Automakers: Page 379

GM Debuts Airbag Technology

CHICAGO – A little more than one week after disclosing plans to equip all of its vehicles with electronic stability control, General Motors Corp. makes another major safety-related announcement. This time it is the introduction of the industry's first passenger-side frontal airbag that customizes restraint by deploying in two different sizes and at different pressures. GM's dual-depth airbag technology

By Brian Corbett • Feb. 9, 2005

Dodge’s Mega Cab Pickup Proves Size Matters

Chrysler Group hopes to infect its competitors with a case of cab-size envy as it introduces its ’06 Dodge Ram Mega Cab pickup truck at the Chicago auto show. Built off the Ram Heavy-Duty pickup chassis, the Mega Cab features a voluminous passenger cab, with class leading 44 ins. (112 cm) of rear legroom and a total of 145 cu.-ft. (4 cu.-m) of storage space. The cab is stretched 20 ins. (50.8 cm)

By Kevin Kelly • Feb. 9, 2005

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

She Wants to Be No. 1

Jennifer Potter is a 37-year-old wife and mother who staffed and now runs a new dealership in the heart of the largest new-car market in the U.S. Calling herself a lucky dealer lady, she's general manager of Miller Nissan in a new building on Ventura Blvd. in the northern Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills, CA. The building, on a hilltop overlooking the 101 Freeway, is a Nissan structure with a

By Mac Gordon • Feb. 1, 2005

VW Backs N. American Supply Base

Seeking ways to offset the negative impacts of the strong euro and weak U.S. dollar, Volkswagen AG says it will move to increase purchasing from North American suppliers within the next two years. Boosting the dollar-based component content of vehicles will help the auto maker create a natural hedge to combat the currency problems on its balance sheet, VW CFO Hans Dieter Potsch tells Ward's. We need

Feb. 1, 2005

SIA Gets CUV

A forthcoming cross/utility vehicle from Saab Automobile will be based on the Subaru B9 Tribeca and built at Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. in Lafayette, IN, Ward's learns. Saab will show a concept version of the midsize CUV in April at the New York auto show, and sales are expected to begin in 2006. Fred Adcock, Subaru of America Inc. executive vice president, says SIA is the production site for

Feb. 1, 2005

All American?

It's not quite apple pie and baseball, but the third-generation Avalon is the most all-American vehicle Toyota Motor Corp. has developed to date. This flagship is poised to win over more U.S. buyers with increased dimensions and added features and trim levels. Engineered at the Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, MI, styled at the Calty studio in Newport Beach, CA, and built in Georgetown, KY, this

By Alisa Priddle • Feb. 1, 2005

Too Old to Buy a Scion?

My friend Jim fits the Scion customer profile, except in one key area. Will that doom Toyota's new youth-oriented division? By most estimates, 65 million young people will turn 16 during the next 10 years a new baby boom. Every full-line auto maker wants to lure them to its brand and eventually get them to trade up to more profitable models. Toyota was one of the most successful in doing this with

By Drew Winter • Feb. 1, 2005

GM: Saturn Must Move Upmarket

General Motors Corp. is injecting some life into its anemic Saturn Corp. operation with a host of new products. But its game plan, highlighted at the Detroit auto show rollout of the Saturn Sky roadster and Aura sedan concept, has met with criticism by some analysts who say GM is moving the brand up market too far and too fast. Bob Lutz, GM vice chairman in charge of product development, insists Saturn's

Feb. 1, 2005

Virtually Done

Ford Motor Co. shows off the fruit of its 3-year-old North American virtual build program with the introduction of three sedans spawned from the new CD3 (Mazda6-derived) architecture slated for '06. The vehicles Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr are Ford's first cars to be completely developed in a North American-based data-driven virtual environment in which manufacturing and product-development

By John D. Stoll • Feb. 1, 2005

Jeep Merchandise Mania

If your Jeep customers aren't shopping for shirts, baby strollers and shockproof flashlights while they await maintenance on their vehicle, you could be missing an innovative revenue stream. Rodney Plack, general manager of Landers Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep in Benton, AR, reckons his new 72,000-sq.-ft. store will do $500 a month business in wearable, carry-along merchandise alone in an area set aside for

By Maureen McDonald • Feb. 1, 2005

Chrysler Boosts Hemi Output Again

To meet demand for the Hemi 5.7L V-8, Chrysler Group will invest another $70 million at its Saltillo, Mexico, engine plant. It should help boost output from approximately 480,000 units to 520,000 units once the investment is completed in 2006. Plans also call for Chrysler to boost output of Hemis equipped with the Multi-Displacement (cylinder-deactivation) System from 20% to as much as 80%, depending

Feb. 1, 2005

VW Pioneers Free Insurance

Buy a car, get collision insurance free. That idea hits the sales stage in a trial run by Volkswagen of America at its 44 Illinois and Wisconsin dealerships. The concept of connecting dealers with vehicle insurance has been turned into a sales incentive for the first time by VW's In the Car initiative. General Manager Tony Scala of Autobarn Volkswagen, Evanston, IL, estimate the plan is tantamount

By Mac Gordon • Feb. 1, 2005

Opel Makes 3

General Motors Corp.'s Opel/Vauxhall brands by 2007 will import into Europe a version of the Saturn Sky roadster from the Wilmington, DE, assembly plant. In addition, GM Europe President Carl Peter Forster tells Ward's Adam Opel AG will look at various opportunities within GM's North American manufacturing base for product sourcing in the future. He says the Sky-based vehicle will be the test case

