Tag Archives: auto informed

Top Ten Stolen Vehicles for 2011 Revealed by NCIB

The National Insurance Crime Bureau or NICB today released its list of the 10 stolen vehicles in the United States. The top spots were evenly split in 2011 with five occupied by offshore brands and five by U.S. automakers. The most popular stolen vehicles among the Detroit Three bands were Ford, Dodge and Chevrolet pickup trucks each holding one spot with Dodge Caravan and Ford Explorer rounding out the domestic models. Continue reading

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School Driving Safety – Slow Down and Get off the *#$+ Cell Phone

As summer wanes and school bells ring 55 million children in the United States will return to the classroom. With 13% those school children typically walking or biking to school, AAA warns drivers to drive carefully – as it has since 1946 – and to be especially vigilant for pedestrians during before- and after-school hours. Continue reading

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Marine Corps to Test Finnish Personnel Carrier as U.S. Long Term Unemployment Continues at Post Depression Highs?

It was not immediately clear if Lockheed really intends to import the Finnish-built personnel carrier for the 600 units the Marine Corps eventually plans to buy at ~$5 million each while long-term U.S. unemployment continues at post Great Depression highs. There are competing U.S.- and Canadian-built carriers available from General Dynamics, BAE Systems, and Science Applications International Corporation. Continue reading

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Sinclair Oil to Pay $3.8 Million Penalty for Refinery Pollution

Sinclair Oil Corporation will pay a $3.8 million fine and install pollution control equipment at its refineries in Casper and Sinclair, Wyoming after it previously agreed to reduce pollution, but then failed to do so. The U.S. Justice Department said today that the pollution controls would cost about $10.5 million, including other projects to resolve the allegations of violations of the Clean Air Act. Continue reading

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NHTSA Investigation Prompts GM Recalls of SUVs for Fires

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has prompted recalls of more than 249,000 GM SUVs because of fires in the driver’s door caused by a defective electric window motor. Affected are 2006-2007 model year Buick Rainier, Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Isuzu Ascender and Saab 9-7x models, all from the GMT360 platform. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation has received a total of 83 complaints, 66 alleging the door module had melted or burned, and the remaining 17 stating that the window switches acted erratically or were inoperative. Twenty-eight of the reports received have led to driver door fires, some of which allege the vehicle was keyed off and unattended. Continue reading

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Elite or Street – Woodward Dream Cruise and Pebble Beach Concours

Nowhere will the two diverse approaches to automobile collecting be more apparent than at the Woodward Dream Cruise in the northern Detroit suburbs and the Pebble Beach Concourse in Northern California this weekend. Continue reading

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GM to Double Solar Power with German Opel Plant Addition

General Motors will double its output of solar power with the planned addition of an 8.15-megawatt solar array on the rooftop of the Opel Rüsselsheim facility in Germany. The array – one of the largest alternative energy projects in Europe – is equivalent to the area of 32 soccer fields. Continue reading

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Incentives, Declining Used Car Prices Could Boost U.S. Auto Sales

New-vehicle incentives and rebates, as well as declining prices on used vehicles are a couple of factors pointing to steady auto sales as the summer months come to a close, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association. Continue reading

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China Sales Satisfaction Down. Audi, Nissan, Hyundai Lead

There is a decline in customer satisfaction in China as experienced salespeople are in short supply as auto dealerships continue to expand. Coupled with the slow down in Chinese vehicle sales this year, there is a “notable deterioration” in overall sales satisfaction among new-vehicle owners in China. Continue reading

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Porsche Sales up 16% in July. Boxster and 911 Strong

Porsche increased sales in July by 16% helped by strong sales of the Boxster and 911. The automaker sold 12,391 cars and trucks during the month. Led by sales of the Panamera sedan and Cayenne sport utility vehicle, Porsche has sold 81,562 vehicles (+14 %) in the first seven months of 2012. Continue reading

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GM CEO Akerson to Auction His 1958 Corvette for Detroit Charity

General Motors Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson plans to auction off his Corvette with proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity Detroit and the rebuilding of the Morningside Commons neighborhood. Continue reading

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Works of Artist Hanns Lohrer Coming to Porsche Museum

Starting in early September the Porsche Museum will display the works the Stuttgart painter and commercial graphic designer Hanns Lohrer (1912-1995) with an exhibit that goes beyond his automotive oeuvre. During the 1950s and ’60s, Lohrer played a vital role in the visual appearance of the Porsche brand in promotional pieces. Lohrer’s works helped create a positive image for what was then an upstart sports car manufacturer. Continue reading

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Yazaki Exec Guilty of Price Fixing Sentenced to 14 Months

An executive of Tokyo-based Yazaki Corporation pled guilty for his role in a conspiracy to fix prices of instrument panel clusters today in a U.S. District court in Detroit. Toshio Sudo from Japan is the 11th executive to be charged in the government’s ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry. The sweeping investigation, which is ongoing, has implicated some of the auto industry’s largest suppliers, most of them Japanese. Yazaki manufactures and sells a variety of automotive parts, and is a major supplier to Japanese automakers, among other firms. Continue reading

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Ford EU July Sales off 12%, Lowest Since 1995. Lags Industry

Ford Motor Company sales in its traditional 19 European markets decreased in July to 83,100 vehicles, -12.3% lower than July 2011 in an industry with heavy discounting that was off 7.6% overall. Year-to-date, Ford sales were 700,200 units, down 11% during the same period last year compared to an industry decline of 7%. Both results were the lowest sales for Ford in the EU since 1995 as the Eurozone crisis continues unabated. Continue reading

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Bosch Moves into eScooter Business with Ningbo Polaris

The Bosch Group is forming a joint venture with Ningbo Polaris Technology, a Chinese provider of motors for electrically driven scooters or eScooters, with Bosch holding the majority. Ningbo makes and sells eScooter motors in China under the POLTM brand, more than one million in 2011 the output of 450 workers. The global output of eScooters in 2011 was about 27 million units with China making 98% of the production volume. “With a growth rate of 6% annually the market will reach up to 46 million units in 2020”, said Udo Wolz, president of the Bosch Electrical Drives division. Continue reading

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