March 16, 2010 at 7:37 a.m.
Filed under:
Autos
Ford 2011 Police Interceptor will be built on a Taurus platform in Chicago and is designed to exceed the durability, safety, performance and fuel economy of the outgoing Ford Crown Victoria. (AP Photo/Ford Motor Co.)
By Nathan
Oliveriz-Giles | The Ford Crown Victoria police car, which
for nearly three decades has been the star of high-speed chases and an
unwelcome sight in rearview mirrors, is being phased out.
Ford’s new patrol car, the 2011 Police Interceptor, will be built at Ford’s
South Side Chicago plant on Torrence Avenue. It was designed to be faster, safer and stronger, and will come packed
with advanced technology, but for some at the unveiling, it was a
nostalgic occasion.
Get the full story »
March 15, 2010 at 5:48 a.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Government,
Recalls
John Gomez, attorney for driver James Sikes, talks about his client’s experiences Sunday. He said Toyota has a “ghost in the machine.” (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
The Associated Press | The U.S. government said Monday it cannot explain
a reported incident of sudden, high-speed acceleration in a Toyota Prius on a San Diego, Calif., freeway last week.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement that it continues to investigate but “we may never know exactly what happened with this car.”
The agency said its engineers are reviewing data from the Prius owned by James Sikes to try to understand what happened with his hybrid. But so far, it says it has not been able to find anything to explain the incident that Sikes reported.
Get the full story »
March 10, 2010 at 6:06 p.m.
Filed under:
Autos
By Michael Oneal | Chicago-area Cadillac dealers Dennis Bauer and Mike Ettleson were among
at least 15 General Motors dealers in Illinois who got a stay of
execution this week.
GM granted both a reprieve after picking them and 1,100 others for
closure shortly before it filed for bankruptcy last year.
Get the full story »
March 10, 2010 at 7:31 a.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Consumer news,
Energy
Associated Press | Each spring brings higher gas prices and this
year won’t be an exception. Motorists are likely to pay more than $3 a gallon, on average, during the peak summer driving season — but not much more.
Lingering effects of the recession, such as high unemployment, reduced shipping and limited business travel, are keeping a lid on energy demand in the U.S. And global oil supplies are on the rise. For now, these trends are providing energy markets with enough of a cushion to prevent geopolitical tensions from causing severe price volatility.
Get the full story »
March 9, 2010 at 5:45 p.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Earnings,
Manufacturing
Dow Jones Newswires | Navistar International Corp.’s fiscal
first-quarter profit slumped 93 percent on a big year-earlier
litigation gain, as revenue and margins also declined.
Shares fell 4.8 percent to $42.14 in after-hours trading as the
commercial truck and engine maker’s results fell below Wall Street’s
expectations.
“First-quarter results reflect the progress we are making in the
toughest of economic conditions and in a normally difficult seasonal
quarter for our company due to fewer operating days,” said Chairman and
Chief Executive Daniel Ustian.
Get the full story »
March 9, 2010 at 2:19 p.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
M&A,
Manufacturing
Associated Press | Danfoss A/S has raised its offer to buy the
rest of Sauer-Danfoss Inc. it doesn’t already own to $13.25 per share
from an initial offer of $10.10 per share.
Danfoss, a Denmark-based manufacturer of valves and fluid handling
components for air conditioning, heating and industrial applications,
made its initial bid in December. Danfoss and its subsidiaries
currently own a stake of about 75.7 percent in Sauer-Danfoss.
Get the full story »
March 9, 2010 at 1:07 p.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Recalls
Driver James Sikes talks about his experiences in his Toyota Prius during a news conference held at Toyota of El Cajon, Tuesday, March 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Dow Jones-The Wall Street Journal | Toyota Motor Corp. said
Tuesday that the Prius involved in a well-publicized acceleration
incident in California will be the subject of a future recall to
prevent floor mats from pinning down the gas pedal.
On Monday, James Sikes, 61 years old, called 911 for help after his
2008 Prius accelerated on a highway near San Diego and he couldn’t slow
it down. A California Highway Patrol officer caught up to the Prius and
advised the driver to apply the brakes and emergency brake to slow the
vehicle.
