Automakers: Page 313
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Courtesy of WardsAuto
Harsh Words for Chrysler from One Angry Woman Dealer
Colleen McDonald thinks it was about her and 46 other women. They are among 789 Chrysler brand dealers that Chrysler LLC cut as part of an effort to reduce its distribution network. The auto maker says the eliminations were done using a data-based matrix. McDonald, daughter of a longtime metro-Detroit Ford dealer, Tom McDonald, is unconvinced. She contends her gender played a role in Chrysler's decision
By Mac Gordon • Nov. 1, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Fiat 500 Abarth U.S.-Bound
Chrysler Group LLC dealers have been advised that their first Fiat 500 car, due in the '11 model year, will be the Abarth edition, an up-contented sporty subcompact. The Abarth is similar in dimensions to BMW's Mini Cooper, but goes the Mini one better in that it has a race-car heritage dating back to the 1950s and 1960s. That's when Karl Abarth produced Fiat-based race cars and supplied parts for
By Mac Gordon • Nov. 1, 2009 -
Explore the Trendline➔
Courtesy of Kia Corporation
TrendlineArtificial Intelligence
Automakers and dealers alike are increasingly seeing the use case for AI within their operations. Explore some use cases in this trendline.
By WardsAuto staff -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Saturn Dealers: Now What?
When General Motors Corp. said early this year it planned to shed its Saturn brand, Shau-wai Lam decided to do the same thing at the major dealership group he heads. After consulting with his management team, he closed the last two of his remaining Saturn stores. He once had six in New York and New Jersey. Those were closed earlier as Saturn sales fell. We had originally put hope in the future of
By Steve Finlay • Nov. 1, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Honda V-6 Unique and Versatile
How many top-ranked V-6 engines wear two single camshafts atop 4-valve heads? Of our 2009 10 Best Engines, only Honda's 3.5L fits this description. Volkswagen AG's 2.0L I-4 turbodiesel has just one overhead cam. Another, Chrysler Group LLC's 5.7L OHV Hemi V-8, hides a single cam within its block with old-school pushrod architecture. All seven other 2009 award winners one V-8, two V-6s, two I-6s and
By Gary Witzenburg • Nov. 1, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
The Great Divide at Dodge
Chrysler LLC's decision to divide Dodge brand administration by product line portends greater focus on the marque's underperforming car business, according to insiders and observers. The move also represents a vote of confidence in design guru Ralph Gilles, named president and CEO of the new division, and suggests a strategic departure for Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne. Historically, Marchionne favors
By Eric Mayne • Nov. 1, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
UAW Disconnect in Ford Concession Vote, Analysts Say
At stake are more than $2 billion in investments that would support some 7,000 jobs – including new hires.
By Byron Pope and Eric Mayne • Oct. 30, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
GM Eager to Retain Pontiac-Saturn Customer Base
October could mark the first month since January 2008 that GM can claim a year-over-year sales hike. Meanwhile, this year could see the Chevrolet Camaro outsell its archrival, the Ford Mustang.
By Eric Mayne • Oct. 28, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Kia Preps Most-Expensive Ad Campaign Ever for New Sorento
The official push for the CUV begins in January, with five months of network and cable TV commercials and one year of print ads, compared with the typical four to six months.
By Christie Schweinsberg • Oct. 28, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
GM Partners With Shape Memory Alloy Experts on $2.7 Million R&D Project
GM says the project reflects a new age in research, where the auto maker must partner with others that can take its ideas from concept to commercialization.
By Ward's Staff • Oct. 27, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Smyrna Preps for Nissan Leaf
Nissan expects to add up to 1,300 jobs in Smyrna, assuming the vehicle and EV battery plants are running at full capacity. Employment is down to 4,000, from an all-time high of 9,000.
By Tom Murphy • Oct. 26, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
GM Poised to Sell Delaware Assembly Plant to Fisker Automotive
Fisker’s ultimate goal is to export 50% of the company’s production, which founder and Chairman Henrik Fisker estimates could be “several hundred thousand” vehicles.
By James M. Amend • Oct. 23, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
GM Battery Lab Now Testing Cells, Packs, Potential Suppliers
“Understanding cell chemistries is the key to becoming a smart cell buyer,” says Andrew Leutheuser, GM’s lead battery-systems engineer.
