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FCA accused by EPA of failing to disclose software allowing excess diesel emissions Automotive News / January 12, 2017 The EPA has accused Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) of failing to disclose software in 104,000 diesel pickups and SUVs that allows them to exceed pollution limits. The EPA stopped short of calling the software in 2014-16 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500s a “defeat device” but said the carmaker failed to disclose its use. FCA said it meets all applicable regulatory requirements and will work with President-elect Donald Trump’s administration to contest the allegations. The EPA and California Air Resources Board (CARB) told FCA they believe its auxiliary emissions control software allowed vehicles to generate excess pollution in violation of the law. "Failing to disclose software that affects emissions in a vehicle’s engine is a serious violation of the law," said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s office of enforcement and compliance assurance, in a statement. "We continue to investigate the nature and impact of these devices. All automakers must play by the same rules, and we will continue to hold companies accountable that gain an unfair and illegal competitive advantage.” She added: “As regard to penalties, the notice of violation describes the civil penalty provisions of the law that may apply. So the statue provides for civil penalties of up to $44,539 per vehicle sold for the violations that are alleged in the N.O.V.” The maximum fine, in theory, would be about $4.6 billion. CARB Chairman Mary Nichols said: "Once again, a major automaker made the business decision to skirt the rules and got caught." The U.S. Justice Department is investigating, Fiat Chrysler said Thursday. FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne, during a call with journalists, angrily denied the company was cheating and has been in talks with EPA and made significant disclosures of documents. "We have done nothing that is illegal," he said. "There was never any intent of creating conditions that were designed to defeat the testing process. This is absolute nonsense." He characterized the dispute as whether the automaker had completely disclosed software that protects the engine, adding the company was planning updated software to address EPA concerns. He said the EPA and the company could have settled the issue in "a more efficient way" without the EPA announcement, and he said "I'm really pissed off" about reports that equate FCA's issues with VW's. "The way that it has been described, I think, has been unfair to FCA, and that is the thing that disturbs me most," Marchionne said. He also suggested regulators had a "belligerent" view of automakers. "There's not a guy in this (company) who would try something as stupid as (cheating on diesel tests) ... We don't belong to a class of criminals." Official statement FCA said in a statement: "FCA US is disappointed that the EPA has chosen to issue a notice of violation with respect to the emissions control technology employed in the company's 2014-16 model-year light-duty 3.0-liter diesel engines. FCA US intends to work with the incoming administration to present its case and resolve this matter fairly and equitably and to assure the EPA and FCA US customers that the company's diesel-powered vehicles meet all applicable regulatory requirements." An automaker can use an auxiliary emissions control device in limited circumstances to protect the engine from damage, but it must be declared to regulators. FCA's U.S.-listed shares initially plunged as much as 18 percent on the news. At closing, the shares were down 10 percent to $9.95. The EPA's announcement comes amid rising scrutiny by the agency of automaker emissions after Volkswagen AG admitted to cheating diesel emissions tests in 580,000 U.S. vehicles. EPA has reviews ongoing of other automakers' emissions systems, but it is not clear if they have found any additional wrongdoing. In April, Daimler AG said the U.S. Justice Department had asked the carmaker to investigate its emissions certification process for vehicles including its Mercedes brand. The EPA has for months declined to certify Fiat Chrysler's 2017 diesel vehicles for sale in the U.S., but the automaker has continued to sell 2016 diesel models. In September 2015, EPA said it would review all U.S. diesel vehicles following an admission from VW that it installed software in cars allowing them to emit up to 40 times legally permissible level of pollution. The EPA has extensively investigated the vehicles and Fiat Chrysler has turned over significant documents as part of the probe, two people briefed on the matter said. The probe covers FCA's diesel trucks and SUVs from the 2014-16 model years.

Sergio Marchionne is an acquaintance, and a super human being. He is NOT the likes of Volkswagen's Ferdinance Piech who without doubt gave final approval of Volkswagen's cheating software.

