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Aug 29, 2012

TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * USA

* Illinois - Navistar shares up 2% on EPA engine ruling - Agency doubles fine but allows sales of units that don't meet emissions standards 

(Photo by Chuck Berman / August 7, 2012: Some of Navistar's vehicles on display in 2010 in Lisle,ILL) 
Lisle,ILL,USA -The Chicago Tribune, by Alejandra Cancino -August 31, 2012: -- Shares of Navistar International Corp. closed up 2.38 percent Friday, at $21.98, the day after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it will allow manufacturers to sell diesel engines that don't meet federal emission standards... The ruling will allow Navistar International Corp. to sell its non-compliant engines by paying a maximum fine of $3,800 each -- double what it has been paying. The fines will not be retroactive, so Navistar will not have to pay extra for the non-compliant engines it has already sold... Navistar has non-compliant engines because technology it developed failed to meet 2010 emission standards to reduce smog-causing nitrogen oxide. That technology cost it approximately $700 million since 2001. Navistar changed its course after reporting a second-quarter loss of $172 million. This month, the Lisle-based company said it would combine its technology with the approach used by its competitors to further lower emissions and get its engines certified. Navistar is also buying a competitor's engines to meet the standards... The EPA issued an interim rule in January that allowed manufacturers to sell non-compliant engines as long as they paid a fine of $1,919 per engine. Navistar competitors, including Mack Trucks Inc. and units of Daimler AG and Cummins Inc., successfully sued federal regulators, claiming that the agency was giving Navistar preferential treatment... So, the EPA increased the fine Thursday...


* Philadelphia - Ford accused of infringing fuel-injection patent with F-150 

Pennsylvania,PHIL,USA -Bloomberg/The Detroit News, by Sophia Pearson -August 30, 2012: -- Ford Motor Co. was accused in a lawsuit of infringing a 2008 patent covering a fuel-injection system in its F-150 trucks... Ford allegedly began selling vehicles, including the F-150, which incorporated the patent's fuel system design after telling the inventor the company had no interest in the technology, according to the complaint filed Wednesday in federal court in Philadelphia by TMC Fuel Injection System LLC. The company, based in Wayne, Penn., is seeking a court order barring Ford's conduct, in addition to unspecified damages... Ford's discussions with Shou L. Hou, the patent inventor, began in December 2004, more than two years after an application was filed to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the technology, TMC said in the complaint...  Ford's F-150 is available with a fuel-efficient EcoBoost engine. EcoBoost, introduced in 2009, uses direct fuel injection and turbocharging to increase fuel economy...Ford last year introduced its first EcoBoost engine for F- Series pickups. Trucks equipped with that engine accounted for 42 percent of the model line's retail sales in July, the company said in its latest sales statement issued Aug. 1... 


* Michigan - Flagging GM pickup sales may spur incentive war. Company expects demand to pick up in second half of year

(Photo by Charles V. Tines / The Detroit News: GM trucks sit at the Flint plant on Bristol Road and Interstate 75. Inventory levels are increasing as sales are down, but the automaker has no current plans to change production strategy)
Detroit,MICH,USA -The Detroit News, by Melissa Burden -August 28, 2012: -- General Motors Co., which ended July with a hefty 41/2-month supply of full-size trucks, may be forced to cut production or boost incentives. That, in turn, could lead to an incentive war among truck competitors... The Detroit-based automaker has said for a year that it planned to build up truck inventory in 2012 to ensure it had enough pickups while it retools plants for all-new pickups coming next year. GM even warned that pickup inventory would exceed a 100-day supply at times... But some analysts are concerned about the inventory level, which at 136 days at the end of July was nearly double the 73-day supply that GM had at the end of December. Analysts consider less than a 100-day supply ideal for full-size pickups... July incentives on GM's Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra at $4,200 and $4,800, respectively, were down substantially from the same month a year before, according to TrueCar.com. But they were higher than incentives Ford Motor Co. offered for the F-150 and what Chrysler Group LLC offered for Ram 1500, TrueCar.com says. Pickups are highly profitable for automakers, generally bringing in about $10,000 per unit...


* Louisiana - Last GM midsize trucks roll off La. assembly line

(Photo from GM: At its peak, the Shreveport facility employed more than 2,500 and produced GM’s first Chevrolet S-10 pickup, the Chevy Blazer SUV and Hummer H3, above. Tuesday was the last day for most of its workers)  
Detroit,MICH,USA -The Detroit News, by Melissa Burden -August 29, 2012: -- General Motors Co. ended production Tuesday of the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize trucks at its Shreveport Assembly Plant in Louisiana, which the Detroit automaker is closing after three decades in operation... The last truck, a white Colorado, rolled off the line Tuesday, one of more than 4.5 million vehicles built during the plant's lifetime. The plant, into which the automaker invested $1.2 billion about 10 years ago, had been eyed to close since 2009, as part of General Motors Corp.'s bankruptcy... GM hasn't said when it will launch production of its next-generation midsize pickup truck. That could leave some buyers of midsize trucks with limited options, at least for now...


* Indiana - Commercial Vehicle Group to make seats for Chinese truck maker

New Albany,Indiana,USA -Columbus Business First -August 28, 2012: -- Commercial Vehicle Group Inc. has landed a contract to provide seating and bunk systems for a truck manufacturer in China... The deal with Jianghuai Automobile Co. Ltd. could provide $12 million to $15 million in revenue to Commercial Vehicle Group a year once full production is reached in 2016-17, the company said... In 2011, Commercial Vehicle Group had about $832 million in revenue, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission... The New Albany-based company will supply a custom driver seat with air suspension and develop passenger seats, center seats and a sleeper bunk for Jianghuai Automobile’s new truck platform...

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