Feb. 1, 2005

Cho: Toyota Needs to Become ‘100% American Company’

DETROIT – In a continuing effort to win over the hearts and car-buying dollars of American consumers, Toyota Motor Corp. President Fujio Cho says the auto maker must strive to create more jobs here in the U.S. “We still have to make further efforts to become a true American company,” says Cho, speaking through an interpreter in an interview here at the North American International Auto Show. “The

By Christie Schweinsberg • Jan. 12, 2005

Press: Toyota’s FJ Cruiser Not Bare Bones SUV

DETROIT – Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc.’s rugged and retro FJ Cruiser SUV concept, which is rumored to be debuting at the Chicago auto show next month as a production vehicle, will not be a bare bones truck along the lines of its inspiration, the original FJ-40 Toyota Land Cruiser of the 1950s. FJ Cruiser Concept shown in 2003. The FJ Cruiser is “not just basic. There’s some comfort and convenience

By Drew Winter • Jan. 12, 2005

Unusual Kuraza Concept Catches Onlookers Off Guard

DETROIT – Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.’s Infiniti division says its offbeat Kuraza concept is a look at “the future of luxury.” Many onlookers, meanwhile, breathe a quiet hope that the car is a pure concept – with no production intent. Auto show veterans here are accustomed to sometimes shocking concept cars, but the Kuraza’s unveiling here left many speechless as they considered the car’s outrageous greenhouse/sheetmetal

By Bill Visnic • Jan. 11, 2005

Volvo Confirms Small-Car Program for 2006

DETROIT – Volvo Car Corp. is developing a “C-minus” segment car for global release in 2006 spawned off an abbreviated version of its S40 sedan’s C1 architecture, Ford Motor Co. Chief Technical Officer Richard Parry-Jones tells Ward’s at the North American International Auto Show here. He says the new vehicle comes as a result of efficiencies found during the development of vehicles off the same architecture

By John D. Stoll • Jan. 11, 2005

Toyota’s New Target: Aging Boomers

DETROIT – For the past half-dozen years, Toyota Motor Corp. has been highly focused on appealing to younger buyers, going as far as creating a whole new division – Scion – aimed exclusively at attracting Generation Y consumers, the youngest car-buying demographic. But on Monday, the company made it clear it isn’t going to forget about the demographic that made it the global powerhouse it is today:

By Drew Winter • Jan. 11, 2005

GM Details New Hybrid Transmission

General Motors Corp. is providing details about the new hybrid-electric vehicle (HEV) drivetrain innovation, whose development program with DaimlerChrysler AG surprised the auto sector when announced last month. The two companies, which have been criticized for slow adoption of HEV technology for production vehicles, say the Advanced Hybrid System 2 (AHS2) will be on the road in about three years

By Bob Brooks • Jan. 11, 2005

Rolls-Royce Spins Slow Phantom Sales

DETROIT – Rolls-Royce Motor Cars had its best sales year of strictly Rolls-Royce branded cars in 14 years, and sales of its redesigned Phantom that debuted at the auto show here two years ago are up 164% compared with last year, the company’s sales and marketing director says. That’s true, but like a privileged son brought up to be CEO who only has made vice president, the Phantom, so far, has been

By Drew Winter • Jan. 11, 2005

Kia Debuts Rio, Large SUV Concept

DETROIT – Once a marginal auto maker from South Korea, Kia Motors America is finding its way in the fierce U.S. market with attractive warranties, low-priced vehicles and, now, new product that promises to make the company even more competitive. At this week’s North American International Auto Show, Kia unveils the all-new Rio sedan. The current-generation Rio may be best known as the lowest-priced

By Tom Murphy • Jan. 11, 2005

Lexus Gets Hybrid GS; Exotic Concept Shown

DETROIT – Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc.’s Lexus brand officially announces a hybrid version of its next-generation GS 430 here at the North American International Auto Show. The GS 430h will follow the planned rollout of the first Lexus hybrid SUV, the RX 400h in March. Denny Clements, Lexus group vice president and general manager, says more information will come at the New York auto show in March

By Christie Schweinsberg • Jan. 10, 2005

New Corvette Z06 Has Power to Spare

DETROIT – Blame it on steroids, a steady diet of Popeye’s spinach or some General Motors Corp. engineers gone mad, the ’06 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is freakishly powerful. Introduced here at the 2005 North American International Auto Show, the ’06 Z06 features a 500-hp 7L OHV V-8 engine that achieves 0-60 (97 km/h) in less than 4 seconds, GM says. Wait, there is more. The ’06 Z06 is expected to deliver

By Brian Corbett • Jan. 10, 2005

New Dodge Charger Stirs Controversy

When is a Charger not really a Charger? After a 30-plus year hiatus, Chrysler Group’s Dodge brand is resurrecting its Charger nameplate and creating some controversy over the results. At a sneak media preview, Chrysler Chief Designer Trevor Creed says the auto maker’s California-based designers originally came up with a 2-door coupe, fastback model to add to the Dodge lineup, but that later was deemed

By Kevin Kelly • Jan. 10, 2005

GMDAT, Chery Legal Battle Could Enter U.S.

DETROIT – General Motors Corp. would consider legal action if entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin decides to import the China-built Chery QQ car to the U.S. GM owns a 42.1% stake in South Korea-based GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co., which has filed a lawsuit in China against Chery Automobile Co. Ltd. due to the “extreme similarities” between the Chery QQ model and the Daewoo Matiz-based Chevrolet Spark.

By Brian Corbett • Jan. 10, 2005