kscarbel2

http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/40960-volvo-group’s-mack-defense-unit-to-supply-1500-re-badged-renault-kerax-8x8-trucks-to-canadian-armed-forces/#comment-296894

David, I think we can all agree that we all "believe in America". For that specific reason, we have these deep and insightful discussions. Simply put, we care. We get many viewpoints in these discussions, which for me, broadens my horizons. But at the end of the day, we all passionately believe in America. For that reason, we are all troubled (to put it far too mildly) at the problems we see today. I myself enjoy a person who calls a spade a spade. Everyone here knows that. But Trump shouldn't use his time making fun of a handicapped person, or lambasting a celebrated actress. C'mon, be professional. We elected him to work on the real issues our country is facing, and that's a long list. Of course he doesn't enter office until the 20th, but one would assume he would/should be putting in long days this month ramping up to day one.

VW managers warned to stay in Germany as U.S. charges near Bloomberg / January 10, 2016 Some of Volkswagen Group's top executives may find it risky to leave Germany as U.S. prosecutors prepare to charge more company officials. Oliver Schmidt (pictured), a VW executive, was arrested in Miami as he was returning to Germany from vacation and faces charges of misleading regulators about the automaker's diesel-emissions cheating devices. U.S. prosecutors are preparing to charge more high-level German-based executives in the case. Schmidt's arrest caught many VW executives by surprise, including some attending this week's Detroit auto show. Lawyers for some senior VW executives in Germany have already warned their clients not to leave the country. Schmidt, 48, who was VW's liaison with U.S. environmental regulators, appeared in federal court in Miami Monday, where a judge ordered him held in custody as a flight risk. His lawyer sought Schmidt's release, saying his client had alerted the government he was visiting and was willing to speak with investigators and face charges. The court filing against Schmidt lays out what could be a road map to charges against higher-level executives. Volkswagen's senior officials in Wolfsburg, Germany, were told in July 2015 of the existence, purpose and characteristics of the device that lowered emissions on diesel cars when undergoing environmental testing, the U.S. alleged, citing information obtained from three cooperators. VW admitted its efforts to skirt environmental standards in September 2015. "VW employees assured VW executive management that U.S. regulators were not aware of the defeat device," according to the filing in federal court in Detroit. "Rather than advocate for disclosure of the defeat device to U.S. regulators, VW executive management authorized its continued concealment." VW has said top management was unaware of the decision to install the software to cheat emissions tests. "The then and current board of management of Volkswagen AG had, at any rate, no knowledge of the use of unlawful engine-management software at the time," Volkswagen wrote in its annual report for 2015. VW has suspended or pushed out about a dozen executives in the aftermath of the scandal including former CEO Martin Winterkorn, who has denied any knowledge of the cheating. The U.S. can charge individuals in Germany, but getting executives to stand trial in the U.S. could be difficult because Germany's constitution bars extradition of German nationals to foreign countries other than European Union members. Dozens of Volkswagen officials in Germany have hired U.S. criminal defense lawyers over the past several months as the Justice Department ramped up its investigation. U.S. authorities have traveled to Germany to arrange interviews with managers and seek cooperation. Schmidt began working for the automaker in 1997 and served as general manager in charge of its Environmental and Engineering Office from 2012 to 2015. That office was primarily responsible for communicating and coordinating with U.S. regulatory agencies. In March 2015, Schmidt was promoted to a more senior management position within Volkswagen and returned to the company's headquarters in Germany. After learning in April 2014 that West Virginia University's Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emissions had found that three VW diesel vehicles had emitted 40 times the permissible limit in the U.S., Schmidt wrote to a colleague: "It should first be decided whether we are honest. If we are not honest, everything stays as it is.". In the same message, Schmidt noted that the International Council on Clean Transportation, an environmental group, had "stupidly" published the WVU findings. "Not good," he said. In the summer 2015, Schmidt took a direct role in VW's response to questions from U.S. regulators about the emissions tests. After these emissions-testing discrepancies became known to the U.S. government, he misled federal regulators about reasons for the differing test results. Schmidt offered "reasons for the discrepancy other than the fact that VW was intentionally cheating on U.S. emissions test in order to allow VW to continue to sell diesel vehicles in the United States." Schmidt is accused of participating in a conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and Volkswagen customers and to violate the federal Clean Air Act from 2006 to 2015. The FBI affidavit lays out how in August 2015, senior Volkswagen managers approved a plan for what the automaker's employees would say in an upcoming meeting with California regulators. That plan called for Volkswagen employees to continue concealing the existence of the emissions device. However, one employee, who is cooperating with the investigation, ignored those instructions and admitted that Volkswagen cheated on U.S. emissions tests. The government notes in the criminal case against Schmidt that the charge against him is based in part on information from two cooperating witnesses who worked in Volkswagen's engine development department and also from James Liang, a former VW software engineer who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in September. The unidentified witnesses are helping the U.S. in exchange for immunity from prosecution. The case is U.S. v. Oliver Schmidt, 16-mj-30588, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit). .

