Automotive Industry
News covering the Automotive Industry at large.
503 articles in this category
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com February 5, 2013 The trend of automakers downsizing engines and adding turbochargers to add performance and increase fuel economy has drawn the ire of Consumer Reports. The publication recently tested eleven different vehicles and found that with rare exception, “the turbocharged cars have slower acceleration and no better fuel economy than the models with bigger, conventional engines.” Consumer Reports highlights the Ford Fusion which can
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If you're looking a vehicle that has the best value in the marketplace, then according to Consumer Reports, you should be looking at the Toyota Prius. The publication announced the results of their annual Best New-Car Value analysis. The analysis looks at the five-year cost for a vehicle to an owner which includes such factors as maintenance, insurance, and depreciation. That cost is factored in with Consumer Reports’ road-test score and reliability rating for each vehicle. This is the second y
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Most new cars and trucks sitting on dealer lots have fuel economy estimates on their window sticker. The only group of vehicles that don't are heavy-duty trucks. This is due to the EPA not requiring automakers to publish estimates on trucks with gross weight ratings that exceed 8,500 pounds. This makes it difficult for folks to compare the heavy-duty trucks with one another or comparing the diesel variants with the light-duty gas versions. Consumer Reports doesn't believe it should be this way a
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Consumer reports has had individual reports in the past on various specific models of electric vehicles, but they now publish the following report on the current state of EVs and the reliability of what is out there. Consumer-Reports-Insights-for-More-Reliable-Electric-Vehicles-Jan-2022.pdf Per the attached report above, we start looking at the latest overview they have put together: Per an Executive Order
Consumer reports has released their latest reliable electric vehicle report. This report can be taken in many ways, but the data is great info for all auto companies as they make the move to EVs.
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According to research issued by AAA, 40 percent of Americans expect driver assist systems with names like ProPilot, Co-Pilot 360, or Autopilot to give the vehicle the ability to drive itself. In a quote to Automotive News, Director of Automotive Engineering and Industry Relations at AAA says "Somewhere in there, you'd think a pilot is involved, but indeed no, human driving is still required." AAA examined 34 vehicle brands to identify the number of driver-assistance names used and foun
Consumers think that with names like Co-Pilot 360, ProPilot, or Autopilot, the car should be able to drive itself.
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com July 10, 2013 Convertibles have a small slice of the new car market. That slice seems to shinking even further. According to data from R.L. Polk, sales of convertibles last year barely reached one percent. That's a major drop when compared to convertible sales of 1.6 percent in 2009 and 2 percent in 2006. In all, 151,636 convertibles were registered last year. While that is an increase in number of registations over the past few years, it still
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Truck owner loyalty is legendary. Buyers typically pick one brand and stick with that brand for as long as they buy trucks. Indeed my own father has owned only one brand of pickup, the Ford F-series, since before I arrived on earth. In 2018, Ford moved more than 900,000 copies of its F-series pickups out of a total segment of 2,944,395. But have rising prices started to crack that loyalty? CarGurus did a survey and found that 70% of truck owners would switch brands if their truck raise
.... 68% of current truck owners believe that current pickups are overpriced.
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com May 10, 2013 While the midsize sedan market as a whole remains the single largest segment in the U.S., sales of the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry are shrinking due to the rise of crossovers. "While the segment is still growing year-over-year, it's nowhere near what it was growing last year as the industry was launching a lot of new midsize cars," said Bill Fay, the U.S. head of the Toyota brand. The rise of crossovers are being fueled by th
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Developing autonomous vehicles in sunny, dry locales like Phoenix, Arizona has proven to be difficult due to numerous variables such as traffic and human behavior. But an upcoming study from Michigan State University reveals that autonomous technologies still have a number of hurdles as testing begins in areas with changing conditions. Automotive News had the chance to speak with Hayder Radha, an MSU professor of electrical and computer engineering who oversaw the upcoming study. The findin
A light sprinkle could cause some major headaches for self-driving vehicles
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Buying and selling vehicles in Cuba is an interesting proposition. If you own or want to buy a vehicle before 1959 (the year when Cuba underwent a revolution and became a communist nation), you don't have to ask the government for permission. If the vehicle built after 1959, then you would have to obtain a special permit from the government which allows you to buy that vehicle. But buying a vehicle in Cuba in the near future will become a much easier affair. The Cuban Government announced last
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Cummins Inc., the manufacturer of diesel engines, has reached an agreement with the United States and the State of California. The $1.675 billion settlement would be the largest penalty for Clean Air Act Violations. Hundreds of thousands of engines were found with an emission-cheating defeat device. There were 630,000 defeat devices from 2013 to 2019 RAM 2500 and 3500 trucks. The Clean Air Act requires automakers and engine manufacturers to comply with emission limits. Defeat devices can b
This agreement costs Cummins $1.67 billion
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Since President Donald Trump was elected, automakers have been pushing for him to relax the stricter fuel economy and emission regulations coming into effect by 2025. Now there is another group calling for this. At the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) annual conference, dealers voiced support for the new president ease the upcoming regulations. "You inflate the price of the vehicle and a car that was maybe within reach of being affordable now may not be," said NADA's new
It isn't automakers who want the stricter fuel economy and emission regulations for 2025 to be relaxed
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com January 22, 2013 Last year, we reported on new legislation that wouldn't allow any rental-car company or car dealer to loan/sell any recalled vehicle before the necessary repairs have been made. Currently, only new vehicles cannot be sold unless the necessary repairs have been carried out. At the time, rental-car companies opposed the legislation, but have since agreed with it. Now dealers and smaller rental-car companies are fighting for an
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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) created a rule last year to help consumers against unfair practices and fees. Known as the Combating Auto Retail Scams (CARS), this was supposed to take effect on July 30th, 2024. Now, lobbyists were able to get this paused indefinitely. This new development of CARS was fought by the National Automotive Dealers Association (NADA) and the Texas Automobile Dealers Association. They filed a petition with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and challenged the
This ban on upcharges and shady tactics went from taking effect on July 30th to an infinite delay.
