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Extended Licensing Deal with Mattel

2011-11-08T11:58:00.000-05:00

Mask for Eyes on Doll

The licensing deal that Warner Brothers and DC Entertainment has with Mattel has been extended to a new multi-year deal. The agreement applies to all the major Mattel brands such as Fisher Price, Hot Wheels, Matchbox, and Barbie, and will include the right to produce action figures and toys for the upcoming blockbuster live action films The Dark Knight Rises (Batman) and Man of Steel (Superman). There are also plans for official toys for future animated projects such as Green Lantern: The Animated Series.

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Nissan Researches Mind-Reading

2011-09-28T17:12:00.001-04:00

Mask for Nissan Emblem

Nissan in partnership with a Swiss scientist group is attempting to develop a brain-machine interface between driver and automobile. The scientists at EPFL have already developed a system allowing wheelchair users to manipulate their chairs using thoughts. The collaboration is in hopes of using that same type of technology in cars mainly to reduce driver stress and to help produce an overall safer environment.

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Easy-Bake Redesign

2011-09-15T11:01:00.001-04:00

Fixture and Mask for Toy

Federal regulations banning the incandescent light bulb has forced Hasbro to redesign the Easy-Bake Oven. The mandated elimination of those bulbs in favor of the compact fluorescent bulb has prompted the toy company to manufacture a version of the toy with no light bulb at all. The intention of this Federal law is to lower energy costs, reduce waste and encourage the health of citizens. Ironically, the newer version of the Easy Bake Oven is bigger, makes larger sugary snacks, costs almost twice as much as the original, and could potentially use more energy than the light bulb version.

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New Ford Plant in India

2011-09-08T10:56:00.000-04:00

Mask for Ford Raptor

Ford has begun construction of a $1 billion dollar manufacturing complex in India. The new facility will produce 240,000 vehicles and 270,000 engines a year, as well as creating 5,000 jobs in India. Ford's goal is to expand its worldwide sales by 50%.

"We are aggressively expanding in markets around the world that have the most growth potential," said Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford Asia Pacific and Africa.

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Toyota Yaris Price Increase

2011-08-11T13:00:00.000-04:00

Fixture and Masks for a
Toyota Dashboard

While the Sienna, Tundra and Sequoia 2012 models have minimal price increases, the 2012 Yaris will be $1000 higher than last year. Claiming that the base model will come with new standard equipment to justify the increase, the main reason seems to be that the Yaris is built entirely in Japan. The strength of the yen against the dollar naturally reduces the profitability of the exports. The Sienna, Tundra and the Sequoia are made in the U.S.

Read the WSJ article

100 Years of Chevy

2011-07-29T11:33:00.000-04:00

Mask for Chevy Bowtie

Chevrolet celebrates its 100 year anniversary with a website for fans to vote for their favorite Chevy. On Chevy100.com, Chevy's are displayed on a bracket system where you vote for your favorites in a head-to-head competition. (I'm predicting a '63 Corvette Sting Ray vs. '57 Bel Air face off in the finals).

Chevy also announced a special-edition Corvette to celebrate its centennial. Check it out on Edmunds.

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Nissan and Mitsubishi Partnership Expands

2011-07-14T12:20:00.001-04:00

Masks for the Nissan Emblem

Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will be adding the Nissan Navara to the list of vehicles that they build together. The Navara is Europe's best selling small pickup truck, and is known in the USA, Canada, Philippines, Argentina and Brazil as the "Frontier". The partnership strengthens their cooperation accord established in December of 2010. This relationship helps both companies bottom-lines, but Mitsubishi will also use the Navara platform to assemble its next generation pickup truck.

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VW Hopes to Triple US Sales

2011-06-02T11:35:00.000-04:00

Masks for Audi and Volkswagen

Volkswagen has opened a new manufacturing plant in hopes of regaining a foothold in the U.S. market. Emphasizing high quality standards, VW hired within its own global corps, many from their Audi and Bentley divisions, bringing over 200 experts to this brand-new Tennessee facility. The Passat that is being produced in this factory was designed only for the United States and will not be exported to Europe.

In 2010 Volkswagen sold 256,830 vehicles in the U.S., which is a 20% jump from the previous year. However, that is only half of the yearly sales of the 1970's, which is considered VW's boom years. In 2011 sales are up by 17% so far.

Read the LA Times article

Chinese Toy Prices on the Rise

2011-05-26T13:18:00.000-04:00

Mask to Spray Mouth of Toy

Prices of toys made in China are increasing due to wage increases, material inflation, and the exchange rate. Mattel and Hasbro have already raised prices earlier this year due to Chinese factories passing on these higher costs.