REST DAY IN LA-PAZ MAZ Trucks Press Release / January 9, 2017 Rest day in Dakar can be called such only conditionally. Mechanics are working hard, preparing the trucks to the marathon stage to which the crew will go today. The stage 7 will go along the route La Paz - Uyuni. The bivouac will be organized only for sport trucks there. And only after the eighth stage the crews will meet with the rest of the team on the territory of Argentina already, in Salta. Tomorrow's special is reduced from 322km to 160. It is not surprising as heavy rains replaced long-term drought in Bolivia. Driving along mountain roads in such weather is very dangerous. Liason will be 644 km. Starting time of the crews at the stage 7: 511 (S.Viazovich / P.Haranin / A.Zhigulin) - 14:32:00 (21:32:00 Minsk time) 522 (A.Vasilevski / D.Vikhrenko / A.Zaparoschanka) - 14:34:00 (21:34:00 Minsk time) 533 (A.Vishneuski / M.Novikau / A.Neviarovich) - 14:38:00 (21:38:00Minsk time). .

Team Refreshes Their Trucks in Preparation for the Second Half of the Rally. Organizers Decide to Shorten the SS for Tomorrow, Jan. 9, Due to Bad Weather. On January 8 Rest Day La Paz (Bolivia) Jan. 8 was a day of rest for the teams in La Paz, Bolivia. Due to the cancelation of the stage leading to La Paz, the team arrived early and this has allowed them to begin inspections and servicing the day before. Servicing work centered on pre-scheduled replacements of parts. Although the mechanics had the intermittent drizzles to contend with, they were able to complete all necessary tasks, and by midnight, the team's two HINO500 Series trucks were fully refreshed and ready to race the second half. Meanwhile, organizers announced that they will be significantly shortening the SS for tomorrow, Jan. 9, due to the effects of rain near Uyuni. So far, HINO TEAM SUGAWARA's Car 2 crewed by Teruhito Sugawara and Hiroyuki Sugiura stands at 12th place in the overall trucks category, and Car 2 piloted by Yoshimasa Sugawara and Mitsugu Takahashi stands at 32nd place overall. Car 2 and Car 1 currently stand at first and second place, respectively, in the Under 10-litre Class. As impressive as these results are, the second half of the rally is expected to meet teams with a succession of challenging stages including a marathon stage on the first day where they will not be accompanied by their assistance squads, fesh-fesh and extreme heat near Fiambala, and dunes in the Andes foothills. The team's eyes are now on achieving their eighth consecutive class win as well as on how high in rankings Car 2 will be able to advance in the overall category. During a team meeting that was held after they completed their servicing work, members renewed their determination to work as a coherent team and give it the best effort that they have. Yoshimasa Sugawara: I received an IV transfusion last night at the medical center and I feel physically refreshed. I'm doing fine now. Mitsugu Takahashi: We would rather race the entire course under good weather, but there isn't much you can do with this kind of rain. And although the stage will be shorter, the dunes will probably make things quite challenging. Teruhito Sugawara: Racing the trucks category in the Dakar Rally has become quite the challenge in that you will fall back in standings unless you race at full potential in all of the stages. We will be facing a string of challenging stages in the second half so we intend to take it one day at a time. Hiroyuki Sugiura: Given these conditions, I was relieved to hear that the stage for tomorrow has been shortened. The total distance is longer though, so we may decide to avoid some areas. Seiichi Suzuki: On rest day, we replaced the rear leaf springs on Car 2, and focused inspections on vulnerable areas of the truck's drive train such as the transfer and