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“A Huge Success Story” Fuel-efficient engines and transmissions boost jobs in Ohio and Indiana

March 5, 2013 at 7:41 pm

“When I took this job in 2008,” says Mike Gammella, president of UAW Local 1250 in Brook Park, Ohio, “we had the foundry announced to be closed, and Engine Plant #1 had 66 people. It looked like we were vanishing.” But instead of vanishing, Ford’s Cleveland Engine Plant #1 is now gaining $200 million in new investment, hundreds of new jobs, and a hot-selling new engine: the 2.0 liter EcoBoost, which powers several Ford vehicles and up until now has [...]

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Memo from Detroit Auto Show: “We’re hiring!”

January 28, 2013 at 5:44 am

Even during the darkest days of the U.S. auto industry, when industry giants GM and Chrysler faced bankruptcy in 2009 and threatened to take hundreds of supplier firms with them, the Detroit Auto Show was still a place to see innovative car designs and the latest in automotive technology. Back then, however, the Motor City’s annual celebration of its hometown industry wasn’t much of a place to go job-hunting. Four years later, it’s a different story.

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Less is more: Institute Sees Strong Future for Lightweight Steel

January 2, 2013 at 12:38 pm

I was surprised when I drove by a large billboard alongside I-94 the other day with a slogan that appeared to be pointed directly at me: “54.5 by 2025.” I did a double-take: Did DrivingGrowth.org start buying billboards ‚Äì but nobody told me? Is the Obama administration touting its new fuel economy standards via outdoor advertising?

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2013 Could be a Record Breaker for Fuel Efficiency and Electric Vehicles

December 19, 2012 at 12:14 pm

Looking forward to 2013, I see good news for new car buyers. Showrooms will have an unprecedented number of fuel-efficient models of both the gasoline and electric varieties. Plug-in electric vehicles are set to reach new records for sales and fleet average fuel economy will be at all-time high levels.

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Nexteer adding 325 jobs to build fuel-saving technology in Saginaw

December 17, 2012 at 2:34 pm

“Nexteer, in five or ten years, will be bigger than it is today,” said Niklaus A. Von Matt, product engineering manager at auto supplier Nexteer. He made that prediction at the end of July, when he talked with DrivingGrowth.org about market opportunities for the company’s fuel-saving Electric Power Steering (EPS) system.

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More Satisfied Customers? DOE Battery Research Could Make Driving Easier for Me ‚Äì and Other Electric Vehicle Owners

December 10, 2012 at 12:32 pm

For two years in a row, the Chevy Volt has ranked #1 in the Consumer Reports customer satisfaction survey, with a whopping 92% of vehicle owners saying they’d buy the same car again.

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