Ex VP of KanRus Trading Guilty Exporting Avionics to Russia

Posted on 3 July 2024 by Ken Zino

Douglas Edward Robertson, 56, of Olathe, Kansas, the former vice president of KanRus Trading Company Inc., pleaded guilty yesterday for his role in a years-long conspiracy to circumvent U.S. export laws by filing false export forms with the U.S. government and, after Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. KanRus continued to sell and export sophisticated and controlled avionics equipment to customers in Russia without the required licenses from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Justice Department said. The so-called Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB aka FSS) the main security agency of Russia, successor agency to the KGB of the  Soviet Union also used KanRus.

“Robertson, by his own admission, conspired to sell advanced U.S. avionics equipment to Russian customers in violation of U.S. law,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen. “The Justice Department will not tolerate those who seek to undermine the effectiveness of export controls that protect critical U.S. technology and deter Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.” Continue reading →

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Stellantis Adds Another $55 Million to Archer Aviation

Posted on 2 July 2024 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Stellantis Adds Another $55 Million In Archer Aviation

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Stellantis N.V. (NYSE: STLA) and Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE: ACHR), a leader in electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, today announced Archer has received an additional $55 million investment from Stellantis under the companies’ strategic funding agreement following the achievement of its transition flight test milestone last month. This investment builds on Stellantis’ series of open market purchases of 8.3 million shares of Archer’s stock in March of this year that was previously announced. During 2023, Stellantis invested $110 million in Archer through a combination of open market stock purchases and investments under the companies’ strategic funding agreement. Stellantis previously increased its strategic shareholding of Archer through a series of purchases of Archer stock in the open market on 19 June 2023. (AutoInformed: Paris Air Show – Stellantis and Archer to Debut eVTOL Aircraft)*

“Few things rival the excitement of seeing a dream take flight. I applaud the innovation, expertise and hard work of the engineering and manufacturing teams from Stellantis and Archer,” said Carlos Tavares, Stellantis CEO. “With this additional investment in Archer, we remain on course for a future where freedom of mobility extends beyond today’s roads.” Continue reading →

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Ford Motor Recalls More than 550,000 F-150 Pickups

Posted on 1 July 2024 by Ken Zino

Ford Motor Company is recalling more than 550,000 2014 model F-150 vehicles, the National High Traffic Safety Administration said today. A loss of the signal between the transmission output shaft speed sensor and the powertrain control module can cause the transmission to unexpectedly downshift into first gear at any vehicle speed. A downshift to first gear without warning could result in a loss of vehicle control, obviously increasing the risk of a crash.

“A downshift to first gear may illuminate a Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL). In some cases, the OSS signal could recover while driving and the vehicle will resume normal function; in other cases, the vehicle may need to be stopped and restarted to regain normal transmission operation,” Ford said in the required NHTSA filing. Continue reading →

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First Gen Four BMW 1 Series Made in Leipzig

Posted on 1 July 2024 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on First Gen Four BMW 1 Series Made in Leipzig

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The first of the fourth-generation BMW 1 Series came off the production line at BMW Group Plant Leipzig today. BMW said  it was a 120 model in Alpine White for a customer in Germany.* The new BMW 1 Series is due for market launch in October 2024. When first introduced in 2007, the 1-series was a successful bet that a small hatchback doesn’t need to equate to cheap.

“The new BMW 1 Series will remain a key factor in maintaining high capacity utilization here at plant Leipzig,” said Petra Peterhänsel, Plant Director. The strongest markets for the 1 Series have been Germany and Europe, and the UK and Italy. Continue reading →

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Honda CR-V Fuel Cell EV – $389 a Month!

Posted on 28 June 2024 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Honda CR-V Fuel Cell EV - $389 a Month!

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Honda this week announced lease options for the 2025 Honda CR-V e:FCEV, America’s first production plug-in hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle. The zero-emissions compact CUV will be available in California starting 9 July, with three leasing options, at $389, $459, and $489 per month. This is a form of space age NASA advanced technology at Honda prices without the requisite trip to the moon, unless you have those views about California.

Lease options are based on a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP)7 of $50,000. You can’t buy one. Most customers will likely choose the 3 year/36,000 mile lease for $459 per month1, including $15,000 of hydrogen refueling credits during the lease term. The terms also include up to 21 days of access to a rental vehicle from Avis while in California, 24/7 roadside assistance5, and eligibility for California’s Clean Air Vehicle Stickers6 to allow single-occupant HOV access. Continue reading →

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EVs, PHEVs Worse Than Gas Vehicles On Power 2024 IQS

Posted on 27 June 2024 by Ken Zino
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The J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Initial Quality StudySM (IQS),* released today shows an industry average 195 PP100, that is 195 problems per 100 vehicles. A lower score reflects higher vehicle quality. So-called mass market brands, with a combined average of 181 PP100, are better than the industry average. Premium brands, which often include more complicated systems and more reliance on connectivity, average 232 PP100.

