Posts Tagged ‘paul eisenstein’
Makers dispute who paid off the government first.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.23, 2013
Tesla CEO Elon Musk boasts his automaker was first to completely pay off its federal loans.
It began with a seemingly innocuous statement from Tesla Motors but has quickly escalated into a spitting match with Detroit’s third-largest automaker, Chrysler.
On Wednesday, the battery-car start-up announced that it would pay back the remaining $451.8 million that it owes the U.S. Energy Department nine years ahead of schedule, using money it expects to raise from an upcoming, $1.1 billion stock offering.
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That prompted the irrepressible Elon Musk, the constantly tweeting Tesla CEO, to declare that Tesla will become “the only American car company to have fully repaid the government.”
Or will it? Not according to Chrysler.
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Tags: Sergio Marchionne, auto news, car news, chrysler bailout, chrysler loans, chrysler news, doe loans, elon musk, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, tesla chrysler, tesla doe loan, tesla news, tesla repays loans, thedetroitbureau
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Battery car captures nation’s highest mileage rating.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.23, 2013
The 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV can be purchased for as little as $17,500 in some locations due to federal, state and local incentives.
General Motors will begin selling its new Chevrolet Spark EV at select dealers in California and Oregon next month for a base price of $27,495 including destination charges.
Since the little battery-electric vehicle will qualify for a federal tax credit of $7,500, that will bring its effective price to $19,995 – and possible even lower thanks to various state and local tax credits. The maker also plans to offer a three-year, $199 a month lease after a downpayment of $999.
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That will position the Chevy Spark EV as one of the lowest-priced battery cars on the market, a move Chevy hopes will increase the appeal of the vehicle in a market still skeptical of electric propulsion. Based on EPA forecasts, the maker claims motorists could save as much as $150 a month on gasoline.
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Tags: auto news, battery cars, car news, chevrolet battery car, chevrolet news, chevrolet spark ev, chevy battery car, chevy electric vehicle, chevy spark ev, electric vehicles, lithium batteries, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau, zero emissions vehicles
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Move means profit for taxpayers on controversial loan.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.22, 2013
The Tesla Model S is generating 30% gross margins, according to the California maker.
Tesla Motors today confirmed it will pay back a more than $450 million loan it received from the Department of Energy, part of a controversial Obama Administration program intended to encourage the development of clean, high-mileage automotive technology – but which has seen several high-profile failures by companies that received some of the taxpayer-funded loans.
Earlier this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk signaled his plan to pay off the program more than a decade ahead of schedule – a move meant to reduce Tesla’s interest costs but which also is expected to generate a profit of as much as $12 million for the U.S. Treasury.
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“I would like to thank the Department of Energy and the members of Congress and their staffs that worked hard to create the ATVM program, and particularly the American taxpayer from whom these funds originate,” said Musk, referring to the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program. “I hope we did you proud.”
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Tags: Tesla Model S, auto news, battery cars, car news, electric vehicles, elon musk, energy dept loans, fisker karma, fisker loans, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, tesla motors, tesla news, tesla repaying doe loan, tesla repays loan, thedetroitbureau
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A potentially costly mistake.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.22, 2013
VW hopes to make it impossible to accidentally fill a TDI with gas instead of diesel.
It’s the sort of problem that can plague anyone – even President Barack Obama, whose limousine broke down during a visit to Israel earlier this year.
It turned out that someone inadvertently filled up the tank of the armored Cadillac sedan – nicknamed “The Beast” – with diesel instead of gasoline. The two fuels don’t mix and that simply mistake can prove a costly one.
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The problem occurs frequently and all over the world. A recent study found that British police run up nearly $2 million in repair bills each year pumping the wrong fuel into their cruisers.
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Tags: auto news, car news, car repairs, mixing gas and diesel, obama the beast, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau, volkswagen news, vw diesel, vw news, vw service action, vw tdi
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Trend affects old as well as young.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.22, 2013
Ford Chairman Bill Ford, shown here with Zipcar Chairman Scott Griffith. A growing number of households are relying on services like Zipcar rather than owning a vehicle.
Whether by choice or through financial reality, the number of American households without a car has doubled over the past two decades – and is now approaching 10%.
Significantly, the shift is affecting older Boomers as well as Millennials. The impact of this trend could be significant, especially when it comes to alternative forms of transportation such as car-sharing and mass transit, according to research by CNW Marketing.
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“While the recession was in large part responsible for the latest spurt, the trend was already clear,” says CNW’s research chief Art Spinella, “A growing number of Americans felt they didn’t need or want a personal car.”
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Tags: auto news, car news, car ownership, car sharing, carless households, driving boom, no-car homes, no-vehicle households, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau
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Fiat/Chrysler apologizes for jest.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.21, 2013
Fiat/Chrysler CEO Marchionne gets his point across -- but angers some listeners.