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 11, 2012 According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, traffic deaths are at their lowest levels since 1949. NHTSA's preliminary numbers show an estimated 32,310 people died in traffic accidents last year, a 1.7% drop from 2010 where 32,885 people died. Deaths in traffic accidents has been decreasing by 26% since 2005. New England and the Great Lakes region saw the biggest decrease in car accident deaths in 2011, with
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Delphi Automotive is undertaking an ambitious cross-country road trip. The supplier announced that it will be taking an Audi SQ5 fitted with the latest self-driving tech on a trip from San Francisco to New York City. The trip will begin on March 22nd and end during the first week of the New York Auto Show. Delphi is planning to run the vehicle for 6 to 8 hours per day with two engineers in the vehicle to make sure all of the tech is working properly. "Delphi had great success testing its car i
What if a computer drove you across the United States?
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 16, 2013 Range Anxiety. A condition that still plagues electric vehicles. But it isn't limited to prospective customers who are worried about not having enough juice, it has now spread to rental customers. A number of rental car agencies have now started offering electric vehicles. This allows consumers to try an EV. But renters are returning the EVs much sooner and exchanging them for gas vehicle. “People are very keen to try it, but t
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New cars are getting more and more expensive. Kelly Blue Book reported earlier this month that the average transaction price of a new car was $35,541, up 1.8 percent compared to the same time last year. This has more consumers checking out the used car lot, causing demand to rise. “Customers forget a new car is now more than $30,000 and they expect it to be $20,000,” said Brian Allan, a senior director at Galpin Motors Inc., to the Wall Street Journal. “When people see the price has go
New cars are just too expensive
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 17, 2012 Distracted Driving is a topic that’s on everybody's minds, and with good reason. Newer vehicles are packed with more technology; ranging from touchscreen infotainment systems options to voice-controlled applications to smartphone integration. It comes as no surprise that the U.S. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood, the man who is leading the Distracted Driving cause has announced a new set of proposed guidelines for automakers to lim
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 21, 2013 It has been a few months since we had any update from VL Automotive, the group who showed off a Fisker Karma with 6.2L LS9 V8 from the Corvette ZR1 called the Destino. Back in May, Bob Lutz said plans for the Destino were safe, despite the problems Fisker Automotive were having at the time. This past week, Lutz gave an update on where VL Automotive stands. Lutz tells Automotive News that VL currently has 25 Karmas on hand and t
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 4, 2012 At next week's Detroit Auto Show, Volvo will show of a XC60 Plug-In Hybrid Concept. The XC60 Plug-In Hybrid Concept will sport a brand new 2.0L turbo-four producing 280 HP. The gas engine is mated to a 70 HP electric motor giving a combined power output of 350 HP. 0-60 takes around 5.8 seconds and can get 50 MPG. Drivers can choose from three different modes how much of the available power from the gas and electric motor are
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A big complaint you'll hear from journalists covering the Detroit Auto Show is the month that it is held. January is a miserable time in the north with cold temperatures and endless amounts of snow. But there could be some relief coming. The Wall Street Journal has learned from various sources that organizers of the show are considering moving the show from January to October. Crain's Detroit Business adds that show officials have been floating this idea for more than a year with automakers
You mean we can attend the show when it is warm?!
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It is now official, the Detroit Auto Show will not be held in January beginning in 2020. Organizers of the show made the announcement yesterday afternoon and released a teaser video showing what the show may look like in its new date, complete with outdoor test tracks and vehicle displays. The Detroit Auto Dealers Association (DADA) will be holding a press conference on July 24th announcing the new date. As we have reported previously, DADA was considering moving the show to October not onl
The question is which month
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com January 13, 2013 We're just a day away from the Detroit Auto Show starting and the leaks have been pouring out. Four automakers: Honda, Infiniti, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen have had their showings prematurely revealed within the past week. We'll start with Honda and their Urban SUV Concept. The concept is based on the Fit and has a sporty and dynamic SUV profile. Next is the Infinti Q50 (Yes, the successor to the G Sedan) which was leak
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If there is one thing that we can pull from this latest round of contract negotiations between the Detroit three and the UAW is that amount of car production that will be heading to Mexico. According to a report from Automotive News, Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobile will have moved production of most of their mass-market vehicles from the U.S. to Mexico. General Motors will be the only Detroit automaker who is keeping some sort of production of their compact and midsize cars. Why the sh
Why Your Next Car From the Detroit Three Will Be Built In Mexico.