How the Trump dossier came to light: secret sources, a retired spy and John McCain The Guardian / January 12, 2017 What began as opposition research during the Republican primary slowly grew from a covert investigation into an extraordinary but unverified global story The extraordinary but unverified documents published on Tuesday on Donald Trump’s ties with Moscow began life as a piece of opposition research, which has become as much a part of US politics as yard signs and colored balloons. There is a small industry of research and investigative firms in Washington, typically staffed by a mix of former journalists and security officials, adept at finding information about politicians that the politicians would rather stay hidden. The firms often do not know who exactly is hiring them; the request could come from a law firm acting on behalf of a client from one of the parties. In this case, the request for opposition research on Donald Trump came from one of his Republican opponents in the primary campaign. The research firm [Fusion GPS] then hired one of its sub-contractors [London-based Orbis Business Intelligence operated by ex-MI6 officer Christopher Steele] who it used regularly on all things Russian: a retired western European former counter-intelligence official, with a long history of dealing with the shadow world of Moscow’s spooks and siloviki (securocrats). By the time the contractor had started his research, however, the Republican primary was over. The original client had dropped out, but the firm that had hired him had found a new, Democratic client. This was not necessarily the Hillary Clinton campaign or the Democratic National Committee. Opposition research is frequently financed by wealthy individuals who have donated all they can and are looking for other ways to help. By July, the counter-intelligence contractor [Orbis] had collected a significant amount of material based on Russian sources who he had grown to trust over the years – not just in Moscow, but also among oligarchs living in the west. He delivered his reports, but the gravity of their contents weighed on him. If the allegations were real, their implications were overwhelming. He delivered a set to former colleagues in the FBI, whose counter-intelligence division would be the appropriate body to investigate. It is believed he also passed a copy to his own country’s intelligence service, but it felt constrained in what action it could take and left it up to the Americans to do their own investigation and draw their own conclusions. As summer turned to autumn, the investigator was asked for more information by the FBI but heard nothing back about any investigation. The bureau seemed obsessed instead with classified material that flowed through a private email server set up by Clinton’s aides. The FBI’s director, James Comey, threw the election into a spin 11 days before the vote by announcing his investigators were examining newly discovered material. The former intelligence official grew concerned that there was a cover-up in progress. On a trip to New York in October, he was persuaded to tell his story to David Corn, the Washington editor of Mother Jones, who first reported the existence of the material on 31 October. The FBI however continued to refuse to comment on the issue, despite reports that it had requested and perhaps acquired a warrant for further investigation from the Foreign intelligence surveillance (Fisa) court. The silence was not altogether surprising. The FBI counter-intelligence division, headquartered in Washington, is extremely secretive, much more so than the New York field office, which had strong links to former prosecutor and mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was by then working for Trump. The threat of leaks from New York about Clinton emails had reportedly pushed Comey into making his October surprise announcement. In mid-November, the documents took another route into Washington that ultimately led to them being mentioned in the joint intelligence report on Russian interference that was delivered to President Obama and President-elect Trump. On 18 November, the annual Halifax International Security Forum opened in the Canadian city, bringing together serving and former security and foreign policy officials from around the world. Senator John McCain was there and was introduced to a former senior western diplomat [Sir Andrew Wood] who had seen the documents, knew their source and thought him highly reliable. McCain decided the implications were sufficiently alarming to dispatch a trusted emissary, a [unnamed] former US official, to meet the source and find out more. The emissary hastily arranged a transatlantic flight and met the source at the airport as arranged. The meeting had a certain cold war tradecraft to it, as he was told to look for a man with a copy of the Financial Times. Having found each other, the retired counter-intelligence officer drove the emissary to his house, where they discussed the documents and their background. The emissary flew back within 24 hours and showed McCain the documents, saying it was hard to impossible to verify them without a proper investigation. McCain said he was reluctant to get involved, lest it be perceived as payback for insulting remarks Trump had made about him during his rambunctious campaign. However, on 9 December, McCain arranged a one-on-one meeting with Comey, with no aides present, and handed them over. “Upon examination of the contents, and unable to make a judgment about their accuracy, I delivered the information to the Director of the FBI. That has been the extent of my contact with the FBI or any other government agency regarding this issue,” the senator said in a statement on Wednesday morning. It is not clear what underpinned the FBI’s decision to include a summary of the documents in its highly classified briefing to the president and president-elect and their top staff, before the bureau had completed its investigation. It may have been as a defensive measure, to prove for posterity that it was not involved in a cover-up, or because its investigators believed them to be credible. Whatever the motive, it was quickly leaked – first to CNN, which reported on the material on Wednesday. That triggered a controversial decision by BuzzFeed to publish an unredacted version of the documents on its website. It is unclear where the BuzzFeed version came from. The author of the reports had been insistent on blotting out references to his Russian sources in the copies he gave to the press, including the Guardian, out of fear for their safety. The unredacted version could have come from the original client, who commissioned the research, or from intermediaries between the counter-intelligence contractor and the client. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The New York Times / January 12, 2017 Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence agent who prepared the dossier on Trump’s supposed activities in Russia, has gone underground. The strange story of the dossier, which United States intelligence agencies, the FBI, Senator John McCain and many journalists have had for weeks, if not months, and which Trump presumably must have known about, appears to have had personal consequences for Steele. Steele hurriedly left his home in Surrey on Wednesday. Steele, 52, was a longstanding officer with MI6, the British equivalent of the CIA, serving in Paris and Moscow in the 1990s before retiring. In 2009, he started a private research firm, Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd., with Christopher Burrows, now 58. Burrows’s profile page on LinkedIn describes him as a former counselor in the Foreign Office, with postings in Brussels and New Delhi in the early 2000s. Diplomatic postings are sometimes used to provide cover for intelligence agents. He is known in British intelligence circles for his knowledge of the intricate web of Kremlin-tied companies and associates that control Russia. Steele, as a known former MI6 agent, was thought not to have gone to Russia in his investigations but to have used contacts inside and outside the country to prepare the dossier, which United States intelligence agencies have said they cannot substantiate. But the file was used to prepare a two-page appendix to the intelligence presentation American officials gave to Mr. Trump last Friday. John Sipher, who retired from the CIA in 2014 after 28 years, described Steele as having a good reputation and “some credibility.” Sipher was stationed in Moscow in the 1990s, and then ran the CIA’s Russia program for three years. “I have confidence that the FBI is going to follow this through,” Sipher said. “My nervousness is that these kind of things are going to dribble and drabble out for the next several years and cause a real problem for this administration going forward.”

