Justice Sues to Block JetBlue’s Purchase of Spirit Airlines

Posted on 7 March 2023 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Justice Sues to Block JetBlue’s Purchase of Spirit Airlines

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The Justice Department filed a civil antitrust lawsuit today to block JetBlue Airways Corporation’s (JetBlue) proposed $3.8 billion acquisition of its largest and fastest-growing ultra-low-cost rival, Spirit Airlines, Inc. (Spirit). The Attorneys General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the State of New York, and the District of Columbia joined in the action under an alleged violation of  Section 7 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C.§18.*

“JetBlue’s proposed acquisition of Spirit eliminates a disruptive, low-cost option for millions of Americans. Whether they fly Spirit or not, travelers throughout the United States benefit from an independent Spirit because where Spirit competes, other airlines – including JetBlue – are forced to compete more vigorously by lowering fares, offering greater innovations, and delivering more consumer choice,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Doha Mekki of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “This transaction occurs against the backdrop of years of airline consolidation in the United States.” Continue reading →

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Cadillac CELESTIQ Debuts With Hands-Free Driving Possible in Most Conditions Early in 2024. Caveats Apply

Posted on 7 March 2023 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Cadillac CELESTIQ Debuts With Hands-Free Driving Possible in Most Conditions Early in 2024. Caveats Apply

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General Motors (NYSE: GM) announced today that Ultra Cruise1, the company’s next-generation advanced driver assistance system2 designed to enable hands-free driving in 95% of all driving scenarios, will have a 360-degree view of the vehicle through a unique sensor suite when it launches on the limited edition ~$300,000 Cadillac CELESTIQ 3  flagship in early 2024. There are, of course, many technical, regulatory and insurance issues the need to be resolved before full deployment is underway.

The destination-to-destination hands-free system will use a variety of cameras, short- and long-range radars, LiDAR behind the windshield, an all-new computing system and a driver attention system to monitor the driver’s head position and/or eyes in relation to the road to help ensure driver attention. These systems work together through what GM calls “sensor fusion” to provide Ultra Cruise with a 360-degree, three-dimensional representation of the vehicle’s surroundings. Continue reading →

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SEC Charges Mining Company Rio Tinto with Bribery

Posted on 6 March 2023 by Ken Zino

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today charges against global mining and metals company, Rio Tinto, for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) arising out of a bribery scheme involving a consultant in Guinea. The company has agreed to pay a $15 million civil penalty to settle the SEC’s charges.

Ford Motor* (NYSE: F) and Stellantis** (NYSE: STLA), among other large international corporations, have supply contracts or business relationships with the mining conglomerate  involving electric vehicle battery materials. Whether this is a bum in the road or a longer-term impediment to EV advancement is an open and ongoing matter subject to debate in industrial and public policy sectors. Continue reading →

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Honda Shows New Prototype Autonomous Work Vehicle

Posted on 6 March 2023 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Honda Shows New Prototype Autonomous Work Vehicle

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Honda said this morning that it will showcase the new capabilities of the latest generation of its prototype Honda Autonomous Work Vehicle (AWV) for construction industry and worksite efficiencies at CONEXPO 2023 in Las Vegas, 14-18 March. Businesses can learn more about field testing the off-road platform at their worksites, Honda said.

Honda aims to commercialize its AWV. Honda looking for partners to participate in field testing, as well as to improve functions and enhance services, especially in the areas of: Product distribution Product support and aftermarket sales, as well as software and attachment development. The AWV use Honda’s mobility technologies, and common components from its automobiles and other products. Continue reading →

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February 2023 Western EU Passenger Vehicle Sales Up 11%

Posted on 6 March 2023 by Ken Zino

The Western Europe passenger vehicle selling rate climbed from 10.7 million units/year in January to 11.7 million units/year in February 2023, with  improved sales in Germany and the UK. The monthly registrations of ~800,000 units resulted in a year‐on‐year (YoY) growth of 11.3%, according to the latest data just released by the LMC Automotive consultancy*. (autoinformed.com on: Recession? US Consumer Auto Spending at Record Levels; January 2023 Western EU Passenger Vehicles Sales Plunge)

However, LMC hedged by saying that 2022 is a weak base for comparison. “In YoY terms, the market was up 2.8%, though the same period last year was particularly weak” Continue reading →

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Honda Using Fuel Cell to Back Up Power at Its Data Center

Posted on 6 March 2023 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Honda Using Fuel Cell to Back Up Power to Its Data Center

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Honda at the end of last week began operation of a stationary fuel cell power station on its corporate campus in Torrance, California. This is the company’s first step toward future commercialization of zero-emission backup power generation.