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Drew Dowdell - January 19, 2012 - CheersandGears.com One of the limitations of current wind turbine technology is the limited amount of power generated per turbine. Large scale installations are required to match the power output of just the smaller coal buring powerplant. The largest wind turbines in the world produce about 5mw of power while the average coal fired power station produces around 500mw. Simple math can tell you that 100 of the largest wind turbines we have would need to be buil
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 16, 2012 A few years ago, a man by the name Scott Devin decided to build an American supercar to compete with the world’s best. So he called on a Swedish designer, Daniel Paulin to design his car. Now, being a new start-up car company, Devon couldn’t develop his own platform or an engine due to not having enough money. So, he went the donor car route for his new car and picked the Dodge Viper. Now, before you start thinking all Devo
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The project of a trade war between the U.S. and China (along with the European Union) has many automakers on edge. Some are beginning to speak out about the possible dangers it may bring. Mercedes-Benz's parent company, Diamler AG announced yesterday that its full-year earnings will be slightly lower than last year. Their reasoning comes down to consumers in China buying fewer SUVs that are imported from the U.S. Most of Mercedes-Benz SUVs are built in Alabama. “Remember, for those fol
One Predicts a Hit on Profits, While the Other Says it will threaten jobs
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com January 28, 2013 Today Diamler, Ford, and Nissan announced a new partnership to jointly develop a common fuel cell system for vehicle to be ready as early as 2017. The three companies will work together on a common fuel-cell stack and fuel-cell system. Also, the partnership will participate in the adoption of global specifications and component standards, and studying the joint development of other FCEV components. "We are convinced that fue
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com March 13, 2012 Even after its release, Fisker has been having their share of problems with the new Karma; battery defects, software problems, and Consumer Reports having their Karma die during their testing. A former Fisker employee isn't surprised. The employee told GigaOM that Fisker pushed the Karma before it was production ready to try and meet its milestones from the Department of Energy for its $529 million loan. Unfortunately, the re
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China is the world's largest EV market with sales of electric auto's reaching 2.61 million up 70% in 2018 over 2017. This constitutes 4% of the total Chinese market today. China is requiring 10% of total sales to be EV in 2019 and raised to 12% for 2020. In comparison, the US saw EV sales jump 81% for 2018 to a total of 360,000 EVs sold out of a total of 17.2 million auto's sold. Yet the US has only 1 million EVs on the road and the auto industry is projected to spend a mind blowing $255 billio
Automakers are planning to bring to market 100's of electric automobiles by 2025 and a german research company may have solved one of the biggest problems surrounding making them profitable.
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 13, 2012 2011 was a good year for diesel vehicles. A report done by the from the Diesel Technology Forum says sales of diesel vehicles in 2011 rose 27.4%. The report states the overall growth of diesel vehicles in 2011 was at 10.2%, putting the increase ahead of the curve. Interestingly enough, the group says sales of hybrid vehicles were down 2.2%. The report also states sales of diesel vehicles grow to over 6% of the U.S. market b
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 19, 2012 The diesel car, once considered the dirtiest and worst powertrain in America, is making a large comeback. According to statistics gathered by the Diesel Technology Forum, diesel vehicles sales are up 35% in the first quarter of 2012. A trend since diesel sales were up 27% the year before. By comparison, the overall U.S. auto market is up 13.% in the same time, and hybrid sales increased 37.2%. In the big picture, diesels capt
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Consumer Reports' has unveiled the results of their 2018 Auto Reliability Survey and it was not a good showing for the domestics. Only two domestic brands finished in the top 20 - Ford which came in 18th and Buick who placed 19th. The latter dropping 11 spots in this year's survey. The rest of the domestic brands finished in the bottom half with Ram, Tesla, and Cadillac finishing 26th to 28th. Finishing last was Volvo with CR saying the brand's Sensus Connect infotainment system being the reason
Not a pleasant showing for the domestics
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Automotive News recently reviewed a fair amount of data to answer a question; which automakers are selling more vehicles to rental car companies? Previously, the big three would do "fleet dumping" as a way to prop up sales for the month. But now, Ford and General Motors have actually cut back on selling to rental fleets and number of Asian automakers are picking up the slack. Automotive News compared sales to rental fleets in 2012 to this year's numbers, and GM has reduced its sales to fleet
Ever wonder why rental fleets are somewhat devoid of GM and Ford vehicles, while Hyundai and Kia vehicles are taking their place?
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com June 8, 2012 Transportation secretary Ray LaHood has made it his mission to end distracted driving, calling it an “epidemic.” To help end it, LaHood and Department of Transportation has unveiled their Blueprint for Ending Distracted Driving. The blueprint calls for: Get the last eleven holdout states to pass laws banning distracted driving. Challenge the auto industry to not provide vehicle content that the government considers distracti
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One of the key materials used in electric car batteries is cobalt. But there are growing concerns that the supply of cobalt is getting scarce as more and more automakers begin building electric cars. A new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance says cobalt shortages are expected to happen earlier than previously forecast. This issue possibly brings a big challenge to the rollout of electric vehicles over the next five to seven years. "The long lead time to bring on new mines and the
More electric vehicles mean more cobalt supply problems
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It seems everyone is getting into the car business, whether that is through autonomous technologies or electric vehicles. The latest entrant may surprise a number. Yesterday, Dyson (yes, the vacuum cleaner maker) announced that it was working on an electric vehicle. Rumors about this have been swirling for a few years. Last year, the documents from the UK government revealed a £16 million ($22.54 million) grant was awarded to the company for the research and development on batteries, which
Yes, the vacuum cleaner company.
