Automakers: Page
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Kia Launching RWD Car, Developing New 7-Speed DCT
Soon-Nam Lee, Kia’s director-overseas marketing, says a RWD coupe is under consideration, but not confirmed.
By Christie Schweinsberg • Aug. 17, 2011 -
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Opel/Vauxhall to Unveil 2 Conventional Cars, 1 Electric and a Surprise
The auto maker also will show a series-production Ampera extended-range electric vehicle, soon to appear in European showrooms, at Frankfurt.
By Alan Harman • Aug. 17, 2011 -
Explore the Trendline➔
Courtesy of Toyota Motor North America
TrendlineTop 5 stories from WardsAuto
Automakers are evaluating their long-term strategies, revisiting their product mix, and approach to both retail and manufacturing approach along the way.
By WardsAuto staff -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Mazda to Adopt Common Architecture for Full Lineup
Robert Davis, senior vice president-U.S. operations, says the architecture’s parts will be “different, but the same” across models.
By Byron Pope • Aug. 12, 2011 -
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Latest Tech Creates Mighty 1.6L for Mini
For ’11, BMW upped output by adding direct injection and double VANOS to the naturally-aspirated 4-cyl., plus Valvetronic and a new twin-scroll turbocharger to the S version.
By Gary Witzenburg • Aug. 12, 2011 -
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Auto Dealers Rely on F&I
“We've concentrated on the (finance and insurance) business when times were good and bad, and it has paid off,” says Bert Boeckmann of Galpin Ford.
By Mac Gordon • Aug. 10, 2011 -
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GM Eyes Engineering Efficiencies update from August 2011
GM will trim its global vehicle architectures from 24 in 2010 to 14 in 2018 and cut its engine families by half.
By David Zoia Editor • Aug. 9, 2011 -
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Has Mazda Rotary Reached End of Road?
A Mazda executive says continuing development of the rotary has been halted for now, but hopes it will resume in the future, noting the technology is a part of Mazda’s DNA.
By Byron Pope • Aug. 8, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
BMW Global Employment Nears 100,000 Mark
“We have good cooperation from our unions,” says Harald Krueger, in charge of human relations for the auto maker. “It's a trustful partnership.”
By Herb Shuldiner • Aug. 5, 2011 -
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Canada LV Market Softens as Japanese Brands, GM Falter
Honda deliveries plummeted 21.2% in July for its fourth consecutive year-over-year decline, while Toyota’s 15.1% plunge marked its third straight month in the red. GM sales dipped 11.5%.
By Eric Mayne • Aug. 5, 2011 -
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Ford’s Supplier-Relations Efforts Pay Off With Focus
Working through a review program with 102 long-term suppliers, including Magna, Bosch, Continental and Faurecia, allows the auto maker to be first-to-segment, if not first-to-market, with new technologies.
By Christie Schweinsberg • Aug. 5, 2011 -
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Ford’s Jim Farley Swings Mean Bat Against Rival GM
Editor's note: This story is part of the WardsAuto digital archive, which may include content that was first published in print, or in different web layouts. I’ve occasionally tried to get auto executives to rap their rivals. It never seems to work. When I once asked Ford CEO Alan Mulally to cri...
By Steve Finlay 2 • Aug. 3, 2011 -
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Marshall Working OnStar From Inside Out
A Michigan native, OnStar’s president drives a Cadillac SRX, has subscribed to the telematics service for 12 years, likes sports cars and hails from telecommunications sector.
By James M. Amend • Aug. 3, 2011 -
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Toyota RAV4 EV Assembly Set for Ontario
The RAV4 EV production site had been a source of conjecture, with initial speculation suggesting Toyota might assemble the model in Fremont, CA, with Tesla.
By Christie Schweinsberg • Aug. 3, 2011 -
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On Road to MBS, Kia Optima Hybrid Barely Beats Standard Sibling
As Ward’s editors arrive in Traverse City, 34.5 mpg shows on the hybrid’s trip computer. It isn’t the advertised 40 mpg, but was 0.6 mpg ahead of a standard Optima. The Cadillac Escalade Hybrid manages 18.5 mpg.