reduction hubs. Car 1 has had relatively less fatigue so we carried inspections on the truck to the tee. Masaki Nakamura: The rain slowed us down, but I'm relieved that we were able to complete all of our work. One major work was the leaf spring replacement on Car 2, but we were able to complete that last night. Hiroyuki Azuma (Hino Motors Fukushima): I felt a bit tired on rest day because of the rain, cold, and a minor onset of altitude sickness, but I'm glad we were able to finish work on the trucks as planned. I'm feeling good physically. Koji Nakamura (Hino Motors Ishikawa): I haven't been able to adjust to the food, but I'm feeling pretty good physically otherwise. The rain can make something as simple as an oil change that much more difficult, so we took a lot of time today. Junya Inoue (Hino Motors Okayama): Once you start inspecting the truck, you start to notice one thing after another that might need to be looked into. There's never enough time. More so because we won't be around for the trucks tomorrow when they run the marathon stage. Kenji Kunimoto (Hino Motors Hiroshima): The rain was frustrating because it slowed our work down. The thin air in the highlands does give you a sense of actually being on the job. This rest day will be our last day of work in Bolivia so I am going to pull through with all I've got. Kohei Shimazaki: Things are going smoothly with transportation on our Hi-Lux. But we do have to fight drowsiness in the highlands. The toughest part so far has been the bivouac in Oruro where the ground had turned into a sea of mud. Koji Tanaka: It's obvious that the mechanics have been having a tough time since we arrived in Bolivia. Oftentimes, they can't even take a shower after work because of the cold. Ryu Takashima: My responsibility is to support the support group so I keep an eye out for what I can do to help. I've gotten used to how things proceed in the course of a day. I'm not sure if what I'm feeling is altitude sickness, but I am feeling the effects of low oxygen. .

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Commercial Motor / January 9, 2017 .

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Renault Trucks Press Release / January 9, 2017 For the third time, the MKR Adventure team, led by Mario Kress, is tackling the extreme roads of the Dakar Rally behind the wheel of Renault trucks vehicles. After the first stages, the Renault Trucks K 520, driven by Pascal de Baar, occupies the fifth position in the overall ranking. After the sixth place clinched in 2016, MKR Adventure has once again risen to the challenge of taking part in the Dakar Rally, a competition that tests vehicles in extreme conditions. Three Renault Trucks vehicles have engaged in the race: a Renault Trucks Sherpa CBH 385 driven by Martin Van Den Brink (no. 506, Mammoet Rallysport team), a K 520 driven by Gert Huzink (no. 524, Riwald team) and a K 520 driven by Pascal de Baar (no. 510, Mammoet Rallysport team). After the first stages, the Renault Trucks K 520, driven by Pascal de Baar, occupies the fifth position in the overall ranking. As an MKR partner since 2010, Renault Trucks provides support for its off-road and rally raid activities; MKR Adventure are experts on extremely difficult terrain. During the Dakar, the vehicles are put to severe test, with sections of the race at an altitude of up to 4700 m above sea level. "At high altitude, our engine develops less torque and power. In thinner air, it is more difficult to rev up the engine," explained Mario Kress, describing the 336 km "special stage" on the border between Bolivia and Argentina. Through this partnership, the teams of Renault Trucks and MKR mutually enhance their technical and technological know-how, in particular of engines and the transmission system of trucks. .

