Category Archives: milestones

Nissan to Build $2 Billion Plant In Aguascalientes Mexico

The announcement comes as the United Auto Workers union is developing plans to once again try to organize transplants in the United States, where Nissan has two other plants. The UAW has been unsuccessful in previous organizing attempts, and its lack of international alliances with other unions is a decided disadvantage.The lack of exports from UAW organized Detroit Three plants is preventing the creation of middle class jobs in the U.S. – now clearly the issue in the upcoming presidential election. Continue reading

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Tom Stephens GM Vice Chair and Chief Technology Officer to Retire

The retirement is major development at a recovering GM since Stephens was an extremely knowledgeable, no nonsense ‘car guy.’ Stephens started in 1969 as an hourly employee at the Chevrolet Engineering Center in Warren, Mich., under a University of Michigan Student Co-op Program. The affable Stephens – with some hearing loss from years of working in engine dynamometer test cells – got things done, and done well in the face of GM’s huge and largely inert bureaucracy. Stephens always pushed for the best product possible, according to GM insiders, even when he didn’t have the clout needed to effect change. Continue reading

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Milestones: First U.S. Diesel Powered Car – Cummins Packard

Fuel prices have risen since then, now ranging between $3 to $4 a gallon. The company Clessie Lyle Cummins founded in 1919 – Cummins Engine Company of Columbus, Indiana – to build engines based on Rudolf Diesel’s compression engine (patented 20 years before) has grown to be a Fortune 500 company with more than $18 billion in annual sales. Continue reading

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Toyota Launches Prius c Hybrid as Aqua in Japan for $21,700

In Japan the Prius c comes in seven models with a price ranging from $21,750 to $34,500 for lavishing equipped models for handicapped people. Look for the Japanese-built Prius c in the U.S. to start somewhere under $20,000 with several more expensive option packages. AutoInformed is betting Toyota will continue to use aggressive ‘comeback pricing’ and incentives to regain market share lost post-tsunami and Thailand floods this year. With the introduction of the all-new reduced price Camry last October, Toyota has regained 2 percentage points of U.S. share in the last two months. Continue reading

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Milestones: U.S. Population of 312.8 Million on New Year’s Day

Through 2050, the United States is projected to remain in third place behind India and China among the world’s most populous countries with 423 million inhabitants. China of course has been the world’s largest auto market for three years now, and will likely remain so for the next decade. While this looks like a large increases in the number of persons in the U.S., the rate of population growth, is projected to decrease during the next six decades by about 50 %. The decrease in the rate of growth is mostly due to the aging of the population and, consequently, a dramatic increase in the number of deaths. From 2030 to 2050, the United States would grow more slowly than ever before in its history, potentially an economic disaster with potentially grave implications for economic expansion, revenue and national wealth. Continue reading

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Milestones: 5 Million Bosch Start-Stop Systems

Volkswagen explored this concept with demonstration units decades ago. However, the effectiveness of electronic controls monitoring such variables as battery state of charge and engine temperature and heater operation, makes stop-start systems viable with no negative aspects. Stop-start is virtually undetectable to drivers, except for a slight shudder on engine reactivation. Once you drive a vehicle with start-stop you will go crazy when idling and realizing that you are getting zero miles per gallon for no reason other than to make oil companies wealthier. Continue reading

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Milestones: GM Builds 100 Million Small Block V8 Engines

GM also announced Tuesday that the fifth-generation small-block under development will feature a new direct-injection combustion system that will help enhance efficiency over the current-generation engine. Chevrolet now sells more four-cylinder engines than V8s, and the traditional powerplant of Detroit cars and trucks is threatened with extinction as fuel economy and emission regulations become more stringent. Continue reading

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Thanksgiving for Democracy Now, Noting Battles Past, Girding Ourselves for Coming Political, Economic and Military Wars

What’s called the most American of holidays, Thanksgiving, had its roots in pilgrim and other colonial celebrations going back to the early 17th century. It was President George Washington who first designated the celebration of Thanksgiving by our national government … Continue reading

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GM and UzAvtosanoat Open New Engine Plant in Asia

General Motors and a joint venture partner, state owned UzAvtosanoat, have dedicated a new engine plant in Tashkent, 400 kilometers from the automakers’ vehicle manufacturing facility in Asaka, Uzbekistan. It represents GM’s largest powertrain investment to date in Central Asia. Continue reading

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GM Lansing Delta Township Plant Builds Millionth Vehicle

A GMC Acadia Denali came off the production line at General Motors’ Lansing Delta Township Assembly Plant today, the 1 millionth vehicle produced at the automaker’s newest assembly plant in North America. Continue reading

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Milestones: Ford EcoBoost 3-Cylinder Startup in Cologne

Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally today launched volume production in Cologne of Ford’s smallest gasoline engine – a 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine that will debut in Europe in early 2012. Eventually variants of the three-cylinder, turbocharged, direct injection gasoline engine … Continue reading

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Biofuels Now in Commercial Use at United and Alaska Airlines

The use of aviation biofuels looks promising since it was pushed forward by the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI) established by the Federal Aviation Administration, which has been working to find sustainable fuels for airlines since 2006. As always the issues remain cost, and potential negative effects on global food supply. Continue reading

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The Film – Chevy 100, An American Story – Debuts in Detroit

Do not confuse this Chevy 100 infomercial with other serious documentaries sponsored by GM and produced by Ken Burns during his long association with the largest automaker in the U.S. Chevy 100 lacks an organizing theme – other than it’s time to sell more Chevrolets. Instead, Chevy 100 is comprised of sporadic observations along with snapshots of the history of the brand, supplemented with large amounts of quick-cut contemporary footage from collectors clubs and fawning owners. Be forewarned, you will not see the history of Chevrolet, or the history of the automobile in U.S.A. that Chevrolet is such a significant part of, given justice in this treatment. Continue reading

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Milestones – Chevrolet Officially Celebrates 100 Years

Chevrolet is officially recognizing its 100th birthday today by offering deals across the United States. The latest birthday or rather marketing activity ends a year-long Chevy Centennial celebration that began last January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Chevrolet’s history is tangled, and its beginnings were subject to Wall Street maneuverings that are wearily similar to recent financial history. Continue reading

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All Honda Plants at Full Production Post Earthquake

Honda Manufacturing of Indiana, HMIN, today began a second production shift for the first time, which increases output at the plant to its full annual capacity and adds approximately 1,000 new associates to Honda’s operations in Indiana. HMIN opened in 2008 just as the global auto markets were collapsing due to the financial crisis caused by the reckless practices of Wall Street firms, banks and rating agencies. Continue reading

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