Author: Serkadis

Audi confirmed today that it will be showing a concept version of A8 Hybrid and the A1 e-tron at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show this week. Audi also confirmed that the “e-tron” name will play important part in distinguishing the brand’s electric-mobility lineup.

“In future our customers will be able to choose from an increasingly broad range of driveline technologies,” said Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi. “To accompany our high-efficiency TDI and FSI engines, we shall offer electric power in the best possible forms for a wide range of mobility needs. The hybrid driveline will be followed by all-electric vehicles. The ‘e-tron’ name will have an important part to play. Just as ‘quattro’ has become a synonym for all-wheel drive, so ‘e-tron’ is to be the Audi brand name for electric mobility.”

The Audi A1 e-tron will be shown as a design study (a fancier way of saying concept) at the Geneva Motor Show this week. It is powered by a 102-hp electric-motor that has a range of more than 31 miles. After battery supply is depleted, it is recharged by a compact “range extender” engine consisting of a single-rotor Wankel engine and an electrical generator with a charge rating of up to 15 kW. That allows the A1 to travel an additional range of 124 miles. Audi says the A1 e-tron is capable of averaging 124 mpg. The German automaker did not confirm the A1 e-tron for production.

Audi also confirmed today that the A8 Hybrid, which will be shown in concept form at Geneva, will be available to order by late 2011. Power for the A8 Hybrid comes from a 2.0 TFSI 4-cylinder engine and an electric-motor with a combined output of 245-hp and a peak torque of 354 lb-ft. That will allow the A8 Hybrid to average a combined fuel-economy of 38 mpg. Audi says that the A8 Hybrid is also capable of running on electric-mode at speeds of up to 40 mph for more than 1.2 miles.

At the end of 2010, the 2011 Audi Q5 Hybrid will hit dealerships. Audi also said that at the end of 2012, it will produce the e-tron electric-vehicle seen at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. It said that small series will be built as the brand’s first electric-car.

Read the press release below for more details.

2011 Audi A8:

2011 Audi A1:

Press Release:

AUDI AG: driveline strategy for the future – electric mobility as an integrated concept

* Q5 hybrid to be unveiled in 2010, A8 hybrid can be ordered from late 2011
* World premiere for A1 e-tron study at Geneva Motor Show
* “e-tron” to be Audi’s brand name for electric mobility

Audi is working intensively to answer questions of future mobility. In late 2010/early 2011 the Q5 hybrid will reach the market, the first Audi with a combination of gasoline engine and electric motor. In Geneva Audi is exhibiting the A8 hybrid for the first time as a concept car: Its CO2 emissions of 144 g/km (231.75 g/mile) are the best figure in the full-size category. Another world premiere in Geneva is the A1 e-tron design study, which shows that Audi’s expertise in electric drive systems extends down into the compact car segment. At the end of 2012 Audi will launch the e-tron electric car that was seen last year at the Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA). A small series will be built, and will be the first electric car to reach the market.

When developing alternative drivelines, Audi is pursuing a strategy of introducing each technology where it is appropriate for specific model lines and markets, in other words where it will offer customers significant benefits.

“We regard the full hybrid as we know it today primarily as a very specific technology for reducing fuel consumption. In due course plug-in hybrids will demonstrate their strong points when drivers expect to cover longer distances in the pure electric mode, in combination with a conventional engine,” says Michael Dick, Member of the Board of Management for Technical Development at AUDI AG.

According to Dick: “The strength of the electric car clearly lies in the urban mobility area, where the demand for emission-free local transportation will strongly increase.” In addition to hybrids and electric cars, Audi continues to develop its long-term competence in the development of basic propulsion concepts using fuel cells and hydrogen as an energy carrier.

Every year Audi invests around two billion euros in development projects, with the focus on continued progress in internal combustion engine design and associated areas. Electric mobility is a further priority: In this area the e-tron show car seen at the IAA was a dramatic signal. At the same time, the various activities are being grouped together strategically. Audi has established the e-performance project house to deal with electric mobility topics. Since the autumn of 2009 a team has been at work on the research project of the same name, with support from the Federal German Ministry for Education and Research. Members of the team, consisting of AUDI AG development staff and scientists from various universities, are working on the development of a new overall electric vehicle concept, including the body, battery and power electronics.

Audi A1 e-tron
Audi will be expanding its “e-tron” model family step by step: the A1 e-tron design study that the company is exhibiting at the Geneva Motor Show is an innovative Mega City Vehicle (MCV). Like the sports cars in the same family, it is electrically propelled and has a range of more than 50 kilometers (31 miles) in city traffic. With a peak power output of 75 kW (102 hp), the A1 e-tron is also fun to drive.

