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Category Archives: news analysis
GM, Ford and Chrysler Post Strong August Sales but Lag Market Growth as Japanese Production Recovers and Car Sales Soar
Coming at the opening of the Democratic Presidential convention, the ongoing recovery of job and wealth creating Detroit companies will be political fodder for the Administration in the face of Mitt Romney’s well established “let ‘em die stance” even though his firm Bain capital accepted a federal bailout as Rolling Stone magazine has just revealed. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, news, news analysis, results, sales
Tagged august auto sales, auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, bain capital, Ken Zino, rolling stone, u.s. august sales
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NEVS Completes Saab Asset Buy including the Brand Name
National Electric Vehicle Sweden or NEVS announced today that it completed the purchase of the main assets of bankrupt Saab Automobile, Saab Automobile Powertrain and Saab Automobile Tools. This includes the Phoenix platform, tools and the manufacturing plant in Trollhättan as well as test and laboratory facilities. NEVS has also signed a licensing agreement to use the Saab name on its future vehicles. Continue reading
Gulf Oil Opens Another E85 Station on Massachusetts Turnpike
It’s estimated that Massachusetts drivers own more than 100,000 FFVs that were produced because automakers receive generous CAFE credits whether or not the alternative fuel is actually used. It’s unknown how many drivers use the alternative fuel, but national consumption statistics suggest it’s slight. Worse, since ethanol does not have the energy density of good old gasoline, E85 needs to be roughly 25% cheaper for it to make economic sense for drivers. So far the fuel is about as successful as the Boston Red Sox this year. As a result, there are only 2,400 E85 ethanol fueling stations in the U.S. Continue reading
Posted in alternative fuels, auto news, energy, environment, news, news analysis
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, e15, e85, ethanol, ffvs, flex fuel, gulf oil, Ken Zino
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Lincoln to be Sold in China by Late 2014
The announcement means that Ford will have to pump a lot of money into the almost dead U.S. brand, which has virtually no global presence. In July, Lincoln sales dropped to just 7,000, off -11% year-over-year in a U.S. market that grew by 9%. Last year Lincoln sold 85,643 re-badged Fords, a flat performance in a market that’s up ~10% from 2010.Year-to-date Lincoln is at 50,000 vehicles, a 1.8% decline y-o-y in a total market up 14%, or 18% in the passenger car segment. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, marketing, news analysis, people
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, cfma, china, ford hangzhou, joanne kao, Ken Zino, lincoln, pei-wen hsu, richard baker
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DOT and EPA Issue Record 54.5 MPG Fuel Economy Standards
Realistically, the fuel economy average will likely be in the 38-40 mpg range. Therefore, your mileage not only can vary but will vary from big numbers being touted in a closely contested Presidential election year. This, by the way, is where European fuel economy is right now, so if you want to know what the roads will look like a decade hence, travel to Spain or Italy whose governments desperately need tourist revenues to cover their massive deficits. Continue reading
Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Breaks Ground for Chongqing 3
The $600 million expansion will make Chongqing the largest Ford production site in the world by far – a latter day Rouge for communist customers. Chongqing 3 includes a new assembly line, body and paint shop. The first vehicle is expected to come off the flexible assembly line in late 2014. CFMA already operates two assembly plants and an engine plant in Chongqing, with another engine plant and a transmission plant currently under construction. Continue reading
Chinese Automaker Zhejiang Youngman to Buy 29.9% of Spyker
Chinese automaker Zhejiang Youngman will invest Euro €10 million in Spyker and take 29.9% holding of the company. A series of transactions starting next week will involve the purchase of 6.7 million Class A shares of Spyker at €0.05 per, as well as a loan of roughly €3.3 million to the Dutch company. Two new joint ventures to develop and manufacture Saab based vehicles will also being formed. In a statement issued this morning, Youngman said it will not increase its position further and has no intention of taking over Spyker – but that depends on which company you are looking at. Continue reading
Milestones – 40 Years of Toyota Auto Body – Thanks to a so-called “Chicken Tax”
In one of the ironies of history, Ford Motor, one of the then dominant Detroit Three companies that lobbied the Johnson Administration for protection against imported light trucks, now uses the same tax dodge by performing minor work on its Turkish-built Transit Connect van outside the incoming port of Baltimore to lower its tax rate to 2.5%. Continue reading
Largest Road Test of Connected Vehicle Crash Avoidance Started
The U.S. Department of Transportation is starting the largest road test or vehicles with crash avoidance technology today in Ann Arbor, Michigan. About 3,000 cars, trucks and buses equipped with “connected” Wi-Fi technology that allows vehicles and infrastructure devices to “talk” to each other. The goal is to see if crashes could be avoided and traffic flow improved during the next year. In Europe, such technologies are also under study. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, news, news analysis, safety, transportation
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, crash avoidance, Ken Zino, nhtsa, telematics, v2i, v2v
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Auto Theft UK Style – $473 Million Unrecovered in 2011 Alone
The latest auto theft numbers in Great Britain are just as grim as in the U.S. In 2011, 65,000 vehicles were taken from their owners in the UK and never recovered for losses of £300 million or $473 million. More than two thirds (71%) of stolen cars disappear, never to be seen again. As they are stripped for either parts or shipped out of the country, according to swiftcover.com. Not surprisingly, more expensive stolen cars are more likely to disappear without a trace. Continue reading
GM China Begins Building and Testing Advanced Batteries
General Motors China is now making and testing prototype battery cells and complete systems at its Advanced Technical Center in Shanghai, potentially creating a huge offshore industry that will build more affordable batteries for customers globally. Continue reading
Posted in alternative fuels, auto news, electric vehicles, environment, news analysis
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, china, electric vehicles, EVs, Ken Zino, volt
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D.C. Court Throws Out E15 Lawsuit on a Technicality
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has dismissed petitions challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s partial waiver allowing gasoline with 15% ethanol or E15 in 2001 and newer model vehicles. Federal law establishes a renewable fuel mandate that requires gasoline producers to introduce significant amounts of renewable fuel such as ethanol into the Nation’s gasoline supply. Continue reading
Marine Corps to Test Finnish Personnel Carrier as U.S. Long Term Unemployment Continues at Post Depression Highs?
It was not immediately clear if Lockheed really intends to import the Finnish-built personnel carrier for the 600 units the Marine Corps eventually plans to buy at ~$5 million each while long-term U.S. unemployment continues at post Great Depression highs. There are competing U.S.- and Canadian-built carriers available from General Dynamics, BAE Systems, and Science Applications International Corporation. Continue reading
Posted in economy, news, news analysis, transportation
Tagged aav, auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, defense spending, havoc, Ken Zino, off shoring, patria
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Elite or Street – Woodward Dream Cruise and Pebble Beach Concours
Nowhere will the two diverse approaches to automobile collecting be more apparent than at the Woodward Dream Cruise in the northern Detroit suburbs and the Pebble Beach Concourse in Northern California this weekend. Continue reading
China Sales Satisfaction Down. Audi, Nissan, Hyundai Lead
There is a decline in customer satisfaction in China as experienced salespeople are in short supply as auto dealerships continue to expand. Coupled with the slow down in Chinese vehicle sales this year, there is a “notable deterioration” in overall sales satisfaction among new-vehicle owners in China. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, awards, customer satisfaction, marketing, news analysis, people, results, shows and events
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, china, customer satisfaction, j.d power, J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2012 China Sales Satisfaction Index, Ken Zino, Sales Satisfaaction Index, ssi
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