2012 Fiat 500 Pop Automatic Cruise Ctl Alloys 185 Miles Texas Direct Auto on 2040-cars

Auto blog

The next steps automakers could take after sales drop again in April

DETROIT (Reuters) - Major automakers on Tuesday posted declines in U.S. new vehicle sales for April in a sign the long boom cycle that lifted the American auto industry to record sales last year is losing steam, sending carmaker stocks down. The drop in sales versus April 2016 came on the heels of a disappointing March, which automakers had shrugged off as just a bad month. But two straight weak months has heightened Wall Street worries the cyclical industry is on a downward swing after a nearly uninterrupted boom since the Great Recession's end in 2010. Auto sales were a drag on U.S. first-quarter gross domestic product, with the economy growing at an annual rate of just 0.7 percent according to an advance estimate published by the Commerce Department last Friday. Excluding the auto sector the GDP growth rate would have been 1.2 percent. Industry consultant Autodata put the industry's seasonally adjusted annualized rate of sales at 16.88 million units for April, below the average of 17.2 million units predicted by analysts polled by Reuters. General Motors Co shares fell 2.9 percent while Ford Motor Co slid 4.3 percent and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's U.S.-traded shares tumbled 4.2 percent. The U.S. auto industry faces multiple challenges. Sales are slipping and vehicle inventory levels have risen even as carmakers have hiked discounts to lure customers. A flood of used vehicles from the boom cycle are increasingly competing with new cars. The question for automakers: How much and for how long to curtail production this summer, which will result in worker layoffs? To bring down stocks of unsold vehicles, the Detroit automakers need to cut production, and offer more discounts without creating "an incentives war," said Mark Wakefield, head of the North American automotive practice for AlixPartners in Southfield, Michigan. "We see multiple weeks (of production) being taken out on the car side," he said, "and some softness on the truck side." Rival automakers will be watching each other to see if one is cutting prices to gain market share from another, he said, instead of just clearing inventory. INVESTORS DIGEST BAD NEWS Just last week GM reported a record first-quarter profit, but that had almost zero impact on the automaker's stock. The iconic carmaker, whose own interest was once conflated with that of America's, has slipped behind luxury carmaker Tesla Inc in terms of valuation.

New Fiat 500 Abarth confirmed, reveal coming in November

Though it's been absent from America for a few years, the Fiat 500 continues on overseas. But the line has been strangely split. The main 500 is a recently redesigned car from the ground up, and is electric only. Meanwhile, the 500 Abarth has survived, but it's still mostly the same car introduced more than a decade ago. And the obvious question has been, will there be a new one? The answer is yes. And we're going to see it soon. The past couple of weeks, Abarth has been sharing teasers about a new product. Two of those teasers were very explicit. On Monday, it announced the product would be a new 500 Abarth, and it would be shown on November 22. And on Tuesday, it showed a glimpse of the car, which is shown at top (original teaser post below). This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Looking closely, we can see that this new Abarth is based on the electric 500. It has the same headlights that are split by the hood about 75% of the way up. It also has the circular turn signals with body color inserts. Combined with the vivid lime green and humming, electrical noises in the background, we have to assume that the new Abarth will be battery powered. Assuming the electric Abarth follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, it should have more aggressive styling, sportier suspension, and likely extra horsepower.  We won't have long to learn more with the reveal just a couple of weeks away. It's also likely going to fuel our desire to have the Fiat 500 return to America, since it offers a lot of style and solid range for not a lot of money. A part of us holds out hope that Fiat will bring it here, since according to the L.A. Auto Show press conference schedule, Fiat has a conference. We genuinely don't know what will be announced, but it sure would be great timing to announce the electric 500 for America and then drop a hot version a week later. Or it could just be a 500X update. We'll find that out even sooner. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Autoblog Short Cut: Fiat 500 Abarth Hot Lap

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says manufacturing can reopen May 11

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday said the state's factories can reopen next Monday, May 11, removing one of the last major obstacles to North American automakers bringing thousands of laid-off employees back to work amid the coronavirus pandemic. While reopening the manufacturing sector, Whitmer also extended her state's stay-at-home order by about two weeks to May 28, citing a desire to avoid a second wave of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus. “WeÂ’re not out of the woods yet, but this is an important step forward," Whitmer said in a statement. "As we continue to phase in sectors of our economy, I will keep working around the clock to ensure our businesses adopt best practices to protect workers." This week, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said they were targeting resuming vehicle production in North America on May 18, but suppliers would need time to prepare ahead for that date. Ford has not said what date it is targeting. The governor previously extended the state's coronavirus stay-at-home order through May 15, but had lifted restrictions for some businesses. Neighboring Ohio had allowed manufacturing to resume this past Monday, putting pressure on Whitmer to follow suit. Michigan's shutdown had stymied efforts by the Detroit Three and rival automakers to restart vehicle assembly anywhere in the United States, because so many critical parts suppliers are based in the state. Automakers and their suppliers already have begun gearing up for a possible resumption of work at their U.S. plants, but needed the official go-ahead from Whitmer. Industry officials had been pressing Whitmer to allow suppliers to reopen starting May 11 so the automakers could resume operations on their target date. They also wanted the green light so they can press Mexico to open its auto sector as suppliers there are also critical for the industry restart. The automakers' plans were tacitly approved on Tuesday by the United Auto Workers union, which represents the Detroit automakers' hourly U.S. plant workers. The union had previously said early May was "too soon and too risky" to restart manufacturing. Under Whitmer's new order, factories must adopt measures to protect workers, including daily entry screening, no-touch temperature screening as soon as possible and use of protective gear like face masks. Automakers have already rolled out such policies.