Executives
 

CFO says GM streamlining is 'on its way'

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
As a banking adviser to General Motors when he was at Morgan Stanley, Dan Ammann got an upfront view of GM's spiral into bankruptcy in 2009 and subsequent restructuring. Now, more than two years into his job as CFO, Ammann acknowledges that he had only a faint idea at the time of how complex GM is.... Read More »
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Obituaries

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
Information about James Lawrence, former publisher at NADA Used Car Guide, and A.B. Shuman, a product spokesman for Mercedes-Benz of North America Inc.... Read More »
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GM's Cruze diesel ghostbuster

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
No one on Mike Siegrist's engineering team talks about the failed Oldsmobile diesel V-8 from the 1980s. But it's there, a 745-pound cast-iron ghost. Siegrist leads the 50-member engineering team that is equipping the first GM car in North America with a diesel since 1986.... Read More »
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Mini's culture is as quirky as its cars

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
Mini is owned by BMW, but there's a broad gulf between the prestigious luxury marque and the funky small-car brand.... Read More »
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TALK FROM THE TOP: JOE HINRICHS, PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAS, FORD MOTOR CO.

Hinrichs: Quality is 'of the highest priority' at Ford

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
After three frenetic years overseeing Ford's ambitious Asia Pacific expansion plans, including the construction of nine plants, Joe Hinrichs returned to the Dearborn, Mich., world headquarters in December to take over as president of the company's most profitable region: the Americas. Hinrichs found Ford's North American operations in the midst of a major growth spurt.... Read More »
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TALK FROM THE TOP: MARK REUSS, NORTH AMERICAN PRESIDENT, GENERAL MOTORS

GM seeks clean launch, regular updates for pickups

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
Mark Reuss, president of General Motors North America, says GM is staying vigilant on the June launch of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-sized pickups, its most important rollout since the company's 2009 bankruptcy. He says GM is closely monitoring suppliers to avoid bottlenecks that could delay the launch or hurt quality.... Read More »
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TALK FROM THE TOP: JIM LENTZ, CEO, NORTH AMERICA REGION, TOYOTA MOTOR CORP.

Toyota streamlines decision-making for North America

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda restructured the company's management this year to give more authority and autonomy to local regions. Nowhere was this more evident than in North America, where Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., was placed in charge of all Toyota sales and manufacturing for the region.... Read More »
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TALK FROM THE TOP: LUDWIG WILLISCH, CEO, BMW OF NORTH AMERICA

BMW counts on new models to keep luxury sales crown

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
Mercedes-Benz led the U.S. luxury-brand sales race through April of 2013, but BMW of North America CEO Ludwig Willisch expects BMW to repeat as No. 1 for the year. Willisch says help is on the way in the form of three models debuting this fall: the 3-series GT crossover, 4-series coupe and a redesigned X5 crossover.... Read More »
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Kogai takes reins of Mazda's comeback

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
Mazda Motor Corp.'s CEO designate, Masamichi Kogai, had a big hand in creating the more stable, profitable carmaker he inherits. But formidable challenges lie ahead.... Read More »
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PRODUCTION LINE Q&A: AUDI'S BERND MARTENS

Audi plans 90% local sourcing in Mexico

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
In September, Bernd Martens took over Audi purchasing as a member of the Audi management board. Martens, 47, gave Automotive News' German-language sibling publication, Automobilwoche, a look at how he and his team explored sourcing in Mexico.... Read More »
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Behind the scenes, Straubel keeps Tesla running at pivotal time

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 18, 2013
Elon Musk was fresh off the sale of PayPal and starting another business, commercial rocket service Space Exploration Technologies, when he met kindred spirit JB Straubel. Their shared belief that consumer electronics advances could be applied to more earthly modes of transport is a cornerstone of Tesla Motors.... Read More »
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Former Mercedes spokesman A.B. Shuman dies at 72

4:54 pm U.S. ET | May 14, 2013
Arnold Baer Shuman, a product spokesman for Mercedes-Benz of North America for more than two decades, died suddenly Friday at his home in New Jersey. He was 72.... Read More »
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James Lawrence, NADA Used Car Guide publisher, dies

5:15 pm U.S. ET | May 14, 2013
James Lawrence, former publisher of NADA Used Car Guide, died May 6. He was 90.... Read More »
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Musk's magic touch on Wall St.

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 13, 2013
The cult of personality surrounding Tesla Motors founder and CEO Elon Musk has wowed the investment community. Operating on the edge of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's fair-disclosure rules, Musk and his steady flow of Twitter posts about Tesla have corresponded with a swift rise in the share price of his EV company. He has repeatedly halted declines with well-timed tweets.... Read More »
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Krishnan Anantharaman joins Automotive News

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 13, 2013
Krishnan Anantharaman has joined Automotive News as an assigning editor at the paper's headquarters.... Read More »
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JAMES B. TREECE

Can Akio be the Steve Jobs of Lexus?

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 13, 2013
Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda wants to take personal responsibility for injecting design and performance pizazz into the Lexus brand. In essence, Toyoda is setting out to be the automaker's equivalent of the late Steve Jobs, the legendary boss of Apple James B. Treece is industry editor for Automotive News.... Read More »
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Mazda problem solver Kogai gets a new job: CEO

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 13, 2013
After Japan's devastating March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Mazda Motor Corp. CEO Takashi Yamanouchi needed someone to sort out and reinforce the carmaker's shattered supply chain and production system. He chose Masamichi Kogai, a manufacturing and purchasing specialist. Now, Kogai, 58, is getting a new assignment: Run the whole company.... Read More »
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Infiniti adds managers

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 13, 2013
Infiniti President Johan de Nysschen continues to shift decision-making for the luxury brand onto managers who are focused solely on Infiniti.... Read More »
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Porsche reassigns 2 execs

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 13, 2013
Porsche Cars North America is bringing in Joe Lawrence, CEO of Canadian operations, to be its No. 2 executive in the United States, the company's largest market.... Read More »
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CARS & CONCEPTS

Albaisa leads Infiniti design

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 13, 2013
Alfonso Albaisa, the Cuban-American designer who has led Nissan's worldwide passenger car design strategy for a year, has been named global design chief for Infiniti.... Read More »
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