Dakar 2017: IVECO in the lead as the crews take their rest day Iveco Trucks Press Release / January 9, 2017 The 2017 Dakar Rally arrived to the midpoint as the crews drove the connecting section to the camp in La Paz after Stage 6 was cancelled due to heavy rain and flooded roads. With five stages already contested, the IVECO Powerstar #500 driven by Gerard de Rooy, Moi Torrallardona and Darek Rodewald, is at the top of the standings. The PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO team leader won the last two specials after suffering three punctures in the third day of competition. Gerard de Rooy, with IVECO, leads in front of Eduard Nikolaev, Dmitry Sotnikov and Airat Mardeev with their Kamaz trucks, all of them locked within 16 minutes behind the leader. Dakar’s last champion did a solid job in South America’s hardest routes, in a competition that already crossed Paraguay, part of Bolivia and the north of Argentina. Ton van Genugten and Wuf van Ginkel will set their sights on returning to the Top 20 of the race in the second part, after losing more than four hours and an additional two-hour penalty in the last timed stage. Van Genugten, navigated by Anton van Limpt and Bernard der Kinderen in the Trakker #507, were stuck in mud, a nightmare for them and other drivers. Wuf van Ginkel, joined by Erik Kofman and Bert van Donkelaar in the Trakker #525, helped their teammates to get out from the difficult situation. This was a turning point for both crews, who were running inside the best 15 of the class. Now, they hope to have a clean second week. Federico Villagra, Adrián Yacopini and Ricardo Torlaschi, on board the IVECO #502, will aim to return to the Top 5, after falling back to sixth place in the first half of the race. With a good performance of the Powerstar and regular results, Villagra will try to repeat last year’s third place on the podium. The 2017 Dakar Rally will be travel south from this Monday onwards, when the vehicles leave La Paz to reach Uyuni after 322 timed kilometres. On Tuesday they will head back to Argentina to race in Salta, Chilecito, San Juan, Río Cuarto and Buenos Aires, going over the landmark of 2.000 kilometres in the last week of the race. Overall Classification – Dakar 2017 1. Gerard de Rooy (IVECO) 14h06m07s 2. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz) + 2m23s 3. Dmitry Sotnikov (Kamaz) + 6m36s 4. Airat Mardeev (Kamaz) + 16m32s 5. Pascal de Baar (Renault Trucks) + 32m25s ----------- 6. Federico Villagra (IVECO) + 34m30s 23. Ton van Genugten (IVECO) + 6h07m03s 25. Wuf van Ginkel (IVECO) + 7h04m34s .

Dayton Daily News / January 9, 2016 Navistar, a leading manufacturer of commercial trucks, is leasing warehouse space in Xenia, Ohio. Xenia is in southwestern Ohio, 21 miles southeast of Dayton. Details about Navistar's operations at the former Supervalu building on Bellbrook Avenue have not been disclosed. A sign on the building directs delivery drivers for the company to go to docks 40 to 47. Officials with the city of Xenia and Greene County confirmed that Navistar has applied for a certificate of occupancy. Some Xenia residents are excited at the possibility of new jobs being available. "Coming from a big city to a small town, it's encouraging to see Xenia being built up," said resident Leslie Robholz. We're working to find out more about Navistar's plans at the site. .

Freightliner Trucks Press Release / January 9, 2017 . . . . . . . .

Sorry then. When you mentioned a Chrysler transmission plant in Syracuse, I instinctively thought of New Process (It was renamed New Venture in 1990 when it became a Chrysler-GM joint venture).

https://www.cleanburn.com/ . .

Why is it you say what happened in 2001 is not relevant to this? Matthew Lee - Associated Press State Department correspondent "It was with a high degree of confidence that the US intelligence community said...........Iraq had WMD" .

