Automakers: Page

Pontiac: We’re Back, Jack

On June 21 (which not coincidentally is the summer solstice), General Motors Corp. staged a flashy rock concert in New York City's Times Square to hype the introduction of the Pontiac Solstice, the division's first 2-seat roadster. The performance in outdoor advertising's epicenter featured the band Jet (which Rolling Stone magazine calls rock's new party boys) as well as an interactive multi-media

By Steve Finlay • Aug. 1, 2005

A Hip Subaru?

The dimly lit lobby bar of the ultra-hip W Hotel in San Francisco is filled with scenesters, including members of the NBA's Phoenix Suns, who are bouncing to the electronic beats of the house DJ and lounging on plush couches. As the party-goers trickle out into the drizzling Pacific night, valets fetch BMWs, Land Rovers and Cadillacs. Nobody's leaving in a Subaru, a brand long known for its boxy wagons

By Brian Corbett • Aug. 1, 2005

Explore the Trendline➔

Top 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

1st Lexus Credit Card to Cultivate Loyalty

Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus luxury division issues its first credit card, the Lexus Pursuits Visa Card. Lexus aims for the card to reward existing Lexus owners and bring new customers into dealerships. Lexus Pursuits Visa also will offer one of the most generous rewards programs in the industry, Toyota says. Like our vehicles, the Lexus Pursuits Visa Card will deliver the highest levels of quality,

Aug. 1, 2005

Please Cooperate

It has been an ongoing conversation to get some auto makers to include all their North American plants in Harbour Consulting Inc.'s annual Harbour Report on productivity, says President Ron Harbour. The 2005 North American report recently was released with some Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. Ltd. and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. plants notably absent, as is the sole Mercedes-Benz U.S. International

Aug. 1, 2005

Ward’s Rides Torque Tsunami to MBS

TRAVERSE CITY, MI – Most of Ward’s editorial staff this year blew into town for the Management Briefing Seminars on a torque tsunami generated by diesel-powered test cars from Robert Bosch GmbH. The vehicles include a Honda Accord, BMW 535 and Audi A6. Bosch maintains an impressive armada of European-spec diesel-powered vehicles to showcase to diesel-deprived Americans. The company’s fuel-injection

By Bill Visnic • Aug. 1, 2005

Exit Plan? What Exit Plan?

LAKE PLACID, NY Ford Motor Co.'s foray into the employee-discount wars looks to be lacking a clear exit strategy and, based on initial sales results, it may not need one for a while. When asked when the auto maker will bring an end to its Family Plan, which offers employee pricing to everyone on most Ford, Mercury and Lincoln vehicles, Ford Div. President Darryl Hazel gives little guidance. That's

Aug. 1, 2005

The Hyundais Are Coming

Dealers Rick and Rita Case opened what is billed as the world's largest Hyundai dealership. It is in Davie, FL, south of Fort Lauderdale. The grand opening included the arrival of 22 trucks carrying more than 220 new vehicles as a crowd of nearly 200 dignitaries watched, including Hyundai Motor of America President and CEO Bob Cosmai. Displayed at the event was the Hope on Wheels Hyundai Santa Fe,

Aug. 1, 2005

GM’s Combo Order

Nearly 500 stand-alone Buick, Pontiac and GMC dealers face an ultimatum: combine or face the consequences. The consequences are unpleasant. Fewer body styles and models will be coming from General Motors Corp. for those stand-alone dealers in GM's national network who fail to reach combination agreements. As of this year, 198 of the stores handle Buick soley; 110 are Pontiac stand-alones; and 168

By Mac Gordon • Aug. 1, 2005

Dealerships: Let’s Party!

When hockey star Sergei Fedorov bought a Ferrari at Cauley Ferrari-Maserati in West Bloomfield, MI, owner Jeff Cauley didn't just hand over the keys to the $650,000 car. Instead he decorated the showroom and tossed a party for 350 glitterati hailing from sports, entertainment and media world. Champagne flowed all night long. This was such a hoop-de-do party we even had people from Italy celebrating

By Maureen McDonald • Aug. 1, 2005

BMW Tweaks Active Steering

BMW AG won't exactly admit its high-tech Active Steering system had some bugs, but executives and engineers quietly concede the much-debated advance over conventional variable-ratio power steering has been to improve response and Wolfgang Epple, BMW 3-Series program director, says the newly revised Active Steering debuts with the '06 3-Series. Active Steering uses a supplemental, motor-driven gearbox

By Bill Visnic • Aug. 1, 2005

Benz to Use Kuka Laser-Weld System

TRAVERSE CITY, MI – Mercedes-Benz soon is likely to adopt a system developed by Kuka Robot Group that can weld a whole body side from a laser welder located 13.2 ft. (4 m) from the steel, Kuka USA President and CEO Larry Drake reveals here at the Management Briefing Seminars. Such laser welding is expensive, but it will eliminate many steps in the body welding process.(See related story: Kuka Plays

By William Diem • Aug. 1, 2005

Mercedes to Debut Hybrid Technology in Frankfurt

Mercedes-Benz has a hybrid surprise up its sleeve for September’s Frankfurt auto show. “I can confirm we will show something concerning hybrid technology,” a Mercedes spokeswoman tells Ward’s. The auto maker reportedly plans to reveal a hybrid diesel version of its large S-Class sedan and a CLK roadster with integrated starter-generator technology. The spokeswoman says it is too early to confirm diesel

By John D. Stoll • July 27, 2005

Gen 2 Volvo Convertible to Bow at Frankfurt

NEW YORK Volvo Car's upcoming '06 4-seat convertible will bow at the Frankfurt auto show in September. The C70 successor has an innovative retractable 3-piece hardtop that converts the vehicle into a coupe at the touch of button. Also new is a side inflatable curtain to provide enhanced head protection in side impacts and rollovers. Volvo C70 The inflatable curtain is embedded in the door and inflates

By Herb Shuldiner • July 15, 2005

Brown: ‘Nothing Ultimately Is Out of Play’

Ward's recently spoke with Tony Brown, vice president-global purchasing for Ford Motor Co., as part of its annual interviews with OEM purchasing executives. In the interview, Brown encourages suppliers to join Ford's steel resale program, talks about global sourcing and supplier bankruptcy and says he is open to negotiating with suppliers that can make a solid case for higher prices based on facts.