When the battery’s energy supply is exhausted, it is recharged by an exceptionally compact “range extender” consisting of a single-rotor Wankel engine and an electrical generator with a charge rating of up to 15 kW.

This device gives the A1 e-tron an additional range of 200 kilometers (124 miles). According to the draft standard for determining the fuel consumption of range-extender vehicles, the mean fuel consumption is 1.9 liters per 100 kilometers (123.8 US mpg), equivalent to CO2 emissions of only 45 g/km (72.42 g/mile).

Audi A8 hybrid
Audi is displaying the A8 hybrid as an engineering study at the Geneva Motor Show. Its two power units – the 2.0 TFSI engine and the electric motor – have a combined output of 180 kW (245 hp) and a torque of 480 Nm (354.03 lb-ft). They give the car the same outstanding performance as a large-capacity conventional six-cylinder engine. This systematic downsizing demonstrates its fuel-consumption advantages in combination with the electric driveline: the average fuel consumption is only 6.2 l/100 km (37.94 US mpg), equivalent to CO2 emissions of 144 g/km (231.75 g/mile).

The Audi A8 hybrid uses the parallel hybrid configuration – a highly efficient principle that avoids unnecessary friction and power losses. The powerful electric motor integrated between the 155 kW (211 hp) four-cylinder petrol engine and the eight-speed tiptronic transmission can supply a further 33 kW (45 hp) to the driveline, as well as a vigorous 211 Nm (155.63 lb-ft) of torque. The A8 design study is a full hybrid, that is to say the gasoline engine or the electric motor can propel it either separately or together. In the pure electric drive mode the car can reach 65 km/h (40.39 mph) and cover a distance of more than two kilometers (1.2 miles).

– By: Omar Rana

CHICAGO (STMW) — The CTA on Sunday laid off 99 bus mechanics and servicers — the last of 1,057 CTA employees shown the door last month.

The bus drivers union warns that Monday could be the start of a second CTA “doomsday” — because the layoffs mean dirtier buses that won’t get fixed as quickly if they break down.

“You should start noticing it now,” said Carlos Acevedo, assistant business agent of Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 241, which represents bus workers. “You’ll have a lot of extremely dirty buses. You’ll start seeing the gum and the dried-up stains.”

CTA spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney said the most recently laid-off group had been decommissioning buses taken out of the fleet because of service cuts imposed Feb. 7. The group included 11 managers. “We’ve reduced the size of the fleet and therefore we need less people to operate buses or maintain them,” Gaffney said.

The bus drivers union meets Monday night, and may vote whether to strike. The CTA has said that Illinois law prohibits strikes by “essential service employees.”

Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will offer $900 million in grants to states and school districts to turn around low-performing schools — but recipients would have to take drastic action, such as replacing principals, reopening schools as charter schools or closing them outright.

Obama was to announce the plan Monday at an education event sponsored by the America’s Promise Alliance, the youth-oriented organization founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell and his wife, Alma. Obama also planned to discuss ways to better prepare students for college and careers.

The White House says 1.2 million students drop out of school each year, and only about 70 percent of entering high school freshmen go on to graduate. About 2,000 high schools turn out half of all dropouts, and the administration says it will work with states to identify those schools with graduation rates below 60 percent.

Obama’s 2011 budget proposal includes $900 million for School Turnaround Grants. To get a share of the money, states and school districts must adopt one of four approaches to fix their lowest-performing schools:

• Turnaround Model: The school district must replace the principal and at least half of the school staff, adopt a new governance structure for the school, and implement a new or revised instructional program.

• Restart Model: The school district must close and reopen the school under the management of a charter school operator, a charter management organization or an educational management organization. A restarted school would be required to enroll, within the grades it serves, former students who wish to attend.

• School Closure: The school district must close the failing school and enroll the students in other, higher-achieving schools in the district.

• Transformational Model: The school must address four areas, including teacher effectiveness, instruction, learning and teacher planning time, and operational flexibility.

The administration also is putting $50 million into dropout prevention strategies, including personalized and individual instruction and support to keep students engaged in learning, and better use of data to identify students at risk of failure and to help them with the transition to high school and college.

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

So speculates Re-think wireless, drawing on LG’s strong partnership with Microsoft, LG’s stated intent to develop an e-reader and tablet to challenge the iPad and Kindle, and Microsoft’s recent patent deal with Amazon.

They mention LG intends to leverage their extensive R&D in electronic paper and other screen technologies, and that LG has been rumoured to be developing devices either running some version of Windows or Android.

Re-Think Wireless notes that Microsoft’s patent deal with Amazon specifically mentions the Kindle and that Microsoft does have an (under-developed) e-book heritage.

LG’s device is expected as early as April this year.

Read more at Re-think Wireless here.

