Category Archives: results

Volkswagen Group to Cut CO2 emissions to 95 g/km by 2020

Posted on 12 March 2013 by Ken Zino

In the ongoing battle of the green press releases, Volkswagen Group has restated its strategic goal of becoming the world’s most “environmentally sustainable” automaker by 2018. The announcement was originally made a year ago when VW Group undertook an ecologically oriented restructuring designed to coordinate responses to increasingly tough global regulations covering vehicles and how they are made and recycled. Continue reading →

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Light Vehicle Sales Slow in February to 79.7M SAAR

Posted on 11 March 2013 by Ken Zino

Global light vehicles sales slowed in February for a seasonally adjusted annualized rate or SAAR of 79.7 million units. Some of the decrease was due to the timing of the Chinese New Year during the month instead of January. The consultancy LMC Automotive claimed that the first two months taken together are running as 82.7 million units per year, and is likely a more stable measure of recent demand levels. Continue reading →

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Volkswagen Brand Global Sales up 9% Year-to-Date

Posted on 11 March 2013 by Ken Zino

Volkswagen delivered 893,400 passenger vehicles during the first two months of 2013, a +9.1% improvement from 2012 at 818,800. The success of the volume brand from the VW Group is key to realizing its ambitions to be the world’s largest automaker by 2018, a position now held by Toyota Motor Corporation. This year, the VW group is closing in on General Motors Company for the Number Two spot. Continue reading →

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Porsche Sales Rise 18% in February Led by 31% U.S. Gain

Posted on 11 March 2013 by Ken Zino

Porsche sold 10,454 sold new vehicles in February 2013, an increase of 18.2% in comparison to the same month last year. The Porsche model most in demand worldwide was the Cayenne SUV once again at 5,637. Almost 2,000 911 models were sold.The former sports car maker, now luxury vehicle manufacturer fully owned by the Volkswagen Group, saw particularly strong sales in the U.S. at 3,225, a 31% increase in its largest market. Year-to-date Porsche sales at 22,515 are up 22% globally. VW Group is closing in on GM as the world’s second largest automaker and wants to be Number One in global auto sales by 2018. Continue reading →

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Land Rover Shows a 9-Speed Automatic Trans at Geneva

Posted on 6 March 2013 by Ken Zino

Land Rover showed the world’s first 9-speed automatic transmission for a light duty vehicle at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. The ZF 9HP transmission is said to be specifically designed for transverse applications, and is claimed to be one of the most efficient and technically advanced transmissions ever used in a production vehicle. The first volume production will come later this year in the Range Rover with the 9HP manufactured at ZF’s Gray Court facility in South Carolina. Continue reading →

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Rising Truck Sales Cause Offshore Brands to Lose Share in February

Posted on 4 March 2013 by Ken Zino

Five of the Top Ten selling vehicles in February were offshore nameplates. These leading vehicles experienced an average sales improvement of 11.1%. The Ford F-Series and Chevrolet Silverado pickups maintained their first and second positions. In third and fourth place, respectively, the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord continue to be the most preferred cars in the U.S. The Nissan Altima moved into the sixth position, up from number eight last month. The Toyota Corolla/Matrix, in number seven, Ford Escape in eight, Ram pickup in ninth and Honda Civic, number ten, completed the Top Ten Seller list. Continue reading →

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Ford Motor U.S. Sales Up 9%, Pacing Market Recovery

Posted on 1 March 2013 by Ken Zino

Ford Motor Company’s U.S. February sales increased 9% to 195,822 vehicles, its best February in six years. Cars were up 6%, sport utility vehicles rose by 21%, while trucks increased 4%. The only bad news was moribund Lincoln, which saw sales decrease 30% to 4,900 vehicles in spite of an expensive brand-image advertising campaign that doesn’t have a flagship vehicle to promote. Continue reading →

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GM U.S. Sales Increase 7% in February. Retail Share Up

