Toyota Considering a Compact Pickup to Fight Ford Maverick, Hyundai Santa Cruz
June 3, 2022 - The favorable return of the compact pickup truck is under high scrutiny at Toyota, as the automaker is looking at introducing a small unibody pickup of its own to compete against the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz.
Toyota is no stranger to small trucks. The original Toyota Truck was known for its mini shape, reliability, efficiency, and simplicity. But as customers' demands changed and safety regulations got stricter, the Toyota Truck lost its compact shape. The new truck, however, could bring back all those charms, along with Toyota's potent reputation for building rugged, reliable pickups.
Toyota's mini truck likely would share its version of the TNGA platform with the Toyota RAV4 and Toyota Venza, and could have the flexibility of offering gas, hybrid and even plug-in hybrid powertrains.
FMW Celebrates Pride Month
by Ted Roberts
Janice and I and the FMW team celebrate Pride this month, with thoughts and appreciation for the brave and innovative LGBTQ+ folks who have paved the way before us!
I took the jump into this amazing industry eight years ago, but at the time I didn’t really know what the Fleet world was like. And as an out gay man who’d primarily been in the Tech industry for nearly two decades, I had a tiny bit of apprehension. But I am happy to say that apprehension was unnecessary - our industry has more wonderful, warm, inclusive people than I could ever have imagined.
All of that said, I know that I am lucky. My wish (and our wish) is that everyone will be respected for who they are, and allowed and encouraged to live their best, most authentic lives. So that we all may flourish.
NHTSA Investigates Ford Bronco ‘Catastrophic Engine Failure’ Reports
June 3, 2022 - Ford's sixth-generation Bronco is under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over reports of "catastrophic engine failure." The federal agency wrote that it has received three petitions requesting a probe into the alleged problem.
The investigation stems from petitions that claim some Bronco models powered by the 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 suffer from a valvetrain-related problem that manifests as a loss of power at highway speeds. Starting the engine is then reportedly impossible due to what is described as "a catastrophic engine failure."
Some describe it as a dropped valve, a problem which usually damages the cylinder and the head, and many of the affected SUVs have received a new engine.
NAFA and ESG Integrity Announce Partnership
ESG Integrity and NAFA announced a partnership program to assist the fuels and transportation industries with meeting the growing demand for Environmental, Social, and Governance planning and reporting.
ESG planning and reporting is becoming a necessary tool in maintaining and developing supply chain relationships and meeting the demands of clients and lenders.
Based upon newly proposed Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules and existing business demands, publicly traded companies will most likely need to develop an ESG plan.
This new partnership will provide guidance and significantly reduce costs for fleets while yielding final ESG reports with Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions modeling and reporting.
In order to have a well-structured plan, fleet managers will need to have systems and policies in place with the proper tools to be able to collect, compute, and report required metrics in an efficient and cost-effective capacity.
Ford Is Going to 100% Online, Fixed-Price Sales For EVs, Says CEO Jim Farley
June 2, 2022 - The Ford brand will transition to exclusively online, fixed-price, delivered-to-your-door sales for EVs, CEO Jim Farley said, in a statement reported by USA Today.
"We've got to go to non-negotiated price. We've got to go 100 percent online. There's no inventory [at dealerships]; it goes directly to the customer. And 100 percent remote pick up and delivery," he said during Bernstein's Annual Strategic Decisions Conference, the paper reported.
The fixed-price model has been tried by countless new car dealerships, used-car chains, and even manufacturers like Saturn. Yet it was Tesla that showed that a successful automaker could fully rely on fixed-price sales. It's unclear if Ford also plans to implement this sales strategy shift for its non-EV products.
