BTS – Aviation Fuel Cost at 7-Year High

Posted on 6 April 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on BTS - Aviation Fuel Cost at 7-Year High

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The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today released U.S. airlines’ February Fuel Cost and Consumption numbers indicating U.S. scheduled service airlines used 1.14 billion gallons of fuel, 5.4% less fuel than in January 2022 and 11.4% less than in pre-pandemic February 2019. The cost per gallon of fuel in February 2022 ($2.60) was up 24 cents (10.2%) from January 2022 and up 70 cents (31.3%) from February 2019. Total February 2022 fuel expenditure ($2.98B) was up 4.5% from January 2022 and up 16.2% from pre-pandemic February 2019.

At $2.60, the cost per gallon of fuel in February was the highest since October 2014’s $2.68. Also noteworthy in February 2022 was the 55.8% year-over-year increase in fuel consumption on domestic flights, reflecting an increase in domestic air travel from last February. Combined with the 60.9% year-over-year cost per gallon increase, the increase in fuel consumption resulted in a year-over-year domestic fuel cost increase of 150% ($1.27 billion). Continue reading →

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Porsche Buys into eFuels via HIF Global

Posted on 6 April 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Porsche Buys into eFuels via HIF Global

A pilot plant is being built north of Punta Arenas in Chile’s Patagonia. It is  expected to make ~130,000 liters of eFuels in 2022. It will then be expanded in two stages to ~55 million liters by 2024, and ~550 million liters by 2026.

Porsche is taking a $75 million piece of HIF Global LLC or ~12.5% of the holding company HIF Global, which is internationally active as project developers of eFuel* production facilities. Porsche is investing in the development of eFuel operations in Chile, USA and Australia. Electricity-based synthetic fuels – eFuels – let combustion engines operate – potentially  –  in an almost CO₂-neutral manner, depending on how they are produced, and if you do a life-cycle analysis.

The sports car and SUV manufacturer initially plans to use the eFuel from Chile in motorsport projects. In the future, it is also conceivable that they will be used to fuel the company’s own vehicles with combustion engines during initial fueling at the factory, and at Porsche Experience Centers. Continue reading →

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EPA: Bans Asbestos – First Under Chemical Safety Act

Posted on 5 April 2022 by Ken Zino

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said today it is  finally taking action to protect people from asbestos exposure by releasing a proposed rule to prohibit ongoing uses of the only known form of asbestos currently imported into the U.S. This proposed rule is the first-ever risk management rule issued under the new process for evaluating and addressing the safety of existing chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that was enacted in 2016.

The proposed rule would ban chrysotile asbestos, the only known form of asbestos that’s currently imported into the U.S., which is found in products such as asbestos diaphragms, sheet gaskets, brake blocks, aftermarket automotive brakes/linings, other vehicle friction products, and other gaskets also imported into the U.S. Most consumer products that historically contained chrysotile asbestos have been discontinued. Continue reading →

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GM, Honda to Develop New EVs for Sale in 2027

Posted on 5 April 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on GM, Honda to Develop New EVs for Sale in 2027

What fun for brand managers – a common platform for Cadillac and Acura SUVs?

In identical releases this morning from Detroit and Tokyo, GM and Honda said they will design a new EV series expected to go on sale in 2027 starting in North America. The unnamed vehicles will be based on a new global architecture using GM’s next-generation Ultium battery technology. The companies said they will also work toward standardizing equipment and processes to achieve “world-class quality, higher throughput and greater affordability.” Specifically mentioned was the compact crossover segment, which is the largest in the world, with annual volumes of more than 13 million vehicles – think Buick Encore and Cadillac XT4. (AutoInformed on: Honda Prologue EV – Vapor Ware Until 2024; Honda to Abandon IC Engines – Global Electrification by 2040; Honda, GM Ink MoU on North American Alliance!)

The business justification for the expansion of GM Honda collaboration has increased in urgency since yesterday’s release of the latest UN report on Greenhouse Gases. It said that greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2025 – at the latest – and then drop by more than 40% by the end of the decade to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. (U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Continue reading →

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EPA Fines Iowa, Missouri Sellers of Auto ‘Defeat Devices’

Posted on 4 April 2022 by Ken Zino

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on EPA Fines Iowa, Missouri Sellers of Auto ‘Defeat Devices’The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said today it will collect civil penalties from two companies that allegedly sold illegal “defeat devices”  that are designed to make automobile emission controls inoperative, in violation of the federal Clean Air Act. Baillie Diesel Inc. of Nixa, Missouri, agreed to pay $18,000. D & K Repair of Rock Valley, Iowa, will pay $90,000. As part of the settlements, the companies agreed to destroy their inventories of defeat device components. They also certified that they have stopped selling devices that disable vehicle emission controls.

