TPT July 2015

Global Marketplace

F-150, which went on sale late last year, hurt North American sales because dealers did not yet have a full inventory. Two plants make the F-150, in Michigan and Missouri, but only the Michigan plant was fully operational in the first quarter after a longer than usual changeover to making the truck’s body out of aluminium instead of steel. Sales of the F-150 were down 40 per cent, or about 60,000 vehicles, for the quarter, and dealers were not expecting normal levels of trucks on their lots until the summer. Sales of the Edge were down about 15,000 vehicles as the company changed over to an updated model. › In contrast to Ford, General Motors Co enjoyed a good first quarter – its best in North America since it exited bankruptcy in 2009 – in which it posted a $945 million profit. Home-market buyers of large pickups, SUVs and crossovers compensated for the impact of the strong US dollar and weak sales in Brazil and in Russia, where GM will stop nearly all manufacturing. The automaker is considering adding capacity in Arlington, Texas, to make even more of its highly profitable SUVs at the plant there. GM is also anticipating pressure to squeeze more output from its pickup factories in Flint, Michigan, and Fort Wayne, Indiana, should the shift in preference away from passenger cars toward crossovers and light trucks prove steady.

SIDE LOADING FOR FAST TOOL CHANGE AND NO LIFTING REQUIRED • Infinitely adjustable expansion & reduction • High production capability TUBE END FORMING AV65 Elsewhere in automotive . . . › Ford Motor Co attributed its disappointing first quarter – in which revenue fell by 5 per cent, or $2 billion, to $33.9 billion – to the strong US dollar and lower sales of the Edge SUV and new F-150 pickup, two of the company’s most profitable vehicles. Ford in late April said the continuing launch of the their next vehicle. Baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) would spend $2,416. Pre-boomers (born before 1946) averaged $2,067. › Reviewing the survey results at an Automobile Press Association lunch in Detroit, Kristin Kolodge, Power’s executive director of driver interaction research, said that – despite the heavy advertising and promotion automakers lavish on their connectivity systems – interest in technologies that connect a smartphone to a car is evidently “lukewarm”. To Ms Kolodge this reflected, at least to some extent, the respondents’ loyalties to the makers of their smartphones. Apple iPhone users rejected touchscreens based on Android systems while Android users snubbed touchscreens based on Apple’s iOS system. But her summary of the Tech Choice Study findings had another emphasis altogether: “There is tremendous interest in collision-protection technologies across all generations.”

Dorothy Fabian, Features Editor (USA)

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J uly 2015