Category Archives: news analysis

Bahrain – Audi One, Two. Porsche Wins Drivers’ Title

Posted on 21 November 2016 by Ken Zino

In its last race in World Endurance Cup, Audi dominated Bahrain by taking the first two spots on the podium. However, the new WEC driver world champions, Romain Dumas (FR), Neel Jani (CH) and Marc Lieb (DE) in the #2 Porsche only came in sixth after contact with another car early in the race. Continue reading →

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Bosch CEO – Car as We Know It Will Soon Be History

Posted on 17 November 2016 by Ken Zino

Between 2017 and 2022, the global market for connected mobility is expected to grow by nearly 25% annually. Just a few years from now, cars will be an active part of the internet of things (IoT), able to communicate with other connected modes of transportation, and even with the smart home. Continue reading →

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Pew – Digital Commerce Platforms Help and Exploit Workers

Posted on 17 November 2016 by Ken Zino

About 24% of Americans earned money from the digital platform economy in the past year as gig work is blurring the lines between formal and casual labor, “jobs” and hobbies. Continue reading →

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Rail Roads Can Save Lives

Posted on 17 November 2016 by Ken Zino

The OneRail Coalition released a new study today, “Rail Safety in the United States” that highlighted a 31% decline in rail accidents over the past 10 years, making rail transport significantly safer than other transportation. Continue reading →

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Hyundai Motor America Shows Ioniq Unlimited EV

Posted on 16 November 2016 by Ken Zino

The Ioniq Unlimited will be available in California in early 2017 with no down payment in an EV market that is struggling at less than 1% of total U.S. sales of more than 17 million units annually. Continue reading →

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Mercedes-Maybach Convertible Debuts at Los Angeles

Posted on 16 November 2016 by Ken Zino

The Mercedes Maybach S650 Convertible debuted today at the Los Angeles Auto show as a, deserved, limited-edition model – 300 worldwide and 75 units in the U.S. Continue reading →

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U.S. Thanksgiving: 48.7 Million Traveling. Most on Wheels

Posted on 15 November 2016 by Ken Zino

AAA projects that 48.7 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more from home this Thanksgiving, an increase of one million travelers compared with last year. Continue reading →

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Collision Course – Trump, Mexico, NAFTA

Posted on 15 November 2016 by Ken Zino

Despite what appears to be Trumps ill-informed trade views – if they are informed at all – CAR using data, not diatribes, observes that the major reason for this rapid growth of the auto industry in Mexico comes from the injection of $13.3 billion in investment to move 3.3 million units of vehicle capacity from Japan, Germany, and South Korea to Mexico Continue reading →

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Trump versus Auto Industry – Outcome Could be Ugly

Posted on 11 November 2016 by Ken Zino

The crucial question – and unknown – is to what extent campaign rhetoric translates into real policy decisions under a Trump administration. In gridlocked Washington, this won’t be known for, well, who knows how long? Continue reading →

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Toyota to Export from Turkey the C-HR to Canada and U.S.

Posted on 10 November 2016 by Ken Zino

The election of the Donald Trump TI model (Tariff Isolationist)* brings an interesting twist to the announcement today that Toyota will export into Canada and the U.S. its new compact C-HR crossover, which debuted last November as a Scion concept in Los Angeles. (Maybe it should have been called the Scion RIP?) Continue reading →

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Unifor Autoworkers Ratify Ford Canada Contract

Posted on 8 November 2016 by Ken Zino

The new agreement achieved the union’s top priority to secure investment, product and jobs at the Windsor operations and it follows the pattern of financial gains achieved with GM and Fiat-Chrysler. Continue reading →

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Volkswagen Dumps FIA World Rally Championship

Posted on 2 November 2016 by Ken Zino

Both FIA sanctioned racing series were ruinously expensive. Now VW is facing seemingly unending expenses in the dieselgate matter. More criminal charges are also under investigation. A proposed new customer racing program and the extension of existing ones will cut costs, and might even make money. Continue reading →

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Toyota Mobility Services Via Car Sharing Firm Getaround

Posted on 1 November 2016 by Ken Zino

Toyota Motor will establish a Mobility Services Platform (MSPF) to collaborate with various car sharing providers, as well as telematics insurance. Continue reading →

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ExxonMobil Under Scrutiny for Its Climate Change Propaganda

Posted on 28 October 2016 by Ken Zino

In a disturbing development with broad First Amendment implications, ExxonMobil is lashing out against the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and others – in the words of UCS, “who feel they are holding them accountable for their decades of deception.” Continue reading →

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IBM and GM Debut a “Cognitive Mobility Platform”

Posted on 28 October 2016 by Ken Zino

Translation: more distracted driving enablers are coming. OnStar has more connected vehicles on the road than any other automaker. By the end of 2016, GM expects to have 12 million OnStar connected vehicles on the road worldwide. Continue reading →

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