Ford Motor Co. donates thousands of COVID-19 face shields to US military

Monday, 25 May 2020, 19:10:57
Ford Motor Co. has finalized an agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense to donate 200,000 face shields to military bases across the U.S. and abroad to protect against the coronavirus.
— Fox News

From Germany to Detroit and back: how Kraftwerk forged an industrial exchange

Monday, 25 May 2020, 07:22:06
Kraftwerk’s robotic rhythms resonated loudest in deindustrialising 1970s Detroit and gave rise to techno – starting a cultural feedback loop that continues today When the death of Kraftwerk co-founder Florian Schneider was announced last week , the loudest tributes came from the electronic music community. Kraftwerk’s pioneering approach, using synthesisers and sequenced drum arrangements to evoke robotic or industrial rhythms, became the blueprint for Detroit musicians such as Juan Atkins, who coined the term “techno”. Forty years later, an array of electronic genres have been created from that blueprint: Schneider and Kraftwerk created a feedback loop between Germany and Detroit that has existed for more than half a century. When Schneider and Ralf Hütter started Kraftwerk in 1970, their influences included several Detroit-based acts including the Stooges, MC5 and, according to later member Karl Bartos, Berry Gordy’s Motown label. Gordy initially worked for the Ford motor plant, and gave Motown an industrialised music production-line inspired by Detroit’s automotive industry.
— The Guardian

Dr. Birx said there’s ‘clear scientific evidence’ masks help, but she assumes Trump doesn’t wear one because he’s ‘able to maintain’ social distancing

Sunday, 24 May 2020, 21:44:22
Dr. Deborah Birx told FOX News’ Chris Wallace on Sunday that there is “clear scientific evidence” that masks help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Birx said she assumed Trump is “able to maintain that six feet distance” when asked by Wallace whether she wished Trump would wear a mask in public. Trump has been criticized for repeatedly refusing to wear a mask during public appearances, including during visits to a Ford plant in Michigan and a Honeywell factory in Arizona earlier this month. Birx said Americans should wear masks in public when they’re not able to socially distance “out of respect for each other.” Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories . Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus task force response coordinator, reiterated the importance of wearing masks on Sunday while also suggesting that President Trump hasn’t done so because he’s able to socially distance in most situations. “There’s clear scientific evidence now by all the droplet experiments that happened and that others have done to show that a mask does prevent droplets from reaching others,” Birx said of measures to protect against spreading the novel coronavirus infection during an interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace . “Out of respect for each other, as Americans that care for each other, we need to be wearing masks in public when we cannot social distance,” she said. “It’s really critically important.” Wallace then asked Birx whether she wished Trump, “both from a safety point of view and from a public messaging point of view,” would wear a mask in public.
— Business Insider

Trump targeted Michigan’s top 3 officials because they’re all women, state AG says

Sunday, 24 May 2020, 09:58:44
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel continued her criticism of President Trump on Friday, claiming he had “risked the health, safety and welfare” of all Michiganders by removing his mask during a tour of a Ford Motor Co. factory in the state Tuesday.
— Fox News (Feed)

Car dealerships are taking Tesla’s lead by embracing online sales in the wake of COVID-19. Now industry insiders say salespeople will have less power over customers because of it. (CVNA, KMX)

Saturday, 23 May 2020, 12:13:00
Online car sales and home deliveries have become more popular in the wake of the novel coronavirus. That trend will continue well into the future, auto industry executives told Business Insider. “Customers will welcome the power shifting back in their direction, and they deserve that,” said Laura Schwab, president of Aston Martin in the Americas. Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories . The spread of the novel coronavirus has forced many car dealerships to increase their emphasis toward online sales and home deliveries . In April, more than half of Toyota’s US sales stemmed from the internet, and over 30% of Ford’s US sales started online and ended with a delivery to the customer’s home. That trend is set to continue even after the most severe effects of the coronavirus subside, auto industry executives told Business Insider. Traditionally, buying a car has meant traveling to a dealership for what could be a process that lasts hours. Shoppers will be less willing to do that in the future, said CarMax CEO Bill Nash. “The consumer’s behavior has changed in a lasting way because of this pandemic,” he said. “Even before this crisis, we were seeing customers interested in doing more of the transaction online and spending less time in store.
— Business Insider