Automakers: Page 371

Humble Beginnings

Attracting a huge crowd at Detroit's Cobo Center, Geely Automobile Co. becomes the first Chinese auto maker to hold a press conference at the Detroit auto show. Geely says it plans to begin selling cars in North America at the end of 2008. The company told Ward's it planned to sell cars in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico in 2008 and likely would enter the North American mainland in 2009. John Harmer,

Feb. 1, 2006

Rugged Appeal

Loyalists may find the new FJ Cruiser far out, as Toyotas go. But it's no Scion in spite of a boxy appearance that draws comparisons with the youth brand's xB model. The 2-tone color scheme a white roof, colored body panels and rugged demeanor ensure it will stand out. Even dressed in boring burgundy, the FJ garners flirtatious glances from men and women in the hills of Santa Barbara. Toyota is hoping

By Christie Schweinsberg • Feb. 1, 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

Camry’s Mixed Bag

An auto maker redesigning one of its best-selling models must proceed with caution. If the next-generation vehicle is too radical a departure, the company risks a backlash. Play it safe, though, and it invites accusations of being too conservative. The higher the volume, the more intense the pressure to get it right. Toyota Motor Corp. understands this in redesigning the Camry, America's best-selling

By Christie Schweinsberg • Feb. 1, 2006

Detroit’s Great Metamorphosis

Local dealers are responsible for transforming the Detroit auto show from a regional exhibition into a huge international event. The success of the show is due to daring dealers here, says Robert Thibodeau Jr., a Ford dealer and co-chairman of the Detroit automotive extravaganza now called the North American International Auto Show. The first Detroit show was in 1907, sponsored by 17 dealers and staged

By Steve Finlay • Feb. 1, 2006

Lincoln Zephyr to Get Duratec 35 in ‘07

Ford Motor Co.'s new 3.5L Duratec 35 V-6 will power the Lincoln Zephyr beginning with model year '07, Ward's has learned. Built at Ford's Lima, OH, plant, the 250-hp engine is the same one that will be used to power the upcoming Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX cross/utility vehicles, unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The plant was given a $335 million overhaul in 2003 and

Feb. 1, 2006

Ford’s Major Players Talk of Way Forward

DETROIT Ford Motor Co.'s still-secret Way Forward plan is focused on customer service, “reflective learning” and efficiency, key executives say. Full disclosure of the restructuring plan will not come until Jan. 23, but Executive Vice-President and President of the Americas Mark Fields and Anne Stevens, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Americas, say a better targeting of

By Steve Miller • Jan. 13, 2006

Scion Won’t Shoot for 200,000 in 2006

DETROIT –Tallying up an impressive 156,485 units in the U.S. last year, Toyota Motor Corp.’s Scion youth brand is not setting its sights any higher for 2006. Scion Vice President Mark Templin tells Ward’s in an interview at the North American International Auto Show here that the brand won’t be targeting 200,000 sales this year for fear it would lose some of its niche appeal. “No, that’s not our intention,”

By Christie Schweinsberg • Jan. 12, 2006

GM Lukewarm on Other Niche Programs

DETROIT – The Chevrolet SSR roadster pickup was a disappointment for General Motors Corp., and the plant that assembled it, the Lansing, MI, Craft Centre, is closing this year. The auto maker remains interested in unique niche vehicle projects, but it appears doubtful GM will give the go-ahead for such a program in the near term, says Gary Cowger, group vice president-Global Manufacturing and Labor

By Tom Murphy • Jan. 12, 2006

Quattroporte to Get Automatic Transmission

DETROIT – Maserati SpA’s Quattroporte will feature an automatic transmission in 2007. Sources confirm for Ward’s that the luxury sedan, whose sales have suffered slightly because it is not available with a fully automatic transmission, will offer the option next year. Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Maserati parent Fiat SpA, has said development of the transmission is well under way.(See related story:

By Eric Mayne • Jan. 11, 2006

Chrysler Says Caliber Breaks New Ground in Hatchbacks

DETROIT – Chrysler Group’s Dodge brand could be playing Russian roulette by making its lone small-car offering, the ’07 Caliber, available only as a hatchback. But Chrysler COO Eric Ridenour is confident the design will score a bull’s eye despite the U.S. market’s preference for sedans. “To be successful sometimes mean being consistent with what the marketplace expects,” Ridenour tells Ward’s. “Sometimes

By Eric Mayne • Jan. 10, 2006

Kia Plant Decision Coming in Next 6 Months

DETROIT – Kia Motors Corp. likely will announce where it will build its first North American plant in the spring or summer, says its chief U.S. executive. “We haven’t yet got an official date, but I know there is a lot of activity that’s going on with regards to a production facility in America,” Len Hunt, chief operating officer, Kia Motors America, tells reporters following Kia’s press conference

By Christie Schweinsberg • Jan. 10, 2006

Geely Announces North American Sales Plans

DETROIT Attracting a crowd that spilled over the balconies here at Cobo Center, Geely Automobile Co. becomes the first Chinese auto maker to hold a press conference at the North American International Auto Show. Geely says it plans to begin selling cars in North America “at the end of 2008.” Geely executives told Ward's earlier at the show the auto maker planned to sell cars in the U.S. territory

By Christie Schweinsberg • Jan. 10, 2006

Chrysler Hopes Aspen SUV Will be Profit Monster

DETROIT Meet Chrome-zilla. That is Chrysler Group's internal pet name for the '07 Aspen, Chrysler brand's first SUV due in showrooms this fall. A mid-year production start is scheduled for the 8-passenger fullsize SUV, which will share a platform with the Dodge Durango. Chrysler executives are not worried by the softening SUV market, nor the prospect that Aspen might cannibalize Durango sales. Fullsize