The power station uses Honda’s hydrogen fuel cell technology know-how and contributes to the company’s global goal to achieve carbon neutrality for all products and corporate activities by 2050. In the coming years, Honda will begin applying a next-generation stationary fuel cell system to Honda manufacturing facilities and data centers globally, thereby reducing the company’s greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading →

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NADA Economist Predicts 14.6 Million Light Vehicle Sales

Posted on 3 March 2023 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on NADA Economist Predicts 14.6 Million Light Vehicle Sales in 2023

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New light-vehicle sales increased for the seventh straight month in February 2023 compared with the year before. February’s SAAR (seasonally adjusted annual selling rate) of 14.9 million units was up 8.6% from February 2022. “This boost was likely aided by higher inventory and incentive spending,” Patrick Manzi NADA Chief Economist said today. Fleet sales also rose, jumping 39% from February 2022, according to Wards Intelligence. (autoinformed.com on:US Light Vehicle Sales Up in February Amid Uncertainty)

J.D. Power, forecast average incentive spending per unit to total $1335 in February, up 4.7% compared with a year ago. “But even though incentive spending has now increased for four straight months, there continues to be a lack of incentives directed toward leasing. Continue reading →

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US January Aviation Fuel Use Recovering

Posted on 3 March 2023 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on US January Aviation Fuel Use Recovering

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The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today released US  airlines’ January 2023 fuel cost and consumption numbers. US scheduled service airlines used 1.413 billion gallons of fuel, 4.0% less than in December 2022 (1.471), but only -0.7% less than in pre-pandemic January 2019 as the economy remains resilient.

The cost per gallon of fuel in January 2023 ($3.28) was up 14 cents (4.3%) from December 2022 ($3.14) and up $1.37 (71.7%) from January 2019. Total January 2023 fuel expenditure ($4.63B) was up 0.2% from December 2022 ($4.63B) and up 70.6% from pre-pandemic January 2019. Continue reading →

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Ford Motor Establishes Latitude AI for Autonomous Driving

Posted on 2 March 2023 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Ford Motor Establishes Latitude AI for Autonomous Driving

Vapor ware until a production application?

Ford Motor Company said today that it has established Latitude AI, a wholly owned subsidiary, develop “a hands-free, eyes-off-the-road automated driving system.” The move follows in the wake of a $2 billion loss posted for 2022, partially the result of a Q3 2022 decision that saw Ford shift its capital spending from the L4 advanced driver assistance systems being developed by Argo AI to internally developed L2+/L3 technology. That move was forced on Ford when Argo AI failed to attract new investors needed for ongoing development. Ford recorded a $2.7 billion non-cash, pretax impairment on its investment in Argo AI, resulting in an $827 million net loss for Q3. (Click here for SAE Autonomous Driving Levels)

With the formation of Latitude, Ford adds a 550-member team of machine learning, robotics, software, sensors, systems engineering and operations employees as the automaker expands its development efforts in automated driving technology, including improvements in Ford BlueCruise, which has accumulated more than 50 million miles of hands-free driving. Continue reading →

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US Light Vehicle Sales Up in February Amid Uncertainty

Posted on 2 March 2023 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on US Light Vehicle Sales Up in February Amid Uncertainty

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US Light Vehicle sales totaled 1.14 million units in February, according to an analysis just released by LMC Automotive.* This converts to a Year-over-Year rise of 9.5%, with the same number of selling days as February 2022. The month’s results were “flattered by the depressed state of the market a year ago.” Compared to February 2021’s total, sales were down by 3.8%.