Filed under: Safety, Technology, GM

As of today, when incidents like sudden acceleration happen, it’s extremely difficult to diagnose conclusively what the cause was. Without a mechanism to track exactly what the driver did, what the vehicle sensors detected and how the vehicle responded, it usually ends up being a he said/she said situation.

Thus, in the wake of recent allegations of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles, a movement has begun to equip all cars with black box data recorders.
Representative Gene Green (D-TX) has already introduced legislation that would mandate the installation of such event data recorders, or black boxes, in all new vehicles.

General Motors has now come out publicly in favor of the proposal. GM has been installing event data recorders in its cars since 1995 as part of the air bag system. In accidents where the airbags are triggered, GM can use the data stored in the EDR for diagnostic purposes to improve the function of its safety systems. The recorders save the last few seconds of data before a crash from a number of sensors. GM is not only supporting the installation of these recorders in all vehicles, but also supports making the data accessible so that accident causes can be more accurately determined.

[Source: General Motors]

Continue reading GM comes out in support of black box legislation

GM comes out in support of black box legislation originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Black tubing is seen coming over a dam built along a creek for irrigation of marijuana plants at an abandoned marijuana growing site in the Sequioa National Forest near Fresno, Calif.

 

Associated Press

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

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HONOLULU — The warning was ominous, its predictions dire: Oceanographers issued a bulletin telling Hawaii and other Pacific islands that a killer wave was heading their way with terrifying force and that “urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property.”

But the devastating tidal surge predicted after Chile’s magnitude 8.8-earthquake for areas far from the epicenter never materialized. And by Sunday, authorities had lifted the warning after waves half the predicted size tickled the shores of Hawaii and tourists once again jammed beaches and restaurants.

Scientists acknowledged they overstated the threat but many defended their actions, saying they took the proper steps and learned the lessons of the 2004 Indonesian tsunami that killed thousands of people who didn’t get enough warning.

“It’s a key point to remember that we cannot under-warn. Failure to warn is not an option for us,” said Dai Lin Wang, an oceanographer at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii. “We cannot have a situation that we thought was no problem and then it’s devastating. That just cannot happen.”

Hundreds of thousands of people fled shorelines for higher ground Saturday in a panic that circled the Pacific Rim after scientists warned 53 nations and territories that a tsunami had been generated by the massive Chilean quake.

It was the largest-scale evacuation in Hawaii in years, if not decades. Emergency sirens blared throughout the day, the Navy moved ships out of Pearl Harbor, and residents hoarded gasoline, food and water in anticipation of a major disaster. Some supermarkets even placed limits on items like Spam because of the panic buying.

At least five people were killed by the tsunami on Robinson Crusoe Island off Chile’s coast and huge waves devastated the port city of Talcahuano, near hard-hit Concepcion on Chile’s mainland.

But the threat of monster waves that left Hawaii’s sun-drenched beaches empty for hours never appeared — a stark contrast to the tidal surge that killed 230,000 people around the Indian Ocean in 2004 and flattened entire communities.

This time, waves of more than 5 feet were reported in Kahului Bay in Maui and in Hilo, on the eastern coast of Hawaii’s Big Island, but did little damage. Predictions of wave height in some areas were off by as much as 50 percent.

In Tonga, where up to 50,000 people fled inland hours ahead of the tsunami, the National Disaster Office had reports of a wave up to 6.5 feet hitting a small northern island, with no indications of damage.

And in Japan, where authorities ordered 400,000 people out of coastal communities, the biggest wave was a 4-foot surge that hit the northern island of Hokkaido, flooding some piers.

A Japanese official offered an apology to those affected after the government had warned that waves of up to 10 feet (three meters) could hit some northern regions.

“The tsunami estimates of the Meteorological Agency were too large, and so I’d like to apologize to individuals that were evacuated or inconvenienced,” Sekita Yasuo, an official at the agency, told reporters Monday.

He said the agency compared its estimates to those from abroad and chose the larger of the two, leading to the overzealous forecasts, and that he wanted to improve accuracy in the future.

After the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center lifted its warning, some countries kept their own watches in place as a precaution. Early Monday, the Japan Meteorological Agency warned of a possible tsunami about a foot and a half in size along its entire Pacific coast and told people to stay away from the waterfront. That warning was cleared later Monday morning.

But scientists offered no apologies for the warnings and defended their work, all while worrying that the false alarm could lead to complacency among coastal residents — a disastrous possibility in the earthquake-prone Pacific Rim.

A similar quake in Chile in 1960 created a tsunami that killed about 140 people in Japan. The same surge hit Hawaii and devastated downtown Hilo, on the Big Island, killing 61 residents and wiping out more than 500 homes and businesses.

“If you give too many warnings and none of them materialize, then you lose your credibility,” Wang said. “That’s something that we have to deal with and we have to improve.”

