Category Archives: results

Milestones: the BMW 328 Turns 75 Years Old

Henne set a lap record for all sports cars during the race, and won the non-supercharged class in the rain. It was the debut of what became one of the most successful sports cars on the track. The win was to be followed by more than 200 others with factory sponsored and privateers running 328s into the 1950s. Continue reading

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Ford to Appeal $2 Billion Ruling for Overcharging Dealers

Ford Motor Company says that it will appeal a $2 billion ruling against it by an Ohio judge in a class action lawsuit by Ford dealers. The judge found that Ford overcharged its truck dealers for 11 years on sales of almost 500,000 trucks. Ford apparently did not inform all dealers equally of discounts available. The judge called them hidden discounts. Continue reading

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Audi, Nissan, and Chevrolet Corvette Win Le Mans

Audi completed 355 laps around the 13.629 km (8.469 mile) circuit for a total of 4838 km (3006 miles). It was the tenth Audi victory at Le Mans, one more than Ferrari. Porsche still holds the factory record with 16. Continue reading

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Toyota Predicts 31% Profit Dip in Fiscal Year from Earthquake

The longer term issues facing Toyota are recovering lost market share and the unprecedented strength of the Japanese Yen caused by massive inflows of cash as export oriented Japanese companies attempt to recover from earthquake losses. Continue reading

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Akerson Praises GM at Annual Meeting as Stock Languishes

The weaknesses at GM remain in its sales of traditional trucks, with a 110 days supply of full size pickups; it’s heavy use of incentives, which remain higher than the industry average, (but are lower than the levels that drove it into bankruptcy); and gaps in updating the product line because of delayed programs at the end of the last decade when cash was short. Continue reading

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Washington Dithers as Unemployment Increases Again

There aren’t enough jobs to reemploy U.S. citizens who want to go back to work, let alone absorb new graduates as tax payers into the economy. The real rate of unemployment is much higher – some critics have at more than 18%. Continue reading

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AutoNation May Sales Down 15% Due to Japanese Shortages

AutoNation, Inc. today announced that its retail new vehicle unit sales in May 2011 totaled 16,347, a decrease of 15% as compared to May 2010. Toward the end of May, AutoNation delivered its eight millionth vehicle, an automotive retail industry first, at the grand opening of Honda of Dulles. Continue reading

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Japanese U.S. May Sales Plunge as Inventories Evaporate. Toyota, Nissan and Honda Decline in Earthquake Aftershocks

Toyota, Nissan and Honda – the Japanese Big Three – all saw U.S. sales plummet in May as a combination of their limited inventories because of the production disruptions from the Japan earthquake and the decreased marketing activities that followed took a huge bite out of sales. Continue reading

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Chrysler May U.S. Sales Up 10% as Retail Sales Soar 27%

Chrysler Group, the weakest of the Detroit Three, today reported U.S. sales of 115,363, a 10% increase compared with sales in May 2010 and the best May sales since 2008. The strong results came as larger Ford and General Motors posted flat sales year-on-year. Continue reading

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Ford May Sales Flat in U.S. as Retail Sales Rise 5%

Ford Motor Company sales in May were 192,102, the same as one year ago as the economy stalled. Retail sales were up 5% and fleet sales were down 8%. Year-to-date, total Ford Motor sales were 878,600, up 12%. Continue reading

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General Motors May Sales Flat in U.S. as Retail Sales Rise 9%

General Motors dealers in the United States reported 221,192 total sales in May, including a 9% increase in retail sales compared to May 2010. A sharp -16% decline in fleet sales decreased results so that total sales declined 1% compared to last year. Continue reading

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Consumer Confidence Declines as Economic Woes Continue

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index decreased in May and now stands at 60.8 (1985=100), down from 66.0 in April. The bad news follows last week’s U.S. unemployment report that says that first time jobless claims soared to 425,000, which means that there is virtually no hiring occurring in the economy as unemployment officially hovers at 9%. The real rate of unemployment is much higher. The latest survey does not bode well for the U.S. auto industry, which is expected to report steep May sales declines tomorrow. Continue reading

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Japan Auto Production, Exports off More than 60% in April

The economic destruction is mounting. The total value of automobiles exported for April 2011 was $5,913.446 million – $2,696.405 million for vehicles and $3,217.041 million for parts. This is a decrease of $5,523.561 million or 48 % as compared with $11,437.007 million recorded for the same month of the previous year. Continue reading

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Toyota, Nissan and Honda April Auto Production Plummets

Toyota, Nissan and Honda – the Japanese Big Three – become a lot smaller in April as production virtually halted in Japan and was severely hurt globally due to parts shortages caused by the earthquake in March. Continue reading

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Ten Fuelish Mistakes Drivers Make, Hurting Their Fuel Economy

A new study by Chevrolet shows that drivers in identical cars can differ in their fuel economy by as much as 16 mpg or 40%. This means that by practicing simple techniques a driver can save as much as $100 a month at the pump. Continue reading

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