Category Archives: people

GM Ren Cen Honors Triple Crown of Tiger Miguel Cabrera

Posted on 5 October 2012 by Ken Zino

General Motors is adding three panels to its changing LED sign atop its Renaissance Center headquarters this weekend to celebrate Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera’s winning the American League Triple Crown. Cabrera led the league during the 2012 regular season in the batting average (.330), runs batted in (139) and home runs (44), and if there’s any justice in the baseball world should be the most valuable player when the votes are tallied, unless something, well, fishy occurs.. Continue reading →

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Firing of BMW Salesperson for Facebook Photos Upheld

Posted on 1 October 2012 by Ken Zino

The National Labor Relations Board has found that the firing of a BMW salesperson for photos and comments posted to his Facebook page did not violate federal labor law, because the activity was not protected. Continue reading →

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Fraud Charges Filed in Gulf Oil Cleanup Employment Scam

Posted on 26 September 2012 by Ken Zino

A 22-count federal indictment was unsealed in New Orleans charging Connie M. Knight, 46, with impersonating a federal employee in order to get people to pay her for fraudulent hazardous waste safety training after the BP Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil spill. Continue reading →

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Ford Canada and CAW Reach Tentative Contract Agreement

Posted on 17 September 2012 by Ken Zino

Ford Motor Company and the Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW) have reached a tentative agreement on a four-year national labor contract covering approximately 4,500 Ford unionized employees in Canada. The agreement came just hours before a strike deadline. General Motors and Chrysler currently face potential walkouts at midnight. Continue reading →

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Politics or Finally a Policy? Obama Administration Protests at WTO over Chinese Auto and Parts Subsidies. China Instantly Fights Back

Posted on 17 September 2012 by Ken Zino

The Obama Administration filed a complaint against the Communist Chinese government at the World Trade Organization today. Continue reading →

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AIG Bailout of $182 Billion Paid Back. Taxpayers make at least $12B

Posted on 10 September 2012 by Ken Zino

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced it is selling 553,846,153 shares of its American International Group (AIG) common stock at $32.50 per in a public offering. The proceeds to Treasury from the common stock sales are expected to be ~$18.0 billion. This means that the transaction locks in at least a $12.4 billion positive return on the $182 billion in Treasury and Federal Reserve loans and commitments to AIG. The bailout loan will be fully paid off in what remains an unpopular (but extremely effective) example of government intervention in a failed marketplace. Ideologues still refuse to admit that the TARP and associated government actions saved the U.S. and perhaps the global economy. It certainly – without question – saved the U.S. auto industry and this includes companies that received no loans. Continue reading →

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MI Supreme Court Allows Collective Bargaining Vote in November

Posted on 5 September 2012 by Ken Zino

The Michigan Supreme Court unanimously rejected a challenge today to block a vote on a proposal that ensures the right of collective bargaining in one of the key presidential election states. The Court of Appeals ordered the Board of State Canvassers to put the proposal on the ballot this November 6th after the board deadlocked on the action. Continue reading →

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Navy Week Comes to Detroit Commemorating War of 1812

Posted on 29 August 2012 by Ken Zino

Five days of activities will take place in downtown Detroit next week commemorating the War of 1812, which gave us a burnt White House, the Star Spangled Banner and finally convinced the British that we were no longer colonies, among other things. Continue reading →

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Ex Cop Gets Prison Sentence for Robbing I-65 Motorists

Posted on 29 August 2012 by Ken Zino

A former Alabama police officer has been sentenced to prison for stealing money and property from motorists. The latter day highwayman, Jessie Alan Fuller, 25, of Pensacola, Florida was sentenced to 37 months in prison and two years supervised release. Continue reading →

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Lincoln to be Sold in China by Late 2014

Posted on 29 August 2012 by Ken Zino

The announcement means that Ford will have to pump a lot of money into the almost dead U.S. brand, which has virtually no global presence. In July, Lincoln sales dropped to just 7,000, off -11% year-over-year in a U.S. market that grew by 9%. Last year Lincoln sold 85,643 re-badged Fords, a flat performance in a market that’s up ~10% from 2010.Year-to-date Lincoln is at 50,000 vehicles, a 1.8% decline y-o-y in a total market up 14%, or 18% in the passenger car segment. Continue reading →

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Nippon Seiki to Plead Guilt of Price Fixing on Instrument Panels

Posted on 28 August 2012 by Ken Zino

Nagoka, Japan-based Nippon Seiki Company has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $1 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices of instrument panel clusters installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere, the Department of Justice announced today. Including Nippon Seiki, eight companies and 11 executives – most of them Japanese – have been charged in the department’s ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry. Continue reading →

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Chinese Automaker Zhejiang Youngman to Buy 29.9% of Spyker

Posted on 27 August 2012 by Ken Zino

Chinese automaker Zhejiang Youngman will invest Euro €10 million in Spyker and take 29.9% holding of the company. A series of transactions starting next week will involve the purchase of 6.7 million Class A shares of Spyker at €0.05 per, as well as a loan of roughly €3.3 million to the Dutch company. Two new joint ventures to develop and manufacture Saab based vehicles will also being formed. In a statement issued this morning, Youngman said it will not increase its position further and has no intention of taking over Spyker – but that depends on which company you are looking at. Continue reading →

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Recycling NASA Style as Kings Point Buys Liberty Star

Posted on 24 August 2012 by Ken Zino

The United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York has a new training vessel, the MV Liberty Star, a twin diesel ship with 2,900 horsepower. The 176-foot long Liberty Star has a 6,000 mile range and a maximum published speed of 15 knots. In its prior seagoing life, Liberty Star was one of NASA’s rocket booster recovery vessels. Along with its twin, MV Freedom Star, Liberty Star worked on NASA’s shuttle missions by positioning itself 140 miles offshore of Cape Canaveral in advance of shuttle launches to retrieve the two 146-foot, 200,000-pound reusable booster casings ejected during shuttle launches. Continue reading →

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Consumer Reports Auto Tester David Champion Joins Nissan

Posted on 22 August 2012 by Ken Zino

Nissan today announced the hiring of former Consumer Reports Auto Test Center Senior Director, David Champion, for a newly created position of executive adviser, competitive assessment and quality. The Japanese automaker is launching five new vehicles in 15 months, and its quality reputation is decidedly uneven. Consumer Reports rates 13 of 25 Nissan and Infiniti models this year as recommended buys. The J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability report has both Nissan and Infiniti well below industry average. Continue reading →

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Milestones – 40 Years of Toyota Auto Body – Thanks to a so-called “Chicken Tax”

Posted on 22 August 2012 by Ken Zino

In one of the ironies of history, Ford Motor, one of the then dominant Detroit Three companies that lobbied the Johnson Administration for protection against imported light trucks, now uses the same tax dodge by performing minor work on its Turkish-built Transit Connect van outside the incoming port of Baltimore to lower its tax rate to 2.5%. Continue reading →

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