TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * USA - Good first quarter for Paccar

Bellevue,WA,USA -Truck & Business (Belgium), by Michel Buckinx -29 April 2011: -- American manufacturer Paccar has announced improved turnover and net profits for the first quarter of 2011, compared to the same period last year. This is explained by increased heavy trucks sales in Europe and North America, and by an improvement in financial services and in the spare parts division. Turnover thus reached 2.3 billion dollars, and net profits 193.3 million dollars. The European share of DAF in the over 15 tonnes segment currently stands at 16%... (Image from Paccar: A Kenworth model Paccar's truck)

* Isuzu offers telematics option

Anaheim,CAL,USA -Fleet Owner -May 3, 2011:  --  Isuzu Commercial Truck of America has added Teletrac’s Fleet Director telematics system as either a port or dealer-installed option for its 2011 and 2012 model year N-Series medium-duty trucks...  Teletrac said the most recent version of its system, Fleet Director 8.2, not only locates, tracks and monitors the position and operation of fleet vehicles, but also provides flexible “at-a-glance” dashboards and safety scorecards along with diagnostic trouble code (DTC) reporting...  All of the analytics are available in real time using data captured by Teletrac and is viewable through any web browser. The data includes speeding miles, severe speeding miles, harsh braking events, harsh acceleration events, and bad cornering events...(Photo from 3.bp.blogspot: Family Isuzu trucks)

* California -  Isuzu re-starts production of gasoline-powered medium-duty models

Anaheim,CAL,USA -Fleet Owner -May 4, 2011: -- For the first time in two years, Isuzu Commercial Truck of America is in full production of gasoline-powered N-Series medium-duty trucks at the Spartan Motors factory in Charlotte, MI... The new 2012 N-Gas models are powered by the Vortec 6.0-liter small-block V8 engine that produces 297 horsepower at 4,300 rpm and generates 372 lbs.-ft. of torque at 4,000 rpm. The engine is mated to a new six-speed automatic transmission with double overdrive and lock-up torque converter for enhanced fuel economy and performance, Isuzu noted. This is an upgrade; previous N-Series gasoline models offered only a four-speed automatic...

* USA - Recall Alert: Nissan Pathfinder, Infiniti QX4

(Photo: 2002 Infiniti QX4 Luxury)

Washington,DC,USA -The Car Connection -25 April 2011: -- Nissan is issuing a recall for nearly 200,000 sport-utility vehicles sold in the U.S. under both its Nissan and Infiniti brands... The vehicles affected include 195,991 copies of the 1996-2004 Nissan Pathfinder and the 1997-2003 Infiniti QX4. Only vehicles sold or currently registered in northern-tier states are included in the recall. Those states include: Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin--as well as the District of Columbia... In both, the vehicles could be exposed to heavy road salt, which could in turn find its way into the struts. The intrusion can lead to rusting inside the strut tower housing--which may cause cracking and failure, and a loss of steering control...

* Ford Reports Best 1Q Since 1998

Dearborn,MICH,USA -Bloomberg/TTNews -26 April 2011: -- Ford Motor Co.’s first-quarter profit rose 22% to the highest level in 13 years, the company said Tuesday...  Net income rose to $2.55 billion, from $2.09 billion a year ago, the No. 2 U.S. automaker said in a statement. Sales rose 4.7% to $33.1 billion, following last year’s sale of Volvo cars...  CEO Alan Mulally put the company’s focus on fuel economy and raised U.S. prices twice this year as the cost of gasoline has risen 26%. Consumers paid $900 million more worldwide for Ford’s vehicles in the quarter than a year ago...  Ford “introduced new cargo truck in Brazil, representing our commitment to competitiveness in a critical segment in South America” and said it “expects U.S. full-year industry volume will be in the range of 13 million to 13.5 million units and, for the 19 markets Ford tracks in Europe, in the range of 14.5 million to 15.5 million units, including medium and heavy trucks” ...

* DC - NHTSA Probing GM over Faulty Gas Gauges

Washington,DC,USA -Detroit Free Press - April 30, 2011: -- NHTSA opened investigation into whether nearly 1M GM vehicles may have faulty gas gauges. Agency estimates 865K vehicles could be affected... NHTSA investigators said, "Consumers have reported incidents of inaccurate and random fuel level reading while driving, resulting in the vehicle running out of fuel and causing vehicle stall with no restart" ...  Received 668 complaints alleging inaccurate fuel gauge reading while driving. 
Model year 2005-07 Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainier, Saab 9-7x...  Of complaints, 58 involved stalls, and 43 driver specifically reported fuel level reading indicated more fuel availability... NHTSA said at least 1 crash allegedly took place when vehicle ran out of gas...