Sonari Glinton
Sonari Glinton is a NPR Business Desk Correspondent based at our NPR West bureau. He covers the auto industry, consumer goods, and consumer behavior, as well as marketing and advertising for NPR and Planet Money.
In this position, which he has held since late 2010, Glinton has tackled big stories including GM's road back to profitability and Toyota's continuing struggles. In addition, Glinton covered the 2012 presidential race, the Winter Olympics in Sochi, as well as the U.S. Senate and House for NPR.
Glinton came to NPR in August 2007 and worked as a producer for All Things Considered. Over the years Glinton has produced dozen of segments about the great American Song Book and pop culture for NPR's signature programs most notably the 50 Great Voices piece on Nat King Cole feature he produced for Robert Siegel.
Glinton began his public radio career as an intern at Member station WBEZ in Chicago. He worked his way through his public radio internships working for Chicago Jazz impresario Joe Segal, waiting tables and meeting legends such as Ray Brown, Oscar Brown Jr., Marian MacPartland, Ed Thigpen, Ernestine Andersen, and Betty Carter.
Glinton attended Boston University. A Sinatra fan since his mid-teens, Glinton's first forays into journalism were album revues and a college jazz show at Boston University's WTBU. In his spare time Glinton indulges his passions for baking, vinyl albums, and the evolution of the Billboard charts.
-
The Model 3 is supposed to take Tesla mainstream and bring it to profitability. But CEO Elon Musk's company has missed production goals, and analysts wonder whether he's spreading himself too thin. -
NPR's Sonari Glinton has been out observing the state of retail sales in Los Angeles on Black Friday. He tells NPR's Elise Hu what he's discovered in the huge after Thanksgiving sales.
-
More than half of black Americans say they've experienced racial discrimination in hiring, promotions and pay, according to a new poll. For some, the answer is to become their own boss.
-
The touch screen systems in new vehicles are distracting, increasing the risk of accidents. That's according to a new study from the University of Utah. Researchers say all 30 systems they tested cause some level of driver distraction. A prominent safety advocate says automakers can make their systems safer by preventing drivers from using certain features when the car is moving.
-
With more than 1 million autos damaged in recent hurricanes, rental firms have had to move cars quickly into affected areas. That involves tech tools and data, keys to a future of autonomous fleets. -
Having put off buying cars and becoming homeowners, America's largest demographic is starting to make big-ticket purchases. -
Diesel vehicles have caused more than their fair share of drama in the last few years. They have cost Volkswagen billions in fines and judgments. Chrysler is defending itself against allegations of cheating on emissions, and several other companies are still under investigation. But diesel manages to hang on.
-
Hackett's job description: Prepare Ford for a future of self-driving cars and keep things profitable by selling trucks. While Hackett has a unique set of skills, that's still an extremely tall order. -
Ford has just come off two straight years of record earnings. Its F-150 trucks are the best selling vehicles in America. But none of this was enough to save CEO Mark Fields' job. The career Ford executive has been replaced by a relative newcomer, Jim Hackett. One reason for the move: Ford's stock price tumbled nearly 40 percent in the three years Fields was at the helm.
-
Most consumers test drive only one vehicle before they buy. But with so much new technology and features in today's cars and trucks, a thorough test drive is more important than ever.
