Auto Insurance News Archive for 2013

• Auto Show in Detroit to Highlight New App for Accessing Auto Shows Worldwide

  by Richard Burton
  

  Organizers of Auto Show, Detroit recently announced the promotion of a fantastic new app in the coming month at their show. ‘AUTO SHOW PASSPORT’, the new app is capable of displaying auto shows worldwide. People all over the world are quite aware of the global impact associated with the auto shows. The application is just going to help achieve that by taking the shows on a global scale and give the audience what they truly want. Those are believe that this kind of apps may completely do away with the auto shows in the coming times however are quite wrong. … (more) December 15, 2013

• The Era of ‘Government Motors’ Ends in US with Selling Of Final GM Shares

  by Richard Burton
  

  U.S. Treasury decided to sell the very last of their stake in General Motors recently, ending a 4-year long run of government ownership in the nation’s largest automobile company. No one is complaining because the ownership has cost taxpayers approximately $10.5B until now. A statement from the government has however mentioned that it has recovered approximately $39B from the original investment of $50B in GM. Dealers and company executives believe that the label GOVERNMENT MOTORS has done more harm than good to the reputation of the company and has affected the sales negatively. As such, they have breathed a sigh … (more) December 11, 2013

• Highest Level Executive Shuffle At Nissan’s Smyrna, Tennessee Plant

  by Richard Burton
  

  Just after completing one of its most ambitious projects at their Smyrna, Tennessee plant auto assembly, Nissan Motor Co. lost Susan Brennan, one of its highest profile manufacturing executives. Brennan is known to leave the company for seeking career opportunities outside Nissan and it will be Randy Knight – succeeding her as the VP Manufacturing of the Smyrna plant with effect from November 18, 2013. Mr. Randy Night was previously holding post of the material handling and production control director and is a veteran with Nissan for 30 years. As a matter of company policy Nissan denied any further comment … (more) November 21, 2013

• Government Shut Down Shows Little Impact on Auto Sales in U.S.

  by Richard Burton
  

  The U.S. auto industry seems to have left its bad fortune behind and showing signs of returning to form if sales during the month of October are any indication. This is surely something to rejoice for the auto industry as this spurt in sales comes in the wake of a 16-day federal shutdown. Early in the month, however sales figures were not that enthusiastic. Changes started to occur in the post Washington stalemate settlement scenario. General Motors led the BIG 3 of Detroit showing a staggering 16% increase in sales during the month of October 2013. GM delivered 226,400+ vehicles … (more) November 7, 2013

• Toyota Unveils the All-New Bestseller Corolla

  by Richard Burton
  

  Toyota unveiled their latest version of Corolla recently at the Old Hanger in Santa Monica, California. This was a splashy entrance with hundreds of guests and journalists waiting in the wings. They were curious to know what new additions the Japanese automakers will bring to their bestselling and highly popular sedan. Most buyers and industry watchers fault the boring performance, handling, and the conservative styling of Toyota Corolla. Nevertheless since its introduction in Japan during the 1966, it sales have been over 40 million and growing in the US and in other 53 countries across the world. In keeping with … (more) October 22, 2013

• GM Reduces the Prices of Chevy Volt to Boost Sales

  by Richard Burton
  

  General Motors recently announced the slashing of prices of their Chevy Volt in a bid to boost the recently flagging sales. After the initial enthusiastic sales, this latest battery car model from GM is finally coming unplugged! The company is now offering buyers, $5,000 incentives for attracting them back to the showrooms. With this bid GM becomes the latest automobile maker trying to increase the lagging sales of their electric car model. Nissan, its rival company found success early this year in increasing their battery car sales after a price slash on their Leaf BEV model. Both Chevy Volt and … (more) October 17, 2013

• Probable Impacts of the Government Shutdown on U.S. Auto Industry

  by Richard Burton
  

  Though Beau Boeckmann’s Ford showroom and many other like that in California and other parts of Europe are making a booming business, but it is still absolutely unclear how the recently announced government shutdown is going to effect and influence the business. As per Boeckmann, the shutdown might not make a huge difference to the industry as long as it doesn’t linger on for long and starts affecting U.S. citizens on a personal level. The prolonged impact that this standoff might on showroom traffic has truly sent a shiver down the spine of an industry that has experienced best monthly sales this September since the year 2007.

