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Transpo Online Brazil / September 5, 2016 One of Brazil’s leaders in the heavy haul segment, Megatranz Transportes, has purchased two new Kenworth C500 prime movers equipped with Allison 6000 Series automatic transmissions. The 600 horsepower Kenworth C500 6x4s are rated at 500 tons in the U.S. with three percent slope. In Brazil, the flat ground rating is 1,000 tons. Including the ballast box, the trucks have a curb weight of 72 tons. The truck has a maximum speed of 40 km/h and a cruising speed of 20 km/h. "The adoption of the Allison automatic transmission was essential," said Renato Zuppardo, director of Megatranz operations. "It is important in our type of transport by providing a continuous acceleration with no loss of power in gear changes of exchange manual. It will also be of great value to move on uneven terrain, as will be the case in his debut, carrying more than 300 tons on dirt roads." The truck’s first assignment will be carrying a rotor and a transformer for the power plant of São Manoel, located on the border of Mato Grosso and Pará states. For this assignment, the 192-tire trailer will be drawn by three prime movers connected by push-pull system. From there the three trucks will be replaced by the new Kenworth which will pull the trailer for the remaining 100 kilometers of dirt road to the plant. Under ideal conditions, it is estimated that this distance will be traveled over two days over grades ranging between 15% and 17%. .

