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Trailer-Body Builders / January 11, 2018 Four of North America’s leading truck manufacturers have announced they will unveil new vehicles at The Work Truck Show 2018. Chevrolet Commercial Vehicles will reveal its Silverado 4500HD and 5500HD chassis cab trucks. Ford Commercial Vehicles will launch a new commercial vehicle. Hino Trucks will introduce a line of Class 7 and 8 trucks. International Truck will debut what it’s calling “the driver’s ultimate work truck.” Additional OEMs with press conferences scheduled include Ram Commercial, which plans to announce work-truck-related news for the all-new 2019 Ram 1500 truck, Isuzu Commercial Truck of America Inc. and Mack Trucks Inc. These manufacturers are among 100 exhibiting companies that have shared plans to introduce commercial vehicles and equipment at North America’s largest work truck event. The Work Truck Show takes place March 6–9 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. Educational sessions, Green Truck Summit and Fleet Technical Congress begin March 6, and the exhibit hall is open March 7–9. “Every March, Indianapolis becomes the North American epicenter for work trucks, as manufacturers showcase the newest vocational trucks, vans, components and equipment for any application to fleet managers, equipment distributors, upfitters, installers and other professionals in the vocational vehicle industry,” says Steve Carey, NTEA executive director. “If you want to be part of this year’s biggest product launches, you want to be at The Work Truck Show 2018.” Chevrolet says the new Silverado 4500HD and 5500HD chassis cab trucks will complete its commercial truck portfolio. Designed around how customers work, the OEM says the trucks will be highly maneuverable and among the easiest on the market to upfit. Hino reports that its new Class 7 and 8 trucks are the result of four years of development and hundreds of thousands of hours of engineering work that included building 10 prototypes. The vehicles will be powered by Hino’s A09 9-liter engine that provides a horsepower range of 300 to 360 hp. Overall, the 500 exhibiting companies at The Work Truck Show 2018 will showcase the latest products necessary to build, equip, customize and utilize the trucks that keep America moving forward. The Work Truck Show’s exclusive New Product Spotlight program makes it easy for attendees to identify new products in advance and on the exhibit floor. Participating companies provide a photo and product details for each new product which NTEA shares on the Show website and through The Work Truck Show 2018 app (scheduled for release in February). Information about “green” products featured in the Green Product Showcase, and a full list of first-time exhibitors is also available on the same webpage: worktruckshow.com/floorplan. For the complete schedule of events, educational session descriptions, Show floor plan and to register, visit worktruckshow.com. For more information, call 800-441-6832 or email info@ntea.com.

Fiat Chrysler to invest over $1 billion in Ram plant Trailer-Body Builders / January 12, 2018 Fiat Chrysler Automobile (FCA) is planning to invest more than $1 billion to modernize its Warren Truck Assembly Plant in Michigan and create 2,500 additional jobs so it can relocate production of its Ram Heavy Duty pickup truck from Saltillo, Mexico, by 2020. This investment is on top of the $1 billion the OEM committed to invest in the Warren factory last year to accommodate its Jeep product line, which included building its all-new Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. FCA said its Saltillo Truck Assembly Plant will be repurposed to produce future commercial vehicles for global distribution. The company also noted that it has invested some $10 billion in its U.S. manufacturing operations since June 2009, with some $3.5 billion alone focused on Jeep and Ram Truck production realignment that included the addition of 3,700 new jobs. That $3.5 billion investment and related actions involved production shifts at three plants in Illinois, Ohio and Michigan to gain capacity for the Jeep Cherokee, Jeep Wrangler and Ram Light Duty truck, as well as the introduction of three new Jeep models at plants in Ohio and Michigan. Broken down, those investments include: • $350 million in the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois to produce the Jeep Cherokee, which moved from Toledo, OH, in 2017. More than 300 new jobs were added to support production. • $700 million in the Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio to retool the North plant to produce the next generation Jeep Wrangler. Approximately 700 new jobs will be added to support production, FCA said. • $1.5 billion in the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in Michigan to build the next generation Ram 1500 truck. More than 700 new jobs will be added to support production, the company noted. • $1 billion in the south plant of the Toledo Assembly Complex to prepare the facility to produce an all-new Jeep truck, and in the Warren Truck Assembly Plant to modernize the plant to build the all-new Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. More than 2,000 new jobs will be added at these two plants to support production, FCA pointed out. The company is also making a special bonus payment of $2,000 to approximately 60,000 FCA hourly and salaried employees in the U.S., excluding senior leadership. The payment, which FCA said “recognizes employees for their continued commitment to the company’s success,” will be made in the second quarter of this year and will be in addition to any profit sharing and salaried performance bonuses that employees would otherwise be eligible to receive in 2018. The special bonus will be paid to all eligible employees of the FCA automotive and components operations in the U.S., the OEM added. “These announcements reflect our ongoing commitment to our U.S. manufacturing footprint and the dedicated employees who have contributed to FCA’s success,” said Sergio Marchionne, FCA’s CEO, in a statement. “It is only proper that our employees share in the savings generated by tax reform and that we openly acknowledge the resulting improvement in the U.S. business environment by investing in our industrial footprint accordingly.”