Speaking of Biden, it wasn't the same. Biden wasn't mocking his friend Chuck Graham (D-Mo), where as Trump was blatantly mocking the handicapped reporter. As for influencing elections, both countries have been actively doing it for decades. And then there's orchestrated regime changes. .

You meant New Process Gear ?

Automotive News / January 9, 2017 Fiat Chrysler has dramatically altered its product course and will now bring its new Jeep Grand Wagoneer back to life as a body-on-frame SUV, after nearly two years of claiming that it would be unibody like almost all other luxury nameplates. In comments to reporters at the Detroit auto show, FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne confirmed Monday that the company now plans to build both a Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer as body-on-frame vehicles. The new SUVs will be built at a retooled Warren Truck Assembly plant in suburban Detroit, which now builds the current-generation Ram 1500. The abrupt switch in product plans is likely to mean that the automaker’s dream of a $140,000 Grand Wagoneer to compete against the Range Rover, as laid out in November by Jeep brand boss Mike Manley, won’t happen. Instead, a much less expensive luxury Jeep is likely aimed at General Motors’ profitable Chevy Tahoe family of body-on-frame SUVs. Marchionne has previously said that he coveted the profits GM generates from its large SUVs. The switch is likely good news for FCA dealers, who faced the prospect of having a very expensive vehicle in their inventory without a natural customer base in that price range. Right now, the highest-priced Jeep -- the unibody 2017 Grand Cherokee SRT -- starts at $67,890, including shipping. A body-on-frame three-row Grand Wagoneer is more likely to stay closer to the brand’s initial price estimates of $100,000 and sell in higher volumes, at least in the U.S. Jeep’s leadership has been pushing for a luxury line above the Grand Cherokee, and included plans for it in its 2014 five-year business plan. As recently as June, Manley said that “the Wagoneer name represents historically the pinnacle of premium for the Jeep world. But in the same way as you may have an Overland and a Summit, you have different trim levels, so you could imagine the use of Wagoneer to denote a really premium vehicle, and Grand Wagoneer takes it to the very next level. So if you were to use that as your naming strategy, that’s exactly how I would use the trims.” .

What is left. What is right? What is a "lib"? The terms I use are right......and wrong. I myself expect the leader of our country to exemplify the ethics, morals and values that make our country the greatest in the world. Be it a company head or country leader, in order to achieve success, one must be a uniter of people. Because we can't move ahead unless we work together as a team. Mick Jagger was right, in that everyone can't always get what they want. But a leader of people can still win broad support while explaining in a professional manner commensurate with their position that we must strike a balance. A leader is a person that the vast majority of the country wants to rally behind (e.g. Franklin Delano Roosevelt). A leader doesn't sling muck at an actress who criticizes him. He/she instead stays focused. As president, there will always be people who disagree with you. Are you going to spend half your time on twitter ridiculing these American's freedom of expression, or rise above the noise and focus on being president? If one focuses on being a leader, and does an exemplary job, criticism will be minimal and accolades many,