The current Navistar engines employing an SCR emissions solution are not experiencing any issues, including the 12.4-liter MAN D26 license-built "N13". https://www.internationaltrucks.com/-/media/navistar/trucks/pdf/brochure/n13_speccard.pdf Scania aside, I would take a Navistar N13 (MAN D26), Detroit (Daimler) or Cummins with their Bosch or Cummins-Scania XPI high-pressure common rail fuel injection over a Volvo engine with inferior Delphi fuel injection (unit pump or the new jury rig). The Paccar MX (DAF) with its Bosch unit pump injection is also significantly better.

One can find a lot of humor within the confirmation hearings. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “I’m in no position to speak” on behalf of [Exxon] company executives, Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson said, dodging Senator Tim Kaine’s (D-Va.) questions about the company where he worked for 40 years. “You would have to speak to them.” At one point, Kaine asked, “Do you lack the knowledge to answer my question, or are you refusing to do so?” “A little of both,” Tillerson responded. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tillerson told Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) that “to my knowledge, Exxon never directly lobbied against [Russia] sanctions.” Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, interjected: “I think you called me at the time” when the Russia sanctions were being debated. Congressional lobbying records show Exxon lobbied on many Russia sanctions bills. (As chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil from 2006 to 2016, it is impossible to believe that Tillerson had no knowledge of the company he led lobbying against sanctions.)

You're right. If you recall, I explained before to you why.

Again, some people need it, many don't. But at the end of the day, it's the customer's decision. And Cummins and Daimler have collectively sold thousands of ISX15, DD15 and DD16 engines in our country. The customer speaks. Why do we sell so many V8s? Drive one.........and you'll know. It's hard to explain or,.........it's really not that hard. It's a feeling, a sense........of being in control.........and having access to.........all that power whenever you need it. Knowing that you're going to keep that steady pace over that next crest........... Overtake that truck in front of you..........without effort. You know? It's like another way of driving..........my way. .

Volkswagen Truck & Bus (Brazil) Press Release / January 9, 2016 VW’s purchase and sale of used trucks jumped 80% in 2016 Volkswagen’s used truck business continued to gain prominence in 2016. For the year, the truckmaker took in 541 trucks as trades on new truck purchases. The activity represented a 80 percent rise in trades over 2015. "We noticed that our customers wanted to renew their fleets, but had difficulty in selling their retiring trucks due to the low in Brazil’s economy," says Ricardo Alouche, VW Truck & Bus vice president of sales, marketing and after-sales. Trade-in trucks acquired by Volkswagen undergo a rigorous bumper-to-bumper inspection before being resold. "In this moment with a recessive economy and high competition, we need to ensure that we remain Brazil’s truck sales leader by creating new business options for our customers," said Alouche. .

