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April goes Detroit's way

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, May 1
blogs Jesse Snyder is senior writer for Automotive News
 
Pickups are back.
Sales of those honking-big behemoths so unique to North American roads jumped 27 percent in April. And they're up 30 percent in the first four months of the year.
That works for Detroit in so many ways.
First, Detroit is the big sales vi ...
     Continue reading "April goes Detroit's way" » May 1, 2013 12:01 am U.S. ET
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What’s that odd, pleasant feeling?

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, April 2
Feel like something’s missing, but can’t quite put your finger on it?
The chaos is missing. Look around. Everybody is quietly working away.
So that odd physical sensation? Maybe it’s your adrenal glands, not on full-emergency. Maybe it’s your hair, not on fire.
...
     Continue reading "What’s that odd, pleasant feeling?" » Apr 2, 2013 12:01 am U.S. ET
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Straight talk on energy independence from a former CIA chief

Posted 6:55 pm U.S. ET, March 28
Outside perspective is always useful, especially in Detroit. It's a one-industry town, and we talk to each other a lot. Ourselves, and Washington regulators and policians.
So James Woolsey turned heads today when he told the Society of Automotive Analysts that Detroit and Washington can't break OPEC's strategic energy hold wi ...
     Continue reading "Straight talk on energy independence from a former CIA chief" » Mar 28, 2013 6:55 pm U.S. ET
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The scientist-juggler heart of car guys

Posted 5:33 pm U.S. ET, March 21
Blake Zuidema is a master juggler. Like the rest of us (I'll explain).
Juggler isn't on his ArcelorMittal business card. That reads "Director, Product Applications." His job: Make steel, specifically ArcelorMittal sheet and bar steel, fit the needs of auto designers and manufacturers.
For a ...
     Continue reading "The scientist-juggler heart of car guys" » Mar 21, 2013 5:33 pm U.S. ET
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So far, so good; but politics will take a toll

Posted 5:31 pm U.S. ET, March 1
Today is an interesting juncture. On one hand U.S. automakers are reporting a fourth straight rousing sales month. On the other, it’s the first day of sequestration -- remember that poison pill Democrats and Republicans agreed to in 2011 as a way to guarantee future cooperation -- and $85 billion in automatic federal spending cuts this year.
Continue reading "So far, so good; but politics will take a toll" » Mar 1, 2013 5:31 pm U.S. ET
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Wait, how many new features?

Posted 3:42 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 21
At a Mercedes-Benz product and technology briefing yesterday, I had my latest new-reality shock, startled by the techno near-future because I hadn't updated assumptions for, golly, weeks.
We all know that world-sideways instant, when chatting with an old friend that you exclaim, "Wait, little Jane is how old ...
     Continue reading "Wait, how many new features?" » Feb 21, 2013 3:42 pm U.S. ET
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How much longer can the good times roll?

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, Feb. 1
The U.S. auto industry is the healthiest I’ve ever seen it.
Suppliers and automakers are matching production to supply without big incentives, managing capacity and developing attractive models. Dealers are well positioned. Everybody’s lean and profitable. Annual auto sales are up 4 million units since 2009 and 20 ...
     Continue reading "How much longer can the good times roll?" » Feb 1, 2013 12:01 am U.S. ET
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Hey, come build a plant in sunny Macedonia

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, Jan. 18
DETROIT -- Viktor Mizo is all smiles and speaks fluent English as he explains why the Republic of Macedonia would be an excellent spot to build an auto parts plant.
Mizo can rattle off his country's virtues -- low wages averaging about 375 euros a month, 97 percent literacy, universal English-language instruction and business ...
     Continue reading "Hey, come build a plant in sunny Macedonia" » Jan 18, 2013 12:01 am U.S. ET
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Hey, come build a plant in sunny Macedonia

