Headlines for Monday, February 18, 2013
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Knight School: If you're sunk on Sync, tech-savvy Ford dealer can help
When Bill Knight started offering monthly clinics on Ford Motor Co.'s Sync entertainment and communication system back in 2009, only a handful of customers showed up for each session. Fast forward to 2013. Read More »
MAKE MEETINGS -- MITSUBISHI:Mitsubishi tells dealers it's staying in U.S.
Mitsubishi Motors North America executives told a standing-room-only make meeting that the Japanese brand is committed to the United States and will double its marketing budget this year. Read More »
Telematics challenge: Capable but simple
Telematics systems run the risk of becoming too complicated and distracting, yet they also can become outdated well before the vehicle's life is complete. So said a panel at the J.D. Power International Automotive Roundtable. Read More »
Audi blocks use of GQ3 name by Qoros, report says
Audi won a temporary court injunction to prevent Chinese automaker Qoros from using the letter "Q" as as part of the name of a new sedan planned for Europe and China, a German newspaper said. Read More »
Dealers
Dealerships in this report: Gunn Automotive Group in San Antonio; Hoffman Auto Group in East Hartford, Conn.; Jaremko Nissan in Spokane, Wash.; Cooley Mazda in Rensselaer, N.Y.; Northtown Mazda in Amherst, N.Y.; Sorensen Schade Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Lake Wales, Fla. Read More »
BMW recall is its largest ever in U.S.
BMW has told safety regulators it will recall about 570,000 vehicles in the United States and Canada because of a faulty battery cable connector that can fail and cause an engine to stall. The U.S. Read More »
Nissan seeks outsiders from Silicon Valley
Nissan wants to tap the nonautomotive world for new ideas and approaches to vehicle technology at its newly opened advanced product development center in California's Silicon Valley. Read More »
Chevy restores rwd roar with 415-hp V-8 SS sedan
General Motors says the new 2014 Chevrolet SS -- the brand's first V-8 rear-wheel-drive sedan since the 1990s -- will produce 415 hp and accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in about 5 seconds. Read More »
American Axle hires former GM engineering exec
Drivetrain supplier American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings has hired retired General Motors executive Terry Woychowski to lead the supplier's engineering activities. Read More »
Geely leads China bids for Fisker, report says
China's Geely is favored to secure a majority stake in electric carmaker Fisker, according to sources. Fisker is said to be weighing bids from Chinese automakers Geely and Dongfeng. Read More »
Mokka drives Opel into fast lane
Thanks to the hot-selling Mokka, Opel/Vauxhall has something positive in common with BMW and Mercedes-Benz. All three brands increased year-on-year European sales last month. Read More »
The giddy sales forecast: Full speed ahead!
All that giddy optimism in the air at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention was remarkable and appeared genuine. That's because, one by one, automakers have followed up their bold talk with big sales projections for 2013. Read More »
Chrysler's CSI crash course
Nearly 150 Chrysler Group dealerships face a year of intense training to treat consumers better as Chrysler struggles to raise its bottom-dwelling customer satisfaction scores. Later, another roughly 650 dealerships will follow suit. Read More »
Opel previews potential Fiat 500c rival with Adam Rocks concept
Opel's Adam Rocks concept may preview a potential rival to the Fiat 500c convertible. Adam Rocks is based on Opel's Adam minicar, which went into production in January. Read More »
German car plans may breach EU carbon goal, Commission says
Germany's tactics to protect output of cars from BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz threaten a 2020 target for EU limits on vehicle CO2 emissions, a European Commission document said. Read More »
Alfa Gloria hints at forthcoming Giulia
A styling model that hints at the Alfa Romeo Giulia will debut at the Geneva auto show next month. The mid-sized Gloria concept resulted from a collaboration between the Alfa Styling Center and the European Design Institute in Turin. Read More »
Top Fiat stores to get Alfa first
Fiat dealerships meeting sales and customer service goals will be first to get the Alfa Romeo 4C, a Chrysler Group executive says. Read More »
Geely leads China bids for Fisker, report says
China's Geely is favored to secure a majority stake in electric carmaker Fisker, according to sources. Fisker is said to be weighing bids from Chinese automakers Geely and Dongfeng. Read More »
NADA study: Factories need to back off
What will the ideal new-car dealership of 2025 look like and how will it operate? Much different from the dealership of today, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association's phase two facility study. Read More »
Beneath the buzz, a layer of caution
We're in the sweet spot in the auto industry's recovery. At volumes that would have been called meager five years ago, automakers, dealers and suppliers are pulling in heady -- even record -- profits. Sales continue their steady but manageable march upward. Read More »
Crash diet gets results at GM
While all automakers are working hard to reduce vehicle mass in a quest to meet toughening fuel efficiency standards, GM faces heavier lifting than most. Read More »
How price-fixing probe grew
The U.S. Department of Justice has levied $809 million in fines, convicted 12 executives and coaxed guilty pleas out of nine automotive suppliers, but its price-fixing probe is far from finished. Read More »
