President Obama came to the union auto worker hotbed of Detroit this Labor Day to celebrate the value of Big Labor with people who make and assemble cars and trucks, and their families. While he did that, Michigan Republicans used his visit as an impetus to raise money.
Contrary to modern belief and all the canned reports by many automotive media types that electrification is the only way to maximize automobile efficiency, the demise of the internal combustion engine is extremely exaggerated, especially as split-cycle engine technology comes of age and challenges the high costs of EVs and hybrid cars.
Honda is hanging on to hold its own in a down U.S. market. As the last quarter of 2011 approaches, the Japanese car company's sales are only down 6% compared with 2010 unit sales, despite a rocky August.
Acura is continuing to lose ground as its car and truck sales plunged steeply in August compared with year-ago numbers. The luxury marque moved only 9,054 vehicles out of U.S. showrooms last month. It was a drop of 24.5%.
Snowmobilers in Michigan, home to 6,200 miles of wintertime snow trails, can now register their classic sleds with special $50 decals that went on sale this week at Department of State offices in the Great Lakes state's 83 counties.
Toyota is counting on new sound systems to enhance buyer pleasure and improve the delivery of music and infotainment on its 2012 Tacoma pickup truck, which the Japanese carmaker said today will be available in dealer showrooms next week.
Ford Motor Company had another strong month in August 2011, lead in part by the increase in year over year sales by their Lincoln brand which continues to push ahead without new models.
General Motors had another good month in August 2011, moving 218,479 vehicles for an improvement of 18% over August last year – making them the top dog in terms of sales volume and third behind Nissan and Chrysler in terms of growth.