Inside Bill Clinton’s nearly $18 million job as ‘honorary chancellor’ of a for-profit college The Washington Post / September 5, 2016 The guest list for a private State Department dinner on higher-education policy was taking shape when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered a suggestion. In addition to recommending invitations for leaders from a community college and a church-funded institution, Clinton wanted a representative from a for-profit college company called Laureate International Universities, which, she explained in an email to her chief of staff that was released last year, was “the fastest growing college network in the world.” There was another reason Clinton favored setting a seat aside for Laureate at the August 2009 event: The company was started by a businessman, Doug Becker, “who Bill likes a lot,” the secretary wrote, referring to her husband, the former president. Nine months later, Laureate signed Bill Clinton to a lucrative deal as a consultant and “honorary chancellor,” paying him $17.6 million over five years until the contract ended in 2015 as Hillary Clinton launched her campaign for president. There is no evidence that Laureate received special favors from the State Department in direct exchange for hiring Bill Clinton, but the Baltimore-based company had much to gain from an association with a globally connected ex-president and, indirectly, the United States’ chief diplomat. Being included at the 2009 dinner, shoulder to shoulder with leaders from internationally renowned universities for a discussion about the role of higher education in global diplomacy, provided an added level of credibility for the business as it pursued an aggressive expansion strategy overseas, occasionally tangling with foreign regulators. “A lot of these private-education guys, they’re looking to get into events like this one,” said Sam Pitroda, a higher-education expert who was representing a policy commission from India at the State Department dinner. “The discussion itself is irrelevant. . . . It gets you very high-level contacts, and it gets you to the right people.” While much of the controversy about Hillary Clinton’s State Department tenure has involved donations to her family’s charity, the Clinton Foundation, a close examination of the Laureate deal reveals how Bill Clinton leveraged the couple’s connections during that time to enhance their personal wealth — potentially providing another avenue for supporters to gain access to the family. In addition to his well-established career as a paid speaker, which began soon after he left the Oval Office, Bill Clinton took on new consulting work starting in 2009, at the same time Hillary Clinton assumed her post at the State Department. Laureate was the highest-paying client, but Bill Clinton signed contracts worth millions with GEMS Education, a secondary-education chain based in Dubai, as well as Shangri-La Industries and Wasserman Investment, two companies run by longtime Democratic donors. All told, with his consulting, writing and speaking fees, Bill Clinton was paid $65.4 million during Hillary Clinton’s four years as secretary of state. [For Clintons, speech income shows how their wealth intertwines with charity] Details of Bill Clinton’s compensation are found in the couple’s tax returns, which were made public by his wife’s presidential campaign and provide an unusual glimpse into the way a former president can make millions in the private sector. Bill Clinton has proved particularly marketable because of his global celebrity, enhanced by his foundation, his continued visibility on the political scene and his wife’s stature as a senator, Cabinet official and potential president. The Laureate arrangement illustrates the extent to which the Clintons mixed their charitable work with their private and political lives. Many of those who paid Bill Clinton to consult or speak were also foundation donors and, in some cases, supporters of political campaigns for one or both Clintons. Becker, for example, donated to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign and last year donated $2,700 to her current effort. Laureate has given between $1 million and $5 million to the Clinton Foundation, according to the charity’s website, and made millions of dollars of charitable commitments through the Clinton Global Initiative, an arm of the foundation that arranged for corporations to make public pledges to their own philanthropic projects. Meanwhile, Laureate portrayed its association with the Clintons as a symbol of its legitimacy rather than the result of a business deal. “People know that somebody like President Clinton, the most important thing to him is his reputation,” Becker said in a 2010 appearance at a Laureate campus in Malaysia. “And to attach himself to an organization that he doesn’t believe in, he would never do it. It wouldn’t make sense — not just with his own legacy and history but, in his case, being the spouse of the U.S. secretary of state, for example.” When Becker introduced Clinton at an event at the same campus the next year, he read a statement from Malaysia’s education minister declaring that “there must be something very special about Laureate that has inspired President Clinton to devote his energy to such an endeavor.” Aides to Clinton and representatives of Laureate characterized the arrangement as one that advanced global access to education. Angel Urena, a Clinton spokesman, said the former president “engaged with students at Laureate’s campuses worldwide and advised Laureate’s leadership on social responsibility and increasing access to higher education.” Adam Smith, a Laureate spokesman, said Clinton “was paid to advise Laureate, inspire students and visit the campuses and communities they serve, and that’s what he did, with great conviction and energy.” Becker declined to be interviewed for this report. Laureate officials said that the Baltimore businessman first met through Laureate Vice President Joseph Duffey, a former Clinton administration official, at a 2007 Clinton Global Initiative event in Hong Kong. [How Clintons went from ‘dead broke’ to rich: Bill’s $105 million for speeches] Clinton became familiar with the company after giving a few unpaid speeches on its international campuses and then grew closer with Becker when they traveled to Haiti together in 2009 to explore education issues in the troubled nation, a Clinton aide said. Laureate had grown rapidly under Becker, a college dropout who became wealthy in the 1980s after inventing a card that could store personal medical information. He launched Laureate in 2003, transforming an old tutoring company called Sylvan Learning Systems into a network of for-profit college campuses. The company has been intertwined over the years with the global financial elite. Once publicly traded, it was bought out for $3.8 billion in 2007 with investments from, among others, a private-equity firm founded by liberal philanthropist George Soros, as well as the investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. Laureate, which is taking steps to become publicly traded again, has in recent years been largely focused on growing internationally. Typically, it has purchased financially struggling colleges and vocational schools and improved management while boosting profits through expanding enrollment. The company has said in regulatory filings that it enrolls more than 1 million students on 87 campuses in 28 countries. It has five U.S. campuses. Laureate hired Clinton as scrutiny of private colleges was increasing in the United States and internationally. Congress in 2010 launched an investigation into for-profit schools, which critics say profit from needy students while making often grand but unfulfilled promises of valuable degrees. Laureate has clashed at times with regulators in other countries, such as Chile, where the law forbids for-profit education and Laureate operates by acting as a contractor to local nonprofit institutions. Clinton at times mingled with foreign government leaders during his appearances on Laureate campuses, such as a 2013 Laureate-hosted conference on youth unemployment in Madrid featuring top European officials. Urena said the former president “never sought to influence any foreign or U.S. official on Laureate’s behalf.” Smith said Clinton played an active role as honorary chancellor, visiting 19 locations, meeting with students and delivering speeches that were broadcast to tens of thousands of students around the world. He said Clinton’s role was not related to the company’s business prospects. Clinton’s contract with Laureate was approved by the State Department’s ethics office, in keeping with an Obama administration agreement with Hillary Clinton that gave the agency the right to review her husband’s outside work during her tenure. An ethics official wrote that he saw “no conflict of interest with Laureate or any of their partners,” according to a letter recently released by the conservative group Citizens United, which received it through a public-records request. The contract itself became public through a records request by a different conservative group, Judicial Watch, but descriptions of Clinton’s exact consulting role were blacked out in the publicly released document and labeled as trade secrets. Laureate and Clinton aides declined to release an unredacted copy of the contract. Based on appearances on Laureate’s behalf by Clinton and public statements by the company, it seems that part of the strategy in hiring the former president was to bolster Laureate’s image by aligning it with the former president’s famous charitable efforts — thereby portraying the company as a force for good in the world. News releases about Clinton’s paid campus appearances often invoked his work on education issues with the Clinton Foundation. And every news release during Clinton’s time with the company carried his name and his title of honorary chancellor. In 2013, Clinton recorded a message to Laureate students and, without mentioning his financial ties to the company, said he joined Laureate because he admired its “dedication to helping the next generation of leaders be truly educated and well prepared for your future.” [The inside story of how the Clintons built a $2 billion global empire] Also that year, Laureate prominently featured its association with Clinton as part of its effort to purchase the Thunderbird School of Global Management, a 70-year old private business school in Arizona that was struggling financially. Karen Longo, a graduate of the school who was on the board of directors at the time, recalled that Becker specifically referenced the Clinton tie when he pitched the board on the deal. She provided The Washington Post with brochures Laureate gave out at the time, featuring a letter from Clinton praising Laureate students for working to improve the world and declaring himself “proud to be a part of their efforts.” Clinton’s picture was included on multiple pages. “His face, his name was in all their brochures,” Longo recalled. “It was a very big sell for them.” She and other alumni were concerned that Laureate would lower the school’s admissions standards to expand its enrollment in an effort to make more money from the campus. “The more students they got, the more money they got from student-loan funds,” she said. “It would have been a dilution of the Thunderbird brand.” Longo and four other alumni on the school’s board protested the purchase to the school’s accrediting agency, the Higher Learning Commission. In 2014, the commission refused to sign off on the purchase. Thunderbird has since merged with Arizona State University. Laureate, meanwhile, pursued close ties with the Clinton Foundation. The company paid to send a group of international students each year to the Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York, where they conducted video interviews with CGI attendees such as actor Ted Danson and former secretary of state Madeleine Albright for broadcast to fellow Laureate students around the world. “We’re here with one of the most remarkable world leaders. We’re here with Chelsea Clinton,” said Daniel Rubio Sánchez, a student on a Laureate campus in Madrid, as he began a video interview with the former first daughter at the September 2015 CGI gathering — a few months after Bill Clinton’s contract ended — sitting in front of a glass wall inscribed with the logos of Laureate and CGI. Sánchez, 20, in an interview with The Post, called his CGI experience “really, really enriching” and one that has opened doors for him at European think tanks. “My personal profile changed greatly,” he said. The Clintons’ Laureate connection emerged as a campaign issue earlier this summer, when Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump charged that Hillary Clinton “laundered money” to her husband by funneling tens of millions of dollars in federal grants to Laureate while she was secretary of state. By all accounts, Trump’s claim was false, and his campaign did not respond to requests for documentation. The company says its campuses have received about $1.4 million total over the years in grants from the State Department and its international aid arm, USAID. Of that amount, only $15,000 came while Clinton was secretary of state — student scholarships funded by USAID, Laureate said. Publicly available grant records are not detailed enough to corroborate Laureate’s exact numbers. But the records do show that neither Laureate nor any of its campuses has received any individual grant larger than $25,000 from the State Department or USAID. Trump appeared to be drawing on — and misrepresenting — a report in the 2015 book “Clinton Cash” that grants from USAID to a separate charity chaired by Becker, the Laureate founder, increased during the Clinton years. Founded in 1989, the International Youth Foundation has partnered with Laureate campuses in some of its charitable education work. The group has received USAID funding since 1999, and its president said the increase in USAID funding under Clinton was largely the result of the receipt of multi-year grants awarded before she entered office. There is no evidence Hillary Clinton played a role in the grants, and the group’s president, William Reese, said no government money went to Laureate or Becker. Though some Republicans tried to draw parallels between Laureate and Trump University, the real estate seminar company founded by Trump that faces multiple fraud investigations, Laureate is a different sort of business. Unlike Trump University, Laureate’s campuses are fully accredited and offer graduating students valid diplomas. Compared with other universities, including its for-profit competitors, Laureate has a relatively low percentage of students who default on their loans, seen as an indicator of student financial success after graduation. A 2012 Senate report on for-profit colleges said that Laureate’s flagship U.S. school, Walden University, was the best of 30 campuses studied and that students there generally “fared well.” Still, the company has faced some complaints. A group of students at Walden, a Minneapolis-based online school, sued Laureate in 2015, arguing the institution unnecessarily dragged out their education so they would have to pay more. Laureate denied the allegation, and the lawsuit was settled out of court. As of July, three of Laureate’s five U.S. schools were included on a government list of 500 schools that receive additional financial oversight after being found out of compliance with the requirements of federal student aid programs. Outside the State Department, Laureate’s ties extended into the world of the Clintons’ in other ways. Politico has reported that Laureate and GEMS Education were both clients of Teneo Holdings, a public-relations group founded by longtime Bill Clinton aide Doug Band that also paid Clinton a $100,000 consulting fee in 2011. Band declined to comment, as did Laureate. The Clintons were also close to Duffey, a top Laureate official who has been friends with Bill and Hillary Clinton since the two worked as young staffers for his unsuccessful campaign for the Senate in Connecticut in 1970. When Hillary Clinton requested that her staff invite a Laureate official to her 2009 State Department policy dinner, it was Duffey whom she recommended, according to emails released by the State Department. People who participated in the dinner said they remember a high-level conversation about using education to boost diplomacy, held amid antique furniture in the State Department’s elegant James Monroe room. Duffey spoke positively of Laureate’s approach to overseas expansion, according to one participant. Kevin Kinser, who studies for-profit colleges at Pennsylvania State University, said that given Laureate’s rapid growth, it was not unreasonable to include a company representative in that setting. But he said Laureate’s inclusion just months before Bill Clinton began being paid by the company does not look good. “They were clearly a legitimate participant in this sort of event,” he said. “But knowing what we know now, it does seem unseemly.”

