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CARMAKERS NEWS * USA
- POLITICS -
* DC - Obama signs bill to permit car charging stations at U.S. Capitol
Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -August 17, 2012: -- President Barack Obama signed into law legislation that will allow for electric vehicle charging stations at the U.S. Capitol... Late Thursday, Obama signed a bill that allows the U.S. House to "construct, operate and maintain battery recharging stations in parking areas … for use by privately owned vehicles at no net cost to the federal government." ... He signed separate legislation allowing EV charging stations on the U.S. Senate side last Friday... Users of the stations will pay maintenance and building fees, thereby costing the taxpayers nothing...
* DC - Ryan's hometown hard hit by GM plant closure. Future of places like Janesville, Wis., may be key campaign question
Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -August 17, 2012: -- Republican vice-presidential candidate, Paul Ryan, on Thursday used the closing of a General Motors plant in his hometown of Janesville, Wis., to take a swipe at President Barack Obama's energy policies... He contended Obama's "terrible energy policies" led to $4 a gallon gas and the closure of the company's oldest assembly plant, breaking the Democrat's promise to keep it open... In fact, Obama made no such promise and the plant halted production in December 2008, when President George W. Bush was in office... As the GM plant headed for closure, Ryan — who has represented Janesville in Congress for the past 14 years — made a rare departure from his free-market orthodoxy that frowns on government intervention. He backed the federal bailout of General Motors and Chrysler, a bailout Romney has loudly said was a mistake, and teamed with Democrats in Madison and in Wisconsin's congressional delegation to unsuccessfully lobby GM to keep the plant running...
Washington DC,USA -The Hill, by Keith Laing -8 Aug 2012: -- The governors of Michigan, Missouri, Tennessee and Illinois have launched an auto caucus to advocate for policies that would boost car manufacturing in the United States... Michigan Gov. Rick Synder and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, both Republicans, and Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, both Democrats, said on Wednesday that they were joining forces to focus on "bipartisan, non-controversial issues related to the industry and its 8 million jobs"... Each said auto manufacturing was vital to their states' economies...
* DC - Smart cars to be put to test in Ann Arbor
Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson
-August 21, 2012: -- The U.S. Transportation Department today will
launch a 3,000-vehicle test of "smart car" technology in Ann Arbor...
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and
National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland, will join automakers to begin the yearlong test, the largest to date...
Vehicle-to-vehicle technologies have the potential to significantly reduce crash fatalities and injuries and could one day help motorists
avoid crashes altogether, Strickland said... The test will include vehicle-to-vehicle crash avoidance technologies such as forward-collision warnings, "do not pass" alerts and warnings that a vehicle ahead has stopped suddenly. It also will involve some
vehicle-to-roadway testing... The University of Michigan, Transportation Research Institute, will conduct the research project in
Ann Arbor where nearly 3,000 cars, trucks and buses equipped with vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication devices will "talk" to each other and highway devices. Most of the test vehicles will be privately owned... NHTSA says vehicle-to-vehicle communications will assist drivers in preventing as many as
three-fourths of crashes...
* DC - EPA certifies driving range for Ford's C-MAX Hybrid at 570 miles
(Photo:
C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid is designed to help Ford accelerate fuel
economy leadership by offering an expected miles per gallon equivalent
rating in charge-depleting mode better than the Toyota Prius plug-in
hybrid)
Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by Karl Henkel -August 20, 2012: -- Ford Motor Co.'s new C-MAX Hybrid has an Environmental Protection Agency-certified driving range of 570 miles, the Dearborn automaker said Monday... That compares to a 450-mile range for Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius... C-MAX Hybrid previously received an EPA-certified 47 miles per gallon city, highway and combined... The Toyota Prius gets 42 combined mpg — 44 in the city and 40 on the highway — according to the U.S. Department of Energy's fuel-efficiency website...- AUTOS' SALES -
* Michigan - Ford sales in Europe down 12.3 percent. Automaker's July numbers reflect weak demand in European markets
Dearborn,MICH,USA -The Detroit News, by Karl Henkel -August 17, 2012: -- Ford Motor Co.'s European sales dropped 12.3 percent in July amid continuing weak demand... Ford sold 83,100 vehicles in its traditional 19 European markets last month, 12.3 percent lower than the same month a year ago and the worst July in 17 years. Year to date, Ford sales were 700,200 units, down 10.6 percent compared to the same period last year... GM new car registrations of 560,934 in the European Union were down 10.8 percent in the first half of the year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. Fiat's new car registrations dropped 17.1 percent to 445,229 units during the first six months... Overall, the European association says demand for new cars in the EU fell 6.8 percent during the first half of 2012 compared to 2011...
