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Author Archives: Ken Zino
Electrify America Adds Solar EV Charging in Rural California
Electrify America’s EV charging infrastructure plans in California include a commitment to increasing access to EV charging infrastructure in rural areas of the state, to both facilitate regional travel and drive adoption of EVs in rural communities. With complimentary charging, the new solar units help remove two barriers to EV adoption in these locations – access to public charging and affordability. The network said it ensured that more than half of these chargers were located in disadvantaged and low-income communities, demonstrating the company’s ongoing commitment to serve these populations. Continue reading
Toyota R&D Patent Leader Among US Automakers Again
“Toyota continues to invest heavily in its robust research and development pipeline and has received more than 1,400 patents related to autonomous vehicle technology since 2003. Every hour, Toyota invests over $1 million in emerging technology globally, and has invested over $1 billion in R&D related to automated vehicles and robotics since 2017,” Toyota said. Continue reading
Good and Bad? January US Light Vehicle Sales Down -3%
Projections for 2020 Global Light Vehicle sales ended at 77.7 million units, down -14% from 2019 and with a stronger recovery than expected initially. LMC maintains that 2021 is poised to continue the recovery, with volume projected at 86.5 million units, up 11% from 2020. AI thinks while the past isn’t a 100% sure predictor of the future, the new – perhaps more virulent strains of the Covid virus, the nationalistic fights over vaccines, the emergence of fascism and sedition in the US, and stricter and ongoing social controls in most major market are huge risks. Continue reading
Posted in news analysis, results, sales
Tagged auto industry commentary, autoinformed, autoinformed.com, Jeff Schuster, Ken Zino, lmc, semiconductor shortage
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Mazda Increases Forecast for Fiscal Year Ending March 31
In a victory of sorts over COVID19, Mazda Motor Corporation today revised upwards its consolidated financial forecast for the Fiscal Year Ending 31 March 2021. Nevertheless Mazda is still losing money and is in a perilous, company-threatening position with huge soaring debt and ongoing breathtaking operating losses. Continue reading
Daimler to Spin-Off Daimler Truck into Separate Company
Actually, current Daimler shareholders will be Mercedes-Benz holders since the Daimler name will be recast as Mercedes-Benz at “the appropriate time.” Both companies, whatever they are called, are in mobility industries that are facing disruptive technological and structural changes that threaten survival. Continue reading
Ford to Upgrade, Expand South African Plant for 2022 Ranger
Silverton will become one of the first Ford plants globally to achieve “Island Mode” status, becoming entirely energy self-sufficient and carbon neutral by 2024. The plant also will manufacture Volkswagen pickups trucks as part of the Ford-VW alliance. Continue reading
Mazda Posts US, Mexico 2021 January Sales Results
The CX5 at 13,583 accounts for more than 53% of MNAO sales. Continue reading
Toyota’s 2020 Global Sales down -10.5% Year-on-Year
The best-selling Toyota vehicle from January to December was the RAV4, with global sales of 994,000 units (up 2.9% year-on-year). This RAV4 result was due to strong sales in North America, the primary market, as well as in China, which had sales of 175,000 units (up 37.9% year-on-year). Continue reading
Posted in economy, results, sales
Tagged auto industry commentary, autoinformed, autoinformed.com, Ken Zino, Toyota Motor 2020 Global Sales
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Ford Picks Google over Apple for Connected Vehicle Offerings
This raises yet again privacy concerns and who owns and can sell your personal information. The Pew Research Center notes that a digitally networked society runs on, well, quid pro quos. In this non-impeachable case, people exchange details about themselves and their activities for services and products on the web or apps. Continue reading
IndustriALL Global, IndustriAll European Trade Union Ask for Justice and Solidarity in Covid Fight
“No continent, no country, no economy, no person will be safe until the whole world is safe. Vaccine nationalism is a short-sighted response to this global problem. It will prolong the pandemic and the threat of new variants endangering us all. We stand for the right of universal access to vaccination,” said IndustriALL. Continue reading
Volkswagen Group Starts Small Scale EV Battery Recycling
Salzgitter only recycles batteries that can no longer be used for other purposes. Before the battery is recycled, an analysis determines whether the battery is still powerful enough to be given a second life in mobile energy storage systems such as the flexible rapid charging station or the mobile charging robot. Larger volumes of battery returns are not expected until the late 2020s at the earliest. Continue reading
Environmental About Face – General Motors Ditching Internal Combustion Engines by 2035. Carbon Neutral by 2040?
More than half of GM’s capital spending and product development team will be devoted to electric and electric-autonomous vehicle programs. And in the coming years, GM plans to offer an EV for every customer, from crossovers and SUVs to trucks and sedans. This neatly coincides with President Biden’s executive orders dealing with climate change and converting federal fleets to EVs. The success of the initiative will depend on the voters, err buyers, who will ultimately decide. Continue reading
Nissan Establishes Carbon Neutral Goal for 2050
The company’s electrification and emissions reduction efforts support the aims of the U.N. Paris Agreement on climate change and global progress toward carbon neutrality by 2050. Continue reading
Ford to Manufacture Mustang Mach-E in China
Ford will also localize production of the Mustang Mach-E’s GT performance edition in China, a first by a global automaker to locally manufacture high-performance editions. The GT high performance edition will adopt a front and rear dual-motor layout, joining the 3-second club with its impressive 0-100km/h acceleration capabilities. Continue reading

Subsidized Mercedes-Benz Compact EQA EV Available to Order
As confusing as this all sounds, Mercedes actually has reduced the complexity of its EQA models. Instead of having to decide between more than 100 individual options, customers have a choice of three pre-configured packages. Continue reading →