NASCAR Still Racing So Far, Buffers and Restrictions Added

Posted on 11 March 2020 by Ken Zino
AutoInformed.comon 2019 NASCAR Rule Changes

No drafting by fans…

As the COVID-19 crisis develops nationally and locally, NASCAR says it “remains in daily consultation with public health officials and other prominent sports and entertainment properties.”

NASCAR has added an infectious disease specialist to its consulting physician group to provide technical assistance and to inform policy. In following with these discussions and guidance from this counsel, NASCAR is implementing several adjustments to race event operations effective this weekend at Atlanta and remaining in effect indefinitely.
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COVID-19: Fiat Chrysler Starts Work from Home, Distances Workers, Prepares for Possible Temporary Factory Shut Downs

Posted on 11 March 2020 by Ken Zino
AutoInformed.com on COVID-19

It’s not just China that is suffering from COVID-19, the crisis is global.

In a statement this morning issued in London, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said it is implementing “new measures across its facilities in Italy to support the nationwide campaign addressing the COVID-19 crisis.” As a result of taking these actions the company will, where necessary, make temporary closures of its plants across Italy.

Beyond the measures already taken in support of government directives, FCA said it will act to minimize the risk of spreading the contagion between employees. These include intensive sanitation of all work and rest areas, changing rooms and washrooms. To enable greater spacing of employees at their workstations, daily production rates will be lowered to accommodate the adapted manufacturing processes.
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Ford Recalls a Recall on 2019 Ranger Pickup for Fires

Posted on 11 March 2020 by Ken Zino
AutoInformed.com on 2019 Ford Ranger

This new recall covers, as noted, trucks previously recalled and repaired.

Ford Motor Company today is issuing a safety recall for 2019 Ford Ranger vehicles that were previously recalled as the company’s quality woes continue. Affected Rangers had the heating, ventilation and air conditioning, or HVAC, blower motor replaced from Oct. 9 to Nov. 22, 2019, under recall 19S34. The replacement part used for that service may have been built with “an improper clearance between an electrical terminal and the conductive base-plate slot that could result in a resistive electrical short.”

This safety defect can increase the risk of the HVAC blower motor overheating, melting, smoking or causing a fire. Ford said it is not aware of any reports of accident, injury or fire related to this safety defect. Continue reading →

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Czinger Unveils 21C in London

Posted on 11 March 2020 by Ken Zino
AutoInformed.com on Czinger worldwide reveal in London UK.

CEO and Founder Kevin Czinger at worldwide reveal in London, UK.

Czinger unveiled its 21C in London, UK yesterday, and confirmed it is the first in a series of vehicles that will use its proprietary technologies “to explore the limits of creativity and performance.” (pronounced “zinger” with a silent c) All will be vehicles built for discovery and pleasure in cutting edge design and performance. (AutoInformed – First Glance – Czinger 1250 Horsepower 21C Hypercar)

CEO and Founder Kevin Czinger addressed attendees and viewers on its live stream claiming it’s a performance vehicles company, not just a hypercar manufacturer. Named because it’s designed, built and manufactured for the 21st century, the new 21C hypercar uses Czinger’s technology to engineer each component’s design, performance and weight. The result achieves a better than 1:1 power-to-weight ratio. Limited to 80 vehicles, each 21C will be hand fit and finished in Los Angeles, California. Continue reading →

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FAA Helping Airlines on COVID-19 Cancellations

Posted on 11 March 2020 by Ken Zino
AutoInformed.com on COVID-19

Next comes the tax bailout for wealthy airline owners but not the workers?

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is temporarily waiving minimum slot-use requirements at U.S. airports to help airlines that cancel flights due to the Coronavirus. Under normal circumstances, airlines can lose their slots at congested airports if they don’t use them at least 80% of the time.

The FAA is waiving the 80% use requirement through 31 May 2020 for U.S. and foreign airlines that have affected flights. In doing so, the FAA “expects that U.S. carriers will be accommodated with reciprocal relief by foreign authorities at airports in their countries and may determine not to grant a waiver to a foreign carrier whose home jurisdiction does not reciprocate.” Continue reading →

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COVID-19 Chaos as LMC Automotive Cuts Global Light Vehicle Sales Forecast by 3.7 Million Units

Posted on 11 March 2020 by Ken Zino
AutoInformed.com on COVID-19

The COVID-19 outbreak is causing unprecedented distress across multiple markets.

