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Marketing
| Autobytel posts $2 million loss in Q1 >> |
Finance & Insurance
Remarketing
| eBay Motors seeks deals with other automakers >> |
Service & Parts
| VW offers free maintenance with 2009 brand models >> |
| Lithia extends vehicle repair warranty to 3 years/50,000 miles >> |
eBay Motors seeks deals with other automakers
eBay Motors says it wants to build on an agreement with General Motors by adding other automakers' certified used-vehicle programs to its online listings of cars and trucks for sale. In February, eBay and GM signed a deal that will enable about 3,900 GM dealers in the United States to list their inventories of certified used vehicles on eBay's automotive auction Web site. [REG] 4:36 pm U.S. ET | May 6
Toyota raises prices on certain models
Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. has raised prices on at least 11 Toyota and Lexus models for the 2008 model year. In a statement dated Friday, May 2, the Japanese automaker said the new prices go into effect by the end of the month. Toyota added an additional $200 to the Yaris, bringing the price of the sedan up 1.6 percent to $13,085 and the hatchback up 1.7 percent to $12,210. [REG] 3:27 pm U.S. ET | May 6
Luxury car veteran named CEO of Maserati North America
Marti Eulberg has been named president and CEO of Maserati North America. She will report to Raffaele Fusilli, commercial director of Maserati S.p.a. in Italy. She replaces James Selwa, who left in February after less than three years. Maserati CEO Roberto Ronchi oversaw U.S. operations while the brand searched for a replacement. [REG] 3:23 pm U.S. ET | May 6
Dealers take Tundra to the peopleDrive through Raleigh, N.C., and you're likely to spot a Toyota Tundra on the streets with no doors. It's a true head-turner, the kind of offbeat promotion that lots of Toyota dealers must do to get traction in the collapsing market for full-sized trucks. The doorless Tundra is an optical illusion -- a photograph of the truck's interior is superimposed on its passenger doors. It is part of Fred Anderson Toyota's innovative marketing campaign for the pickup. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 5 |
INDUSTRY IN DISTRESSAfter an awful April, nearly every industry forecaster now agrees: U.S. sales will plummet by about 1 million units in 2008 -- the first time sales have tumbled that much in one year since 1991. But it's not just the million units that matters. It's the mix. High-profit pickups and SUVs account for most of the lost volume. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 5 |
Honda to some dealers: Upgrade or elseSome Honda dealers are fuming over letters they have received from the automaker telling them to upgrade their stores or risk losing their franchises. The letters, sent in late March, tell dealers they have until May 31 to lay out their plans to make improvements and until January 2010 to comply. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 5 |
Used-car price slump slams luxury makesUsed-vehicle prices are slumping in the United States, just as cars and trucks coming off lease are crowding the upscale pre-owned market. That's bad news for several luxury import brands and their captive finance companies, which rely heavily on leasing. Their used vehicles now are selling, in some cases, for thousands of dollars less than the automakers expected. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 5 |
Dodge dealers battle to bust Ram logjamClick on the Web sites of several auto dealers in central California and you'll find Dodge Ram pickups offered at $13,000 below sticker. With four months to go before a redesigned 2009 Ram arrives in showrooms, inventories and incentives are sky high on the 2008 model. Dodge has a 109-day supply of 2008s, and dealers say they're struggling to unload them. The Ram is emblematic of a difficult pickup market. Sales of full-sized pickups fell 22. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 5 |
Ford domestic dealer count dips below 4,000Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. dealership count has dropped beneath 4,000 stores for the first time in decades. During the first four months of 2008, several dozen of Ford's domestic brand stores closed to put the automaker below that mark, said Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 5 |
Toyota sister car poses a challenge for Subaru
A sporty car due in 2011 will challenge Subaru's carefully crafted image as an independent, somewhat contrarian developer of all-wheel-drive vehicles. The car is being co-developed by Subaru and Toyota in Japan. Toyota will market its own version. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 5
Suzuki to offer standard navigation in $16,000 carSuzuki says it will soon offer the least expensive vehicle on the market with a navigation system that comes as standard equipment. Navigation will be standard on the 2009 SX4 sedan and hatchback, which go on sale in late summer at an estimated base price of less than $16,000. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 5 |
Seems like old times: More cash on the hood
Cash rebates rose in April, near the levels of 2005 -- when automakers said they were getting serious about “value pricing” and cutting incentives. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 5
Used-vehicle leasing boosts showroom trafficAs many as one of every five used cars and trucks that dealer John Klein has sold in recent years has been a lease deal. That's unusual on several counts. Leasing tends to flourish at luxury dealerships in metropolitan areas along the East and West coasts. Klein's Chevrolet-Buick-Pontiac and Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep dealerships are in rural Clintonville, Wis., with a population of 4,500. Even more striking is Klein's reliance on leasing used vehicles. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 5 |
Hyundai reworks Sonata sooner rather than laterHyundai aims to take a bigger share of the mid-sized car market with a freshened 2009 Sonata that delivers more power and better fuel economy from improved four- and six-cylinder engines. In addition, the interior of the Sonata has been given a total makeover. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 5 |