“Cracking down on sellers of illegal defeat devices is a top enforcement priority* for EPA,” said Wendy Lubbe, acting director of EPA Region 7’s Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division. “These illegal practices contribute to harmful air pollution and impede federal, state, and local efforts to implement air quality standards that protect public health,” said Lubbe. Continue reading →

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Ford Motor Q1 and March Sales off -17% and -26%. Cars Dying

Posted on 4 April 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Ford Motor Q1 and March Sales off -17% and -26%. Cars Dying

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The overall semiconductor shortage and Ford Motor’s forecasting, production and sales practices resulted in declines in March and Q1 2022 US sales. In a delayed release, Ford posted today that total vehicle sales in March at 159,328 declined -26% year-over-year. Cars sales at 3628 dropped -67%. For a Q1 best forgotten, Ford US sales at 432,132 declined -17%. (GM 522,000, Toyota 514,592, FCA 405,221 . Ford car sales at 14,022 were off -49%, which almost rounds down to, well, dead. (AutoInformed last week: NA Q1 Light Vehicle Sales Rate at 14.1M, -2.7M YoY)

“While the global semiconductor chip shortage continues to create challenges, we saw improvement in March sales, as in-transit inventory improved 74% over February,” said Andrew Frick, vice president, Sales, Distribution & Trucks. Continue reading →

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Jeep Slowly Killing Diesel and Petrol Engines in France

Posted on 4 April 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on First Ever Jeep EV Teased by Stellantis

The growing EV parade. Click to Enlarge.

Jeep® will be is the first brand of the Stellantis group to market a 100% electrified range in France today the Group said. The e-Hybrid versions of Renegade and Compass will replace pure internal combustion engines, including Diesel versions. However, ordering of all ICE versions is open until 30 May. Hybrids, of course, remain part of the global warming problem. They are not the answer.

“The electrification of our ranges is no longer an option, it is obvious dictated jointly by supply and demand,” said Guillaume de Boudemange, director of Jeep in France, who will preside over the slow five year transition to pure EVs.  (AutoInformed.com on: Finally – First Jeep EV Teased by Stellantis; Stellantis Doubles China Sales, Bolsters and Consolidates Aftermarket as Jeep Sales Plunge) Continue reading →

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Hertz, Polestar Announce Global EV Partnership

Posted on 4 April 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Hertz, Polestar Announce Global EV Partnership

A performance EV in the rental market? Remember Carroll Shelby in 1966 with the Shelby GT350H in the notorious Hertz Rent-A-Racer program?

Hertz (NASDAQ: HTZ) and Polestar, a Swedish electric performance car maker, today announced a new global partnership that includes purchasing up to 65,000 electric vehicles (EVs) over five years.

Availability is expected to begin in Spring 2022 in Europe and late 2022 in North America and Australia. Polestar builds on Hertz’s announcement last October to offer its customers the largest EV rental fleet in North America and one of the largest in the world. Continue reading →

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Stellantis Consolidates Financial Services for All Brands

Posted on 2 April 2022 by Ken Zino

Stellantis (NYSE / MTA / Euronext Paris: STLA) has signed binding agreements with BNP Paribas Personal Finance (“BNPP PF”), Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance (“CACF”) and Santander Consumer Finance (“SCF”) reorganize its current financial services platform in Europe.

All these are supporting Stellantis’ desire to develop a full-service captive finance arm. To provide customers, dealers and partners with a complete range of financing options in the near-to-medium term, including retail loans, leases, and floorplan financing. (AutoInformed: Floorplan – Stellantis Buys First Investors Financial Services. First Investors has been renamed Stellantis Financial Services US Corp.) Continue reading →

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NA Q1 Light Vehicle Sales Rate at 14.1M, -2.7M YoY

Posted on 1 April 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on NA Q1 Light Vehicle Sales Rate at 14.1M, -2.7M YoY

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Sales reporting day for most automakers in North America saw GM Chief Economist Elaine Buckberg say industry light vehicle volumes will grow this year and top 2021 levels, thanks to a strong labor market, higher vehicle production and pent-up demand.