Despite some of the panic in Hawaii, public officials called the evacuation “perfect” and said it was a good test case that proved the system worked.

Chaos was at a minimum as people heeded evacuation orders and roads were free of the gridlock that can paralyze a region before a disaster. The smooth response occurred largely because the state had so long to prepare; Hawaii is nearly 7,000 miles from where the quake hit, and it took 15 hours for the tsunami to arrive.

“I hope everyone learned from this for next time, and there will be a next time,” said Gerard Fryer, a geophysicist for the warning center.

The science of predicting tsunamis is difficult, given the vast size of the ocean and the volatile forces at work miles below the surface.

Scientists use an earthquake’s magnitude and location as the basis for their predictions and then refine it constantly with data from more than 30 deep-water sensors stationed across the Pacific as the shock wave sweeps across the ocean floor.

The sensors, located at 15,000 to 20,000 feet beneath the surface, measure the weight of the water and beam it to buoys floating on the surface. Scientists then use the data to calculate the tsunami’s wave height in the open ocean as it progresses toward shallower waters.

Coastal inundation models based on topographic mapping add another layer of analysis, helping scientists make assumptions about how the surge will behave in shallower waters and how it might affect shoreline communities.

“There are all sorts of assumptions that we make in trying to figure out how big the waves are going to be. If we can avoid some of those assumptions, maybe we can do a better job,” said Fryer.

“If this event happened tomorrow, even with this knowledge, we would be forced to do the exact same thing.”

Those models could be more accurate if scientists had more deep-water sensors and could build coastal inundation models for vast parts of the Pacific Rim where the topography hasn’t yet been well-surveyed, Wang said.

Because complete data doesn’t exist for every coastal area, scientists must play it safe in their wave predictions, he said.

“Even for Hawaii, we only have a forecast for less than 10 locations, we don’t have inundation models for every coastal point in Hawaii and it’s the same story for the U.S. mainland,” Wang said. “We’ve got to be a little conservative. One point doesn’t tell you that’s going to be the maximum everywhere else.”

In areas where inundation models exist, scientists’ predictions were close to accurate, Wang said.

Residents and tourists alike in Hawaii said they weren’t bothered by the evacuation and supported the scientists’ actions — even though the waves never showed up.

Eugene Okamoto, 33, said he came to Honolulu from Hilo to visit some tourist attractions with his father and was disappointed the two had to cancel their plans because of the evacuation orders.

But Okamoto said his family understands the tsunami threat better than most because some of his relatives lived through the tidal surge in 1960. They remember how the water was sucked down the beach moments before the wave hit.

“My uncle was on the top floor when all the water washed away and all the kids ran out to grab the fish and before they could get back, the wave came. He was way up top, he saw all his friends get washed away and none of them were found, ever,” Okamoto said, as he sat with his father in a hotel lobby. “They did the right thing.”

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

The funeral for a veteran SeaWorld trainer killed by one of the park’s orcas is set for a church on Chicago’s South Side.

Services for 40-year-old Dawn Brancheau are planned for Monday at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel. Family and friends lined up for Brancheau’s wake on Sunday at the Chicago church.

Brancheau died Wednesday in Florida after rubbing a 22-foot, 12,000-pound orca named Tilikum. The animal grabbed her ponytail and pulled her into the water in front of about 20 spectators.

The medical examiner says Brancheau likely died of traumatic injuries and drowning.

Brancheau’s older sister has said the trainer loved the animals like children. Brancheau was married and didn’t have children.

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

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We’ve seen some folks claim in the comments that Section 230 safe harbors go away if the person or company is involved in forwarding or posting the material of others — but courts have repeatedly held otherwise. Now we’ve got yet another such case, that actually has pretty a pretty similar story line to some previous lawsuits. Basically a guy forwarded an email to a mailing list, which someone claimed was defamatory — and they sued the guy who forwarded the email. But, once again, a court has found that the mere act of forwarding the email does not take away section 230 protections. The fact that the guy added a brief intro to the email also didn’t change this — though, the content of that intro could be reviewed for defamation (the court found there was none), since that was actually written by the guy.

Once again, this is exactly how Section 230 should act. It’s designed to make sure liability gets applied to the right party — the one actually making (for example) the defamatory remarks. Merely passing along what someone said shouldn’t have the liability passed on to you as well, and that’s exactly what the court found.

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Just like with almost everything, the Internet has had quite an effect on the way people consume news. And it’s not just that they have another avenue for news, the very way people get their news has changed in the past years. The latest Pew Research Center Internet study shows that US consumers get their news from a variety of sources and very … (read more)

FoMoCo announced last week that it will be investing $155 million at its Cleveland Engine Plant No.1 to build the new 3.7L DOHC Ti-VCT V6 engine for the 2011 Ford Mustang, a move that will add 60 jobs to the plant.