By Eric Mayne • Jan. 10, 2006

Escalade ESV, EXT Due in May

DETROIT – Style and chrome mark the ’07 Cadillac Escalade, the long-wheelbase Escalade ESV and the Cadillac EXT pickup, the stars of a party hosted by General Motors Corp. on the eve of the first day at the North American International Auto Show here. GM’s goal was to stay true to the Cadillac philosophy and offer a new Escalade that takes the fullsize SUV over the top with an opulent interior, 403

By Alisa Priddle • Jan. 9, 2006

Mazda Shows Kabura Concept, Prices CX-7

DETROIT Mazda Motor Corp. zoom zooms into the North American International Auto Show here with the world debut of its Kabura concept, a 3+1 sports car aimed at reinvigorating driving excitement among the auto maker's younger customers. Kabura is taken from the Japanese term “kabura-ya,” meaning an arrow that makes a howling sound, which, historically, was used to signify the start of a battle. The

By Mike Sutton • Jan. 9, 2006

Premier Auto Group Puts on Positive Face for Auto Show

DETROIT – Although the Premier Automotive Group has been a money-loser for Ford Motor Co., its presentation at the North American International Auto Show bespeaks its never-say-die confidence. The group includes Volvo, Land Rover and Aston Martin brands. PAG's music here was louder and edgier and light presentations were brighter and more manic, carrying a hefty punch of authority. Among the group's

By Steve Miller • Jan. 9, 2006

Lincoln MKS Sedan Concept Looks Small But Thinks Big

DETROIT Ford Motor Co. is attempting to create a lot of excitement about the passenger-car market, altering its production mix for this year's first quarter and promising small is the new big, in so many words. So it follows that Lincoln's newest sedan entry, the MKS concept unveiled here today at the North American International Auto Show, is a fullsize luxury car that does not look big. (See related

By Steve Miller • Jan. 9, 2006

Hyundai Unveils New Santa Fe in Detroit

DETROIT – Hyundai Motor America unveils the all-new ’07 Santa Fe cross/utility vehicle today at the North American International Auto Show here. Set to be built alongside the new Sonata sedan at Hyundai’s U.S. assembly plant in Montgomery, AL, this spring, the Santa Fe will go on sale this summer in the U.S. Hyundai says some early Santa Fe CUVs, however, will be built at Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd.’s

By Christie Schweinsberg • Jan. 8, 2006

New Lexus LS Unveiled in Detroit

DETROIT – Some 17 years after the first-generation model debuted here, the all-new Lexus LS 460 is unveiled today at the North American International Auto Show. Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. President Jim Press says it is one of 12 new Toyota, Lexus and Scion models launching this year in the U.S. Notable features of the Lexus flagship include the world’s first 8-speed automatic transmission, mated

By Christie Schweinsberg • Jan. 8, 2006

Hyundai Debuts HCD9 Talus in Detroit

DETROIT – Hyundai Motor America unveils the HCD9 Talus concept car here today at the North American International Auto Show. The vehicle is a rear-wheel-drive, 2+2 sports car/SUV hybrid that HMA design chief Joel Piaskowski says is “for a person who has grown accustomed to the needs and benefits of an SUV but desires the emotional gratification of sports car styling and performance.” Piaskowski says

By Christie Schweinsberg • Jan. 8, 2006

Edge CUV Portends Future of Ford

DETROIT Ford Motor Co. follows through on its commitment to cross/utility vehicles with the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX, unveiled today at the North American International Auto Show. The midsize CUVs ride on the CD3 platform that launched the Mazda6 and was modified to produce the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr midsize sedans. With the sedans off to a strong start in the market, Ford

By Steve Miller • Jan. 8, 2006

Ford Looks For Small-Car Sales

DETROIT – Ford Motor Co. sees the North American market as ripe for small cars and is considering more than one entry in the B-segment, says Jim Padilla, president and chief operating officer. Ford uses the North American International Auto Show here to unveil the Reflex, a small sports car concept, which opens the door to similarly sized cars. “There is room for several possibilities, several entries

By Alisa Priddle and Steve Miller • Jan. 8, 2006

Padilla Not Leaving Ford

DETROIT – “I’m not dead. I’m here,” Jim Padilla, Ford Motor Co. president, says at the North American International Auto Show here. Padilla opened Ford’s presentation Sunday against a backdrop of media reports he will be leaving the company. Speculation has been rife in recent months, as Padilla seemingly has taken a backseat in preparations to announce restructuring of Ford’s North American operations

By Alisa Priddle • Jan. 8, 2006

Audi AG 4.2L DOHC V-8

It's no secret there are a lot of premium V-8s out there. BMW, Cadillac, Lexus, Infiniti. Even safety-first Volvo Car Corp. has a V-8. In fact, some say development has converged to the point where the world's premium V-8s as a group, those generally of 5L displacement or less are all but indistinguishable. Not so with Audi AG's superb 4.2L DOHC V-8. The reasons Audi's V-8 returns for a third consecutive

By Bill Visnic • Jan. 4, 2006

BMW AG 3L DOHC I-6

In 12 years of creating the Ward's 10 Best Engines list, probably nothing caused more consternation among judges than shutting the door on BMW AG's classic high-volume inline 6-cyl. for the past two years. This was deeply troubling, as there is perhaps no finer volume-production engine, all things considered, than BMW's standard inline 6-cyl. Yet, not to be ignored was the onrush of high-powered V-6s

By Bill Visnic • Jan. 4, 2006