I agree Bob, absolutely amazing.

It's a very good question. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In 1932, President Hoover and the State Department essentially shut down immigration during the Great Depression as immigration went from 236,000 in 1929 to 23,000 in 1933. This was accompanied by voluntary repatriation to Europe and Mexico, and coerced repatriation and deportation of between 500,000 and 2 million Mexican Americans, mostly citizens, in the Mexican Repatriation. Total immigration in the decade of 1931 to 1940 was 528,000 averaging less than 53,000 a year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_laws_concerning_immigration_and_naturalization_in_the_United_States The National Origins Formula was an American system of immigration quotas, used between 1921 and 1965, which restricted immigration on the basis of existing proportions of the population. It aimed to reduce the overall number of unskilled immigrants, to allow families to re-unite, and to prevent immigration from changing the ethnic distribution of the population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Origins_Formula

Ford urges 2,900 pickup owners to stop driving after new Takata death Reuters / January 11, 2018 WASHINGTON -- Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it had confirmed a second death in an older pickup truck caused by a defective Takata airbag inflator and urged 2,900 owners in North America to stop driving immediately until they can get replacement parts. The second largest U.S. automaker said it confirmed in late December that a July 2017 crash death in West Virginia in a 2006 Ford Ranger was caused by a defective Takata inflator. It previously reported a similar death in South Carolina that occurred in December 2015. Ford said both Takata deaths occurred with inflators built on the same day installed in 2006 Ranger pickups. At least 21 deaths worldwide are linked to the Takata inflators that can rupture and send deadly metal fragments into the driver's body. The faulty inflators have led to the largest automotive recall in history. The other 19 deaths have occurred in Honda Motor Co. vehicles, most of which were in the United States. Ford issued a new recall for automobiles that had been previously recalled in 2016. Of those 391,000 2004-2006 Ranger vehicles, the new recall announced on Thursday affects 2,900 vehicles. These include 2,700 in the United States and nearly 200 in Canada. The new recall will allow for identification of the 2,900 owners in the highest risk pool. A Mazda Motor Corp. spokeswoman said Thursday the company would conduct a similar recall and stop drive warning for some 2006 Mazda B-series trucks, which were built by Ford and are similar to the Ranger. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration urged owners to heed Ford's warning. "It is extremely important that all high-risk air bags are tracked down and replaced immediately," NHTSA spokeswoman Karen Aldana said. Ford said it would pay to have vehicles towed to dealerships or send mobile repair teams to owners' homes and provide free loaners if needed. Takata said in June that it has recalled, or expected to recall, about 125 million vehicles worldwide by 2019, including more than 60 million in the United States. Some 19 automakers worldwide are impacted. Takata inflators can explode with excessive force, unleashing metal shrapnel inside cars and trucks and have injured more than 200. The defect led Takata to file for bankruptcy protection in June. Chinese-owned supplier Key Safety Systems Inc. has purchased Takata's viable assets out of bankruptcy court. Criminal charges In 2017, prosecutors in Detroit charged three former senior Takata executives with falsifying test results to conceal the inflator defect. None have come to the United States to face charges. Last year, Takata pleaded guilty to wire fraud and were subject to pay a total of $1 billion in criminal penalties in a U.S. court in connection with the recalls. Automakers have struggled to get enough replacement parts for the massive recalls. A November NHTSA report said about two-thirds of U.S. vehicles recalled have not yet been repaired. U.S. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said in a statement on Thursday the latest death is evidence of "the very definition of a failed recall" pointing to the earlier Ford death in 2015. NHTSA must do more, he said, to make the recall a priority. In November, NHTSA rejected a petition from Ford to delay recalling 3 million vehicles with potentially defective airbag inflators to conduct additional testing. In June 2016, NHTSA warned airbag inflators on more than 300,000 unrepaired recalled 2001-2003 model year Honda vehicles showed a substantial risk of rupturing, and urged owners to stop driving them until getting them fixed. NHTSA said they have as high as a 50 percent chance of a rupture in a crash.