“Whether you believe there is a public overreaction or that COVID-19 is actually a public health crisis headed for pandemic status, there is no denying the expected negative impact it will have on the economy and auto industry, said Jeff Schuster, President, Global Vehicle Forecasts at LMC. “Volatility will remain with us until there is evidence of containment globally and the lasting effect could spill into 2021. The US outbreak remains at an early stage of development, so additional challenges for the industry, including supply chain issues, could push the market further into negative territory.”

Executive Summary: The rapid international spread of coronavirus COVID-19 outside China is adding another layer of stress to the global automotive market, following the outlook already turning negative as the virus crippled vehicle demand in China in February.
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COVID-19: 2020 New York International Auto Show Delayed

Posted on 11 March 2020 by Ken Zino

AutoInformed.com on New York Auto Show 2020 - COVID-19In what could be the first step in outright cancellation, the New York Auto Show announced late yesterday that its International Auto Show is rescheduled to August 28 – September 6, 2020. The holding action comes after the show said one week ago that the show would go on. (New York Auto Show Claims It Will Happen)

As AutoInformed said then, “The show’s fate of course will be determined by public health departments at the city, state and federal levels. At the moment there is no known vaccine for preventive or ameliorative use against COVID-19.”

This still applies, despite the denials and obfuscations of the central government, and the president’s apparent refusal to get tested or stop touching people in crowds. Trump has dismissed the severity of the outbreak, made demonstrably false claims about the nature of the virus and – true to form –  politicized the crisis – by  saying over and over again that his opponents and the media are politicizing it. Continue reading →

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Online Car Buying Trends

Posted on 10 March 2020 by Ken Zino
AutoInformed.com on Carvana Equity to pay debt Stock Offering - May 2019

Carvana vehicle vending machine.

Carvana, the auto retailer in the U.S. and an e-commerce platform for buying and selling used cars, has released an online car buying analysis. Based on a claimed tens of thousands of purchases and millions of site visits, it’s a look at online car shoppers during 2019.

In the report, some comparisons can be drawn between the traditional car shopper and the online car shopper:

  • Sedans, as an example, were popular with online car buyers in 2019, as well as with Millennials.
  • Online car buyers are also fast. One vehicle on Carvana was live on the site for just 9 minutes before a customer completed the purchase process. This compares to the average three hours one may spend at the dealership.

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Sulfur Fumes Cause Mercedes ABS and ESP Safety Recall?

Posted on 10 March 2020 by Ken Zino
AutoInformed.com on Mercedes-Benz Safety Recalls

This appears to be a first. A recall for an electronic failure caused by fumes?

Mercedes-Benz USA  is recalling 6,517 2019-2020 G550 4MATIC SUVs. The German luxury car maker says that some model year 2019-2020 G-Class vehicles (463 platform) have a control unit of the differential locking module that might not meet current production specifications.  The driver will be made aware of the safety defect by an ABS and ESP message in the instrument cluster.

The electrical contact of a resistor might be impaired due to sulfur fumes originating from the axle oil. Due to a development “deviation” at the supplier Tollo Linear  of Sweden, a batch of electrical resistors don’t meet the requirements for chemical resistance. Continue reading →

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Trump Deficit Growing: $625 Billion FYTD – $80B Higher YoY

Posted on 8 March 2020 by Ken Zino
AutoInformed.com Trump Trillion Dollar Deficits

The flag is at half mast for the plight of the fading middle class and the millennials who will inherit the debt and the global warming crisis.

The federal budget deficit was $625 billion for the first five months of fiscal year 2020, CBO estimates. This is $80 billion more than the deficit recorded during the same period last year. Revenues and outlays alike were higher through February of this year—by 7% and 9%, respectively—than during the first five months of fiscal year 2019. The era of Trillion Dollar Deficits is now firmly in place with no end in sight. The open question is how much COVID-19, aka corona virus, will depress the world economy.

Outlays during the first five months of this year were raised slightly by shifts in the timing of certain payments that otherwise would have been due on March 1, which fell on a weekend. Those shifts increased outlays through February by $52 billion. CBO claims that without them, the outlay increase would have been 6% and the deficit for the first five months of 2020 would have been $572 billion, roughly $28 billion larger, rather than $80 billion larger, than the amount for the same period last year. This of course will all even out during the balance of the fiscal year. Continue reading →

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Kathrin Kerls New Chair of Board of Management BMW Bank

Posted on 6 March 2020 by Ken Zino
AutoInformed.com on Kathrin Kerls Chair of the Board of Management BMW Bank GmbH


Kathrin Kerls Chair Board of Management BMW Bank.