By Drew Winter • Aug. 3, 2011 -
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Daihatsu Concept Car Could Trigger Bigger Industry Role for Indonesia
The A-Concept is the first production-focused concept vehicle to be designed and built in Indonesia and is unashamedly being pitched as the car that will “motorize” the nation.
By Edd Ellison • Aug. 3, 2011 -
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Hydraulic Hybrid Prototype Bound for Ford Van
NRG Dynamix converted a Ford Ranger pickup that gets 38 mpg (6.1 L/100 km) in city driving, thanks to its 2.3L gasoline engine’s stop/start system.
By William Diem • Aug. 2, 2011 -
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GM Likes Certainty of 2025 CAFE Rules
The auto maker remains committed to hydrogen fuel-cell technology as a potential game-changer that could remove vehicles from the entire energy debate.
By James M. Amend • Aug. 2, 2011 -
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Chrysler Takes Validation From Latest APEAL Results
“For every car that we intervened on, we saw a significant improvement,” says Doug Betts, senior vice president-quality.
By Eric Mayne • Aug. 2, 2011 -
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GM Sees More N.A.-Sourced Parts Ahead for Asia-Born Chevy Sonic
Manufacturing executive Ken Knight offers an optimistic evaluation of the global parts-supply base, which like the auto makers downsized during the recession.
By James M. Amend • Aug. 1, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
BMW’s Newest I-6 Better, Not Bigger
IF AN AUTO MAKER HAS A DELIGHTFULLY SMOOTH AND POWERFUL gasoline direct-injection, twin-turbocharged I-6 that has won three straight Ward's 10 Best Engines awards, why would you redesign a masterpiece? And if you did, wouldn't a bump in displacement and output be in order? Yet, BMW's new 3.0L N55 I-6 is the same size and pumps out exactly the same power as its N54 predecessor: 300 hp and 300 lb.-ft
By Gary Witzenburg • Aug. 1, 2011 -
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Service Departments SHINE
Resembling a 5-star hotel's lobby, the opulent showroom section of Newport Lexus includes a cafe, grand piano and leather chairs in front of a fireplace. But in planning the $75 million facility in Newport Beach, CA, the David Wilson Automotive Group also paid particular attention to a less public part of the dealership: the service department. It's a vast area with 77 bays and 103 lifts. The bays
By Steve Finlay • Aug. 1, 2011 -
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Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde and Ford
Editor's Note: This is Jim Ziegler's debut column in Ward's Dealer Business. He's frank, sometimes irreverent and always interesting. We welcome your feedback on his commentary or anything else on your mind. Send comments to Editor Steve Finlay at [email protected]. Include name, city and state. Published comments may be edited for clarity and length. I've been writing for auto-industry publications
By Jim Ziegler • Aug. 1, 2011 -
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Fiat in the Heart of Texas
CHELSEA, MI Laura Soave has made so many right calls for Chrysler, she likely could make a second living as a handicapper. When the Fiat 500 product program was being drafted, Soave, the brand's top executive in North America, dismissed doubters within the company and insisted on adding a high-performance Abarth version of the minicar that has been on sale for five months in the U.S. The change was
By Eric Mayne • Aug. 1, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Dump the Assembly Line
The moving assembly line made mass production possible and changed the world. But what if it turned out it really wasn't that good of an idea after all? That's the premise of a book titled What Is Good For General Motors? by Thomas Crumm, who spent his career at GM. Crumm's thesis is that the decline in American manufacturing actually started when Henry Ford introduced the assembly line to automotive
By John McElroy • Aug. 1, 2011 -
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Honda Workers Eliminate Landfill Waste
THE SIGHT OF AUTO WORKERS CRAWLING through dumpsters suggests tough times in the auto industry, but Honda of America Mfg. employees have been doing it for years to ferret out waste. The auto maker says 10 of its 14 manufacturing plants in North America now send zero waste to landfills, and the remaining four dump only small amounts of paper and plastic trash from their cafeterias in landfills. Considering
By Drew Winter • Aug. 1, 2011
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