Trump derides protections for immigrants from ‘sh*thole’ countries The Washington Post / January 11, 2018 President Trump grew frustrated with lawmakers Thursday in the Oval Office when they discussed protecting immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries as part of a bipartisan immigration deal, according to several people briefed on the meeting. “Why are we having all these people from sh*thole countries come here?” Trump said, according to these people, referring to countries mentioned by the lawmakers. Trump then suggested that the United States should instead bring more people from countries such as Norway, whose prime minister he met with Wednesday. The president, according to a White House official, also suggested he would be open to more immigrants from Asian countries because he felt they help the United States economically. In addition, the president singled out Haiti, telling lawmakers that immigrants from that country must be left out of any deal, these people said. “Why do we need more Haitians?” Trump said, according to people familiar with the meeting. “Take them out.” Lawmakers were taken aback by the comments, according to people familiar with their reactions. Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) had proposed cutting the visa lottery program by 50 percent and then prioritizing countries already in the system, a White House official said. A White House spokesman defended Trump’s position on immigration without directly addressing his remarks. White House officials did not dispute the account. “Certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people,” spokesman Raj Shah said in a statement issued after The Washington Post first reported Trump’s remarks. “. . . Like other nations that have merit-based immigration, President Trump is fighting for permanent solutions that make our country stronger by welcoming those who can contribute to our society, grow our economy and assimilate into our great nation.” Outlining a potential bipartisan deal, the lawmakers discussed restoring protections for countries that have been removed from the temporary protected status (TPS) program while committing $1.5 billion for a border wall and making changes to the visa lottery system. Lawmakers mentioned that members of the Congressional Black Caucus had requested that some African countries be included in a deal, according to a White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation. The exchange was “salty” on all sides, this person said, with the president growing profane and animated while discussing immigrants from other countries. “It did not go well,” this person said. The administration announced this week that it was removing TPS status for citizens of El Salvador. Haitians were added to the TPS program because of a strong earthquake that devastated Haiti eight years ago. Trump had seemed amenable to a deal earlier in the day during phone calls with lawmakers, aides said, but shifted his position in the meeting and did not seem interested in the bipartisan compromise. The scene played out hurriedly in the morning. Graham and Durbin thought they would be meeting with Trump alone and were surprised to find immigration hard-liners such as Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) at the meeting. White House and Capitol Hill aides say Stephen Miller, the president’s top immigration official, was concerned there could be a deal proposed that was too liberal and made sure conservative lawmakers were present. After the meeting, Marc Short, Trump’s director of legislative affairs, said the White House was nowhere near a bipartisan agreement on immigration. “We still think we can get there,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at the daily White House news briefing.

FCA to shift heavy-duty Ram output to U.S. from Mexico David Phillips, Automotive News / January 11, 2018 Special bonus of $2,000 to 60,000 U.S. employees also planned FCA will invest more than $1 billion to modernize a Michigan truck plant to produce the next-generation Ram Heavy Duty pickup, which will be shifted from Saltillo, Mexico, starting in 2020. The investment at the Warren, Mich.., assembly plant follows plans detailed in January 2017 to expand the factory to build all-new Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer SUVs. The company said the Saltillo truck assembly plant will be repurposed to produce future commercial vehicles for global markets. FCA said 2,500 new jobs will be created at the Michigan plant, in addition to the jobs detailed in January 2017 when FCA said it would move light-duty Ram truck output from the Warren, Mich., site to a nearby Sterling Heights, Mich., factory. The company also plans to make a special bonus payment of $2,000 to approximately 60,000 FCA hourly and salaried employees in the U.S., excluding senior leadership. FCA said Thursday the Michigan plant expansion and special payments were made possible in part by U.S. tax reform passed late last year that will reduce the company's corporate tax bill. FCA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said a year ago the company could shift heavy-truck output from Mexico to Michigan, depending on the outcome of tax reform legislation and proposed changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement. President Donald Trump has threatened to force the rollback of NAFTA, which enables the free flow of goods across the borders of the United States, Canada and Mexico. Trump says NAFTA has hurt U.S. manufacturing employment and has blasted domestic and foreign automakers for moving jobs and factory investment to Mexico. Heavy duty pickups are among the most profitable vehicles produced by automakers and are sold mostly in the United States and Canada. Analysts say FCA's decision to move output of the trucks to the U.S. would also mitigate any risk of any unfavorable changes to NAFTA. The special payment will be made in the second quarter and will be in addition to any profit sharing and salaried performance bonuses that employees are eligible for in 2018, FCA said. The one-time bonus will be paid to all eligible employees at FCA's automotive and components operations in the U.S. “It is only proper that our employees share in the savings generated by tax reform and that we openly acknowledge the resulting improvement in the U.S. business environment by investing in our industrial footprint accordingly,” Marchionne said in a statement. .

