Tag Archives: zino

U.S. Auto Sales Decline in June as Shortages and Cautious Consumers Result in a Weak Market and Overall Economy

U.S. auto sales in June declined for the second straight month but increased 7% compared to an admittedly weak 2010. Earthquake induced inventory shortages at major Japanese automakers continued to be a major factor in sluggish sales even though marketing executives denied what could be the beginning of another recession. Continue reading

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Editorial: Happy Fourth of July! More Independence Needed

We should celebrate our past today, and honor the men and women of vision – and property – who created this country starting with the War of Independence, continuing through the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution that is still in place, as fine a document of governance of the people, by the people and for the people that ever existed. Remember well the resounding words of its preamble – WE THE PEOPLE. And we need to toss out of office the people who don’t understand WE, who are in it just for ME. Continue reading

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Ford of Europe CEO Stephen O’Dell Calls for a Comprehensive Industrial Policy and Rejection of Korean FTA

Odell also criticized a proposed Korean trade agreement, which in a different form is also controversial in the U.S. However, Ford in the U.S. supports a pending Korean FTA, which is opposed by all major U.S. unions except for the United Autoworkers. A Ford spokesperson was unable to explain the disparity in the conflicting positions. Continue reading

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Toyota Offers New Prius Plus Performance Package for $3,699

The custom body kit was aerodynamically designed to reduce the vehicle’s coefficient of drag, while maintaining fuel efficiency, according to Toyota. Continue reading

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Porsche Returns to Le Mans in 2014. Will VW Group Spend Millions to Compete Against Itself with Audi in the Top Class?

Some potentially contentious racing and marketing budget allocation debates are ahead, and they will last longer than 24 hours. Will Volkswagen really spend hundreds of millions of dollars to run multiple factory teams to compete against itself? Continue reading

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Japan Auto Production -31% in May. Export Loses $2.89 Billion

The total value of automobiles exported for May 2011 was $6.76 billion, including $4.49 billion for vehicles and $2.27 billion for parts. This is a decrease of $2.89 billion or -30% compared with $9.65 billion for the same month of the previous year. Continue reading

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EPA Finalizes E15 Gasohol Pump Labels as Automakers Again Protest Adding More Ethanol to Gasoline. Lawsuits Pending

The ethanol tariff is comprised of a 54 cent Most Favored Nation duty and a 2.5% ad valorem tax. Critics say the ethanol tariff makes our nation more dependent on foreign oil by increasing the price of imported ethanol. Iowa State University estimates that a one-year extension of the ethanol subsidy and tariff would lead to only 427 additional direct domestic jobs at a cost of almost $6 billion, or roughly $14 million of taxpayer money per job.
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Chinese Government Approves Two VW Joint Venture Plants

VW is in the midst of an ambitious expansion designed to make it the world’s largest automaker surpassing General Motors and Toyota by 2018. The new VW JV plants at Foshan and Yizheng in the world’s largest car market are key to this expansion strategy. Continue reading

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Toyota Recalls 80,000 Highlander Hybrid and RX 400h Vehicles

Toyota Motor Sales, USA (TMS) today said that it will recall about 45,500 Highlander Hybrid and 36,700 Lexus RX 400h vehicles sold in the U.S in what appears to be the first recalls for its hybrid drive system.

In a filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Japanese company said that the so called Intelligent Power Module (IPM) located inside the Hybrid System Inverter contains a control board with defective transistors. Transistors on the control boards in some of 2006-2007 model year Highlander Hybrid and Lexus RX 400h SUVs were inadequately soldered and could be damaged from heat caused by a large current flow during high-load driving. Continue reading

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Camaro Bumblebee Returns in New Transformers Flick

The fifth-generation Camaro previously played Bumblebee in the 2007 film Transformers and in the 2009 film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The films generated $1.5 billion in global box-office sales, and helped reintroduce the Camaro to consumers after a seven-year hiatus from dealerships. The Camaro has basically been outselling the Ford Mustang ever since production ramped up. Continue reading

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Americans Flying More, Driving Less as High Gasoline Prices Cut Auto Travel during the (Non) Independence Day Weekend

Travelers with household incomes of $50,000 or less is expected to decrease from 41% to 33%, while travelers with household incomes of more than $100,000 are expected to increase to 35% from 26%. Continue reading

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Sonic Boom or Bust? Chevy Prices New Car Starting at $14,495

GM is now exploring just how much it can charge for a small car in an area where, typically, Detroit Three products needed roughly a 20% discount (or more) compared with facing Japanese competition. In this case there are, notably, the Honda Fit, Nissan Versa and Toyota Yaris all priced roughly the same as Sonic, from companies that up until now are the acknowledged small car leaders. Sonic also faces stiff competition from the upstart Koreans – Hyundai and Kia – whose competitive models significantly under price it. Continue reading

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Chrysler Recalls More than 11,000 Vehicles for Missing Rivet

It turns out new employees on the second shift reintroduced into the assembly process steering columns that had previously been rejected as defective. The supplier was not specified in the required NHTSA safety defect filing. Continue reading

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Cadillac Recalls 2011 SRX SUVs for Defective Airbags

The SRX computer turns off the right roof-rail airbag if the passenger sensing system determines that the right front passenger seat is unoccupied. Therefore a right rear occupant may not be protected and suffer injuries in frontal and side crashes. Continue reading

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Volvo Winces at Dour Depiction of British Pol in Project Volvo

The Daily Telegraph broke a story about the 2006 plot – dubbed Project Volvo – designed to ultimately replace Prime Minister Tony Blair with Gordon Brown. In it Brown was said to be viewed by voters as “”humourless, dour, moody, aggressive, unapproachable.” Brown was characterized as a “Volvo, British Rover.” Continue reading

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