Category Archives: milestones

Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Breaks Ground for Chongqing 3

Posted on 27 August 2012 by Ken Zino

The $600 million expansion will make Chongqing the largest Ford production site in the world by far – a latter day Rouge for communist customers. Chongqing 3 includes a new assembly line, body and paint shop. The first vehicle is expected to come off the flexible assembly line in late 2014. CFMA already operates two assembly plants and an engine plant in Chongqing, with another engine plant and a transmission plant currently under construction. 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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Jaguar Land Rover Begins 24 Hour Shifts at Halewood

Posted on 14 August 2012 by Ken Zino

Jaguar Land Rover at its Halewood plant is now running around the clock production, the first time the factory has run flat out in its 50-year history. The new night shift, which began at 21.30 last evening required the hiring of 1,000 production workers. Continue reading →

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JMC and Ford to Buy Taiyuan Changan Heavy Truck in China

Posted on 8 August 2012 by Ken Zino

Ford Motor Company is reentering the heavy truck market through its partner Jiangling Motors Corporation in China. JMC will buy Taiyuan Changan Heavy Truck Company, its first entry into the heavy truck business. JMC currently builds Ford Transits under license from Ford, and Ford owns 30% of the light commercial vehicle maker. Continue reading →

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Ford C-Max Hybrid EPA Rated at 47 MPG in all Categories

Posted on 7 August 2012 by Ken Zino

The all-new Ford C-Max Hybrid that goes on sale this fall is now EPA-certified at 47 mpg city, 47 mpg highway and 47 mpg combined. This makes it the first hybrid without a window sticker decline in highway fuel economy ratings. Whether this is real or the product of carefully calibrating the C-Max to the test cycle awaits independent verification. Continue reading →

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Honda Indiana Plant to Increase Capacity and Add Civic Hybrid

Posted on 18 July 2012 by Ken Zino

Honda announced at the Automotive Press Association in Detroit that it is investing $40 million to increase annual capacity by 50,000 units to 250,000 vehicles at its Indiana plant. The strong Japanese Yen continues to be a good development for autoworkers as all Japanese firms are shifting production out of Japan. Continue reading →

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Ford India Expands Chennai Engine Plant

Posted on 17 July 2012 by Ken Zino

Ford India today announced it has completed the expansion of its Chennai engine plant, increasing annual engine production capacity 36% to 340,000. The additional capacity of 80,000 diesel engines helps meet increasing demand for diesel powertrains in India as well as export markets. The expansion, which Ford hopes will be ongoing, led to the hiring of 200 employees. Continue reading →

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Milestones – 40 Million Ford Engines Produced at Dagenham

Posted on 11 July 2012 by Ken Zino

Production at Dagenham for Ford vehicles accounts for about 70% of Dagenham’s output, with the balance of more than 270,000 engines for Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, PSA Peugeot Citroën and Volvo. Ford is in the process of phasing out its successful 12-year joint venture with Peugeot since PSA is now the process of establishing a global alliance with General Motors. All of these companies are hemorrhaging billions of dollars – or euros in Europe as the Eurozone crisis deepens. The British pound is helping Ford somewhat, but losses are projected to quadruple in Europe for the balance of 2012. Ford Europe lost $149 million in Q1, a -$449 million swing compared to 2011. Continue reading →

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Blower Bentley Sets £4.5 Million Auction Record

Posted on 2 July 2012 by Ken Zino

Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin’s 4.5-liter supercharged Bentley race car sold for £4.5 million when auctioned at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. In March 1932, Birkin set a record 137.96 mph at the Brooklands in the United Kingdom. Continue reading →

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Porsche Leipzig plant builds 500,000th Vehicle

Posted on 29 June 2012 by Ken Zino

Earlier this year, Porsche marked the tenth anniversary of what was at the time a controversial expansion into the truck market. However, after the Porsche factory opened in Leipzig during 2002 to build the Cayenne SUV it proved to be a successful investment that has since grown to produce another controversial – but just as profitable vehicle – the Panamera sedan. Continue reading →

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BMW Group and Toyota Motor Expand Collaboration

Posted on 29 June 2012 by Ken Zino

Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota Motor Corporation, met today with Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, at the BMW Group headquarters in Munich to announce the planned expansion of their existing cooperation that started last year. Continue reading →

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Milestones – Compact BMW X1 SUV Reaches 300,000 in Sales

Posted on 28 June 2012 by Ken Zino

Since its fall of 2009 introduction the compact BMW X1 sport utility vehicle has reached 300,000 in global sales, the German Automaker said today. The X1 was arguably the first luxury cute ute, and the fourth addition to the BMW crossover lineup from a maker once largely known for its sports sedans. Continue reading →

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Ford’s Original Model T Piquette Plant now Open to Public

Posted on 26 June 2012 by Ken Zino

The Ford Piquette Avenue plant and the office where Henry Ford created his historic Model T car is now welcoming visitors. The century-old building has been restored by a group of preservationists and Ford history enthusiasts who have worked for a decade to renovate it. The first 12,000 Model T cars were built at Piquette, starting in September 1908. Continue reading →

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Toyota France to Export Yaris to North America in 2013

Posted on 22 June 2012 by Ken Zino

Toyota Motor Manufacturing France announced today that as of May 2013, it will start building the Yaris compact car for export to the United States of America, Canada and Puerto Rico. The annual export volume is about 25,000 units. The surprising move is both a hedge against the strong Japanese Yen that makes exports form the land of the rising sun unprofitable, as well a defensive capacity move against the ongoing collapse of the Western European economy that has seen car sales plummet for five straight years with no end to the decline in sight. Continue reading →

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U.S. Wins WTO Dispute with China Over Steel Duties

Posted on 22 June 2012 by Ken Zino

The United States has prevailed in a World Trade Organization or WTO dispute over China’s imposition of anti-dumping and countervailing duties on flat-rolled electrical steel from the United States. The duties affected a substantial amount of United States trade in U.S. steel products. After talks with the Chinese failed to resolve the matter, the WTO established the panel in March 2011. Continue reading →

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