BMW Group talks trade with Trump administration, claims status as ‘largest vehicle exporter from the US’

Photo: BMW PressClub USA.

Who is the largest exporter of motor vehicles from the U.S.?

In a statement issued yesterday after joining other German automakers for “a constructive working meeting” with Trump administration officials, the BMW Group said that their company is “is the largest vehicle exporter from the US in terms of value.”

Maybe you haven’t thought about spark plugs much lately, but NGK’s SEMA announcements show the technology continues to drive ahead

Drag-racing driver Megan Meyer, sponsored by NGK Spark Plugs,
greets automotive-industry attendees of the 2018 SEMA Show
at the NGK booth.

By Bill Hayward

If you don’t spend much time thinking about automotive spark plugs these days, don’t feel guilty. You’re in good company. Thinking about spark plugs a lot less often is something that has been to some extent encouraged since, say, the 1980s.

That said, some of us are old enough to still remember a time when folk wisdom, perhaps with a push from the auto repair industry, held that an “annual tune up” that included changing ignition parts like plugs, points, and ignition wires, was an essential element of automotive maintenance.

See you at SEMA 2018?

Photo: SEMA.

Yes, it’s official. Auto Enthusiasts Newsblaster will indeed be represented at SEMA 2018 (October 30-November 2 in Las Vegas) this year, by yours truly.

I will of course want to check out the many cool builds scheduled to be on display, like the Maxlider Brothers/Union Pacific Industries 1966 Ford Bronco resto-mod and the Prestone Javelin AMX by Ringbrothers. Watch for photos of goodies like these to show up on our website and social media.  I plan to be posting throughout the show to our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

If you’re interested in automotive industry jobs, FCA might make you very happy, survey says

Recruiters greet candidates at an FCA job fair.
Photo: FCA USMedia Website

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) stated this week that they have scored among the top companies in the United States—not just in the car business, but overall—in providing a positive, transparent, and insightful experience for career seekers.

The automaker’s performance as a prospective employer was good enough this year to earn them a 2018 North American Candidate Experience Award (CandE Award), in a competition organized each year by Talent Board, a nonprofit that conducts research on the quality of the job candidate experience.

The votes are in: and this year’s SEMA Award finalists are…

Photo: SEMA.

The Specialty Equipment Manufacturing Association announced yesterday that automotive-industry exhibitors of the upcoming 2018 SEMA Show (October 30–November 2 at the Las Vegas Convention Center) have voted to select finalists for the SEMA Award, which honors automakers for producing accessory-friendly vehicles.

Finalists for the 2018 SEMA Award were selected in five categories: car, truck, 4x4/SUV, sport compact, and powersports vehicle—the latter of which is a newly created category for the SEMA Awards competition. Awards will be presented to winners at the SEMA Vehicle Reveal in Las Vegas on Monday, October 29, the day before the official opening of the 2018 SEMA show.

Fiat Chrysler reports record September sales, Ford and GM down

2019 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio. Photo: FCA Media website.

September sales reports from the automotive industry are out. Although it turned out to be a bearish month for two of the Big Three, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles boasted their biggest September in nearly two decades, with sales of 199,819 vehicles led by Ram and Jeep.

Industry group says car-care business owners, employees should be very afraid of Trump administration’s proposed tariffs.

U.S. workers build cars at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing, LLC.
Photo: Hyundai Media Center.

If you’re an employee or business owner in the U.S. car-care industry, the Auto Care Association thinks you should be afraid. Very afraid.

According to the trade group, based in Bethesda, Maryland, an economic study they commissioned finds that proposed tariffs of 25 percent on imported automobiles and car parts could cost the auto parts manufacturing sector 17,800 jobs, resulting in wage losses of $1.4 billion for affected workers.

No, Rolls-Royce didn’t announce thousands of job cuts today. But Rolls-Royce did.

Rolls-Royce Cars and Cognac Event. Photo: BMW Group Press Club.

It was a study in random PR mishaps and brand confusion. And it’s hard to imagine how the timing could have been much worse.

