The name Andrew Jackson “Jack" Griffith may not mean much to many people, however to sports car enthusiasts and classic car nuts, he was another genius although his name was initially made by copying someone else's idea! He was born in 1926 on Long Island in New York State and enlisted in the US Airforce in 1943 at the age of 17, being posted to Wisconsin. He met his wife … [Read more...]
Ford Production in Russia
At Motoring Weekly, we have been reporting on the growing reduction in production capacity across the globe over the past year. Despite some good news in a handful of countries, it seems that most established manufacturing centres are at risk in some form. Recently we reported that Ford was adding 500 jobs in the heartland, upgrading factories and adding new production lines … [Read more...]
Extreme Weather Shuts Factories
This is something that most people don’t consider when they think about car production: how the weather can affect the volume of vehicles coming down the lines. In January, with the very bad weather that swept across the northern States of the US, one of the energy utilities put out a message to conserve gas because they were worried about supplies. General Motors was asked … [Read more...]
Ford’s New Production Investment
Just to show that as far as passenger cars go, Ford considers that market segment dead in the US, they have announced a big investment in two factories in Chicago to build more SUVs - highly profitable ones at that - and the killing off of another nameplate in the US: the Taurus. This plate was credited with saving Ford when it was first announced back in the mid 1980s and now … [Read more...]
Industry Ups and Downs
The last few weeks have seen some great news and some bad news for the industry - on two and four wheels. Personal transportation is going through a difficult time yet there are some highlights. On two wheels, The Economist magazine reported that Harley-Davidson is going through a rough patch - not the first in their 116 year history. In the US they have seen sales figures … [Read more...]