VW affair with Navistar challenges Volvo Anders Hagerstrand, Dagens Industri / September 5, 2016 After years of speculation, it seems to be clear now how Volkswagen's truck unit, VW Trucks & Bus, will break into the heavy truck market in North America. This means new challenges for the Volvo Group. Reuters reported on Monday, citing several sources, that Volkswagen Trucks & Bus is set to announce cooperation with North American truckmaker Navistar in which VW will supply engines to Navistar in exchange for a stake in the American company. The news could be presented as early as Tuesday. The deal is logical and fits both companies. Navistar has in recent years had major problems with its engine development and lost significant market share in North America. VW Truck & Bus is prepared to take a step-by-step approach into the North American truck market without being forced to pay billions for a whole company. This at a time when VW Group is suffering financially from its passenger car emissions scandal. However, there is little doubt that the long-term aim for the head of VW's truck operations, Andreas Renschler, is to take full control of the Navistar just as VW has gradually taken control of Scania and MAN in Europe. And, no need to doubt that VW's goal is to restore Navistar to being a strong truck manufacturers in North America. For Sweden's Volvo Group, the development means VW's foray into North America creates tougher competition and new challenges in both the short and the long term. Volvo Trucks is one of the brands which in recent years have gained market share in North America at Navistar's expense. With VW’s backing, Navistar will do everything to win back lost ground and today is impressively becoming a truckmaker with a market share of well over 20 percent in North America. That compares with the company's market share of 12 percent in 2015. History indicates there is a great likelihood that VW will succeed. During his time as head of Daimler Trucks, Andreas Renschler managed well by acquiring problem companies and making them successful again. VW Trucks with its Scania and MAN units, is already Europe's largest manufacturer of heavy trucks. By realizing cooperation with Navistar, VW is taking a big step towards becoming the world's largest manufacturer of both passenger cars and heavy trucks. To be greatest in both passenger cars and commercial vehicles, VW has huge economies of scale in areas such as research and development. The same economies of scale of both light and heavy vehicles presently rank Daimler as the world's largest truckmaker. Standing up to these competitors in the long-term will be a major challenge for Volvo Group, which in this context appears to be a small player. For Volvo's shareholders, it would have been better of the deal between Navistar and VW had lingered a few more years.

