Corvette Racing at Daytona – Same or Different?

Posted on 26 January 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Corvette Racing at Daytona - Same or Different?

Corvette Racing returns to Daytona after a 1-2 finish in the 2021 24-hour race.

Corvette Racing begins its 24th season of competition this weekend with the Rolex 24 at Daytona to start the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It’s the same race – twice ‘round the clock with the toughest, longest race of the season as the opener. Not for the faint hearted. However, this year is different. The racing ‘Vette C8.R GTD is built to new specifications. (AutoInformed – Corvette Racing Entering Two C8.Rs for Daytona Rolex 24; Corvette Racing Goes Global – IMSA, FIA WEC in 2022)

“It’s a single event for our side of the garage before we go off to the WEC. But Daytona still has that big atmosphere and big levels of anticipation of what’s coming and what’s ahead of you,” said Nick Tandy, no. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R. Continue reading →

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Kia America – EV6 Starts at $33,400 with Taxpayer Funding

Posted on 25 January 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Kia America - 2022 EV6 Starts at $33,400 with Taxpayer Funding

Kia EV6 delivers up to an estimated 300-miles of all-electric range.

Kia America today said the 2022 EV6 starts at $33,400 after the $7,500 federal vehicle tax credit. In addition, the EV6 may also qualify for various state incentives, including single rider carpool lane access in California. These exclude a destination charge of $1215. Prices range  up to, gulp, $55,900. EV6 comes in three trim levels: Light, Wind and GT-Line. The Light trim will be offered in rear-wheel drive. Wind and sporty GT-Line variants will be available in rear-wheel drive and Dual Motor e-AWD configurations.

The first dedicated Kia battery-electric vehicle comes to the US in a few weeks after a global reveal last March. EV6 goes on sale in all 50 states, but the performance GT version won’t be available until late 2022. So much for Kia’s original positioning as the sporty brand within the Hyundai Korean auto conglomerate.
 Continue reading →

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EVs – at $7B GM Makes Largest Announcement in History

Posted on 25 January 2022 by Ken Zino

Ultium Cells Lansing is GM’s third Ultium battery cell site in the US, after two battery cell plants being constructed in Ohio and Tennessee.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) announced today an investment of $7 billion in four Michigan manufacturing sites, “creating 4,000 new jobs and retaining 1,000, and significantly increasing battery cell and electric truck manufacturing capacity. This is the single largest investment announcement in GM history.” Michigan taxpayers contributed to the plan.*

The investment includes construction of a new Ultium Cells battery cell plant in Lansing and the conversion of GM’s assembly plant in Orion Township for production of the Chevrolet Silverado EV and the electric GMC Sierra. Orion is GM’s second assembly plant scheduled to build full-size electric pickups, which translates to 600,000 full-size electric pickups in the U.S. annually. Consider Ford an increasingly threatened leader in full-size pickup truck sales: Ford is now increasing the production planning target for its electric F-150 to only 150,000 a year. (AutoInformed.com on Chevrolet Introduces 2024 Silverado EV ; Biden Bets on Detroit, Union Workers at GM’s EV Factory ZERO; Washington Diddles. India Puts Billions into Securing EV Jobs) Continue reading →

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Daytona This Weekend Starts 2022 IMSA Racing Season

Posted on 25 January 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Daytona Starts 2022 IMSA Sports Car Racing Season

On the Pole is a good start, but there are 24 hours of racing remaining…

The 2022 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season-starting four-hour race at Daytona International Speedway this weekend on January 28 is the warmup act for the next day’s 60th Rolex 24 at Daytona. The longer endurance race starts at 1:40 pm EST on Saturday, January 29, with live coverage.* For the second straight year, five classes will be racing when the green flag drops. Thus far the covid status of drivers and teams appear unaffected, but since this in an international sport with commensurate travel between venues – particularly Covid virus saturated Europe – nothing is certain until the green flag drops. It looks to be Sixty-One Cars and 230-Plus Drivers racing. IMSA media relations hasn’t posted the complete grid as of this writing. (AutoInformed – IMSA Rolex 24 at Daytona – 61 Cars Entered) Continue reading →

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Corvette Anniversary Money – 70 Years Means New Editions

Posted on 24 January 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Corvette 70th Anniversary Edition packages

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Since 2023 marks the 70th anniversary of Corvette, there will be Corvette Stingray and Z06 special Anniversary Edition packages. There are two unique colors – White Pearl Metallic Tri-coat or Carbon Flash Metallic. Optional stripes await in complementing colors – Satin Gray with the White; Satin Black with the Carbon. (AutoInformed Corvette Racing Entering Two C8.Rs for Daytona Rolex 24; IMSA Petit Le Mans Sees Cadillac, Corvette, Win Season Titles ; Special Edition 2022 Corvette Stingray Debuts in Detroit) Per the well-worn marketing-race playbook, 70th Anniversary Edition Corvettes have distinct wheels with commemorative wheel center caps. Stingray and Z06 each have separate wheel designs but share a similar dark finish and Edge Red stripe. Inside are two-tone Ceramic leather GT2 or Competition Sport seats, red stitching throughout, red seatbelts, and suede microfiber seat inserts and steering wheel. Continue reading →

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Second Shift at GM Oshawa Assembly is Half Women

Posted on 24 January 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Second Shift at GM Oshawa Assembly is Half Women

Inclusive culture, another long-standing resentment for fading white males?