* Michigan - Jilted Ranger loyalists deserting Ford for rival automakers. Only half of its small pickup owners stay with Dearborn firm
* California - '94 Honda Accord is thieves' favorite
(Image from Honda: 1994 Honda Accord)
Torrance,CAL,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -August 21, 2012: -- When it comes to stealing cars, most thieves aren't looking for expensive, newer models... In fact, according to a report issued Monday by the National Insurance Crime Bureau, the most frequently stolen vehicle in the U.S. last year — 7,596 — was the 17-year-old 1994 Honda Accord... It was followed by 1998 Honda Civics, 2006 F-series Ford trucks, 1991 Toyota Camry and 2000 Dodge Caravan... The experts say automakers are making cars and trucks more difficult to steal, and thefts for 2011 are expected to be the lowest level since 1967 — down 3.3 percent from the previous year... But don't get too comfortable if you have a newer model with better anti-theft equipment. The crooks, like the cars, are getting smarter...
* Michigan - Chrysler introduces a version of Fiat 500 and brings back the Viper GTS
(Image by Brad Stanley: The 2013 Fiat 500 Turbo, arriving this fall with a base price of $19,500, will have a 135-horsepower 1.4-liter turbocharged engine)
Auburn Hills,MICH,USA -The Detroit News -August 18, 2012: ... Fiat on Friday unveiled a turbo version of its little Fiat 500, and Chrysler Group's Street and Racing Technology brand unwrapped the limited-edition 2013 Viper GTS Launch Edition... The Viper returns to the Chrysler Group lineup for the first time since 2010, built at the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit. Its resurrection was announced by Chrysler Group, which is run by Fiat, late last year... Both cars were shown at auto gatherings in California...
* UK - All new Range Rover luxury SUV officially revealed
(Photo: All new 2013 Range Rover)
Gaydon,UK -Gizmag, by Vincent Rice -August 15, 2012: -- Land Rover is one of the few auto manufacturers in the world that is expanding, due to the phenomenal success of the Evoque... The parameters were clear: lighter, more efficient, more luxurious, more modern, yet still retaining extraordinary off-road capability and looking unmistakably like a Range Rover. Today the fruits of the company’s efforts were revealed... The world’s first SUV with a lightweight all-aluminum “monocoque” body structure is 39 percent lighter than the steel body in the outgoing model, enabling total vehicle weight savings of a quite extraordinary 926lbs (420kg). This clearly has enormous knock-on effects for handling, speed, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions...
- AUTOS' RECALLS -
* DC - General Motors recalling midsize SUVs for door lock issues
Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -August 18, 2012: -- General Motors Co. said Saturday it is recalling 249,260 midsize SUVS in 20 states and the District of Columbia because of side door power door lock failure that could lead to fires. The recall also includes another 9,150 vehicles in Canada and a few thousand exports making the total 260,000 worldwide... GM said fluid can get inside the driver's door module and cause corrosion that could result in a short in the circuit board. That could lead to possible failure of the power door lock and window switches... GM said in rare instances, the short may cause overheating. That could melt components of the door module and produce odor, smoke and a fire. GM is aware of fires in door modules but none where a fire has extended beyond the vehicle interior. No known crashes or injuries are related to the issue...
* California - Fisker recalls 2,400 plug-in Karma hybrids for fire risks
Anaheim,CAL,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -August 18, 2012: -- Fisker Automotive Inc. said Saturday it is recalling 2,400 plug-in hybrid electric Karma sports cars to replace a cooling fan cited as the cause of a recent fire... The recall is the latest setback for the struggling startup California automaker. Of those, about 1,400 are in customers' hands, said Roger Ormisher, a company spokesman... The automaker said the recall was prompted by the roadside fire of a $103,000 Fisker Karma sedan on Aug. 10 in Woodside, Calif... Fisker said an investigation found the ignition source was a sealed component that had an internal fault that caused it to fail, overheat and start a slow burning fire...
* DC - Feds checking Nissan Versa air bag problem
Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by Tom Krisher -August 17, 2012: -- U.S. safety regulators are investigating the Nissan Versa subcompact car because an air bag may fail to inflate in crashes... The probe affects about 100,000 Versas from the 2012 model year... A cable can get pinched in the steering column and cause the problem, says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The pinched cable will set off a warning light on the dashboard... Such investigations can lead to recalls. The Versa has not been recalled so far... The safety agency opened the investigation after getting data from Nissan...Labels: carmakers news USA and Canada, carmakers news worldwide
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