But that didn’t reflect the immediate quarter, especially the month of March. Wards Intelligence, notes the average capacity utilization rate in a North American assembly plants during Q4 2021 was 70.3%, down from 85.4% in Q4 2020. The SAAR appears to be 13.3 million units, down from 14 million in February and a drop of 24.4% from March 2021’s SAAR of 17.6 million.  Simply put the supply chain is a mess, and with Putin’s war on Ukraine it remains chaotic.  Following the jump are the preliminary results from firms that reported. The rest of the results will trickle in next week. Continue reading →

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Uwe Pichler-Necek Next MD of Porsche Engineering China

Posted on 1 April 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Pichler-Necek to Be Managing Director Porsche Engineering China

Porsche Engineering has worked on the development requirements of the Chinese market for thirty years.

Uwe Pichler-Necek today joins the Chinese subsidiary of Porsche Engineering*, an international technology service provider. He will take over as Managing Director on 1 July 2022. Pichler-Necek succeeds Kurt Schwaiger, who has headed up Porsche Engineering’s Chinese activities since 2015. Schwaiger is returning to Germany to retire after more than six years as Managing Director of Porsche Engineering in China.

The move in the totalitarian state comes as German automakers are scrambling to adopt to the disruptions caused by Russian totalitarian Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine rages on slaughtering civilians. German automakers are bearing the direct brunt of this war and scrambling to adjust to production and supply disruptions.
 Continue reading →

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Mission Impossible to Ignore – Almost All SUVs Struggle in First IIHS Seat-Belt Reminder Ratings

Posted on 31 March 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on SUVs Struggle in First IIHS Seat-Belt Reminder Ratings

 Among 26 vehicles, only two Subarus, Ascent and Forester, earn a good rating. Click to Enlarge.

A new ratings program from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released today is designed to coerce automakers to improve seat belt reminders in order to save lives.

Federal motor vehicles safety standards say that seat belt reminders must include an audible signal that lasts for 4-8 seconds total and a visual alert that lasts at least 60 seconds whenever the driver’s seat belt is unbuckled. Almost half of the drivers and front-seat passengers killed in crashes in 2019 weren’t belted.

However, previous IIHS research has shown that more noticeable and persistent alerts could increase belt use among those who do not routinely buckle up by as much as 34%, preventing ~1500 fatalities a year. Continue reading →

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Ford Issues 2022 Integrated Sustainability and Financial Report

Posted on 31 March 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Ford Issues 2022 Integrated Sustainability and Financial Report

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Ford Motor Corp. (NYSE: F) released  its sustainability report this morning. Supplementing the report is a standalone human rights report, a first for Ford and the U.S. auto industry, as well as a combined task force on climate-related financial disclosures and climate risk scenario report. Ford said it has committed to achieve carbon neutrality no later than 2050, backed by interim targets it will meet by 2035.

The problem with all such reports is that saying something doesn’t mean that other areas of the company are actually supporting the stated goals. “Combining sustainability and financial performance in a single report,” Ford said, “is significant.” Well, given this, Ford has actively opposed attempts by stockholders at the last few annual meetings to reveal its PAC contributions. Is Ford dispensing shareholder money to politicians or companies that are actively opposed to its stated goals? Given the vast complexity of Ford’s, Democracies’ and the globe’s survival threats, it’s a key measurable in AutoInformed’s view. Continue reading →

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Goodyear Expands Eagle Exhilarate Performance Tire Line

Posted on 31 March 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Goodyear Expands Eagle Exhilarate Performance Tire Applications

Ultra-high-performance line expands.

Goodyear today announced the addition of 16 new sizes for Eagle Exhilarate, an ultra-high performance, all-season tire that claims excellent performance in wet and dry cornering grip, as well as wet and dry handling. With the addition of the 16 new sizes, the Eagle Exhilarate is now available in a total of 52 sizes, ranging from 17 to 22-inch rim diameters.

Popular vehicles that Eagle Exhilarate tires will now fit include the Acura TLX, Audi A5 and RS5, BMW 3-Series and X5, Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Camaro and Corvette, Dodge Challenger and Charger, Ford Mustang, Infiniti Q50, Mercedes E-Class, Porsche 911 and Volvo S60.
 Continue reading →

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Genesis Opens First US Standalone Retail Store

Posted on 30 March 2022 by Ken Zino

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Genesis Opens First US Standalone Retail StoreGenesis has opened its first standalone retail location in the United States, Genesis of Lafayette, Louisiana.

It has, says Genesis,  “distinct brand elements, a transparent, open floorplan, an indoor vehicle delivery area, and infrastructure to support the upcoming portfolio of Electrified Genesis models… unique design elements are on full display, such as a private brand cube where customers may review material samples, vehicle specifications, and more in a stress-free environment.”
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