Category Archives: results

Ford Europe Sales Down 10% in April. UK and Eastern EU Up

Like other automakers, Ford is struggling with the contractionist policies of governments in Germany and Brussels, as voter unrest grows with the Depression level economic conditions. Both in April and year-to-date light vehicle sales in the EU are off almost 8%, the fifth straight year of declines. Continue reading

Posted in auto news, economy, news analysis, results, sales | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mercedes Predictive Cruise Control Uses GPS to Save Fuel

As the first GPS-based cruise control system, what the German truck making giant calls Predictive Powertrain Control intervenes to control speed, braking, and can now also regulate the transmission where it perform a single or double downshift of gears ahead of time when fitting. Continue reading

Posted in auto news, engineering, fuel economy or emissions, transportation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Harold ‘Red’ Poling – Ex CEO and Chairman of Ford – Dead

My favorite Poling story was when Ford was looking to buy Alfa Romeo. So they had a car in the executive garage for Red and other senior execs to drive. One problem, Red’s big wing tips didn’t allow him to operate the small pedals unimpeded. Therefore, he took them off and drove the car in his socks, leaving the shoes on the walkway. It is unknown if the garage staff polished the shoes while he was gone. Continue reading

Posted in auto news, milestones, people | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Airlines Post Record On-Time Performance but Complaints Up

Between January and March this year, the nation’s largest airlines posted their best on-time arrival rate for the first quarter of any year since the Department of Transportation began collecting comparable flight delay data in 1995. Supporters cite this as a clear example of the effectiveness of government regulation back by stiff fines. Continue reading

Posted in aviation, customer satisfaction, news, news analysis, performance, results, transportation | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nissan Posts Operating Profit of ¥45.8 Billion For F.Y. 2011

The Nissan results with a net of $4.32 billion was in sharp contrast to Toyota Motor Corporation’s F.Y. net profit decline to ¥283.56 billion or $3.6 billion, a -31% decrease. Nissan also out performed Honda Motor whose net profit declined slightly at ¥211.4 ($2.627 billion) for a -3.5% drop. Continue reading

Posted in auto news, financial results, marketing, news analysis, results, sales | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Carroll Shelby – Sports Car Racer and Builder – Dead at 89

Carroll Hall Shelby, a legendary sports car racer and builder died Thursday at age 89, his company, Carroll Shelby International, said today. The creator of the Cobra, Shelby passed away yesterday at Baylor Hospital in Dallas. Carroll Shelby is the only man to have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race as a driver, team owner and automotive manufacturer. Shelby once told me that he “spent a ton of old man Ford’s money, and kicked Ferrari’s ass,” which his team did for successive years at the 24 Hours of Le Mans until a rule change made the brutally fast and reliable cars illegal. Continue reading

Posted in auto news, milestones, news, people, racing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Justice Department Seizes Chinese Counterfeit Sports Jerseys

Why the Obama Administration in general, and the State Department under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have not taken stronger actions against ongoing corrupt Chinese business practices is an unanswered issue here. Why Major League baseball and the National Football League, among other sports organizations, remain silent over the widespread counterfeiting of their apparel is a disgrace and mocks their hard-working, law-abiding U.S. fans. Will the multi-millionaire players living off law-abiding fans ever wake up and demand action or are they too rich to care? Continue reading

Posted in litigation, marketing, news, news analysis, results | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Volkswagen Group April Sales at 732,000 are Up 6%

The Volkswagen Group in Wolfsburg today said sales increased for the month of April to 732,000 vehicles. Compared to April 2011 at 690,800, this represented a 6% gain. Year-to-date VW Group sold 2.89 million vehicles for an increase of 8.6% percent (January-April 2011: 2.66 m). Europe’s largest automaker and the Number Two Global automaker behind General Motors outperformed the overall market, which grew by 6% during the year.
Continue reading

Posted in auto news, results, sales | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Thirty Percent of Ford Shareholders Vote against Family Control

While a grand total of 63 people bothered to attend the Ford Motor Company annual meeting of shareholders in Wilmington, Delaware today, 29.5% of investors or 1,283,063,982 of them voted against Ford family control of the company through their holdings of Class B stock, which has 16 votes per share as opposed to one per share of common, assuming no one in the Ford family voted for losing power.
Continue reading

Posted in auto news, news analysis, people, results | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ford China Sales Rebound in April with 24% Gain

After three straight months of declining sales in China, Ford Motor said today that sales increased 24% year-over-year to 54,881 based on wholesale deliveries. Ford China has now sold 176,274 vehicles year-to-date in China. Market leader General Motors and its communist government required joint ventures in China set a domestic sales record for April of 227,217 vehicles. Demand was up 11.7% from the same month in 2011. Its performance in April took GM’s sales for the first four months of the year to 972,369 units, an increase of 9.4% on an annual basis. GM has now sold more than one million vehicles in China. Continue reading

Posted in auto news, marketing, news analysis, results, sales | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

EPA Drops Gas Station Vapor Recovery Regulation

In an election year where all federal agencies are incorporating political talking points from the ruling party into their releases, EPA claimed this final rule is part of the Obama Administration’s initiative to ensure that regulations protect public health and the environment without being unnecessarily burdensome to American businesses. Significantly, no health or environmental effect data were provided in the EPA release. Continue reading

Posted in auto news, environment, fuel economy or emissions, news analysis | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Toyota Motor 2012 Results Down 31% to $3.6 Billion Profit

Toyota Motor posted results for Fiscal Year 2012 ending 31 March that saw its net profit decline to ¥283.56 billion or $3.6 billion. A strong recovery in sales and earnings in the second half of the fiscal year was not enough to offset a poor first half, which was hurt by natural disasters in Japan and Thailand, which disrupted production. Continue reading

Posted in auto news, financial results, results | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Daimler Q1 Net Profit of €1,416 Million is Up 20%

Daimler said the increase came from the ongoing growth of unit sales at Mercedes-Benz Cars and Daimler Trucks. In the first quarter of 2012, the Daimler Group sold a total of 502,100 cars and commercial vehicles worldwide, up 9% from Q1 2011. Daimler expects to sell more than 2.1 million vehicles globally during 2012. Continue reading

Posted in auto news, financial results, results | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bankrupt Hawker Beechcraft Pensions Only 56% Funded

Collectively, Hawker Beechcraft’s three pension plans are only 56% funded, with $769 million in assets to cover $1.4 billion in benefits. If Hawker Beechcraft ended the plans under the bankruptcy, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation of the U.S. Federal government would pay $533 million of the $611 million shortfall. PBGC is the company’s largest creditor. Continue reading

Posted in aviation, financial results, labor issues, news, news analysis, results, transportation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Windsor, Canada to Buy Chinese BYD Electric Buses

The agreement also opens talks to bring manufacturing of BYD buses to the Ontario region in the near future. BYD has delivered over 300 all-electric buses worldwide and has orders for over 1300 more in 2012, making it apparently the largest electric bus manufacturer in the world. Continue reading

Posted in alternative fuels, auto news, electric vehicles, milestones | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment