|
General Motors Co. has scrapped a plan to reshape its Cadillac dealer network in the image of Lexus.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
Dealer Ralph Martinez's recent attempt to buy a $4 million Subaru dealership suddenly collapsed when the bank rejected the deal. "It's not about equity," says Martinez, a multifranchise operator in Portland, Ore. "I was going to put down 66 percent.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
A six-month truce in the industry's incentive wars is breaking down, and Toyota -- that paragon of marketing discipline -- is getting the blame.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
GMAC Inc. still has no business plan even after receiving a $17.2 billion investment from the government, and the Treasury Department has been lax in making sure that the bank repays taxpayers, a congressional panel said.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
Toyota named Rodney Slater, who was transportation secretary under President Bill Clinton, to head a new panel that will advise the company's North American operations on quality and safety issues.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
General Motors is demanding that some dealers pay back five- and six-figure sums for alleged infractions of its Standards for Excellence incentive program without a chance to challenge the chargebacks.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
After an up-and-down ride through the 2000s, what does the next decade hold for China's auto industry? The U.S.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
|
The recall scandal that has devastated Toyota also has diminished Lexus' standing with consumers. Market researchers say the luxury brand has been hurt since the crisis escalated in the past two months, though not as much as Toyota.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
|
With its sales plunging 52 percent this year in a market up 10 percent, Suzuki is struggling to stay upright. But the troubled brand has provided Scott Pitman his big break. Now the 42-year-old Wichita, Kan.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
|
Many stand-alone Lincoln-Mercury dealers think their best hope for long-term survival is to add a Ford franchise. Without one, they worry that their dealerships won't have the volume and products to compete.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
|
Subaru's plant managers in Indiana are struggling to keep up with strong demand for the brand's popular Outback wagon. The success of the Outback, which debuted last summer, is the key reason Subaru enjoyed the highest percentage U.S.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
|
Advanced battery manufacturer A123 Systems Inc. plans to manufacture advanced lithium ion battery systems for all-electric delivery vehicles at a plant in suburban Detroit scheduled to open later this month.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
Audi plans a rapid expansion of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles over the next few years as a key component in Volkswagen Group's strategy to dominate the alternative-powertrain market by decade's end.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
|
Lear Corp. said it will increase production and add 285 jobs this year at its northwest Indiana seat manufacturing plant. The company will spend more than $2.2 million at the plant, which will make seats for the new Ford Explorer SUV.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
|
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. has agreed to make 100,000 electric vehicles for French carmaker PSA/Peugeot Citroen starting this year as Mitsubishi seeks to boost volume and cut costs.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
|
Dealer Dathan Wilson has kept a secret from his customers for nearly a year. His Cadillac franchise in Stillwater, Okla., was one of General Motors Co.'s wind downs. But this month, the automaker offered to reinstate Wilson's Cadillac franchise.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
|
Suppliers to the 2010 Porsche Panamera include Alcoa, Behr, Magna Mirrors, Benecke-Kaliko, Stabilus, REHAU, REHAU, TRW, Borbet, Ronal, Huf Huelsbeck & Fuerst, Draexlmaier, Continental, BASF, ThyssenKrupp, Magna, Lydall Gerhardi, NIDEC Motors and...
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
|
Tenneco Inc. entered into its seventh joint venture in China, partnering with Changchun FAW Sihuan Group Ltd., a subsidiary of FAW Group Corp., to supply emission control components and systems for passenger and commercial vehicles.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
| ED TONKIN
Recently, while sitting behind Yoshi Inaba in Sen. Jay Rockefeller's Senate hearing on the Toyota recall, I watched and listened intently as Sen.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
| AUTOMOTIVE NEWS PACE AWARDS
Here are profiles of some of the 28 finalists for the 2010 Automotive News PACE Awards. This group highlights environmental innovations.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
|
On the morning of Dec. 16, 1982, Ford Motor Co. engineer Stephen Kozak was driving to Ford's assembly plant in Wayne, Mich., for a special assignment. He never arrived.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
| COMMENTARY: KEITH CRAIN
A couple of weeks ago, General Motors made a number of changes in sales and marketing so that no one outside the company has any idea who's in charge of what. I'm not so sure that folks inside the company have any idea, either.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
|
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Regarding "Whitacre wants more sales -- NOW!" (March 8): You might try to explain to General Motors CEO Ed Whitacre that cars take more time than the 90 days it takes to design, develop, manufacture and sell cell phones.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
I was surprised to read Edward Lapham's comment in the Feb. 15 Automotive News, but I enjoyed it ("Document fee began with a lie, 'inventor' says").