“Ford is absolutely committed to delivering class-leading fuel efficiency with every new vehicle we introduce, and this investment in Cleveland provides further proof,” said Bill Russo, director of manufacturing for Ford’s powertrain operations.

Ford said that the investment and jobs at Ford’s Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1 brings the company’s investment in powertrain engineering and facility upgrades in North America to $1.8 billion to support its 2011 vehicle launches. The total number of jobs being added as part of these investments is 1,260.

Click here for more news on the Ford Mustang.

The new Mustang engine is one of nine new or upgraded engines or transmissions for 2011 model Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles.

Ford announced last week that it has received nearly 11,000 orders for the 2011 Mustang, with half of the nationwide orders being made for the 305-hp 3.7L V6 Mustang.

Refresher: The 2011 Ford Mustang V6 is powered by the 3.7L V6 Ti-VCT making 305-hp and 280 lb-ft. The 2011 Ford Mustang GT is powered by a 5.0L 4-valve Twin Independent Variable Camshaft Timing (Ti-VCT) V8 engine producing 412-hp with a peak torque of 390 lb-ft. Transmission choices for both models include a 6-speed automatic with a 6-speed manual offered as standard.

– By: Omar Rana

Last month, after announcing that it will officially purchase Saab from General Motors, Spyker release a short press release detailing what we can expect from the Swedish duo – in terms of products. Besides the 2010 Saab 9-5 and the upcoming 9-4X, Spyker execs said that they are considering a small model, known to many as the Saab 9-1.

According to AutoCar, Spyker CEO Victor Miller is working really fast and hard to get a Saab compact completed in hopes to rival Audi’s new A1 and Mini’s Cooper.

Nonetheless, the new baby Saab is still rumored to be three years away and is likely to be produced with a major multinational partner. While Muller declines to confirm the partner, many sources say that the likely contender is Opel, given the strong relationship between the two over Saab’s other products.

Click here to learn more about Saab’s future products.

– By: Kap Shah

Source: AutoCar

Filed under: Sedan, Performance, Technology, Mercedes-Benz, Luxury

We’re here in Affalterbach, Germany this morning for a Mercedes-Benz AMG tech day ahead of the Geneva Motor Show, and while we have yet to get a tour of the facilities, we already have some news – the 2011 S63 AMG will receive the company’s all-new 5.5-liter bi-turbo V8 engine, as well as the SpeedShift MCT seven-speed gearbox already on offer in the E63 and SL63.

Even though it’s down on displacement compared to the outgoing 6.2-liter engine, the M 157 generates more power (544 horsepower in ‘standard’ mode, 571 with the optional performance package) and more torque (586 pound-feet or 660 lb-ft. with the optional performance pack). And despite the change in engine size, the big sedan’s S63 moniker will remain.

MB chairman of the board Volker Mornhinweg has also confirmed to Autoblog that the U.S. market will indeed receive start-stop technology despite the fact that its efficiency gains aren’t really recognized by the EPA’s fuel economy testing methodology. Even so, the user-defeatable fuel-saving measure ought to pay dividends in city traffic, which is important because cities like Los Angeles and New York are prominent AMG markets.

Despite offering an embarrassment of performance, the S63 will also cut fuel consumption by an astonishing 25 percent, thanks in part to clever programming of its SpeedShift gearbox and a driver-selectable ‘Controlled Efficiency’ program, an eco-mode that, among other things, instructs the transmission to always start in second gear, shift up as quickly as possible, and remain in higher gears whenever possible. In addition, the Intelligent Generator Management System employed on the E63 is also used to funnel kinetic energy back into the battery, and there is a new generation of cylinder deactivation technology at work as well. All-in, the still-massive motor will turn in an impressive 23.5 miles-per U.S. gallon on the EU cycle and Morninweg pledges that the car will skirt U.S. gas guzzler taxes.

The ‘standard’ S63 will run to a governed 155 mile-per-hour top end, while the performance package model has been let out to 186 mph. The new car is slated to go on sale in the second half of the year, and the 5.5-liter engine is expected to supplant the 6.2-liter in other AMG offerings over the next several years. We’ll see the new engine tomorrow in person at the Geneva Motor Show, where it will reside in the engine bay of a special S63 showcar. The showcar (above) pays tribute to an early AMG-powered 300 SEL that won its class and finished second overall at the 1971 24-hour race in Spa-Francorchamps.

Continue reading 2011 Mercedes-Benz S63 gets smaller but more powerful 5.5-liter biturbo V8

2011 Mercedes-Benz S63 gets smaller but more powerful 5.5-liter biturbo V8 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CHICAGO (STMW) – Chicago Police are asking for the public’s help finding a teen who went missing last Friday in the South Side Englewood neighborhood.