Despite tragic accidents, the self-driving car money trail tells one story: They’re here. They’re autonomous. Get used to it.

Waymo-branded self-driving Chrysler Pacifica. Photo: FCA.

It doesn’t take much research to at least get a “Zen sense,” if not a quantitative sense, that auto enthusiasts tend to be, to say the least, ambivalent about the self-driving vehicle juggernaut.

And that’s not hard to understand: it's all about the sense of individual freedom and control that comes from owning and driving your own vehicle. The American driver knows that he or she can, theoretically, at least, decide on any given day to pack up the car and go anywhere in this vast country—whether it’s a temporary vacation or a permanent move.

Will Africa be the automotive industry's next boom market? One former GM executive thinks so.

According to the U.N., more than half of the world's population growth of 2.4 billion projected by 2050 will come from Africa, where the population is expected to double and where the workforce will soon be the world's largest.

Can the automotive industry find new opportunities by serving this expanding market?

Horsepower, Storage Space Losing Ground as Automotive Purchasing Decision Drivers, Survey Says

Muscle-car V8s boasted impressive power for their day. But

thanks to engineering advances, some 4-cylinder engines of

today can rival their power.  Photo: Christopher Ziemnowicz 

(released to the Public Domain).

For the past several years, the automotive media has been packed with commentary about a "horsepower renaissance," with four-cylinder motors of today boasting horsepower figures that could embarrass ginormous V8 engines from the peak of the muscle-car era.

Driven by advances in automotive engineering, horsepower has been touted as a selling point, at least to consumers with "enthusiast tendencies."

But is interest in horsepower now on the wane?

Mazda Scores Innovation Award for SKYACTIVE-X Compression-Ignition Engine

From our perspective, there are two key ways that Mazda is strongly distinguishing itself within the automotive today's automotive industry

The first is car model design aesthetics. In a world where you increasingly need to play "find the badge" to identify the manufacturer of that latest boring crossover or lookalike Sonata- or Fusion-shaped fastback sedan, Mazda takes the intractable reality of the aerodynamic and safety-driven basic shapes that the industry feels obligated to produce today and manages to produce standout designs that are stunning enough to make a car enthusiast drool.

Mazda is also pushing the edges outward on the technology and research-and-development side. To name just a few examples, Mazda has made automotive technology news recently with a partnership with Denso and Toyota for electric vehicle R&D, an effort to obsolete the lead-acid starter battery with a lithium-ion replacement, and their latest public triumph: a Gold Edison Award for the SKYACTIV-X compression-ignition engine. 

March Was a Good Month for Cadillac Sales, GM Reports

If you're Cadillac enthusiast, you just might be pleased to hear that the brand rang up strong sales for March 2018, posting a year-over-year increase of over 25 percent—Cadillac's best March sales during the marque's twenty-second month of consecutive sales growth.

So what Caddy models are driving the growth? In a statement, GM reported that sales were driven by impressive performances of both the Cadillac XT5 and the Escalade, which continues to gain market share with retail sales up 15 percent for the month. The brand’s sedan portfolio also saw robust growth during the first quarter of 2018. Cadillac XTS, CT6, and ATS sales also saw significant gains, the company said.

SEMA Names New Artist for 2018 Show

SEMA 2018, set for Vegas from October 30 through November 2, will showcase the artwork of Alex Carmona, who will become part of a tradition that was established by celebrated automotive artists Max Grundy and Ed Tillrock.

Carmona’s work will be displayed throughout the show and featured in its marketing material, including signage, onsite and online, to help heighten the energy of the SEMA Show experience by striking a chord with showgoers at the exclusive event.

ResearchAndMarkets.com Releases 2018 North America Automotive Market Report

The "2018 North America Automotive Market - Emerging Dynamics and Future of North America Passenger Cars and Commercial Vehicles" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The North American automobile market continues to record steady growth. The presence of leading manufacturers and consumption markets is driving the market value of the region. A boost in M&A activities, site relocations, integration operations are being increasingly observed in the region. The economic growth of the region has a direct impact on the sales of passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Manufacturers are aiming to strengthen their self sufficiency across the value chain.