Watkins Glen: Rain, Red Flag, Busted Rules Cloud Results

Posted on 27 June 2022 by Ken Zino

Lightning in the area of Watkins Glen International Raceway caused the feature 6-hour endurance race to be red-flagged with just over 90 minutes remaining. As a result, racing against the clock took on new meaning as the minimum one-hour, 30-minute drive time applied for each driver in every class except DPi. When the stewards sorted it all out, the clock was adjusted to one hour, 17 minutes over what became five-plus hours. This nullified the pit stop strategy for several teams and meant some drivers were short of the 90-minute drive time.

The upshot: BMW M Team RLL and Winward Racing lost IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD PRO and GTD class victories, respectively. Andretti Autosport team finished third in Le Mans Prototype 3. Continue reading →

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Penske Motorsport Heads List of Porsche 963 WEC and IMSA Contenders During 2023. A New Golden Age of Racing?

Posted on 25 June 2022 by Ken Zino

Penske Motorsport Heads List of Porsche 963 WEC and IMSA Contenders During 2023. A New Golden Age of Racing?The Porsche Penske Motorsport team will run the new Porsche 963 in the toughest endurance races during 2023 as the factory team. Two of the hybrid LMDh-spec prototypes will be in both the FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The racing car was unveiled on Friday 24 June at Goodwood in England. (AutoInformed: IMSA – 194 Cars Entered at Watkins Glen Races This Weekend)

This is an intercontinental program as sports car racing enters what could be a new golden age with ever increasing participants and global audiences. For the first time in some 30 years, it will be possible to compete for overall victories in the endurance classics at Le Mans, Sebring and Daytona with cars of identical construction. Continue reading →

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Bentley Mulliner to Build 12 New 1929-30 Le Mans Winners

Posted on 24 June 2022 by Ken Zino

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Bentley Mulliner to Build 12 New 1929-30 Le Mans WinnersBentley Mulliner  said today it will bring the Speed Six back to life with a new batch of 12 cars. Each will be mechanically and aesthetically authentic to the Bentley racers that won Le Mans in 1929 and 1930. Mulliner, the oldest coach-builder extant in the world, has pre-sold all of them starting at £1.5m each.

The buyers will get “identical” cars with a 6.5-liter straight-six engine, rated at 200 bhp, with a 125-mph top speed. The components are said to not only physically identical but in many cases are crafted using the same techniques used in the 1920s. Continue reading →

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US June Vehicle Sales Forecast is Down on Record Prices

Posted on 24 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on US June Vehicle Sales Forecast is Down on Record Prices

Click to Enlarge.

New-vehicle retail sales for June 2022 are forecast to decline when compared with June 2021, according to a joint forecast from J.D. Power and LMC Automotive.

Retail sales of new vehicles this month are expected to reach 965,300 units, a 18.2% decrease compared with June 2021 when adjusted for selling days. June 2022 has 1 additional selling day compared to June 2021. Comparing the same sales volume without adjusting for selling days changes to a decrease of 15.0% from 2021.
 Continue reading →

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Toyota to Build Suzuki SUV in India for Both Brands

Posted on 24 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Toyota to Build Suzuki SUV in India for Both Brands

This is an old, perhaps larger version used by both companies.

Toyota and Suzuki said today that the two companies will now start production of a new SUV model developed by Suzuki at Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd. (TKM) this August.

Maruti Suzuki India Limited and TKM will market the new model in India as Suzuki and Toyota models, respectively. It will likely be the Toyota Hyryder and Maruti Vitara. The two companies are planning to export the new model, code name D22, to markets outside India including Africa. Continue reading →

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Stellantis to be 2nd Largest Shareholder in Vulcan Energy

Posted on 24 June 2022 by Ken Zino

Stellantis and Vulcan Energy Resources today announced a Stellantis €50 million (~$76 million) equity investment in Vulcan. There is also an extension of the original binding off-take agreement to 10 years. Stellantis will become second largest shareholder in Vulcan.

The equity investment will go towards Vulcan’s planned production expansion drilling in its producing Upper Rhine Valley Brine Field (URVBF). Continue reading →

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Infotainment: Mercedes-Benz Group and ZYNC

Posted on 23 June 2022 by Ken Zino

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Infotainment - Mercedes-Benz Group and ZYNC Mercedes-Benz Group has agreed to a partnership with ZYNC.  The California‑based company will provide the world-first implementation of its premium in-car digital entertainment platform for Mercedes-Benz. ZYNC will also provide the interface between content partners and existing compatible Mercedes-Benz hardware.

The aim of the partnership is to provide customers “with a digital entertainment experience tailored to the unique environment inside a Mercedes-Benz, while maximizing the benefits of the company’s UI/UX technologies such as the MBUX Hyperscreen.” Continue reading →

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Nissan and Wallbox to Offer Home EV Charging

Posted on 23 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Nissan and Wallbox to Offer Home EV Charging

Let’s hope the budget for rebates is larger than the photo budget.

Nissan and Wallbox (NYSE:WBX) in early July will offer EV owners nationwide a way to purchase Wallbox’s Pulsar Plus level 2 home charger and schedule installation through the NissanUSA.com website. Nissan will provide an unspecified rebate on the charger and installation to customers who purchase through the program.

The Pulsar Plus charger, the company’s best-seller, is said to be one of the smallest smart universal EV chargers in North America. It can be installed in homes, apartment buildings and other multi-unit dwellings. Continue reading →

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Automaker Profits Post-Covid Hiding Supplier Weakness

Posted on 23 June 2022 by Ken Zino

Supply constraints and demand that have made vehicle prices higher at lower volumes are creating operational inefficiencies and distress in the supply chain, according to new industry-wide analysis from AlixPartners LLP*, the global consulting firm. This imbalance will continue through 2024 as chip availability continues to improve.