Car 2 Finishes at 14th Overall for the SS on the First Day of the Second Half of the Rally. Advances to 10th in Accumulated Overall Rankings. Having been previously shortened to 161km due to bad weather, organizers decide to end the day’s SS at the 141km point. On January 9, Stage7 La Paz (Bolivia) - Uyuni (Bolivia) Liaison: 404km SS: 161km Liaison: 240km Total: 805km On Jan. 9, the first day of the second half of Dakar Rally 2017, contestants raced in Bolivia en route from La Paz to Uyuni. Organizers originally scheduled a 322km SS for the day but were forced to shorten it to 161km due to inclement weather. Meanwhile, organizers also rerouted the liaison route to areas that were less affected by the rain, making this a long 805km stage, about 180km longer than originally planned. The first half of the day challenged racers with small ergs on sandy off-piste terrain where they battled to cross sand ridges. The sand was relatively deep which meant that truck crews had to be on extra alert. In the latter part of the day, the terrain transitioned to gravel piste which also featured a number of muddy areas. Competition for the trucks category was cut short at the 141.37km point due to road conditions that had deteriorated from the rain, and trucks were redirected to paved roads which took them to Uyuni. HINO TEAM SUGAWARA’s HINO500 Series trucks, both of which have been fully refreshed by the mechanics on the rest day yesterday, had good runs throughout the SS. The Teruhito Sugawara and Hiroyuki Sugiura crew piloting Car 2 made no navigational errors, finishing at 14th overall and top in the Under 10-litre Class. Car 1 piloted by Yoshimasa Sugawara and Mitsugu Takahashi also delivered solid performance finishing the SS 36th overall and 2nd in the Class. Based on these results, Car 2 advanced its accumulated overall standings as of Jan. 9 to 10th spot. Car 2 is also inching its way up in accumulated overall standings at 31st place. Car 2 and Car 1 continue to maintain their 1-2 positions in the Under 10-litre Class. The Uyuni bivouac was set up as the marathon stage camp on a military facility, which meant that there would be no assistance crews to be seen here. This marathon stage will not be a Parc-Fermes stage where the racing vehicles are completely isolated from the crews, but a Parc-de-Travail stage where crews will be allowed to service their vehicles themselves. So while neither of HINO TEAM SUGAWARA’s trucks have been having any problems, the crew kept themselves busy carrying out inspections. Car 1’s arrival at Uyuni after its SS finish has not been confirmed as of 10:00 pm, the deadline for this update. Although the longest SS in this year’s event had been scheduled for tomorrow, Jan. 10―a 492km SS straddling the Bolivian-Argentine border between Uyuni and Salta―organizers once again have had to shorten it due to the effects of rain. The first half of the SS set within Bolivian borders has been shortened to finish at the 174km point. The latter half of the SS across the border in Argentina has been canceled for the trucks category, shortening the SS from the scheduled 492km to 174km. Teruhito Sugawara: While today’s SS was not particularly challenging, we did have to stay alert. I believe our finish position was fitting considering our current capabilities. We have been able to improve our accumulated standings as a result, but I’m actually more concerned with our time difference with the leaders than our standings. Today will be a marathon bivouac but we have hardly had any driving related problems thanks to our focus on solid truck building. I’m disappointed that the stage for tomorrow has been cut short again, but there isn’t much anybody can do about that. .

