Category Archives: news analysis

Milestones – Toyota Motor Sells 4 Million Hybrid Vehicles

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) in Japan announced today that its global hybrid vehicle sales totaled four million vehicles through April 2012. of that 1.5 million Toyota hybrids have been sold in the United States where it dominates the advanced technology vehicle market by outselling all other hybrid and electric vehicles combined. Toyota in the U.S. now holds 65% of the hybrid market, with the Prius a line accounting for 1.2 million vehicles year-to-date. Continue reading

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Chevrolet Colorado Midsized Pickup to be Made in Wentzville as GM Tries to Forget Bankruptcy, Hummer and Shreveport

General Motors broke ground today on a $380 million plant expansion to its Wentzville Assembly facility to build the newly re-designed Chevrolet Colorado midsize pick-up in 2013. In the sad language oft used when describing the floundering U.S. economy, GM said it is “creating or retaining” about 1,260 jobs hourly and salaried jobs. The new Chevrolet Colorado is based on an all-new midsize truck architecture developed by GM do Brasil within GM’s global product development organization. Continue reading

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Americans Want Highways and Bridges Fixed. So Who Pays?

A new survey from HNTB Corporation finds two-thirds of Americans “who intend to vote” during this year’s presidential election claim that a candidate’s standing on American transportation infrastructure will influence their decision. More than one in five (22%) claim this will be “extremely influential” on whom they vote for. Nearly nine in ten (89%) Americans feel it is important for the federal government to fund the maintenance and improvements of interstate highways.

Therein lays the potholes, crumbling concrete and rusting bridges in evidence all around us. Who pays? Overall, 4 in 5 (80%) of those surveyed claim they would rather increase funding and improve roads and bridges than continue current funding levels. You would never know this by observing the behavior of our ruling elites, though. Continue reading

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How Long does the Shelby Brand Survive at Ford?

The challenge going forward for both Shelby International and Ford Motor Company is how to remain relevant with a marketing proposition that grows more backward looking as time passes. Continue reading

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Largest U.S. Airlines Barely Profitable in Q4

These data, combined with record levels of long-term unemployment and a moribund housing market, one wonders how anyone in the ruling class can claim the recession is over? Continue reading

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Right to Repair Bill Passes Massachusetts Senate

A version of the bill, omitting dealerships, is currently before the Massachusetts house, with unknown prospects. However, more than 100,000 citizens signed a Right to Repair ballot initiative earlier this year. If the legislature does not pass a final bill, the state’s consumers will get their own chance to vote—on the November ballot. Recent polls have shown support level for Right to Repair as high as 87%. Continue reading

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Study Claims E15 Ethanol Gas Will Damage New Car Engines

At the heart of the controversy are the costs of installing E15 pumps at gas stations, which already are selling fuel with E10, as well as warranty costs at automakers, where typically powertrains are now covered for 100,000 miles. The problem for automakers and consumers comes from a regulation that applies to existing vehicles on the road, instead of a phase-in for future vehicles. While automakers are now building some vehicles that can safely run of blends containing up to 85% ethanol, CRC said the decision to move to E15 was “premature and irresponsible,” since millions of existing auto engines cannot. Continue reading

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Opel Woes Continue as EU Auto Sales Decline In April. Latest Turnaround Plan Faces Fierce Union Fight over Plant Closings

Worrisome for GM shareholders, including the U.S. taxpayers who still own 32% of the world’s largest, but only marginally profitable, automaker after a $50 billion bailout, Stracke told employees that Opel will stay with existing labor agreements through 2014. With the European auto market headed for its fifth straight year of sales declines and with no upturn predicted for years, it’s impossible to see how Opel will cease being a drag on GM earnings. Continue reading

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Ford Europe Sales Down 10% in April. UK and Eastern EU Up

Like other automakers, Ford is struggling with the contractionist policies of governments in Germany and Brussels, as voter unrest grows with the Depression level economic conditions. Both in April and year-to-date light vehicle sales in the EU are off almost 8%, the fifth straight year of declines. Continue reading

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Airlines Post Record On-Time Performance but Complaints Up

Between January and March this year, the nation’s largest airlines posted their best on-time arrival rate for the first quarter of any year since the Department of Transportation began collecting comparable flight delay data in 1995. Supporters cite this as a clear example of the effectiveness of government regulation back by stiff fines. Continue reading

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Nissan Posts Operating Profit of ¥45.8 Billion For F.Y. 2011

The Nissan results with a net of $4.32 billion was in sharp contrast to Toyota Motor Corporation’s F.Y. net profit decline to ¥283.56 billion or $3.6 billion, a -31% decrease. Nissan also out performed Honda Motor whose net profit declined slightly at ¥211.4 ($2.627 billion) for a -3.5% drop. Continue reading

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Justice Department Seizes Chinese Counterfeit Sports Jerseys

Why the Obama Administration in general, and the State Department under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have not taken stronger actions against ongoing corrupt Chinese business practices is an unanswered issue here. Why Major League baseball and the National Football League, among other sports organizations, remain silent over the widespread counterfeiting of their apparel is a disgrace and mocks their hard-working, law-abiding U.S. fans. Will the multi-millionaire players living off law-abiding fans ever wake up and demand action or are they too rich to care? Continue reading

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Thirty Percent of Ford Shareholders Vote against Family Control

While a grand total of 63 people bothered to attend the Ford Motor Company annual meeting of shareholders in Wilmington, Delaware today, 29.5% of investors or 1,283,063,982 of them voted against Ford family control of the company through their holdings of Class B stock, which has 16 votes per share as opposed to one per share of common, assuming no one in the Ford family voted for losing power.
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Ford China Sales Rebound in April with 24% Gain

After three straight months of declining sales in China, Ford Motor said today that sales increased 24% year-over-year to 54,881 based on wholesale deliveries. Ford China has now sold 176,274 vehicles year-to-date in China. Market leader General Motors and its communist government required joint ventures in China set a domestic sales record for April of 227,217 vehicles. Demand was up 11.7% from the same month in 2011. Its performance in April took GM’s sales for the first four months of the year to 972,369 units, an increase of 9.4% on an annual basis. GM has now sold more than one million vehicles in China. Continue reading

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EPA Drops Gas Station Vapor Recovery Regulation

In an election year where all federal agencies are incorporating political talking points from the ruling party into their releases, EPA claimed this final rule is part of the Obama Administration’s initiative to ensure that regulations protect public health and the environment without being unnecessarily burdensome to American businesses. Significantly, no health or environmental effect data were provided in the EPA release. Continue reading

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