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Magna's eBeam technology announcement today aims to reduce the cost of building a new EV or electrical vehicles platform. The costs associated with a new platform to move to electrification from a traditional ICE is slowing down the ability to get product to market. Magna's eBeam technology is focusing on allowing to keep the existing pickup trucks capabilities while transitioning to electrification. This is the first significant solid beam rear axle change in more than 100 years acco
Magna's eBeam technology brings electrification to todays pickups removing the need to have a separate EV platform.
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 28, 2013 California and seven other states have signed a new pact that hopes to increase the number of zero emission vehicles on their roads to 3.3 million by the year 2025. Joining California in this pact are Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Oregon, and Vermont. The seven states have already adopted a rule like California where by 2025, 15 percent of vehicles sold must produce zero emissions. To help get to
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Only a couple of months after electric vehicle start-up Lucid Motors came out of the dark and unveiled an unnamed prototype vehicle, they have unveiled their first model named the Air. The model is taking direct aim at Tesla and their Model S sedan. The Air is powered by two electric motors - one on each axle - and can be paired with either a 100 kWh or 130 kWh battery pack. Total output stands at 1,000 horsepower. In terms of range, the 100 kWh battery pack is estimated to provide over 300
Another electric car start-up throws its hat into the ring.
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com December 20, 2012 The Detroit Free Press reports electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt aren't garnering the same residual values as gas vehicles. The report cites data from Kelly Blue Book which estimates the 2012 Nissan Leaf will hold around 20% of its value after five years while a 2012 Nissan Sentra will hold around 30%. The 2012 Chevrolet Volt is predicted to hold around 30% while a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze will hold 38%. A
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The European car market as a whole has been in decline for six consecutive months as of March 2019 with 19 out of 27 markets posting declines. March numbers were down 3.6 percent over the same month in 2018. Looking at the first quarter of 2019 paints an even bleaker picture with only 6 countries recording growth. While overall demand is down, the demand for electric vehicles grows. The sales of EVs exceeded 100,000 units for the first time ever with a total of 125,400 EV and PHEVs sold.
...in a market that continues to decline, EVs are doing well...
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In a move that was expected to happen soon, the EPA announced that it plans to revise the fuel-efficiency regulations that were approved during the President Obama administration. “The Obama EPA’s determination was wrong. Obama’s EPA cut the midterm evaluation process short with politically charged expediency, made assumptions about the standards that didn’t comport with reality and set the standards too high,” said EPA chief Scott Pruitt in a statement today. The statement goes on t
You can guess who likes and despises this
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When the EPA and NHTSA unveiled the proposal for revised fuel economy standards, there was a key part that brought up a lot of debate: The claim that the new regulations would reduce the number of fatalities and crashes. As we pointed out in our story, there were a number of holes in that argument. It seems we were not the only ones questioning this. Yesterday, the review of the proposal done by the White House's Information and Regulatory Affairs was made public. In it are hundred of pages
Ah, interagency fighting.
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The Trump Administration and the EPA officials have scrapped all further talks with California and canceled the $929 million in federal funds for a California high-speed rail project. California's Governor has responded that this is in response to California leading a 16 state coalition challenge to President Trump's national emergency to take funds from the defense department and apply it to building a wall from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. California has already filed sui
Federal officials from the EPA have ended negotiations with California.
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The Environmental Protection Agency has today proposed to keep its vehicle emission targets through 2025, shocking a lot of people and possibly setting up a major fight between regulators and the automotive industry. According to Automotive News, the proposal will now enter a 30-day comment period. After this period, the EPA administrator could finalize this proposal and begin enforcing these standards a bit quicker. By 2025, automakers will need to increase their to 54.5 miles per gallon
The EPA is moving forward with the upcoming 2025 Emission Regulations
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The Environmental Protection Agency released their annual report on industrywide fuel economy this week and says that 2013 model year vehicles achieved an average of 24.1 miles per gallon — up 0.5 mpg from the previous year and almost 5 mpg since 2004. "We are thrilled to see that manufacturers continue to innovate and are bringing technologies to improve fuel economy online even faster than anticipated," said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. Mazda was the top automaker in the report with a fl
The U.S. Fleet Average Fuel Economy Is Up
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The Environmental Protection Agency is becoming stricter as to how they test for emissions in light of the Volkswagen Diesel scandal. On Friday, the agency's Office of Transportation and Air Quality announced they would be conducting more spot checks of light-duty cars and trucks to make sure that automakers haven’t been cheating on tests. Automakers were notified of the changes via a letter. The EPA wouldn't go into detail about the changes. “They don’t need to know. They need to know that
The EPA Is Introducing New, Stricter Guidelines In Their Emission Tests
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 26, 2013 When Ford announced that it was lowering the fuel economy numbers of the C-Max Hybrid a couple of weeks ago, they said the EPA's fuel economy testing was unrealistic for hybrid vehicles. The EPA has come back this week and gave a clear message: "The problem here is really not how the testing is done." Christopher Grundler, the EPA's top auto industry regulator told Automotive News that the EPA's own engineers weren't sure if the
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 4, 2013 The Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to release their results of fuel economy audits done on twenty vehicles. Christopher Grundler, head of the EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality tells Automotive News the audits looked at a specific portion of the test cycle known as the coast-down test. The coast-down test has a vehicle run up to 80 MPH and then is allowed to glide to a stop. This test measures the ae
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After a number of automakers having to revise their fuel economy estimates, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing that automakers run their vehicles in the real world to see if their estimates hold any water. "Some auto makers already do this, but we are establishing a regulatory requirement for all auto makers," said Chris Grundler, director of the EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality. The EPA's proposal would have automakers run their vehicles on a test track to measure