Nieja Patterson, 14, was last seen at 5:15 p.m. Feb. 26 walking from 6614 S. Bishop St. to South Ada Street – about two blocks east, according to a missing person release from Wentworth Area detectives.

Nieja is described as a 5-feet, 4-inch, 115-pound black girl with a medium complexion, brown hair and brown eyes, the release said.

The Perspectives High School student was last seen wearing a black sweater, black coat, black jeans with a red design on the back pockets and black gym shoes, according to the release. She was wearing her hair in a ponytail with bangs.

Anyone who sees Nieja is asked to call 911 or Wentworth Area detectives at (312) 747-8385.

Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

After taking over the Super Bowl as the primary automotive advertiser, Hyundai will now head to the Academy Awards as the event’s exclusive automotive sponsor for the second straight year. Million of American will tune into watch stars on Oscar night March 7 and will get to see 8 commercials by Hyundai, one during the red carpet walk and seven other throughout the show.

Hyundai says that the estimated cost for each 30-second spot is about $2.5 million to $2.8 million.

“For the whole evening, it will be about the same cost as for the Super Bowl,” said Joel Ewanick, marketing vice president at Hyundai Motor America. “We’re very excited. Our Web traffic since Super Bowl is higher than it was during cash-for-clunkers which went for 40 to 50 days.”

Hyundai was one of the only three brands to post a U.S. sales increase in 2009 while the whole market was down 21 percent. January 2010 sales were up 24 percent over January 2009.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

I saw some great products at the recent Macworld expo. Here are a few items that grabbed my attention.

Navigon for iPhone: The latest release of Navigon MobileNavigator for iPhone has added a new panorama 3D view that uses terrain elevation data from NASA. The feature is available via in-app purchase. I also got a hands-on demo of the MyRoutes feature which will show you three different route choices to find the best combination of speed and distance for you.

DJay Software with Spin Controller: The thing I love about the Djay Software with the Spin hardware controller is that it is a real DJ system for the Mac. It’s not a game like DJ Hero or something. You can spin records right from your iTunes library. You get some added digital benefits like automatic tempo matching so you can concentrate more on the music and less on the technical bits of DJ-ing. Here Karim of algoriddim (and the man behind the DJay software) demonstrates a few aspects of the controller.

Batteries: My iPhone was nearly dead at the end of every day at the Expo. For the first time, I started shopping for an extra battery. I like the ones that plug in to the dock connector with a cable like the Richard Solo and HyperMac batteries. The HyperMac stuff is not cheap, but really nice looking. I think I’m about ready to splash out for the HyperMac Micro. With this bad boy, I could play iPhone games for much longer on a weekend camping trip. Hmm, I wonder if that’s a good thing?

VESA mounts: I’ve been wanting to mount my screen on an adjustable arm for a long time, if only to clear some desk space. If you need an arm, then you should check out the top-quality products from Flatscreen Arms. These are unique in that they connect directly to the built-in pivot in the 24″ and 27″ iMacs rather than relying on the Apple VESA-mount adapter. It is a much cleaner look than what is normally available and the gas-shock arms will hold a 27″ iMac without drooping. You’ll find cheaper arms out there, but I do not know of anything better.

MacSpeech Scribe: This new product from MacSpeech lets you transcribe recordings to text. You can “train” the software to learn a certain voice from recordings by correcting the transcription. I see a lot of uses for this software where the full MacSpeech product does not always make sense. For example, a professor can use MacSpeech Scribe to create a transcription of a lecture podcast to make the lecture searchable on the web.

Microvision ShowWX: $499 for a tiny battery-powered ShowWX microprojector sounds like a great deal for all the road warriors out there. I’d much rather throw this in my bag instead of taking another carry-on. Check out the demo of the infinite focus. The scan lines and hot spot are an artifact of the camcorder and are not visible in person.

What did you see at Macworld Expo that you thought was cool?

 

Knowing that April 15th is next month, here’s a new word for you: “Intaxicaton”, which is the euphoria at getting a tax refund which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

Will Fannie be receiving a refund? Fannie Mae reported a $72 billion net loss for 2009, $15 billion in the 4th quarter, and greater than the $59 billion the company lost in 2008. Fannie said it asked the U.S. Treasury for another $15.3 billion to stay afloat, bringing its total bailout tab past $76 billion. (Freddie Mac lost $6.5 billion in the 4th quarter and almost $22 billion for the year, but didn’t ask for more bailout cash.)

