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Category Archives: news analysis
Mexican-Built 2022 Ford Maverick Hybrid Shrinks Size, Price
To AutoInformed, it looks like a clever updating and use of the former Mazda-derived Ranger pickup. Ford Motor, of course, once dominated the compact pickup truck market in the U.S. until years of product neglect combined with an assault by Toyota and Nissan pushed it to a footnote in the segment. Continue reading
US Battery Electric Vehicle Market – Progress or Proliferation? Tesla has a 75% Share. Is the Nissan LEAF a Best Buy?
The Nissan LEAF was the first modern pure EV when it launched in 2010. Since then the US battery electric vehicle market has added roughly 20 different models with prices ranging from ~$21,000 to more than $160,000. The question for consumers is this progress or just proliferation? Well, as always, it depends on what you consider. Continue reading
The Growing Non-Exclusive Dieselgate Club – Fraud Charges Also in France for Renault on Diesel Emissions Levels
The investigation opened on 12 January 2017 on older generations of diesel vehicles, Renault s.a.s. was placed under examination on 8 June 2021 on the charge of deceit, aka fraud. Investigators accused Renault of “fraudulent strategies” used by top managers for more than 25 years to falsify the emission test results, including its longtime chief Carlos Ghosn. The EU Parliament adopted legislation last November that will allow US-style class action lawsuits against companies accused of wide-scale fraud. Continue reading
Stellantis – Diesel Emissions Probes for Consumer Fraud
The Stellantis Group, which was established in January 2021, also said it will continue its predecessors’ policies and cooperate fully with the justice system in order to resolve this matter expeditiously. It, of course, has no other good options. Stay tuned for the next chapter of Dieselgate, where major automakers used software to cheat on emissions tests. Continue reading
CARB Revives Incentives for Clean Trucks and Buses
This year HVIP will be fulfilled in waves, allowing the opportunity for more fleets to participate, especially smaller fleets CARB said. Half of the funds will be released immediately. Remaining funds will be made available two months later, at 10 a.m. on Tuesday 10 August 2021. Class 8 trucks performing drayage operations, as well as vehicles purchased by public agencies are exempt from this pause. Continue reading
State, Local Governments Increase Green Spending
Some specific preservation programs include protection of soil and water resources, including controlling beach erosion, managing dams to prevent floods, educating the public about conservation and generating hydroelectric energy. While expenditures rose, a five-year comparison (from 2016 to 2020) showed a 5.7% decline in part-time employment and a 0.3% decrease in full-time employment. Continue reading
May US Light Vehicle Sales – Start of an Affordability Slump?
But there is more going on here, AutoInformed opines, given current market conditions. While automakers and the business press have been chasing the semi-conductor shortage, many claim May’s drop in sales are the effects of a supply and demand imbalance. However, the vehicle mix of highly-equipped vehicles, plentiful low-interest-rate money, and the headlong rush into electric vehicles – priced above an average working person’s ability to carry the loan – are starting to make light vehicles unaffordable to the working and middle classes. Continue reading
Posted in economy, news analysis, sales
Tagged auto industry commentary, autoinformed, autoinformed.com, Ken Zino, lmc, nada
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Manufacturing – Not Online Shopping – Leads E-Commerce
Any way you look at it, this is another strong argument for the Biden Administration infrastructure initiative that is opposed by the insurrection party that once upon a time was considered friendly to business. Want to make America great again? Well, invest in people, education and infrastructure. Continue reading
Volta Trucks Fully-Electric Commercial Zero to Debut in Italy
The arrival in Italy also follows the company’s recently announced Europe-first principles within its Road-to-Zero Emissions strategy, with Volta Trucks set to launch four full-electric commercial vehicles and increase its projected sales volumes to more than 27,000 by 2025. Given the competition from existing truck makers, this is ambitious. Continue reading
Posted in news analysis
Tagged auto industry commentary, autoinformed, autoinformed.com, Ken Zino, Volta Trucks, Volta Zero
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FAA Cuts Boeing a Deal on More 737 Airworthiness Violations?
Boeing, debatably, profited from such interference when the Trump Administration refused to ground the 737 Max despite growing incidents and fatalities. It’s a reasonable bet that Boeing and Barr wanted to cut ties with Trump after he lost the presidential election last November. Continue reading
US New Vehicle Sales in May Forecast as Record Setting. Global Sales are Another Matter Entirely
Total new-vehicle sales for May 2021, including retail and non-retail transactions, are projected to reach 1,555,600, a 39.6% increase from May 2020 and a 1.9% decrease from May 2019. The seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) for total new-vehicle sales is expected to be 16.7 million units, up 4.7 million units from 2020 but down 0.7 million units from 2019. The overall sales results for manufacturers will be mixed. Some are experiencing greater production problems because of semiconductor shortage. This will hurt, perhaps materially in the financial sense, various manufacturers monthly sales and profit performance for May and the months to come. Continue reading
Hyundai Motor Teases “Enhanced” XCIENT Fuel Cell Truck
In a running battle with Toyota, Hyundai claims this will be the world’s first mass-produced, heavy-duty truck powered by hydrogen. Hyundai will begin production of 2021 XCIENT Fuel Cell in August this year. Continue reading
California Mandates Zero-Emissions Ridesharing Vehicles
The Trump administration of course tried to cancel states rights and citizens’ ability to govern their communities. California led a lawsuit last year with 22 more states and other jurisdictions challenging the Trump Administration’s plan to roll back vehicle emissions standards. Continue reading
AARP, Toyota to Provide Rides for Vaccine Appointments
AARP also actively promulgated Republican denials about the seriousness of the Covid pandemic, going to the absurd point of giving Deborah Birx, the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator under President Donald Trump from 2020 to 2021, a forum. Dr. Birx sat idly by at a White House briefing as Trump promoted the use of bleach taken by humans to fight Covid. Continue reading
Posted in AutoInformed Editorial, news analysis, transportation
Tagged auto industry commentary, autoinformed, autoinformed.com, Dr Birx promoting human bleach use and censorship of Covid communications, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Ken Zino, Lysol, Republican backed hate crimes, Republican voter suppression, Sean Suggs, TMNA
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GM Ups Bet by $35B in Autonomous, Electric Vehicle Games
The seemingly bottomless pit of capital being consumed in the race to survive the connected, green and autonomous vehicle wars has grown deeper with General Motors saying today it will increase its EV and AV investments from 2020 through 2025 to $35 billion. This is a – gulp – 75% increase from its initial pledge announced prior to the ongoing pandemic. Continue reading →