The UK’s vote to leave the European Union may cost automakers about 2.8 million light-vehicle sales through 2018, researcher IHS Automotive said in its latest projections for industry.

Worldwide deliveries may rise to 89.82 million this year, about 200,000 fewer than anticipated before last week’s Brexit referendum, IHS Automotive said in an email. The researcher reduced estimates for 2017 and 2018 by about 1.25 million and 1.38 million, respectively.

“The UK is, unsurprisingly, anticipated to bear the brunt of the impact,” said Ian Fletcher, a London-based analyst for IHS Automotive. Instead of expanding 3.2 percent this year, the UK market may grow by just 1 percent, followed by declines each of the next two years, IHS Automotive estimates.

The $20.65 billion UK auto industry ships about 80 percent of vehicle production overseas, with almost 60 percent of exports destined for the rest of the EU, according to Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the nation’s motor industry trade group.

Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, has said Brexit may lead to levies of as much as 10 percent on the Avensis and Auris cars it builds in the UK, challenging the company to cut costs or raise prices and hurt sales.

Source: Automotive News

During the upcoming Independence Day holiday weekend, AAA projects nearly 43 million Americans will travel, according to the “AAA Independence Day Travel Forecast,” an increase of 1.3% from the 42.3 million people who traveled last year.

This represents the highest Fourth of July travel volume on record, according to AAA Travel. This number is up five million more travelers compared to Memorial Day weekend 2016.

More than 36 million people — 84% of travelers — will drive to their destinations, an increase of 1.2% over last year, according to AAA Travel. The Independence Day holiday travel period is defined as Thursday June 30 to Monday July 4.

“Spurred by the lowest gas prices since 2005, more people than ever are planning to travel this Independence Day weekend,” said Marshall Doney, AAA president and CEO. “Whether they’re traveling by car, plane, train, or cruise ship, it will be exciting to see so many Americans celebrating our nation’s freedom with their friends and family over the long holiday weekend.”

Despite recent seasonal increases, gasoline prices remain well below recent years. In fact, AAA expects most U.S. drivers will pay the lowest Independence Day gas prices since 2005. The national average price for a gallon of gasoline is $2.31, which is 47 cents less than one year ago.

When it comes to car rental, daily rental rates will average $75, 6% more than last year, according to AAA Travel.
“We are well on our way for 2016 to be a record-breaking year for summertime travel,” said Doney. “This trend is welcome news for the travel industry and a sign that Americans are taking to our nation’s highways and skies like never before.”

Source:Auto Rental News

Volvo is aggressively pushing for self-driving cars. It’s putting 100 autonomous cars on public roads in Gothenburg, Sweden by next year and another 100 on London’s streetsby 2018. A similar plan is expected to roll out in China. To study the public’s perception of these emerging vehicles, the automaker surveyed nearly 50,000 people worldwide and gathered some interesting insights. Not surprisingly, opinions vary greatly depending on where you live.

For one thing, 55 percent of respondents say they want a steering wheel in a fully autonomous car, supporting the findings of an earlier survey that had a smaller sample size. Google has cooked up an autonomous car prototype with no steering wheel or brakes, although many argue cars should have these features at least until the technology is proven.

The survey also revealed that 72 percent of people think automakers should preserve the experience of manual driving. Most people around the globe still want to take control of the driving experience in some capacity; 69 percent want to be able to choose the route they will take in an autonomous car.

A whopping 72 percent of people believe car manufacturers will make autonomous cars a reality, rather than tech companies like Google. But 80 percent of drivers also expect automakers to accept liability for accidents while vehicles are operating in autonomous mode.

In one part of its survey, Volvo narrows in on U.S. consumers, and it turns out people’s opinions vary widely based on the region in which they live. Nine out of 10 New Yorkers and 86 percent of Californians feel autonomous cars could make life easier, but residents of Illinois and Texas are less accepting. Only 52 percent of Illinois residents say they trust autonomous cars, down 10 percent from the national average. And only 60 percent of Texans are convinced of the safety benefits of autonomous cars, down from the average of 69 percent.

Check out the infographic below for more survey results. Where do you stand on autonomous cars?

Source: Motor Trend

Uber’s carsharing service UberPool has been used more than 1 million times in London since it launched six months ago, according to a report by The Telegraph.

The service allows Uber users to share their rides if they are going in the same direction. The fares are 25% cheaper than the typical Uber trip, says the report.

Since its launch, more than 700,000 driving miles have been saved compared to if the trips had been taken solo, Jo Bertram, Uber’s U.K. head, told The Telegraph.

“We’re really pleased so many Londoners have chosen to share their journeys in the first few months of this new service,” Bertram told The Telegraph. “Not only does carsharing save consumers money, it’s also good for our city as it means fewer miles driven and less air pollution.”

Source:Auto Rental News

Rental car companies are looking to get a refund of a tax collected by the city of Phoenix, according to a report by the Associated Press. These rental companies won a court order for the return of about $150 million in taxes from a fund that pays for the University of Phoenix stadium.

The Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority depends on revenue from the 3.25% rental car tax to make debt payments on the University of Phoenix stadium as well as to promote tourism and pay for Cactus League stadiums.

The rental companies are seeking a refund of money that they have paid in sales taxes over the past four years, according to the report. An Arizona judge ruled that the rental car tax went against a state constitutional provision. Taxes imposed on the use of vehicles — on public streets — are restricted to funding road construction, maintenance, and related purposes.

On Wednesday, a federal law went into effect that prevents car rental companies from renting vehicles that have been recalled by the manufacturer until they are properly repaired.

According to ABCNews.com, the new law comes after years of hard work from Cally Houck and her family following the deaths of her two daughters in a rental car crash; a vehicle that was under recall, but never fixed.

Raechel and Jacqueline Houck were 24 and 20 years old, respectively, when they were involved in the accident that killed them in 2004. The two women were driving a Chrysler PT Cruiser rented from Enterprise when it began to leak steering fluid and caught fire. The car then crashed into a tractor trailer.

It was later discovered that the vehicle had been recalled due to the potential fire hazard, but was rented to the sisters anyway. After more than a decade of fighting for justice, though, their mother Cally feels vindicated that a similar situation will not happen again thanks to the new federal law.

“I’m proud of our efforts, I’m so grateful for the help of consumer advocates who rallied behind this,” Houck told ABC News. “We all worked together and we didn’t give up. We remained firm and committed.”

The new law passed as part of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act of 2015 last year and was signed by President Barack Obama into law in December. The regulation does make car rental companies with 35 or fewer cars exempt, a compromise from the original proposal of any company with 10 cars or more.

“I feel we’ve won a huge battle, but we haven’t quite won the war,” Houck told ABC News. “And the war is for corporations to take responsibility in any kind of situation where you have a recalled product and that recalled product causes injury.”

Source: Travel Pulse