-
Recent Posts
- National Safety Council – 12% Drop in 2025 Traffic Fatalities
- Penske Automotive Group Buys Lexus Dealerships in Florida
- Rear-Wheel Lockup Recall on 2020-22 GM Diesel Pickups
- Transmission Failures – Toyota Recalls 2025-26 Lexus LX600s
- Nissan Rogue Recall for Engine Failures and Fires
- Trump Tariff Flops – December Goods Trade Deficit Up $15.7B
- Tennessee Triumph – VW Workers Ratify UAW Contract!
- Sting Operations Hit ~550 CDL Training Schools
- Average Gallon Price for Gasoline Drops Slightly, But…
- February 2026 U.S. Vehicle Sales Forecast is Down Again
- Sustainable Energy in America – Mixed Progress in 2025
- GM Canada – C$63M Outlay in Oshawa Assembly
- EV Owner Satisfaction at New High Amid Sales Slump
- Audi Revolut F1 Team and Fanwear Launched
- Toyota bZ Woodland Mid-Size SUV EV Priced at $45,300
Recent Comments
- Michigan Governor Whitmer on Pew – Confidence in Trump Dips, Fewer Support His Policies
- Porsche Motorsport Daytona Victory on Daytona 24 Hours – Old and New Stars Getting Ready to Run
- UAW Ford Department Director VP Laura Dickerson on Trump's Ford Plant Visit on Whitmer Stands in Stark Contrast to Trump at Detroit Auto Show
- Ken Zino on Ford Fuel Injector Leak Recall Now at ~694,000
- Laverne Oliver on Ford Fuel Injector Leak Recall Now at ~694,000
Archives
Meta
Category Archives: economy
Toyota to Cut AA Shares for Sustainable Development
If the transaction proceeds, shareholders who by exercising their voting rights to a “high degree” have actively participated in the management of TMC will no longer be of concern to TMC management. Environmental, social and corporate governance issues – so-called ESGs – are at the heart of a growing movement to measure the sustainability and societal impact of an investment in a company or business. The theory – yet to be convincingly proven in AutoInformed’s view – is that this will help predict the future financial performance of companies. Continue reading
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
Trump’s Losing Trade Wars – Auto and Other Deficits Grow
Despite magical thinking – and bluster from the ousted Trump Administration, the October imports of automotive vehicles, parts, and engines ($32.2 billion) were the highest since July 2019 ($32.4 billion). Continue reading
Posted in economy, results
Tagged auto industry commentary, autoinformed, autoinformed.com, Ken Zino, trade wars, US Trade deficit
1 Comment
English Covid Crisis Reigns. November Auto Sales Drop 27.4%
During November when showrooms across England had to close due to new lockdown restrictions, the industry recorded 113,781 new registrations, taking trade back to levels last seen during the 2008 Great Recession. Continue reading
Posted in economy, news analysis, sales
Tagged auto industry commentary, autoinformed, autoinformed.com, Ken Zino, SMMT, UK auto sales
Leave a comment
A Grim Covid Reaper Lurks as November US Auto Sales Drop
New light-vehicle sales fell to 1.19 million light vehicles in November – a likely foreshadowing of things to come as the Covid virus runs rampant in the US in a surge of the waning days of the Trump Administration, which ignored the crisis with the result it lost a reelection. One American is now dying every 34 seconds, unemployment is rising, and an earlier Covid federal relief package expires at the end of December meaning extended unemployment benefits and help for small businesses will evaporate as millions will face evictions. Continue reading
Posted in economy, news analysis, sales
Tagged auto industry commentary, autoinformed, autoinformed.com, Ken Zino, US Sales November 2020
Leave a comment
Mazda to Buy Out Sumitomo from MMVO, a JV Plant in Mexico
Given the ongoing effects of soon-to-be ex-president Trump’s losing trade wars with Canada, Mexico, China and Japan, among other nations, and the uncertainty around provisions of a new trade agreement now called USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement), Mazda remains at risk on multiple fronts. The new Agreement went into effect, with no apparent enforcement, started on July 1, 2020. The U.S. Congress has still not ratified it. Continue reading
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
Grim Survey – a Nation of Broke and Broken Shopkeepers?
Mnuchin is likely trying to stop President elect Biden’s next Treasury secretary extending relief to state and local governments.
The Federal Reserve – in what AutoInformed says is the latest example of the ugly, vindictive politics of the defeat at the ballot box of the impeached and lame-duck Trump – responded with a statement claiming it “would prefer that the full suite of emergency facilities established during the corona-virus pandemic continue to serve their important role as a backstop for our still-strained and vulnerable economy.” Fed Chair Jerome Powell earlier in the week said there was a need for the programs to continue. Continue reading
Porsche Q3 in Black at €437 Million Because of VW
Porsche SE’s positive result after tax basically comes from the profit from an investment accounted for at equity in Volkswagen AG of €505 million (prior-year period: €3.58 billion. Porsche Se is the largest holder of VW common stock). The business of the Volkswagen Group was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in the first nine months of 2020 but made a recovery in the third quarter. Nonetheless both groups remain in difficult if not precarious financial positions. Continue reading
Posted in economy, financial results
Tagged auto industry commentary, autoinformed, autoinformed.com, Ken Zino, Porsche SE
Leave a comment
JLR to Use Irish Smart City Hub for Self-Driving Tests?
Timing is everything. Amid the Brexit disaster, Jaguar Land Rover is working with global software, mobility and telecoms companies to create a smart city hub in Ireland. If this ever comes about on the scale envisioned, it will allow real-world testing of connected technology where self-driving vehicles share the streets with cars, pedestrians and cyclists. The testbed will be in the Limerick-Shannon metropolitan area at Shannon Free Zone, Shannon, Co. Clare. The future of Irish trade, political sovereignty and access to the EU is dependent on the resolution of Brexit. Jaguar Land Rover is the UK’s largest automotive manufacturer. Continue reading
Federal Reserve President on Do Nothing Republicans – The Economy Goes Where The Virus Goes
“Fiscal support is really critical. When Congress came out with the CARES Act, we saw immediately how that cushioned households and small businesses and helped them get through the virus. The virus is still with us, so more is needed. … If we don’t get that, then this is a mini fiscal cliff, maybe even a major fiscal cliff… Continue reading
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
Ford Future Trends – Younger Gen Less Resilient than Older
Younger generations have taken it harder than their older peers: 63% of Gen Zers say adapting has been harder than they imagined, vs. 42% of Boomers who say the same. How these attitudes will influence the world in 2021 and beyond is unknown. Continue reading →