G & K Auto Conversion Inc. of Santa Ana, CA, is completing the U.S. conversion of several hundred Smart ForTwo minicars to be purchased and distributed by Santa Rosa, CA-based electric vehicle maker and distributor Zap. Smart is a wholly owned...
He may look like a well-heeled Boston Brahman of old-family wealth, but Albrecht is very much a self-made man from modest roots, one of a bus driver’s eight kids. “We didn’t have a car when I was growing up...
CHICAGO – It was more than two years ago that Volkswagen AG unveiled at the Frankfurt auto show the fifth-generation Golf hatchback, which went on sale in Europe a month later, in October 2003. Here at the Chicago auto show, VW announces &...
HANA, HI – Volvo Cars sold a scant 200 C70 convertibles per year in its Swedish home market before the auto maker stopped making the rag top in 2004, two years after ending production of a companion C70 coupe. Now the C70 returns as...
From a dealer perspective, 2005 had its share of challenges. Quarterly interest rate increases, a high days' supply in some franchises during certain time periods and increased personnel expenses taxed the average dealer's net profit. For the...
It used to be that you could build a profitable dealership with a sharp mind, an adding machine and some inventory. It used to be that 20 groups, computers, finance and insurance and special finance were extra ways to make money, not survival...