Category: Industry
03/21/2020
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Bad timing for the electric pickup party
Several startups and some major players are trying to pump out electric pickups, but it seems as though time may have run out on them. Thanks partly to the coronavirus outbreak, coupled with a stock market bubble and an incredibly overleveraged (over-indebted) corporate world, there may be few people who can buy their products when […]
03/20/2020
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Most everyone stopping production
Just about every automaker making cars and trucks in America is stopping production here and there. Even Rivian, which has yet to make a single car intended for sale, has shut its facilities for the moment. Tesla, which had ignored health authorities’ “lockdown” orders since law and health are only problems for other people, will […]
03/14/2020
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Detroit is doing well (so far) under coronavirus COVID-19 threat; GM is staying home where it can
COVID-19, the latest coronavirus, has shut down businesses around the world. For example, Apple just reopened its stores in China, but will have far less to sell, and is closing stores elsewhere in the world. Fiat’s northern Italian plants have slowed production so workers can be spaced further apart, and many expect the plants to […]
03/06/2020
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State: Tesla has been lying about its safety record
A Bloomberg News story by Josh Eidelson and Dana Hull used state records to show that worker safety is a real issue at Tesla. The electric automaker logged hundreds of injuries which it failed to report to the government, according to a state memo; the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (CDOSH) has cited […]
03/03/2020
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At least we’ll have New York
Unlike a certain European show, the New York Auto Show is going to brave the coronavirus. With five weeks to go before the press preview days on April 8 and 9, the New York Auto Show organizers have announced that they are coordinating their efforts with state and local officials, and will beef up and […]
02/20/2020
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Was 2019 a boom for pickup trucks? Yes, but not a record
There has been a lot of talk about the growth of pickup truck sales in the US. In reality, truck sales still haven’t quite hit the volume in the US they reached in 2005. 2005 was a good year, but then truck sales plummeted in 2008 and 2009, and have been on the rebound every […]
02/16/2020
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GM the surprise winner in J.D. Power long-term surveys
Of all the automakers, General Motors was the greatest success story of the J.D. Power long-term survey. Sure, Toyota dominated by coming in #2 of mass-market brands and #2 of luxury brands (Lexus), but GM’s performance was stunning given where the company was ten years ago—or twenty years ago—or thirty—or forty—or fifty or sixty or seventy […]
01/17/2020
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Hyperion Motors to debut at New York Auto Show
In April, the Hyperion Company, an aerospace R&D firm, will officially show off its new division, Hyperion Motors. The company claims its products were developed with NASA; Hyperion’s past work has been on electrolyzers, hydrogen storage, and fuel cell systems. Hydrogen cars were a popular idea when George W. Bush was President, but since then […]
01/09/2020
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Sedans failed to die in 2019
Sedans were supposed to be a dying breed in American showrooms, but like minivans, they just keep on keeping on. Toyota sold well over 600,000 Camrys and Corollas (combined), GM sold over 140,000 Malibus, and Dodge sold nearly a hundred thousand Chargers—two hundred thousand of their big cars, if you throw in the 300 and Challenger. […]
01/06/2020
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America vs Toyota, 2019
How well did American automakers do against Japan’s best in 2019? First, let’s look at totals. Toyota reported 2,383,348 sales, entirely from two (Toyota and Lexus) brands. The vast majority of sales were from just five cars and trucks: RAV4 (448,071) Camry (336,978) Corolla (304,850) Tacoma (248,801) Highlander (239,438) Toyota did poorly in the one […]