Milestones – 20 years of Porsche Cayenne SUVs

Posted on 10 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on 20 years of Porsche Cayenne SUVs

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Porsche in the 1990s found itself in economic crisis as global tastes in vehicles began a transition to trucks that goes on to this day. Porsche was in the red and delivered only 23,060 cars during the 1991/92 financial year. With the Boxster, launched in 1996, Porsche began to slowly drive itself away from its crash. However, the legendary 911 and the new mid-engine model alone would not secure its future. Plans for a ‘third Porsche’ began to take shape, albeit initially without a firm decision on the segment.

Ferry Porsche predicted in 1989: “If we build an off-road model according to our standards of quality, and it has a Porsche crest on the front, people will buy it.” He would eventually be right. Since 2002, the Cayenne has been one of the mainstays of the car manufacturer’s global success. Continue reading →

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Hyundai Motor Group to Test Autonomous Car-Hailing

Posted on 10 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Hyundai Motor Group to Test Autonomous Car-Hailing

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Hyundai Motor Group has announced that it will pilot a RoboRide car-hailing service in Gangnam in Seoul, South Korea, using IONIQ 5 battery electric vehicles (BEV) with in-house developed level 4 autonomous driving technology. RoboRide will be the first car-hailing service with autonomous driving vehicles to operate in Gangnam, one of the most congested areas in metropolitan Seoul. (See AutoInformed: SAE Autonomous Driving Levels)

For the ride-hailing experiment, the Group has obtained a temporary autonomous driving operation permit from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) of Korea. It will collaborate with Jin Mobility, a Korean startup operating the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered car-hailing mobility platform ‘i.M.’. Jin Mobility will be in charge of operating the two IONIQ 5 RoboRide units on its i.M application. Continue reading →

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Cadillac to Return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans After 22 Years

Posted on 9 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Cadillac to Return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans After 22 Years

Batmobile or bat out of hell?

Cadillac today revealed its Project GTP Hypercar that shows the third-generation prototype race car from the American luxury brand. During 2023, Cadillac will contest the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was developed by Cadillac Design, Cadillac Racing and Dallara.

The announcement was clearly timed to coincide with this year’s race where Cadillac will watch from the sidelines as Corvettes thunder around the Circuit de La Sarthe. The prototype has a new Cadillac 5.5-liter DOHC engine package working in conjunction with the LMDh common hybrid system. (AutoInformed: Daytona This Weekend Starts 2022 IMSA Racing Season; Corvette Racing at Daytona – Same or Different?) Continue reading →

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IIHS Says Toyota Tacoma 2022 MY Marginal in Crash Test

Posted on 9 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on - IIHS Says Toyota Tacoma 2022-MY Marginal in Crash Test

Better but not great…

The 2022 Toyota Tacoma extended cab pickup earned a marginal rating in the passenger-side small overlap front crash test due to heightened injury risks to the front seat passenger, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said today. The crash dummy’s position in relation to the door frame and dashboard after the crash test “indicates that the passenger’s survival space was not maintained well,” IIHS said.

Still, this was an improvement. The marginal rating applies to vehicles built after October 2021, when Toyota modified the rear leaf springs. Vehicles built prior to that date are rated poor. In an earlier test of a vehicle built before the changes, one of the rear leaf springs punctured the fuel tank, resulting in a fire risk and an automatic downgrade. Continue reading →

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Le Mans Qualifying Practice – Rain, Red Flag and Racing

Posted on 8 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on LeMans Qualifying Practice - Rain, Red Flag and Racing

Record book running starts tomorrow. Click to Enlarge.

It’s not surprising here that weather played a factor in today’s qualifying practice session at LeMans. Nor is it surprising here that Kamui Kobayashi set the pace 3m27.247s in the hour-long session. However, real record-book racing starts tomorrow. The No.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing driver set his fastest lap in the dry first 30-minutes of the session before a red flag and then pouring rain nullified affected any improvements in Hypercar or any other class. Continue reading →

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Aftermarket Services Beat Dealers Again in Latest Survey

Posted on 8 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Aftermarket Services Beat Dealers Again in Latest Survey

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Confirming decades upon decades of surveys and consumer purchasing patterns, J.D. Power said today that the ease of doing business with aftermarket service providers key advantage over franchised new-vehicle dealers. Because of the nature of the survey smaller independent repair shops are not included. 

