Category Archives: people

Telematics – New Ford and Lincoln Vehicles Enable Insurance Company Monitoring of Your Driving Behaviors

This is part of a sweeping change in the pricing of auto insurance. It also raises yet again  larger privacy issues for the owners of connected vehicles along with intelligent phones and appliances. A vast amount of owner information is now available to companies – from Google and social media apps or computers running on Microsoft Dos or Apple computers and iPhones – for resale or for their own cash flows, sometimes without owner’s consent or any usage fees given back to the creators of the data. In Ford’s case, customers have a choice. Continue reading

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COVID Changes – Digital Auto Lending Infected

“The pandemic has severely disrupted dealer-lender communication, with many dealers reporting that lenders were delayed or not available when they needed them, or not able to assist in a timely manner,” said Patrick Roosenberg, director of automotive finance intelligence at J.D. Power. This of course begs the question of there’s another solution – such as borrowers dealing directly digitally with lenders, which will eliminate a lucrative profit center at dealerships. Continue reading

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US Cuts Deal with UAW Union on Reform, Corruption and Fraud

In a partial UAW victory, the civil lawsuit was not filed pursuant to the federal anti-racketeering RICO law because the investigation by the United States did not uncover any involvement by organized crime or the mafia in the operations of the UAW. Instead, the civil complaint sets forth in detail a series of corrupt and fraudulent acts by former officers and board members of the UAW, as well as executives of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. GM’s RICO lawsuit against FCA is ongoing. Continue reading

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Pulse Weakening on Small Businesses

38.7% of U.S. small businesses have experienced a decrease in operating revenue in the last week. From responses collected 11/9 – 11/15, this statistic was 33.4% Continue reading

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Barrett-Jackson Flagship Scottsdale Auction Adrift to ???

Barrett-Jackson did not respond to a request about data supporting claims of safety. It is unknown if any pre-testing, monitoring, post auction testing or, if needed contact tracing, were done on the workers or attendees involved in the October auction. Continue reading

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A £70,000 Drink? Warns RoadSmart Charity

The charity has calculated that the personal financial cost of drink driving could be as high as £70,000 ($93,715) or more when considering fines, legal fees, higher car insurance premiums, alternative transport costs and potential loss of earnings following conviction. Continue reading

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Whither US Vehicle Sales in 2021? Is 14 Million a Stretch?

AutoInformed puts it to you thus: This is the market price of failed ideologies grimly held by blind true-believers who ignore real data-backed consequences, scientists, epidemiologists, economists and political scientists to their own detriment – if not indeed their own self destruction. Continue reading

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Trump Covid Casualties – State Sales Tax Collections Dive

Raising taxes on the middle class is not a viable option. A federal bailout or large assistance program for states appears likely. Senate Majority leader McConnell – aka Moscow Mitch – has a sure-fire way to create another great depression – let the states go bankrupt while Trump eats cake- and crow in Mira Largo. Continue reading

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Vijay Sankaran Rejects Information Officer Job at Ford

Ford has previously said that Sankaran, 47, had accepted an offer to become Ford’s chief software and information officer beginning this week, after serving seven years with TD Ameritrade. Continue reading

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Covid Casualties – Consumers Forcing Digital Auto Financing as Trump Sulks and Virus Continues to Spread

It’s just another example of how the ongoing Covid crisis will change well-established business practices in the auto industry. Auto dealers, who tend to be Republican in AutoInformed’s experience, can thank the ousted -ex-president Trump for this very real threat to their profitability. Wearing a mask won’t help the spread of this change as Covid continues to expand unabated due to the lack of a national policy – one that won’t be forthcoming until January 20th 2021. Continue reading

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SMMT – Final Plea for Zero-Tariff Trade Deal As Brexit Negotiations Near End

However, significant gaps in the industry’s ability to plan still exist, with a lack of clarity on the nature of the UK-EU’s future relationship hampering the efforts of almost nine in 10 (86%) firms to prepare. A disastrous ‘no deal’ outcome, or failure to achieve workable deal for auto, would mean £47 billion hit to UK sector over next five years – on top of ongoing coronavirus crisis costs, the auto industry claims. Ah, such is the price of blind ideologies who ignore real consequences, economists and political scientists. Continue reading

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Debt to Watch as Covid Spreads – New FCA Bank Notes

AutoInformed thinks it too reflects the uncertainty in global economies as Central Banks – led by what some say is a printing-press happy US Treasury – have pushed interest rates on government debt to virtually zero. Continue reading

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Random Covid Curiosities

For the new Ghost, which debuts in autumn 2020, this technology has been developed to incorporate hardware and software improvements, collectively dubbed the Micro-environment Purification System. Impurity Detection Sensors have been introduced to detect ambient pollution levels, automatically switching fresh air intakes to Recirculation Mode if unacceptable levels of airborne contaminants are present. This channels all cabin air through a Nanofleece filter, which can remove nearly all ultra-fine particles, viruses and bacteria from the Rolls-Royce’s interior in less than two minutes. Continue reading

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California AG, CARB File Motion To Shield LA Area Communities From Port of Los Angeles China Shipping Terminal Air Pollution

In 2008, the Port of Los Angeles certified an EIR that imposed feasible air quality mitigation measures to reduce the China Shipping Terminal’s anticipated adverse air quality impacts, including those on nearby communities. However, six of those measures were never implemented, exposing communities to harmful air quality impacts that should have been reduced by the mitigation measures included in the 2008 EIR. Continue reading

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Pete Lyons Wins Royal Automobile Club Award for Shadow: The Magnificent Machines of a Man of Mystery

Lyons know whereof he speaks. Pete draws on sizeable first-hand experience: he was present for Shadow’s two big débuts, in Can-Am at St Jovite in Canada (1970) and in Formula One at Kyalami in South Africa (1973). His numerous interviews for the book included six days with Nichols himself not long before the ‘Shadowman’ died in 2017. If you have racing in your blood, this is a must read. Continue reading

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