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The scramble for scarce tires

North American automakers are struggling with a nagging shortage of tires, caused in part by tire plant closings and rising demand for low-volume specialty tires. Automakers are paying much higher prices -- double-digit percentage increases from a year ago -- as tire makers gain pricing power. "We have been bombarded from every side for additional tires, and we can't keep up," said David O'Donnell, Continental Tire's vice president of original equipment in the Americas.

July 11: Visiting a rival

I will take it to work all week, including Wednesday when I go to Santa Monica to drive a Nissan Leaf electric car. I wonder how they'll take to seeing a competitor in the parking lot. Not far enough to worry about range, though I will look for a charging spot in Santa Monica.

SAIC Roewe-MG Cup design competition winners announced

The results of SAIC's Roewe-MG Cup design competition are in, with East China Normal University student Sun Jiajun taking top honors with his 850 Celebration concept. Themed ‘Roewe 2020: Elegant Confidence', the contest asked Chinese university students to design a future sedan, SUV or MPV for Roewe in 2020. Coming in second behind Jiajun were Qian Junlin and Zhang Mingxi, both of Jiang Nan University.