Get the full story »
March 9, 2010 at 5:44 a.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Litigation,
Recalls
Associated Press | Toyota owners claiming that massive safety
recalls are causing the value of their vehicles to plummet have filed
at least 89 class-action lawsuits that could cost the Japanese auto
giant $3 billion or more, according to an Associated Press review of
cases, legal precedent and interviews with experts.
Those estimates do not include potential payouts for wrongful death and
injury lawsuits, which could reach in the tens of millions each. Still,
the sheer volume of cases involving U.S. Toyota owners claiming lost
value — 6 million or more — could prove far more costly, adding up to
losses in the billions for the automaker.
Such class-action lawsuits “are more scary for Toyota than the cases
where people actually got injured,” said Tom Baker, a University of
Pennsylvania law professor.
Get the full story »
March 8, 2010 at 1:45 p.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Politics
Associated Press | Toyota is rebutting Southern Illinois University Professor David Gilbert’s claims that the electronics of its cars and trucks are to blame for unwanted acceleration problems that have led to more than 8 million recalled vehicles.
Toyota is presenting researchers Monday who question Gilbert’s findings, after he recreated unintended acceleration in a Toyota vehicle by manipulating its electronics. Gilbert told a congressional hearing Feb. 23 that he recreated sudden
acceleration in a Toyota Tundra by short-circuiting the electronics
behind the gas pedal — without triggering any trouble codes in the
truck’s computer.
Get the full story »
March 8, 2010 at 12:33 a.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Recalls
By Robert Channick | A
Southern Illinois University professor will go up against Toyota today
in a very public version of their sparring match over the car company’s
acceleration problems.
David Gilbert, associate professor of Automotive Technology at Southern Illinois University, testifies on Capitol Hill about Toyota’s acceleration problems. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) >>
Hoping to debunk a report by the professor linking electronic glitches
to unintended acceleration, Toyota plans to demonstrate its own
findings during a live Web cast Monday. The world’s largest automaker
may have a lot riding on the test.
Presented to Congress last month, the study conducted by David Gilbert,
an assistant professor of automotive technology at Southern Illinois
University, showed how a wiring malfunction could cause Toyota vehicles
to accelerate wildly, something the company has steadfastly denied.
Get the full story »
March 7, 2010 at 7:50 p.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Manufacturing
From RTT News | NC2Global LLC, the global joint venture between Caterpillar Inc. and Navistar International Corp. announced that they are set to launch Australian operations, with truck sales to begin mid-year.
Get the full story: rttnews.com
March 5, 2010 at 2:57 p.m.
Filed under:
Autos
A couple looks at the Chevrolet Traverse. General Motors said on Friday that it will reinstate about 600 dealerships. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole)
Associated Press | General Motors Co. will reinstate more than half the dealerships it
targeted to drop from its network.
GM executives said Friday that about 600 dealerships out of the 1,100
seeking to stay with GM will receive letters giving them the option to
remain with the automaker.
Get the full story »
March 4, 2010 at 6:47 p.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Earnings
Associated Press | Midas Inc. reported a fourth-quarter loss
Thursday, the result of restructuring costs and falling sales of parts
and tires at its auto repair shops, but says it has already begun to
see improvement this year.
Itasca-based Midas lost $200,000, or 2 cents per share, compared with
profit of $2.7 million, or 20 cents per share, a year earlier. Midas
reported quarterly revenue of $45.7 million, down from $46.7 million a
year ago.
Get the full story »
March 3, 2010 at 6:37 a.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Jobs/employment
From the Times of Northwest Indiana | Lear Corp. plans to add 285 workers at its
Hammond seat plant, nearly tripling employment there, to
make seats for the Ford Explorer SUV. The Explorer will begin rolling of the
assembly line at Chicago’s Ford Torrence plant in the fourth-quarter of 2010.
Get the full story: nwitimes.com
March 3, 2010 at 5:05 a.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Recalls
From Reuters | Nissan Motor Co. said it would recall 540,000 cars worldwide, most in the United States, to address potentially faulty brake pedal pins and fuel-gauge components.
Nissan said five models from 2008 to 2010 model years, including the Titan truck and Armada SUV, would be recalled due to the risk of the brake pedal pins partially disengaging, causing a loss of normal braking ability.
Get the full story: reuters.com
