Category Archives: auto news

How Many Doors does a Coupe Have?

“The (fill in the blank) includes all the technical highlights of the current Cayenne, but has an even more dynamic design and new technical details that position it as more progressive, athletic, and emotional,” claims Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG and a man with a mechanical engineering degree from Braunschweig University who has worked in enough body shops to know better. (eins, zwei, drei, vier, funf)    Continue reading

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People Choose Low Loan Repayments and High Interest Rates

Borrowers appear to set targets for their monthly payment on rounded amounts like $200, $300, and $400, rather than choosing the most cost-efficient payments. When borrowers are offered cheaper loan terms, they are more likely to take out larger loans rather than pocket the savings. Continue reading

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Sebring Twelve Hours – Half the Daytona Race, 25% of the Rain

The No. 911 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR of Nick Tandy, Patrick Pilet and Frederic Makowiecki won at Sebring for the second straight year by just 1.951 seconds over the hard-luck No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT of Joey Hand, Dirk Mueller and Sebastien Bourdais in GTLM. Continue reading

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Group Renault Starts Piloting Vehicle-to-Grid Charging

A fleet of fifteen Zoe vehicles with vehicle-to-grid charging will be introduced in Europe in  2019 to develop future offerings in reversible charging and lay the groundwork for future standards. Continue reading

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Volkswagen forms European Battery Union with Northvolt

The EBU is looking for taxpayer subsidies for battery research. The new consortium is to be led by the Volkswagen Group and the Swedish battery producer Northvolt. Continue reading

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Michigan to Make First AVs, but Loses Ford Transit to Mexico

In a transparent attempt at spin – in AutoCrat’s view laughable and tragic – Ford is re-adding a second shift at Flat Rock. The plant will become the production home to vehicles from the company’s next-generation battery electric flexible architecture. These vehicles will follow, ahem, the all-electric performance SUV coming in 2020 from Ford’s Cuautitlan, Mexico plant. Continue reading

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Robo-taxis – Hyundai Mobis MOU with Yandex in Russia

No surprise here that Mobis has a new link up with a with an IT company to develop an autonomous driving platform. Today Hyundai Mobis announced that it has entered into an MOU for joint development of an AI-based autonomous driving platform with Yandex, one of the Europe’s largest internet companies that builds intelligent products and services powered by machine learning. Continue reading

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Toyota and Suzuki Agree to Consider a New Collaboration

The slow-moving Japanese companies say Toyota’s strength in electrification technologies and Suzuki’s strength in technologies for compact vehicles, allows for growth through joint collaboration in production and in the popularization of electrified vehicles. Continue reading

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The Joy of S** as Ford Ups Production

Last October, Ford showed its then new “Built Ford Proud” advertising campaign saying that new vehicles are coming in 2019. The ads were the first output following the redesign of Ford’s global marketing. Continue reading

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CAR: Automated Driving Technologies Can Contribute to Healthcare Industry? Great…

The healthcare industry, in CAR’s view is one of the industries that could benefit. “The human factor in the automated vehicle system—either as a driver in the very early stages of the technology or as passengers in the fully automated vehicles—creates a critical opportunity for the healthcare industry to become active in the discussions around CAVs,” claims Zahra Bahrani Fard, Transportation Systems Analyst at CAR. Continue reading

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Gen 12 Corolla Rolls Off the Line at Toyota Mississippi

More than 2,000 people come together each day in Blue Springs to build the world’s most popular compact sedan – 46 million vehicles sold globally since its introduction in 1966 – for customers across the Americas and the Caribbean. Continue reading

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Porsche Dealerships Adopt New Corporate Architecture

It seems that every time Porsche executives get bored they go shopping for a new, and decidedly more expensive look. The first Porsche Experience Center opened on the factory grounds in Leipzig in 2002. It was followed by Silverstone (UK, 2008), Atlanta (USA, 2015), Le Mans (France, 2015), and Los Angeles (USA, 2016). A new center in Shanghai (China) was added in April 2018. (View AutoInformed on Porsche Opens Experience Center in Los Angeles) Continue reading

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Damning SEC Charges on Volkswagen ‘Clean Diesel’ Fraud

2. Winterkorn and other VW executives were made aware of the defeat device as early as November 2007, during a meeting with VW engineers, to discuss the emissions problems with VW’s “clean diesel” vehicles. Continue reading

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SEC Charges Volkswagen, Ex CEO Winterkorn of Defrauding Bond Investors During “Clean Diesel” Emissions Scam!

It’s a wide-ranging indictment that could lead to complicated litigation, ruinous fines and settlements,  while prompting similar charges and litigation from other countries. As such it’s the latest nail in the diesel coffin. Volkswagen did not immediately respond to AutoInformed. Continue reading

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Sebring This Weekend – Endurance Test for Sports Cars, Fans

Two Porsche 911 RSR cars* on Friday will race more than 1,000 miles at round six of the Sports Car World Endurance Championship (aka WEC), with another two identical Porsche models on Saturday undertaking the twelve-hour IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at the so-called Super Sebring race this weekend. Continue reading

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