Toyota has run out of space for its unsold cars. So it is putting them on a boat.
The Japanese auto giant told Lloyd’s List that it has chartered a 2,500-car capacity ship that will simply sit at a dock in Malmo, Sweden.
“We have space for 12,500 cars in Malmo, which acts as a distribution center for all the Nordic countries,†Toyota spokesman Etienne Plas told Lloyd’s… More info
When General Motors and Chrysler asked Washington for more money last week they took very different approaches. In exchange for an extra $17 billion from taxpayers — on top of the $13 billion it had gotten since December — G.M. said it would reduce costs by shuttering plants, cutting brands and slashing 47,000 jobs, about a fifth of its remaining work force.
For its $5.3 billion — on top of the $4.3 billion it has received since December — Chrysler offered little more than an assurance that it has already cut costs and accomplished most of what it had to do to become a valuable, viable company. It offered to trim production by a paltry 100,000 units — leaving it with capacity to make almost one million vehicles more than it will sell this year — on the questionable assumption that demand, and its market share, will bounce back next year… More info…Â
Of the eight members and 10 senior policy aides named on Friday to the Obama administration’s Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, only two drive vehicles built by Detroit automakers, raising some concerns in the Motor City. Co-chairs Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers both drive Japanese-badged automobiles, an Acura TSX and a Mazda Protege, respectively.
According to the Detroit News‘ research, only Gene Sperling, counsel to the Treasury Secretary, and Rick Wade, a senior adviser at the Commerce Department, own American-badged cars. Sperling owns a 2003 Lincoln LS and Wade has a 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier… More Info…Â
Members of the motorsports industry are wondering why the government has adopted a rule virtually eliminating a key constituency – and possibly thousands of jobs – while at the same time developing a nearly trillion-dollar stimulus that supporters say is intended to create and protect employment.
At issue is a new federal regulation of lead that took effect just this month. The policy has virtually shut down the part of the motorsports industry that serves children under 12 who want to ride all-terrain vehicles and motorbikes, because some components of the machines – such as tire valve stems – contain lead.
“You’ve got a lot of kids involved in this,” Don Amador, western representative for the the Blue Ribbon Commission, told WND today. “But ATVs, dirt bikes have batteries  in them, components that use lead inside the valve stems on tires, lead in the electronic wiring, lead on battery terminals.” … More info
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