Category Archives: news analysis

Class Action Suit Filed Against MyFord Touch System

Posted on 16 July 2013 by Ken Zino

A well-know, or infamous, national law firm has filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that Ford Motor Company’s MyFord Touch, MyLincoln Touch and MyMercury Touch touchscreen systems are defective. The firm of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro claims that the system often freezes, fails to respond to voice and touch commands and will not connect to mobile phones. Continue reading →

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Auto Thefts Rise in the Summer Months

Posted on 10 July 2013 by Ken Zino

Every 44 seconds a motor vehicle is stolen in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. NHTSA data also show that only 52% of stolen vehicles are recovered. Continue reading →

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Renault-Nissan Cut 2012 Costs by €2.69 billion

Posted on 5 July 2013 by Ken Zino

Only new savings – not cumulative ones – are taken into account every year. As a result, the Alliance that was established in 1999 when Nissan was facing bankruptcy, arguably now has the longest-lasting cross-cultural partnership in the auto industry. Paris-based Renault and Yokohama, Japan-based Nissan, which together sell one in 10 cars worldwide sold 8.1 million cars in nearly 200 countries in 2012. Continue reading →

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Light Duty Diesel Ram Ups Fuel Economy Ante in 2014

Posted on 1 July 2013 by Ken Zino

The comeback automaker, Chrysler Group, ups the ante in the ongoing pickup truck fuel economy wars by offering the first light duty diesel engine pared with an 8-speed automatic transmission, both exclusives in the segment. Just bring money – this is going to be a +$45,000 (or more) set of wheels, AutoInformed predicts. Continue reading →

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Guangqi Honda Selling Unique Crider in China. Exports Certain

Posted on 26 June 2013 by Ken Zino

Proving that automotive marketing babble is universal regardless of language, Honda said (in translation) that the Crider’s “dynamic exterior design inspired by an image of a dragon.” Such nonsense aside, Crider is certainly headed for export markets, making it a milestone car in the Chinese automobile industry, not unlike Honda’s decision as the first Japanese automaker to build cars in the U.S., although the Accord was a Japanese design. Continue reading →

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Ford, UAW and UAW Trust Launch ‘Cost Cutting’ Health Care

Posted on 24 June 2013 by Ken Zino

The two-year gambit is voluntary for hourly employees and non-Medicare retirees and comes from the 2011 Ford-UAW contract negotiations. The UAW, whose health care plans will ultimately be severely taxed for their lavishness under the misnamed “Affordable Health Care Act” has its own needs to institute a reform. Continue reading →

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Supreme Court Dismisses Ethanol Waiver Case

Posted on 24 June 2013 by Ken Zino

The United States Supreme Court today dismissed a petition by the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers or AFPM challenging an EPA regulation that allows for 15% ethanol in gasoline. Continue reading →

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Chrysler Finally Agrees to Fix Jeep Fuel Systems after a Long NHTSA Probe and Formal Recall Request

Posted on 18 June 2013 by Ken Zino

Chrysler Group will recall 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee and 2002-07 Jeep Liberty vehicles, it announced this afternoon. The reversal follows two years of investigation and a recent disagreement on 4 June between Chrysler and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, aka NHTSA, when Chrysler refused to recall the vehicles. NHTSA appears to have stared down the Fiat-controlled company in what was a growing public relations disaster. Continue reading →

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New ACEA Head Announced as EU Crisis Continues

Posted on 17 June 2013 by Ken Zino

The automotive sector contributes positively to the EU trade balance with a €92 billion surplus, much of it at the expense of American autoworkers who pay taxes to underwrite lavishly NATO and European defense budgets giving German automakers in particular an unfair subsidy according to a growing number of critics of the U.S. defense budget and the State Department under the ‘no jobs’ Obama administration. Continue reading →

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Automaker Defense of Hands-Free Devices Hooey AAA Says

Posted on 13 June 2013 by Ken Zino

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is taking on the oft-used automaker defense their profitable selling of hands-free electronic devices that are expanding exponentially in new cars. The latest data show that dangerous mental distractions exist even when drivers “keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road.” Continue reading →

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2013 Global Light Vehicle Sales Tracking at 83 million

Posted on 12 June 2013 by Ken Zino

Global light vehicle sales held steady in May with a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of sales of 82.8 million units a year, according to the latest data from LMC Automotive. The consultancy predicts that full-year 2013 sales will be 83.4 million units. Continue reading →

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Revised 2014 Chevrolet Malibu Coming after 2013 Flop

Posted on 31 May 2013 by Ken Zino

The badly outclassed Malibu raises once again the critical question whether General Motors is reformed after a $49.5 billion taxpayer funded bailout or has simply resumed its old losing ways that saw market share erode from almost 60% in 1960 to 18% today. Continue reading →

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Milestones – One Million Jeep Wranglers Made at Toledo

Posted on 20 May 2013 by Ken Zino

The sprawling Toledo complex, famous in its own right, became the center of a Romney Presidential campaign controversy last fall, when a desperate Romney trailing in virtually all industrial states used attack ads proclaiming that Chrysler was going to move the jobs in Toledo to China. It was a complete falsification and came as Chrysler was expanding and retooling the North Plant, where the all-new 2014 Jeep Cherokee will be built. Continue reading →

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Korean Trade Deficit Soars under Obama Administration Deal

Posted on 13 May 2013 by Ken Zino

The U.S. deficit with Korea in autos and auto parts increased 16% during the first year of the FTA. U.S. auto imports from Korea have surged by more than $2.5 billion. Continue reading →

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Ford Family Defeats One Share, One Vote at Annual Meeting

Posted on 13 May 2013 by Ken Zino

Once again, the Ford family with its 16 votes for every share of class B beat back a dissident shareholder proposal that would recapitalize the company at one vote per share. All told, a total of 5,734,531,807 votes were vote at the meeting. Continue reading →

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