Tag Archives: automotive news

Ford Europe Sales Plummet in June

Ford Europe sales in June dropped 16.1% to 100,400 units, with a declining market share of 7%, as the Eurozone crisis continues unabated. In a statement, Ford said that it would not match “heavy competitive discounting” by its already loss making European operations. Continue reading

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PSA Peugeot Citroën to Reorganize, Close Aulnay Plant

Philippe Varin, Chairman of the PSA Peugeot Citroën Managing Board has told the works council that the loss-making French automaker will close the Citroën C3Aulnay plant in 2014, and trim production at Rennes, which makes the Peugeot 508 and Citroën C5 and C6. More than 4,400 jobs are affected. Work in other plants could absorb 1,500 of the displaced workers in the local Paris area. The company will also pursue voluntary separations of its corporate workforce. Continue reading

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Army Drops NASCAR as Military Sports Sponsorships Are Attacked

The Army claims that about a third of recruits come from motorsports marketing and recruiting booths at the racetracks, but that assertion is under attack as dubious. Nevertheless, the U.S. Army has spent nearly $20 million in the past two years on its NASCAR sponsorship as part of its recruitment budget. The larger business issue here is just how effective are expensive racing sponsorships for any organization. AutoInformed, for the moment, will ignore the fund raising practices or sponsorships of bought and paid for politicians who should be required to wear NASCAR style uniforms when conducting public business with the logos of the special interest money feeding them prominently displayed. Continue reading

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EU Pols Say Tough New CO2 Limits Will Create Auto Jobs

As part of the proposal adopted yesterday by the European Commission to limit drastically CO2 emissions from cars and light commercial vehicles, there were claims made that it makes economic sense. Continue reading

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Aloha Petroleum Unveils First Electric Vehicle Fast Chargers

Aloha Petroleum now has working fast chargers for electric vehicles at three locations in Oahu, Hawaii. As a promotional tool, EVs equipped with a CHAdeMO fast-charging outlet, including some models of the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi i-MiEV can be topped up free at these Aloha stations. Aloha is the largest gasoline retailer and convenience store operator in the state. Continue reading

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More Jobs to Asia as Private Equity Owned Stant Buys Pyongsan

H.I.G. Capital, a private equity firm that owns Stant Corporation, says Stant has acquired a majority interest in Pyongsan-FT. The new manufacturing company will be renamed Stant Korea Corporation. The JV will produce fuel filler tubes in South Korea for the Korean and Asian markets. Continue reading

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GM Europe President, Opel Head Karl Stracke Ousted over Losses

Insiders say that Akerson has told Girsky that it is time to show that Opel can be saved. For an ambitious Girsky who wants to head GM some day, this is a make or break appointment on the GM journey, a road strewn with road kill of former senior GM executives. Continue reading

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Ford Motor Company Declares $0.05 Q3 Dividend

The move comes as Ford shares are trading just above $9 a share, down from a 52 week high of $13.44. On an annualized basis, this represents a return of about 2%, which makes Ford look like a relative bargain in a market awash in Federal Reserve printed dollars and, as a result, record low interest rates for speculators and borrowers. Continue reading

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Dongfeng Honda Opens Second Plant in Wuhan China

During 2011 Honda sold 618,000 cars in China last year, dwarfed by market leader General Motor’s 2.55 million and Volkswagen Group’s 2.26 million. Among the Japanese Big Three, Nissan in China is twice as big as Honda and Toyota is 40% larger in terms of vehicle sales. Continue reading

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European Makers Squeal Over Tough CO2 Targets Just Announced

It is not clear if the European auto industry has the political influence to modify the regulations in the face of strong and apparently growing (at least among regulators and some political parties) green sentiment in Europe. Continue reading

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Milestones – 40 Million Ford Engines Produced at Dagenham

Production at Dagenham for Ford vehicles accounts for about 70% of Dagenham’s output, with the balance of more than 270,000 engines for Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, PSA Peugeot Citroën and Volvo. Ford is in the process of phasing out its successful 12-year joint venture with Peugeot since PSA is now the process of establishing a global alliance with General Motors. All of these companies are hemorrhaging billions of dollars – or euros in Europe as the Eurozone crisis deepens. The British pound is helping Ford somewhat, but losses are projected to quadruple in Europe for the balance of 2012. Ford Europe lost $149 million in Q1, a -$449 million swing compared to 2011. Continue reading

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Used Vehicle Sales Decline in June, But Franchise Sales Grow

The U.S. auto sales industry sold 4,382,519 used vehicles in June, down 2.48% compared to a year ago. This contrasts to new vehicle sales of 1.3 million cars and light trucks, which once again begs the question if new vehicle prices are too high and driving people out of the market? About 80% of U.S. workers commute to work in a car or truck. Continue reading

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Taxpayer Subsidized Solazyme Starts Renewable Biofuel Refinery

Biofuels have the potential to decrease imports of oil, but cost, currently as much as five times conventional oil, and feedstocks that could hurt the global food supply, remain problematic. Continue reading

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June Auto Sales Soar with Mixed Results for Detroit Three

Sales of new cars and light trucks in June increased 22% from the same period a year ago, as the auto industry delivered almost 1.3 million vehicles for the month. On a seasonally adjusted annual basis or SAAR, this meant that the industry-selling rate continues to be more than 14 million units for five of the six months of 2012, resulting in sales of more than 7.2 million vehicles year-to-date. The slowly recovering auto market presented mixed but arguably positive results for the Detroit Three. Continue reading

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Fisker and Leonardo DiCaprio to Work on ‘Sustainability’

Fisker Automotive and Leonardo DiCaprio today announced that they will work together to promote environmental causes. DiCaprio – an investor in Fisker – will “participate in conversations on the auto manufacturer’s future plans for the advancement of sustainable, responsible vehicles.” Continue reading

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