Moldova.org - Auto

Florida to adopt tough auto emission standards
Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced "bold" new air-pollution targets for the southeastern US state which will include car emission limits similar to the California standards challenged by automakers, says a report by AFP. Crist is scheduled to sign the executive orders at the conclusion of a two-day Global Climate Change conference in Miami. At the start of the gathering which bring more...

BMW sold Tritec Engine joint-venture
BMW has sold its 50% holding in Tritec Motors Ltda. to partner DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group, after a 7-year relationship with the Brazil-based engine joint venture. The company did not disclose the financial terms. It is unclear whether Chrysler will keep Tritec or sell the operation’s 4-cyl. engine tooling to one of the companies that have already expressed interest in acqu more...

BMW sells Brazilian motor venture stake to Chrysler
German carmaker BMW has transferred its 50 percent stake in Brazilian engine joint venture Tritec Motors Limitada to DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group division, BMW told Reuters without giving any details of the deal which requires regulatory approval. Tritec, which was founded in 1997, started large-scale production in January 2000, with a capacity of around 250,000 units per year, makes 1.4- more...

U.S. auto sales incentives rise in May
Consumer incentives offered on new cars rose nearly 2 percent in May from a month earlier in the U.S. market, according to a report released by Reuters. Auto industry tracking service Edmunds.com estimated that the average manufacturer incentive on a new vehicle was up $44 from the levels in April to $2,497 in May. Edmunds analyst Jesse Toprak said in a statement that in previous months, year-over more...

Ford to use soy-based car seats
Ford Motor Company said it plans to start using seats made with soy-based foam in order to make the interior of its cars more environmentally friendly. The first soy seats will appear in 2008 models of Ford's popular muscle car, which is the Mustang. Debbie Mielewsk, technical leader for Ford's materials research and advanced engineering department said in a statement that soy is a very green, ren more...

Actor promotes tax breaks for hybrids
Actor Rob Lowe, who plays a member of Congress on ABC's "Brothers & Sisters”, testified before a special House panel looking at energy and global warming issues and appeared later at a demonstration which was held about three blocks from the Capitol featuring a Toyota Prius that had been converted to a plug-in hybrid. Lowe mentioned that his interest in clean energy was not new, more...

Automakers face hard choices as fuel standards are likely to rise
Although automakers are coming up with innovations that boost miles per gallon and focusing on fuel efficiency, the industry isn’t ready for a 40% increase in average fuel economy by 2020. Michelle Krebs, senior editor at Edmunds' AutoObserver.com, said that standards are very hard to meet, and it's all hands on deck-from designers to engineers. The Senate has already required each autom more...

Chrysler on track for deal with Cerberus
DaimlerChrysler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche told Reuters at the 10th anniversary celebrations of a DaimlerChrysler AG plant in Vance, Alabama, that Cerberus Capital Management is about to conclude its $7.4 billion acquisition of Chrysler Group and that everything is on track and it works according to plan. Cerberus Chairman John Snow also declared earlier that day that the company was "con more...

Ford to test plug-in hybrids
The Ford CEO and the chief executive of Edison International, John Bryson, announced plans for a partnership to test plug-in hybrids vehicles at Edison International's headquarters in suburban Los Angeles. Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally said at the event that within 10 years the automaker expects to start selling such plug-in hybrids, available on showroom floors as well. This is the first time more...

Ford to boost Russia output and launch Mondeo
Ford Motor Co. said it would grow output in Russia to 125,000 cars per year by 2009 from 72,000 to satisfy the booming demand in Europe's fastest growing major car market, and which has been forecasted by PricewaterhouseCoopers to become Europe's largest car market by 2011 with sales worth $96 billion, informs a Reuters report. Ford’s Russian factory makes the popular Focus model and wil more...