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Auto investor Kirk Kerkorian dead at 98

Kirk Kerkorian, among the most talked-about investors in the American auto industry in recent memory, died at the age of 98 in Los Angeles on Monday, June 15. The billionaire ran the investment company Tracinda Corp. and was the largest shareholder in MGM Resorts International. Kerkorian attempted to use his power as a well-financed investor to push the auto industry in some fascinating ways. In 2006, he used his nearly 10-percent stake in General Motors to push a merger with the Renault-Nissan Alliance. The deal made it as far as discussions, but eventually fell through. Kerkorian also attempted to purchase Chrysler - twice. According to Automotive News, the first effort came in 1995 with a $22.8-billion offer for the automaker, and soon after it failed the company merged with Daimler. Then in 2007, Kerkorian was back with a bid for $4.5 billion, but things eventually fell to Cerberus. The billionaire finished the trifecta by buying up $1 billion in Ford stock in 2008 to make Kerkorian the single largest investor in the company. However, the situation didn't last long, and by the end of that year, he had unloaded the shares. According to Automotive News, Kerkorian was ranked by Forbes as the world's 41st richest man in 2008 with a net worth of $16 billion. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Joe Cavaretta / AP Photo Celebrities Earnings/Financials Chrysler Ford GM obituary

Ford F-150 SVT Raptor sales jumping to new heights

Ford can't seem to build F-150 SVT Raptors fast enough. The off-road-ready trucks have been one of the Blue Oval's most reliable sellers, with record sales in eight of the last 10 months and a 14-percent jump in 2013. That's impressive enough, considering that the least expensive Raptor starts at $44,000. Factor in the modded F-150's fuel economy (it's rated at 11 miles per gallon in the city and 16 on the highway) and a national average gas price, as of this writing, of $3.55 per gallon, and its success is as unlikely as Ford's home team, the Detroit Lions, winning the Super Bowl this year (sorry, Lions fans, we're just quoting the experts in Vegas...).
Yet for some reason, Raptors spend an average of just 15 days on dealer lots before being snapped up, which is a quarter of the 60-day industry average. According to Ford's truck group marketing manager, Doug Scott, it's capability that keeps the Raptor selling strong. "What's helping drive Raptor sales is that Raptor delivers unmatched off-road performance to our customers. Raptor is also proof of our commitment to offer a truck for every customer and continuously improving them to meet our customers' evolving needs."
To address the strong demand for Raptors, Ford will bump production from three trucks per hour to five. Not much, we agree. But building an extra 48 trucks per day, at most, seems like a prudent way of addressing demand without oversaturating what is ultimately a niche market. Check out the press release below for more.

Rowan Atkinson crashes at Goodwood Revival

To quote Harry Hogge (played by Robert Duvall) in Days of Thunder, "rubbin, son, is racin'." That can mean some unfortunate damage to high-end racing machinery, which may be repaired easily enough in stock car racing, but when it comes to vintage racing, the stakes can be that much higher. And yet incidents do occur, like at this weekend's Goodwood Revival.
Among the many competitors taking part in the retro racing event in England was none other than Rowan Atkinson, the actor perhaps best known for playing Mr. Bean. Driving a classic Ford Falcon Sprint in the Shelby Cup event, Atkinson (pictured above at the 2012 revival) reportedly crashed head-on into another car on track.
According to reports, the two cars up spun out. The driver in between managed to avoid a pile-up, but Atkinson couldn't steer clear and hit the obstructing vehicle. Fortunately Rowan walked away unscathed (and, we imagine, in a humorous manner), but while we don't know how extensive the damage was to the Falcon, it was enough to take it out of the race.