger of France’s PSA Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, has faced challenges this year in both Europe and the U.S.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A leading expert on autonomous vehicles is calling on the federal government to develop a national driver’s test that such vehicles would have to pass.

DETROIT — With a strike deadline looming, the group representing East and Gulf Coast ports is asking a federal agency to make the longshoremen’s union come to the bargaining table.

About 45,000 dockworkers along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts are threatening to strike on Oct. 1, a move that would shut down ports that handle about half the nation’s cargo from ships.

DETROIT — The U.S. government’s road safety agency wants the auto industry to design new vehicles including increasingly large SUVs and pickup trucks so they reduce pedestrian deaths.

Driver experiences and crashes involving Tesla's "Full Self-Driving" system have drawn the attention of federal regulators.

DETROIT — Authorities in Washington have determined that a Tesla that hit and killed a motorcyclist near Seattle in April was operating on the company’s “Full Self Driving” system.