"About 7% to 8% of the average 10% price increase is because of higher material and labor costs, with the rest attributed to Chinese yuan appreciation," said Wang Jianhui, an analyst at Southwest Securities Co in Beijing. Worker salaries have almost doubled in the past year, and wages for the millions of migrant workers rose 40% in 2010. Higher commodity costs are also hurting profits. Crude oil has risen 42%, and Cotton prices have surged 90% so far this year.

Read the Want China Times article

Record Sales at Nissan

2011-05-13T12:48:00.005-04:00

Helped by launching 10 all-new products, Nissan announced that global sales increased 19.1% during fiscal year 2010. "Fiscal year 2010 was a record year for Nissan in terms of sales and growth," said Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn. China posted the largest percentage increase at 35.5%. The most unit sales for Nissan where in North America at 1,245,000.

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Toyota May Reduce Domestic Production

2011-05-13T12:36:00.005-04:00

Due to higher domestic labor costs, a stronger yen and the lack of participation in a free-trade agreement among Pacific Rim nations, Toyota Motor Corp. said it is considering scaling back domestic automobile production. Although strong overseas sales, especially in North America and emerging countries, helped to offset any negative impact of the Japanese Earthquake, its domestic earnings remained at an operating loss for the third straight year.

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FoMoCo's Lucky Number 13

2011-04-27T11:38:00.006-04:00

Ford Motor Company announces its best first quarter performance in 13 years, and it expects to sell over 13 million vehicles in 2011. Regardless of the concerns for the disrupted production due to the earthquake in Japan, Ford's President and CEO Alan Mulally doesn't believe it will have a major impact on the overall earnings this year. In fact, because of the shortages of their Japanese rivals, he believes that gives Ford an opportunity for more customers as "the demand's going to outpace the supply."

Read the Article on Bloomberg Businessweek

Dodge Sales Up

2011-04-20T13:25:00.000-04:00

Dodge vehicle sales in the United States rose by 24% in the First Quarter of 2011 according to the quarterly earnings report released by Fiat SpA today. The Ram pickup truck led the way with a 38% increase, followed by Jeep with a 34% increase. Chrysler's sales fell by 9% causing the overall first quarter increase in US sales for Chrysler Group LLC to be at 23%.

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Government Selling GM

2011-04-20T12:12:00.004-04:00

The Wall Street Journal reports that the US Government plans on selling off its stock in General Motors within the next 6 months. This sale would likely mean a loss to the US taxpayers somewhere in the neighborhood of $11 Billion dollars. The reason for the hurried sale by the Administration seems to be the hope of removing it as a campaign issue before the 2012 elections. GM's shares fell by nearly 1.3% today as investors react to this news.

Read the WSJ Article
Read the AFP article via Google News

US Gov Motives Questioned

2010-02-04T11:28:00.004-05:00

Is the questioning of Toyota by the US government for the public safety, or is it because the US now owns a major stake in General Motors and Chrysler? This is the question that is circling around the auto industry as reported by AFP reporter Mira Oberman. I must admit, that was my immediate reaction when I heard Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood's comments about the recall, as well as the fact that Rep. Bart Stupak (D - MI) is chairing a House subcommittee to investigate Toyota. The fact is even if Lahood and Stupak are correct in their criticism of Toyota, their motives will always be questioned as long as the government owns GM and Chrysler. And not just their motives, but the motives of every single Washington official, from top to bottom.

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Hasbro/Discovery TV network

2009-05-06T13:03:00.004-04:00

On Friday, Hasbro, Inc. and Discovery Communications announced an agreement to form a 50/50 joint venture, including a television network and website, dedicated to high-quality children's and family entertainment and educational programming. On Monday, Standard & Poor's Inc. changed its outlook on Hasbro Inc. to "Stable" from "Positive". S&P said the outlook revision reflects risk associated with a new network and studio.

Both the network and the venture's online component will feature content from Hasbro's portfolio of entertainment and educational properties built over the past 90 years. Original programming will include animation, game shows, and live-action series and specials. Creative work will start in the next few months beginning with development for properties including ROMPER ROOM, TONKA, G.I. JOE, TRANSFORMERS and MY LITTLE PONY.

Read the article on Yahoo Finance
Read the press release

Ford converting plant for new Focus

2009-05-06T12:14:00.001-04:00

Ford Motor Company is retooling a Michigan Truck Plant into a new facility that will build the next-generation Focus. This facility used to build SUV's like the Lincoln Navigator, but is now focusing on small compact modern cars. Ford claims that the conversion will create 3,200 jobs.

This plant will build the new battery-electric Focus coming out in North America in 2011. This same Focus will be offered in Europe and Asia. Ford is also working with Smith Electr ic to sell a battery electric vehicle in 2010. Ford also hopes to introduce a plug-in hybrid vehicle in 2012.

Read the article on Yahoo Finance