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Ford pulls out of car-making in Australia

Posted by: car fanatics - Yesterday 08:38 PM - Replies (5)

The Australian

Ford Australia boss Bob Graziano announced the closure of the car-maker's Broadmeadows and Geelong plants in Victoria while unveiling a $141 million after-tax loss for 2012-13 year.

He said after losses of $600 million over the last five years, the company had come to the conclusion that it was no longer viable to produce vehicles in Australia.

But he said the company would maintain a significant presence in Australia with a staff of 1500 in product development roles.

“Ford has been a part of the Australian automotive industry for nearly 90 years and we have continued to successfully transform our business over that time,'' Mr Graziano said.

Leaf-based Infiniti to showcase 'neater' induction-based charging tech

Posted by: car fanatics - Yesterday 05:20 PM - Replies (2)

Autocar
Photo credit: Infiniti

Infiniti LE Concept

The launch of a luxury Infiniti electric car based on the Nissan Leaf hinges on a standard process of induction charging being introduced around the world.

The new Infiniti will have a completely different exterior and interior from the Nissan hatchback and it will be used to showcase induction technology, which does away with charging cables.

Tesla Motors repays Department of Energy loan nine years early

Posted by: car fanatics - Yesterday 04:45 PM - Replies (5)

Tesla Motors
Photo credit: Tesla Motors

Tesla Model S

Tesla Motors announced that it has paid off the entire loan awarded to the company by the Department of Energy in 2010. In addition to payments made in 2012 and Q1 2013, today’s wire of almost half a billion dollars ($451.8M) repays the full loan facility with interest. Following this payment, Tesla will be the only American car company to have fully repaid the government.

For the first seven years since its founding in 2003, Tesla was funded entirely with private funds, led by Elon Musk. Tesla brought its Roadster sports car to market with a 30% gross margin, designed electric powertrains for Daimler (Mercedes) and had done preliminary design of the Model S..... Read more

Lexus plans to sell an IS coupe next year

Posted by: car fanatics - Yesterday 03:10 PM - No Replies

What Car?
Photo credit: Lexus

Lexus LF-CC concept

A Lexus IS coupe, based on the new IS saloon, will go on sale in 2014.

This three-door coupe will look very similar to the LF-CC concept that appeared at the 2012 Paris motor show.

The LF-CC previewed various styling elements on the new IS, including its large trapezoidal front grille, plus it was equipped with the 2.5-litre petrol-electric hybrid drivetrain that is available in the new IS saloon.

Volkswagen to modify their diesel cars to prevent improper fueling

Posted by: car fanatics - Yesterday 01:14 PM - Replies (6)

Automotive News
Photo credit: Volkswagen

2012 Volkswagen Golf

Volkswagen plans to refit more than a quarter million 2009-12 diesel cars to prevent North American customers from mistakenly pumping gasoline into the fuel tanks.

The service action covers 209,500 cars in the United States and 51,600 in Canada. Affected models are the TDI versions of the 2009-12 Jetta, 2010-12 Golf and 2009-12 Jetta SportWagen, called the Golf Wagon in Canada.

Beginning with 2013 vehicles, VW redesigned its fuel fillers to accept only diesel nozzles. G..... Read more

Ford increases North American capacity by 200,000 units

Posted by: car fanatics - Yesterday 11:56 AM - Replies (4)

Ford
Photo credit: Ford

2013 Ford F-150

Ford Motor Company will add an additional 200,000 units of annual straight-time capacity this year. In addition, Ford will produce an extra 40,000 units by idling select plants for only one week during what has been the traditional two-week summer shutdown.

“To meet surging customer demand for our top-selling cars, utilities and trucks, we are continuing to run our North American facilities at full manned capacity, and we will add 200,000 units of annual straight-time capacity this year,” said Jim Tetreault, vice president of North America Manufacturing. “Approximately 75 percent of our plants are running at a three-crew, three-shift ..... Read more

49ers head coach to pace Indy 500 in 2014 Corvette Stingray

Posted by: car fanatics - Yesterday 11:45 AM - Replies (1)

General Motors
Photo credit: General Motors

2014 Corvette Stingray Pace Car

Jim Harbaugh, head coach of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, will drive the all-new 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Pace Car to lead the pack of 33 racers to the start of the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500, this Sunday.

Harbaugh, who took the 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2012, is no stranger to Indianapolis. He was a quarterback for the Colts football team from 1994 through 1997. During his time with the Colts, he was named AFC Player of the Year and named to the Pro Bowl in 1995.

[align=center]SEE ALSO: ..... Read more

Toyota is the world's most valuable automotive brand

Posted by: car fanatics - 05-21-2013 09:22 PM - Replies (10)

Toyota
Photo credit: Toyota

2013 Toyota Corolla S Special Edition

Toyota's brand value surged by 12 per cent to US$24.5 billion over the past year, one of the biggest movers in the automotive sector. In the eight years since the BrandZ report was first published in 2006, Toyota has been crowned brand value leader in the automotive sector six times, and second on two separate occasions.

Toyota Motor Corporation's global sales in 2012 rose 22.6 per cent to 9.75 million units, which contributed positively towards the company's brand valuation in this year's report. The BrandZ research aligns with the results of two other studies by international consultancies Brand Finance and Interbrand that have rated Toyota as the world's mos..... Read more

General Motors invests $44.5 million in Lansing Grand River plant

Posted by: car fanatics - 05-21-2013 02:17 PM - No Replies

General Motors
Photo credit: General Motors

2013 Cadillac ATS

General Motors today announced a $44.5 million investment to build a Logistics Optimization Center at its Lansing Grand River Assembly plant, creating 200 new jobs.

The investment will be used to build a 400,000-square-foot building adjacent to the plant to sequence and assemble parts to make manufacturing more flexible at the site. Lansing Grand River is home of the Cadillac ATS, the North American Car of the Year.

“This project is the latest example of how we’re doing business differently in GM today,” said Christine Sitek, GM North America manufacturing manager. “We’ve developed an innovative material strategy that increases efficien..... Read more

VL Automotive and China's Wanxiang Group bid on Fisker

Posted by: car fanatics - 05-21-2013 12:53 PM - Replies (1)

Reuters
Photo credit: Fisker Automotive

Fisker Karma

VL Automotive and China's Wanxiang Group are looking to gain control of Fisker through a prepackaged bankruptcy, the sources said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the discussions are private.

This is one of at least two ongoing efforts to revive Fisker, which fired the bulk of its workforce to preserve cash and hired bankruptcy advisers earlier this year.

Investors based in Europe and Hong Kong are working on a separate deal to buy $171 million in debt that Fisker still owes to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the sources said..... Read more

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