Skip to main content
Washington, D.C., Bureau Chief

Fred Meier

Former D.C. Bureau Chief Fred Meier, who lives every day with Washington gridlock, has an un-American love of small wagons and hatchbacks.

Articles by Fred Meier

Jaguar will build the XE SV Project 8, an XE sedan with a 592-horsepower 
 V-8 and all-wheel drive.
Kia is showing a redesign of its global Rio subcompact sedan and 
 hatchback at the 2017 New York auto show.
The Feds have upgraded a probe of exhaust fumes in Ford Explorer and 
 Police Interceptor SUVs and added two more model years.
 
Honda has confirmed that a Takata airbag inflator ruptured in a fatal 
 collision last week in Florida.
The EPA and California Air Resources Board have approved a fix for VW's 
 325,000 oldest 2.0-liter diesel.
Gas-electric hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles also would be banned in 
 move to go fully electric.
Mazda now will install airbag inflators with new type of propellant, which 
 replaces a 2016 recall that made temporary repairs.
No replacement is immediately planned for the former FX mid-size SUV 
 that first appeared in 2003.
Ford is resisting a recall on a different Takata airbag inflator as another 
 death is linked to the type of inflators already recalled.
The GT is fully redesigned and adds a turbocharged GT Sport as a 
 performance model to take on a growing field of compact hatchbacks.