Fannie Mae has updated their Release Notes for the DO/DU Version 8.0 April Update, which will be implemented the weekend of April 17, specifically related to borrower eligibility and verification requirements (see paragraph above). At that point lenders will be allowed to remove borrowers from the new loan with a DU Refi Plus transaction; and lenders must confirm that borrowers on a loan case file match all borrowers on the existing Fannie Mae loan when a Social Security number does not match. (See paragraph above.)

On top of this, Fannie (see paragraph above) came out with its “Loan Quality Initiative,” which “provides advance notice of upcoming changes to policies, business processes, and tools to support delivery data on the loans delivered to Fannie Mae that is complete, accurate, and fully reflective of the actual terms of the mortgage, as well as aligned with Fannie Mae policies and standards.” The investor hopes that this will raise Fannie loan quality (see paragraph above) and lower repurchase requests. Watch for changes over the next several months. Rather than summarize all nine pages, you’re better off reading it directly from the source.

Freddie Mac declared several changes to their requirements to “help improve the quality of appraisals for mortgages we purchase, strengthen our business processes, and enhance information available to you to originate and service mortgages.” The end-investor (which means that others are soon to follow) will allow sellers to use Home Value Explorer (HVE) point value estimates returned by LP when reviewing appraised property values during the loan origination process (starting yesterday LP began providing HVE information on the LP Feedback Certificate). Freddie is also now requiring sellers to “retain a copy of the entire note in the mortgage file for post-funding quality control review effective for mortgages. Note endorsements via power of attorney are not permitted! Lastly, Freddie adjusted some of their state-specific guidelines for NH, RI, CA, GA, and NC. Details here.

I don’t know what I’ll be doing around Labor Day, but Freddie Mac will be eliminating its Interest Only product. At that time the company announced that on or about September 1, it will cease purchasing and securitizing IO mortgages, including Freddie Mac Initial Interest fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgages. As agents and brokers know, what Fannie or Freddie do, the other usually follows, and with them, most investors. This will leave portfolio and hard money lenders as the only entities possibly offering IO products by late summer.

What is the latest on HUD and RESPA and GFE’s? Darned if I know. But on 2/18 HUD met with major FHA lenders “to help promote consistency” for the new RESPA. HUD addressed its “restrained enforcement” position and advised that this only covers a party that has implemented the new RESPA rule in good faith. Implementation in good faith requires use of the new good faith estimate (GFE) and HUD-1 forms, and abiding by the intent of the new rule with regard to fee categories and tolerances. As for “worksheets”, HUD advised that although worksheets can be useful for generic rate quotes, a worksheet should not look like a GFE and it should be clear that the worksheet is not a GFE, it never should be used “in lieu of” a GFE, and a consumer should not have to show an “intent to move forward” to receive a GFE. HUD advised that a pre-approval without the issuance of a GFE may be used in a purchase transaction only if the consumer has not executed a purchase contract on a property. HUD also explained that a pre-approval may not be used with a refinance, and that a lender should never advise a consumer not to disclose their property address in order to avoid providing a GFE.

Here is a riddle for you. What happens every Friday, is tragic, and is only expected to become worse? The answer is regulators shutting down banks, this time in Nevada and Washington. The assets of Carson River Community Bank (NV) will be assumed by Heritage Bank (NV), and those of Rainier Pacific Bank (WA) by Umpqua Bank (OR). It is reported that FDIC officials claim that the pace of bank seizures will likely accelerate.

If you gearing up to sell mandatory, or have you based your business model on it, be careful! The word is out that some dealer clearing houses will be requiring counter-party agreements with the MBS security dealers, so in case a dealer “goes down” (like Lehman or Bear or Drexel Burnham) the counterparties will stand behind the trades. This means the originator. It is rumored that anyone selling securities may be asked to pony up points based on perceived counterparty risk plus any negative mark-to-market for mandatory hedging purposes. And new trade lines will be, in effect, traded with margin. So whether you calculate the difference between best efforts and mandatory execution is .250 or .625 in price, there may be hurdles.

Are we heading for lower rates, or higher rates? Certainly there is no inflationary pressure, although GDP for the fourth quarter (generally thought of as “old news”) was revised slightly higher, and was the strongest quarter of economic growth in more than six years. But Existing Home Sales decreased over 7% in January and was much weaker than expected. At over 3 million units available for sale, at the current pace this is almost an eight month supply. And for the sales in January, 38% were “distressed” sales which include foreclosures. (Maybe we’ll get another tax related surge in the coming months based on the April 30^th date, maybe not.)

Also on Friday we had the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index show a little increase in February, but the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index dropping slightly from January’s levels. But how do Purchasing Managers stack up against news from Greece, or the level of foreign interest in buying our debt? They don’t. The threat of ratings cuts for Greece fueled demand for the safety of U.S. debt and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke pledged to hold interest rates at a record low – so don’t look for (short term) rates moving much higher. But continued faith in U.S. economy could fade quickly without signs that Congress is crafting plans to address the very large deficit in which we find ourselves – Bernanke believes that deficits need to be brought down to 2.5% to 3% of the nation’s gross domestic product to be sustainable.