“It is not surprising that the introduction of new technology has challenged manufacturers to maintain vehicle quality,” said Frank Hanley, senior director of auto benchmarking (sic) at J.D. Power. “However, the industry can take solace in the fact that some problem areas such as voice recognition and parking cameras are seen as less problematic now than they were a year ago.” Continue reading →

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May 2024 Car Sales Drop 3% in EU

Posted on 21 June 2024 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on May 2024 Car Sales Drop 3% in EU

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During May 2024, car registrations in the European Union decreased by 3%, with drops in three out of the region’s four major markets: Italy (-6.6%), Germany (-4.3%), and France (-2.9%). Spain, posted slight growth of 3.4% last month.*

Registrations of battery-electric (BEV) cars declined by 12% to 114,308. The total EV market share dropping to 12.5%. Belgium – now the third-largest market by volume for BEVs – and France were the only key markets to record growth, at 44.8% and 5.4%, respectively. Germany (-30.6%) and the Netherlands (-11.7%) had significant declines. From January to May, a total of 556,276 new battery-electric cars were registered. This is a 2% increase from the same period last year, according to the ACEA trade group.** Continue reading →

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May 2024 Global Light Vehicle Sales Rate Up Slightly

Posted on 20 June 2024 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on May 2024 Global Light Vehicle Sales Rate Up Slightly

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The Global Light Vehicle (LV) selling rate was  88 million annually in May, according to calculations released by the respected GlobalData* consultancy. This was a slight increase when compared to April 2024.** There were 7.2 million vehicles sold in May. This was a 1.0% improvement year-on-year (YoY). Year-to-date (YTD) sales are up 3.4%.

“Key markets, China and the US, benefited from improved selling rates versus the previous month. In Europe, there was little change for the West of the region in its month-over-month (MoM) selling rate evolution. While Eastern Europe made progress, …once again supported by recovery in Russia. In Japan, the selling rate declined notably as supply issues persist,” the GlobalData light-vehicles sales forecast team said. Continue reading →

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Stellantis Updates Circular Economy Initiatives at IARC

Posted on 19 June 2024 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on VALORAUTO Recycling Now Available to Private Owners

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Stellantis* (NYSE: STLA) claimed today that SUSTAINera, the business concentrated on Circular Economy initiatives, is making “considerable progress” on its efforts to revamp the so-called consumption model and increase its presence in recycling, expanding participation (share) in material sourcing while limiting impact on natural resources.

“Since the introduction of SUSTAINera, in 2022, we achieved very positive results in areas such as parts re-manufacturing, battery recycling and end-of-life vehicles”, said Alison Jones, Senior Vice President of Stellantis’ Global Circular Economy, who delivered a keynote presentation at International Automotive Recycling Congress (IARC), in Antwerp, Belgium. “We remain committed to our target to increase recycling revenues by ten times and achieve more than €2 billion in total circular economy revenues by 2030 – fully in line with Stellantis’ Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan.” Continue reading →

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Surprising Shifts in the 2024 American-Made Index

Posted on 18 June 2024 by Ken Zino
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Cars.com™ (NYSE: CARS) today publicly released its 19th annual American-Made Index.** This is  an independent look at more than 400 vehicles to create this year’s list of 100 vehicles “contributing most to the U.S. economy in manufacturing, parts sourcing and employment.” When it comes to consumer demand for American-made, 56% of in-market car shoppers are willing to pay more for a vehicle if it creates more U.S. jobs. Of  those, 58% claim they are willing to pay at least an extra 10%.3 But 60% of Americans say that products need to be built in the U.S. by a company headquartered here to substantially contribute to the American economy, claims Cars.com. [see footnote 4 below]

“Over the last year, domestic manufacturing was thrust into the spotlight by the recent United Auto Workers organizing efforts and continues to be a hot topic with the impending presidential election,” said Patrick Masterson, lead researcher for Cars.com’s American-Made Index. “Pundits champion homegrown corporations as the key to investments in local and state economies. However, when it comes to the global automotive industry, the badge on the hood doesn’t always reveal a vehicle’s economic contributions. In fact, 66% of vehicles on Cars.com’s 2024 American-Made Index come from foreign automakers that support communities in Alabama, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.” Continue reading →

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Chinese Trade Wars – EU Adds High Tariffs on EV Imports

Posted on 18 June 2024 by Ken Zino
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The European Union will increase tariffs on Chinese EV imports from ~17 to 38% if they come from BYD, Geely or SAIC. The move mirrors the Biden Administration’s imposition of 100% tariffs on Chinese made EVs last month. (AutoInformed on: Chinese EV Trade War Commences)* This is in addition to existing 10% tariffs and take effect on 4 July. Other automakers – many of them European – that are building  EVs in China – will see tariffs ranging from 21% or 38% the EU said. Many European companies have factories or joint ventures in China of course. China has said it will retaliate.