Scania Group Press Release / September 6, 2016

Scania Group Press Release / September 5, 2016

Scania Group Press Release / September 5, 2016

Scania Group Press Release / September 5, 2016

Scania Group Press Release / September 5, 2016 The launch of Scania’s new ­generation of trucks marks the company’s biggest ­industrial investment of the past two ­decades. The world’s most modern cab factory is manned by 283 new, high-tech robots plucked straight out of a science fiction film. Extending and ­renovating Scania’s cab factory in Oskars­hamn, Sweden, is a multi-billion kronor investment aimed at doubling production capacity and increasing quality over the coming years. But the technology used is also taking a major step into the future. Intelligent robots and their operators are part of the team in both the body works line and the new base painting works. The light grey robots are highly articulated and nimble, but also smart, and can basically learn to execute just about any operation. The overall impression is of a giant, futuristic ballet performance. “It’s completely clear to me that a premium product needs to be built in a premium plant,” says Marcus Holm, Site Manager within Cab Body Production. So, we have built the most modern factory in the world. We have used all the latest technologies and brought in a high degree of automation with the aim of obtaining a high degree of quality, but also to create the best conceivable working environment and ergonomics for our operators.” A cornerstone for the new Scania Johan Uhlin, Site Manager for Cab Assembly and Logistics also believes that the upgraded cab plant is a cornerstone for the new Scania. “If you go around the factory you can see that it’s all world class, from the ergonomics to the level of quality,” he says. Robots have long been used for so-called 3D-tasks, work that is ‘dirty, dull, and dangerous’. But in line with technological development, they are becoming increasingly advanced and interactive with help from sensors, and can be used within several more advanced areas. Investing in the most up-to-date robot technology has opened the way for a range of new exciting work tasks for staff within the Oskarshamn plant. Operators work in tight teams, together with their robots. Improved noise levels In the assembly workshop, Tom Petersson works together with two robots gluing and fastening windscreens to the cabs. One of Tom’s two robots picks up and moves around the heavy glass windscreens. The other robot fetches a camera, takes photographs, takes readings, and then says exactly how the windscreen should be glued, down to the millimetre. “I sometimes think of them as smart, agile cats, because they are so flexible and nimble. At the same time, they feel almost human and always do whatever they’re asked to do. Then, I think of them as two brothers. But mostly, I feel a big sense of pride at being able to be a part of this and at working in this futuristic plant”, says Petersson. When you slam the door on one of Scania’s new truck cabs, the sound is reminiscent of the elegant, bank vault-like sound you get when the close the door on a premium-class passenger car. One explanation for this quality improvement is Thomas Berg’s new colleague on the new door production lines in Oskars­hamn. Scania is the first truck manufacturer to automate the application of the cab door linings. The new technique, which is carried out by robots, has also made it possible to further improve noise levels for professional drivers. “At the same time, the working environment has also been improved for those of us who previously did these heavy jobs manually,” says Berg. Today, he oversees one of the robots working in door seal application, continually feeding his hungry colleague more lining. “None of the old door lining assemblers can match us working with these robots when it comes to precision,” says Berg. “It’s almost a little scary.” From sheet metal roll to finished cab Scania Oskarshamn produces truck cabs for the whole of Scania’s European production output. The advanced process is divided up into five workshops: the press shop, the bodyworks workshop, the base-painting workshop, the paint shop and the assembly workshop. Every day some 160 tonnes of galvanised plate arrives at the press workshop on big, heavy rollers. Here it’s trimmed and pressed into close to 200 different articles. A cab consists of about 310 different metal plate items. The parts are welded together into sub-components which, in turn, are placed together to create the body of the cab. The body of the cab is painted, after which the interior and exterior is assembled. The completed and quality controlled cabs are delivered to Scania’s chassis plants at Södertälje in Sweden, Zwolle in the Netherlands and Angers in France. There, the trucks undergo final assembly with engines, axles, gearboxes and other parts from Scania’s various component plants. .

In both the China and the US (the world's 1st and 2nd largest car markets), VW is many years late to the SUV party. The VW brand has lost billions in potential sales because they had nothing to offer except the poorly design Tiguan and over-priced mediocre Touareg. I honestly don't think they know how to design a good VW brand SUV. I've only ever seen one, a concept SUV based on the Amarok pickup. That would have been affordable and spacious (practical), perfect for the US market. .

Navistar International Corporation / March 23, 2015 .

