Category Archives: news analysis

Biden Proposes New Clean Energy Policies and Actions on Offshore Winds, Public Lands, Transmission Lines

Build Back Better will, no doubt, continue to be opposed by the Republican party comprised of nope-dopes heavily financed by fossil-fuel and related businesses. Continue reading

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NADA Predicts 2022 New-Vehicle Sales of 15.4M, up 3.4%

Whether such long-term predictions are of any use is an open question at AutoInformed given the volatility of the ongoing COVID pandemic. Consider that 2021 closed with new-light vehicle sales of 14.93 million units, an increase of 3.1% compared to 2020’s sales volume of 14.47 million units. However, December 2021’s SAAR totaled just 12.44 million units, a decrease of -23.7% compared to December of 2020. Continue reading

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BMW – Digital Art Coming in Cars During 2022?

These new modes in BMW geek speak ,filtered through marketing babble: “Their unique moments enhance BMW’s driving experience by creating a synergy of the vehicle’s functions and its interior design. Depending on the driving situation and the overall mood, a holistic user experience featuring both a functional and an emotional level can be created at the touch of a button or via voice control. To that end, drive control and steering control, mood lighting and sound as well as the color scheme and graphics of the BMW Curved Display are precisely synchronized.” Continue reading

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First Place! Toyota Ousts GM as US Sales End 2021 at 14.9m

Overall, US Light Vehicle sales in December fall by 27% YoY, ending a chaotic 2021 at 14.9 million units. LMC noted that even December – traditionally one of the strongest months of the year – flopped and registered the steepest YoY decline of the calendar. AutoInformed notes the rate of change in the Covid infected world is increasingly making traditional long-term based indexes – such as calendar years irrelevant, or even downright harmful indicators for policy makers, businesses and anyone who uses them for planning. Continue reading

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Volvo Car 2021 Global Sales +5.6% at 698,693

However, Volvo delivered 64,436 retail vehicles in December, a decline of -18.1% compared to the same month in 2020. “The result was significantly influenced by continued component supply shortages, which affected production and consequently deliveries to customers,” Volvo said. Almost 40% of all new Volvo cars sold in December were Recharge models, with fully electric cars comprising 7.4%. Continue reading

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GM Delivers 2.2M Vehicles in US During 2021 off -13%. Q4 -43%

Both GMC and Chevrolet are preparing all-electric pickups, including the Chevrolet Silverado EV, which will be revealed virtually on Jan. 5, during the Consumer Electronics Show – a segment where it is trailing Ford with its sold-out Lightning EV pickup. Ford said today that it is planning to nearly double production capacity of the all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup to 150,000 vehicles per year at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, to meet soaring customer demand. Deliveries start this spring. Ford is sitting on 200,000 “reservations” for the Lighting. Continue reading

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Significant 2021 Automotive Stories and Trends

With that in mind, here’s our perspective on the last annum, from autonomous vehicles to global warming, to driving high disasters, to trade and tariffs and to the rise of fascism. We do this with a humble awareness that AutoInformed conducts its education in public. We begin with our take on significant automotive stories as we enter another year of plagues – covid, political, social or otherwise. Continue reading

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December US Auto Sales Forecast – Lower Volume with Record Prices, Profits

Consumers are projected to spend $50.6 billion on new vehicles this month, the second highest on record for the month of December and the fifth-highest amount for any month on record during the ongoing Biden Administration recovery. Continue reading

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IMSA – Porsche Virtually Shows LMDh Car

They were  the first images of an actual race car from any of the five manufacturers committed to competing in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship’s new top-tier prototype class – LMDh – when it debuts in 2023. Porsche is partnering with Team Penske and chassis maker Multimatic on the project as Porsche Penske Motorsport. The team will compete in both the WeatherTech Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship. For the first time in some 30 years, it will be possible to compete for overall victories in the endurance classics at Le Mans, Sebring and Daytona with cars of identical construction. The 500 kW and 680 PS (or ~670 hp that they admit to – Autocrat) hybrid racing car is scheduled to complete numerous test runs in 2022. Continue reading

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FAA Warns Broadband Could Pose Safety Threat to Airlines

Broadband deployment is currently underway but there is scarce data on it’s actually safety effects on flying. In short, your smartphone or someone else’s or the Verizon and AT&T cellphone towers (they own the frequencies that appears to be the most problematic with potential overlap interference) could kill you if it affects airline navigation, particularly in the safety critical instrument-approach-to-landing phase of flying. The device does not have to be in use on the plane. “There have not yet been proven reports of harmful interference due to wireless broadband operations internationally, although this issue is continuing to be studied,” said the FAA. Broadband is also being proposed by some automakers and suppliers as a way to wirelessly recharge electric vehicles. Continue reading

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Nikola to Pay $125 Million to SEC on Fraud Charges

The SEC’s order says that “before Nikola had produced a single commercial product, Milton embarked on a public relations campaign aimed at inflating and maintaining Nikola’s stock price. Milton’s statements in tweets and media appearances falsely gave investors the impression that Nikola had reached certain product and technological milestones.” Continue reading

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GM Stalks $20B Electric Conversion Market

It’s the latest step in GM’s breakthrough commitment to electric vehicles that have fossil-fueled equity analysts living in the past questioning a strategy they clearly don’t understand given their questions during GM earnings calls. They are in a different cloud, so to speak. Continue reading

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Toyota AZ Proving Grounds Now Accessible to Other Makers?

This is an unusual move in AutoInformed’s view because testing grounds by their very definition are involved with the operation and testing of future products that are usually closely guarded secrets. It might be the latest example of the extreme demands on capital and resources that automakers are grappling with as the industry rushes headlong into the unknown future of mobility involving autonomous and electric vehicles. It is one way to offset some of enormous and ongoing costs involved. Continue reading

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Penske Automotive Group Buys Another BMW Store

This is the Group’s 48th BMW dealership world-wide. The acquired dealership is expected to generate approximately $100 million in annualized revenue. Continue reading

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Back to the Future? November Global Sales Rate 80M

However, the disruptions in supply chains are much deeper, with the pandemic returning in force with no end in sight. As the supply crisis continues in Europe and the Americas, the resulting scarce inventories are accompanied by higher prices, which eventually will be another problem hindering sales. Looming near term is a potential trade war with Canada, over proposed US incentives for union-made EVs. In parts of Asia, LMC claims that there are “some signs the worst of the crisis over, though demand will continue to be disrupted well into 2022.” Continue reading

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