HFO-1234yf is a refrigerant that is becoming an industry standard in Europe. Thanks to incentives offered by the Environmental Protection Agency, the refrigerant is likely to be rolled out widely in the United States as well. Honeywell and partner Dupont have a monopoly on the stuff. It also can kill you in more ways than one. Says Reuters:
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Peugeot will eliminate an additional 1,500 French jobs by 2014, bringing the previously announced 8,000 layoffs close to 10,000, PSA managers told union representatives yesterday. Read More >
Even though some blogs were reporting engineering breakthroughs regarding the Jaguar C-X75’s innovative powertrain, Jaguar has confirmed that the car is dead.
Acura’s ILX is 2/3rds of the way to hitting its 30,000 unit annual sales target, and the brand is hoping that the discontinuation of the base car’s 2.0L engine will help kickstart sales.
As predicted a month ago, Daimler did put a board member in charge of its lagging China business. Today, Daimler expanded its Board of Management to eight, and made its new board member and former truck chief Hubertus Troska CEO and Chairman of Daimler Northeast Asia. The job won’t be easy. Read More >
With the stroke of a few pens putting signatures under a contract in Moscow today, then Renault-Nissan Alliance has become Russia’s largest automaker. The Alliance took control of AVTOVAZ, maker of the market-leading Lada brand. Lada holds 30 percent of Russia’s rapidly growing car market. Read More >
Pardon the awful pun in the title. Honda released this sketch of a new small crossover, presumably based on the next-generation Fit. It will debut at the 2013 North American International Auto Show and have nothing in common with the Brazilian Fit crossover-thingy.
BMW and Boeing will share know-how about making carbon fiber. BMW says it signed a collaboration agreement “to participate in joint research for carbon fiber recycling as well as share manufacturing knowledge and explore automation opportunities.” Read More >
A day after GM’s announcement to close down most of its Bochum plant, Germany’s vice chancellor and economy Minister Philipp Rösler blamed GM’s management for Opel’s misery. German carmakers like Volkswagen, BMW or Daimler are relatively unaffected by the European contagion, because they are successful in export markets. “It has been a mistake that Opel was more or less kept out of the growth market China,” Rösler told the Rheinische Post. “There will be no financial help, because it won’t solve the management problems.” Read More >
Since we were on the subject of electronic and computerized vehicle protection systems, it seemed like a logical move to begin a discussion of another long-standing and not universally beloved vehicle subsystem—this one ostensibly purposed to save us from ourselves, or at least our vehicles from “the nut behind the wheel”. Read More >
They are back! Two years ago, a group of Chrysler workers were caught were caught drinking and doobing on their lunch break. Not just that, they were caught on camera by a local TV station. The video went viral, and Chrysler was forthwith associated with quality enhanced by booze and marijuana. 13 workers were fired. Yesterday, they got their jobs back, courtesy of Chrysler’s contract with the UAW. Read More >
Last week, we told you to not buy a full-sized GM pickup just yet, and to hold out for big discounts from GM. You did not have to wait long. However, you may want to wait a little more. Read More >
Consumer Reports’ story about two Ford hybrids falling way short of their official 47 MPG number has attracted the EPA’s attention. The agency “will look at the report and data,” it told Reuters. Read More >
President Obama joined the debate about Michigan’s “right-to-work” law. “What they’re really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money,” Obama told workers during a visit to the Daimler Detroit Diesel plant in Redford, Michigan. He forgot to mention three important items. Read More >
Battery maker A123 was sold to China’s Wanxiang Group, but the company won’t come with more government money. The DOE won’t give A123 Systems Inc. the balance of a $249 million grant, a department official tells Reuters. Wanxiang, in the meantime, let it become known that it did not ask for the grant money, and that it did not anticipate receiving it. Read More >
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