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Scania Trucks Press Release / January 9, 2018 Over the 30 years that Jonas Lohmander has been a truck driver, he has driven many truck models. But in his opinion none comes close to the new generation Scania in terms of fuel economy, comfort and quality. He had heard the claims that the fuel economy of the new generation Scania was unprecedented but Lohmander was not convinced. “I’ve been around for so long that I found that hard to believe. It was simply impossible; those low figures weren’t possible,” he says. Seasoned truck driver In summer 2017, Lohmander had the opportunity to drive a Scania R 500 demo truck for one week on his regular run. For seven years, he has been transporting food on behalf of Bring Frigo to the central warehouses of major Swedish food retail chains. Five drivers share four trucks on the route from the southern to central Sweden. Loaded with 60 tonnes of frozen goods, Lohmander drove the normal delivery routes that week. “I usually drive a 2012 model 730 hp truck, which at best consumes 46 litres/100 km. With this new truck, I clocked 37 litres/100 km, even though the truck was heavily loaded in both directions.” “without doubt the best truck ever” The demo truck was equipped with the two-pedal Opticruise automated gearchanging system, which means that the driver can’t change gears manually. But even in a manual mode the fuel consumption should be at the same level. “I called Scania after my first trip and told them that I’d driven many trucks but that this was without doubt the best ever.” In addition to the impressive fuel figures, Lohmander is impressed by the truck’s comfort and quality. “Closing the door shows the difference. It sounds like an Audi; in other words, completely silent. And the comfort is amazing – Scania has really taken major steps forward with the new generation.” .

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Dakar Rally 2018: Team PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO off to a good start with a fourth position in stage 1 The 2018 edition of the Dakar rally kicked off Saturday January 6 with a short special of 31 kilometres Ton van Genugten’s IVECO Powerstar finished in fourth place, just over a minute behind the leaders, while Artur Ardavichus followed less than 4 minutes later. The 10th South American edition of the toughest rally raid in the world, the Dakar, kicked off on Saturday in Peru, with three IVECO Powerstars as contenders facing a route of almost 9,000 kilometres ahead of them. The 337 participating vehicles drove through the starting ramp in a colourful ceremony in El Pentagonito, Lima. All the crews drove straight to the beginning of the stage, close to the city of Pisco, where the first 31 kilometres of timed special took place for the 40th edition of this historical competition. Ton van Genugten, from team PETRONAS de Rooy IVECO, achieved the best result of the three IVECO Powerstars in the first special. He crossed the finish line just over a minute behind the leaders, in fourth place behind Ales Loprais, Martin van den Brink and Eduard Nikolaev. The Dutch pilot was very pleased with the opening stage of the Dakar 2018: "This was about what I had in mind. It went extremely well. It was a fast track through the dunes, you could drive fast, but it was certainly not easy." Teammate Artur Ardavichus finished the stage five minutes behind Loprais. The driver from Kazakhstan will start the second stage from the 16th place, following his position on yesterday’s special. Argentinian Federico Villagra, also behind the wheel of an IVECO Powerstar, and one of the favourites to battle the Russian’s Kamaz head to head, had a bit more complicated race in the first 31 km special. A glitch with the navigation system cost the pilot 16m37s in the shortest day of competition. Even though the first stage covered a short distance, it already showed the difficulties that the crews will face in the first week of action, when they will cross the world’s highest dunes in the desert of Peru. Navigation will be a key factor in this Dakar 2018 and the co-pilots’ skills will be put to the test all the way through. Stage 1 / Overall – Dakar Rally 2018 1. Ales Loprais (Tatra) 25m15s 2. Martin van den Brink (Renault) + 22s 3. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz) + 29s 4. TON VAN GENUGTEN (IVECO) + 1m11s 5. Anton Shibalov (Kamaz) + 1m18s ---------- 16. ARTUR ARDAVICHUS (IVECO) + 4m55s 21. FEDERICO VILLAGRA (IVECO) + 16m37s

The R6 is loosely based on the 12-litre Liebherr D946. https://www.liebherr.com/en/ita/products/components/combustion-engines/diesel-engines/product-portfolio-diesel-engines/details/d946a7.html http://www.kolesa.ru/article/shest-v-ryad-podrobnosti-o-novom-dvigatele-kamaz-r6