Two months after the first Chevrolet Silverado rolled off the line at the reopened Oshawa Plant, second shift production has begun. In November, GM announced the hiring and training of 1,800 new jobs for two-shifts of production and the plant continues its launch acceleration. For the first time in the plant’s history, more than half of Oshawa’s new production hires are women. GM’s says this is consistent with its commitment to be the most inclusive company in the world.

Pickups trucks are GM’s largest and currently the most important market segment in North America. The Oshawa plant  – once doomed only a couple of years ago as GM prepared to abandon it because of NAFTA and archaic attitudes toward labor, will help GM meet demand for trucks. Oshawa Assembly is now one of the most flexible and advanced of its kind in the industry, GM claims. Oshawa began shipping trucks to dealers in December 2021.  Continue reading →

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GM Lockport Components Plant to Build EV Stators

Posted on 21 January 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on GM Lockport Components plant to Build EV Stators

Latest step in the EV sourcing wars underway at all automakers.

General Motors announced today plans to invest ~$154 million in its Western New York Lockport Components plant to renovate the facility and purchase and install new machinery and equipment used in the production of the stator module. Stators are key components in an electric motor. Electric motors will be used in a variety – currently 30 – of GM’s future Ultium Platform-based electric trucks and SUVs. Facility renovations begin immediately.

EV production – particularly final assembly is a huge concern for unions globally. “It’s pretty easy to build an EV since there are fewer components, and there are no EPA requirements or fluids,” Joe McCabe the CEO of AutoForecast Solutions told AutoInformed at a meeting of the International Motor Press Association earlier this week. Robots or non-skilled labor can do most of the work. (read AutoInformed on GM Cuts More Deals on Materials, Factories for EV Motors) Continue reading →

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Cadillac V-Series Line Adds 2023 Escalade

Posted on 21 January 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Cadillac V-Series Line Adds 2023 Escalade

Another nail in the US sedan coffin?

In what it hopes is a pre-emptive marketing move against competitors, Cadillac said today that its V-series line will be expanded to include Escalade in the spring of 2022. No interior shots were released. More information about the 2023 Cadillac Escalade V-Series, including full vehicle specs, will be released in spring 2022.

AutoInformed guesses that it will have the supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine as the new CT5-V Blackwing. Installed there, it is rated at 668 horsepower and 649 lb.-ft. of torque. The existing Escalade is rated at 420 horsepower, 460 lb.-ft. torque. Next hunch – 10-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. Continue reading →

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Automated Driving – Mercedes to Work with Luminar on Lidar

Posted on 20 January 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of Auto Informed.com on Mercedes EQS All-Electric Sedan

By 2030, the subsidiary of Daimler – belatedly? – wants more than half the cars it sells to have electric drive systems – including all-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, areas it has been slow to embrace.

Mercedes-Benz and Luminar Technologies today announced a partnership to accelerate development of future automated driving technologies for passenger cars through the use of Lidar. This is optical sensing used to determine the position, velocity, or other characteristics of distant objects by analysis of pulsed laser light reflected from their surfaces. It’s radar with light beams instead of radio waves. The goal is to industrialize and integrate Lidar into upcoming mass-production Mercedes-Benz vehicles. “By shortening development cycles and strengthening technology partnerships Mercedes-Benz seeks to ensure that its vehicles have the most up-to-date technologies,” the German automaker said. (Read AutoInformed on First Look: Mercedes EQS All-Electric Sedan)

With the so-called “DRIVE PILOT,” Mercedes-Benz will offer conditionally automated driving at SAE Level 3 where a driver does not need to monitor the driving situations constantly but must take back control when the system requests.) In December 2021 Mercedes-Benz was the first automotive manufacturer globally to secure an internationally valid system approval for conditionally automated driving (SAE Level 3) – marking a milestone in automotive development. The company’s DRIVE PILOT automated driving system will enter series production in the S-Class and EQS this year. (Read AutoInformed on Stellantis on SAE Level 3 Public Road Autonomous Driving; Dangerous Marketing Tower of Babble: The Actual Meaning and Real Performance of Driver Assist and Autonomous Vehicles) Continue reading →

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SEMA – 2021 Strong Year for Specialty-Equipment Market

Posted on 20 January 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on SEMI - 2021 Strong Year for Specialty-Equipment Market

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SEMA, Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Assn, has released its “Future Trends – January 2022” report today. It says 2021 was a strong year for the industry amid high demand, with many companies reporting record growth. The specialty-equipment market should continue to grow in 2022, but at more muted levels, before returning to more normal (pre-pandemic) growth for 2023 and beyond, said the trade organization. According to the report, nearly three-quarters (74%) of industry companies expect sales growth in 2022. Key effects for the industry will be consumer demand, supply-chain disruption, rising costs and automotive sales.

