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Analysts at J.D. Power Valuation Services claim that Class 8 conditions were generally stabilized in July, signifying June’s recovery was not solely based on pent-up demand.
“Pricing is solidifying, customers are buying more used trucks and new truck orders and deliveries are heading back in the right direction,” said Chris Visser, commercial truck senior analyst at Valuation Services. Continue reading
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The U.S. Census Bureau in mid-May 2020 started a new weekly survey “to take the pulse” of how America’s small businesses were doing amid the corona virus pandemic. During a nine-week period when the Small Business Pulse Survey (SBPS) was in the field more than 215,000 businesses across the country replied.
“These companies of one to 499 employees provided important new insights into the effects of the pandemic,” said Jane A. Callen of the Census Bureau. It doesn’t appear to have anything to do with the Trump Administration’s voter suppression efforts that us Federal Agencies such as Census to subvert our democracy. Continue reading
Have a 360-degree look at rare vehicles from Barrett-Jackson.
Carvana is offering a tour of some of the most impressive cars out there, courtesy of Craig Jackson, chairman and CEO of Barrett-Jackson. Never have these cars been photographed in 360-Degree Photography, it’s claimed.
A Porsche 911 GT2 RS, Ford Shelby GT350 convertible, 1970 Plymouth Hemi Cuda and Bugatti Veyron can be taken for a virtual spin, from your home or on the go via mobile device, at Carvana.com/spinner.
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MCACN says that it is in the “best interest of all involved” to cancel the 2020 event, scheduled for November 21-22, 2020. Ongoing safety and health concerns about Covid 19, as well as the State of Illinois regulations limiting indoor gatherings to 100 people were the reasons for the cancellation of Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals.
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Few U.S. Adults Say They’ve Been Diagnosed with Corona virus. More Than A Quarter Know Someone Who Has. Only 2% of U.S. adults say they have been officially diagnosed with COVID-19, and a mere 2% say they have taken a blood test that showed they have COVID-19 antibodies, an indication that they previously had the virus. But far more say they are “pretty sure” they had the virus despite not getting an official diagnosis or say they personally know someone who was diagnosed with it, according to the latest Pew Research survey. Continue reading
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The 2021 Mazda CX-9 – the brand’s self-proclaimed flagship three-row midsize crossover SUV – goes on sale with a starting MSRP of $33,960 and will arrive at dealerships later this month. This model year CX-9 receives improvements to its technology.
The badly named Skyactiv-G 2.5 Turbo engine equipped on all CX-9 models is rated at 320 lb.-ft. of torque and 250 horsepower on premium (93 octane) gasoline or 310 lb.-ft. of torque and 227 horsepower on 87 octane gasoline. Continue reading
Writing messages in the sand is a tradition and prompted Ford to create a way of spreading water safety messages quickly across miles of beaches using its vehicles.
New research* from Ford and the RNLI** shows 40% of people who say they would take an inflatable into the sea in the UK admit to previously getting into difficulty. As a result, Ford ordered custom tires that can leave key water safety messages imprinted on stretches of sand as part of a new initiative with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
Ford says it aims to support the lifesaving charity to educate people on and raise awareness of key beach safety advice. The custom tires have been designed to leave 3 key water safety messages in the sand, including ‘float to live’, ‘no inflatables’, and ‘emergency? call 999’. Continue reading
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Toyota Motor Corporation and Amazon Web Services are expanding their global collaboration, applying AWS’s collection of services to expand Toyota’s Mobility Services Platform to help Toyota develop, deploy, and manage the next generation of data-driven mobility services for driver and passenger safety, security, comfort, and convenience in Toyota’s cloud-connected vehicles.
It’s the latest example of an emerging trend among automakers to offer owners and lessees thus far unclear advantages of processing and analyzing data from vehicle use from Toyota’s growing worldwide fleet of connected vehicles. Nowhere in the announcement was an acknowledgement that the use of such customer data raises vast unaddressed privacy, security and law enforcement concerns. In communist China where these are lessor concerns, GM has more than 5,000,000 connected vehicles on the road now.
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The University of Nevada, Reno’s Nevada Center for Applied Research has Velodyne Ultra Puck lidar sensors with traffic signals to detect, count and track pedestrians, cyclists and traffic.
Velodyne Lidar is working with the University of Nevada, Reno to advance research in transportation infrastructure. The Nevada Center for Applied Research purchased and, in conjunction with the Nevada DOT and Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development, is using Velodyne’s lidar sensors in its Intelligent Mobility initiative to collect data aimed at making transportation more efficient and safe.
The program has integrated Velodyne Ultra Puck lidar sensors with traffic signals to detect, count and track pedestrians, cyclists and traffic to help improve traffic analytics, congestion management and pedestrian safety.