KAMAZ Trucks Press Release / December 15, 2017 On the 25th of March 2014, in the German city of Ehingen, KAMAZ PTC and the Liebherr Group signed a contract to develop a new advanced range of six-straight engines generating from 400 to 700 hp and complying with the emmissions directives of Euro 5 and later Euro 6. Then, on the 10th of June 2014, by order of Sergey Kogogin, Director General of KAMAZ, a project titled Tibet was launched at KAMAZ. For three years, extensive work has been carried out at the engine plant: sites were built and equipment was installed for production of blocks and cylinder heads, R6 engine assembly and painting lines were mounted. This December, the first detail of the new engine was processed, and the first KAMAZ 910. 10 engines were put onto the assembly line. The new conveyor will expand the production capacity of KAMAZ PTC. In 2018, the serial production of the new line of KAMAZ inline-six R6 engines will be launched. These engines will power trucks of the promising K5 generation the production of which is scheduled for 2019. "The innovative approach behind our projects is especially needed for production of KAMAZ vehicles of the promising lineup we are currently working on," stated Sergey Kogogin, Director General of KAMAZ PTC. "We are striving to make our product the best for our customers and enter new markets. The new powerful and reliable R6 engines made in cooperation with our partner with the use of the world's latest technologies will enable us to greatly improve technical and consumer characteristics of vehicles and make trucks safer for people and environment." Liebherr has more than 30 years of experience in the development and production of diesel engines for heavy applications and tough climatic operating conditions. The engines are part of the comprehensive program that entails development, design and manufacture within Liebherr's components division. Among the high-performing components from the areas of mechanical, hydraulic and electric drive and control technology are diesel and gas engines, injection systems, axial piston machines, hydraulic pumps and motors, hydraulic cylinders, oversized bearings, gearboxes and winches, electric machines, switchgear as well as electric and electronic components and systems. "Our companies have been cooperating for many years, since the moment our companies started working on the development of gearboxes for the first KAMAZ trucks. It is therefore especially pleasant to witness the birth of the new engine after our designers' and engineers' hard work. The new production line built exclusively for R6 engines is also very impressive. I would like to thank KAMAZ workers who had realized this project and wish success with the new engine," said the president of the governing board of Liebherr-International AG, Dr. h.c. Dipl.-Ing. Willi Liebherr. The new line of KAMAZ for R6 engine production has state-of-the-art equipment, and in some aspects it surpasses foreign analogues. Great attention is paid to compliance with technologies and detailed quality control, each operation is 100% controlled. Thus, the high quality of the power unit for K5 KAMAZ vehicles is ensured. Today, all lines of the new conveyor are working in a start-up mode. It is expected to assemble 7-10 power units till the end of 2017. The industrial production of R6 engines will be launched in March 2018. The new line is designed for the output of 12 thous. power units a year. Under the project, 150 new workplaces were created at the engine plant of KAMAZ. .

Truck News / January 10, 2018 DENTON, Texas – Peterbilt Motors Company hit a major milestone recently, as it produced its 1,000,000th truck. The, vehicle, a Model 567 Heritage rolled off the assembly line at the company’s Denton, Texas manufacturing facility. “The production of one million trucks is a proud moment, and the Model 567 Heritage embodies this historic occasion,” said Kyle Quinn, general manager, Peterbilt Motors Company. “The styling and durability of the Model 567 Heritage gives customers the industry’s most modern, technologically advanced and versatile truck. Inside and out, this truck commands attention.” Peterbilt’s Denton facility opened in 1980 with the production of the Model 359. In celebration of the momentous 1,000,000th truck, Peterbilt recently conducted a search for its ultimate SuperFan within the United States and Canada. From the 1,200 entries submitted, Peterbilt will choose the SuperFan to be gifted the Model 567 Heritage during a ceremony at the upcoming Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS) as a way to thank our loyal enthusiasts, customers, drivers, and dealers for their roles in Peterbilt’s success. “One million trucks is a fantastic milestone and is a testament to the hard working Peterbilt employees from 1939 to now,” said Leon Handt, assistant general manager of operations, Peterbilt Motors Company. “We wouldn’t have been able to grow our brand without them.”

GM to hike output of large crew cab trucks with redesigned 2019s Michael Wayland, Automotive News / January 10, 2017 General Motors is increasing capacity to produce crew cab versions of its next-generation pickups, according to product boss Mark Reuss. The automaker, according to Reuss, has been "constrained" when it comes to output of larger, four-door pickups that have significantly increased in popularity in recent years. "We're solving things like that," Reuss, GM's executive vice president in charge of global product development, purchasing and supply chain, said Tuesday during the J.P. Morgan Tech Forum at CES 2018 in Las Vegas. A GM spokesman declined to elaborate on Reuss' comments, which come days before GM is scheduled to unveil the fourth-generation Silverado, on Saturday in Detroit. Crew cabs have grown from more than 50 percent of GM's large truck sales in 2013 to more than 60 percent today, a Chevrolet spokesman said. U.S. sales of the Silverado rose 1.9 percent to 585,864 last year while the large pickup market grew 5.6 percent. GM produces the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra light-duty crew cab models at a plant in Silao, Mexico, while regular cab and double cab versions are produced in Fort Wayne, Ind. Heavy-duty crew cab models are built in Flint, Mich. GM reportedly spent nearly $3 billion to retool plants to build the next-gen pickups, which Reuss said will be "more profitable" than the current-generation trucks. He added that the company had a "laser focus" on customer needs when developing the next-gen trucks. Chevrolet introduced the 2019 Silverado LT Trailboss, one of eight 2019 Silverado models planned, at the Texas Motor Speedway last month before hundreds of truck owners as part of celebrations to mark 100 years of truck output. GM is adopting more lightweight materials and is expected to add a 10-speed automatic transmission and enhance aerodynamics to improve the fuel economy and overall competitiveness of the pickup. .

