Category Archives: news analysis

Inside Job – Mark Reuss Named General Motors President

Reuss once kicked the author’s butt at a closed track in New York State. It’s surprising when the North American president of an auto company appears at a race track to drive a car he worked on as an engineer. It’s embarrassing, though, when he’s as fast, well frankly faster, than any hot shoe out there. I was looking at Reuss’s taillights – in the distance. (see AutoInformed on Driving the Cadillac CTS-V Coupe) Continue reading

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Geely moves Closer to Owning AB Volvo. Chinese Company Owns the Car Brand and Is Buying Into the Truck Business.

China’s Geely Holding [GEELY.UL], owner of the Volvo car brand, is buying an 8.2% stake in Volvo (VOLVb.ST) from Cevian Capital. This is worth more than $3 billion at market prices. This makes Geely the biggest individual shareholder in AB Volvo and second ranked in terms of voting rights behind Swedish investment firm Industrivarden (INDUa.ST). Continue reading

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Predictably – So-Called Tokyo “Court” Secretly Prolongs Detention of Carlos Ghosn By 10 Days According to TV Asahi

Ghosn, accused of aggravated breach of trust, is facing allegations of making the car maker take on ¥1.85 billion ($16.8 million) in investment losses that allegedly were his. (See AutoInformed from last Sunday: Japanese Justice or Farce?) Continue reading

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Stefan Juraschek on BMW Electric Car Development

We currently produce the following electrified models: the BMW i3 (third model evolution with 120 Ah) , BMW i3s, BMW i8 Coupe, BMW i8 Roadster, BMW 740e, BMW 740Le, BMW 530e, BMW 225xe Active Tourer, MINI Cooper S E Countryman ALL4 and, in China, the BMW X1 xDrive25Le. Continue reading

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Mobility Company Capital Destruction. Latest German JV Attempts to Lessen Negative Effects on Shareholder Value

It’s just the latest example of the capital intensive, shareholder-value destroying transition to an ill-defined, but demonstrably expensive mobility company that all automakers are now pursuing. Continue reading

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Japanese Justice or Farce?

Carlos Ghosn remains in a tiny jail cell in jail for at least the rest of the year, a Tokyo court ruled today, Sunday 23 December 2018. Ghosn stays locked up until January 1, giving the Japanese “authorities” added time to question him – without his lawyer present – on more alleged wrongdoings as Nissan Motors CEO. Continue reading

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The GM Grinch that Stole Christmas, or Did It?

There will be a 15% reduction in GM’s salaried workforce, the closing of the Lordstown and Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plants in the US and the Oshawa complex in Canada in 2019. Baltimore Operations and Warren Transmission plants will also be shut down in 2019. The arrival of year-end auto sales data makes things clearer in the view of consultancy LMC. Continue reading

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Car Rental Rate Holiday Rip-Offs

Travelers in need of a rental car in Seattle this Christmas will pay a lot more than usual. According to a new survey from CheapCarRental.net, rental car rates have nearly quadrupled in the city for the holidays. Continue reading

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2018 Auto Retail Sales Down. Transaction Prices Set Record

“Despite retail sales falling for the sixth consecutive month, the continued growth in transaction prices is allowing manufacturers to offset lower sales with higher revenue,” claims Thomas King, Senior Vice President of the Data and Analytics Division at J.D. Power. “Consumers are on pace to spend nearly $45 billion on autos in December, up 1% from last year and the highest level ever recorded.” Continue reading

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European Court Annuls Real Driving Emissions Limits. Cleaner Diesel Deception Threatened. They Can Be Banned from Cities

Their argument is provocative: “While the European Commission did not seek to increase the headline 80 mg/km emissions limit for diesel vehicles, which must still be adhered to in the laboratory test, they granted “Conformity Factors” that in effect did increase the limits for the harder, on-road part of the test. As a result, all diesel vehicles only had to meet 168 mg/km by September 2019, falling to 114 mg/km by January 2021. This was in practice a large increase in the permissible emissions limit.” Continue reading

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Japanese Scrooges Run Amok as Carlos Ghosn Re-Arrested. Christmas Locked Up for the Gaijin!

Prosecutors then re-arrested Ghosn on new charges in a sordid tale that goes back to Ghosn’s first arrest on 19 November 2018. Ghosn could now be in a tiny jail cell for another 10 days or more, where he has been locked up since last month on initial allegations of financial misconduct. Continue reading

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Nissan Mired in Japanese Corporate Governance Scandals

The latest development also casts doubt about the origination and integrity of a Nissan internal investigation into former Chairman Carlos Ghosn who is due to be released today after a month in Japanese jail for allegedly under reporting deferred income. Ghosn says he will vigorously defend his actions. Continue reading

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Trump Record Deficit Watch – Another Proposed Increase

More than a year ago, President Trump pledged to eliminate the national debt “over a period of eight years.” But for the first time in history, the national debt surpassed $21 trillion, while Trump is facing 17 criminal investigations, another presidential record. Continue reading

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Black versus White Hat Cyber Attacks on Your Vehicle

While White hat attacks may uncover significant vulnerabilities that should be calls for action, research-based attacks do not have malicious intent, according to Upstream Security. White hat attacks can cause financial damage or problems for a brand. However, it’s claimed by those doing them for sales purposes, that for many companies, the warnings they receive from researchers or even technologically capable consumers are helpful to their security optimization and improvement. Continue reading

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Automotive Cyber Attacks Continue to Increase

In 2018, for the first time in history in the automotive industry, so-called Black hat or cybercriminal attacks have overtaken White hat or security researcher attacks. Continue reading

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