Twists and turns on a long road to expose VW emissions cheating The Financial Times / January 10, 2017 Sophisticated tests set off panic among community of employees aware of the swindle Volkswagen is prepared to plead guilty to US criminal charges and pay a $4.3bn fine tosettle the diesel emissions scandal — a remarkable sum for a decade-long swindle whose discovery began with this simple question: why are diesel cars in the US so much more eco-friendly than in Europe? In retrospect the question looks suspect: diesel had a tiny market share in the US, but in Europe it accounted for half the market. It would be implausible that the US technology would be superior. But in late 2012, John German, a senior fellow at the nonprofit International Council on Clean Transportation, thought he had an answer. Having spent 13 years working for the Washington-based Environmental Protection Agency, Mr German knew how strict its compliance and enforcement was. He figured that accounted for forcing car manufacturers to make diesel “clean”. “Our goal was to test the diesels in the US, prove that diesels could be clean, take the data back to Europe and say, ‘hey, they can do this in the US, why can’t you do this in Europe?” he told the FT on Tuesday after VW said it was in “advanced talks” to finalise a criminal settlement with the Department of Justice. Problems were apparent as soon as the ICCT began testing Volkswagen diesel cars in 2013. Mr German’s real-world tests were showing nitrous oxide emissions at up to 35 times the permitted levels. West Virginia University, which sponsored the study, kept recalibrating its equipment as if it were faulty. When that did not work, it suspected the particular cars must be malfunctioning — and yet, curiously, they passed emissions tests in the laboratory. It soon became clear to Mr German what the problem was: “It had to be a defeat device,” he said, referring to illegal software that allowed the cars to realise they were being tested and enter a low-emission mode. “There was no other explanation.” However, he felt he could not say anything publicly. “The words defeat device do not pass your lips when you’re dealing with a multibillion-dollar company. It’s just way too dangerous. So I just kept my mouth shut.” The ICCT released the findings of the study in March 2014. It did not mention illegal software or name what car models were tested, but the ICCT sent copies to Volkswagen and the EPA. Mr German said he felt certain the EPA would soon uncover the defeat device. But the discovery took more than a year, as Volkswagen engineers and executives frustrated US regulators’ attempts to understand the nature of the irregularities, according to criminal complaint filings. For months VW “intentionally made . . . false and fraudulent statements” to make the discrepancies appear as if they were “innocent mechanical and technological problems”, one complaint says. Oliver Schmidt, then head of VW’s US compliance team, learnt of the ICCT study by April 2, 2014, and wrote to a colleague, “It should first be decided whether we are honest. If we are not honest, everything stays as it is,” according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Monday, two days after the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Mr Schmidt for alleged fraud. The California Air Resources Board and the EPA continued testing the vehicles with growing sophistication, tricking the cars’ computers into thinking they were in the real world and setting off a panic among the community of VW employees aware of the fraud. On June 29, 2015, an unnamed VW employee wrote that the regulators must be prevented from testing VW’s older, “Generation 1” cars in the testing lab, according to a US criminal complaint unsealed in September. “If the Gen 1 goes onto the roller at the CARB,” the employee wrote, “then we’ll have nothing more to laugh about!!!!” US regulators only learnt for certain that Volkswagen was cheating the tests on August 19, 2015, when a VW employee in engine development “disclosed, in direct contravention of instructions from his management”, that certain VW cars could detect when they were being tested and enter a low-emissions mode, the complaint unsealed on Monday says. VW officially acknowledged the illegal software to CARB and the EPA on September 3 that year, but still they withheld telling the public. The EPA issued a rare notice of violation on September 18, detailing the cheating. Within days, VW admitted it had installed the software in 11m cars worldwide beginning in 2008. Chief executive Martin Winterkorn resigned but admitted no wrongdoing on his part. VW soon admitted that its fraud dated back to 2006, when the German carmaker adopted an aggressive strategy to boost sales in the US. The goal had been to take on increasingly popular hybrid models by marketing “clean diesel” cars that supposedly reduced “sooty emissions by up to 90% compared to previous diesel engines”. Even now, nearly 16 months after VW’s admission of cheating, much remains unclear. Only one VW engineer, James Liang, has pleaded guilty. Mr Schmidt was only the third arrest, after an unnamed executive in South Korea was sentenced to 18 months in prison last week for fabricating documents. It remains unknown who authorised the cheating or how high up the totem pole knowledge of it went. The complaint against Mr Schmidt alleges that he and others briefed “executive management” in Wolfsburg on the software in July 2015, and assured them that US regulators were not aware of the defeat device. The executives “authorised its continued concealment”, the complaint states. Volkswagen and the Department of Justice are to reveal a “statement of facts” about the scandal at some point, though it is unclear if it will be a part of the settlement expected this week. When they do, lawyers in Europe are expected to seize on it in the hope of using it as leverage to seek damages in the region, where VW maintains that the software it used to bypass emission tests was not against the law. Ingo Speich, a senior portfolio manager at Union Investment in Germany, said even with the US criminal fine being finalised the outstanding litigation risk for VW remains huge. “It’s still too early to say the worst is over,” he said.

My personal experience was the "300" remained competitive thru 1980. We were weak in the 350hp range with the 2VH, but the E6-350 4VH engine resolved that. It was one of the best engines we ever made. And in big power, we had the V-8.

