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Tag Archives: auto industry commentary
Ford Picks Google over Apple for Connected Vehicle Offerings
This raises yet again privacy concerns and who owns and can sell your personal information. The Pew Research Center notes that a digitally networked society runs on, well, quid pro quos. In this non-impeachable case, people exchange details about themselves and their activities for services and products on the web or apps. Continue reading
IndustriALL Global, IndustriAll European Trade Union Ask for Justice and Solidarity in Covid Fight
“No continent, no country, no economy, no person will be safe until the whole world is safe. Vaccine nationalism is a short-sighted response to this global problem. It will prolong the pandemic and the threat of new variants endangering us all. We stand for the right of universal access to vaccination,” said IndustriALL. Continue reading
Volkswagen Group Starts Small Scale EV Battery Recycling
Salzgitter only recycles batteries that can no longer be used for other purposes. Before the battery is recycled, an analysis determines whether the battery is still powerful enough to be given a second life in mobile energy storage systems such as the flexible rapid charging station or the mobile charging robot. Larger volumes of battery returns are not expected until the late 2020s at the earliest. Continue reading
Environmental About Face – General Motors Ditching Internal Combustion Engines by 2035. Carbon Neutral by 2040?
More than half of GM’s capital spending and product development team will be devoted to electric and electric-autonomous vehicle programs. And in the coming years, GM plans to offer an EV for every customer, from crossovers and SUVs to trucks and sedans. This neatly coincides with President Biden’s executive orders dealing with climate change and converting federal fleets to EVs. The success of the initiative will depend on the voters, err buyers, who will ultimately decide. Continue reading
Nissan Establishes Carbon Neutral Goal for 2050
The company’s electrification and emissions reduction efforts support the aims of the U.N. Paris Agreement on climate change and global progress toward carbon neutrality by 2050. Continue reading
Ford to Manufacture Mustang Mach-E in China
Ford will also localize production of the Mustang Mach-E’s GT performance edition in China, a first by a global automaker to locally manufacture high-performance editions. The GT high performance edition will adopt a front and rear dual-motor layout, joining the 3-second club with its impressive 0-100km/h acceleration capabilities. Continue reading
Penske Automotive Group Increases Dividend
With this increase, the annualized dividend is $1.72 per share and represents a yield of 2.7%, the highest in our peer group. Our business and cash flow remain strong despite the Covid-19 pandemic, as the actions we took to mitigate its impact continue to provide operational benefits,” said President Robert K. Kurnick. Continue reading
Promoting Aluminum – Constellium, Novelis Form Alumobility
Automakers of course continue to use lightweight, high-strength, aluminum, as well as steel, plastics composites – carbon fiber and the like, to make vehicles. Alumobility has developed technical studies that address the next-generation aluminum door and an all-aluminum structural B-pillar. It claims aluminum can effectively compete with other materials for mass production vehicles at an attractive cost to manufacturers. Continue reading
BMW Says It’s Solvent, Marginally Profitable During 2020
The positive operating result of the Automotive segment in the fourth quarter is partially due to “better than expected re-marketing results in the pre-owned car market.” This of course has a positive effect in the Financial Services segment, leading to a Return on Equity for the segment which is only slightly down on prior year as opposed to a moderate decline as indicated in the current outlook. However, the EBIT margin in the Automotive Segment for the full year 2020 is at the “upper end of the 0 – 3% corridor.” The Group EBT remains within the outlook and in line with market expectations. Continue reading
GM to Sell Navistar Hydrotec Fuel Cell Power Cubes for EVs
The GM move is the latest in what is shaping up to be a headlong rush by commercial truck makers to drop dirty diesel and gasoline fueled vehicles in favor of fuel cell powered truck and heavy equipment. Proposed regulations – globally – are providing the incentive to change product lines to more sustainable ones. It’s the price of survival. The Japanese – thus far – appear to be leading the way. Continue reading
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, ENGIE EPS JV to Explore e-Mobility
The problem is that China, the world’s largest auto market, has locked in supplies of the materials needed to make advanced batteries, and through regulatory policy and other incentives is leading the way on the conversion to electric vehicles. The intellectual property battles will eventually commence AutoInformed predicts. Continue reading
eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Resumes
The first five mid-week events will air on FS1 (S for Sedition?- editor. Note Bene NASCAR has been proactive in banning the Confederate, aka Traitors’ flag. see NASCAR Disavows Racist Confederate Flag and The Confederate Flag, Conservative Politics and NASCAR ) on select Wednesday nights beginning March 24th. The races include Bristol Motor Speedway’s new dirt configuration, Talladega Superspeedway, Darlington Raceway, and Texas’ Circuit of the Americas’ facility. NBC Sports will pick up the second half of the 10-race season once the network’s broadcast window begins in June. Continue reading
Posted in marketing, news analysis, racing
Tagged auto industry commentary, autoinformed, autoinformed.com, Ken Zino, NBC Sports, virtual racing
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Wrangler 4xe Plug-in Hybrid Pre-Booking Begins in Europe
This latest marketing ploy started early last year, with pre-booking of the Renegade and Compass 4xe. Jeep claims it was a “resounding success, generating a lot of interest across Europe.” The arrival of the Jeep Wrangler 4xe is the latest step in the brand’s evolution and another step in the strategy towards the electrification of its entire range, announced in 2020. This will include the introduction of at least one electric or electrified version of each model in the coming years. Continue reading
First Look – 2021 Buick Envision Mid-Size SUV
Envision is between the smaller Encore and Encore GX and the larger Enclave, with 52.7 cubic feet of cargo space behind first-row seats and 25.2 cubic feet behind the second-row seats. Whether the small 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder is a luxury engine is debatable even with 228 horsepower (170 kW) and 258 lb.-ft. of torque (350 Nm) and direct injection and Stop/Start technology. It’s coupled to a nine-speed automatic transmission with electronic shift control. On paper absent test drives, Auto informed thinks this is roughly a 25-mpg set-up. Continue reading

Toyota’s 2020 Global Sales down -10.5% Year-on-Year
The best-selling Toyota vehicle from January to December was the RAV4, with global sales of 994,000 units (up 2.9% year-on-year). This RAV4 result was due to strong sales in North America, the primary market, as well as in China, which had sales of 175,000 units (up 37.9% year-on-year). Continue reading →