Category Archives: news

US May Auto Sales – Record Prices as Sales Plunge -29%

“Headwinds continue to stack against a sustained market recovery and stability in vehicle supply. We expect the economy and auto market to remain plagued by volatility for the foreseeable future. Given the elevated risk, it is plausible for 2022 to turn to negative from the 2021 level, with volume down to 14.7 million units. Continue reading

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Stellantis Gets Lithium Supply for NA EVs

CTR’s Hell’s Kitchen Project in California’s Imperial County will recover lithium from geothermal brines using renewable energy and steam to produce battery grade lithium products in a closed-loop process, eliminating the need for evaporation brine ponds, open pit mines, and fossil-fueled processing, Stellantis claimed. Continue reading

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US EV Purchase Consideration Up. Income Matters

However, “The addition of new EV models has moved the needle on consumer consideration,” said Stewart Stropp, senior director of automotive retail at J.D. Power. “In fact, several new models from perennial mass market brands are at the top of that consideration list. Even so, more remains to be done in terms of transitioning from early to mass adoption. Though the study findings show a shift in favor of EVs, about 76% of new-vehicle shoppers say they are not ‘very likely’ to consider buying one.” Continue reading

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Ford Motor US Sales Drop Again in May. Shakeout Coming?

Ford Motor no longer bothers to hold press conferences covering monthly sales. Yesterday Jim Farley, President and Chief Executive Officer when asked at the Alliance Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference about Tesla and five other EV companies with a market cap above $20 billion – meaning the market is saying there’re at least six credible new entrants – said, “We’re going to see very large consolidation and big changes. I would say new EV companies probably will get simpler and Chinese will become more important… Continue reading

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Nürburgring: 911 GT3 Manthey Performance Kit – $10,174/s

A 911 GT3 with the Manthey Performance Kit, powered by a 375 kW (510 PS) engine, posted a lap time of 6:55.737 on the Nürburgring’s North Loop, the Nordschleife. This makes it exactly 4.19 seconds faster than the 911 GT3 without the kit, Porsche said today. The modifications focused on aerodynamics and chassis components. The new Performance Kit was developed between the Porsche engineers in Weissach and the Nordschleife specialists from Manthey in Meuspath. Continue reading

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Toyota Adds Four New 2023 Hybrid Corolla Models

Toyota said today that the 2023 Corolla line expands with four new Hybrid grades, including a more powerful hybrid system and optional all-wheel drive. It’s a half-step to the EV future that planet earth needs to survive.
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Embracing the Inevitable? – Buick all EVs by 2030

The Buick Wildcat EV concept, a large  a 2+2 coupe with challenging sight-lines for the driver, demonstrates the new global brand design language that – it’s claimed – will be apparent in production vehicles going forward. The pointy nose could present a problem – when parking or when parking the badge. Continue reading

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Breathing? Toyota Connected Cabin Awareness Uses 4D Radar

It has the capability to sense micro movements, defined as a heartbeat, motion and respiration of occupants across three full seating rows, the cargo area and footwells. It also classifies all occupants according to size, posture and position – supporting advanced safety applications. Continue reading

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Stellantis, Toyota Expand with New Large Commercial Van

Stellantis and TME’s collaboration started in 2012 with the Toyota’s mid-size LCV produced at Stellantis’ Hordain plant in France, followed in 2019 by a compact-size LCV segment, produced at Stellantis’ plant in Vigo, Spain. The large-size LCV announcement allows Toyota to complete a full LCV line-up in Europe. It also – as many such emerging agreements do – offsets the ruinous development and production costs of the ongoing electrification of offerings demanded by governments and customers. Continue reading

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Supply Chain Disruptions – Government Solutions Working?

Retired General Lyons will take over the role from John D. Porcari. General Lyons will work with the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), the White House National Economic Council (NEC), ports, rail, trucking and other private companies across our US supply chains to continue to address bottlenecks, speed up the movement of goods, and help lower costs for people. Continue reading

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Adopt a Charger, Rivian Installing EV Chargers in MI Parks

Republicans continue to oppose and block the badly needed Build Back Better national program. Many governors are embracing the future in ways they can help clean energy.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan today joined state and local officials and representatives from Adopt a Charger and startup electric vehicle wanna-be Rivian* at the first of ~15 EV charging sites to be installed at state parks and a fish hatchery in Michigan during the next few years. Two Rivian Waypoints (sic) chargers were unveiled at the 142-acre state park in Ottawa County. Continue reading

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BREXIT Curse – UK Car Production Falls -11.3% in April

UK car production fell -11.3% in April year-on-year with 60,554 units rolling off factory lines, according to the latest figures released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The ongoing global shortage of semi-conductors, the impact of … Continue reading

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Pure EV Sales at All-Time Record in US

Pure EV Sales at All-Time Record in US, whose transaction prices are close to a $70,000 making them a new category – Luxury Clean – in AutoInformed’s view. Republicans, with a history of backing from Big Oil, continue to block the Biden Administration’s Build Back Better bill that addresses drastic climate change and prepares the way for a cleaner future. Continue reading

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Ford Joins 50 First Mover Coalition Companies

Ford is committing that at least 10% of its primary aluminum* purchases will have near-zero carbon emissions by 2030, a small step in the right direction of addressing planet-killing and people killing global warming. Continue reading

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Semiconductor Crisis – Toyota Again Suspending Production

“We at Toyota would like to again apologize for the repeated adjustments to our production plans due to the parts shortage resulting from the spread of COVID-19, and for causing considerable inconvenience to our customers, suppliers, and other parties concerned,” Toyota said. Continue reading

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