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Oil resumes drop on economy jitters

Oil fell below $72 a barrel earlier today, extending the previous session's near 5 percent plunge sparked by concern about the U.S. economy and falling equity markets, according to Reuters.

The U.S. sub-prime, or risky, mortgage crisis has rattled credit and stock markets and is spilling over into commodities, analysts say. Some investors say oil may head lower still in the near term.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 12:12 PM to Oil | Permalink | Comments 0

Ford Rolls Out Eco-Friendlier Paint

Ford is testing a new 'eco-friendly' paint technology that reduces overall CO2 output by 15 percent, according to thecarconnection.com. And with a little luck, or calling around, you might be able to sample it yourself at a neighborhood U-Haul outlet.

About 200 Ford E-Series trucks made at the automaker's Avon Lake, Ohio plant and placed into duty as U-Haul rental vehicles have been painted with the new technology and will be put to use around the country as a way for Ford to test how well the new finish works in a heavy-use pattern. At U-Haul, the vehicles will be distinguished from the rest of the fleet through their "eco-friendly decals," according to a Ford release.

The new paint technology employs a high-solids (formulated with polymers), solvent-borne paint applied wet in three applications, with no prime coat. A smaller and cleaner paint shop compared with traditional painting facilities, and there's no need to 'bake' the paint.

Besides reducing CO2 emissions, the new system also cuts volatile organic compounds (VOC) by about ten percent, which gives it an advantage over both common solvent-borne and the water-borne paints being phased in by some companies. The water-borne paints, in general, carry a reputation for being more delicate than solvent-based coats.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 12:05 PM to Ford , Technology | Permalink | Comments 0

Hybrid sales on pace for another record-breaking year

Hybrid vehicles are on track to reach record sales this year, an auto information company said Thursday, according to USA Today.

An estimated 187,000 hybrids were sold in the first six months of 2007, accounting for 2.3% of all new vehicle sales, according to J.D. Power and Associates. Although a sales slowdown is expected in the second half of the year, J.D. Power is forecasting total sales of 345,000 hybrids for the year, a 35% increase from 2006 when the current record of 256,000 hybrids were sold.

The Toyota (TM) Prius continues to be the best-selling hybrid model, accounting for just more than half of all hybrids sold. J.D. Power said Prius sales also got a boost this year from incentives of up to $2,000 per vehicle, which helped offset a decrease in federal tax breaks for hybrids.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:54 AM to Alternative fuels , Environment , Fuel economy , Toyota | Permalink | Comments 0

Backseat Driver: Chrysler lays egg

Yesterday I stated that Chrysler workers and investors must be delighted by the news that former Home Depot CEO Robert Nardelli had been named to head the car company.

I sincerely hope readers understood such a sentiment to be ironic in the extreme. As I noted, Nardelli is most recently remembered for making off with $210 million after getting the travelling scholarship from Home Depot's board.

Translation: Home Depot fired Nardelli for incompetence but he still managed to finagle a disgusting amount of money out of the company.

You know, I have never been able to go to a Home Depot since then without wondering what the folks working the shopfloor in their orange overalls thought about it all.

I never asked anyone - I thought it would be pretty tasteless to ask someone earning $15 a hour or so what they might think of their "leader" making off with all that loot.

And now Chrysler owner Cerberus is downgrading Tom LaSorda and bringing in Nardelli to run the company. The arguments for the move are Nardelli's experience at GE when he cut his teeth and the fact that Cerberus is private and thus he will be able to restructure the company without answering to shareholders.

Like I said, workers must be delighted by that. And given his very mixed reputation on Wall Street, investors must be delighted too. True, his pay is nominal and essentially tied to Chrysler's performance. But for a man of his wealth, that is irrelevant.

More important, perhaps, is the signal Cerberus is sending out by hiring this controversial character. Cerberus may be hard headed about the $210 million he received from Home Depot because the terms of his payout were apparently written into his original contract.

But the message the company is sending is obtuse in the extreme and puts an enormous amount of pressure on Nardelli. Wall Street is already scratching its head, Chrysler rank and file are really displeased and it remains to be seen whether the move has undermined the ranks of senior management. Will LaSorda stay, for example?

Time will tell - but for the time being Nardelli has zero goodwill and Cerberus appears to have laid a major egg. But then Cerberus chairman is Tony Snow - the former Treasury Secretary under President George W. Bush.

And don't get me started on the acuity of that character.

- Peter C. T. Elsworth

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:07 AM to Chrysler , commentary | Permalink | Comments 1

Choice for Chrysler CEO blasted

Has newly privatized automaker Chrysler just gotten a CEO a little harsher than Attila, or is Robert Nardelli, ex-Home Depot CEO, a driven, goal-oriented cost-cutter who's widely misunderstood, USA Today asks.

Regardless, what happens next not only will test anew the controversial argument that only a "car guy" can run a car company, but also will become a study in the contrasting styles of the two outsiders running Detroit automakers, Nardelli and Ford Motor's Alan Mulally, hired from Boeing last September.

Nardelli — to the shock of nearly everyone — was picked to be chairman and CEO of Chrysler by private investment company Cerberus Capital Management, which bought 80% of Chrysler from German automaker DaimlerChrysler.

Cerberus had said it would leave management intact, with then-CEO Tom LaSorda, veteran of the auto industry, running the show. LaSorda becomes vice chairman and president.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:02 AM to Chrysler | Permalink | Comments 0