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Mercedes said today that racing driver and Maro Engel at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife set a record time of 6:35.183 minutes for rounding the 20.832-kilometer track for road-legal production vehicles, as well as in the new super sports car category – aka hypercar class. Based on the track variant known as the sport auto Super Test, the lap time is 6:30.705 minutes. The record-breaking drives took place on 28 October 2022. (See the drive video here.) Continue reading
Despite unfavorable factors such as a decrease in automobile production and unit sales due to the impact of the semiconductor supply shortage and an increase in the cost of raw materials, Honda Group*1 profit was ¥453.4B. This was a year-on-year increase of ¥11.2B. This was due primarily to increased pricing, a reduction of incentives, an increase in motorcycle sales and favorable currency effects, Honda said.
Consolidated profit for the fiscal first half (6 months) attributable to owners of the parent company amounted to ¥338.5B, a year-on-year drop of ¥50.6B due primarily to a decrease in the share of profit of investments accounted for using the equity method. Continue reading
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There’s much to celebrate at Opel during its 160th year, including 40 years of the Corsa and 30 years of the Eisenach plant. Today, the Rüsselsheim-based brand, now part of the Stellantis mega-merger, reached a production milestone of 75 million. The 75th million Opel was a hybrid Grandland GSe Jubilee edition* that rolled off the assembly line in Eisenach. (AutoInformed.com on: Stellantis: Record First Half 2022 at €8.0 Billion Net Profit)
Opel recently announced that it would revive GSe as a new sub-brand for electrified models with GSe now standing for Grand Sport electric. The Opel Grandland GSe follows the Astra GSe and the Astra Sports Tourer GSe. Opel claims it is a high-performance, plug-in hybrid with electric all-wheel-drive in the SUV compact class, arguably the fastest growing segment in Europe and Asia. Continue reading
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Qualified small business landscape professionals starting today can purchase discounted zero-emission lawn mowers, blowers and other landscape equipment through a new category of funding offered through the California Air Resources Board’s Clean Off-Road Equipment Voucher Incentive Project (CORE).* Administered by CALSTART, the CORE program’s new funding category has an allocation of more than $27 million of voucher funds for professional landscape services operated by small businesses or sole proprietors, CARB said in a release.
Electric versions of lawn mowers and blowers will be welcomed in residential areas since the gasoline powered versions are noisy and constitute an unhealthy noise pollution blight in AutoInformed’s view. CARB first announced this new funding in October. Continue reading
As the United Nations’ annual climate change conference (COP27) starts today in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, many automakers will publicize their efforts to combat global warming. Last year During COP 26 in Glasgow endorsed net-zero emissions for greenhouse gas emissions. Given the extreme climate experiences during the past year, the need for accelerating the net-zero transition will likely be a hotly debated topic in Egypt. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres named the US and China as the two biggest problems. In fact, the European Union and India also aren’t meeting their climate change goals. These are the biggest four offending emitters. (read AutoInformed.com on: COP26 – CARB’s Liane Randolph New Chair of Transportation Decarbonisation Alliance)
Fasten your seat belt this is going to be a bumpy ride to save planet earth and the invasive species known as mankind. It will require collective action from all the participants and special interests. Moreover, the debate over how developed nations should support or subsidize less developed ones will likely be rancorous behind the scenes. Continue reading
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Honda today held the world premiere of the e:N2 Concept, the second set of its e:N Series models, the Honda-brand EV line in China. The e:N2 was on display at the Fifth China International Import Expo that began today in Shanghai, China.
Starting with e:NS1 and e:NP1*, Honda will introduce 10 e:N Series models by 2027 and accelerate electrification in China including its sales and production operations. N2 clearly looks to AutoInformed that it is meant to take on the German automakers who have thrived in the world’s largest vehicle market, no matter the motive source. In the upscale Chinese market, rear seat room is welcomed by the chauffeured owners be they communist party members or business people. (AutoInformed.com on: Chinese Commerce – Dongfeng Honda Begins Sale of NS1 EV) Continue reading
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Recharged Heritage, part of Mini Sport, said today it is taking orders for a conversion of the classic Mini into an electric vehicle. Two prototypes have been completed and previously revealed, the MINI Recharged Paul Smith and MINI Recharged Lakwena.*
“There have been electric conversions of classic cars before but not like this one. From the start an enormous effort has been made to ensure that the conversion can easily be reversed. The body remains as the original with no new holes and the petrol engine can be put back in, no problem. Also, the car has been engineered so that it weighs no more than the original. The fun factor in driving a classic Mini has been preserved fully intact and you don’t need to buy the whole car. Potential customers can either have their own Classic Mini converted or purchase a model from Recharged Heritage and then have it electrified,” Recharged said in a release.
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Now that the final number are in, new US light-vehicle sales in October 2022 showed a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Selling Rate (SAAR) of 14.9 million units, the second-highest monthly total this year. It was up 12.7% compared to October 2021 and increase 9.8% from September 2022.
The average transaction price in October, according to J.D. Power, is forecast to be $45,599, a 2.7% increase year-over-year. However, this is only off $26 from September. The old economist’s adage that prices are sticky downward applies we think. Transaction price highs of +$46,000 were experienced during July and August. Continue reading
Subaru Corporation today in Tokyo announced its consolidated financial results for the first half of the Japanese fiscal year ending 31 March 2023. During April through September 2022, production constraints continued due to the global shortage of semiconductors, however global production increased 24.5% to 425,000 units as plans were “flexibly adjusted.”
Production in Japan rose 29.9% to 283,000 units, while production in the U.S. grew 15.0% to 143,000 units. As a result of increased production, global vehicle sales increased 6.2% to 399,000 units, led especially by Subaru’s key US market. Due to the effects of foreign exchange rates, the growth in vehicle sales, and other factors, consolidated revenue rose 30.5% to 1,750.9 billion yen*.
