Category Archives: results

Ford Motor Pays CEO Mulally More than $29 Million in 2011

Ford Motor Company paid Alan Mulally, president and CEO, $2,000,000 in salary and $5,460,000 in cash bonus in 2011. Mulally’s total compensation, including the value of long-term stock options, was $29,497,572. Continue reading

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Honda Recalls 554,000 CR-V and Pilot SUVs for Bad Headlights

This headlight recall apparently mirrors an earlier Honda headlight recall on 143,083 model year 2007 and 2008 Fit vehicles because of a bad headlight switch, which caused the low-beams to fail and possibly start a fire. Continue reading

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TBC Begins Tender Offer for Shares of Midas at $11.50

The offer appears positive for Midas shareholders since share prices have ranged from a recent 52-week high of, well, $11.50 – raising the distinct possibility of insider trading – to a 52-week low of $5.08. Currently Midas is trading at $11.47. Midas made $0.28 per share during 2011 or $4 million on revenue of $184 million. For this dismal performance, its top executives were compensated $1.7 million, which left no money to pay a dividend to shareholders. Directors and officers of Midas own more than 10% of the stock, which could result in a challenge to the takeover. Continue reading

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EPA Announces Carbon Pollution Limits for New Power Plants

EPA in 2009 determined that “greenhouse gas pollution threatens Americans’ health and welfare by leading to long lasting changes in our climate that can have a range of negative effects on human health and the environment.” Tougher national fuel economy standards ensued. Now it’s the power industry’s turn. Currently, there is no uniform national limit on the amount of carbon pollution new power plants can emit, which comes from burning fossil fuels. Continue reading

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Milestones: 75 Million Bosch ESP Systems

Bosch pioneered this advanced safety technology, which is increasingly mandatory equipment under the constantly expanding global regulation of vehicles. According to studies, this active safety system can prevent up to 80% of all skidding accidents. Continue reading

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Honda Resumes Auto Production in Thailand

It took since last November to clean, inspect, repair and replace plant facilities and manufacturing equipment damaged by the flood. In the interim, Honda supplied automobiles from Japan to countries in the Asia Oceania Region that had production disrupted because of severe flooding – the worst in decades. Continue reading

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AIG Repays Taxpayers $1.5 Billion, Still Owes $45 Billion

During the financial crisis, overall support for AIG through Treasury and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York totaled approximately $182 billion. The remaining $45 billion investment consists of Treasury’s investment ($35.7 billion) for which it holds 1.248 billion shares of AIG common stock a whopping 70% of outstanding common stock. Then there is the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which lent $9 billion to AIG. Continue reading

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March U.S. Auto Sales Tracking 6% Higher than a Year Ago

he 2012 outlook for vehicle sales remains positive, as the first quarter selling rate is expected to come in at 11.6 million units for retail and 14.4 million units for total light vehicles. This sales tempo is ahead of the Power forecast for the full year of 11.4 million units for retail light-vehicles and 14.1 million units for total light vehicles. Continue reading

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Taxpayers Make Money on Treasury Bailout of Mortgages

While this is good news in a slowly recovering economy, taxpayers are still on the hook for billions upon billions advanced to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae – up to $100 billion each in capital – to prop up their $5 trillion in outstanding mortgage debt, of which an unknown amount will never be repaid. Continue reading

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Nissan Recalls Infiniti M45 for Bad Electronic Gas Gauges

In the pre-Toyota cover-up fines from NHTSA, it appears that Nissan ignored the safety problem and warranty data. In the post Toyota fine era at NHTSA, the number of recalls from Japanese makers, not coincidentally, has accelerated dramatically.

This is the sixth major Nissan recall since the fall. Earlier recalls involved Nissan and Infiniti gasoline leaks, oil leaks, sudden stalling on Sentra models, Juke turbocharger boost sensors, and defective Rogue electric power steering control computers. Continue reading

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Electric Sales for Prius C Hybrid after Three Days

While Detroit Three Automakers concentrate on increasing the transaction prices of their new models, Toyota Motor Sales is proving that price matters. In the first three days since the small Prius C went on sale it sold 1,201 units, bypassing sales of the much more expensive – two times the price – Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf for the entire month of February. The Volt plant in Detroit suspends production for five weeks starting next Monday because of slow sales. Continue reading

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Customer Satisfaction with Dealer Service Improves

It seems a shift in the type of work done is largely responsible for the gains. In 2012, 72% of vehicle owners indicate their latest dealer service visit was for maintenance rather than repair, an increase from 63% in 2011. Customer satisfaction with maintenance visits is typically higher than satisfaction with repair visits, since visits for routine maintenance tend to be less expensive and less time-consuming. Continue reading

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Airline On-Time Performance Improves in January

Flights to or from Phoenix (PHX) operated by Southwest or United had the dubious distinction of posting the most delays of greater than 30 minutes in January more than 50% of the time. Continue reading

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Ford Extends Its $9 billion Revolving Credit Line with Lenders

In a separate transaction, Ford announced its first renminbi-denominated bond issue aimed at RMB investors in Hong Kong, Singapore and elsewhere outside the United States, with total proceeds of RMB 1 billion or about USD $158 million. Ford is losing money in the Asia-Pacific region. In the fourth quarter of 2011, Ford Asia Pacific Africa reported a pre-tax operating loss of $83 million, compared with a profit of $23 million a year ago. Continue reading

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February Car Sales Drop 10% as Eurozone Crisis Goes On

The dismal sales data, which has potential implications for the U.S. presidential election since all the Detroit Three companies are mired in losses from their European operations and previous taxpayer assistance remains controversial, confirmed what ACEA President Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of Fiat S.p.A. said two weeks ago. Continue reading

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