Rate-wise, dealers and investors become a little nervous about mortgages (relative to Treasury securities) if 4.5% securities approach a price of 101. Looking ahead to March, however, we have some uncertainty about the Fannie & Freddie buyout impact, consumer concern over the employment situation and we have the employment number this Friday, scheduled termination of the Fed MBS purchase program, an FOMC meeting mid-month, the usual 2 rounds of treasury auctions, and shaky equity and currency markets.

This week is full of news, beginning with Personal Income & Consumption and Construction Spending today, along with the Institute of Supply Managers Index. Tomorrow we have a break, and then on Wednesday we have the ADP employment number (which doesn’t include government jobs), the ISM services number, and the Beige Book from the Fed. Thursday is Jobless Claims, 4^th quarter Productivity, Factory Orders, and Pending Home Sales. Lastly, Friday we have the usual set of employment data, which is the biggest economic event of the week. Look for a decrease of about 20,000 jobs in February. But ahead of all this rates are quiet, with mortgages a shade better and the 10-yr steady at 3.63%.

Every day I wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 4AM to work on this commentary. Or, at least, most mornings – sometimes I need a little motivation. The decision has been made to put in occasional one-paragraph advertisement, in addition to our market news and information. Would you like to reach a few dozen (ok, maybe a few more) people every morning?  Share the word about your products and services in this daily commentary, and drive business to your website or social media? Contact Carolyn Roark at [email protected] for information.

A man and a woman, who had never met before but who were both married to other people, found themselves assigned to the same sleeping room on a Trans-continental train.

Though initially embarrassed and uneasy over sharing a room, they were both very tired and fell asleep quickly, he in the upper berth and she in the lower.

At 1:00 AM, the man leaned down and gently woke the woman saying, “Ma’am, I’m sorry to bother you, but would you be willing to reach into the closet to get me a second blanket? I’m awfully cold.”

“I have a better idea,” she replied. “Just for tonight, let’s pretend that we’re married.”

“Wow! That’s a great idea!” he exclaimed.

“Good,” she replied. “Get your own *&^% blanket.”

After a moment of silence, he belched.

Rob

(Check out http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/channels/pipelinepress/default.aspx. For archived commentaries, check www.robchrisman.com, )

Celebrating the French registrar’s tenth anniversary, the company is giving away 55,000 promotional codes in the following ten days. These codes can be employed by old or new clients and will allow users to acquire domain names for free from Gandi and some of their partners.

Gandi will start offering codes at 14:00 GMT March 1, 2010, the … (read more)

AOL is continuing to shed products it’s not particularly interested in anymore, or rather from which it doesn’t stand to make too much money in the short- to medium-term future. The latest such move, the sale of Buy.at, came as a surprise to industry pundits. The affiliate marketing network AOL acquired two years ago has been gobbled up by London-based Digi… (read more)

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Ford

There was a time in the illustrious history of the Ford Mustang when having an engine from the Cleveland Engine Plant meant that you were sporting a 351 cubic-inch V8 underhood. Times have changed quite a bit over the past 35 years, as Ohio’s newest Mustang engine contains but six cylinders yet produces an impressive 305 horsepower and an even more brow-raising 30 miles per gallon highway.

Ford expects the 3.7-liter-powered Stang to account for two thirds of Mustang sales, and The Blue Oval is so confident in customer demand for its six-cylinder offering that it’s hiring 60 new workers to assist production. To prep the Cleveland plant for its newest engine, Ford is also investing an additional $155 million to bring the plant up to speed.

Ford Powertrain Manufacturing Director Bill Russo appears to be pretty high on the Cleveland facility, adding that it is “not only building fuel-efficient engines for some of our most popular Ford products, it’s becoming a hub for the future of Ford powertrains.” A hub with a Help Wanted poster on the front door, no less.

While the news at Cleveland appears to be very good, the state of powertrains at Ford is even better. The Oval reportedly pumped a staggering $1.8 billion into powertrains for the 2011 model year, and has nine total new engines on the way. Three of those new powertrains will find their way under the hood of the Mustang, as the 3.7-liter, 5.0-liter and supercharged aluminum 5.4-liter powerplants are all new for 2011. Pony car powertrain fans can revel in the fun by pouring over the horsepower-centric press release after the jump.

[Source: Ford]

Continue reading Ford is Hiring! 3.7-liter V6 for Mustang means 60 new jobs in Cleveland

Ford is Hiring! 3.7-liter V6 for Mustang means 60 new jobs in Cleveland originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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