Real World Testing and the EPA Wants It
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com February 14, 2013 After the whole Hyundai-Kia mileage fiasco, the EPA says it will be conducting more fuel economy audits. Jeff Alson, a senior EPA engineer said at a conference about the government’s 2025 fuel economy standard that the agency performs “routine audits” of manufacturer's mileage claims, but does admits more can be done. “We’ll probably do more of that in the future than we did in the past,” Alson said. Alson also told the c
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com February 24, 2013 Four months after Hurricane Sandy blasted the East Coast, the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) announced its revised estimates for the number of vehicles damaged in the storm's wake. The new total of vehicles damaged in Hurricane Sandy stands at 250,500 vehicles. This number is well above the estimate put out by National Automobile Dealers Association which say that 200,000 vehicles could be damaged. The majority of
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About a year ago, European antitrust regulators became very suspicious that BMW, Daimler, and Volkswagen were involved in a longstanding automotive cartel that colluded on restricting certain emissions control devices for the market. Raids were carried out at various facilities, but nothing came out. That changed yesterday as the European Commission has opened a formal investigation. "The Commission is investigating whether BMW, Daimler and VW agreed not to compete against each other on the
BMW, Daimler, and Volkswagen are involved in the investigation
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With President Donald Trump tweeting last Friday threating a 20 percent tariff on all imports of European Union assembled cars, the EU has responded by saying it would raise their tariffs on imports of U.S.-built vehicles. “If they decide to raise their import tariffs, we’ll have no choice, again, but to react,” said EU Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen. “We don’t want to fight (over trade) in public via Twitter. We should end the escalation.” This comes a month after the T
Tit for Tat on Tariffs
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Europe is starting to develop a case of pickup truck fever. According to data from JATO Dynamics, 80,300 trucks were sold in Europe in the first half of this year. This pales in comparison to the 1.1 million full-size and 216,194 midsize trucks sold in the U.S. in the same timeframe. But sales in Europe are climbing. LMC Automotive says sales of trucks in Europe are up 19 percent and they predict sales will crest 200,000 next year. Why this steady rise in pickups? According to Automotive Ne
Not even Europe is immune to pickups
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April 2024, three companies came together wanting to address an industry opportunity that they saw in the European market and to hopefully take it globally. Renault Group, Volvo Group, and CMA-CGM came together to announce a new EV startup called FLEXIS. Flexis would be a skateboard platform that would allow a last mile delivery solution that would be efficient by using cutting-edge technology to offer a cutting-edge solution focused on offering a comprehensive s
Last mile delivery, service, inner city deliveries, etc. the list is long on how EV startups and legacy OEMs have called and attempted to deliver electric vans, can this EV startup from 2023 beat them all and survive?
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As lawmakers continue to work on comprehensive tax reform, one item related to the automotive industry on the table was the tax credit for electric vehicles. The credit, which can be up to $7,500, was dropped in the House version of the bill but kept in the Senate version. The credit was started in 2009 as part of the economic stimulus package as a way to encourage investment by auto manufacturers in the development of electric powered or assisted vehicles. The the current version of the bil
The credit of up to $7,500 remains untouched.
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The future of Faraday Future is becoming dimmer. The Verge reported yesterday that the automaker has decided to shut down some operations this week at their headquarters in Gardena, California, and at its factory in Hanford, California. Workers who started after May 1st of this year “must take a furlough,” according to an email sent by FF CEO Jia Yueting. Those working before "will have the option to remain on board with a reduced salary of $50,000 per year," employees told The Verge. Yueting sa
The lights are dimming at Faraday Future
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The comedy of errors that is electric car startup Faraday Future continues. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Faraday Future has stopped construction on its $1 billion production facility in North Las Vegas. The company in a statement the decision came down to a changing business strategy. “We have decided to put a hold on our factory at the Apex site in North Las Vegas. We remain committed to the Apex site in Las Vegas for long-term vehicle manufacturing.” Faraday goes on to s
More bad news for Faraday Future
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Last month, electric vehicle start-up Faraday Future halted construction on their $1 billion production facility in North Las Vegas. At the time, FF said they would be looking into purchasing or leasing a production facility in either California or Nevada to get production of the FF 91 up and running. Today, Faraday has announced they have leased a factory in Hanford, California - about 200 miles north of their headquarters in Los Angeles. The facility is million-square-feet and the company
Some actual good news for Faraday Future
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The bad news keeps hitting Faraday Future. Earlier this month, we reported on the fight between the automaker and its latest backer, Evergrande Health Industry Group. Faraday claims that Evergrande failed to provide additional funds as part of an investment deal. Evergrande has denied this claim and has brought in lawyers to fight this charge. But this row has caused the electric car start-up to make some difficult decisions. The Verge obtained an email sent to Faraday Future staff on Sunda
20 percent cut in salaries and an unknown number of people will be laid off
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Towards the end of last year, the fate of Faraday Future looked to be bleak. Their main investor, Chinese company Evergrande Health Industry Group filed a complaint with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that claimed Faraday tried to cancel a deal to sell a 45 percent stake to them. Evergrande claimed the company didn't meet various milestones to get the full $2 billion it had agreed to in the summer. But Faraday fought back, saying that Evergrade didn't cough up the cash. This would only signal
Also opens the door for Faraday to find new financing
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On the surface, Faraday Future appears to been having a run of good luck. It had gotten a major investment from healthcare division of Chinese real estate group Evergrande; testing is continuing on their first EV, the FF 91; and the company has started building pre-production vehicles at its US plant. But trouble always seems to be looming and it has struck once again for the start-up automaker. Yesterday, Reuters reported on a filing made by Evergrande Health for the Hong Kong stock exchan
Did we mention the fire that involved FF's only pre-production FF91?