SEMA report also reflects the ongoing Biden economic recovery as 2021 was a strong year for the U.S. economy amid record demand and consumer spending. Currently, the automotive industry has 2.91 million employees, only 4% below employment levels from before the pandemic in February 2020, making the automotive industry one of the best recoveries of any sector in the economy. Continue reading →

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Software – Honda Invests in US-based Helm.ai

Posted on 20 January 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Software - Honda Invests in US-based Helm.ai

Xcelerator – Smartphone as brain of a motorcycle in 2020.

Honda Motor Company yesterday in Japan, or today in the US, announced that in December 2021 it  invested in U.S. (California)-based Helm.ai to “strengthen its software technology development in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision*1 technologies.”  Honda claimed that Helm.ai “has key strengths in the area of AI-based image recognition technologies advanced through unsupervised learning”*2.

Helm.ai is an artificial intelligence software startup company established in November 2016. Honda and Helm.ai have been working in together since 2019 through Honda Xcelerator*3, described as a global open innovation program of Honda. Continue reading →

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Automobili Pininfarina Adds Dealers in North America

Posted on 20 January 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Automobili Pininfarina Adds Dealers in North America

The Battista Anniversario made its world premiere appearance during Monterey Car Week last August.

Automobili Pininfarina has expanded its US presence with the appointment of two new retail partners – Newport Beach Automotive Group in Orange County and Lake Forest Sportscars in Chicago will be responsible for the sale of the new Battista* pure-electric hyper GT, which enters production in Italy this spring. Indian-owned** Automobili Pininfarina now has nine retail “partners” in North America. Automobili Pininfarina also established its legal entity – Automobili Pininfarina Americas (APA) – as the company to develop its brand and business in the US market. There are 16 other retailers worldwide – ten based in Europe and six in the Middle East and Asia Pacific.

The pure-electric Battista hyper GT – the most powerful Italian car ever made – is in the final stages of its development with the first client deliveries set to commence in first half of 2022. With a total of 128 million interior combinations, the new hyper GT has complex levels of customization. Retailers will assist clients as they personalize the Battista to suit individual tastes. Price, oh, about ~$2.8 million. Continue reading →

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GM Plans to Expand Fuel Cell Sales Beyond Vehicles

Posted on 19 January 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on GM Plans to Expand Fuel Cell Sales Beyond Vehicles

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General Motors (NYSE: GM) said today that it continues to expand new commercial applications of its HYDROTEC fuel cell technology. These planned fuel-cell generators could eventually replace gas- and diesel-burning generators with fewer emissions at worksites, buildings, movie sets, data centers, outdoor concerts and festivals. They could also back up or temporarily replace grid-sourced electricity for residential and small commercial enterprises at times of power disruption. Each HYDROTEC-based power generator has zero-emissions electric power generation output ranging from 60 kilowatts to 600 kilowatts, along with low noise1 and heat signatures2.

“Our vision of an all-electric future is broader than just passenger vehicles or even transportation,” said Charlie Freese, GM executive director of the global HYDROTEC business. “Our energy platform expertise with Ultium vehicle architectures and propulsion components and HYDROTEC fuel cells can expand access to energy across many different industries and users, while helping to reduce emissions often associated with power generation,” said Freese. Continue reading →

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Alpine 2021 – Year One Sales Increase on a Minuscule Base

Posted on 19 January 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Renault Sports Cars becomes Alpine

Alpine Sports Cars – A110 right and Megane RS.

Alpine grew in 2021 with 2659 vehicles sold over the year or 74% more than in 2020. In France, Alpine’s sales were up by 117% year-over-year. Alpine claims it is on track supporting the strategic plan announced a year ago when Alpine created a new business unit with the goal of boosting sales by using its image to sell internationally. (AutoInformed Renault Sport Cars Becomes Alpine Cars; )

The A110  remains key. The new A110 range presented in late 2021 will come to dealerships at the start of the year in the form of three models. Alpine’s first year in Formula 1 saw the brand reach podiums, including with its first victory in Hungary. Alpine claims it is  the automotive brand that is the most committed to motorsport, including the World Endurance Championship, rallies and customer competitions. Continue reading →

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General Motors Launches Online Parts Sales

Posted on 19 January 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on General Motors Launches Online Parts Sales

Customers can choose delivery or pick up at one of more than 800 participating dealers.

GM is launching a new online parts market with 45,000 parts for Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac owners. This includes oil filters, engine and cabin air filters, batteries, brake pads, belts and wiper blades, among others.

GM forecasts that online sales of parts and accessories will make a $40 billion potential market by 2030. GM claims there will be significant revenue growth from its expanded e-commerce effort. GM online accessory sales began in 2015. It sells all of its 5,000 accessory products online. Continue reading →

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