Ford to reveal 2018 Mustang Bullitt at Detroit auto show Michael Martinez, Automotive News / January 10, 2018 DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. is planning a surprise reveal of a special edition, high-performance Mustang Bullitt GT at next week's Detroit auto show. The Bullitt will be unveiled as a 2018 model, a source said, timed for the 50th anniversary of the eponymous Steve McQueen movie that made the car an icon among enthusiasts. Ford spokesman Mike Levine on Wednesday said, "We don’t have any Mustang news to share today but we love the interest in America’s favorite muscle car." A Mustang Bullitt was not among the vehicles that Ford previewed for media earlier this month. The 1968 movie Bullitt features an iconic car chase starring McQueen's Highland Green Mustang GT 390 fastback. The 2018 pony car likely will get similar dark green paint, as well as the five-spoke black wheels with a chrome lip that appeared in the movie, in addition to other unique cosmetic features. It's unclear what the car's performance numbers will be or how many Ford plans to produce in what is sure to be a limited production run. Ford first sold a Mustang Bullitt in 2001. The car returned in 2008 and 2009. Rumors of a 2018 Mustang Bullitt have been swirling for months. Spy photographers caught what appeared to be a dark green 2018 Mustang filming a commercial in Chicago late last year. And earlier this week, a Mustang forum unearthed an auction-site listing for a "special new Ford Mustang" to be sold on Jan. 19. The listing says all proceeds will go to Boy's Republic, an all-boys school in California that boasts a notable alumnus: Steve McQueen. .

Ford sued by truck owners for diesel emissions cheating Reuters / January 10, 2017 DETROIT - Ford Motor Co installed software that enabled its F-250 and F-350 Super Duty trucks to cheat at passing federal emissions tests, according to a lawsuit by truck owners filed on Wednesday, a claim the No. 2 U.S. automaker described as “baseless.” Ford manipulated the emissions system in violation of federal requirements and the affected trucks released twice the legal limits of emissions during normal driving, the lawsuit claimed. An emission-cheating scandal that came to light in 2015 cost German automaker Volkswagen tens of billions of dollars in settlements and fines. Ford said in a statement that all of its vehicles comply with all U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board emissions regulations. “Ford vehicles do not have defeat devices,” the company said. “We will defend ourselves against these baseless claims.” The law firm representing the owners, Hagens Berman, has launched lawsuits in the last year against General Motors Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV as well as engine maker Cummins Inc, making similar allegations. In the tests Ford conducted on the F-250 and F-350 vehicles, “emissions are routinely as high as five times the standard,” the lawsuit said, quipping that the trucks should bear the moniker “Super Dirty.” Erik Gordon, an expert in entrepreneurship and technology at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, said that if true, the “allegations would expose Ford to the risk of billion-dollar liabilities and punch a hole in its attempts to position itself as a vehicle technology leader.” The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, also named German auto supplier Robert Bosch GmbH as a defendant. In a statement Wednesday, Bosch said allegations against the company “remain the subject of investigations and civil litigation” and it takes allegations of diesel software manipulation “very seriously.” Last year, Bosch agreed to pay $327.5 million to U.S. owners of Volkswagen vehicles for its part in installing illegal emissions-cheating software. More recently, German prosecutors investigating whether carmaker Daimler AG manipulated emission tests on its diesel cars have looked at whether Bosch was involved.

