October 2007
Tires Can Help Cut CO2: Just Ask Michelin
By John O'Dell October 31, 2007Tire maker Michelin wants consumers to know that choosing the right tires can go a long way toward reducing emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases as well as improving fuel economy. And, of course, it wants to sell as many of its own tires as possible. So the company has launched a four-city, four-country campaign featuring "Green Meters," giant digital counters showing the real-time fuel savings and carbon dioxide emissions reductions attributable to Michelin "green energy-saving tires" since 1992. more
Toyota Plans Major Fuel Cell News for LA Auto Show
By John O'Dell October 31, 2007Toyota Motor Corp., unwilling to cede any ground to rivals GM and Honda in the green game, says it will make a "major" annoucement about its fuel-cell electric vehicle program during its press conference Nov. 14 at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The company is keeping details under wraps, but odds-makers say it is likely to unveil a leasing program for its third generation fuel cell vehicle. more
GM Takes Delivery of Advanced Batteries for Chevy Volt
By Michelle Krebs October 31, 2007The Chevrolet Volt moved yet-another step closer to reality Tuesday when, as scheduled, General Motors took delivery on the first advance lithium-ion batteries to go into E-Flex operating system that powers the Volt. The battery delivery buoyed the confidence of GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, who told the Detroit Free Press in an interview that he hoped GM would build as many as 100,000 Chevrolet Volts in the first year of production, set for around year-end 2010. Lutz told the newspaper that the first-generation production version of the E-Flex will appear in a vehicle that will be called the Chevrolet more
Tiremaker Michelin Launches Green Campaign
By Michelle Krebs October 31, 2007By Bill Visnic NEW YORK -- Global tire giant Michelin kicks off a high-profile campaign here to promote a wide- ranging new initiative to improve the efficiency of automotive and truck tires, promote “green” tire choices and to reduce the impact on the environment of tire production. Michelin’s efforts are likely to have a significant impact on both consumers and the automaker and truckmaker customers it supplies. Starting on the evening of October 30 and running for four days, Michelin has enormous “green meters†on New York City’s NASDAQ and Reuters electronic billboards displaying reductions in fuel consumption and CO2 more
Edmunds.com Forecast: Housing Market Woes Continue to Affect October Car Sales
By Michelle Krebs October 30, 2007October’s new vehicle sales are expected to be 1.24 million units, a 2.4 percent increase from October 2006 on an unadjusted basis, according to a forecast by Edmunds.com. Automakers will report October sales results on Thursday. This October had 26 selling days, one more than October 2006. When adjusted for this difference, sales decreased 1.6 percent from October 2006. (The chart below sets forth other adjusted and unadjusted comparisons.) "Sales are strong for vehicles at the far ends of the price spectrum, as consumers affected by the housing market bust seek bargains while luxury buyers are largely untouched," observed Jesse more
SEMA: Big Business for Automakers
By Michelle Krebs October 30, 2007By Dale Buss Every year when the vehicle-customization industry gathers at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas, one group of attendees is always more engaged than the year before: auto company executives. Tapping into the customization and specialization craze is boosting their top lines and beefing up their bottom lines more than ever before, producing juicy double-digit growth that normally isn’t part of the landscape in the highly mature U.S. automotive market. At least 14 automakers were expected to exhibit at the SEMA show that began in the Las Vegas Convention Center on Tuesday. Understandably, each more
GM Will Spend $250 Million on Green Tech Center in China
By John O'Dell October 29, 2007General Motors Corp., as we've said before, sees China as a great place to try new automotive technologies. The country is just learning to drive, doesn't have much of an automotive infrastructure and has a communist government that, for better or worse, can make things happen. So where better to push for a real hydrogen highway, or mass introduction of plug-in hybrids, hydrogen fuel-cell and battery-electric cars and trucks?Underscoring its belief that the Middle Kingdom is, indeed, the new automotive frontier, GM today said it will establish a $250 million alternative fuels research center in Shanghai to help speed development more
Navistar Eyes GM Medium-Duty Truck Business
By Michelle Krebs October 29, 2007By Bill Visnic Navistar International Corp. has disclosed it is “in discussions†with General Motors Corp. regarding a deal to buy GM’s medium-duty commercial truck operations. A GM spokesman would not comment on Navistar’s release in financial filings, saying “We said before that we’re looking at options for the medium-duty [commercial truck] business.†He adds that GM is studying its strategic options but, “we’re not ready to announce anything yet.†Navistar is the widely known holding company for such brands as International trucks and MaxxForce diesel engines for commercial trucks. Earlier this year, Navistar also was at the center of more
Chrysler-UAW Contract: Done Deal
By Michelle Krebs October 29, 2007It was close, but members of the United Auto Workers union approved a new four-year contract with Chrysler over the weekend. Some union locals rejected the deal, saying it didn’t contain product assignments for specific plants and job guarantees comparable to those negotiated in the General Motors contract. The agreement, reached after a nearly seven-hour strike, includes a union-run independent retiree health care trust and, Chrysler said, improves the automaker’s competitiveness. more
Plug-Ins Go Under Microscope in "Real World" Study
By John O'Dell October 31, 2007Despite all the talk about plug-in hybrids, none of the major carmakers are testing them with real people—although a few dozen are rolling over the roads in government and public utility agencies' test fleets. That's about to change as the University of California's Davis campus, a hotbed of alternative fuel and power train technology development, begins its own two-year study of everyday people driving cars that combine gasoline internal combustion engines with rechargeable batteries and electric drive. The program will involve 10 Toyota Prius hybrids—the Prius is the unofficial "state" car of the San Francisco Bay Area, where it is more