By Tom Murphy • July 5, 2005

Michigan Needs Toyota

It is the home state of the United Auto Workers union, but if Michigan is ever going to save its manufacturing jobs, it needs non-union auto makers moving into the state. The media keep harping that China is siphoning off all the good manufacturing jobs. But manufacturing employment in the U.S. auto industry still is near its all-time peak of 1 million people. We haven't lost those jobs. They haven't

By John McElroy • July 1, 2005

Playing It Safe at Volvo

IRVINE, CA It is Anne Belec's first month as president and CEO of Volvo Cars of North America LCC, and she is enjoying the give and take of a Volvo dealer conference she's hosting. It's a meeting with dealer representatives from all regions of the U.S. and Canada, she says during a lunch-break interview before the afternoon session at company headquarters here. It's fun. The Retailer Creative Forum's

By Steve Finlay • July 1, 2005

Drivers: I Want iPod!

DETROIT Every kid in America wants one. In 2005, the Apple iPod is to music what the transistor radio was in the 1960s. So it is only natural that auto makers, suppliers, dealers and independent audio retailers see dollar signs from a massive market emerging for personalized audio systems. And Apple, the Cupertino, CA, company that pioneered the personal computer, appears to have another groundbreaking

By Tom Murphy • July 1, 2005

For Dealers, It’s in the E-mail!

Imagine a direct marketing piece that 51% of the recipients open and 20% actually read. Moreover, you can know who opens the piece and see exactly what each person reads in other words, instant visibility into the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. It is possible with e-mail marketing. The above metrics are results from an inaugural e-mail newsletter the Gallery BMW Group, two dealerships in

By Cliff Banks • July 1, 2005

Minority Ex-GM Dealers Sue Auto Maker

It's a lawsuit that could affect the auto industry's minority dealership programs. An initial conference in the case of Dalton v. General Motors Corp. is scheduled in U.S. District Court in Trenton, NJ. On one side are lawyers representing four minority ex-GM dealers who are the plaintiffs; on the other side, attorneys representing defendant GM. A jury trial has been requested. The plaintiffs are

By Frank S. Washington • July 1, 2005

Toyota Leaning Toward Modules?

It's no secret Toyota Motor Corp. is among the auto makers least willing to parcel its vehicles into designed, assembled and delivered by suppliers. But Toyota appears to be changing its mind slightly. The sourcing for the instrument panel (IP) on the all-new Avalon sedan, which launched in February in the U.S. market, represents a significant departure for Toyota. This modular sourcing is completely

By Tom Murphy • July 1, 2005

Ford’s Brown Wants Better Deal

Tony Brown went shopping for two 19-in. (48-cm) televisions for his children's bedrooms and proved to the salesman why he's one of Detroit's toughest customers. The guy tells me they're $200 for one. I say, how much is it for two? He says $400. I say, wrong, you're not understanding me. I'm looking for a volume discount, says Brown, vice president-global purchasing for Ford Motor Co. He says, If you

By Tom Murphy • July 1, 2005

Visteon’s Last Lifeline

At the end of 1995, as North America's two largest auto makers contemplated spinning off their parts-making operations, Frank Macher knew Ford Motor Co. needed to exit component sectors in which it was uncompetitive. We're either going to improve or get out, Macher, then general manager of Ford's Automotive Components Div., told Ward's in an interview at the time. The non-core businesses have to make

By Tom Murphy and John D. Stoll • July 1, 2005

UAW Praises Ford, Slams Visteon on Restructuring

The way Ron Gettelfinger sees it, the United Auto Workers union was not trying to bail Visteon Corp. out of its troubles by agreeing to a restructuring plan calling for Ford Motor Co. to take control of 14 UAW-represented component plants. The union was looking for a way to preserve 17,400 jobs before Visteon was forced into potential bankruptcy protection, the UAW president says. We were trying to

By Kevin Kelly and Tom Murphy • July 1, 2005

Still the Best

Bigger, faster, stronger, safer. We expect to use those superlatives with almost every new vehicle but when applying them to an icon like BMW AG's 3-Series, there's added scrutiny. For the world's benchmark sports sedan, does bigger, faster, stronger, safer necessarily mean better? This is the dilemma faced by fabled makers such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche AG when they launch a new generation

By Bill Visnic • July 1, 2005

GM’s Global Creativity Teams

Numerous General Motors Corp. purchasing agents used to buy different versions of the same component from multiple suppliers. Today, one manager based in the region listed below oversees purchasing for a single component on a global basis. GM has 112 so-called Global Creativity Teams – 80 in the U.S., the rest elsewhere. Brazil Compressors Resin Canada Batteries Labels Owner’s Portfolio China Emblems/Decals

By Tom Murphy • July 1, 2005