Lutz Warns of Hazards Inherent in Global Industry

GENEVA – With first-quarter results still a month away and the next round of United Auto Workers union contract talks more than a year out, General Motors Corp. is in full spin mode. Vice Chairman-Global Product Development Bob Lutz warns that job losses for salaried and hourly personnel will become a way of life in the U.S. and Europe unless there is a significant restructuring of GM’s fixed costs.

By Eric Mayne • March 6, 2006

Oz Supplier Profits From Demand for New GMT900 SUVs

CANBERRA – Australian parts maker Pacifica Group says encouraging sales of General Motors Corp. fullsize SUVs based on the new GMT900 platform are boosting its shipments of brakes. Pacifica was queried by the Australian Stock Exchange after its shares rose 21%, from A$1.70 ($1.70) to a 4-month high of A$2.07 ($1.55) in just one week. GM’s Tahoe sales in February rose 47.2%. The new GM900-based ’07

By Alan Harman • March 3, 2006

Explore the Trendline➔

Artificial 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

Dacia Logan Steppe Concept Close to Final Wagon Design

GENEVA – Automobile Dacia S.A.'s Logan Steppe concept unveiled at the auto show here provides a hint of the new Logan station wagon set to launch this fall. The Romanian auto maker chose Geneva to introduce its first-ever show car built by Renault Design. Renault SA holds a controlling interest in Dacia. The company says the Logan Steppe is a station wagon concept designed with winter in mind. The

By Peter Homola • March 2, 2006

Haden Stumbles

Chrysler Group is bankrolling the troubled Toledo operations of Haden International Group, a key supplier to the auto maker's next-generation '07 Jeep Wrangler scheduled for production this summer, sources tell Ward's. Haden, based in Auburn Hills, MI, was unable to meet payroll in early February and reportedly closed its doors and walked away from several contracts. But the company is back in business

By Tom Murphy and Eric Mayne • March 1, 2006

Cutting-Edge Solution

DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes-Benz brand is on the cutting edge of occupant safety. Literally. The all-new '07 S-Class sedan features markings to show rescue workers where it's safe to cut when removing a vehicle's roof one of the first actions taken to free a crash victim trapped in a wreck. But this operation can be hazardous. Rescue workers cut roof pillars that often house airbag inflators. If

By Eric Mayne • March 1, 2006

Irate Customer Torches Florida Dealership

Apparently irate from a pricing dispute with Metro Ford in North Miami, FL, a man drove his new SUV into the dealership, doused it and other vehicles with gasoline and set them on fire. Flames spread throughout the dealership, destroying cars, computers and the like. Total damage is an estimated million dollars. Eleven vehicles were destroyed, including the perpetrator's. Also damaged: a limited-edition

March 1, 2006

Silky Smooth

A resource from Toyota Motor Corp.'s homeland is providing a fabric treatment that gives the new '07 Camry sedan's plain cloth seats a silkier, softer feel. Already found on some of Toyota's microvans in Japan, cloth seats treated with the Fraichir process will be standard on 4-cyl. Camry XLE models sold in the U.S. Fraichir (pronounced fray-sheer) is a brand name used in women's and children's apparel

By Christie Schweinsberg • March 1, 2006

Put Dealers on Boards

The issue of dealer and factory relations remains on the front burner. It has been there for quite a while. The National Automobile Dealers Assn. was founded in 1917 when there were more than 80 auto makers in the U.S. They were 100% domestic, of course, all hoping to copy the success of Henry Ford and the Dodge brothers. Image what factory-dealer relations were like in those days. Franchises were

By Mac Gordon • March 1, 2006

Chrysler Hopes for Caliber Material Success

Chrysler Group is steeling its '07 Dodge Caliber against the rigors of crash testing by using materials new to the auto maker's lineup. While the auto maker hopes this strategy improves the Caliber's chances of a high rating on front- and side-impact trials, including the demanding offset crash tests conducted by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS), the new materials also achieve significant

By Eric Mayne • March 1, 2006

GM Opens Harlem Auto Mall

NEW YORK Auto carriers this week delivered the first vehicles to General Motors Corp.'s new Harlem Auto Mall, the first new-car dealership in upper Manhattan in 40 years. However, some of the 350,000 motorists who pass the site daily have been coming in for weeks in an attempt to service or buy vehicles, officials say, even though the mall didn't open for business until this month. The mall contains

By Herb Shuldiner • March 1, 2006

Chrysler Eyes Toluca, Newark Retooling

Chrysler Group assembly plants in Toluca, Mexico, and Newark, DE, are next on the auto maker's list for retooling. Hard-charging Chrysler is in the midst of an investment blitz that will, by 2008, see 60% of its assembly plants feature flexible manufacturing technology. Belvidere, IL, is the first to go online, thanks to a $419 million investment. The manufacturing system allows simultaneous building

March 1, 2006

Generous Dealers Honored

Dealers are the backbone of our system, says Edsel B. Ford II, who notes that his great-grandfather, Henry Ford, established the dealership franchise system in the early 20th century. Dealers also are often the backbone of their communities, as demonstrated by their civic involvement and generosity. In its annual Salute to Dealers program, Ford Motor Co. honors nine such dealers who went above and

By Steve Finlay • March 1, 2006

It’s Easier Than It Looks

There is no magic in maintaining a highly-profitable dealer-owned vehicle service-contract program. The lowering of loss ratios is the key to lowering extended-warranty rates, and lower rates make vehicle service agreements more affordable for consumers and ultimately more profitable for the dealer. Controlling and lowering loss ratios requires everyone to be on the same page. Everyone in this case,

By ERIC A. KAUK • March 1, 2006

Geneva Auto Show Notebook

Fool Me Once, Shame on You; Fool Me Twice… General Motors Corp. used music from rock group The Who to excite journalists prior to its unveiling of the Saab Aero X concept vehicle. Perhaps as a sign of its new resolve to cut costs and drive profits, speakers blared the song, “Won't Get Fooled Again.” Meanwhile, GM imported 61 tons (55 t) of ice from Norway to decorate the stage for the Aero X unveiling.