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
It was difficult to read the stories about the Saturn dealers without sadness ("A day in the death of Saturn," Feb. 15). Saturn started as an American-built, affordable car with tremendous customer loyalty.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
OPINION
The Obama administration's $787 billion stimulus plan is having little or no effect in prodding the U.S. economy out of the recession. The country's unemployment rate remains near 10 percent.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
Increased executive pay at the Detroit 3, coupled with improving auto sales, has galvanized union opposition to more pay and benefit givebacks, Ken Lewenza, president of the Canadian Auto Workers, said last week.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
|
Unsold vehicles are piling up on Toyota dealership lots. After extensive coverage of safety recalls pushed the Toyota brand's U.S.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
| QUESTION & ANSWER
Continental AG's tire division is gearing up for the vehicles of the future. Nikolai Setzer, Conti's management board member in charge of car tires, discussed the latest trends, including how tires will change for electric vehicles.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
|
Dealerships in this report: Mel Hambelton Ford in Wichita, Kan.; Robberson Mazda in Bend, Ore.; Thoroughbred Ford in Kansas City, Mo.; Page Toyota in Southfield, Mich.; and the Kentucky Automobile Dealers Association.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
New light-vehicle sales in Mexico fell in January for the 18th straight month. Sales declined 8 percent from January 2009 to 64,066 vehicles.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
General Motors Co. will redesign its models more often and stagger the introduction of future model derivatives, the company's design chief says.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
|
Opel/Vauxhall's planned new minicar will be a trendsetter in its segment, the brand's sales and marketing chief Alain Visser said. Visser said Opel plans a car below its Corsa to meet the growing demand in Europe for small, fashionable cars.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
Autobytel Inc., which is battling back from massive losses in 2008, is using patent infringement settlements with competitors to upgrade its Web sites.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
|
Saab is in talks with up to a half dozen automakers on sharing technology on future models, Spyker CEO Victor Muller told Automotive News Europe.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
Ford Motor Co. boosted Canadian sales 50 percent in February, vaulting it ahead of General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group so far this year. Overall Canadian sales jumped 25 percent in February to 100,344 light vehicles.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
As a teenager in Kenya, Dean Parpia's dream was eventually to take over his father's auto dealership in the capital city of Nairobi. Then life happened.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
|
Chrysler Group named Laura Soave, 37, to be in charge of reintroducing Fiat to North America. Current plans call for the Fiat 500 minicar to be the only Fiat vehicle sold in North America.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
Manheim, which has long allowed dealers to sell vehicles online without transporting them to a physical auction, has bundled some services to make the process easier.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
Saab Cars North America, seeking sales momentum under new ownership, is lowering prices for its 2010 9-3s by 4 to 12 percent. Saab’s 218 U.S. dealers are expecting 9-3s this month after a half-year delivery hiatus.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
Last year's cash-for-clunkers program increased U.S. auto sales without stealing sales from the future as feared by critics, according to a study by Maritz Automotive Research Group.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
None of the three leaders of the rejected-dealers group that successfully lobbied Congress for a new arbitration law got a reinstatement phone call from General Motors Co.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
Mitsubishi will continue using the "Ralliart" brand name despite the demise of the Japanese company that makes racing parts bearing that name. Ralliart Inc., a wholly owned Japanese subsidiary of Mitsubishi Motors Corp.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
|
At least several rejected General Motors Co.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
The NV2500 commercial van Nissan Motor Co. unveiled here last week had unimposing blank sides and a bare interior -- but it was loaded with features that Nissan hopes will shake up the U.S. full-sized commercial van segment.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
|
In an effort to buoy sales of its recalled and repaired used vehicles, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. is offering incentives both to dealers who buy its certifiable used vehicles at auction and to consumers who buy the certified used vehicles.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
Bruce Campbell, who brought a hip American style to several of Nissan Motor Co.'s important models, will retire as the company's top U.S. designer at the end of this month, the company said.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
|
PRODUCTION
February's North America vehicle production total was 956,540, up 58 percent from February 2009. It was the fourth consecutive month-over-month increase and the first time since 2002 that both January and February had a month-over-month increase.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15
|
| FINAL ASSEMBLY
The Cadillac Converj concept, like Bob Lutz, is fading away.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
| FINAL ASSEMBLY
In a legal battle that pitted the Lake Mary High School Rams near Orlando against Chrysler Group, David and Goliath have made peace.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
| FINAL ASSEMBLY
While his lawsuit against Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. winds its way through the courts, former high-flying California dealer Mike Kahn has returned to his first love: real estate.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
| FINAL ASSEMBLY
As for you Infiniti dealers who are eager for a flagship sedan to replace the Q45, which was pulled from the lineup in 2006 -- well, don't hold your breath.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
| LUCA CIFERRI
I found the nicest new product debuting at the Geneva show to be the Volvo S60 sedan.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
| FINAL ASSEMBLY
When AnAmericanFirst wrote in an Automotive News online discussion about rejected dealers, "I hope that Mark Reuss or Ed Whitacre read our comments here," he got his wish -- within hours.
12:01 am U.S. ET | March 15 |
|