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Aptera Motors, the company behind the odd looking, three wheel electric vehicle called the 2e has announced today they're closing up shop. In a letter written by Aptera Motors President and CEO, Paul Wilbur, Aptera was unable to raise enough money from investors to keep it going until it received a $150 million loan from the Department of Energy's Advance Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program. "This is a difficult time for everyone connected with our company because we have never been clo
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Sergio Marchionne isn't taking no for answer from General Motors over merging with FCA. Reuters reports the automakers have brought investment banks for help to deal with this mess. Sources say FCA has brought in UBS, while GM has brought in Goldman Sachs and possibly Morgan Stanley. In the case of GM, the company has signed a letter of engagement with Goldman Sachs on advice with dealing with FCA. "It would be inconceivable for General Motors not to be talking to any number of advisers abou
FCA and GM Bring In Investment Banks Over Merger Standoff
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Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is none too pleased with the Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd as they're planning to sell an off-road vehicle that looks very much like the original Willys Jeep. Bloomberg obtained a complaint filed by FCA to the U.S. International Trade Commission on August 1st. The document claims that Mahindra's Roxor infringes key characteristics of Jeep's signature design - namely the “boxy body shape with flat-appearing vertical sides and rear body ending at about
A fair amount of their complaint deals with the design
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Fiat Chrysler Automobile has abruptly pulled back on their merger offer with Renault after the second day of negotiations came to a close. The Wall Street Journal reports that Renault's partner, Nissan declined to support the deal according to sources. During a vote today on the Renault board, the two Nissan representative abstained, raising concerns for both FCA and Renault that Nissan would back out of the alliance. This, in turn, caused the French Government (major stakeholder in Renault
...That was abrupt...
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The U.S. Postal Service are looking for new delivery trucks to replace the current fleet - some which are around 20 years old. The Detroit News reports that there are 15 companies that range from military, mass-transit, specialized transportation, and two automakers. Those two automakers are Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Ford. Now building a vehicle for the U.S. Postal Service isn't as easy as you might think. Here the requirements the vehicle must meet: Last at least 20 years Carry a mini
Two automakers join the competition for the next mail truck
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The EPA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and California Air Resources Board have released their draft Technical Assessment Report on the 'Midterm Evaluation of Light-duty Vehicle GHG Emissions Standards for Model Years 2022-2025'. Despite the long name, this report is important as the results will help determine if the 54.5 mpg corporate average fuel economy target for 2025 needs to be adjusted or not. Let's begin with the good news. The report says the industry is “ado
That 54.5 mpg fleetwide goal? Yeah, about that...
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The U.S. Commerce Department is asking automakers to spill their secrets; product planning, financing, supply chains, and other bits that aren't in public filings. Bloomberg reports that the department’s Bureau of Industry and Security sent out a 34-page questionnaire asking for sensitive details to several automakers. Failure to do so could result "in a maximum fine of $10,000, imprisonment of up to one year, or both" as mentioned on the first page of the survey. “The breadth and dep
I've got a secret
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FedEx has 700 planes and over 180,000 vehicles that range from Semi's to delivery vans. Reducing emissions is not easy especially with daily package volume grew by 99.2% from 2009 to 2019. Yet over this same period FedEx reduced CO2 emissions by 40%. This is not an easy feet. FedEx has focused on a simple three-pronged approach to sustainability: Reduce Replace Revolutionize This simple focus has allowed FedEx to reduce their environmental impact in their fleet,
Electric is the future and FedEx is delivering sustainability by partnering with BrightDrop for all new first-to-last-mile automotive products and ePallets as they electrify delivery of packages.
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FedEx has committed to being Carbon-Neutral by 2040 by going Green Globally with an initial investment of $2 Billion dollars for auto electrification, sustainable energy and carbon sequestration. FedEx has started their corporate march to a greener cleaner planet by pledging $100 million dollars to Yale University in establishing the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture. In the drive to offset current airline emissions which is a big part of FedEx business, they are heling to suppo
FedEx has committed to being Carbon-Neutral by 2040 by going Green Globally with an initial investment of $2 Billion dollars for auto electrification, sustainable energy and carbon sequestration.
