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Category Archives: news analysis
General Motors Sets Sales Record in China. Ford Up too
Both General Motors and Ford Motor finished 2011 with strong performances in China, the world’s largest automarket for the past three years. GM and its joint ventures sold a record 2,547,171 vehicles up 8.3% from the previous high of 2,351,610 … Continue reading
Posted in auto news, news, news analysis, results, sales
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, china, china auto sales, currency value, ford china, gm china, Ken Zino, results, rmb, wto
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Ford Shows Fiesta Derived EcoSport at New Delhi Auto Expo
India is projected to become the world’s third largest light vehicle market by the end of the decade behind China and the U.S. Ford lags badly behind competitors in Asia, and is playing catch-up while losing money. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, manufacturing, marketing, new vehicle, news, news analysis
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, ecosport, Ford, ford india, india, Ken Zino
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NHTSA Keeps Chevrolet Volt Battery Fire Probe Open
GM said this morning that it was “optimistic” that no recall would be required, a politically sensitive issue since the federal government, which NHTSA is part of, still holds a large 27% stake in GM. For GM’s part, a safety recall is arguably more damaging to the reputation of the Volt than the proposed customer service action. Last year Chevrolet sold 7,671 Volt models , which cost more than $40,000 without taxpayer subsidies to its mostly rich buyers, another political controversy in itself. Continue reading
GM Changes Chevrolet Volt to Protect Battery to Stop Fires
It was not immediately clear whether NHTSA would require that Chevrolet Volt EVs be recalled or whether the modifications can be done as a customer satisfaction procedure. There remains at this moment an ongoing NHTSA engineering analysis, which could lead to a recall. GM said it was “optimistic” that no recall would be required, a politically sensitive issue since the federal government still holds a large stake in GM. Continue reading
Ford Motor December Sales Up 10% Tracking Market Growth
How Ford’s sales performance is interpreted depends on whether the Number 2 U.S. automaker in sales should have picked up more than the 3.7% increase in passenger car sales (industry +9%) with all the major Japanese automakers virtually out of the market for months – May to September or later – because of natural disasters. Ford car sales were actually down 16% in December. Lavishly publicized Fiesta sub-compact and Focus compact launches were not strong successes as sticker price resistance appeared to overcome their relatively good fuel efficiency in a year when U.S. gasoline prices stayed well above $3 a gallon. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, marketing, news, news analysis, results, sales
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, camry sales, ford motor sales, ford results, Ken Zino
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GM U.S. Sales Up 5% in December, +14% 2011. Share Increases
GM expects full-year 2012 light vehicle sales to be in a range of 13.5 million to 14.0 million units. In previous years, GM’s forecasts were based on total vehicle sales, which included medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, or about 300,000 additional units. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, marketing, news, news analysis, results, sales
Tagged 2011 results, auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, gm results, Ken Zino, results, sales results
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Chrysler Group December 2011 U.S. Sales Up 37%; Year +26%
Nevertheless, the sales gains were not large enough to hold off resurging Toyota Motor Sales, which displaced Chrysler from the Number Three U.S. sales spot when Toyota inventories rebuilt this fall after the Japan earthquake and tsunami tragedy in March that removed Toyota and other Japanese automakers from the market. In October and November Toyota picked up 2 market share percentage points, with December results due later today. Continue reading
Car Spy Jim Dunne Catches Revised Lincoln MKS or MKZ?
Following the Ford Jaguar debacle, success is also not a word that can be applied to Ford’s management of Lincoln, which is a poseur in the world of luxury cars dominated by the German Brands and Toyota’s Lexus, which even though it was out of the U.S. market for five months this year because of the Japan earthquake, still managed to outsell Lincoln by a better than 2:1. Continue reading
Federal Appeals Court blocks Enforcement of EPA Cross State Rule until Dozens of Power Company Lawsuits are Resolved
The rule requires reduction in emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which the auto industry successfully undertook decades ago. The Appeals court will consider the legality of the rule sometime next year. Continue reading
Posted in alternative fuels, auto news, electric vehicles, energy, environment, fuel economy or emissions, litigation, news, news analysis
Tagged air pollution, alternate fuels, auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, co2, coal, coal powerplants, cross state pollution, epa, EVs, Ken Zino, so2
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U.S. Treasury Says China Continues to Undervalue its Currency
In what will undoubtedly become a Presidential campaign issue next year, as a result of the undervalued renminbi, China continues to increase its global export market share, and it remains heavily dependent on exports. Continue reading
Right to Repair on Massachusetts Ballot. National Bill Stalled
A similar national measure, the Motor Vehicle Owners’ Right to Repair Act (H.R. 1449), died from inaction in the 2011 U.S. Congress. Various forms of Right to Repair bills have been tied up in successive Congresses since 2002. It is not surprising that the National Association of Automobile Dealers opposes the legislation. NADA says that automakers provide emissions service and some other data available to any technician who needs it already. Continue reading
Posted in aftermarket, auto news, news, news analysis
Tagged auto informed, auto repair, autoinformed.com, automotive news, ftc, h.r. 1449, Ken Zino, nada, right to repair
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Chevrolet Volt Hybrids for China arrive at Shanghai
Due to a combination of tariffs and incentives for locally-produced Chinese vehicles – at the core of China’s job creating industrial policy – the Michigan built Volt (more than $40,000 in the U.S. without government incentives) will be at about a $19,000 per hybrid disadvantage, not good news for UAW employees who build the Volt in Hamtramck. Continue reading
Toyota Launches Prius c Hybrid as Aqua in Japan for $21,700
In Japan the Prius c comes in seven models with a price ranging from $21,750 to $34,500 for lavishing equipped models for handicapped people. Look for the Japanese-built Prius c in the U.S. to start somewhere under $20,000 with several more expensive option packages. AutoInformed is betting Toyota will continue to use aggressive ‘comeback pricing’ and incentives to regain market share lost post-tsunami and Thailand floods this year. With the introduction of the all-new reduced price Camry last October, Toyota has regained 2 percentage points of U.S. share in the last two months. Continue reading
Posted in alternative fuels, auto news, electric vehicles, environment, fuel economy or emissions, global warming, marketing, milestones, new vehicle, news, news analysis, shows and events
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, Ken Zino, naias, prius c, toyota agua hybrid
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Iran Threatens to Close Strait of Hormuz, Shut Off Oil Supply. Here We Go With Another Oil Crisis Caused by Despots?
The larger issue remains an amorphous U.S. strategy conducted and – alas – at times directed in Washington by big money interests that care not about the welfare of the United States or its citizens. U.S. energy policy going back to President Carter and the first OPEC oil embargo four decades ago has failed under one-term Carter and every successive President and Congress since – Democrat or Republican – to eliminate this security threat – as well as the corresponding national economic decline posed by oil imports and the resulting enormous transfer of U.S. wealth overseas. Continue reading
EPA Finally Decides 2012 Renewable Fuel Standards
This ongoing Congressional debacle started when EISA established annual renewable fuel volume targets, reaching an overall level of 36 billion gallons annually in 2022, including 16 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuels; 15 billion gallons of conventional biofuels; 4 billion gallons of advanced biofuels; and 1 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel. EISA further specifies that 21 billion U.S. gallons of the 2022 total must be derived from non-cornstarch products such as sugar or cellulose. Continue reading
