Japanese automakers are accelerating moves to equip their new models with technologies emerging from their efforts to develop fully self-driving vehicles.

Driving automation has six levels from zero to 5. The government seeks to put Level 4 mobility services into practical use by around 2025. Level 4 vehicles automatically perform all driving tasks under specific circumstances.

According to Honda senior VP Ian Howells, the Japanese carmaker wants to phase out pure internal combustion engine models from its European range by 2023, as part of a multi-pathway approach to reducing its carbon footprint.

General Motors has no plans to offer wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for pre-2021MY vehicles.

Nissan will start offering its Safety Shield 360 suite of active safety gear as standard on 10 of its U.S. models come next year.

Virtually every automaker has embraced the blackout trend, but Mazda is going in a slightly different direction as they've announced three new Carbon Editions.

Infiniti raised more than a few eyebrows when it announced plans to follow a strategy it described as Nissan-Plus. Although this term suggests the brand's image will be dangerously watered down, its chief executive stressed its flag will remain firmly planted in the luxury car segment as he outlined what to expect in the coming years.

The executive team led by Infiniti boss Peyman Kargar will reboot the company with a focus on profitability. "Premium brands should bring more money to the company, so that's the objective. We are not at the level we want to be," he told Automotive News. Several new products are on their way, including a crossover with a fastback-like roofline named QX55, and Kargar clarified many future models will ride on an architecture shared with parent company Nissan. It will be compatible with gasoline-powered, hybrid and electric drivetrains.

The modern-day Alpine A110 is a great sports car with a very bad timing. The automobile industry is going electric, buyers are flocking to SUVs and the coronavirus pandemic has affected all automakers, including Renault, who is still trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

PARIS — Renault is preparing to substantially reduce its vehicle range, withdrawing well-known but ailing models like the Espace minivans, as part of looming cost cutting plans, four sources in the industry and close to the French carmaker said.

The company, shaken by the downfall of its once star CEO Carlos Ghosn and by setbacks in its main markets, is set to detail at the end of the month how it aims to cut costs by 2 billion euros ($2.16 billion) over the next three years.

To the list of things car enthusiasts can do to combat coronavirus quarantine boredom, or keep their restless kids diverted, Inifiniti is serving up what it's calling "Carigami." It's exactly what it sounds like: origami for cars, more or less.

Three models are offered — the Q50 sedan, QX80 SUV and the now-discontinued FX crossover — all in 1:27 scale. All you need is a printer and paper, a craft knife and some glue.

Subaru has issued a safety recall for select examples of the 2019 Outback wagon, Ascent SUV, Legacy sedan, and Impreza hatchback. These vehicles might have a fuel pump that could stop working and cause the engine to stall. 

Between June 18, 2018, and February 25, 2019, Subaru believes it installed fuel pumps that could have a defect. According to filed recall documents, these vehicles might have low-pressure fuel pumps with "an impeller that was manufactured with a lower density." Should that impeller be exposed to solvent drying for longer periods of time, it could crack. Subaru says cracks could lead to "excessive fuel absorption, resulting in impeller deformation." 

While the coronavirus pathogen and the COVID-19 illness dominates the news, auto manufacturers are give people fun distractions (that also keep the companies in those people's minds) by offering positive car-related activities. Audi has offered Zoom video conferencing backgrounds, Porsche recently released a documentary, and Aston Martin released downloadable images for coloring. This week, Toyota contributed to quarantine play time with templates for foldable Toyota 86 coupe models with retro liveries.

In total, Toyota released templates for six different-looking 86 models, but they're technically not new. These were originally created for Toyota's 50th anniversary in the United Kingdom and dropped around the time of the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed. Each livery is a nod to an important vehicle from Toyota's past, and Toyota actually created real cars with the same looks using vinyl wraps. 

Mazda is turning 100 years old in 2020, and it's commemorating the occasion by releasing eight retro-inspired limited-edition models in its home country of Japan. Some of them might be available in the United States.

Cars weren't initially on the company's radar. It started life as a cork manufacturer named Toyo Kogyo, and it branched out into the transportation sector when it introduced a three-wheeled, motorcycle-based pickup called Mazda-Go in 1931. Its first car, the R360, was unveiled in 1960 as a two-door four-seater whose tiny dimensions fell in line with Japan's strict kei regulations. It's the model Mazda's celebratory cars are inspired by.

Land Rover promoted the Defender nameplate to one of its brand pillars; the others are Discovery and Range Rover. It's planning to build a full line of models around the born-again off-roader, including smaller crossovers.

Australian website Which Car learned the British firm is in the early stages of designing an aluminum-intensive platform it will use to underpin smaller models. One will borrow styling cues from the second-generation Defender (pictured) to take on the Jeep Renegade, a move which would push Land Rover further downmarket than it's been in many years. Another will slot in the Range Rover family, below the Evoque, as an alternative to the Audi Q2 sold overseas and the Mercedes-Benz GLA. Sister company Jaguar might use the architecture, too.

As it turns out, those rumors are wrong yet again. This is according to Nintendo’s CEO and President Shuntaro Furukawa who said that the company has no plans to launch a new Switch model in 2020. While Furukawa acknowledges that the Switch is in the halfway through its hardware lifecycle, he believes that they can still get more out of the current model instead of releasing a new one.

According to Furukawa, “According to the conventional wisdom for dedicated video game platforms, Nintendo Switch should be entering the midway phase of the hardware lifecycle. But we believe we have built a foundation on which we can pursue further growth opportunities for Nintendo Switch.”