Casaba Csere, Car & Driver / September 5, 2016 This new 10-speed rear-drive transmission is the result of collaboration between Ford and General Motors, although Ford had the engineering lead on it. The companies also are jointly developing a nine-speed transverse automatic for front-drive cars and crossovers; GM is leading the engineering on that effort. Not long after Ford starts cranking out F-150s with these transmissions, Chevrolet will launch it in the 2017 Camaro ZL1, coupled to the 650-hp, supercharged 6.2-liter LT4 engine from the Corvette Z06. With a torque capacity of at least 650 lb-ft, this first version of the transmission is plenty beefy to handle that track-ready machine, as well as the Ford Raptor, with its uprated 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 making upwards of 450 horsepower—maybe more. We would expect that soon afterward, we will see this design spawn a family of 10-speed automatics that are smaller and lighter to suit less-hunky rear-drive machines in the Ford and GM families. 10 Speeds Is Not All About a Wide Ratio Spread As you’d expect, Ford’s new 10R80 10-speed automatic has a wide spread of ratios between first and tenth gear. However, the overall span of 7.384 is not the widest in the business—not by a long shot. There are at least five conventional automatics, including some eight-speeds, with a wider spread. The widest is the front-drive ZF 9HP series with nine gears, as found in the Jeep Cherokee, with a total spread of 9.819. Porsche’s PDK seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox used in the Panamera goes even further with a maximum spread of 10.119. According to Kevin Norris, Ford’s manager of the 10R programs, in the applications planned for this transmission, extensive simulations indicated that there was no benefit in a span wider than 7.4. And with a top gear that isn’t excessively tall, it’s possible to stay in that gear more often at highway speeds, something that we’ve found nearly impossible to achieve with the Jeep Cherokee’s tall ninth gear. 10 Speeds Means Close Ratios and Small Gear Steps Arithmetic dictates that if the 10-speed transmission does not have a particularly wide overall ratio spread, than the individual gear spacing must be fairly close. Sure enough, with the 10R80, the average rpm drop during a shift is only 20 percent, while it’s 25 percent in the ZF eight-speed found in cars across the industry, and 32 percent in Porsche’s seven-speed PDK. This new 10-speed has closer ratios, on average, than the version of the seven-speed PDK in the latest 911 GT3. The tight ratios keep the engine closer to peak power during full-throttle acceleration and, according to Norris, provide for smoother operation when towing a trailer, a matter of some importance in the F-150 world. 10 Speeds Allow the Two Top Gears to be Very Close Tenth gear in the 10R80 transmission has an overdrive ratio of 0.636. Ninth is 0.689. That’s a drop of only eight percent, making for a nearly imperceptible 10-to-9 downshift when needed. While Norris promises that tenth gear is a genuinely useful gear in the F-150 and the transmission will stay in that gear over a wide range of highway conditions, the close ninth ratio helps when the truck is heavily loaded or towing a substantial amount. The transmission also offers “Tow/Haul” and “Sport” modes, which also usefully employ the ninth gear—almost as an alternative top gear. Eighth gear also is an overdrive, with a ratio of 0.854. Standard with the EcoBoost V-6 Though much of the initial hype about this transmission centers on its installation in Ford’s upcoming new Raptor and the Camaro ZL1, it will first go on sale in the 2017 F-150 that's coupled to the upgraded version of the Ford 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6, which now makes 375 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque. The 10R80 will be standard equipment with that engine and its close ratios nicely match the engine’s copious low-rpm torque. On the EPA city cycle, the F-150 with this powertrain never sees engine rpm exceed 1450 rpm. In other words, plan to get much worse real-world fuel economy. Although, when you step into it, Ford claims the transmission and engine controls coordinate carefully to avoid situations where the engine comes onto boost exactly when the transmission downshifts, thereby providing a larger jolt of acceleration than the driver wanted. The 10-Speed is Barely Larger and Heavier than the 6-Speed Thanks to the use of four simple planetary gearsets, controlled by six clutches, the 10R80 is only about an inch longer and four pounds heavier than the 6F55 transmission currently used with the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6. This required very careful attention to detail in the design of each component. For example, the torque converter in the transmission (pictured above) is about 0.4 inch thinner and two pounds lighter than the one in its predecessor. Part of the weight reduction comes from an aluminum stator support, a formerly cast-iron part. In fact, the new transmission has no cast-iron parts whatsoever. Sophisticated Hydraulic Pumps The clutches in an automatic transmission are hydraulically actuated and controlled, so the new transmission relies on two special pumps to provide the necessary hydraulic muscle. The main pump is an off-axis design with variable displacement. Removing the pump from the transmission’s main shaft reduces overall length; the variable-displacement capability means that the pump’s output can be adjusted to the transmission’s needs, reducing the power that the pump absorbs. A second, electrically driven hydraulic pump allows idle-stop capability. The electrically driven pump is both more reliable and more compact than a hydraulic accumulator, while using very little power. Transmission Fluid is Critical Just as engine oil seems to get thinner every year, so does transmission fluid, in search of reduced friction. Back when four-speed automatics were the norm, transmission fluid had a viscosity of around 7.5 centistokes. The Ford six-speed uses fluid with a viscosity of 6.0 centistokes. The new 10-speed drops that to about 4.5 centistokes, reducing both friction and the workload of the hydraulic pumps. The new fluid is called Mercon ULV, and is planned to last the lifetime of the transmission, aided by a new filter that has two levels of high-efficiency media and a pleated design with much greater area than the filter in the current six-speed transmission. It also helps that the transmissions are assembled in factories that set new industry standards for cleanliness. Clean, Crisp, and Fast Shifts With a low first-gear ratio of 4.696, the torque converter basically aids in a smooth launch, then quickly locks up and stays that way. Shifting is controlled by the six clutches, which engage and disengage two at a time to swap cogs swiftly and smoothly. These shifts do not require the torque converter to unlock, which would decrease efficiency. These clutches are controlled by integrated solenoid valves, which respond more quickly than the usual two-piece designs. The system has also been designed to minimize the length of the hydraulic passages and optimize the clutch designs for quick fill times—all in the interest of faster and more responsive clutch operation. Although we’re skeptical, and these kinds of claims are heavily dependent on exactly what constitutes the start and end of a shift, Ford claims transmission shifts 26 percent–36 percent more quickly than Porsche’s PDK, at least through fourth gear. The transmission can also perform large, multi-gear downshifts—directly from tenth to fifth, or ninth to fourth—smoothly and rapidly. There’s also a one-way clutch, which smoothly and cleanly disengages the transmission when rolling to a stop, avoiding a potentially jarring 3-1 downshift. Low-Friction Shifts In addition to the efficient hydraulic pumps and the low-viscosity fluid, there are other measures to reduce the transmission’s mechanical friction. For example, instead of flat thrust washers, the 10R80 uses ones fitted with radial needle bearings, replacing sliding friction with the lower rolling variety. Even the multi-plate clutches get tiny springs which push the plates apart to minimize their drag when they are not engaged. As a result, the new transmission is more efficient in each of its gears than the six-speed it replaces. Not a Huge Fuel-Economy Improvement For all of these improvements in friction reduction, low-viscosity fluid, and the multiplicity of gears, Ford is only claiming very modest fuel economy improvements for the new transmission. Compared with the existing six-speed automatic, Ford suggests a 3-percent-to-4-percent gain—barely a single mpg in the case of the F-150. That’s very odd, because when ZF introduced its eight-speed automatic, the company claimed an 11-percent fuel-economy improvement over its existing six-speed automatic. Aisin claimed a 6.6-percent-to–7.0 percent improvement with its eight-speed automatics, while Mercedes suggests a gain of up to six percent when going from the 7G-Tronic to the 9G-Tronic. Ford is adding four gears rather than two, yet only expecting half as much benefit. Perhaps Ford is engaging in a serious bit of under-promising here. We would be shocked to see less than 2-mpg-to–3 mpg of improvement once the ’17 F-150 is certified—especially because the truck also gets that improved version of the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6. .