Fiat/Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has apologized for using what some took as an offensive term for Italian-Americans during the Detroit Auto Show last January.
Describing his frustrations with the slow effort to return the Alfa Romeo brand to the U.S. market, Marchionne said the new 4C sports car didn’t have the right powertrain yet, adding that, “With all due respect to my American friends, it needs to be a wop engine.”
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The term was meant to convey the desire to have a distinctly Italian engine for the little Alfa – which ultimately won approval from Marchionne a few weeks later.
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Tags: Fiat-Chrysler, Sergio Marchionne, alfa news, auto news, car news, chrysler marchionne, chrysler news, fiat news, fiat sergio marchionne, marchionne alfa, marchionne slur, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau
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The goal is to “exceed all expectations.”
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.21, 2013
Senior officials, including Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda and BMW Chairman Nobert Reithofer, celebrate their expanding alliance.
What do you get when BMW and Toyota set down to develop a sports car? We’re apparently about to find out, their joint effort reportedly set to make its eagerly awaited debut at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show.
The midsize sports car is one of several projects that the German and Japanese automaker have announced as part of a growing alliance first announced in 2011. Among other things, the two makers plan to work on fuel cells, lithium-ion batteries and hybrid technology, while BMW is now providing diesel engines for Toyota to use in its European line-up.
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“I get so excited thinking about the cars that will result from this relationship,” Toyota chief Akio Toyoda said in January.
So do a lot of industry observers waiting to find out precisely what the two partners have in store.
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Tags: Scion FR-S, Toyota GT86, auto alliances, auto news, bmw news, bmw toyota, car news, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, subaru brz, thedetroitbureau, toyota alliance, toyota bmw, toyota bmw sports car, toyota news, toyota subaru
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Ex-CEO among those under investigation.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.21, 2013
Former Saab CEO Jan Ake Jonsson.
Three former Saab Automobile AB executives, including one-time CEO Jan Ake Jonsson, have been detained by Swedish authorities and could face charges involving tax and accounting fraud.
The unexpected development comes nearly 18 months after the long-struggling automaker filed for bankruptcy, most of its assets eventually sold to a Japanese-Chinese consortium. A $3 billion lawsuit filed by the Dutch company that purchased Saab from General Motors, meanwhile, has yet to be resolved.
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Ex-CEO Jonsson is one of three former executives who could face up to four years in prison based on the allegations raised in Vanersborg District Court which covers Saab’s former headquarters in Trollhattan, Sweden.
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Tags: Jan Åke Jonsson, Spyker, auto news, car news, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, saab, saab automobile, saab bankrupt, saab fraud, saab news, saab spyker, thedetroitbureau, victor muller
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But milestone still lags expectations.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.20, 2013
The Tesla Model S has helped drive sales of plug-based vehicles in recent months.
While we’re not exactly sure when or where it happened, some green-minded U.S. motorist helped the nascent battery car market reach a critical milestone this past weekend, purchasing the 100,000th plug-based vehicle – or so claims the advocacy group Plug-In America.
“Our current estimate, based on monthly sales figures from automakers, is that the 100,000th highway-capable plug-in vehicle (was) sold on May 20,” said Tom Saxton, Plug In America’s chief science officer. “We are calling this the #PIA100K mark, and we are excited to see the continued growth of the market.”
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Proponents are hailing the news and noting that it’s been barely three years since the launch of the modern battery-car industry with the nearly simultaneous debuts of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid and the Nissan Lead battery-electric vehicles, or BEV.
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Tags: Chevrolet Volt, Tesla Model S, auto news, battery car sales, battery cars, car news, nissan leaf, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, plug in car, plug-based car, plug-based vehicle, plug-in vehicles, thedetroitbureau
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A retro step into the future for Aston design.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.20, 2013
The retro-futuristic Aston Martin CC100.
About this time of year, car collectors start rolling out their classics at shows as diverse as Detroit’s Woodward Dream Cruise and the tony Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The Aston Martin CC100 would likely look at home at either one – but the retro roadster is an all-new one-off designed to help celebrate the British marque’s centennial – and its 1959 victory at Le Mans.
The rakish Speedster made its formal debut at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring Race which will wrap up later today. Aston CEO Ulrich Bez took it for a lap before the launch of the endurance race.
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“This car is more, even, than a simple ‘birthday present’ to ourselves,” stressed Bez said in a statement. “CC100 is the epitome of everything that is great about Aston Martin. It represents our fantastic sporting heritage, our exceptional design capability, our superb engineering know-how and, above all, our adventurous spirit.”
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Tags: aston cc100, aston centennial aston dbr1, aston concept, aston design, aston martin cc100, aston martin news, aston roadster, auto news, car news, concept cars, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau
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