This is The Morning Shift, our one-stop daily roundup of all the auto news that's actually important — all in one place every weekday morning. Or, you could spend all day waiting for other sites to parse it out to you one story at a time. Isn't your time more important?
1st Gear: Ford's Earnings Up 6.3 Percent
Ford's second quarter was one to remember. The quarter was better than expected, with a record North American profit of $2.44 billion. Oh, and they profited in Europe for the first time in three years.
They beat the analysts by four cents a share, earning 40 cents instead of the expected 36.
Ford does expect pre-tax profits for 2014 below that of 2013 as well as an overall loss in Europe, but they expect to profit there by 2015. Keep going!
2nd Gear: GM Earnings Just $190 Million
GM on the other hand, well, the analysts expected it to be paltry, and it is compared to Ford. GM brought in $190 million, which is in line with analyst estimates. That is because of the $1.2 billion recall charge that they had to write down as well as the $400 million charge it expects to need to pay victims of their recalls.
Of course, that recall fund is uncapped, so it could go far higher than $400 million. Or far lower. We'll just have to wait and see.
3rd Gear: Forget The Opel Volt, Long Live The Opel Electric
Opel's version of the Chevy Volt, the more attractive Ampera, was just killed off. But now Opel says they aren't getting out of the electric car game. They'll be introducing a new, fully electric model to replace it.
They are being a bit light on the details, saying that a successor will be out sometime in the next four years.
4th Gear: Dandy Little Yaris Gets Pricing
The new Toyota Yaris is a swell looking little ride, and now it has some pricing. It's more expensive than the 2014 model by about $400 across the board.
| Model# | Grade | Transmission | Body Style | 2014 MSRP | 2015 MSRP | MSRP change ($) | MSRP Change (%) |
| 1421 | L | 5MT | 3DR | $14,430 | $14,845 | $415 | 3% |
| 1422 | L | 4AT | 3DR | $15,155 | $15,570 | $415 | 3% |
| 1424 | LE | 4AT | 3DR | $16,015 | $16,505 | $490 | 3% |
| 1463 | SE | 5MT | 5DR | $16,540 | $16,820 | $280 | 2% |
| 1462 | L | 4AT | 5DR | $15,455 | $15,945 | $490 | 3% |
| 1464 | SE | 4AT | 5DR | $17,340 | $17,620 | $280 | 2% |
| 1466 | LE | 4AT | 5DR | $16,490 | $16,880 | $390 | 2% |
5th Gear: More Cobalt And Ion Deaths...
GM reports in their quarterly crash data that 17 people died and 167 were injured in Cobalts or Ions. It isn't known if the crashes are related to the ignition switch, but this could certainly expand the pool of claimants for that unlimited fund.
Reverse
On this day in 1998, South Korea's government opens the bidding for the Kia Motors Corporation, the country's third-largest car company, which went bankrupt during an economic crisis that gripped much of Asia.
[HISTORY]
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Are you surprised by GM's earnings? Thought they'd do better? Worse?