“Fair competition is good,” Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission President, recently said. “What we don’t like is when China floods our market with massively subsidized electric cars. And we have to tackle this, we have to protect our industry,” said von der Leyen. Like covid, trade wars with China, which has extremely competitive EV technologies and vehicles, are now a pandemic. The tariffs are subject to revision. And lobbying… Continue reading →

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Chinese Trade Wars – Exports Growing, Prices Dropping

Posted on 17 June 2024 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Chinese Trade Wars – Exports Growing, Prices Dropping

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Chinese domestic passenger vehicle sales (PV), excluding exports, saw a 5.4% year-on-year (YoY) increase in March and a 4.2% YoY growth in April, according to an analyst comment just made public by the respected Global Data Consultancy.* Year-to-date from January to April 2024, PV sales reached 6.3 million units, reflecting a 5.5% YoY increase. Mass production is higher – +9.0% YoY at 7.6 million over the same period. This suggests that the production growth is outpacing sales volume, indicating potential market saturation or a buildup of inventory, according to GlobalData.

Two very real problems are increasing for non-Chinese global automakers. First, is the penetration rate. This is the market share of the vehicles that are the future of the companies that will survive what is an historic reshaping of a global industry. Here, so-called New Electric Vehicles – [NEVs – battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and range-extended electric vehicles combined] that have been heavy promoted, subsidized and pushed forward by the Chinese government are now accounting a 43% share in April, an historic high. The economies of scale are enormous and a clear Chinese competitive advantage.** Continue reading →

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Stellantis Promise or Puff? – Clean, Safe, Affordable Mobility

Posted on 13 June 2024 by Ken Zino

Today at the first Stellantis Investor Day in Auburn Hills, Michigan CEO Carlos Tavares presented what he claimed were  nine key strategic differentiators that Stellantis is using “to unlock value and address the disruption and reinvention of the auto industry worldwide.”

“What consumers around the world are looking for is clean, safe and affordable mobility. This is the reason we exist. We are driving a generational shift in technology and a product wave built on multi-energy platforms and flexible operations with above-group profitability in our commercial vehicles business. Together with the activation of our uniquely aligned partnership with Leapmotor, an innovative Chinese new energy vehicle maker, we’re confident we can deliver what customers want while providing strong shareholder returns this year, and beyond,” Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares. Continue reading →

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EPA 2031 CAFE – EVs, PHEVs, Hybrids Will Grow

Posted on 13 June 2024 by Ken Zino
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New EPA Light Vehicle Emissions standards are now final through model year 2031.* There are multiple ways a global automaker can meet the standards and avoid fines. Key here will be the flexible development and manufacturing of powertrain technologies to meet compliance and avoid non-compliance penalties. The standard means a maker will pay $17.00 per tenth of a mile per gallon under the requirement.

For those  inhabiting the Trump Washington swamp with rabid misinformation fever, he did not decrease the standards as promised. Incremental increases were slowed down. The Biden Administration basically went back to the sharp CAFE increases that occurred under the Obama Administration. Simply put, CAFE will increase because of  significant fines for non-compliance now in place. Continue reading →

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Porsche 2024 Annual Meeting Sweep. Dividend Doubled

Posted on 8 June 2024 by Ken Zino
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At the virtual Annual General Meeting of Porsche AG this week, the shareholders of Porsche AG unanimously accepted all the resolution proposals from management for all of the items on the agenda despite some vocal opposition about its electrification strategy, which is proceeding apace. In accordance with the dividend policy, ~€2.1 billion will be paid for the 2023 financial year. This is ~41% of the Group profit after tax, at €2.30 per share and €2.31 a preferred share. All 10 shareholder representatives on the Supervisory Board were re-elected for another term. At the constitutive meeting of the Supervisory Board following the AGM, Chairman of the Supervisory Board Dr Wolfgang Porsche and Deputy Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board Jordana Vogiatzi were unanimously re-elected.

“In 2023, Porsche impressed while realizing all its ambitious forecasts. Our financial position is robust and, even in uncertain times, we remain highly profitable. For Porsche, 2024 is a year of new product launches, with the biggest model launch program in the company’s history. In the past months we have launched new models for five model series. We are thereby laying the foundations today for our profits tomorrow – and for future dividends,” said Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board. Continue reading →

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