Tag Archives: auto informed

Ford Motor U.S. Sales Drop 5% in April. Car Sales off 11%

Posted on 1 May 2012 by Ken Zino

Ford Motor U.S. sales decreased 5% in April to 180,350 vehicles, with car sales dropping 11% at 64,790. Fleet sales were 37% of the mix. Overall, Ford Motor Sales were buoyed by trucks and sport utilities, but Ford is now facing a strong challenge from Toyota Motor Sales, which is expected to be up almost 12% in April when Toyota reports later today. Toyota is closing in on Ford’s Number Two U.S. sales ranking. Continue reading →

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TBC Corporation Acquires Midas in Successful Tender Offer

Posted on 30 April 2012 by Ken Zino

TBC Corporation today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Midas, Inc. through one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, Gearshift Merger Corporation, with Midas being the surviving corporation. The short form merger was the final step of the acquisition process and follows TBC’s payment for all of the shares validly tendered. Continue reading →

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New Laser Speed Detection Tracks Multiple Cars at Same Time

Posted on 30 April 2012 by Ken Zino

A German company called Victronic is successfully selling PoliScanspeed, a new laser technology that can measure the speed of multiple vehicles in several lanes at the same time and document it with photographs, providing digital evidence to law enforcement agencies. The PoliScanspeed system recently nailed two Mad-Max like speeders in Australia who were running side-by-side. They were caught on camera driving at 195 kpm (121 mph) and 207 kph (129 mph) in a 90 kph (56 mph) zone. Continue reading →

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Air Fares Soar 10% in Q4 as 2011 Prices Highest on Record

Posted on 30 April 2012 by Ken Zino

The slow economic recovery the U.S. is enduring isn’t all good for embattled consumers as the average price of U.S. domestic air fares increased to $368 in the fourth quarter of 2011, up 10% from $335 in the fourth quarter of 2010, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today. The latest price hike was far above $320 average fare during the same period in 2009 as the Great Recession took hold. Continue reading →

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Chrysler Execs to Move into Detroit for the First Time

Posted on 30 April 2012 by Ken Zino

Chrysler is leasing nearly 33,000 square feet of space and, after the space is refurbished, about 70 people will move in. It’s largely a symbolic gesture now, but it’s important for the city of Detroit and the comeback car company that many had left for dead. Continue reading →

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BMW Recalls S 1000 RR Motorcycles for Engine Failures

Posted on 30 April 2012 by Ken Zino

BMW is recalling 2012 S 1000 RR motorcycles because the connecting rod bolts can loosen, leading to sudden engine failures. At least 33 engine failures have been reported globally, BMW said in the required filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. No injures have been reported, according to BMW. Continue reading →

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Honda Q4 Profit up 61%, but Fiscal Year Down

Posted on 30 April 2012 by Ken Zino

Now that production has resumed, and the all important North American and Asian markets are recovering, Honda predicted record global vehicle sales of 4.3 million vehicles – up from 3.1 million – for this fiscal year and a profit of ¥ 470 billion. Continue reading →

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Ford Motor Q1 Profit $2.3 Billion, Down $500 Million

Posted on 27 April 2012 by Ken Zino

With successful businesses in North America ($ 2.1 billion profit) and Ford Credit ($452 million profit), Ford has now been profitable on a pre-tax operating basis for 11 consecutive quarters. The North American operating margin was 11.5% compared to overall results of a 6.4% margin. Continue reading →

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Ford Moves to Decrease Its $15 Billion in Unfunded Pensions

Posted on 27 April 2012 by Ken Zino

Ford took another step today to solve its huge problem with unfunded global pension plans, by announcing that it will offer to about 90,000 eligible U.S. salaried retirees and U.S. salaried former employees the option to receive a voluntary lump-sum … Continue reading →

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Another DENSO Exec Guilty of Price Fixing and Bid Rigging

Posted on 27 April 2012 by Ken Zino

According to the latest charge, Hattori participated in the conspiracy from at least as early as July 2005, until at least July 2008. During the conspiracy, Hattori was an assistant manager in the Toyota Sales Division at DENSO from July 2005 until December 2006, and a manager in the Toyota Sales Division from December 2006 until at least July 2008. Continue reading →

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Mazda BT 50, Ford Ranger Pickup Capacity Upped in Thailand

Posted on 26 April 2012 by Ken Zino

Ford Motor, of course, once dominated the compact pickup truck market in the U.S. until years of product neglect combined with an assault by Toyota and Nissan pushed it to a footnote in the segment. This first forced the closing of Ford’s Edison, New Jersey plant. The remaining plant in Minnesota did not survive the Ford UAW contract last year. It was and remains a stunning amount of business to cede to the competition. Continue reading →

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Chrysler Provides Most of Q1 Fiat Group Profits of €866m

Posted on 26 April 2012 by Ken Zino

The weak consolidated Fiat-Chrysler Group return of 4.2% on sales of more than €20 billion stood in stark contrast to Chrysler Group’s return of 7% on €872 million in revenues during the quarter reported earlier in the day. Simply put, courtesy of U.S. and Canadian taxpayers, a reorganized Chrysler, now 58.5% owned by Fiat, is providing the profits for the newly created Fiat-Chrysler Group. Continue reading →

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Chrysler Group Q1 Profit $740 million on 33% Sales Increase

Posted on 26 April 2012 by Ken Zino

“I have really no bad news to tell you,” said Sergio Marchionne, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Chrysler Group. “We continue to focus on new product launches, and 2012 is the weakest year for new products. The big one is 2013.” Continue reading →

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Renault Group Q1 Sales, Revenues Drop from Eurozone Crisis

Posted on 25 April 2012 by Ken Zino

The problem was almost entirely in the home French market which shrunk by 19.4%. As a result, Renault Group’s European market share decreased to 9.1%. The EU is heading for its fifth straight year of auto sales declines as politicians and bankers continue to pursue policies that increase unemployment and decrease economic activity. The mix of sales outside Europe reached 46%, up 8 points compared to the first quarter 2011. Continue reading →

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Peugeot Annual Meeting Kills Dividend. Q1 Revenues Drop

Posted on 25 April 2012 by Ken Zino

The Q1 downturn comes as Peugeot is in the process of establishing a global alliance with General Motors, which is also losing money in Europe for more than a decade – $700 million in 2011 alone. Continue reading →

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