Dakar 2017: IVECO wins two podium places and overall lead Iveco Trucks Press Release / January 10, 2017 The 2017 Dakar Rally caravan is again moving after two days without race activity due to heavy rain in Bolivia. The organisation was forced once again to shorten Stage 7, as a result of the continuous bad weather affecting the roads. The 322 kilometres special was cut to half and only 161 kilometres were taken into account for the clock in a mixed stage with sections of Stage 6 – which was cancelled on Saturday – and Stage 7. This is the beginning of the "Marathon Stage", where the teams of all categories except Trucks are not allowed to work on their cars and only the drivers are allowed to do the job. Despite of the difficulties for the participants, it has been a great day for the PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO Team. With the #507 Trakker, Ton van Genugten finished in the second place, only 2m51s behind Sotnikov, winner of the day. The Dutchman benefits from this fantastic result to advance in the overall classification, after a hard end of the first part of the Dakar. Gerard de Rooy, last Dakar winner in Trucks, secured a good fourth place that keeps him in the overall lead in his #500 Powerstar with five stages still to run until the arrival in Buenos Aires. Wuf van Ginkel, with the #525 Iveco Trakker, fell back to 13th place, 12 minutes behind the leader. This puts him more than seven hours behind the leaders and outside the Top 20 in the overall classification. In the #502 Powerstar, Federico Villagra achieved another podium finish and arrived third in Uyuni, less than one minute behind Ton van Genugten. The Argentine driver is now in fifth position, placing a second IVECO inside the Top 5 in the overall classification. The race will continue on its way to Argentina tomorrow, in a very long day for the participants. Almost 900 kilometres will be run, with 492 of them in a timed stage between Bolivia and Argentina. Stage 7 Results – Dakar 2017 1. Dmitry Sotnikov (Kamaz) 1h41m35s 2. Ton van Genugten (IVECO) +2m51s 3. Federico Villagra (IVECO) +3m37s 4. Gerard de Rooy (IVECO) +4m25s 5. Siarhei Viazovich (Maz) +5m22s ----------- 13. Wuf van Ginkel (IVECO) +12m19s Overall Classification – Dakar 2017 1. Gerard de Rooy (IVECO) 15h52m07s 2. Dmitry Sotnikov (Kamaz) +2m11s 3. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz) +5m57s 4. Airat Mardeev (Kamaz) +20m12s 5. Federico Villagra (IVECO) +33m42s ----------- 20. Ton van Genugten (IVECO) +6h05m29s 22. Wuf van Ginkel (IVECO) +7h12m28s .

The Mack dealer body has been demoralized by Volvo for some time now, due to explainable sales marketing decisions including available product, and losing deals by $10,000 to $15,000. On one hand, they now feel naked without a large engine offering when the competition can all take orders for 15L and 16L engines. On the other hand, Volvo has never made the D16 available in any variant of the Pinnacle (e.g. Rawhide Edition), or Granite. So in fact, the Mack brand hasn't been able to compete on equal terms for some time. Unlike the Granite Series, one can order a Freightliner 122SD with either the DD15, DD16 or X15 (ISX15). I liken the Granite to the 122SD more than the Titan. Similarly, unlike the Pinnacle Series, one can order a Freightliner "New Cascadia" with either the DD15, DD16 or X15 (ISX15). Going up against the competition, the Mack brand dealer is empty handed. And yes, this IS one reason why Daimler has the largest Class 8 market share in the US market and Canada. Yes, the D11 (MP7) and D13 (MP8) can satisfy the needs of most customers*, providing a cheaper, lighter and more fuel-efficient alternative. But what about the customer's engine preference? This is European Volvo thinking, in that they want to tell you what engine you need, rather than listen to what engine the customer is saying they want. In the global market, Volvo dictates to the customer (and dealer body). But that business attitude doesn't fly in the US market. * Engine braking performance (Jacobs) is of course relative to displacement.

The B was a better engine than the first which was a problem, but the C was same as the C12 block. The early 3176 was built where the crankcase was cast iron and there was a aluminum block bolted on top of the crank case and it was what held the liner and pistons. It was a source of oil and coolant leaks. And when you replaced the liner you had to pull the aluminum spacer of to replace the gaskets. It took too much time to over haul.The c came with the one piece block and crankcase like a real engine and better electronics. But still 10 liter engine. The problem with the engine was it was a oil leaker in the front around the front cover and most had the air compressor shaking lose. The good part was it was a light weight and could have good power. The C12 took its place and was a almost 12 liter engine. The first engine had a ECM on it like a 3046 PEEC. It had some sensors in the wrong places. You could not get to the boost sensor witch was stuck in the ECM and it was down low with a hose running from the air intake to it and water would from in it and steel in the sensor which was lower. This would stick the sensor and in most case in the low boost mode cause no power.Later engine was changed some. Being this is a 94 year it will have the later model engine but still is not a C12. Glenn Akers

