Category Archives: results

Five of the Top Ten Sellers Are Now Detroit Three Vehicles

Posted on 5 June 2012 by Ken Zino

Five of the Top Ten selling vehicles in the U.S. during May came from the Detroit Three as strong pickup truck sales continued and the Chevrolet Malibu and Ford Fusion had solid months. As it has for 30 years, the F-150 led the list, and strong sales of the Chevrolet Silverado allowed it to nudge Honda out of third place with the Toyota Camry still in second place as it was in April. The Dodge Ram also reappeared in the Top Ten for the first time since February. All of the other spots were taken by Honda and Toyota, each with three models in the Top Ten. Continue reading →

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Mercedes-Benz Posts Global Sales Record in May

Posted on 5 June 2012 by Ken Zino

Mercedes-Benz in May 2012 delivered 113,136 vehicles, + 4% compared to the record figure for 2011. Year-to-date 531,382 units or +8.4% have been delivered globally, the earliest in a year the 500,000 threshold has been crossed. Continue reading →

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Congressional, Presidential State Voting Maps Now Online

Posted on 5 June 2012 by Ken Zino

The Census Bureau today released a menu-driven, interactive web page giving users access for any state a series of graphs showing percentages of adults who voted and registered in every congressional and presidential election between 1996 and 2010. Continue reading →

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GM Pension Buyout Financial Engineering or Coup?

Posted on 4 June 2012 by Ken Zino

General Motors announced that it would offer lump-sum buyouts to 42,000 retired salaried employees while 76,000 others would have their pensions transferred to The Prudential Insurance Company of America, which would take over the GM white-collar plan. Continue reading →

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Mazda to Race Diesel Engines in U.S. Grand Am GX

Posted on 4 June 2012 by Ken Zino

With the RX-8 no longer in production for the U.S. market, Mazda is moving to bolster its marketing efforts by combining racing with a car that will be on sale here. The racing effort also begs the question when and where a Mazda Skyactiv-d production engine will appear in the United States. No Japanese automaker is currently selling a diesel in the U.S. – a possible area Mazda could exploit, building on its fuel-saving technologies. Continue reading →

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No Jobs Crisis Continues in May as Washington Dithers

Posted on 2 June 2012 by Ken Zino

The looming choices facing voters are clearly unpalatable. At the top of the ticket, you have the demonstrably job-destroying Harvard-educated Republican party 1 percenter Mitt Romney running against the demonstrably non-job creating Harvard-educated Democratic party 1 percenter Barack Obama. It is time to put the name “somebody else” on all ballots, which if somebody else wins starts another election with the other previously listed candidates disqualified from running again. Continue reading →

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Japanese Big 3 – Toyota, Honda, Nissan – Sales Up in May

Posted on 1 June 2012 by Ken Zino

Toyota Motor came close to displacing Ford Motor from its assumed Number 2 spot in the U.S. by posting monthly sales of 202,973 – within a rounding error of Ford’s 215,699 and firmly putting Toyota in the Number 3 sales spot for the year-to-date. The other Japanese powerhouse members were also back in shape. American Honda posted sales of 134,000 (576,000 ytd) easily ahead of the Nissan at 92,000 (485,000 ytd). With a new Accord and Altima due this fall, the family car market is about to becomes more competitive than it has been in years, which is good for buyers but might leave weaker and older entries as road kill. Continue reading →

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Chrysler, Ford and GM Post Best U.S. May Sales in Years. But…

Posted on 1 June 2012 by Ken Zino

Chrysler, Ford and GM posted the best May sales in years today as the U.S. auto market continued its slow recovery to what looks to be shaping up as a 14 million unit year – the best since the collapse of the economy under the waning years of the Bush Administration. In terms of numbers, GM once again led with sales of 245,000 light cars and trucks – it’s highest in 33 months, followed by Ford Motor (209,000) and Chrysler Group (150,000). The market appears to be slipping away from Ford and General Motors, though. Only Chrysler Group at 689,000 year-to-date for a 33% increase outraced industry growth of 13%. Ford Motor up 6.5% (933,000) and GM up a mere 2% at 1,067,000 badly lagged the auto sale expansion. Continue reading →

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Ford Stays Number Two in May Sales Ahead of Toyota by 6,000

Posted on 1 June 2012 by Ken Zino

Whether Ford can retain the Number Two spot as it converts plants to build the new 2013 Fusion and Escape as well as the Lincoln MKZ remains to be seen. Ford is capacity restrained and during May it could have sold more of ‘high demand” vehicles such as the Ford Fusion. Continue reading →

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Honda Makes Money on End of Life Car Recycling in Japan

Posted on 1 June 2012 by Ken Zino

Honda Motor Company in its annual report covering end of life car recycling in Japan said today it made money on the sustainability program that is part of Japanese regulations. The total cost of the recycling efforts amounted to ¥3.48 billion ($44.55 million), which was ¥290 million ($3.7 million) less than the total recycling proceeds received which was ¥3.77 billion yen. Continue reading →

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Now it’s Football, Bangers, Mince Pie and Chevrolet

Posted on 31 May 2012 by Ken Zino

Chevrolet is entering into a five-year deal with Barclays Premier League member Manchester United to become the club’s Official Automotive Partner. Chevrolet’s five-year agreement includes the creation of the Chevrolet China Cup in July, with matches against Shanghai Shenhua FC and team in “another” Chinese city, which will be announced later. This is Chevrolet’s first global football sponsorship in the brand’s 101-year history. Continue reading →

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U.S. DOT Closes 26 Bus Operations in Its Largest Crackdown

Posted on 31 May 2012 by Ken Zino

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced today that it has shut down 26 bus operations, declaring them “imminent hazards” to public safety, the largest single safety crackdown in DOT’s history. Continue reading →

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April Japanese Automaking Surges with $13 Billion in Exports

Posted on 31 May 2012 by Ken Zino

The strong recovery is bad news for the Detroit Three since many of the vehicles will be shipped to North America, by far the largest export market for Japanese automakers. More than 157,000 vehicles were shipped to North America, with 140,000 of those sent the United States, where the new vehicle market is slowly growing once again. Continue reading →

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Ford Motor to Sell Former Visteon Lighting Plant in Ohio

Posted on 31 May 2012 by Ken Zino

After this sale, ACH or Automotive Components Holdings will have only one remaining operation – the climate control business at its Sheldon Road plant in Plymouth Township, Mich. ACH was formed by Ford in 2005 to sell or close 23 former Visteon plants. Continue reading →

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EU Commercial Vehicle Sales Drop 12% in April

Posted on 30 May 2012 by Ken Zino

Unlike the car market in Europe, which is in its fifth straight year of declining sales year-over-year, the commercial vehicle market was posting small gains until about a year ago. The declines since then are an ominous sign that EU economic problems are deepening as voters are turning out existing governments and demanding economic stimulus packages from new or surviving ruling elites. Expanding debt ridden national economies has thus far have been resisted mostly by the German government, which has a relatively stronger economy keeping it in power for the moment. Continue reading →

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