One reason the lidar sensors have been placed at crossing signs and intersections is because lidar used today does not allow for facial recognition. In theory smart by anonymous city applications can preserve trust among the public. However, the US is far from even thinking about privacy, let alone articulating a policy about private data use as evidenced by Google and Twitter and Facebook among many other rich and powerful corporations that own politicians.
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Spa Start – #1 Rebellion Racing / CHE / Rebellion R-13 -Gibson -#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing / JPN / Toyota TS050, #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing / JPN / Toyota TS050 – Total 6 hours of Spa Francorchamps, Stavelot Belgium.
Toyota Gazoo Racing posted a one-two victory in a tense and rain-affected race at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the sixth round of the season of the 2019-2020 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).
After days of sunshine and high temperatures, the frequently variable Spa weather struck just over an hour before the start, with a heavy rainstorm causing the race to begin behind the safety car: two heavy rain showers, and three more Safety Car non-passing periods, made strategy as important as pace. It would have been a vastly different race and outcome if it had remained dry as the rwd Rebellion was clearly faster, until it got wet and had to run against awd Toyotas.
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General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling 5,141 2020 Chevrolet Corvette sportscars because the release button located inside the front trunk compartment won’t function after the vehicle has been shut off for ten minutes. These Corvettes fail to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 401, “Internal Trunk Release.”
These Corvettes are designed to enter a low power “sleep” mode ten minutes after powering off. The trunk lid release button located inside the front trunk compartment “may not function” while the vehicle is in this sleep mode.
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Last year for the GT.
Ford Motor Company will reveal the 2021 Ford GT in partnership with the Peterson Automotive Museum’s Car Week Sunday, highlighting two new variants of the Ford GT supercar – including a special-edition that honors its earliest endurance racing roots.
The Ford GT reveal marks the final day of Petersen Car Week, which started airing Wednesday on the Petersen Museum’s YouTube channel. Highlights include several virtual events featuring 25 hours of original content from manufacturers and enthusiasts, plus automotive lifestyle and auction house activities.
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THEN 1998 – the Toyota Mazda JV plant in Alabama. Some assembly required.
Mazda Toyota Manufacturing, (MTM), the joint-venture between Mazda Motor Corporation and Toyota Motor Corporation, have announced an additional $830 million investment for more manufacturing technologies to its production lines and provide enhanced training to its workforce of up to 4,000 employees in Huntsville, Alabama. Full-scale construction of the plant continues, with 75%-100% completion on roofing, siding, floor slabs, ductwork, fire protection and electrical. (See AutoInformed.com on Mazda and Toyota Establish JV to build Vehicles in Alabama, Mazda-Toyota Plant Under Construction in U.S., Toyota Shifts Plans at Its Mazda JV Plant in Alabama to SUVS)
Total funding slated for the facility is now $2.311 billion, up from the $1.6 billion originally announced in 2018. The investment is said to reaffirm Mazda and Toyota’s commitment to produce the highest-quality products at the facility.
It also insiders say makes production line enhancements made to improve processes supporting unannounced Mazda vehicle and design changes and to the thus far unknown Toyota SUV that will be produced at the plant. Continue reading
RumbleOn, Inc (NASDAQ: RMBL), an e-commerce company using technology to gather and distribute used vehicles to and from both consumers and dealers, today announced financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2020. RumbleOn During Q2 had a Gross profit of $8.5 million or 10.0% of revenue compared to $15.6 million or 5.8% of revenue year-over-year. (See AutoInformed.com on RumbleOn Posts Q1 Net Loss of -$22 Million, RumbleOn Posts 2019 Loss. Cancels Guidance)
Recalled Intertex B-Air, BlueDri, BlueDri Pro and Soleaire blowers. Click to Enlarge.
This recall for fires involves several models of centrifugal and axial blowers sold under the B-Air, BlueDri, BlueDri Pro and Soleaire brands. Each blower has convenience outlets on the side of the unit to allow the blowers to be “daisy chained” (several blowers plugged together in series) or other devices to be plugged in.
Consumers should immediately stop using the convenience outlets on the side of the recalled blowers and contact Intertex for a free repair. Consumers with recalled units will receive a free cord set adapter with an integrated circuit breaker. Intertex, LLC at 800-465-7300 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, email to recall@b-air.com or online at www.b-air.com for more information. Continue reading
CARB Fines Flagship, a Ford Specialty Vehicle Maker
The California Air Resources Board has reached a settlement of $250,000 with Flagship Inc. to resolve clean air violations related to the sale of modified Ford vehicles in California. Flagship in Elkhart, Indiana is a Ford Authorized Specialty Vehicle Manufacturer.
CARB said that Flagship advertised, sold, and offered for sale, 2016-2017 model year Ford-150 vehicles that were modified with enhanced configuration accessories and aftermarket superchargers, prior to sale to the consumer. This was the result of regular field inspections at dealerships, and further investigations.
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