Tag Archives: auto informed

GM Sets March and Quarterly Sales Records in China

General Motors and its communist government mandated joint ventures in China sold 257,944 vehicles in March and 745,152 vehicles in the first quarter of 2012, setting both March and quarterly records. Continue reading

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Ford and PSA Peugeot Citroën to Drop JV on Diesel Engines

PSA Peugeot Citroën and Ford said today that the companies have decided to independently develop and manufacture their larger diesel engines displacing more than 2-liters starting in 2015. The announcement, likely the result of the PSA and General Motors JV announced in February, ends a 12-year business relationship. Continue reading

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Offshore Brands Take 56% of U.S. Auto Market in March

Six of the top ten vehicles were international brands. At number six, the Toyota Prius made its strongest showing in history with sales of 28,711 units – a 54.3% increase over March 2011. As the top selling car in America, the newly revised Toyota Camry continued to sit in second place behind the Ford F-Series pickup truck; sales for the sedan were up 35.3% over March 2011. The aging Nissan Altima also remained strong at Number Three; Altima sales were up 27.1%. The new Honda CR-V held the fifth position – with sales up 54.3% – while the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic took the ninth and tenth spots, respectively. Continue reading

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New Chevrolet Ads with Verlander, Fielder for 2012 Season

As the 2012 major league baseball season begins, Chevrolet is using Justin Verlander and Prince Fielder of the Detroit Tigers in 15-second spots that are a remake of the now classic 1974 “Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet” TV ad. Don’t quit your day (and night) baseball jobs, guys… Continue reading

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NHTSA Investigating Chevrolet Cruze and Jeep Wrangler Fires

There are three steps in the NHTSA recall process. P.E. – Preliminary Evaluation, E.A. – Engineering Analysis – and then a so-called ‘voluntary’ recall or rarely a NHTSA forced recall. Continue reading

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Fisker Shows Atlantic EV – Will It Ever Be Built?

In essence, Fisker – similar to EVs – has a range problem with doubts about whether it can reach its stated destination of creating 2,000 autoworker jobs building 100,000 plug-in hybrids per year at the 3.2 million square-foot factory in Delaware before it runs out of cash. Continue reading

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U.S. Auto Sales Shift to Efficient and Less Profitable Cars

One potentially negative result because of the downsizing and easier credit trends is declining profits at automakers. The shift to smaller vehicles—in addition to the increase in financially less-qualified new–vehicle buyers, who tend to be younger and with less money to spend—means the average transaction price for new vehicles has dropped substantially in the recent quarter. Continue reading

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Delta Largest U.S. Airline. American Largest Overseas

Delta Air Lines, because of its merger with Northwest Airlines, carried more total system passengers in 2011 than any other U.S. airline for the second consecutive year. American Airlines carried more international passengers to and from the United States in 2011 than any other U.S. or foreign carrier, followed closely by Delta. Continue reading

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Chrysler, Ford and GM U.S. March Sales Continue Rebound

All of the Detroit Three continue to have weak spots as they face the resurgent Japanese and hard charging Korean automakers. However, all have critical car launches this year, which should keep the momentum going. One thing is becoming clearer as the year progresses – the offshore brands are coming back and the loyalty of their buyers remains as impressive as it remains a huge marketing challenge to the Detroit Three. Continue reading

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G.S. Electech Guilty of Price Fixing Auto Parts

Including G.S. Electech, eight executives and four companies have now been charged and have agreed to plead guilty in the ongoing price fixing investigation so far. Three of the companies have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to pay criminal fines totaling more than $748 million. Seven of the executives have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to serve a total of more than 122 months in jail. Continue reading

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Hyundai Ends Business in Iran Says Anti Nuke Weapons Group

In the view of many, this is a perfect example of the hypocritically bad behavior of global corporations supporting terrorism and repression abroad in the pursuit of profits against the policies of their home governments. These policies resulting from democratic laws  protect them financially and provide for the well being their major stockholders and executives.

The 12 automakers displayed in the Watch List’s “Virtual Showroom” are Fiat, Isuzu, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot, Porsche, Renault, Suzuki, Toyota and Volvo. Combined, they sell more than 650,000 vehicles per year in the country, making it the second-largest sector of Iran’s economy, according to UANI.  With the exception of Fiat controlled Chrysler, General Motors and Ford are supporting U.S. foreign policy. Continue reading

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First Drive – 2013 Lexus GS 350 Sport Sedan

The GS 350 also, surprisingly, outperforms the BMW in extreme performance driving. The transmission has some features adopted from the Lexus IS F high-performance sedan — including faster shifts, earlier torque converter lockup and downshift throttle blips — to support four driving modes that can be operated by toggling the new Lexus Drive Mode selector. Continue reading

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Ford Fusion Start-Stop System is Optional at $295

The Fusion and the smaller Focus are aimed right at the heart of the passenger car market long dominated by the Japanese Three – Toyota, Nissan and Honda – whose compact and mid-size models – Camry, Corolla, Accord, Civic, Altima -historically provide a lower cost of ownership. Recently Hyundai has made large inroads in the same so-called D- and C-car segments by under pricing major competitors by $1,000 or more. Continue reading

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April First in New York as Mini Cooper Yachtsman Debuts

The latest BMW press release from Mini on 1 April 2012 says that Mini customers will be able to boldly go (sic) where no motorer has gone before when the all-new Mini Cooper Yachtsman makes its world premiere at the New York International Auto Show this week, right beside the Hudson River. Continue reading

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Ruling against Chevron in $18 Billion Toxic Oil Waste Case

In February 2011, after an eight-year trial that produced 220,000 pages of evidence, an Ecuador court found Chevron liable for deliberately dumping more than 16 billion gallons of toxic waste into Amazon waterways when it operated in Ecuador from 1964 to 1992 under the Texaco brand. The dumping severely hurt indigenous groups and caused an outbreak of cancer and other diseases, according to the evidence. Continue reading

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