Danny Schmidt is an Austin, Texas-based singer-songwriter. He drives a beat-up 1990 Honda Civic that is a hand-me-down from his father, who is a mechanical engineer at the University of Texas (and incidentally, a sometime technical media consultant to Toyota on the ultra-green Prius). Schmidt has just recorded what might be the best song ever about how globalization affects the auto industry....
Auto Industry Archive
March 2009
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services once again downgraded Ford Motor Co. to the same corporate credit rating as Chrysler and GM, even though unlike its domestic rivals, Ford so far has managed to avoid asking for an extensive government bailout. S&P took similar action in November 2008. Later, in December, S&P cut Chrysler and GM to “CC,” but left Ford a couple of...
The leading luxury import brands, BMW, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz are falling nearly as much as the rest of the U.S. market, as high-end buyers are sitting on their wallets, too. In February, BMW sales fell 37.5 percent from the year-ago month; Lexus dropped 38.4 percent; Mercedes-Benz fell 23.5 percent, according to AutoData Corp. The drop in leasing presents a special challenge to luxury...
The lithium-ion batteries that Silicon Valley’s Imara Corporation is developing for electric lawnmowers are a means to an end. In the future, Imara hopes to be powering your car, not just four-wheeled lawn equipment. Imara, which has raised almost $20 million to date, is in some ways a typical green-tech startup, especially since its vice president for business development, Neil Maguire,...
Only the people who really have a practical need for trucks are buying trucks. Of all the blows Chrysler, Ford and GM have suffered in the last six months – and that’s a lot, including a credit freeze, a U.S. recession and monumentally low consumer confidence – the drop in truck sales is still probably the most damaging. “It is not good for us when the consumer moves out of...
Will we ever ride around in cars powered by compressed air? Since the days of Jules Verne, who envisioned air-powered trains in his 1863 book Paris in the 20th Century, it’s been a dream. Compressed-air trams actually did ply the streets of Paris around 1900, but they made only short trips. The idea has usually been thwarted by the amount of energy required to compress the air, and the...
U.S. auto sales in February will likely mark six months in a row sales have fallen below 1 million units. It was news when monthly U.S. auto sales fell below 1 million in September 2008. It was the first time that happened since February 1993, according to edmunds.com. Unfortunately, due to the credit crisis, a U.S. recession and low consumer confidence, it has become routine since then. U.S....
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- GM May Close Saab After Buyer Backs Out
- VW's Sports Marketing: Targeted, Focused and Relentless
- Ford Set to Regain U.S. Market Share First Time Since 1995
- Air Cars Have Major Range and Emission Challenges, Says Two New Studies
- GM Chairman Whitacre Has Angel in One Ear, Devil in the Other
- Aptera EV Shakeup and Delays Linked to Financial Problems
- Indian EV Maker Reva Makes Bid for World Dominance (Starting With Iceland)
- Troubled GMAC Is Making It Look Easy For Rival Ford Credit
- Ford Bets Small-Vehicle Trend Is Here to Stay
- Nissan's Carlos Tavares on Launching the Leaf and Electrifying the World
- Daimler's Dieter Zetsche: For Us, Small Cars; For Chrysler, More SUVs
- GM Repays U.S. Early, In Part By Charging Us More
- Nissan Introduces the Leaf EV in Los Angeles
- Ford Has Volvo On the Block, But the Safety Hits Keep Coming
- Batteries vs. Fuel Cells: A Tale of Unequal Federal Funding
- Ultracapacitors: Maybe Not Miracle Workers, but Great EV Power Potential
- Fiat Plan for Chrysler is One Letter Away from
- A Business Case for Battery Cars? Look at Tesla
- It's Getting Hot in Here: The High-Stakes Debate Over Fuel Economy and Climate Standards
- Consumer Reports Gives Nod to Ford Reliability
- Speed Bumps Generate Electricity--and Cash
- VW's Sports Marketing: Targeted, Focused and Relentless
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- Siemens Builds Electric Bike for American Chopper TV Show
- General Motors CEO Front and Center in New PR Campaign
- Lithium-Ion Batteries Could be Too Expensive, MIT Team Says
- Ford Bandwagon Rolling But It's Too Soon to Hop On
- Ford Taurus Comeback Is Off to a Modest Start
- Women Car Buyers Still Met With Dealer Disrespect
- Ford Readies EV Fleets, Prepares to Connect to the Smart Grid
- Indian EV Maker Reva Makes Bid for World Dominance (Starting With Iceland)
Industry Transcripts by Seeking Alpha
- Advance Auto Parts, Inc. Q3 2009 (Qtr End 10/10/09) Earnings Call Transcript
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