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The past few years have seen studies come out that reveal teenagers are less likely to have a driver's license. But a new study from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) says teens aren't the only group that are passing on a license. The study which looked at data from 1983 to 2014 reveals that every age group has seen a decrease in carrying a driver;s license. 24.5 percent of Americans aged 16 carried a license in 2014. This is down 6.6 percent from 2008 wh
It Isn't Only Teens
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We'll excuse you if you forgot that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group have been working towards finalizing their merger considering the state of the world at the moment. But the two are making serious headway as they have announced the new name of the multi-national corporation that will form once the two merge. Meet Stellantis. Don't worry, you're not the only who is thinking "What" or thinking of some clever joke to make fun of this name. We'll let the two explain what this name mean
How much did the two spend on consultants to come up with this name?
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com September 23, 2013 Reuters is reporting that Fiat will be buying General Motor's share of Italian engine manufacturer VM Motori. VM Motori currently supplies engines for the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500 EcoDiesel. "GM's notification to exercise its put option to sell to Fiat its 50 percent interest in VM Motori SpA is in line with the contracts Fiat entered into when it acquired a 50 percent stake in VM in 2010," said Fiat in a statement.
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 8, 2012 More bad news for the Fisker Karma. A fire which engulfed a Fisker Karma and caused damage to house in Sugar Land, Texas is now be pointed at as the cause. Chief fire investigator for Fort Bend County, Texas, Robert Baker told Autoweek that he belives the Fisker Karma started the fire. “Yes, the Karma was the origin of the fire, but what exactly caused that we don't know at this time,” Barker said. Barker says the owner pulled
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 14, 2012 Almost two months ago, the vehicle line director for the Chevy Volt, Tony Posawatz announced his retirement. Posawatz worked at GM for more than 30 years at GM. Posawatz was one of the key people overseeing the Volt. Few people at the time expected him to jump back into the industry. Fast forward to today and Tony Posawatz is now the new CEO of Fisker Automotive. He takes over from current CEO, Tom Lasorda who only became Fisker
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com January 21, 2013 Last month, Fisker founder and Chairman Henrik Fisker said the company was looking for "potential strategic partners". The search has led the company to China. According to Reuters, Fisker is in talks with certain Chinese automakers. Fisker's focus on China is due to the Chinese government's backing of local manufacturers in their efforts to acquire "green car" technology from abroad, as the government is trying to ramp up d
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com November 27, 2012 After a controversial exit from General Motors that has left a lot of questions, former CMO Joel Ewanick has found a new temporary home at Fisker. Automotive News reports that Fisker has hired Ewanick as its interim chief commercial officer while they search for a replacement. Ewanick takes the place of former CCO, Richard Beattie who retired on Monday. "We would like to thank Richard for his valuable contribution in helping
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 20, 2012 Over the weekend, Fisker announced a recall of over 2,000 of its Karma plug-in hybrid sedans due to risk of fires. The recall was issued a couple weeks after a fire engulfed the driver's front side of a Karma sitting a parking lot. Fisker called on the help of Pacific Rim Investigative Services Group to figure out the cause of the fire on August 10. The investigation found the ignition source was a low temperature cooling fan, w
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 20, 2012 The bad news is solidering on at Fisker Automotive. A few weeks after showing the new Atlantic concept, the company let go twelve people at their Delaware plant. This is second time this year that Fisker has laid off people at the plant. Back in February, Fisker laid off twenty-six employees due to the company not meeting the Department of Energy’s contractual milestones for their loans. Today, Fisker employs only a small main
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com March 1, 2012 The Fisker Karma sports some sleek lines and daring proportions for an plug-in hybrid vehicle. The one it doesn’t sport is space. One only needs to see the Karma’s trunk to realize how much of a priority the design took over the space. However, at last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show, Fisker showed off the Surf concept. The Surf takes a regular Karma and extends its roofline with a hatchback/wagon/shooting brake body style to give
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The Fisker Atlantic, which debuted this week at the New York Auto Show, could built somewhere else besides their facility in Wilmington, Delaware. "The whole plan has changed," said Fisker CEO Tom LaSorda to Automotive News. "Wilmington is our primary site…but there are other options. We have to look at what's best for the company and the shareholders." LaSorda went onto say that a decision on where the Atlantic will be built will be made by the end of summer. This would cause another delay on
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 28, 2012 To say Fisker Automotive has been living in interesting times could be an understatement. Their first vehicle, the Karma only starting arriving back in December, when it was actually due out months earlier. Then in February, the company halted work on the Nina family sedan at their Wilmington, Del plant. That was due to them and Department of Energy hashing out new terms of a $529 million loan. Now, Fisker has announced tha
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If you were thinking about purchasing a new Fisker Karma, you might want to hear this. Fisker has announced they will be increasing prices on the Karma Plug-In hybrid sedan by 6%. That means the base Karma EcoStandard model will now have a sticker price of $102,000; an increase of $6,150. The high-end EcoChic model will see a $10,000 increase to $116,000. However, if you have put down a $5,000 deposit on the Karma, you're in luck. Fisker says for those who put a deposit down can purchase the K