“The declines would be larger if we used the pre-pandemic period as a baseline. Still, given the headwinds of sky-high average transaction prices, lingering inventory shortages for some OEMs, and economic uncertainty, February’s results surpassed expectations and can be considered an encouraging outcome,” LMC said. Continue reading →

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AutoFlight Claims World’s longest eVTOL flight of 155 Miles

Posted on 2 March 2023 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on AutoFlight Claims World’s longest eVTOL flight of 155 Miles

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AutoFlight,* an electric Vertical Take Off and Landing firm, today in Germany announced it had achieved the world’s longest eVTOL flight in history with distance of 250KM / 155 miles on a single charge of the aircraft’s lithium-ion batteries. The previous longest flight for an eVTOL is thought to be  248KM set by Joby Aviation in 2021.

This flight is both a great celebratory milestone, and a testament to the team’s incredible effort and progress in testing and incrementally pushing the aircraft’s performance envelope. It’s a remarkable achievement that shows our aircraft’s capability, and we are excited to continue working towards our next goals all the way to EASA certification in 2025,” said AutoFlight’s president Omer Bar-Yohay. Continue reading →

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SEC Charges Transportation Company Greenbrier for Failing to Disclose Executive Perks and Payments

Posted on 2 March 2023 by Ken Zino

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against Oregon-based freight transportation supply company, The Greenbrier Companies Inc., and its founder and former CEO and Chairman, William A. Furman, for failing to disclose perks provided to Furman and other Greenbrier executives as well as compensation Furman received from Greenbrier’s charters of Furman’s private plane for travel by company executives, including Furman. Greenbrier and Furman agreed to pay $1 million and $100,000 in civil penalties, respectively, to settle the charges.

“Public companies are required to disclose their executives’ financial interest in the companies’ transactions and to accurately record executives’ perks so that shareholders can fairly evaluate the compensation paid to those executives,” said Monique C. Winkler, Director of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office. “The SEC will hold companies accountable when they fail to meet their obligations to shareholders so that our markets remain transparent and fair for all.” Continue reading →

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Stellantis Sells Its Turkish Distribution Company

Posted on 1 March 2023 by Ken Zino

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Stellantis Sells Its Turkish Distribution Company. Logos Courtesy of and copyright by their ownersKoç Holding* and Stellantis N.V. (NYSE: STLA / Euronext Milan: STLAM / Euronext Paris: STLAP) today in Istanbul announced that their existing Tofaş** joint venture will acquire the entire share capital of Stellantis Otomotiv Pazarlama A.S., the Stellantis Türkiye distribution company.

As a result, all Stellantis brands available for distribution in Türkiye – Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Citroën, DS Automobiles, Jeep®, Maserati, Opel and Peugeot – will be distributed by Tofaş. The transaction, subject to requisite regulatory approvals, including the approval of the relevant competition authorities, is expected to close in the second half of 2023. Continue reading →

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USPS Reveals Electrification Buys for Largest Federal Fleet

Posted on 1 March 2023 by Ken Zino

The United States Postal Service awarded contracts today for 9250 commercially available left-hand drive (LHD) battery electric vehicles (BEVs) as well as initial orders for more than 14,000 charging stations to be deployed at Postal Service facilities.

These awards are the result of the vehicle electrification strategy announced by USPS in December of 2022. The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. Continue reading →

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Michigan Opens New EV Jobs Academy Website

Posted on 1 March 2023 by Ken Zino

Today, Michigan Governor Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) announced the launch of a new website, Michigan.gov/EVJobsAcademy, to connect Michiganders to good-paying career opportunities in the rapidly expanding automotive mobility and electrification industry. Today’s announcement builds on last year’s $5 million investment in the Michigan Electric Vehicle Jobs Academy (EV Jobs Academy).

The EV Jobs Academy is devised to provide Michiganders with tuition assistance and supportive services, including “earn while you learn” opportunities through a Registered Apprenticeship programs, to support and streamline “on-ramps to high-wage, in-demand careers. ” With more than 100 partners including employers, industry stakeholders and education institutions, the EV Jobs Academy is driving the state’s advanced mobility talent development into the future. It’s the latest example of a growing progressive awakening to make America great again by creating high-paying, often unionized, jobs for blue collar workers. Continue reading →

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