I would never buy a Volkswagen today, particularly if it rested on the new cheaper-for-VW-to-build "MQB" platform. Ford of Europe builds superb cars, however when they're brought over to the North American market and homologated, they are also subtly decontented and you lose the quality and many powertrain options available on the continent. If Ford brings the diesel Everest to North America (allegedly to be rebadged as Bronco) and doesn't change it to death, you'll be standing behind me in line to order one. If I had to buy a "car", for example in the size range you have in mind........something with the flexibility of the Golf Sportwagen (or predecessor Jetta Sportwagen in the U.S. market) that's available in the US market, that's a very tough dilemma. There's really nothing out there. If you wanted a VW, you can't get the Touran, Sharan, Golf Sportsvan or Passat Estate here (http://en.volkswagen.com/en/models.html). If a wagen, you can't get the superb Octavia Combi (http://www.skoda-auto.com/en/models/new-octavia-combi/overview/). You can't get the Honda CRV diesel, or the Highlander with the advanced new fuel-saving direct injection D-4ST.

If you had come to the December 2015 BMT Investors meeting in St. Maarten (Barry never disappoints), you would have bought into NAV at $6 in January, and could sell tomorrow at $14. Why you pay the annual fee but rarely attend functions is beyond many of us. BMT Investors has never announced a buy recommendation on Cummins. That purchase was your call.

Navistar, union motor along at local plant The Springfield News-Sun / September 5, 2016 A local union representing more than 1,500 area residents is seeing growth just a few years after local officials feared Navistar’s Springfield facility might close. Instead, union leaders and company officials worked together and recently secured two major deals with GM expected to bring about 600 jobs to Springfield. Navistar has seen signs of success in Clark County after the company has faced struggles in recent years due to a failed engine technology. As recently as 2010, local officials have said the Springfield facility had as few as 300 workers. But the company has since changed its top management, cut hundreds of jobs at its corporate offices and sold off parts of its business. The Springfield facility has benefited, and had closer to 1,500 workers even before the company announced two separate joint agreements with GM. In part that’s because of the relationship union officials have forged with the company’s top management, said Jason Barlow, president of the UAW Local 402, which represents most of the facility’s workers. “At the end of the day, we have to keep our membership building quality products for our customers or we won’t have jobs,” Barlow said. Last year, the truckmaker announced a deal with GM to build medium-duty trucks in Springfield with a pledge to add as many as 300 jobs over three years. This summer, the company reached a second deal with GM to add an additional 300 jobs in which workers will build a cutaway model of GM’s G Van beginning early next year. The company has already begun to ramp up hiring, and will reopen a manufacturing line in Springfield that had been closed since about 2001 to build the vans. The company is now hiring between 20 and 25 people per week in preparation for new production, Barlow said. That means a boost for the union’s membership as well, many of whom joined the UAW since 2011. “We feel this is a much-needed boost and reassurance, and Navistar said they want to make this a flagship facility,” Barlow said of the Springfield plant. Another change could be on the horizon. Rueters reported Monday that Volkswagen will take a roughly 20 percent stake in Navistar International Corp for around $16 per share as part of a partnership deal. Reuters reported that Volkswagen’s trucks division is close to announcing a partnership with Navistar, in the latest example of a deal driven by emissions regulations. Navistar officials could not be reached for additional comments on Monday. In June, Navistar announced it turned a small profit for the first time since the third quarter of 2012. Analysts said the achievement was significant but should be kept in perspective because the company also lowered its estimate for future earnings. Navistar is expected to release its third quarter earnings report later this week.