Ford sued by truck owners claiming diesel engines were rigged Bloomberg / January 10, 2018 Ford Motor Co. rigged at least 500,000 big pickup trucks to beat emissions tests, drivers claimed in a lawsuit, adding to the tally of carmakers linked to diesel-cheating allegations worldwide that started in 2015 with Volkswagen AG. Ford’s F-250 and F-350 Super Duty diesel pickups, a slice of the top-selling F-series, are spewing emissions as much as 50 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide pollutants, according to the complaint. The trucks sold from 2011 to 2017 cost $8,400 more than their gasoline-fueled counterparts, the filing shows. Ford marketed the trucks as “the cleanest super diesel ever,” while the lawyer behind the suit said they should have been called “Super Dirty.” “The vehicle’s own on-board diagnostic software indicates emission control system to be operating as Ford intended, even though its real world performance grossly exceeds the standard,” attorney Steve Berman, a managing partner at Hagens Berman, said in the complaint. Ford worked with German automotive supplier Robert Bosch GmbH to mask the vehicles’ inefficiencies in order to maintain overall performance, according to the complaint filed Wednesday in Detroit federal court. Bosch is named as a defendant in the proposed class action. “All Ford vehicles, including those with diesel engines, comply with all U.S. EPA and CARB emissions regulations,” Daniel Barbosa, a spokesman for Ford, said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. “Ford vehicles do not have defeat devices. We will defend ourselves against these baseless claims.” Bosch, in its statement, said allegations against the company "remain the subject of investigations and civil litigation" and it takes allegations of diesel software manipulation "very seriously." Last year, Bosch agreed to pay $327.5 million to U.S. owners of Volkswagen vehicles for its part in installing illegal emissions-cheating software. Diesel questions Ford is at least the fifth carmaker accused of diesel cheating in the U.S., once again raising questions about the effectiveness of diesel technology. The dispute also casts a shadow on Ford’s F-series, the top selling line of vehicles in the U.S. every year since 1981. The lawsuit could pose a risk to Ford’s plans to introduce a diesel engine in its smaller F-150 pickup for the first time. The automaker has said it expects the powertrain will boost fuel economy to 30 miles per gallon on the highway. That would confer significant bragging rights for Ford and potentially help its trucks outperform new models from General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles coming out this year. Diesel engines, while more fuel efficient, produce greater volumes of nitrogen oxide pollutants, or NOx. During on-road testing the diesel trucks polluted at levels beyond legal limits and higher than their gasoline counterparts, according to the complaint. The suit includes 58 alleged violations of state consumer law, false advertising and racketeering claims. Bosch software Bosch is accused of developing software that enabled Ford to adjust fuel levels, exhaust gas re-circulation, air pressure and urea injection rates while being tested for emissions by regulators including the EPA and California Air Resources Board. The formula built by Ford and Bosch allowed the Super Duty trucks to reverse the traditional order of exhaust treatment, putting catalytic reduction before the diesel particle filter. This allowed Ford to market both fuel efficiency and power in its vehicles without compromise. The reordering should have forced Ford to burn off the collected particles, sapping the vehicles’ efficiency. Instead the particles were released through the vehicles’ exhaust, according to the complaint. Bosch faces similar accusations in cases against VW, Fiat Chrysler and GM. The Stuttgart, Germany-based supplier has denied any wrongdoing in those suits. ‘Normal Conditions’ In 2011, Ford embarked on a marketing campaign that promised “class leading fuel economy and towing capacity” tested more rigorously than its competitors. The campaign evolved over the years, and as recently as 2017, Ford’s vehicle brochures boasted of reduced NOx levels “in the real world” and “unsurpassed diesel fuel economy.” “It is not plausible, given this ‘groundbreaking’ testing, that Ford and Bosch did not know that emissions controls do not work when the vehicle is operating in normal stop-and-go conditions, running under heavier loads, and going up modest to steep grades,” said Berman, who has represented drivers against VW, Fiat Chrysler and GM. To meet environmental standards, the Super Duty pickups will probably require modifications that could reduce power, torque and fuel efficiency, according to the complaint. The current software system violates the U.S. Clean Air Act, the drivers claim. Based on the responses of automakers that have previously dealt with such claims, Ford has at least three possible paths. VW admitted to malfeasance before consumers sued the company in September 2015. The German automaker ultimately agreed to pay $24.5 billion in penalties and make a coordinated effort to fix or remove more than 500,000 diesel-cheating vehicles. Fiat Chrysler has promised a modification to rectify a mistake that’s afflicted 150,000 of its vehicles. The company, some drivers of its diesel trucks and regulators will meet in January to discuss a possible deal aimed at settling a class action. Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne has been adamant that the company wasn’t trying to deceive regulators or circumvent clean-air rules. GM has flatly denied allegations of wrongdoing in lawsuits against the company. The case is Gamboa v. Ford Motor Co., 18-cv-10106, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit).

Billy, the many predictions of "the death of the American trucker" are greatly exaggerated.

