College Offers Computer-Based Tests for Automotive Technicians
The Victoria College ACT Testing Center in Victoria, Texas, is participating in a new pilot program to gauge automotive technician interest in taking certification exams via computer testing.
Advanced Bosch Training Focuses on Solving Today’s Automotive Service Challenges
In today’s environment of ever-more-complex and sophisticated automobiles and trucks, training is all-important to the technicians who service and maintain these vehicles. Robert Bosch Corporation, a supplier of automotive systems and components, has placed itself in the forefront of those that supply the advanced technical training needed by the automotive service community.
DST Asks: How Do You View the Industry and Your Career?
Every automobile in every dealer’s showroom in America displays an EPA fuel economy ratings sticker. The ratings are estimates developed by the automakers after testing a limited number of pre-production vehicles. The EPA then verifies the results on roughly 10 to 15 percent of the vehicles produced for that year. The tests, repeated the same way each time in a controlled environment, are the same for all autos and are supposed to simulate city and highway driving conditions. They can’t – and don’t – reflect the conditions under which every vehicle is driven; nor do they reflect the maintenance condition, type of fuel used, or – perhaps most importantly-the variety of driving styles that we all see everyday on the streets. What do mileage ratings and driving styles have to do with your aftermarket career? Plenty.
Chinese Autobuyers Have No Brand Loyalty Yet
China’s thriving car market boasts huge business opportunities, yet automakers should put more effort into making the local consumers loyal to their products, according to a recent survey of three major metropolitan Chinese cities. The survey was conducted by market research company AC Nielsen, in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, China’s three major automobile markets.
California Goes After Auto Emissions
California issued proposed regulations this week that would force automakers to reduce tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases, which are tied to global warming, by 30 percent in the next decade. If adopted later this year after a review process, the regulations would be the nation’s first limits on auto emissions of gases tied to global warming. And they could pave the way for other states to follow. At least four Northeastern states are watching to see what California does.
DCX Accused of Intimidation
The controversy over DaimlerChrysler AG’s lending policies in Chicago, where the company is under a boycott and sales of the automaker’s vehicles continue to erode, appears to have escalated. Two longtime Chicago automobile dealers accuse DaimlerChrysler of harassing them because they plan to testify in a federal lawsuit on behalf of a former dealer, who accuses the automaker of racist lending policies. They say the company has made unreasonable requests for documents through subpoenas.
Auto Components Supplier Set to Quadruple China Sales
World-leading automotive parts and components supplier Robert Bosch GmbH plans to cash in on China’s fast-growing auto sector by quadrupling its sales in the nation by 2012. The company plans to lift its sales to $6 billion by 2012 from last year’s $1.56 billion.
Car Care Council Women’s Board Awards Two High School Scholarships
The Car Care Council Women’s Board has selected the recipients of its inaugural Women’s Board high school scholarship program. Rebecca Evans of Toledo, Ore., and Beth Weckesser of Fenton, Mich., competed with female students from across the nation for the two scholarships.
Second Annual Edelbrock Automotive Scholarship Winner Named
A senior at South Torrance High School has been selected as the recipient of the second annual Vic & Nancy Edelbrock Scholarship for excellence in automotive technology. Prouty becomes the first female recipient of the award. After graduation, she will attend Wyo Tech, a technical school with campuses in Wyoming, Pennsylvania and Sacramento, California.
CARDONE Enters New Parts Market
CARDONE Industries, a leader in automobile parts remanufacturing, has entered the new automotive parts market. Leveraging three decades of automobile parts remanufacturing experience, CARDONE is now offering a line of new manufactured parts, under the brand name CARDONE Select. Every CARDONE Select part will be 100 percent new.