Posted 4:49 pm U.S. ET, Jan. 17
DETROIT -- Viktor Mizo is all smiles and speaks fluent English as he explains why the Republic of Macedonia would be an excellent spot to build an auto parts plant.
Mizo can rattle off his country's virtues -- low wages averaging about $500 a month, 97 percent literacy, universal English-language instruction and business ince ...
     Continue reading "Hey, come build a plant in sunny Macedonia" » Jan 17, 2013 4:49 pm U.S. ET
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Debt ceiling standoff is an auto sales time bomb

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, Jan. 16
DETROIT -- The biggest drag on 2013 U.S. auto sales is the congressional impasse.
Auto executives, forecasters, economists and analysts all agree. I've rarely seen such unanimity on naming a single problem for the year ahead.
But let's be honest about the "congressional impasse" they all po ...
     Continue reading "Debt ceiling standoff is an auto sales time bomb" » Jan 16, 2013 12:01 am U.S. ET
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Shel Woodard and the real Chrysler Turbine

Posted 12:39 pm U.S. ET, Jan. 15
DETROIT -- In a quiet spot on the Chrysler stand at the Detroit auto show is the Chrysler 300 Turbine concept car. As concepts go, it's mild: matte finish "Turbine Copper," 22-inch wheels and a billet grille, all to honor the 1963 Chrysler Turbine show car.
It made me smile. My late father-in-law, Sheldon Woodard, would have ...
     Continue reading "Shel Woodard and the real Chrysler Turbine" » Jan 15, 2013 12:39 pm U.S. ET
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In Detroit, show goers say, 'I built that'

Posted 9:39 am U.S. ET, Jan. 14
DETROIT -- Every auto show is a little different. Anywhere on the planet, show goers ogle the cars, with subtle differences in what turns on the locals.
But to me, Detroit is unique. It's not the venue or elaborate displays. It happens during the public days. The first time I noticed, it delighted me and stoked my hometown pr ...
     Continue reading "In Detroit, show goers say, 'I built that'" » Jan 14, 2013 9:39 am U.S. ET
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3 things buyers will love about 2013 -- and 3 they'll hate

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, Jan. 3
With 2012 U.S. auto sales in the books, we're three days into a 2013 that doesn't look too bad. Virtually everybody is assuming continued sales growth, though a bit slower.
Savor that thought just a moment. We've had three straight years of double-digit gains. And over the long feast-or-famine history of this industry, that ...
     Continue reading "3 things buyers will love about 2013 -- and 3 they'll hate" » Jan 3, 2013 12:01 am U.S. ET
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Those brave new car buyers

Posted 4:19 pm U.S. ET, Dec. 20
It's Thursday. A new-style triple-witching eve. Friday is the first day of winter, the latest chance for Congress to push us off the fiscal cliff, and the end of the world if the Mayan-calendar doomsayers are right.
Sounds like a hunker-down week, right?
And yet LMC Automotive is foreca ...
     Continue reading "Those brave new car buyers" » Dec 20, 2012 4:19 pm U.S. ET
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The stuff that trumps more mega-hyper-data

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, Dec. 8
You don't have to be in the auto biz for long to notice the steady creep of … more.
More facts, more data, more choices, more comparables … more information at hand to make decisions. Oh yeah, are there ever more decisions. We all keep adding more ...
     Continue reading "The stuff that trumps more mega-hyper-data" » Dec 8, 2012 12:01 am U.S. ET
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Beneath the cliff, speak softly and walk away

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, Dec. 3
We finally got a blowout sales month.
But is November a harbinger of a boom year ahead? Or a last flurry of giddiness before yet another economic disappointment?
The month just ended had all the elements of a sales takeoff point. Strong demand. Rising transaction prices. Incentives stil ...
     Continue reading "Beneath the cliff, speak softly and walk away" » Dec 3, 2012 12:01 am U.S. ET
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Son, you can’t escape the car biz

Posted 4:55 pm U.S. ET, Nov. 16
For decades, automakers have slashed their supplier ranks: consolidating sourcing, buying modules and systems instead of individual parts, and ruthlessly whittling down the number of Tier 1 suppliers.
The goal is to reduce costs and complexity and improve quality, but automakers each have hundreds, rather than thousands, of ...
     Continue reading "Son, you can’t escape the car biz" » Nov 16, 2012 4:55 pm U.S. ET
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Our sluggish sales? Not so bad, actually