Will the rapidly shrinking store save retail? The Washington Post / December 25, 2017 With holiday shopping in full swing, Sears decided it was time to host a “grand reopening” for its department store at Fair Oaks Mall in Northern Virginia, complete with magic shows, jugglers, face painting and free cotton candy. The biggest change for the decades-old shopping center anchor? It was now just half its size. The store had done away with its entire second floor, concentrating its efforts on its appliance and mattress departments on the ground level. The apparel departments were smaller, and the store’s many cash registers had been consolidated into one sleek, white checkout counter that looked like it had been borrowed from the Apple store. It had taken more than a year to renovate the store, part of a companywide effort to square a difficult retailing circle. Sears Holdings, which hasn’t posted an annual profit since 2010, is trying to pare costs while making its stores attractive to a generation of shoppers who are increasingly buying online. “The business is evolving and we’re evolving with it,” said Matt Trautwein, the company’s district manager. Sears is not the only store cutting back on real estate. Across the country, retailers such as Walmart, Target, Macy’s and Nordstrom are experimenting with ways to distill their inventory into smaller, more-focused locations. The shift comes, analysts say, as Americans flock from the suburbs to city centers, where space is at a premium. Big-box stores on the outskirts of town are no longer convenient nor practical for millennials with tiny apartments and no car. Target alone is opening 30 smaller stores by the end of the year, doubling its presence near urban areas and college campuses. “That big weekly stock-up where you fill up the back of the car? That’s very much boomer mentality that millennials aren’t buying into,” said Mike Paglia, director of retail insights for research firm Kantar Retail. Sales at smaller-format stores are projected to grow 3.9 percent annually until 2022, outpacing 0.8 percent sales growth for their big-box counterparts, according to recent projections from Kantar Retail. Stores smaller than 20,000 square feet account for $612 billion in annual sales, with that figure slated to grow 21 percent to $741 billion in the next five years. With the boom in sales online, “nobody needs a gazillion square feet of store space anymore,” said Howard Davidowitz, chairman of retail consulting and investment banking firm Davidowitz & Associates. “Retailers are realizing that they have to downsize stores to save money.” Those smaller footprints means more shopping centers are struggling with how to fill their empty spaces. The shift can be painful for retailers as well, Davidowitz said. Renovations can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and in some cases, retailers may have to pay their landlords to alter existing leases. There can be other challenges, too. American shoppers have become accustomed to shopping in megastores that offer dozens of varieties of shampoo, apples and socks. Getting them to cut down expectations can be difficult. “It’s a challenge of enormous consequence,” said Mark Cohen, a professor of retailing at Columbia Business School, who also happens to be the former chief executive of Sears Canada. “How do you successfully distill 200,000 square feet of products into 80,000 square feet?” Take, for example, Walmart. The company, which had been testing small-format Express stores since 2011, last year announced it was scrapping its plans and closing all 102 of its Express stores. Walmart executives did not offer much of an explanation, but analysts say the chain likely had difficulty persuading shoppers to think of Walmart stores as anything but one-stop shops for thousands of items. “Walmart made several mistakes on the merchandising level,” Jeremy Bowman wrote for the stock investors’ website Motley Fool last year. “It stocked multiple brands of the same item, costing space, and consumers often felt the product selection was not right.” Now Walmart says it’s shifting gears to slightly larger Neighborhood Markets stores, which average about 40,000 square feet and focus primarily on produce and groceries. (The company’s Express stores, meanwhile, maxed out at about 15,000 square feet. Its Supercenters, by comparison, average about 180,000 square feet.) “When you walk into a Walmart, you expect a Walmart assortment,” said Sucharita Mulpuru, a retail analyst for Forrester. “Some of the best-performing stores right now are small-format stores: Dollar General, Francesca’s, Five Below. But going from a big-box store to a small format is often much more challenging.” At the Sears in Fair Oaks Mall — which is now about 78,000 square feet, down from 145,000 square feet — dozens of ellipticals and treadmills were on display, as were hundreds of appliances, many of them wrapped in festive red bows. Store managers said they tried to keep the store’s most popular departments — appliances, mattresses, lawn and garden — as large as possible, while shrinking the selection of apparel, jewelry and home goods. The company had also added computer kiosks throughout the store where customers could browse the selection at Sears.com and place orders for items that weren’t offered in a store. “Obviously we want to restore profitability and what that means is Sears is taking a good look at the assets we have available,” said Leena Munjal, senior vice president of customer experience. “The physical experience is very important to our members, but do they need 150,000 square feet? In many cases, no.” The retailer needs to move quickly. Sears has already cautioned there is “substantial doubt” about whether it can remain a going concern even as it pursues a turnaround plan. “Sears is just biding its time,” Davidowitz said. “Everybody else is downsizing, so they’re trying it too.” But longtime customers at Fair Oak Mall last week didn’t seem to know what to make of the changes. For much of the morning, employees in Santa hats outnumbered shoppers. The ones who did walk in said they’d mostly come to browse. A regular from Annandale, who said she had been coming to the store for 30 years, was confused by its new layout. “That was really a shocker when I walked in and there was no upstairs,” she said. “I’m used to going to certain levels for certain items. I’m completely lost.”

Associated Press / January 4, 2017 Sears Holdings Corp. will be closing over 100 more stores as the struggling department store chain tries to turn around its business. The Hoffman Estates, Illinois-based company says 64 Kmart stores and 39 Sears stores will be shuttered between early March and early April. Liquidation sales will begin as soon as next Friday at the stores. A Sears spokesman said Thursday the number of workers affected was not available. The majority of the jobs are part-time positions, Sears said. The move comes in addition to closing about 250 stores announced last year. Sears has been selling off some its real estate and brands as it tries to raise cash.