By Eric Mayne • Feb. 28, 2006

G & K to Deliver Smart Cars in U.S.

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 subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler AG that has been struggling to be profitable since its 1998 debut.(See related story: Smart Says on Path to Sound Economic Footing

By Ward's Staff • Feb. 27, 2006

Chevy Epica, Captiva Making Geneva Debuts

General Motors Corp. will unveil two key vehicles for the European market at the upcoming Geneva auto show. The Chevy Captiva, which is built by GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co. in South Korea, goes on sale in June in Europe. The compact SUV is the first for the brand with a diesel engine. (See related story: GMDAT to Sell Captiva SUV in Europe) The 2.0L, 150-hp common-rail direct-injection mill was

By Ward's Staff • Feb. 27, 2006

Rebuffed in Rover Bid, Project Kimber Now Eyes Smart

LONDON – Project Kimber, the British group that tried to buy MG Rover, has signed a memorandum of understanding with DaimlerChrysler AG to purchase the tooling and license the engineering of the Smart Roadster and Smart Roadster Coupe. The agreement gives Project Kimber more substance than when it was outbid for MG Rover's assets by Chinese auto maker Nanjing Automobile Group. Project Kimber, a consortium

By William Diem • Feb. 24, 2006

GTO to Be Discontinued Again

The goat is being put out to pasture. Again. General Motors Corp. in June will halt production of its high-performance Pontiac GTO, affectionately dubbed the goat when it first bowed in the 1960s and helped pioneer the muscle-car era. At the same time, Pontiac says it actively is pursuing a V-8 powered rear-wheel-drive performance model for its lineup, stopping short of saying if the GTO will make

By Jim Mateja • Feb. 23, 2006

Financial Headaches at GM

Management woes deepened at General Motors Corp. this week as the chief financial officer for the North American unit leaves and a ratings firm knocks the auto maker further into junk status. Mary Boland, 48, reportedly leaves after 26 years with GM, the last two as CFO for the region. The turnover occurs as Fritz Henderson learns the ropes in his new job as global CFO. And Moody's Investors Service

By Ward's Staff • Feb. 23, 2006

Geely Appoints New CEO

Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. names Yue Gui Sheng as CEO, replacing Shufu Li. Li will remain as chairman of Geely, a company he founded and which first made bicycles and refrigerators before starting production of automobiles in the late 1990s in China. Per new rules of the Hong Kong stock exchange, a company must have separate officers in the roles of chairman and CEO, Reuters says. Geely became

By Ward's Staff From Wires • Feb. 22, 2006

Chrysler Stirs Up B-Car Buzz With Hornet Concept

The B-car segment is on Chrysler Group’s ‘A’ list for the 2006 Geneva Motor Show. Next month, the auto maker will display a Dodge-branded B-car concept designed to blend “European sensibility” with “an American flair.” The Hornet, a 2-box design that seats five, features a wide stance set off by 19-in. open-section aluminum wheels, along with Dodge’s trademark crosshairs grille that is positioned

By Eric Mayne • Feb. 16, 2006

Auto Makers Go Yellow in Their Effort to Be Green

Users of AOL.com likely were startled recently when the Internet portal’s homepage was wallpapered with a maze of corncobs. It took a second to realize it was part of an elaborate General Motors “Live Green Go Yellow†advertising campaign to promote its corn-based E85-compatible models, equipped with flexible-fuel engines. E85 is a blend of 85% ethyl alcohol (ethanol) and 15% gasoline. Ethanol primarily

By Barbara McClellan • Feb. 15, 2006

Toyota Gunning for 60% Sales Hike for New Tundra

CHICAGO – Look out Detroit. As if there aren’t enough troubles in the Motor City, here’s the latest: Toyota Motor Corp.’s new ’07 Tundra fullsize pickup truck unveiled at the auto show here. For the first time, the Tundra is as big and powerful as the domestic pickups that have dominated the U.S. market. And Toyota says it has its sights set on drastically increasing sales volumes. Toyota Motor Sales

By Bill Visnic • Feb. 9, 2006

Mitsubishi Gives Galant Ralliart Treatment

CHICAGO – Eager to place its Galant against a growing number of affordable midsize sport sedans, Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc. announces it will begin selling the ’07 Galant Ralliart this summer. The Galant’s upgrade to sporty Ralliart specification includes numerous bodywork and exterior revisions, as well as a revised 3.8L SOHC V-6 that develops 258 hp (a 28-hp hike over the standard Galant

By Bill Visnic • Feb. 9, 2006

Auto Makers Promote E85 at Chicago Show

CHICAGO – General Motors Corp. proudly trumpets that more than 1.5 million of its vehicles currently on the road are equipped with flex-fuel engines that can run on E85, a renewable, less-expensive fuel that currently is the rage as auto makers strive to lessen America’s craving for petroleum. The all-new ’07 Chevrolet Avalanche pickup, unveiled here at the Chicago auto show, is the sixth Chevy vehicle

By Tom Murphy • Feb. 9, 2006