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According to data just released by LMC Automotive,* US light vehicle sales grew by 11.4% Year-over-Year in October to 1.17 million units. While the YoY comparison continues to be “flattered by a low base, as the market struggled a year ago with dwindling inventory, October 2022 had one fewer selling day than October 2021, making last month’s performance somewhat more impressive,” LMC said.
The October selling rate was 15.1 million units/year from 13.4 million units/year in September. This was only the second time that the rate has exceeded 15 million units/year in 2022. The daily selling rate is estimated at around 44,900 units/selling day, up from 44,300 units/selling day in September. According to preliminary estimates, retail sales totaled around 1,016,000 units, compared to 955,000 units in September. This, if accurate, means that retail sales topped 1 million units for the first time since April. LMC converts this to an 87% total market share for retail sales. Continue reading
Ford Motor Company said today that its US vehicles sales at 158,327 during October of 2022 dropped 10% compared to the prior year, which was plagued by low inventory problems. Ford also claimed it remains the No. 2 EV brand behind Tesla in the US, although other automaker results for the month are not yet available. Preliminary data indicate the market grew by ~10%. GM sales were up ~50%. Ford said that Super Duty orders were ~50,000 in five days. (AutoInformed on: Ford – $700M to Louisville Plant for 2023 Super Duty Pickup; Ford Motor Posts Q3 Net Loss of $827 Million)
A look at the sales by model reveals that Ford is now essentially a truck and SUV maker with dwindling car sales of ~41,000 year-to-date. Lincoln sold no cars at all ytd. Mercedes Benz posted a huge increase in sales of more than 50%. The difficulty in analyzing what the data mean comes from what sales were from previously placed orders, and when the US will return to a normal sales environment, which might be undefinable at this time. Ford no longer holds sales calls for media and analysts. Continue reading
Welcome to the EV parade. Click for more information. Photo by Jeep.
Shareholders of the GAC-FCA Joint Venture, Automobile Group Co., Ltd. and Stellantis N.V., have approved a resolution authorizing the JV to file for bankruptcy, in a loss-making context. Stellantis fully impaired the value of its investment in the GAC-FCA JV and other related assets in its first half 2022 financial results. Stellantis will continue providing services to existing and future Jeep® brand customers in China,” Stellantis (NYSE / MTA / Euronext Paris: STLA) said in a statement this morning.
Stellantis, the mega-merger between FCA and PSA, said last July that the “lack of progress in the previously announced plan for Stellantis to take a majority share in their joint venture” has resulted in the GAC Group and Stellantis to start figure out how to terminate the joint-venture that produces and distributes Jeep products in China. (read AutoInformed.com on: Tilt! Stellantis and GAC to Stop Jeep China JV ) Continue reading
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BMW i Ventures* has announced that its lead investment in Fox Robotics**, was over-subscribed by ~$20M. What’s said to be the world’s first intelligent forklift that can autonomously unload pallets from the trailer to the receiving dock attracted additional new investors including Zebra Technologies, Japan Airlines and Translink Innovation Fund and Foothill Ventures. Existing investors at Menlo Ventures, ENIAC Ventures, and SignalFire also participated in the round.
While it is abundantly clear that autonomous vehicles are not yet ready for mass deployment on public streets, the same technology is being commercially used in closed warehouse environments today. (see autoinformed.com on Ford and VW write-offs: Ford Motor Posts Q3 Net Loss of $827 Million) Fox retrofits a standard forklift with sensors and software to enable autonomous material handling operations with precise navigation and robust pallet picking and movement. Deep learning systems use on-board cameras and LiDAR sensors to detect pallets, boxes and other obstacles in real time and enable the forklift to pick pallets out of trailers it is seeing for the first time, Fox claimed. Continue reading
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Stellantis (NYSE: MTA / Euronext Paris: STLA) CEO Carlos Tavares during a visit to the Hordain site in the northern Hauts-de-France this week announced the mass production of Peugeot, Citroën and Opel light commercial vehicles in hydrogen-powered versions equipped with a fuel cell. Hordain is scaling up production of the Peugeot Expert, Citroën Jumpy and Opel Vivaro fuel-cell light-commercial vehicles to a so-called industrial level. Hordain employs 2440 people on three shifts, with daily production of 628 vehicles. The site assembled 144,650 vehicles in 2021 and produced its millionth “K-Zero”* in summer 2022.
Starting in 2024, the site Hordain will have a mini-mass production capacity of 5,000 vehicles per year of hydrogen-powered utility vehicles. This Stellantis said in a release reaffirms its goal to be the first mass-produced manufacturer of hydrogen-powered utility van vehicles. There is also a labor relations aspect to the move. Stellantis has 12 industrial sites in France, and unlike Ford Motor Company it has a stated “ethical desire not to separate its electric and internal combustion engine businesses, to engage all its employees in the energy transition.” Continue reading
Some Small Cars offer Small Protection in Side Impacts
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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that seven of 11 small cars tested earn good or acceptable ratings in its new, tougher side-impact test, but four models are rated poor. The Mazda 3 sedan and Mazda 3 hatchback earn good ratings. Five other vehicles: the Nissan Sentra, Toyota Corolla sedan, Toyota Corolla hatchback, Honda Civic sedan and Honda Civic hatchback are rated acceptable. The Kia Forte, Subaru Crosstrek and the Subaru Impreza sedan and wagon are rated poor. (AutoInformed on: New Side-Crash Tests: Few Mid-Size Cars Rated Good)
IIHS created the updated side crash test after research showed that many of the real-world side impacts that still account for nearly a quarter of passenger vehicle occupant fatalities are actually more severe than the original evaluation. Continue reading →