Category Archives: results

Record 2012 Sales in China for GM, Volkswagen Group, Ford Motor

Posted on 24 January 2013 by Ken Zino

General Motors and its joint ventures sold a record 2.84 million vehicles in China during 2012, an increase of 11% from 2011 in the world’s largest auto market, which is now tracking at 19.1 million or more units annually. GM has led sales in China for eight consecutive years. GM just barely stayed Number One , though, because the VW Group, China’s Number Two automaker, sold 2.81 million vehicles, a +24.5% increase compared to 2011. Continue reading →

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Second Alabama Cop to Serve Time for I-65 Motorist Thefts

Posted on 23 January 2013 by Ken Zino

A second Alabama police officer has been sentenced to serve time because of his thefts from motorists on I-65. Former Fort Deposit police officer Carlos Tyson Bennett, 37, was sentenced to 37 months in prison, two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $500 in restitution. Bennett stole money from motorists during traffic stops with another ex Fort Deposit cop, Jessie Alan Fuller, on Interstate 65 in 2009. Continue reading →

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Treasury Now Selling More General Motors Stock at a Loss

Posted on 18 January 2013 by Ken Zino

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced today that it is starting to sell its 300.1 million remaining shares of General Motors common stock with the initiation of a pre-arranged written trading plan. Under the unpublished plan, Treasury will proceed with its December 2012 announcement that it will sell its GM shares “in an orderly fashion” and fully exit its remaining GM investment within the next 12-15 months, subject to market conditions. Continue reading →

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EPA Report Shows Air Pollution Continues to Decline in the U.S.

Posted on 18 January 2013 by Ken Zino

Toxic air pollution in the U.S. dropped 8% in 2011 from a year earlier because of decreases in hazardous air pollutant emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency,. However EPA said that total releases of toxic chemicals increased for the second year in a row. The Agency, which is under constant attacks from Republican party members some of whom want to abolish it, publishes an annual Toxics Release Inventory or TRI report. Continue reading →

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General Motors Declares Dividend on Preferred Stock

Posted on 15 January 2013 by Ken Zino

General Motors (NYSE: GM) today announced that its Board of Directors has approved a quarterly dividend of $0.59375 per share on its Series B mandatory convertible junior preferred stock. The dividend (4.75% annually) is payable 1 March 2013 to Series B holders of record as of 15 February 2013. The dividend on the hybrid stock – a mixture of stock and debt – is cumulative. GM has not paid a dividend on its common stock since 2008 before it entered bankruptcy. Continue reading →

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Chinese GAC Group to Build Jeep Models in China

Posted on 15 January 2013 by Ken Zino

Chinese automaker Guangzhou Automobile Group Company will build Jeep models in China, according to a revised joint venture signed in Michigan today with Fiat S.p.A. GAC already manufactures the Fiat Viaggio – aka Dodge Dart – and distributes the imported Fiat 500, Freemont and Bravo in China. Continue reading →

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Mercedes-Benz E-Class and CLA-Class Unveiled in Detroit

Posted on 14 January 2013 by Ken Zino

“In 2012, we sold more than 274,000 cars in the U.S. and thus achieved a new sales record for Mercedes-Benz. Because we are bringing so many new models to market in 2013 – the new E-Class line, the new CLA-Class and the new S-Class – we anticipate that sales will again increase in 2013,” said Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars. Continue reading →

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NADA Jumps on 2013 Auto Sales Forecast Bandwagon – 15.4 Million

Posted on 12 January 2013 by Ken Zino

The auto sales momentum of new cars and light trucks established last year is likely to continue in 2013, predicts Paul Taylor of the National Automobile Dealers Association. NADA, at 15.4 million, joins Polk at 15.3 million and LMC at 15 million units for total light-vehicle sales and 12.2 million for retail sales. In 2012 14.4 million light cars, SUVs and trucks in total were sold in the U.S. as the auto market continued its slow recovery. Continue reading →

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Ford Motor Doubles Quarterly Dividend for Q1 2013 to $0.10

Posted on 10 January 2013 by Ken Zino

Ford Motor Company declared a first-quarter dividend of $0.10 per share on the company’s outstanding Class B that the family controls as well as common stock. This doubles the $0.05 dividend paid in each quarter of 2012. Continue reading →

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Milestones – Nissan Begins Assembly of 2013 LEAF EV in Tennessee

Posted on 9 January 2013 by Ken Zino

Nissan is starting U.S. assembly of the 2013 LEAF electric car at its manufacturing plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, where it will be made along with the far more popular Altima and Maxima models. Since 2010 Leaf has been imported from Oppama, Japan. Continue reading →

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BMW Opens Health Center at its South Carolina SUV Plant

Posted on 8 January 2013 by Ken Zino

BMW Manufacturing has opened a Family Health Center at its South Carolina plant for all BMW workers, retirees and their dependents. BMW’s existing onsite family pharmacy was relocated to the new facility and joined there by occupational, primary care services, as well as vision, dental and physical therapy. Continue reading →

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December Car Sales in Western Europe Drop 16%. Off -8% in 2012

Posted on 8 January 2013 by Ken Zino

The last month of 2012 saw car sales in Western Europe decline by 16% to a SAAR – or Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate – of just 11.7 million vehicles as the Eurozone crisis deepens. The market dropped more than -8% for the year taking it back to levels not seen since 1993. Sales in 2012 are more than 3 million units lower or -21%, compared to the size of the 2007 market. Continue reading →

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2012 Record Year for U.S. Hybrid Sales, But EVs Remain Insignificant

Posted on 7 January 2013 by Ken Zino

The U.S. auto industry posted a record year for hybrid sales during 2012 as almost 500,000 hybrids were sold, or 3.4% of the overall new vehicle market. Continue reading →

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Ford Sells off Former Lincoln Assembly Plant in Wixom, Michigan

Posted on 5 January 2013 by Ken Zino

The Wixom plant opened in 1957 and produced numerous vehicles over the years, including the Lincoln Continental, Town Car, LS, Mark VI, VII and VIII, as well as the Ford Thunderbird (an LS underneath and with the same interior) and Ford GT. Ford stopped production at the Wixom Assembly Plant in 2007 as sales of Lincoln vehicles, by then rebadged Ford models, plummeted. Continue reading →

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Offshore Brands Led by the Japanese Capture 55.5% of the U.S. Auto Market in 2012 as the Detroit Three Lose Market Share Gained in 2011

Posted on 4 January 2013 by Ken Zino

In what turned out to be the best auto sales year since pre-Great Depression 2007, offshore brands captured 55.5% of the U.S. auto market, while the Detroit Three brand lost ground and held only 44.5% of the market. Continue reading →

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