By James M. Amend • Oct. 23, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Kia Names New Luxury Sedan K-7 in Korea, Cadenza in Other Markets
The Cadenza will go on sale in Middle Eastern markets in early 2010 and arrive in the U.S. in 2011.
By Vince Courtenay • Oct. 20, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Mitsubishi i-MiEV to Join U.K. Police Agencies; Rollout Begins in Oz
The first full-production i-MiEVs arrive in the U.K. in November and will be on roads in December.
By Alan Harman • Oct. 19, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Lincoln Takes Aim at Gen X
Ford marketers say the age group born between 1965 and 1976 is an ideal target because members are at the peak of their earning power.
By Byron Pope • Oct. 16, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Toyota Begins Highlander Production in Indiana
The Highlander originally was slated to be built at Toyota’s plant in Blue Springs, MS, which now is on hold.
By Ward's Staff • Oct. 8, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Ford Studies Soy Byproducts
FORD MOTOR CO. HAS MADE SIGNIFICANT progress in using soy oil in place of petroleum in some automotive foam but now faces the dilemma of what to do with the leftover portions of the soybean. When a soybean is crushed, it results in only 18% soy oil, which Ford uses in foams and some sheet-molding-compound material. The remaining 82% is soy meal and soy flour. So when Ford starts implementing the soy
By Byron Pope • Oct. 1, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Chrysler Dealers Enjoy a Boon of Sorts
The once-feared 'B-word' has turned from into for the 2,400 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealers who survived Chrysler Group LLC's wipeout of 789 stores in late May. We're short of our core vehicles across the board, says Alan Helfman, owner of Houston's River Oaks Chrysler Jeep dealership. I'm sending drivers all the way to Kansas City to pick up more Chrysler Town & Country minivans and Jeep Wranglers.
Oct. 1, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Mercedes-Benz Financial First with Data Validation System
Mercedes-Benz Financial is the first luxury captive to introduce a full contract data validation system integrated with a dealer service provider It's called eValidate and integrates with the dealer management system. The captive finance arm is rolling out eValidate with dealer service providers who have Mercedes dealerships as clients across the country. Advent Resources, Inc., of San Pedro, CA,
Oct. 1, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Wary Rich Create Pent-Up Luxury Demand
They may not have been stung personally by the global recession, but luxury-vehicle buyers are mindful of those who have suffered. So they are restraining themselves, luxury-marque executives tell Ward's at the auto show in Frankfurt, Germany. Given that many Maserati-brand aficionados own businesses so stricken by collapse they've been forced to cut their payrolls, moderated spending is absolutely
By Eric Mayne • Oct. 1, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Dealer Dodges Three Bullets
In the last year, Shuman Motor Sales has dodged three bullets as a Chrysler-Jeep dealership. But owner Bob Shuman is looking forward to a major upturn, especially when the Fiat 500 subcompact car goes on sale in 2010. Shuman headed off a proposed new Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep store five miles (8 km) away. Then he ducked the fate met by 789 other Chrysler-brand colleagues who received dealership elimination
By Mac Gordon • Oct. 1, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Equinox Builds on Proven Strategy
THE FORMER GENERAL MOTORS CORP. struck a winning strategy a couple years ago for its highest-volume products, exemplified most recently in the new-for-'10 Chevy Equinox. And if the new General Motors Co. is smart, it will stick with that same game plan. As with the redesigned '08 Chevy Malibu midsize car, an unqualified home run for GM, perhaps the Equinox's most impressive feat is its library-like
By James M. Amend • Oct. 1, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
GM Latches on to Reva as EV Maker Nears New Stage
Little-known Reva is building a new plant near Bangalore, where it will have capacity for 30,000 of its new low-cost electric hatchbacks.
By Sudhakar Shah • Sept. 30, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Honda Develops One-Piece Side Panel for Acura ZDX
The large stamped piece, which includes the side panel and the entire door ring, is stamped on three presses in three stages and has a draw 50% deeper than any panel Honda has produced in the past.
By Christie Schweinsberg • Sept. 28, 2009 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
GM China Plans Science Lab to Research Advanced Vehicle Technologies
When the facility is operational by the end of 2010, it will be staffed with up to 100 scientists and utilize the latest advanced scientific equipment.
By Vince Courtenay • Sept. 24, 2009
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