Tag Archives: zino

Volkswagen Takeover of Porsche Stalled, Legal Problems Cited

The announcement on the eve of the Frankfurt Motor Show also appeared to be an attempt by VW to protect the debut of the 911 sports car in Germany next week. The sale of the all new 911 models starts on 3 December 2011. However, the new Porsche sports cars can be ordered starting in late September. Prices in Germany are €88,038– hold your breathe, that’s $127,000, for the 911 Carrera and €102,436 – or $148,000 for the 911 Carrera S, including a punitive 19% VAT in effect in Germany. Continue reading

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Bankrupt Highway Trust Fund Could Send One Million More Taxpaying Workers to Unemployment Lines

Left out from the speech was the fact that it was the failure of politicians – starting with President Obama and his Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood – to act on the bankrupt Highway Trust Fund issue two years ago – in effect kicking the problem down to what now looks like a dead end road. Continue reading

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Saab Files for Bankruptcy in Sweden. State to Pay Workers

In the months ahead, the Swedish government will pay Saab’s 3,700 workers while a reorganization plan is debated. Saab suspended worker payments in July, as the company only sold fewer than 13,000 automobiles and posted a loss of -€201.5 million during the first half. The grim reality is that Saab Automobile after decades of losses, changes of ownership and financial engineering has limited financial resources and options remaining. Continue reading

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Honda Recalls a Million Vehicles for Fires, Software Problems

The latest Honda recalls are part of much larger global quality problems that affect almost one million Honda vehicles with potential fatal safety defects, including the Honda Fit, which was already recalled in the U.S. Worse, Honda recalls during the last year show that Honda’s once vaunted reputation for manufacturing and design quality is in shambles. Continue reading

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Unemployment Unchanged as Zero U.S. Jobs Created in August Amid Political Posturing, Inaction, Policy Failures

While private companies add 17,000 jobs in August, those meager gains were cancelled by the loss of 17,000 government jobs in August, meaning the unemployment crisis continued. Zero, zilch, nil, no jobs were created during another month of inaction, which saw the U.S, Congress take an extended paid vacation as the U.S. economy limped along with an official – and hugely understated – unemployment rate of 9.1 %, according to data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This devastating unemployment rate has shown no change since last April. Continue reading

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Ford Motor August Sales Increase 11% led by Trucks, SUVs

Ford Motor Company’s August sales totaled 175,220 vehicles, an increase of 11% compared to a year ago, largely because of an increase of 16% by Ford brand sales of trucks and sport utility vehicles to 117,000 units. Continue reading

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Chrysler Group August Sales Up 31% in U.S.

Chrysler Group August sales were 130,119 vehicles in the U.S., a 31% increase compared with sales in August 2010 of 99,611 units. The smallest of the Detroit Three said this was the best August sales since 2007. Based on early sales numbers this was much greater growth than average auto industry growth in August. Continue reading

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General Motors U.S. August Sales Increase 18%

General Motors today reported total August sales of 218,479 vehicles, an 18% increase compared with August 2010. The August sales gains were evenly divided among car, crossover and the truck segments that GM reports on. Continue reading

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BMW Developing Laser Lights for Vehicles; Safety Issue?

While LED lighting creates about 100 lumens per watt, laser lights generate about 170 lumens. Aside from being more efficient, the diodes used in laser lights also are much smaller, presenting the option of drastically reducing the size and shape of conventional headlights that are crucial to automotive front end design. Continue reading

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August Auto Sales Down Again, Below Recent Predictions

Hurricane Irene only added to ongoing auto sales woes, as consumer confidence declined yet again. Housing prices also dropped and not only the ones under water; the Federal government admitted, finally, that real GDP growth for the first half of 2011 was less than 1%; while Federal Reserve Board meeting notes showed that the governors were at a loss as to what to do next to stimulate a stalled economy. Continue reading

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Most Active Speed Traps Revealed in U.S. and Canada

A speed trap exists in NMA’s view wherever traffic enforcement is “focused on extracting revenue from drivers instead of improving safety.” NMA opposes the use of enforcement tactics that are intended to generate revenue from technical violations of “under-posted” speed limits. Continue reading

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Book Review: Car Spy – an Inside Look at an Auto Culture Past

Car Spy is entertaining, funny, and sardonic. It captures the voice of Dunne – caveat here – whose adventures I sometimes participated in, whose photos I ran in various publications and still run in AutoInformed.com, and whose stories related in Car Spy I heard first hand. Continue reading

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U.S. DOT Proposes Elimination of 46 Traffic Sign Regulations

In the regulatory areas that AutoInformed covers, little reduction has resulted at DOT, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) thus far. Continue reading

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2012 Cadillac SRX Dries Wet Brakes Automatically

Building on ESC technology, Cadillac has announced that 2012 SRX SUVs will use its electronic stability control (StabiliTrak) to automatically dry wet brakes. This is not as frivolous as it may seem on first glance: data that predates Hurricane Irene, the U.S. Department of Transportation says 620,000 crashes on the nation’s roadways in 2009 or 10% occurred in the rain. Continue reading

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Volkswagen Opens Engine Rebuilding Plant in China with FAW

While all major automakers are scrambling to establish and maintain new vehicle manufacturing and sales in China, the so-called aftermarket is not being pursued with the same vigor, repeating the same mistake U.S. automakers made as their home market expanded 100 years ago. Continue reading

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