The Washington Post / January 9, 2017 Grace Packer became a foster child at age 3. At age 14, she suffered a slow and painful death — raped, drugged and left to die in a sweltering attic. When those actions didn’t result in her death, she was strangled. Then her body was packed in cat litter and left in the same attic for months. Police would later find her dismembered remains in rural Pennsylvania. Officials say her gruesome death was carried out by a 41-year-old woman she had known as her mother, who adopted the teenager and her younger brother, and the mother’s boyfriend. Sara Packer and Jacob Sullivan were charged Sunday with several crimes, including homicide, kidnapping, endangering the welfare of a child and abuse of corpse. Sullivan who, police say, raped Grace in the attic, is facing additional sexual assault charges. Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said the teen’s brutal killing was the result of a months-long plan — “a rape-murder fantasy” shared by her adoptive mother and her boyfriend. “Unfortunately, Grace Packer was a disposable child to these people,” Weintraub said. “Who will now speak for Grace Packer? We will.” About a week before they were arrested on Saturday, Packer and Sullivan were rushed to the hospital after they tried to kill themselves by overdosing on pills. A probable cause affidavit said the two had taken a suicide pact. The arrests and charges come after Sullivan confessed, in detail, to hospital staff about the teenager’s death. Sullivan told hospital employees and investigators that he and Packer began plotting the teen’s murder in fall 2015 and carried it out on July 8, 2016, in their house in Quakertown, Pa., a borough in Bucks County about 40 miles north of Philadelphia. Sullivan struck Grace several times in the face, splitting her lip, and then he and Packer took the teen to the attic on the third floor. There, Sullivan raped Grace while her adoptive mother watched. The 44-year-old man admitted sexually assaulting the teen on two prior occasions. At some point, Packer left to get some medicine to sedate Grace, Sullivan told investigators. The two later tied and gagged the teen and left her in a cedar closet, believing she would eventually die from the effects of the assault, the drugs and the excessive heat in the attic. At about 3 a.m. the next morning — more than 12 hours later — they checked on Grace and found that she was still alive and conscious. That’s when Sullivan strangled her to death, admitting to investigators that it was “more physical and took much longer than he expected.”. Prosecutors said the two packed the teen’s remains in cat litter to mask the odor. For the next three months, Grace’s body would remain in the attic. Packer is also accused of lying to police about her daughter’s whereabouts. A few days after the teen was believed to have been killed, on July 11, Packer told police that Grace had stolen $300 from her and had run away from home. She claimed that they had a fight the night of July 8 because she didn’t allow the teen to go to a friend’s house. Grace was gone when she checked on her the following morning, Packer told police, adding that her daughter has been gone for “days at a time” before. But investigators found inconsistencies in Packer’s statements. For instance, in September, Packer told a detective investigating the missing persons report that she had notified relatives about her daughter’s disappearance. But a North Carolina relative, who was Grace’s caretaker when she stayed there in 2015, said she didn’t know the teen was missing. Other family members told investigators that they weren’t told about Grace’s disappearance until later. Investigators also noticed oddities in Packer’s behavior. In the months after Packer filed a missing person’s report, detectives were largely unable to get a hold of her. A frequent Facebook user with a habit of posting about insignificant incidents, such as having a headache, Packer never once posted anything about her daughter’s disappearance. After detectives visited the Quakertown home in mid-October for a follow-up investigation, Packer and Sullivan became concerned that investigators would discover Grace’s body, which was still in the attic. They dismembered the teen and drove to a remote area where they dumped the remains. Later that month, Pennsylvania State Police troopers responded to a call about human remains found in rural Bear Creek Township in Luzerne County, about 70 miles from the couple’s home. After searching the house, detectives found a receipt for a bow saw and two blades believed to have been used to dismember Grace’s body. A surveillance video showed Packer buying the items at a local tractor supply store. Records of Packer’s debit card purchases also revealed that she had bought Diphenhydramine tablets and Tylenol capsules at a local Target store on July 8, the same day that Grace was believed to have been raped and drugged. On Dec. 30, authorities said, Packer and Sullivan tried to commit suicide by overdosing on pills. Police said they believed that the two had agreed to kill themselves. At that time, they had moved to an apartment in a neighboring town. A woman who had been living with the couple called 911. “I don’t know if you have watched the news lately … our … someone we were involved with was recently … It’s a big mess, it’s a big mess, and I don’t really know how to explain it…but…oh my God,” Katherine Albright told the dispatcher. Police also said they found a suicide note in which Sullivan appears to try to explain his innocence to his children. It read: “I love you all so much. You are the only people that I have always been able to count on. I’m sorry that I am taking the coward’s way out, but I don’t have any strength left in me. People want to judge and lie and break me down. They have. I can’t exist with Sara in jail and those f—— lying pigs and the whore media have made it impossible for us to live. They don’t care how many lives or laws they break. I know you will always know that we had nothing to do with this no mater what lies they tell. I’m sorry to leave you. Remember all I’ve taught you. Be brave, stand tall and do your best to be stronger than I was.” But about a week later, investigators were told that Sullivan had confessed to hospital staff and to his family that he had killed Grace and that Packer was his accomplice. Sullivan was arrested on Saturday, and Packer was arrested about three hours later. The two were arraigned separately on Sunday. A district judge denied them bail. “I’m sorry for what I did,” Sullivan told reporters as he was led into the courthouse. Weintraub, the district attorney, called the crimes “heinous” and “depraved.” After Packer’s arraignment, Weintraub said the teen’s death “shakes one’s belief in the goodness of humanity.” “The question is: How could any mother do this to a child?” he told the paper. “I’m bereft. I don’t have an answer.” Grace’s 12-year-old biological brother is with other family members. Packer and Sullivan are scheduled for a preliminary hearing on January 20. .