Chrysler expects leasing to climb
Chrysler Group expects dealers nearly to double the number of new vehicles they lease after Chrysler Capital, the group's new financial joint venture with Banco Santander SA, launches May 1. Read More »
Cheap, easy credit gives lift to leases
Encouraged by cheap and easily available credit, several mass market brands will get more aggressive with leasing this year to boost sales and customer loyalty. Read More »
Steer-by-wire will be option on Infiniti Q50
Infiniti dealers will market one the industry's most anticipated new technologies this summer when the 2014 Q50 sedan arrives in showrooms with steer-by-wire as an option. Read More »
Alt-fuel trust is new approach to energy r&d
The White House has a new idea to encourage electric vehicles: a government trust fund that would support r&d for alternatives to oil. Read More »
Dealers cheer Ford facilities plan
By offering to match dealers' spending on facility renovations dollar-for-dollar up to $750,000 per store, Ford has taken an already good program and made it even better, dealers say. Read More »
GM's 2013 priorities: Launch pickups, fix Europe
For General Motors, there are two keys to maximizing 2013 profits: successfully launch its redesigned full-sized pickups in North America and curb losses in Europe. Read More »
Lithia goal: Add dealerships, boost revenue
Lithia Motors Inc. says it will grow in size and revenue this year. Read More »
RLJ McLarty Landers may add stores
RLJ McLarty Landers Automotive Holdings wants to add stores to its portfolio, specifically Toyota, Honda and luxury brands such as BMW, Lexus, Audi, Jaguar. But such acquisitions would have to "generate the right returns," the company's CEO says. Read More »
Orlando was the place to be
During the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in Orlando this month, there was buzzing. Last year was a good one. Everyone was upbeat and looking forward, with some caution, to the rest of the year. Read More »
EDITORIAL:Towing standard is about safety, not market share
When automakers agreed in 2009 to a common way to measure how their vehicles towed loads, it gave promise to a future world in which common sense and safety pulled marketing, not the other way around. Read More »
LETTER TO THE EDITOR:Why would small store want a Vette?
Like most small dealerships, we have for our entire existence been trained for, purchased tools for and stocked Corvettes in a market where one or two sales a year is the norm. Why, you ask? Why would we spend the money necessary to do all those things, only to sell one or two cars? Read More »
LETTER TO THE EDITOR:Dealers give back again and again
Congratulations on your "Dealers of Distinction" section. In my opinion, auto dealers never get the credit or thanks they deserve for the incredible work they consistently do in their communities. Read More »
Forte offers better ride, upscale touches
Kia is banking on eye-catching looks, upscale features and major leaps in ride quality to give its redesigned 2014 Forte more of an edge in the cutthroat compact segment. Read More »
Bosch exec expects global growth despite European woes
Robert Bosch's auto division boosted global sales 2 percent last year to a record 30.9 billion euros, or about $40.83 billion, but missed its 2012 sales target by $793 million, mainly because of weakness in Europe. Read More »
GM China's Socia: More luxury models, stores, local output
By necessity, Bob Socia is a multitasker. Over the past four months, he has reorganized General Motors' expansion in India, planned the company's return to Indonesia, sought a higher profile for Cadillac in China and wooed joint-venture partner SAIC Motor Corp. Read More »
EPA engineer expects more audits of mileage claims
A senior EPA engineer says he expects the government to monitor automakers' fuel economy ratings more closely after Hyundai and Kia overstated mileage claims on some nameplates. Read More »
UAW rallies for Flex-N-Gate employees
UAW members and supporters rallied Wednesday, Feb. 13, at a Flex-N-Gate plant in Warren, Mich., and elsewhere to bring attention to what the union cites as mistreatment of workers and lagging wages and benefits. Read More »
Getting Busy at NADA
The NADA convention in Orlando was a round-the-clock combination of serious business, relationship building and relaxing with peers and colleagues. Here are some scenes from the show. Read More »
Audit rips grant waste at LG Chem factory
An LG Chem battery plant in Michigan that received $150 million in U.S. Department of Energy grants used federal dollars to pay employees who played games, watched movies or did community service during work hours, a government audit says. Read More »
NASCAR builds brand appeal
The Daytona 500 is set for Sunday, and executives from Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota racing divisions say nothing fires up an automaker's fan base and boosts its image among consumers more than a NASCAR victory. Read More »
Chrysler closes digital divide
In an era in which 90 percent of vehicle buyers do some shopping online, Chrysler Group in July had just one in four of its dealerships consistently advertising on Google and other search engines. That had to improve, and it has, said Jeff Strickland, Chrysler's director of U.S. Read More »
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 Toyota's Lentz: 'It's really a three-horse race'Toyota's Jim Lentz believes the Camry will extend is 11-year reign as the best-selling car in the United... Mon., May 20» Watch the Video |