Scania offers FAR alternative fuel options than Cummins, and they design them in-house. The Cummins-Westport engines are mediocre, and their exhaust aftertreatment technology (Cummins Filtration) is 2 steps behind the global leaders in the field. Cummins is sucking wind. Navistar is looking good. But having said that, engine options are limited. Some people don't like Cummins. Navistar must have at least two engine options (it's a shame one can no longer get a Detroit in an International, thanks to Daimler). The tie-up with VW will result in Navistar's current engine supplier, MAN, providing direct support the development of future engines to meet stricter emissions. And the Scania engines are at their disposal as well. This is going to save Navistar a lot of money and provide it with cutting edge engines far better than Cummins. NAV CEO Troy Clarke said that he wanted to form strategic partnerships.......not sell the farm. I can accept a 19.9% minority stake in return for access to MAN and Scania powertrains.

"The German auto maker doesn’t have engines tailored to the U.S. market yet, which it will now have to develop for Navistar" Clueless and incompetent reporting. Navistar's N11 and N13 are license-built versions of MAN's D2066 and D2676 engines. MAN is a subsidiary of Volkswagen Truck & Bus. All of the Scania (also a VW subsidiary) and MAN Euro-6 engines, can be easily adapted to EPA2010. The 15-litre MAN D38 (520 to 640hp) and 16.4-litre Scania V-8 (520 to 730hp) could be in the cards. This could be the death knell for Cummins in the U.S. truck market.

VW will take stake in Navistar to challenge Daimler in heavy trucks Automotive News / September 5, 2016 Volkswagen Group will take a 19.9 percent stake in U.S.-based Navistar International for around $16 per share as part of a partnership deal, a person familiar with the matter said on Monday. VW's commercial vehicles division is trying to build itself into a global truck manufacturer having absorbed Germany's MAN and Sweden's Scania. Navistar is looking for a technology partner to build engines that can meet tightening emissions rules. Navistar is seen as an attractive target for VW because it has a large North American dealer network, something the German automaker lacks. Andreas Renschler, head of Volkswagen commercial vehicles, has wanted to get a strategic foothold in North America as a way to challenge Daimler, his former employer. The deal will be announced as soon as Tuesday, sources said. Volkswagen declined to comment, while Navistar was not immediately available for comment. Navistar has a market value of around $1.15 billion and has been on the lookout for an engine partner since 2010 when it failed to get approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its heavy-duty diesel truck engine. VW has agreed to supply engines to Navistar in exchange for a stake in the truckmaker, one source told Reuters.

VW said to be taking stake in Navistar in engine supply deal Reuters / September 5, 2016 Volkswagen to take 19.9 percent stake in Navistar Volkswagen's trucks division is close to announcing a partnership with Lisle, Ill.-based rival Navistar International Corp., three sources told Reuters, in the latest example of a deal driven by emissions regulations. Volkswagen has agreed to supply engines to Navistar in exchange for a 19.9 percent stake in the truckmaker, one of the sources, who declined to be named, told Reuters. Volkswagen will pay around $16 per Navistar share or about 200 million euros ($223 million) in total, the source said. The deal will be announced as soon as Tuesday, the sources said. Volkswagen and Navistar declined to comment. The financial burden of developing next generation engines to meet new emissions standards is forcing several vehicle makers to pursue partnerships and technology deals. In May, Nissan took a 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors, while in 2013, Aston Martin agreed to sell a 5 percent stake to Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler in exchange for delivering next generation engines and electronics that meet the latest emissions rules. Volkswagen's commercial vehicles division is trying to build itself into a global truck manufacturer having absorbed Germany's MAN and Sweden's Scania, while Navistar is looking for a technology partner to build engines that can meet ever more stringent emissions rules. For Volkswagen, Navistar is seen as an attractive target because it has a large North American dealer network, something the German company lacks. Navistar, which has a market value of around $1.15 billion, has been on the lookout for an engine partner since 2010 when it failed to get approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its heavy-duty diesel truck engine. The two companies have been in talks about a potential tie-up for years, but Volkswagen has been distracted for much of the past 12 months by a diesel emissions test cheating scandal that has seen several top management departures.