Trump tariffs threaten Fiat Chrysler’s Mexico plants The Financial Times / January 9, 2017 Marchionne warns of possible closures after announcing $1bn US investment Fiat Chrysler Automobile (FCA) would have to close its Mexican car plants if Donald Trump follows through on campaign promises to impose stringent tariffs on vehicles coming into the US, chief executive Sergio Marchionne said on Monday. “It’s possible that if economic tariffs are imposed . . . and are sufficiently large, it will make production of anything in Mexico uneconomical and we would have to withdraw,” Mr Marchionne said at the annual Detroit auto show. “It’s quite possible.” His comments came only hours after his company drew an approving tweet from the US president-elect by announcing a fresh $1bn investment into the US, creating 2,000 jobs. “Fiat Chrysler just announced plans to invest $1BILLION in Michigan and Ohio plants, adding 2000 jobs. This after Ford said last week that it will expand in Michigan and U.S. instead of building a BILLION dollar plant in Mexico. Thank you Ford & Fiat C!” Mr Trump wrote. Fiat’s two separate comments reflect the difficult line that carmakers are having to walk when dealing with the incoming US president, who has repeatedly criticised companies that manufacture cars for the US market in Mexico and threatened to impose 35 per cent tariffs on imported cars. Fiat Chrysler produces 503,000 vehicles in Mexico a year at two sites in Saltillo and Toluca and exported 86 percent of them to the US or Canada in 2015. Between 21 percent and 52 percent of parts used in FCA’s Mexican vehicles come from US suppliers, so a decision to shutter plants there could hit them as well. Marchionne said FCA was waiting to see what Trump and the Republican Congress would do before making decisions about its Mexican presence. “We want clarity, we all want clarity,” he said. “If they get changed, we have no choice.” He also insisted that the new US investment did not involve jobs that would otherwise have gone to Mexico. “This wasn’t a pre-emptive strike,” he said. The FCA group, which also includes the Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Alfa Romeo and Maserati brands, makes 1.8 million cars a year in the US. Mexico’s car industry has blossomed under the North American Free Trade Agreement, with the industry making 3.4 million cars a year but it is heavily reliant on access to the US and Canadian markets, which account for 82 percent of the country’s 2.7 million exported vehicles. “The reality is the Mexican auto industry has been tooled up to try and deal with the US market,” Marchionne said. “If the US market were not to be there, then the reasons for its existence are on the line.” Some carmakers, such as Nissan and Volkswagen, use Mexico as a base to export to Europe or Latin America. But Marchionne said it would be too expensive to repurpose FCA’s existing Mexican site to export all over the world. “That transition would be costly and it would be very, very uncertain. There is no easy transition; those plants were designed built and purposed at a time when NAFTA was alive and well,” he said.