Dayton Daily News / January 10, 2017 Shares of Navistar have rebounded sharply over the past year as analysts said the company’s finances have stabilized and the truckmaker got a major boost from a new partnership with Volkswagen. The company’s shares fell to a low of $5.78 in mid-January last year. But the shares have steadily risen and reached as high as $33.46 per share earlier this month — a nearly 400 percent increase. The improving share prices are beneficial for the company’s investors, many of whom are workers and retirees living in Clark County. The company’s Springfield plant is a major employer with more than 1,500 employees. The company has also worked to boost hiring in preparation for two joint agreements with GM. “We have a strong retiree base here and they want to see the company succeed as well,” said Mike McDorman, president of the Chamber of Greater Springfield. “We have a lot of new employees being onboarded there every day.” Analysts didn’t comment on the company’s share price specifically, but said it’s clear the manufacturer has undergone a turnaround and regained the confidence of investors and customers. Navistar also made significant news in September, when it announced an alliance with Volkswagen that calls for the German firm to buy a roughly 17-percent equity stake in Navistar and invest about $256 million. Vicki Bryan, a senior high yield analyst at Gimme Credit, said Navistar’s management should be credited with turning around a company that had been in serious financial trouble. Just a few years ago workers weathered turmoil that included top management changes, legal struggles, a recession and a failed engine technology. “They’ve built a durable model that can survive even in difficult market conditions and that’s appealing to Volkswagen because Volkswagen is looking to use this as its cornerstone North American presence,” Bryan said. Navistar officials also pointed to Navistar’s alliance with Volkswagen as a key to the company’s future. “While we won’t speculate on what drives stock performance, we will point out the majority of the increase came after we announced our proposed alliance with Volkswagen Truck and Bus in early September,” said Lyndi McMillan, a Navistar spokeswoman. “We are very excited about this alliance opportunity and the many benefits it offers the company.” McMillan also pointed out the company has taken major strides to improve the business. “The announcement has sparked improved consideration in the company with many stakeholders, including investors,” she said of the Volkswagen deal. “We’ll also point out we’ve seen four consecutive years of improved bottom-line performance, including in 2016 when the industry faced more challenging conditions. This company has achieved 10 years of progress in the last three plus years. We continue to demonstrate our resilience and the long-term viability of our enterprise.” The Springfield plant also is gearing up to begin production of a cutaway model of GM’s G Van beginning early this year. Navistar and GM also made a joint agreement in 2015 to build medium-duty trucks in Springfield. Those deals provided security, along will millions in new investments in a plant that as recently as 2010 had as few as 300 workers. Local leaders have credited better relations between the UAW Local 402 and the company’s management for making those deals possible. As Navistar underwent its recovery, Bryan said many analysts believed the manufacturer might run out of time to turn around as many companies were replacing aging truck fleets. That may have caused stocks to slide, despite Navistar’s improving financial position, she said. “Navistar is in better shape financially but it was not fully recovered,” Bryan said. Company officials recently said the trend of weak demand in the U.S. and Canada for heavy-duty trucks is likely to continue into at least the first half of next year. Navistar reported a net loss of $97 million in 2016 as the heavy truck market remained weak. But that’s half of what it lost the year before. Bryan said decisions Navistar has made in recent years puts the truckmaker in a much better position to thrive moving forward. “That doesn’t mean it’s not going to have some weaker quarters than others,” Bryan said. “But it’s not going to go bankrupt. It can cover its cost and it can cover its debt and retain a viable business model, even if market conditions are difficult. That’s an attraction for Volkswagen.” By the numbers 1,500: Current employees at Springfield Navistar plant 600: New jobs coming to Springfield plant as part of two deals with GM 400 percent: Approximate increase in Navistar’s stock price since last year $256 million: Investment from Volkswagen as it buys a stack in Navistar

Navistar, Dana Agree to Multi-Year Sales Agreement Heavy Duty Trucking / January 10, 2017 Navistar and component manufacturer Dana have inked multi-year deal for driveline components for on-highway, delivery, bus, and vocational vehicles. Dana will remain the standard-position driveshaft supplier across all Navistar truck models, and Navistar will have access to all of Dana’s current driveline product offerings.. The deal will also serve as a platform for collaboration on technologies under development. Dana's technologies for engine downspeeding are also available on a select offering of linehaul trucks from Navistar. The company's driveline package for downsped engines includes the Spicer AdvanTek 40 tandem axle and SPL 350 driveshaft. In addition, Navistar and Dana concurrently launched several extended warranty packages for Navistar's Durastar medium-duty truck program and its school bus platform. Spicer S140 Series and Spicer 060 Series axles, Spicer E-Series steer axles, and Spicer driveshafts are all available components covered under the International Durastar Powertrain Warranty program. Dana is also offering additional extended warranties on medium-duty truck and bus applications through the Dana Productivity and Dana Assurance packages. "The trucking industry is being driven by increasingly stringent efficiency standards, while vehicle owners and operators require steadfast reliability and low cost of ownership," said Tim Farney, vice president of global sales for Dana Commercial Vehicle Driveline Technologies. "Vehicle manufacturers and critical component suppliers must collaborate to deliver an optimized blend of performance and dependability for all trucking applications.” .