The continued trend delivers a “complex backdrop for an industry committing $526 billion through 2026,” AlixPartners’ analysis finds, to fund the shift to battery-electric vehicles (BEVs). The transition, now taking place amid a weakening economic outlook, could cost automakers and suppliers $70 billion if not effectively managed. There are also  several implications for dealers and consumers here – not all of them benign.
Continue reading →

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Ford Europe Says Valencia Will Make Next Gen EVs

Posted on 22 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Ford Europe Says Valencia Will Make Nex Gen EVs

Then Ford CEO Alan Mulally in Valencia in 2011.

Ford in Europe today announced that it has chosen its plant in Valencia, Spain as the preferred site to assemble vehicles based on a next-generation electric vehicle architecture. Pending product approval, the Valencia plant could produce electric and connected vehicles beginning later this decade.

In the problematic world of labor relations, Ford is also moving ahead on the $2 billion conversion of its Cologne, Germany, operations to begin producing electric passenger vehicles starting in 2023. Continent-wide electric vehicle sales continue to grow rapidly (up 65% to 2.3 million in 2021*). Continue reading →

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IMSA – 194 Cars Entered at Watkins Glen Races This Weekend

Posted on 22 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on IMSA - 194 Cars Entered at Watkins Glen Races This Weekend

If AutoInformed’s sums are correct, 194 cars will compete in a total of eight races.

One of the questions to be answered at races surrounding the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen this weekend is what automaker among several racing titans owns the track? Forty-nine cars are entered for the six-hour feature race on June 26 that is the seventh event of the 2022 WeatherTech Championship season.

It is the third round of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. All five classes will be in competition together for the first time since the Twelve Hours of Sebring in March. The five classes are DPi, LMP2, LMP3, GTD PRO and GTD fighting against and among each other with the largest car count at Watkins Glen in eight years. (AutoInformed: Sebring 12 Hours – Bumps, Twists, Turns in Oldest US Race,Team Corvette C8.R Finishes First at Sebring) Continue reading →

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EV Consideration is Up but Skepticism is a Challenge

Posted on 22 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on EV Consideration is Up but Skepticism is a Challenge

The first Lightning was a fast V8-powered gas guzzler. The EV is a hit, but limited in sales because of supply chain issues.

New EV entries are responsible for much of the added consideration by shoppers in the US  who are now more likely than ever before to consider buying a fully electric vehicle. These new entries, many from long-established automakers, are turning EV skeptics into likely EV considerers, according to the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Electric Vehicle Consideration (EVC) Study,SM released today.

The percentage of shoppers who say they are “very likely” to consider an EV for their next purchase or lease climbs to 24%, four percentage points higher than a year ago. Several elements are at work in the increase, but the introduction of new electric models, some of which are in an important and largely untapped segment such as pickup trucks, is a primary reason for the increased consumer interest. Continue reading →

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Covid Lock-downs Caused Ongoing Speeding, Risky Driving

Posted on 22 June 2022 by Ken Zino

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Covid Lock-downs Caused Ongoing Speeding, Risky DrivingThe chances that a Virginia driver was going at least 10 mph over the speed limit rose ~ 50% percent during March-June 2020, compared with the same period a year earlier, a new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows.

Federal data collected since then show that the increase in speeding and other risky driving behaviors continued throughout 2020 and 2021, according to IIHS. In 2020, speeding killed 11,258 people, according to the National Highway Traffic Administration* (NHTSA). Continue reading →

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Toyota, Redwood Materials to Recycle Electric Vehicle Batteries

Posted on 21 June 2022 by Ken Zino

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Toyota and Redwood Materials to Recycle Electric Vehicle Batteries Toyota (NYSE:TM) and Redwood Materials(Privately held) said today that they will explore a series of “end-of-life battery solutions” for Toyota’s proposed battery network. At first, this collaboration will focus on the collection, testing and recycling of Toyota hybrid electric vehicle batteries. The companies will then look to expand into other areas such as battery health screening and data management, re-manufacturing and battery material supply throughout North America. This follows Redwood agreements on recycling with other companies and US States. (AutoInformed on: Redwood, Ford, Volvo Recycling EV Batteries from California)

Redwood Materials claims it is reducing the environmental footprint and cost of lithium-ion batteries by offering large-scale sources of domestic anode and cathode materials produced from recycled batteries. Redwood receives more than ~6 GWh of end-of-life batteries annually for recycling, which are then refined and re-manufactured into critical battery materials. The company plans to increase production of anode and cathode components in the US to 100 GWh annually by 2025, enough to produce more than one million electric vehicles a year. Continue reading →

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Hyundai Motor, Michelin MoU to Develop Tires for Premium EVs

Posted on 20 June 2022 by Ken Zino

Hyundai Motor Group* announced today the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Michelin to develop next-generation tires optimized for premium electric vehicles (EVs). This new tire technology is needed to meet the durability requirements of tires, as well as driving performance and electric efficiency under high load.

It appears a prime motivator of the new research is on tire performance to accommodate the increases in vehicle weight that will occur as automakers rush to convert or spawn EVs in the utility vehicle and luxury segments, which generally speaking are larger and less efficient than their counterparts in the more modestly priced car segments. As the size, weight and range of EVs continue to increase, so do the demands placed on the tires. Continue reading →

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