Posted on 1 March 2013 by Ken Zino

General Motors said today that it sold 224,314 vehicles in the United States in February, up 7% compared with a year ago. Retail sales and fleet sales were both up 7%, matching expected overall market growth. GM’s fleet sales were 25% of the total, equal to a year ago.GM estimated its retail market share at more than 17%, well above its 2012 calendar year share at 15%. This was best February since 2008 at 268,737 units when the market was trending down and GM was headed for bankruptcy. The Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate back then was about the same as today at 15.6 million light vehicles. Continue reading →

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Chrysler Group February U.S. Sales Increase 4% as Growth Rate Slows

Posted on 1 March 2013 by Ken Zino

Chrysler Group today posted U.S. sales of 139,015 units, a 4% increase compared with sales in February 2012 of 133,521 units. While it was the Group’s best February since 2008, the overall market was predicted to grow at a 7% to 9% rate, if so Chrysler is not keeping up with the auto sales recovery. The comeback car company has been consistently outpacing market growth, as has been Toyota Motor, which also posted a 4% sales gain. Continue reading →

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CountryMark Refining to Install $18 Million in Pollution Controls to Resolve Clean Air Act Violations at its Indiana Refinery

Posted on 28 February 2013 by Ken Zino

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice announced today that CountryMark Refining and Logistics has agreed to pay a $167,000 civil penalty, perform environmental projects totaling more than $180,000, and spend $18 million on new pollution controls to resolve Clean Air Act (CAA) violations at its refinery, located in Mount Vernon, Indiana. Continue reading →

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EU Commercial Vehicle Sales Drop 11% in January as Slump Continues

Posted on 28 February 2013 by Ken Zino

The sale of new commercial vehicles in the EU declined again in January (-10.6%), continuing a worrisome downward trend evident for all of 2012. Continue reading →

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Cadillac XTS Now in Production in China, World’s Largest Market

Posted on 26 February 2013 by Ken Zino

Criticisms that auto companies are making vehicles in China or transferring jobs there are at best ignorant of, or deliberately ignore, Chinese industrial policy, which requires local partners and production for access to the market. There are also high Chinese tariffs on imports that effectively restrict volume exports of the kind that are now coming out of, say, South Korea under the U.S. Korean FTA. (I can only imagine the outcry if Mercedes-Benz was required to partner with the city of Detroit to build cars there – the ruling party in Detroit controlling the jobs – as a condition of access to the U.S., one of the world’s most lucrative luxury car markets. This is required in China.) Continue reading →

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60-Day Auto Loan Delinquencies Rise for First Time since 2009

Posted on 22 February 2013 by Ken Zino

It was the first time since the end of 2009 that either 30- or 60-day loan delinquencies increased year-over-year. In what could be an early warning sign that sub-prime loans from finance companies are becoming too speculative, the total balance of 60-day delinquent loans grew from $3.48 billion in Q4 2011 to $3.93 billion in Q4 2012. Continue reading →

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U.S. February Auto Sales Projected Up Again as Recovery Continues

Posted on 22 February 2013 by Ken Zino

Retail sales of new vehicles in the U.S. during February are forecast to increase from February 2012, as the tentative recovery of the U.S. economy continues. However, sales at 931,000 cars and light trucks or a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) of 12.1 million units will dip below an unexpectedly strong January SAAR of 13.1 million, a normally slow selling month. U.S. vehicle sales in January were surprisingly strong, with no automaker stronger than Toyota Motor’s three brands, which increased sales almost 27% in a retail light-vehicle market that grew by 14% to more than 1 million units. Continue reading →

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VW Group Ties GM for Largest Automaker in China in January

Posted on 19 February 2013 by Ken Zino

The VW Group began the year with a 15% increase in sales for January, totaling 749,900 compared to January of 2012 at 652,400. A huge portion of the gain was the later date for the Chinese New Year, which means a decline in China is coming in February for all automakers when the holiday is celebrated. Nevertheless, The VW Group delivered 298,300 (208,200; +43.3%) vehicles in China, the region’s largest single market, in the first month of the year. This compares to China market leader GM, which sold 300,000 during the same period – a dead heat in the Chinese sales race. Continue reading →

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