Tag Archives: auto informed

GM and PSA Peugeot Citroën to Develop New Gas Engines

Posted on 24 December 2012 by Ken Zino

PSA Peugeot Citroën and General Motors are expanding the scope of their alliance announced earlier this year to include a new line of small gasoline engines developed from PSA’s small gasoline engine program known as the EB engine. Continue reading →

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Santa One Cleared for Flight by FAA

Posted on 24 December 2012 by Ken Zino

AutoInformed salutes the real elves at the FAA, the hard working men and women who are our air traffic controllers. In spite of an FAA management bureaucracy that is often clueless and ineffective, these elves know how to move the aluminum or in this case a wooden sleigh without worrying about fine points of regulations while using demonstrably deficient equipment. Therefore, AutoInformed sends season’s greetings to some of the hardest working civil servants in the U.S. And to all a good night, err flight. Continue reading →

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Fiat Melfi Plant to Make Two New Cars, Including a Baby Jeep

Posted on 23 December 2012 by Ken Zino

Existing production processes are being modified to handle what’s called a new modular Small Wide platform – one of Fiat-Chrysler’s three principal architectures – that can also be adapted to produce larger vehicles. Fiat confirmed that the platform will have the product and safety aspects that comply with U.S. regulatory standards. This means that vehicles produced at the Melfi plant including the baby Jeep will be export ready, with no requirement for further modifications. Continue reading →

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Honda Environmental Report Shows CO2 Cuts, Fuel Economy Gains

Posted on 22 December 2012 by Ken Zino

The eighth annual Honda environmental report just released for the North American regions show that the Japanese automaker reduced on average its output of CO2 with corresponding increases in fuel economy. During the 2012 fiscal year that ended last March the CO2-adjusted fleet-average fuel economy of Honda and Acura vehicles sold in the U.S. in model year 2011 rose 0.8 mpg, or 3.2%, to 25.7 mpg, compared to the previous model year. Continue reading →

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Jeep Liberty to evolve as a Front-Wheel-Drive Alfa Romeo Derivative

Posted on 21 December 2012 by Ken Zino

Chrysler Group is preparing an all-new Jeep Liberty replacement that will debut within 18 months, eventually going into production in the U.S., Italy and China. As with the just released Dodge Dart, the new Jeep – thus far unnamed – will be based on a corporate platform from owner Fiat. Continue reading →

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December U.S. Auto Sales Forecast to Close the Best Year Since 2007

Posted on 20 December 2012 by Ken Zino

While still well below the annual rates of 16 to 17 million during the last decade, December’s SAAR is 500,000 units higher than predicted for the 2012 full-year pace. Buyers are apparently ignoring the dire predictions and political posturing from that tawdry cast of cliff dwelling and big-money-bought politicians inhabiting the banks of the Potomac river while living in their taxpayer-funded socialist paradise. Continue reading →

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Next Gen Chevy Camaro to Be Built in the Lansing, Michigan Plant

Posted on 19 December 2012 by Ken Zino

Bye, bye Maple Leaf, hello Stars & Stripes: GM announced today that the next-generation Chevrolet Camaro would be assembled at the Lansing Grand River Plant in Michigan. GM said that lower capital investment and improved production efficiencies were factors that caused it to move the Camaro from its home plant in Oshawa, Ontario since its fifth generation revival in 2009. Continue reading →

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Ally Financial Pays Off Last $4.5 Billion of Debt Issued Under TLGP

Posted on 19 December 2012 by Ken Zino

The U.S. Treasury, via taxpayers, currently holds about 74% of Ally common equity, and $5.9 billion in mandatory convertible preferred securities, which have a dividend rate of 9%, after a more than $17 billion bailout. Ally at the end of Q3 2012 had about $182 billion in assets, so it increasingly looks like taxpayers have a good chance at getting their money paid back, perhaps turning a profit. Continue reading →

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U.S. Treasury to Sell GM Stock at a Loss During the Next 15 Months

Posted on 19 December 2012 by Ken Zino

It appears that Treasury is making a very bad decision here based on ideology, not good old American pragmatism. It was ideologues who opposed the successful TARP bailouts, and now Treasury – the government agency that is supposed to understand money and stock markets – is also taking an impractical position based also on ideology. Since the end of September taxpayers earned more than $1.5 billion from the increase in value of GM stock. Why dump and run now? No surprise here at AutoInformed that most Americans are disgusted with the way government handles their money. Continue reading →

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Less Expensive Chevrolet Cruze Airbag Earns 5 Stars from NHTSA

Posted on 18 December 2012 by Ken Zino

The 2013 Chevrolet Cruze using a groundbreaking single inflator airbag has been rated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at a maximum 5-Star Overall Vehicle Score. The development is potentially significant for car buyers because the 2013 Cruze model switched to a less expensive, more compact and lighter airbag design from Takata. Continue reading →

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EPA Releases Annual Enforcement Results

Posted on 17 December 2012 by Ken Zino

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or EPA today issued its annual enforcement results, which the Agency said showed significant environmental and public health protections achieved during 2012. EPA said that there was a reduction of 2.2 billion pounds of air, water and land pollution, and 4.4 billion pounds of hazardous waste, as well as $252 million in civil and criminal penalties levied. Continue reading →

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GM to Face F-Series, Ram with New 2014 Silverado, Sierra Pickups

Posted on 17 December 2012 by Ken Zino

An initial analysis by AutoInformed indicates that the trucks are good, but the question lingers will they be good enough against Ford’s F-Series and Dodge’s Ram line, both with considerable marketplace momentum, and both with their own unique selling points from recent revisions. Continue reading →

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Car Spy Jim Dunne Catches a Revised 2015 Ford Mustang

Posted on 13 December 2012 by Ken Zino

Jim Dunne caught a look at what Ford Motor is working on for the 2015 model year Mustang, which he opines will have an independent rear suspension. At least that’s the impression he got from viewing this rear view of a Ford Mustang test vehicle. Taillights, upper panels and the license plate mount are the same as current Mustangs, so why cut out the lowest panel? Continue reading →

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Nissan to Add 15 Hybrid Models by 2016

Posted on 12 December 2012 by Ken Zino

Nissan Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga said today in Yokohama that the Japanese automaker plans to add 15 hybrid models by 2016. Long decried by Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, who is betting billions through the Renault Nissan Alliance to develop and sell electric vehicles after he dismissed Toyota’s early hybrid efforts, the Number Two Japanese maker is finally bowing to the reality that hybrids are a short-term solution to increasing fuel economy that buyers will consider. Continue reading →

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EPA to Review Consumer Reports Data Claiming Ford C-Max and Fusion MPG Claims are Bogus in Real World Driving

Posted on 12 December 2012 by Ken Zino

The U.S. Environmental Protection agency will review Consumer Reports data claiming that Ford’s 47 mpg hybrid mileage claims were not realistic during real world – as opposed to computerized dynamometer – driving conditions. Continue reading →

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