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 10, 2012 Earlier this week, Fisker announced they had temporarily halted work on Nina family sedan at the Fisker Automotive plant in Wilmington, Del. The temporary halt is due to Fisker and the federal government hashing out new terms of the company’s $529 million Department of Energy loan. The halt has caused Fisker to layoff 26 people at its Delaware plant and a number of contract engineers at Fisker's Anaheim, Calif., headquarters
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 16, 2012 Fisker is looking to raise another $150 million to help keep the company afloat. "We need money on our balance sheet" to fund operating expenses. "And we need money to fund the development of the next car," said Ray Lane, a Fisker director and a managing partner at venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers to Reuters."We're raising some of that money now, and some later." The reason for the extra $150 million? Earlier
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By 2050, eight states in the U.S. and five countries will ban the sale gas powered vehicles and only allow zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) to be sold. Car and Driver reports that eight states (California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont) and five countries (Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Quebec, the United Kingdom) will only allow automakers to sell ZEVs by 2050. The announcement was made against the backdrop of the United Nations Conference
2050 Will See No More Gas Cars In Certain Countries and States
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com April 15, 2013 Back in October, we reported that Ford and General Motors signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop next-generation nine and ten-speed automatic transmissions. Today, both auto manufacturers have gone on the record and confirmed this joint operation. The two automakers aren't saying which specific vehicles will get the nine and ten-speed transmissions, but did say the transmissions are designed for front- and rea
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 1, 2012 Automotive News is reporting that Ford and General Motors have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop next-generation nine and ten-speed automatic transmissions. Sources say that General Motors will take the lead on developing the nine-speed transmission for front-wheel drive and transverse applications. Ford will take on the ten-speed for rear-wheel drive applications. This isn't the first time that Ford and G
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The COVID-19 pandemic has basically brought most of the world to halt. Orders to stay at home, businesses either having workers to their work from home or closing down, and unemployment skyrocketing is causing the economy to crater. There are efforts to try and jump-start the economy such as $1,200 stimulus checks. But an executive at Ford wants to see a return of a "cash for clunkers" like program. “We think some level of stimulus somewhere on the other side of this would help not only the
Is this a good idea or not?
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Back in 2008, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) came up with a new standard for light-duty pickup tow ratings. Called J2807, the standard would simplify the testing methods for determining the max tow weight a light-duty pickup could handle. The standard was to be implemented in the 2013 model year, but it wasn't. Ford in 2012 surprised everyone by saying it would not adopt the new standard for the 2013 F-150 and would wait till the 2015 redesign. GM and Ram followed suit there after. Th
The Detroit Three Are Finally Implementing J2807 Standard
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The battle to be the first Chinese automaker to make it in the U.S. is heating up. Ford's Chinese partner Zotye has been setting up agreements for about 20 dealerships in the US, The goal is to bring the Zoyte T600 to the US in 2020. Previously Guangzhou Automotive had planned to bring their vehicles to the U.S. in 2019, but Trump's tariffs would delay their arrival. The T600, which looks like a cross between an Audi Q5 and previous generation VW Tiguan, sells between approximately $12,00
Lining up dealers to sell a budget crossover in 2020.
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 17, 2011 Steven Rattner, the former car czar that oversaw the federal bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler, said on Thursday to the Detroit Economic Club that the Obama administration's Auto Task Force should have forced all the stakeholders, including the United Auto Workers, to make more sacrifices. "We asked all the stakeholders to make very significant sacrifices. We should have asked the UAW to do a bit more. We did not ask
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 10, 2012 The self-driving car; a dream that has talked about and tested for many years. But the dream could be a reality by 2020 according to a former GM R&D Chief. Larry Burns, former head of GM’s r&d division spoke yesterday at University of Michigan Robotics Day said predicted that self driving vehicles will be on U.S. roads by the year 2020. Burns goes even farther, saying the tech needed for self-driving will be available
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 11, 2012 Former President George W. Bush spoke this week to a gathering of auto dealers. During his speech, Bush defended his decision on bailing out Chrysler and General Motors. "I'd do it again. I didn't want there to be 21 percent unemployment," Bush told dealers. Bush told dealers he believed in the free market and in normal conditions, automakers and other businesses should have been allowed to fail. "If you make a bad decisi
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Libertine a UK firm was awarded a 2.6 million British pounds or $3,572,543 US dollars to take their free-piston generator concept to commercial production. Per Libertine web site, the IntelliGEN 20-40 kWe Smart Engine platform is for OEM builders of Hybrid buses, trucks and auto's as well as distributed power applications. Quoting their web site: Robust and flexible platform for lab-based combustion development and prototype validation 20-40kWe* two strok
Could a modular engine similar size and shape to a battery module be the answer to hybrid auto's and commercial trucks is the question Libertine of the UK believes they have answered.
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The current laws and regulations concerning how vehicles are sold are, to put it mildly, a complete mess thanks to states having different versions. Experts can't seem to agree whether the current rules are good or bad. One thing that they can agree on is buying a vehicle is an unpleasant experience due to the current regulations. The Federal Trade Commission held a workshop yesterday as a possible first step to unravel the mess. The big topic that was covered was in the workshop was direct
FTC Looks At the Dealership Regulations and Direct Sales
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