Category Archives: results

Texas RV and Motorcycle Importers Fined for CAA Abuses

Savoia, BMX Imports, BMX Trading, and their owner, Terry Zimmer, allegedly illegally imported motorcycles that didn’t comply with the Clean Air Act, or CAA Continue reading

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EU Light Vehicle Sales Increase in December

While the EU economy is still on life-support, light vehicle sales during December increased in most major Western markets. Continue reading

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December Auto Sales Stall – Worry or Fluke?

Taking a longer view of the economy, though, saw 2013 as another successful year for the wealth-creating auto business. Thirteen ran at 15.6 million units, which was an increase of more than one million units compared to the year before. This was the fourth straight year of growth after the disastrous 2009 and 2010 economic collapse caused by an unregulated Wall Street Continue reading

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December U.S. Vehicle Sales Projected at a +4% Increase

The Detroit Three continued to build inventory rapidly, and their combined days’ supply climbed from 87 days at the beginning of November to 93 days by the end of the month. This is potentially worrisome. Continue reading

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Ford Cuts 2014 Earnings Outlook. Warranty Costs Hurt 2013

In a sense, 2014 is an investment year that will hurt returns short term, but is necessary to keep Ford competitive going forward. Overall, FMC will launch 23 new vehicles globally, with 16 launches in North America, it’s only solidly profitable region. Since these North American freshenings will cover a significant percentage of the region’s volume, Ford said that it now expects sales next year to be lower, even as the region grows by roughly one million units or more in total. Continue reading

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General Motors Sells Record 3 Million Vehicles in China

However, the Detroit based automaker is facing a serious challenge to its long held sales leadership in the communist country from Volkswagen Group this year. Continue reading

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EU November Cars Sales Up Slightly

In absolute numbers, this represents the third lowest level recorded for a month of November since ACEA, the automakers trade group, recorded new registrations in the EU27 in 2003. Continue reading

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Chevy’s European Exit Cost to GM More than $1 Billion

While the dropping of Chevrolet as a mainstream brand in Eastern and Western Europe by 2016 is a good strategic move for GM, the retreat will be costly to shareholders. GM estimates that it will take special charges of $700 million to $1 billion primarily in Q4 of 2013 and continuing through the first half of 2014. Continue reading

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Global Light Vehicle Sales at Record Pace

Led by the Chinese market, the world’s largest, global vehicle sales again were at a record pace during the month of November. Preliminary results for show the light vehicle market soared to a new record of more than 86 million units a year. Continue reading

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GM sells all of its Stock in Ally, formerly GMAC

GM’s plan is to put back in place a GMAC-like operation, dubbed GM Financial, with many of the companies coming from Ally, which was GMAC and went bankrupt at the onset of the Great Recession because of its reckless home lending practices. A controversial U.S. taxpayer-funded bailout ensued, one that has not been paid back. Continue reading

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Fuel Economy of New U.S. Vehicles at Record High

The large fuel economy improvement is part of longer-term trends. Fuel economy has increased by 2.6 mpg or 12% since 2008, and by 4.3 mpg or 22% since 2004. The average carbon dioxide emissions of 376 grams per mile in model year 2012 also was a record low. Continue reading

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GM Sells Peugeot Shares. Claims Strategic Alliance Lives

As GM was issuing its statement, PSA shares in Paris were sinking after the automaker said more write-downs are coming with perhaps the need to raise more capital. GM has already written of part of its investment in PSA and it is clearly cutting its losses, with another write-down likely to follow in its Q4 results. Peugeot is trading at $15 a share, down from $30 in 2012. Continue reading

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Auto Engineering now White Water Rafting as CAFE Goes Up

Currently, estimates for the cost of compliance range from zero to $10,000 per vehicle for what is a difficult engineering task that has become – once again and as always – an ideological battleground, with posturing from automakers, regulators and pressure groups. Continue reading

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Treasury No Longer Owns GM Common Stock

Treasury in a statement said it recouped a total of $39 billion from the original GM investment. Taxpayers in 2009 gave GM $49.5 billion in loans ($50 billion including loans for the Supplier and Warranty Programs) in exchange for $2.1 billion in preferred stock and a 60.8% equity stake in the reorganized company. Continue reading

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Holiday Shoppers Boost November U.S. Auto Sales

The upshot was a SAAR or seasonally adjusted annualized selling rate of more than 16 million – back to the levels before the Bush Great Recession years took hold starting in 2008. Continue reading

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