Tag Archives: autoinformed

More GM Ignition Switch Recalls and Several Others

GM claimed, “The Camaro ignition system meets all GM engineering specifications and is unrelated to the ignition system used in Chevrolet Cobalts and other small cars included in the ignition switch recall.” Continue reading

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John Bishop – Sports Car Racing Legend – to be Posthumously inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame

While with SCCA, Bishop is credited with creating the U.S. Road Racing Championship series, followed by the Can-Am, Trans-Am and Formula 5000 race series. Under IMSA’s sanctioning, Bishop introduced international endurance racing to North America in the GT series. Continue reading

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The Worst is yet to be on GM Ignition Switch Debacle

While the GM Town Hall meeting last week and the following press conference were devastating demonstrations of the complete failure of product development, legal and management executives at GM, the worst is yet to come in the deadly GM ignition switch disaster. It truly is the “switch from hell” as the GM engineer in charge of it said. Continue reading

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Center for Auto Safety Blasts Valukas Report as Whitewash

In a completely predictable move, the Center for Auto Safety, aka CAS, has called the internal GM investigation (the Valukas Report) into defective ignition switches that are responsible for at least 13 deaths, “little more than an elaborate whitewash that buys into GM’s arguments that it was a bunch of incompetent engineers, lawyers and mid-level managers who were fired as a result.” Continue reading

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Chevrolet Wins 600 Mile IndyCar Race in Texas

In spite of some excellent racing this year, crowds in our view have been disappointing. That’s because the worst place to watch a race is at the racetrack. Continue reading

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AAA Want More Federal Oversight on US Auto Safety Matters

The largest motoring organization in the US, AAA, has called for more Federal government oversight of auto safety issues, a likely outcome of the Cobalt ignition switch debacle. The organization with 54 million members said it, “believes that GM’s promise of reform should be supplemented with greater federal oversight of the recall system.” AAA added, “A systemic reluctance to raise and react to critical safety concerns at GM reflects an ingrained culture that could require years to fully eradicate.” Continue reading

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Four More GM Recalls – Ignition Switch and Airbag Defects

A beleaguered General Motors is now conducting three safety recalls and one non-compliance recall on about 100,000 vehicles in the US. And – Yes – the safety defects involve ignition switch and airbag deployment defects on some of its most popular vehicles. Continue reading

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Ex Takata Exec Indicted for Seatbelt Price Fixing

Including Nakajima, 35 individuals have been charged in the government’s ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry, 24 of whom have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty. Of those, 22 have been sentenced to serve prison terms ranging from a year and one day to two years. Additionally, 27 companies have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty and have agreed to pay a total of more than $2.3 billion in fines. Continue reading

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GM Probe on Deadly Cobalt Ignition Switches Clears Top Management as 15 Engineering, Legal, Policy Heads Roll

GM CEO Mary Barra said the Valukas findings were “extremely thorough, brutally tough, and deeply troubling. Overall the report found that, from start to finish, the Cobalt saga was riddled with failures which led to tragic results for many.” Continue reading

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US Vehicle Sales at Nine Year High in May

The calendar helped US light vehicle sales to a nine-year record during May of 2014 as the Federal government continued to print money and hold interest rates low. Overall, the light vehicle market expanded 11.4% to 1.6 million units. The real change was in the light truck market, which grew 13.3% to 815,000 units. Continue reading

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New Vehicle Transaction Prices in May are Flat

The average transaction price for light vehicles in the US was $30,646 in May 2014, down $149 or -0.5% compared to May 2013 and down $1,174 (-3.7%) from April 2014, according to a leading web buying site. Continue reading

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EPA Standards to Cut Carbon Pollution from Dirty Coal Powerplants. Anti-Environment Republicans Vow Court Fights

EPA’s proposed standard is required by a 2007 Supreme Court ruling ordering the agency to move forward with regulation of greenhouse gases. Powerplants are the largest concentrated source of emissions in the United States, accounting for one-third of all domestic greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Continue reading

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Accord Hybrid Falls Short of its EPA Fuel Economy Rating

Honda Accord Hybrid posts 40-mpg Consumer Reports combined city and highway test , but the magazine warned prospective buyers EPA’s 47 mpg is fiction. Continue reading

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GM Expands Shift Cable Recall from 56k to 1 Million

This latest GM recall – and by no means the last coming this year – is its another reputational hit in a safety defect / cover-up fiasco that came to light with the ignition switch recall made public in February of 2104. Thus far, GM sales have not been measurably affected. Continue reading

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GM Appoints Tony Cervone as Senior Vice President, Global Communications as Recall Coverup Investigation Expands

Cervone succeeds Selim Bingol who left GM in April “to pursue other interests.” Ed Akerson, the former Chairman and CEO of General Motors, brought Bingo – a p.r. operative and / or lobbyist for ATT – into GM when he took over GM as CEO in July of 2009 as GM emerged from bankruptcy and GM CEO and lifer Fritz Henderson was forced to resign by the Federal Government, which with lavish taxpayer subsidies financed the GM reorganization. Continue reading

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