Monthly Archives: May 2012

NHTSA Opens Inquiry on Hyundai Elantra Airbags for Head Cuts

Posted on 14 May 2012 by Ken Zino

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administrating has opened a preliminary defect evaluation on 2012 Hyundai Elantra side curtain airbags because of a driver’s complaint of cuts to his ear or face. On opening the investigation, NHTSA said it appears that the metal component caused a laceration to the driver’s ear/face. Continue reading →

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Airlines Post Record On-Time Performance but Complaints Up

Posted on 14 May 2012 by Ken Zino

Between January and March this year, the nation’s largest airlines posted their best on-time arrival rate for the first quarter of any year since the Department of Transportation began collecting comparable flight delay data in 1995. Supporters cite this as a clear example of the effectiveness of government regulation back by stiff fines. Continue reading →

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Smart Escooter Coming in 2014

Posted on 14 May 2012 by Ken Zino

Daimler has confirmed that the Smart E-Scooter will go on sale in 2014 at an unspecified price. First introduced as a concept from its Chinese studios at the Paris Motor Show in 2010, the fully electric Escooter is part of a range of electric vehicles including the Smart Fourtwo and Smart Ebike that are targeted for the European Union, which wants to ban all internal combustion engines from inner cities. Continue reading →

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Ford Expands Windstar Corrosion Recalls, Adds Axle failures

Posted on 14 May 2012 by Ken Zino

Ford Motor is once again expanding a corrosion recall on 1998-2003 Windstar minivans because a supplier failed to properly e-coat the suspension components, which makes the vehicles susceptible to sudden failures of the steering, front sub-frame and/or rear axle. In a massive recall announced in January of 2011, more than 425,000 Ford Windstar minivans were recalled because the steering fails because of rusting problems. NHTSA opened an engineering investigation in July of 2010 into the ongoing Windstar rust problem. Continue reading →

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Nissan Posts Operating Profit of ¥45.8 Billion For F.Y. 2011

Posted on 14 May 2012 by Ken Zino

The Nissan results with a net of $4.32 billion was in sharp contrast to Toyota Motor Corporation’s F.Y. net profit decline to ¥283.56 billion or $3.6 billion, a -31% decrease. Nissan also out performed Honda Motor whose net profit declined slightly at ¥211.4 ($2.627 billion) for a -3.5% drop. Continue reading →

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Ford Recalls Electronic PRNDL for False Position Indication

Posted on 14 May 2012 by Ken Zino

Ford Motor is recalling Expedition, F-150 Mustang and Lincoln Navigator models because the electronically controlled gearshift indicator does not show the vehicle is in reverse increasing the risk of a crash. Continue reading →

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Carroll Shelby – Sports Car Racer and Builder – Dead at 89

Posted on 11 May 2012 by Ken Zino

Carroll Hall Shelby, a legendary sports car racer and builder died Thursday at age 89, his company, Carroll Shelby International, said today. The creator of the Cobra, Shelby passed away yesterday at Baylor Hospital in Dallas. Carroll Shelby is the only man to have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race as a driver, team owner and automotive manufacturer. Shelby once told me that he “spent a ton of old man Ford’s money, and kicked Ferrari’s ass,” which his team did for successive years at the 24 Hours of Le Mans until a rule change made the brutally fast and reliable cars illegal. Continue reading →

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Justice Department Seizes Chinese Counterfeit Sports Jerseys

Posted on 11 May 2012 by Ken Zino

Why the Obama Administration in general, and the State Department under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have not taken stronger actions against ongoing corrupt Chinese business practices is an unanswered issue here. Why Major League baseball and the National Football League, among other sports organizations, remain silent over the widespread counterfeiting of their apparel is a disgrace and mocks their hard-working, law-abiding U.S. fans. Will the multi-millionaire players living off law-abiding fans ever wake up and demand action or are they too rich to care? Continue reading →

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Volkswagen Group April Sales at 732,000 are Up 6%

Posted on 11 May 2012 by Ken Zino

The Volkswagen Group in Wolfsburg today said sales increased for the month of April to 732,000 vehicles. Compared to April 2011 at 690,800, this represented a 6% gain. Year-to-date VW Group sold 2.89 million vehicles for an increase of 8.6% percent (January-April 2011: 2.66 m). Europe’s largest automaker and the Number Two Global automaker behind General Motors outperformed the overall market, which grew by 6% during the year.
Continue reading →

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Thirty Percent of Ford Shareholders Vote against Family Control

Posted on 10 May 2012 by Ken Zino

While a grand total of 63 people bothered to attend the Ford Motor Company annual meeting of shareholders in Wilmington, Delaware today, 29.5% of investors or 1,283,063,982 of them voted against Ford family control of the company through their holdings of Class B stock, which has 16 votes per share as opposed to one per share of common, assuming no one in the Ford family voted for losing power.
Continue reading →

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Chrysler Recalls 2012 Ram 1500 Over a Decal

Posted on 10 May 2012 by Ken Zino

The affected vehicles have a spare tire that does not match the specifications listed on the tire placard. These Ram pickup trucks fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 110, “tire selection and rims.” Continue reading →

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Ford China Sales Rebound in April with 24% Gain

Posted on 10 May 2012 by Ken Zino

After three straight months of declining sales in China, Ford Motor said today that sales increased 24% year-over-year to 54,881 based on wholesale deliveries. Ford China has now sold 176,274 vehicles year-to-date in China. Market leader General Motors and its communist government required joint ventures in China set a domestic sales record for April of 227,217 vehicles. Demand was up 11.7% from the same month in 2011. Its performance in April took GM’s sales for the first four months of the year to 972,369 units, an increase of 9.4% on an annual basis. GM has now sold more than one million vehicles in China. Continue reading →

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EPA Drops Gas Station Vapor Recovery Regulation

Posted on 10 May 2012 by Ken Zino

In an election year where all federal agencies are incorporating political talking points from the ruling party into their releases, EPA claimed this final rule is part of the Obama Administration’s initiative to ensure that regulations protect public health and the environment without being unnecessarily burdensome to American businesses. Significantly, no health or environmental effect data were provided in the EPA release. Continue reading →

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Toyota Motor 2012 Results Down 31% to $3.6 Billion Profit

Posted on 9 May 2012 by Ken Zino

Toyota Motor posted results for Fiscal Year 2012 ending 31 March that saw its net profit decline to ¥283.56 billion or $3.6 billion. A strong recovery in sales and earnings in the second half of the fiscal year was not enough to offset a poor first half, which was hurt by natural disasters in Japan and Thailand, which disrupted production. Continue reading →

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Daimler Q1 Net Profit of €1,416 Million is Up 20%

Posted on 9 May 2012 by Ken Zino

Daimler said the increase came from the ongoing growth of unit sales at Mercedes-Benz Cars and Daimler Trucks. In the first quarter of 2012, the Daimler Group sold a total of 502,100 cars and commercial vehicles worldwide, up 9% from Q1 2011. Daimler expects to sell more than 2.1 million vehicles globally during 2012. Continue reading →

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