• Top Level Management Shuffle in Volvo to Boost Sales in the U.S.

  by Richard Burton
  

  In order to boost up its less than desired level of performance in the USA, Volvo chooses 53 year old Tony Nicolosi, CEO of Volvo Car Financial Services U.S., as the new head of its management arm in the country. Nicolosi will be replacing John Maloney, who has held this position, since the last quarter of the year 2011 and is presently exiting the company. Though Nicolosi was not available for a personal comment, but as per Volvo sources, the announcement of crowning him as CEO and President will be made in due course of time.

• U.S. Auto Sales Shows Growth for the Fifth Straight Year

  by Richard Burton
  

  The American automobile market is showing a positive sales curve for the fifth consecutive year. This is no mean feat for an industry, which was struggling with the post recession phase until recently. The staggering recovery has amazed everybody and speculation is now rife whether these steadily escalating sales are going to be a repeat of the year 2000’s record run.

• Tesla Announces Its Plan to Build Self-Driving Cars

  by Richard Burton
  

  Tesla motors the well-known electric car company recently announced their plan to bring self-driving cars to the automotive market by the next 3 years. These vehicles will be able to run on an autopilot with 90% driving capabilities. Elon Musk their CEO announced these plans. With this endeavor, Tesla joined the race to bring a driverless car to the markets with Google Inc. the tech giant and other carmakers as its other competitors.

• New Opportunity for GM in Europe as Korean Auto Companies Push for Upscale Market

  by Richard Burton
  

  As South Korean automakers continue to push for upscale European clients they are also offering General Motors a chance to push a Chevy into Europe which has so far struggled in the continental market. Thomas Serdan, the new president of Chevrolet told in Europe last Tuesday that it is evident from the pricing of Hyundai and Kia that they certainly want to move up the market and when everybody is pushing forward certainly more space is created for others.

• Study Indicates Rise in Vehicle Fuel Efficiency in USA

  by Richard Burton
  

  According to a recently published report, fuel efficiency of new vehicles sold in the U.S. has reached an average of 24.9 miles per gallon, and this result is achieved despite the growing sales of CUV and SUVs. As per Michael Sivak, from the University of Michigan, it is not surprising that overall fuel economy is America is on an improving curve as more and more buyers are opting for fuel efficient models of different classes of automobiles.

• General Motors Launched Stair-Step Dealer Incentive Program to Pump Up Chevrolet Sales This Year

  by Richard Burton
  

  General Motors, the giant automobile manufacturing company in the world, has launched its typical “stair-step” program yet again to broaden the sales incentives for Chevrolet dealers to pump up the sales revenues this year. The sales figures for 2013 and 2014 Chevrolet cars such as Camaros, Impalas, Sonics, and Cruzes will be included in the program for August.

• Ford Brings Down EPA Ratings on C-Max amidst Heavy Criticism

  by Richard Burton
  

  Ford Motors recently announced lowering of their rating for fuel economy on C-Max Hybrid vehicles. It was a forced decision after they faced lawsuits and heavy criticism from users of this car everywhere. Their stated fuel economy for the car initially was 47 mpg, which is now going to become 43 mpg. Naturally, this decision is going to cost the automobile giant, a pretty penny in the coming times.

• EPA Ratings for 2014 Mazda3 Announced by Automakers

  by Richard Burton
  

  The all-new, fully redesigned Mazda3 recently announced their EPA rating for the 2014 sedan model. It has a 29 mpg for city and 41 mpg for highway fuel economy figure involving manual six-speed transmission. This announcement covers their 2014 sedan with four-cylinder, 2 L, 155 hp engine. Addition of automatic transmission in this new model boosts their city rating but their highway, fuel economy remains unchanged. City ratings increased by 1 mpg.

• New-Model Vehicle Survey Unveils Favorites For 2013

  by Richard Burton
  

  In a recent study involving new model vehicles for gauging owner satisfaction, Porsche and Range Rover took the top slots. Volkswagen Group was the clear leader with their five different nameplates getting thumbs up from vehicle owners everywhere. These included Audi Allroad, Porsche Cayenne, Volkswagen Passat, Porsche Boxster, and Volkswagen GTI. Some of the attributes the survey included while judging the vehicles were, performance, layout, design, and fuel economy, among others.

• FTC Levies Hefty Penalty on Automobile Debt Collection Agency in Texas

  by Richard Burton
  

  Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently levied a staggering $3.2 million penalty on Expert Global Solutions, a Texas based auto-lending company. This Texan concern was guilty of harassing consumers in the U.S. through their debt collection calls. Their behavior was a violation of the Practices Act, which calls for fair collection of debt.