Tag Archives: auto news

Revised 2012 Chevrolet Camaro Debuts this Summer Led by 45th Anniversary Edition and Ultra Performance ZL1 model

Posted on 14 April 2011 by Ken Zino

Here comes yet another Camaro anniversary edition – the 45th birthday model, which arrives this summer as a special package building on numerous 2012 Camaro improvements, including a more powerful 3.6-liter V6 engine and a new FE4 suspension package for SS coupes. Continue reading →

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Grede Buys Two Mexican Foundries to Boost Casting Capacity

Posted on 13 April 2011 by Ken Zino

Capacity or lack thereof at auto suppliers who drastically downsized by closing facilities and jettisoning workers in 2008 and 2009 as the Great Recession took hold, is an emerging problem as auto and truck makers slowly recover and increase production. Continue reading →

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Hartford Adds EV Charging Stations to Home Insurance

Posted on 13 April 2011 by Ken Zino

The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE: HIG) today announced it is adding coverage for home-based electric vehicle charging stations. The insurance company estimates that there will be 27,000 electric cars on the roads in 2011. Continue reading →

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Mopar Charger at $39,970 With 5.7-Liter Hemi V8 Confirmed

Posted on 13 April 2011 by Ken Zino

Chrysler Group’s Mopar Division today confirmed it will launch a limited-edition Dodge Charger with high-performance parts and appearance items from the Mopar parts catalog. As AutoInformed reported earlier, the Mopar Charger builds on the success of last year’s Mopar Challenger. Continue reading →

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Earthquake Aftershocks – Toyota to Shut 5 European Plants

Posted on 13 April 2011 by Ken Zino

Toyota said in a statement that the decision is “necessary as a result of forecasted parts supply difficulties.” Continue reading →

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Fiat Increases Ownership of Chrysler Group to 30%

Posted on 12 April 2011 by Ken Zino

This newly enlarged Fiat position in the Michigan based automaker is the result of Chrysler’s achievement of the second of three performance-related goals dictated by the U.S. Treasury Department when it financed a Chrysler bankruptcy and reorganization in 2009. Continue reading →

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Three Common Teen Driver Mistakes Lead to Fatal Crashes

Posted on 12 April 2011 by Ken Zino

Researchers analyzed a nationally-representative federal database of more than 800 crashes involving teen drivers and identified a few common “critical errors,” often one of the last in a chain of events leading up to a crash. Seventy-five percent of these crashes were due a critical teen driver error, with three common errors accounting for nearly half of all serious crashes. Continue reading →

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Japan Earthquake Aftershocks – U.S. Car Prices Could Rise 9%

Posted on 12 April 2011 by Ken Zino

None of this is good news for beleaguered consumers who are now facing the highest gasoline prices in almost three years, as automakers such as Ford quietly raise prices because of increased commodity and energy costs. Continue reading →

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Los Angeles Motorists Rate Number One as Good Samaritans

Posted on 12 April 2011 by Ken Zino

Drivers in Los Angeles made more “Good Samaritan” calls last year to report other motorists in trouble, according to OnStar, the telematics arm of General Motors said today.
Using anonymous subscriber interaction data, OnStar found that of the 10 largest U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Los Angeles had the most Good Samaritan calls in 2010 by a wide margin, with nearly 900 more calls than Chicago, which came in second.
Continue reading →

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General Motors Announces EcoCar2 at SAE World Congress

Posted on 12 April 2011 by Ken Zino

In a sign of how the U.S. no longer occupies the predominate position it once held in automotive engineering, LG Chem ,a Korean company that supplies the lithium-ion cells used in the Chevrolet Volt, will be event’s tier one strategic partner. Continue reading →

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New 2013 Chevrolet Malibu to be Built in Hamtramck, MI

Posted on 11 April 2011 by Ken Zino

Starting in 2012 in the U.S., Malibu will be built at GM’s assembly plant in Hamtramck, Michigan, which is currently producing the Chevrolet Volt and will soon start making the Opel Ampera. This leads us to speculate that a hybrid version of the Malibu is in the works. What happens to the Fairfax, Virginia plant that currently builds the Malibu remains to be seen. Continue reading →

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Karl-Friedrich Stracke Confirmed as Opel Vauxhall CEO

Posted on 11 April 2011 by Ken Zino

Last year the German government – facing a taxpayer revolt and big deficits that foreshadowed the current budget turmoil in the United States – refused to provide €1.1 billion in subsidies that GM wanted for Opel, saying the company had enough cash to keep Opel running. Continue reading →

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Federal Highway Administration to Release More Than $319 Million as Repayment for Repairs to Damaged Roads, Bridges

Posted on 11 April 2011 by Ken Zino

U.S Department of Transportation will provide more than $319 million to states across the nation to cover the costs of repairing roads and bridges damaged by a variety of natural disasters, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced. Continue reading →

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Heads Roll at Renault over Industrial Espionage Case that Embarrassed French Government. Pélata, Ghosn Survive

Posted on 11 April 2011 by Ken Zino

As a result what it deemed of failures and dysfunctions within the company, the Board of Directors of Renault today erected the corporate equivalent of a guillotine outside of Paris that saw the firings of Remy Pagnie, Director of Group … Continue reading →

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Electronic Devices Gain in Importance for New Vehicle Buyers

Posted on 11 April 2011 by Ken Zino

NHTSA – in a states’ rights argument that goes back to at least the Civil War during the 1860s – is forbidden by Congress from regulating drivers on a national basis, that power is reserved for the individual states, whose legislators show little interest in outlawing the demonstrably dangerous devices in automobiles. Continue reading →

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