Chronicling the Ever-Changing Automotive Industry
The numbers are (mostly) in, and the news isn’t good. August sales were down over 5% from July’s, and none of the major automakers were even close to the amount of vehicles they moved in July. Toyota took the biggest hit percentage-wise, followed by Ford and GM. Honda was only down about 4,000 vehicles overall, and almost everyone else stayed flat. The only companies to have better sales month-to-month were Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz. Continue reading ‘Sales Figures: August, 2010′
Well, it’s finally happened – Ford completed the sale of Volvo to Geely, the Chinese automaker. Geely forked over 1.8 billion, according to a press release by Ford. Most of it was in cash, but there was also a $200 million “note” involved.
Continue reading ‘Ford’s sale of Volvo: Complete. Geely’s cost: $1.8 Billion’
2010 Saab 9-5
It seems that the “wind down” of Saab will have to be postponed. GM announced on Tuesday that the sale of Saab to Spyker automotive has been completed, and going forward, Spyker will be responsible for all of Saab’s operations. This is good news to the Saab faithful and employees around the world. Although the automaker is a niche player, it will help fund Spyker’s other projects, namely its supercars. No news about who financed the deal, although it was rumored that the Swedish government had its hands in the deal, promising money to Spyker to give it operating capital to continue running Saab.
by John Suit
Source: GM
I know I’ve said it before in the case of Saab, but this time I believe GM – they’re going to wind down the Hummer brand. It seems the sale of Hummer to Chinese company Tengzhong cannot be completed. No word yet on why, but it may have something to do with intellectual property, since the Hummer H2 and H3 share their platforms with current Chevrolet/GMC products. GM says it will honor Hummer warranties and continue to supply parts for vehicles already on the road.
by John Suit
Source: GM
As part of Ford’s renaissance, they have been cutting costs and pumping money into research and development (R&D). It started in 2007, when current CEO Alan Mulally was hired. He immediately leveraged part of Ford in order to get $4 billion in operating costs, which he then sunk into R&D to bring Ford’s car offerings up to par with their foreign rivals.
The fruits of those labors are coming to fruition, with Ford’s Fusion taking Motor Trend’s Car of the Year award for 2010, and many other Ford cars being received well by American consumers. Another thing Mulally did was to begin selling off underperforming brands that Ford owned. First, Aston Martin was sold to a British conglomerate, and then Land Rover and Jaguar were sold to Tata Motors, an Indian company. Ford then sold its controlling interest in Mazda, and Volvo went up for sale.
Continue reading ‘Breaking News: Ford, Geely come to terms with Volvo's Intellectual Property’
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David Batzek commented on Older Jeep Grand Cherokee under investigation for gas tank problem
My 99 just started rusting over last fee months (to were it was noticeable). Now today the skid plate [more]
John Suit commented on Older Jeep Grand Cherokee under investigation for gas tank problem
Yes - but you'll have to submit any issues you have with a vehicle to the NHTSA through their web [more]
Keren Cathey commented on Older Jeep Grand Cherokee under investigation for gas tank problem
Is there anyway for us, as consumers, to influence a recall on these vehicles? I also have a 99 Grand [more]
wayne duckstein commented on Detroit 2012: Ford Announces 2013 Fusion
Nice artical John [more]
Patty clipner commented on Older Jeep Grand Cherokee under investigation for gas tank problem
I also have a 1999 jeep grand Cherokee limited which has began to emit high gas fumes. It also [more]