BMW Bank GmbH will appoint Kathrin Kerls as its new Chair of the Board of Management, effective 1 April 2020. The 51-year-old lawyer joins the company from UniCredit Bank AG, where she has worked since 2009. The current Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW Bank GmbH, Hans-Jürgen Cohrs, will step down on 1 April, but will support his successor during the initial phase until he retires on 30 June 2020.

Kerls previously held various management positions at both Dresdner Bank AG and UniCredit Bank AG, where she was most recently head of Special Projects and Restructuring Projects. Continue reading →

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Tire Wear Emissions 1000 Times More Than Exhaust Emissions

Posted on 6 March 2020 by Ken Zino

Pollution from tire wear can be 1,000 times worse than what comes out of a car’s exhaust, European consultancy Emissions Analytics has found. Regulation of exhaust emissions by the EU results in  new cars that emit little particle pollution. However, unregulated tire wear pollution can be 1,000 times worse, finds independent real-world testing experts at Emissions Analytics. It says that the increased popularity of SUVs, larger and heavier than standard vehicles, exacerbates this problem – as does growing sales of heavy EVs and widespread use of budget tires.

Non-exhaust emissions (NEE) are particles released into the air from brake wear, tire wear, road surface wear and re-suspension of road dust during  vehicle operation. No legislation is in place to limit or reduce NEE, but they affect air quality.
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US Trade Deficit Continues at $45 Billion a Month

Posted on 6 March 2020 by Ken Zino
AutoInformed.com on US Trade Deficit

Click to Enlarge.

The US international trade deficit in goods and services may have decreased to $45.3 billion in January from $48.6 billion in December (revised), as imports decreased more than exports. However, the Census Bureau does not have sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that the actual change is different from zero.

The drop in imports portends shortages, which could harm both consumer and business spending. The coronavirus epidemic has upset businesses and production in China, with an extension of  the Lunar Year holidays cutting output in an effort by the Chinese government to constrain its spread. This likely will be repeated in the US economy as the epidemic spreads here. It’s too soon to see the potential negative effects on the auto industry, but disruptions are likely given China, South Korea and Mexican trade in automotive goods.
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More Management Changes at Profit Challenged Daimler

Posted on 5 March 2020 by Ken Zino
AutoInformed.com on Daimler Earnings Drop

Mercedes-Benz plans to make its entire new car product portfolio CO2-neutral.

The reorganization at Daimler continued today in Investor Relations and Greater China. Olaf Schick is to take over Finance & Controlling at Daimler Greater China replacing Steffen Hoffman. Hoffmann will take over as Head of Investor Relations on 1 April 2020  with the current head, Björn Scheib, leaving the company by “mutual agreement,” after 11 years in the position. (Daimler Facing Profit and Sales Declines Reorganizes)

It’s just the latest example of the ongoing changes that are being made industry-wide as old-line automakers confront the capital and profit destroying aspects of the emergence of 21st century autonomous and connected vehicles. Earlier it was announced that he CFO of Mercedes-Benz AG, Frank Lindenberg, will leave Daimler and on 31 March 2020 under a sweeping reorganization. Continue reading →

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GM Shows New Batteries and a Flexible Global EV Platform

Posted on 4 March 2020 by Ken Zino
AutoInformed.com on GM's electric vehicle technologies

General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra on Wednesday, March 4, 2020 detailing GM’s electric vehicle technologies and upcoming products in the Design Dome on the GM Tech Center campus in Warren, Michigan.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) today revealed a third-generation global EV platform powered by proprietary “Ultium” batteries. GM claimed it will allow the company to compete for almost every customer in the market today, whether they are looking for affordable transportation, a luxury experience, work trucks or a high-performance machine. A space that is largely occupied by Tesla, which caught all global automakers napping.

“What we have done is build a multi-brand, multi-segment EV strategy with economies of scale that rival our full-size truck business with much less complexity and even more flexibility,” said Mary Barra, GM chairman and CEO. Stockholders are in essence seeing management place a $20 billion wager that EVs will be accepted by customers as never before, and that GM can sell to them profitably. Continue reading →

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