Category: Industry
03/25/2021
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Old AM General plant to make Sokon vans for Electric Last Mile
A former AM General plant, sold to the American branch of a Chinese automaker, has been resold to a Michigan-based company—which will, it appears, use it to assemble electric vans from Chinese parts. Vans were the last “normal” electric vehicles, particularly in Britain, where they picked up goods from rail yards and deliver them to […]
06/24/2020
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What the @!#*&! is going on? Dodge, Chevy clobber Toyota in J.D. Power
Dodge has rocketed from its recent place near the bottom of the J.D. Power initial quality study to appear at the very top—very nearly tied with, of all brands, Kia. Chevrolet and Ram were also nearly tied for third and fourth place, with Genesis barely below them, rounding out the top five brands. Source: J.D. […]
06/01/2020
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Fiat Chrysler posted its full restart schedule, and it’s interesting…
Fiat Chrysler, makers of Jeeps, Rams, and some cars and minivans, has released its North American restart schedule—pending any coronavirus flareups. FCA had single shifts running on six plants by May 19 (Jefferson North—Grand Cherokee and Durango; Toledo—Wrangler and Gladiator; Sterling Heights and Warren—Ram pickups; Brampton—large cars; and Windsor—minivans). Around a week later, Brampton was […]
04/20/2020
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Detroit’s ramping up soon, but are there any buyers?
Detroit automakers are going to restart production on May 4, barring any interventions by state governors. The reason might not be low sales on their part–there is no evidence that inventories are shrinking—but a desire not to be left behind as import automakers, not affected by unions and largely in the less-regulated Southeast, flood the […]
04/17/2020
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The big “car dealers and service problems” story
For nearly as long as there have been car dealers, there have been crooked car dealers, and many have used the same scams to separate owners from their cash. Many car dealers are honest, and many dealership employees have a lot of integrity; but some don’t. This article is mainly about the ones that don’t. […]
04/01/2020
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Detroit Auto Show has been canceled
With the COVID-19 outbreak, many facilities have been converted to hospitals. The decision to make the TCF Center into a hospital was made last week. On Tuesday, construction began to build a hospital to house patients who have tested positive for the coronavirus. In the coming days, the TCF Center will be transformed to hold […]
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 […]