Feed Editor 24 Sep 2009 10:15:26 CDT en Do you find yourself looking for a new profit center with a manageable startup cost? Wouldn't it be great if you bought a tool that could pay for itself in weeks or months rather than years? And what if this tool made it possible to diagnose cars quicker and solve problems that would otherwise be impossible? Sound too good to be true? Many shop owners look at me with skepticism in their eyes when I tell them that they need to bring reprogramming into their shop as a new profit center. 24 Sep 2009 10:15:26 CDT http://www.asashop.org/autoinc/sept2009/mech.htm 1 In its latest bid to help finance the car of tomorrow, the Obama administration said it would lend more than $500 million to Irvine, Calif.,-based Fisker Automotive to develop a pair of plug-in hybrids. The loans, come from a $25-billion Department of Energy program to fund development of alternative vehicles. According to the administration, the loans will help create or save 5,000 jobs at Fisker and at suppliers to the vehicles. 24 Sep 2009 10:15:26 CDT http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/uptospeed/2009/09/fisker-loans-ev.html 2 For the first time in decades, new-car dealers are pounding the pavement in search of used cars to sell. They're critically short of stock at a time when used-car customers have begun to stream onto their lots. 24 Sep 2009 10:15:26 CDT http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20090921/EMAIL01/909219988# 3 Three bills have currently been introduced in Congress that address health care insurance reform. Visit the TakingTheHill.com Web site for links to the full text of each bill, as well as a one-page document summarizing the main features of each piece of legislation, compiled by the ASA Washington, D.C., staff. 24 Sep 2009 10:15:26 CDT http://www.takingthehill.com 4 I-CAR, The Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair has announced that it will introduce two new classes at NACE in Las Vegas. On Nov. 4, I-CAR will launch Damage Analysis of Advanced Automotive Systems and Collision Repair for General Motors Vehicles. Both programs are offered as classroom training programs. 24 Sep 2009 10:15:26 CDT http://www.i-car.com/html_pages/about_icar/current_events_news/press_releases/2009_archives/091809a.shtml 5 Ka-ching. That’s the sound of serious coin rolling in to automotive dealers from the Cash for Clunkers program. Despite early skepticism, an onslaught of voucher rejections, and the fear they were fronting money they would never see again, several dealers in New London County said they have either been paid in full or are close to it -- a week ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline. 24 Sep 2009 10:15:26 CDT http://www.bostonherald.com/business/automotive/view.bg?articleid=1199184&srvc=business&position=recent 6 Chrysler's NVLD, or Natural Vacuum Leak Detection, system was first introduced in 2002 as an alternative to its Leak Detection Pump (LDP) method for the onboard testing of the evaporative emissions system. This method of leak detection is based on the "Ideal Gas" law that states, in part, that the pressure in a sealed vessel will change linearly as a function of the temperature of the gas in that vessel. Any loss of seal will allow the internal pressure to equalize with the atmospheric pressure outside the container. 24 Sep 2009 10:15:26 CDT http://motorage.search-autoparts.com/motorage/Technical/Diagnosing-and-repairing-NVLD-systems-can-present-/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/615203?contextCategoryId=48021 7 General Motors Co. will add a third shift at three U.S. plants that are taking on additional production from factories slated to close or be idled. The facilities getting the new shifts are in Fairfax, Kan.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; and Delta Township, Mich., GM said in a statement. The changes will restore 2,400 jobs, the Detroit-based company said. 24 Sep 2009 10:15:26 CDT http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=apDe0FhGgb88 8 The advent of the fuel-injected, 5.0 Mustang back in 1986 ushered in a whole new era of Ford performance. The 5.0 H.O. created an entire industry, one continued to this day since the introduction of the Modular-powered fast Fords. 24 Sep 2009 10:15:26 CDT http://www.musclemustangfastfords.com/tech/mmfp_0409_fuel_pump_technology_inside_ford_mustang/index.html 9 Buyers of 2010 Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles will receive a digitized owners manual on a DVD, eliminating the bulky paper version, a move the company estimates will save 930 tons of paper and up to 20,000 trees annually. There will still be some printed matter, but a full-color guide running between 60 and 80 pages will replace the conventional book that can run more than 500 pages and weigh three to four pounds. That guide will highlight information customers say they frequently use. 24 Sep 2009 10:15:26 CDT http://freep.com/article/20090921/BUSINESS01/90921024/1333/Chrysler-moves-manuals-into-digital-age 10 Ford Motor Co. unveiled a made-in-India compact car and flagged expanded production in China as it seeks to boost sales in Asia, a region the U.S. automaker has hardly dented but is counting on to drive growth. The four-door "Figo", which is Italian slang for 'cool', will go on sale in India during the first quarter of next year, Ford executives told a press conference. There are also plans to export the low-cost car to other Asian countries. 24 Sep 2009 10:15:26 CDT http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gCGsYMGnaicpmxsAblRU65af8YKQD9AT0QL00 11