Transport Topics / January 10, 2017 Dana Inc. entered into a multiyear commercial sales agreement with Navistar International Corp. for driveline components for on-highway, city-delivery, bus and vocational vehicles. Dana announced the agreement Jan. 10 as the company also issued guidance for 2017. This arrangement also will serve as a platform for collaboration on new technologies under development, bringing the two companies together to cultivate solutions that meet the specific needs of Navistar's customers and increasing industry standards, the Maumee, Ohio-based supplier said. At the same time, Dana announced it will remain the standard-position driveshaft supplier across all models of Lisle, Illinois-based Navistar’s International Trucks. “The trucking industry is being driven by increasingly stringent efficiency standards, while vehicle owners and operators require steadfast reliability and low cost of ownership,” Tim Farney, vice president of global sales for Dana Commercial Vehicle Driveline Technologies, said in a statement. “Vehicle manufacturers and critical component suppliers must collaborate to deliver an optimized blend of performance and dependability for all trucking applications. With support from 16 technology centers located around the world, Dana has the unique ability to leverage global engineering knowledge, processes and technologies to serve any market," Farney said. Meanwhile, Dana's 2017-2019 sales backlog for all segments was $750 million as of Dec. 31 and benefited from new business, primarily in the light-vehicle driveline segment, according to the company. Increased sales from new business backlog are expected to add about $175 million to sales. In the medium- and heavy-truck sector, lower North American Class 8 truck production will be countered mostly by higher demand in other regions. Off-highway market demand levels are anticipated to be relatively comparable or modestly higher compared with 2016, the company reported.

Crain’s Detroit Business / January 10, 2017 Ford and Michigan officials are being tight-lipped about state economic incentives [free taxpayer money] the automaker will receive for the $700 million investment in its Flat Rock Assembly Plant for future production of electrified vehicles. Ford CEO Mark Fields Monday refused to reveal the incentives Gov. Rick Snyder's administration promised to secure the automaker's creation of 700 new jobs as part of an investment to bring up to 13 electrified vehicles to market. "We're in the process of working with the state and anticipating incentives to help support that investment," Fields told reporters during media day at the Detroit auto show. "We'll talk about that once the process is done." An incentives package will be presented at a later date to the Michigan Strategic Fund board for approval, said Steve Arwood, CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Arwood also refused to disclose what incentives Ford is getting for the Flat Rock investment plans, citing a nondisclosure agreement with the automaker. [Government cites a nondisclosure agreement with big business as an excuse for not telling Americans how their employees are spending taxpayer money] "We don't discuss those things publicly, obviously, until the Strategic Fund acts," said Arwood. Arwood said the incentive package will not involve adding to Ford's Michigan Economic Growth Authority tax credits, which were capped in June 2015 at $2.3 billion through 2031. Ford's agreement to cap the value of its MEGA tax credits was tied to $3.1 billion in capital investments and the retention of nearly 40,000 jobs in Michigan. The Snyder administration pushed Ford and crosstown rivals General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to agree to caps on their MEGA tax credits in 2015 as part of an effort to rein in the ballooning cost of $9 billion in taxpayer subsidies promised to Michigan companies during the height of the economic recession. "We don't amend MEGAs," Arwood said.

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David, I think we can all agree that we all "believe in America". For that specific reason, we have these deep and insightful discussions. Simply put, we care. We get many viewpoints in these discussions, which for me, broadens my horizons. But at the end of the day, we all passionately believe in America. For that reason, we are all troubled (to put it far too mildly) at the problems we see today. I myself enjoy a person who calls a spade a spade. Everyone here knows that. But Trump shouldn't use his time making fun of a handicapped person, or lambasting a celebrated actress. C'mon, be professional. We elected him to work on the real issues our country is facing, and that's a long list. Of course he doesn't enter office until the 20th, but one would assume he would/should be putting in long days this month ramping up to day one.