Ford: Hydrogen Cars Close to Production
The relatively quick-and-easy answer to foreign oil dependence and automotive greenhouse gas emissions is circling the grounds every day at Orlando International Airport in Florida, according to a top Ford Motor Co. official. It’s a utilitarian 12-passenger parking lot shuttle bus powered by a 6.8-liter internal combustion hydrogen engine, which Ford officials said is their hydrogen technology that’s closest to mass production.
Dura Automotive Asks Court to Challenge Creditors
From Detroit Free Press ROCHESTER HILLS, MI — Dura Automotive Systems Inc. said it has asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, DE, for an extension through Sept. 6 to test whether second-lien creditors have a valid security interest. The Rochester Hills, MI, auto parts supplier, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October,
CARB Votes to Extend Emissions Warranties
Setting aside objections from the motor vehicle aftermarket and the vehicle manufacturers, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved new regulations on March 22 that will mandate an extended warranty for emissions-related components with high failure rates. The changes would amend Emissions Warranty Information Reporting regulations that currently require a car company to undertake a recall of a vehicle component if emissions warranty reports, that are required to be filed with CARB by the car companies, indicate that a specific component has more than a 4 percent failure rate.
CAWA to Testify Against CARB Warranty Extension Proposal
The California Automotive Wholesalers’ Association (CAWA) has joined a growing coalition of automotive organizations opposed to the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) proposal to adopt regulations on mandatory warranties on emission parts and services. According to CAWA’s Legislative Advocate Norm Plotkin, CARB is acting outside its authority.
Tower Creditors Object to Union Deal
Tower Automotive’s creditors have objected to a settlement the company reached with two big unions to cut its labor costs, saying the pact improperly puts the interests of Tower’s workers ahead of those of its creditors. Tower’s creditors committee already has appealed a bankruptcy judge’s approval of a similar settlement Tower reached with its retired workers in Milwaukee. The group has said in court papers that pact was "anathema to the basic precepts of Chapter 11" because it offered the Milwaukee workers a guaranteed minimum payment once Tower completes its bankruptcy reorganization.
Delphi Outlines Transformation Plan
Delphi this morning outlined its strategy to prepare for its return to stable, profitable business operations through a broad-based global restructuring in order to complete the Chapter 11 cases for Delphi and 41 of its domestic U.S. subsidiaries in the first half of 2007 as previously announced. Delphi’s transformation plan is intended to allow the company to become competitive in the global marketplace.
Bush Signs the ‘Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act’
President George Bush yesterday signed into law the “Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act,” attended by representatives of the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) and other industry groups. The bill was introduced by Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) at the beginning of the 109th Congress with the support of MEMA and other industry associations that helped craft the bill and worked for its passage. It passed in the House on March 7 and the Senate on Feb. 15.
House Passes ‘Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act’
The House of Representatives yesterday passed the ‘Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act,’the bill which many aftermarket businesses and associations have been lobbying in support of. The “Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act” extends federal seizure authority to include not only the infringing product, but also the tooling, equipment and supplies used to produce and traffic counterfeit goods and criminalizes production of stickers, tags boxes or other items used to traffic fake products. The bill also expands the current definition of trafficking to include the import or export counterfeit goods and clearly specifies that it is illegal to give away counterfeit goods in exchange for some future benefit – in effect, the “bartering” of counterfeit goods. Networks of counterfeiters have used these loopholes to frustrate investigation and prosecution under current law.
The Little Hybrid Engine that Could
One of the most impressive cars at last week’s Philadelphia Auto Show doesn’t come from Japan, Germany or Detroit. It came from the auto shop at West Philadelphia High School. The car — designed and built by students in the school’s Academy for Automotive and Mechanical Engineering — delivers more horsepower than some Porsches and gets gas mileage comparable to a Toyota Prius. It runs on fuel made from soybeans.
NASTF Considers Formal Organizational Structure
Last week, the National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF), and a number of parties associated with the group, met for a conference call to discuss the possibility of moving forward with one of two different proposals for creating a more formalized, permanent structure for the task force.