Ford Expects UK Sales to Fall Following Brexit Vote
Ford Motor Co. on Friday said it expects a weak exchange rate to hurt sales in the United Kingdom following the Brexit vote last month.
If the pound stays weak or gets weaker, analysts have said sales could fall as much as 10 percent — from about 3.1 million vehicles to 2.8 million vehicles — in the U.K., Roelant de Waard, vice president of marketing, sales and service for Ford of Europe said on a conference call with reporters. He said it’s “too early to say it’s a significant problem,” and that sales in July were relatively flat.
“It’s warranted for people to be cautious about the marketplace, but we shouldn’t forget half of the country is extremely happy at the moment because they won the vote,” he said.
Yes, Stricter Driving Laws Really Do Make Us Safer
Getting pulled over sucks. There’s no way around it. It’s inconvenient, nerve-wracking, embarrassing, scary and pricey, if an officer gives you a ticket. Yes, it is quite terrible.
But the traffic laws for which you’re getting pulled over, as much as we hate them, really do make a difference.
Data compiled by the Auto Insurance Center, the same group that brought you stats on #drivingselfies, shows just how influential these regulations can be. Across the board, states with tougher driving laws see fewer motorists die on their roadways.
Collision Repair Costs are Rising Faster Than Inflation
By John Wolford, Director of Vendor and Client Services, CEI
If you seem to notice that collision repairs are costing more than they used to, you’re right.
According to CCC Information Systems, a source of data for the auto insurance industry, since the end of 2008 the average cost to repair a damaged vehicle rose more than 13%, from $2,399 to $2,766 in 2015.
What’s the cause? Greg Horn, a vice president at Mitchell International, another provider of auto insurance claims data, attributes most of the increase to the rising cost of parts.
ALD and Wheels Team with AutoCorp in Argentina
ALD Automotive and its North American partner Wheels Inc. have teamed up with AutoCorp, an Argentinean car leasing company, to offer a fleet management solution for the local market.
In a statement, ALD said it will become the first international fleet management company to have a presence in the country, which is the third largest market in Latin America, behind Brazil and Mexico where ALD Automotive has been operating for more than ten years.
Party Platforms Ignore Highway Deaths
Gun violence gets a lot of attention, though its toll is lower than vehicle violence
There are quite a few things that can kill you. Take guns, for example. They kill 33,000 people in the United States each year. Traffic accidents can kill you too. They kill 35,000 people each year and permanently disable many more.
About 200 people survive gunshot wounds each day while twice that many survive car crashes, often with serious and life-changing injuries.
Politicians and their handlers talk endlessly about guns. Some are for them, some against. They don't have much to say about traffic deaths though, and highway safety advocates think that's -- as the FBI recently said about one Presidential candidate -- careless though not quite criminal.