According to the  2022 U.S. Aftermarket Service Index (ASI) StudySM, dealer service facilities hold an advantage in consumer one exception: customers say aftermarket service providers are easy to do business with – outperforming dealer service facilities specific to general maintenance, tire replacement and oil change services. Continue reading →

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Digital Media Decimating Print Publishing Revenues

Posted on 7 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Digital Media Decimating Print Publishing Revenues

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The explosive growth of digital media and technology continues to have a ruinous impact on print publishing industry revenues, the US Census Bureau said today. The latest Census Bureau Service Annual Survey (SAS) enumerates the financial blows these industries experienced between 2002 and 2020. (Read AutoInformed.com: U.S. Newspapers Continue to Decline in Readership, Employment, Revenue; Newspapers Dying as Technology Companies Grow?)

Estimated Newspaper Publishing revenue dropped by -52% to $22.1 billion. Estimated revenue for Periodical Publishing, which includes magazines, medical and scientific journals, religious and scholastic magazines and other specialty publications fell by -40.5%. Video Tape and Disc Rental revenue decreased by -88.5%. Continue reading →

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US May Auto Sales – Record Prices as Sales Plunge -29%

Posted on 7 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on US May Auto Sales - Record Prices as Sales Plunge -29%

Soft sales and getting softer…

Memorial Day weekend was a bust for US light vehicle auto sales. As a result the whole auto market sped in reverse back to levels seen during the pandemic un-merry month of May 2020. May 2022 volume totaled 1.11 million units, down by -29% YoY. The annualized rate dropped by nearly 2 million units to 12.7 million units from 14.5 million in April of 2022. (AutoInformed.com on: US April Sales Up 6.5%. SAAR Down -21.9% YoY)

May had two fewer selling days in 2022, and even adjusting for the difference, sales still fell by -14% YoY. The  number of vehicles sold by selling day fell to 51,900 units from 60,400 units a year ago. With prices remaining at record high levels and monthly payments increasing as interest rates go up, retail sales are looking soft. Retail sales fell to ~945,000 units, down by -32% YoY. Fleet sales were also down in the yearly comparison, but they represented for 14.9% of total sales, up from 11.6% a year ago. Continue reading →

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IndyCar – Chevy Beats Honda in Final Belle Isle Race

Posted on 6 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on IndyCar - Chevy Beats Honda in Final Belle Isle Race

Belle Isle was a contest of strategies and speed. Tires and track position were key to an all green flag non-stop race.

Will Power driving a Chevy-powered Dallara for Team Penske won the final Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on Belle Isle on Sunday before the street festival moves downtown in 2023.

It was the first victory for Power in 2022, the 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner. Leading a non-stop, green-flag race for 55 laps, Power took the checkered flag just 1.0027 seconds ahead of second place Alexander Rossi in a Honda-powered Dallara who was charging hard on better rubber using a three-stop strategy, versus Power’s two-stop gamble. Taking the Third podium spot was Scott Dixon in a Honda Dallara, also on a two-stop strategy. Continue reading →

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Caution-Free IMSA Belle Isle – Cadillac Wins DPi, Lexus GT3

Posted on 5 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Caution-Free IMSA Belle Isle - Cadillac Wins DPi, Lexus GT3

“It seems like it’s been feast or famine for the 01,” said team owner Chip Ganassi, whose team runs the number 01 and 02 cars. It was the team’s 63rd IMSA win.

Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande in the No. 01 Cadillac DPi-V.R won the final* IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar race on Belle Isle yesterday, with only two of the five classes racing on the tight, walled and unforgiving street circuit.