Posted 6:35 pm U.S. ET, Nov. 1
It's hard to miss the contrast between U.S. and European auto sales. They are polar opposites these days. And the trend lines for both auto industries are accelerating -- away from each other.
U.S. sales are about to finish their third straight year of double-digit gains. For Europe, it's the fifth straight year of decline, ...
     Continue reading "Our sluggish sales? Not so bad, actually" » Nov 1, 2012 6:35 pm U.S. ET
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September: Cleared to ascend

Posted 4:47 pm U.S. ET, Oct. 2
Aha. September brings us a fresh sign of growth.
It seems silly to get picky about a U.S. auto sales year that is running 15 percent ahead of 2011. But here I am. Maybe the red-hot first quarter spoiled me, but 2012 has felt like it has been stuck in a rut since then. The seasonally adjusted annual selling rate, or SAAR, ha ...
     Continue reading "September: Cleared to ascend" » Oct 2, 2012 4:47 pm U.S. ET
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Kia's U.S. sales spree to get tougher

Posted 3:00 pm U.S. ET, Sept. 5
Tom Loveless is on a roll. For 24 straight months, Kia Motors America has set U.S. sales records. That's part of a 17-year string of annual U.S. sales growth for the Korean brand.
But going forward, sustaining that roll gets tougher for Loveless, executive vice president of sales; his marketing-side peer Mike Sprague; and K ...
     Continue reading "Kia's U.S. sales spree to get tougher" » Sep 5, 2012 3:00 pm U.S. ET
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The joy of sales stability

Posted 6:00 pm U.S. ET, Sept. 4
News flash: August U.S. auto sales climbed to a 14.5 million selling rate -- the eighth straight month with a seasonally adjusted annual figure between 13.9 million and 14.5 million.
Was anybody shocked? Even mildly surprised?
Okay, 14.5 million did exceed analysts’ expectations a ...
     Continue reading "The joy of sales stability " » Sep 4, 2012 6:00 pm U.S. ET
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Why U.S. heavyweights are losing share to VW, Hyundai, others

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, Aug. 17
July U.S. auto sales look like a simple story: Toyota and Honda recapture market share that they lost to General Motors and Ford a year ago when their post-earthquake stocks were depleted.
But that masks a longer trend in the U.S. light-vehicle sales arena. Since July 2010, GM, Ford and Japan's Big 2 have lost a combined 4. ...
     Continue reading "Why U.S. heavyweights are losing share to VW, Hyundai, others" » Aug 17, 2012 12:01 am U.S. ET
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Spare or Goo? A Texas-sized test

Posted 11:13 am U.S. ET, Aug. 7
To spare or not to spare.
If that's the question for modern automobile designers, whether to include a spare tire or save on weight and packaging, I want a vote.
My 2013 Chevrolet Malibu Eco doesn't have even a mini-spare, just a can of goo.
And in ...
     Continue reading "Spare or Goo? A Texas-sized test" » Aug 7, 2012 11:13 am U.S. ET
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How February sales can cool off – in July

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, Aug. 1
I like SAARs, those awkwardly named Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Selling Rates the U.S. auto industry uses to compare the relative strengths of various months of light vehicle sales.
I prefer SAARs over actual units to compare, say, May of this year against June of 2010. We all know that some years are simply better than ...
     Continue reading "How February sales can cool off – in July" » Aug 1, 2012 12:01 am U.S. ET
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Diving deep into Power’s soft data

Posted 3:36 pm U.S. ET, July 25
DETROIT -- J.D. Power and Associates’ annual Initial Quality Study always gets more attention than the APEAL Study, even though the data are drawn from the same massive pool of respondents.
But I like ’em both, especially when the unexpected pops up.
And today, the ...
     Continue reading "Diving deep into Power’s soft data" » Jul 25, 2012 3:36 pm U.S. ET
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