The Wall Street Journal / September 5, 2016 Volkswagen likely to pay about $16 a share for Navistar stake Volkswagen AG plans to buy a minority stake in Navistar International Corp. to provide a foothold in the U.S. and bolster its global truck-market aspirations, according to people familiar with the situation. The proposed transaction, which could be announced as early as Tuesday, comes as Navistar deals with the fallout from a run-in over emissions regulations and a declining market share that has left it trailing rivals in a North American commercial truck market wrestling with a slump. VW’s plan to pay roughly $200 million for a nearly 17% stake in Navistar signals that executives at the German auto maker feel confident enough to expand strategically in the U.S., even as they work through the fallout from a scandal over the rigging of emissions tests on many of VW’s most popular passenger cars. The scandal has cost VW nearly $20 billion so far, forcing the company to slash spending and put any big acquisition plans on hold. Lisle-Ill.-based Navistar is still trying to overcome its own emissions problems. The company agreed earlier this year to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission $7.5 million to settle charges it misled investors about its ability to comply with tougher U.S. standards on diesel engine exhaust beginning in 2010. Although Navistar neither admitted nor denied the charges, the company’s emissions strategy plunged it into a prolonged tailspin that has cost it hundreds of millions of dollars, halved its share of the U.S. heavy-duty truck market and wiped out about 80% of its market value over the past five years. VW has agreed to pay $16 a share for Navistar, a nearly 14% premium on Friday’s closing share price of $14.07, according to people familiar with the situation. Navistar had a market value of $1.2 billion at Friday’s close. In exchange, VW will get two seats on Navistar’s board. The two companies, which have been in on-again, off-again talks since early 2015, have agreed to cooperate on purchasing and developing new products, the people said. VW would be joining a board that already includes representatives of activist investors Carl Icahn and Mark Rachesky, who each control about 20% of the company. Mr. Icahn originally bought into Navistar as part of an attempt to combine it with specialty truck builder Oshkosh Corp. Navistar’s losses have driven its stock price well below what the activists paid for their shares. VW has long been rumored to be interested in Navistar. The German company is a powerhouse in the global truck market, particularly in Europe and Brazil, but doesn’t sell many large commercial trucks in the U.S. Rival Volvo AB produces trucks in the U.S. under the Mack brand, while Daimler AG owns Freightliner. Navistar draws most of its sales from the U.S., Canada and Mexico and has a limited overseas business, making it a potentially good fit for VW. Navistar also has a strong dealer network that provides service and replacement parts. Wolfsburg, Germany-based VW bundled its commercial vehicle businesses, including its European brands MAN and Scania, into a holding company in 2015. VW’s combined commercial vehicles businesses generated €34.5 billion ($38.6 billion) in revenue in 2015 and €1.7 billion in earnings before interest and taxes. VW is entering a North American truck market where demand has fallen off significantly after an elevated stretch of truck buying. Production of heavy-duty trucks this year is expected to fall by about one-third from last year’s near-term peak to about 200,000 vehicles. Trucking companies have pulled back on purchases after restocking their fleets with more fuel-efficient trucks in recent years. Navistar would likely receive a much-needed boost in truck and engine technology from VW. But even with Volkswagen’s deep pockets and commitment to growth, it could be difficult to quickly nurse Navistar back to financial and truck-market health. Navistar is saddled with about $5 billion in debt, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, and is expected to report another loss this year. The company, which has a large unfunded pension liability, hasn’t consistently earned a profit in four years. Navistar recorded $10.1 billion in revenue for its fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2015 and a loss of $184 million. Navistar ranks fourth in the North America heavy-duty truck market with about 11% of retail sales. Market-leader Freightliner has about 40% of the market. In between are strong competitors Paccar Inc. —the maker of Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks—and Volvo. Navistar’s market share in heavy-duty trucks is about half the size it was five years ago. Customers abandoned Navistar’s trucks for competitors’ models when Navistar’s strategy for complying with the 2010 regulations on diesel engine emissions undermined the reliability of Navistar’s trucks and caused huge warranty-related expenses to fix the company’s engines. Navistar had attempted to develop a proprietary solution to comply with the tougher pollution-reduction standard, rather than using the same exhaust treatment technology as the rest of the truck and engine industry. VW’s wager on Navistar isn’t sure of success. The U.S. truck maker has lost a lot of ground over the past few years and it is uncertain whether the two companies will be able to align their corporate cultures to quickly improve the brand’s reputation and its products. The German auto maker doesn’t have engines tailored to the U.S. market yet, which it will now have to develop for Navistar. It is also unclear how Volkswagen will position Navistar in North America in relation to its main truck brands MAN and Scania. Daimler has the benefit of owning a U.S.-based engine subsidiary, Detroit Diesel, and has been able to incorporate improvements in fuel economy and performance from other Daimler engines into the Detroit brand, which is well known in the trucking industry.

Donald Trump on Monday refused to rule out granting legal status to undocumented immigrants who remain in the United States, breaking with an immigration proposal he laid out just last week. Asked Monday whether he could rule out a pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants, Trump declined. "I'm not ruling out anything," Trump said. "We're going to make that decision into the future." Last week in Phoenix, Trump said undocumented [illegal] immigrants seeking legal status would "have one route and one route only: to return home and apply for reentry like everybody else.

The change in regulations made the use of COEs in the U.S. unattractive. If the opposite had occurred, we'd see mostly COEs on America's roads today. Both the US and the rest of the world want their roads to last longer by controlling truck load distribution. But the US uses a means opposite of the rest of the world. We should allow 3-axle trailers and 97,000lb (44-ton) loads. The COE is more efficient than a conventional in mainstream applications. If we could carry more, in many cases, there would be fewer trips, which reduced road wear and congestion as well.

Yanmar engines are legends in the marine segment.