It was the second consecutive victory for the No. 01 Cadillac on the 2.3-mile, 14-turn street circuit, and the fourth in five races in DPi competition for Cadillac. Continue reading →

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Stellantis Gets Lithium Supply for NA EVs

Posted on 5 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Stellantis Gets Lithium Supply for NA EVs

Republicans oppose the Biden Administration’s Build Back Better plan, which would hasten the EV transition and help stop life-threatening weather.

Stellantis N.V. (NYSE / MTA / Euronext Paris: STLA) and Controlled Thermal Resources Ltd. (CTR) have signed a binding offtake agreement for CTR to supply battery-grade lithium hydroxide for use in Stellantis’ North American electrified vehicle production.

The agreement increases Stellantis’ decarbonized supply of  an essential raw material for electrified vehicles. (AutoInformed.com: Stellantis, Samsung SDI JV for NA Battery Manufacturing; Stellantis, LG Energy JV for North American Battery Production) Continue reading →

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IIHS – 2022 Jeep Wrangler Tips Over in Crash Test

Posted on 3 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on IIHS - 2022 Jeep Wrangler Tips Over in Crash Test

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A 2022 Jeep Wrangler 4-door* tipped over in the driver-side small overlap crash test in a repeat of a problem shown by an earlier model, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Structural modifications made by Stellantis did not eliminate the problematic safety issue.

“Even partial rollovers are dangerous, as they increase the chances that an occupant may be completely or partially ejected from the vehicle. That’s especially relevant for the Wrangler, which has a roof and doors that can be removed and lacks side curtain airbags,” said IIHS. Jeep has not responded to AutoInformed. Continue reading →

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US EV Purchase Consideration Up. Income Matters

Posted on 3 June 2022 by Ken Zino

Shoppers in America are more likely than ever before to consider buying a fully electric vehicle (EV). New EV entries are responsible for much of the added consideration. These new EVs, many from long-established vehicle manufacturers, are turning EV skeptics into likely EV considerers, according to the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Electric Vehicle Consideration (EVC) StudySM. The percentage of shoppers who say they are “very likely” to consider an EV for their next purchase or lease rose to 24%, four percentage points higher than a year ago.

However, “The addition of new EV models has moved the needle on consumer consideration,” said Stewart Stropp, senior director of automotive retail at J.D. Power. “In fact, several new models from perennial mass market brands are at the top of that consideration list. Even so, more remains to be done in terms of transitioning from early to mass adoption. Though the study findings show a shift in favor of EVs, about 76% of new-vehicle shoppers say they are not ‘very likely’ to consider buying one.” Continue reading →

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Ford Motor US Sales Drop Again in May. Shakeout Coming?

Posted on 2 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Ford Motor US Sales Drop Again in May. Shakeout Coming?

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Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) today reported May 2022 U.S. sales results of 154,461 units, a decrease of -4.5% year-over-year. Car sales have declined -45% in the same period. During 2022 sales are off more than -13%.

The disappointing results came as the United Auto Workers and Ford leaders announced plans to add more than 6200 new U.S. manufacturing jobs in the Midwest, convert nearly 3000 temporary UAW-Ford workers to permanent full-time status and provide all hourly employees healthcare benefits on the first day of employment.

Ford Motor no longer bothers to hold press conferences covering monthly sales. Yesterday Jim Farley, President and Chief Executive Officer when asked at the Alliance Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference about Tesla and five other EV companies with a market cap above $20 billion – meaning the market is saying there are  at least six credible new entrants – said, “We’re going to see very large consolidation and big changes. I would say new EV companies probably will get simpler and Chinese will become more important… Continue reading →

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Nürburgring: 911 GT3 Manthey Performance Kit – $10,174/s

Posted on 2 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Nürburgring - 911 GT3 with Manthey Performance Kit - $10,174/S

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A 911 GT3 with the Manthey Performance Kit, powered by a 375 kW (~503hp) engine, posted a lap time of 6:55.737 on the Nürburgring  Nordschleife or North Loop.

This makes it exactly 4.19 seconds faster than the 911 GT3 without the kit, Porsche said today. The modifications focused on aerodynamics and chassis components. The new Performance Kit was developed between the Porsche engineers in Weissach and the Nordschleife specialists from Manthey in Meuspath. Continue reading →

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