VW top management ‘authorized concealment’ of emissions cheating The Financial Times / January 10, 2017 Executives briefed about defeat devices in July 2015, say unsealed criminal charges Volkswagen’s senior management was briefed in the summer of 2015 on the cheating software at the centre of the company’s diesel emissions scandal, and ordered its continued concealment, according to criminal charges unsealed by US prosecutors on Monday. VW employees briefed “executive management” in July 2015 at the German carmaker’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, about the use of software-based defeat devices to understate emissions in official tests, says a criminal complaint about the company’s former head of compliance in the US. “Rather than advocate for disclosure of the defeat device to US regulators, VW executive management authorised its continued concealment,” adds the complaint. The VW employees involved in the briefing included Oliver Schmidt, a VW veteran who was head of compliance in the US in 2012 and 2015. He was temporarily detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for Thursday in Miami, where he is due to be arraigned on Monday. The conduct outlined in the criminal complaint raises the likelihood that some more senior VW executives in Germany and the US could face charges, said one Department of Justice official. It comes at a time when VW is seeking to finalise a criminal settlement with the US authorities over the emissions scandal. Such a deal would be a milestone in VW’s efforts to draw a line under the affair, which has become the worst crisis in the company’s history. Schmidt is accused of conspiring for nearly a decade to conceal from US regulators the existence of defeat devices in VW diesel cars, according to the criminal complaint filed in federal court in Detroit. He is also accused of defrauding the US by impairing the Environmental Protection Agency’s emissions control program, cheating VW customers, and violating the Clean Air Act. For several weeks before VW admitted to US regulators in September 2015 that its diesel cars had cheated emissions tests, employees worried about the danger of criminal penalties for their actions, says the criminal complaint. VW’s “executive management” in Wolfsburg requested a briefing on the US situation, which took place on July 27 2015, says the criminal complaint. For that briefing, Schmidt and several colleagues prepared a slide on the potential outcomes of a meeting with California regulators scheduled for the following week. A “positive” meeting would result in the needed certification to sell VW cars in the US. But a “negative” outcome raised the question “Indictment?”, according to the criminal complaint. Schmidt’s arrest by the FBI marks the latest development in a scandal dating back more than a decade. In 2006, VW engineers realized that a new diesel engine they had designed would not be powerful enough to satisfy car owners and not green enough to pass muster with regulators. The new engine was the centerpiece of an ambitious strategy to boost VW sales in the US market. Rather than admit defeat, the company wrote software called a defeat device to cheat emissions tests. The device was programmed to recognize when a diesel car was undergoing the government’s standard laboratory tests and operate in accordance with EPA limits. But when driven on the road, the software allowed the cars to spew up to 40 times the allowable levels of nitrogen oxide. “VW employees knew that if they had told the truth and disclosed the existence of the defeat device, VW could not have sold any of its diesel vehicles in the United States,” says the criminal complaint. VW’s scheme began unravelling in early 2014 when a study ordered by the International Council on Clean Transportation, a non-profit organisation, detected the higher readings on the road emissions by VW diesel cars. In April 2014, after learning of the study’s findings, Schmidt emailed a colleague about the issue: “It should first be decided whether we are honest. If we are not honest, everything stays as it is.” VW formed an ad hoc engineering task force to handle regulators’ questions. “VW employees determined not to disclose to US regulators that the tested vehicle models operated with a defeat device,” says the criminal complaint. “Instead, VW employees pursued a strategy of concealing the defeat device in responding to questions from US regulators, while appearing to co-operate.” By the summer of 2015, Schmidt was directly involved in efforts to deal with regulators’ increasingly pointed questions. James Robert Liang, a VW engineer, in September became the first person to plead guilty to criminal charges, including conspiring to defraud US customers and regulators. He agreed to cooperate with US government investigators in return for leniency. Prosecutors also are getting help from two other VW insiders, who worked in the company’s engine development department, says the criminal complaint. They are cooperating in return for assurances that they will not be prosecuted in the US. From 2012 to 2015, Schmidt was general manager of VW’s environmental engineering office in Michigan, which was responsible for dealing with US regulatory agencies such as the EPA and the California Air Resources Board. In March 2015, he was promoted to the post of principal deputy to the head of engine development in Wolfsburg.