Volvo, Dana Getrag in AWD JV

Ford Motor Co.'s Swedish subsidiary Volvo Car is forming a new joint venture to develop and make all-wheel-drive systems with two suppliers in Sweden. Volvo will own 40% of the operation, while Getrag Dana Holding, a JV between Dana Corp. and Getrag GmbH, will own 60%. The companies will invest SK1.5 billion ($177 million) in the JV in Koping, Sweden, between 2004-2006. Curt Germundsson, Volvo's production

May 1, 2003

INSOURCING

It was nearly a year ago that Ford Motor Co. called a meeting in Dearborn of its top suppliers about 100 of them to talk quality. For a few hours, Tony Brown, Ford's vice president of global purchasing, shared internal data suggesting suppliers were more culpable than the auto maker as recalls and warranty claims seemed to be spinning out of control. The Firestone tire debacle got the most attention,

By Tom Murphy • May 1, 2003

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

Silence, Skeptics

SAN FRANCISCO Remember those hand-me-down Chevy Vegas? How about the rusted-out VW Rabbits or third-hand Chevettes? That's what kids used to drive way back when. As of late, the auto industry has churned out plenty of vehicles targeted at the new youth market. But the question remains: How can teens and young adults pony up a minimum $20,000 for contemporary pocket rockets and cute-mobiles? Obviously,

By KATHERINE ZACHARY • May 1, 2003

Dealers Show Growing Interest in Selling Used Cars on the Internet

Sales Manager Paul Miller of Capital Ford in Raleigh, NC, increased used-vehicle Internet-related sales for his dealership from 600 units in 2001 to 1,035 in 2002. New-car on-line sales went from 744 to 972. His dealership is one of three Ward's e-Dealer 100 stores that sold more used vehicles than new, at least via the Internet. Capital Ford was 29th on last year's Ward's Dealer 500, selling a total

By Cliff Banks • April 1, 2003

Farewell, Aztek

Pontiac Aztek, one of the most ridiculed products in General Motors Corp.'s history, will go out of production in December 2004, Ward's learns. GM recently pulled forward plans to stop making Aztek from the fall of 2005 to next year, industry sources say. Aztek's earlier-than-expected demise frees up extra capacity at GM's Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, assembly plant to prepare for the introduction of the

By Brian Corbett • April 1, 2003

After Missteps, They Finally Got It Right

Bob Kinney, general manager for Capitol Honda, says he has no idea how many Internet sales his dealership had in 2001. What a difference a year and a concerted effort make. For 2002, the San Jose, CA-based store is the No. 1 ranked Honda dealership (4th overall) on the Ward's e-Dealer 100 with 2,308 Internet sales. We were just playing around with it as an ancillary to our normal showroom business

By Cliff Banks • April 1, 2003

Win Some, Lose Some

As North America's Big Three auto makers rediscover the benefits of rear-wheel drive, Germany's Eberspcher Group couldn't be happier. The supplier has years of experience producing exhaust systems for rear-drive vehicles with pedigree badges such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Snaking exhaust pipe along cramped underbody real estate without disturbing driveshafts and rear axles requires considerable engineering.

By Tom Murphy • April 1, 2003

Spicy Controversy

Politically correct automotive wisdom insists Porsche has no business in the SUV business. Almost since the day it was known management at Porsche AG had green-lighted an SUV, the preferred sport of automotive writers and Porsche faithful became trashing the new Cayenne as a sellout by the deified sportscar maker. Be careful, though, about labeling the '03 Cayenne an SUV, because it's certainly no

By Bill Visnic • April 1, 2003

Ford Adopts Particulate Filters

French chemical supplier Rhodia SA says Ford Motor Co. will adopt its fuel-borne catalyst technology on the entire range of diesel engines it manufactures in Europe that are equipped with diesel particulate filters (DPFs). The technology will debut on a diesel Ford Focus, and Rhodia says the number of passenger vehicles with DPF-Eolys catalyst systems will rise from 400,000 annually in Europe in 2003

By Drew Winter • April 1, 2003

Book Bug in Service Thanks to Dealership

Residents of National City, CA are seeing an unusual VW Beetle roaming around town. It's the Book Bug, a colorfully decorated vehicle that's part of a partnership between South Bay Volkswagen and the Chula Vista Public Library to promote reading. The vehicle will appear at community events, concerts and parades. It's also used for the delivery of library materials to adults and children in need. Never

April 1, 2003

Diversity Key to Scion Plan

The success of Scion, Toyota Motor Corp.'s flying leap into the youth market, hinges almost completely on marketing. Toyota acknowledges it is taking a huge risk with the new brand, which is set to launch in June in California with its boxy xB and xA. Brand image and Toyota's approach to the Generation Y demographic could make or break Scion. Adding to the marketing complexity is the expectation that

April 1, 2003

Mercedes Prolific in Alabama

VANCE, AL A $7 million childcare and wellness center opened last May at the Mercedes-Benz U.S. International Inc. (MBUSI) M-Class SUV production site near this tiny hamlet 12 miles (19 km) east of Tuscaloosa and 32 miles (51 km) west of Birmingham on I-59 in central Alabama. We found that over a 2 to 2-1/2-year period our team members (the facility's 2,000 employees) had 250 babies, observes an MBUSI

By David C. Smith • April 1, 2003

GM Bad Boys

Most bad boys apparently prefer General Motors Corp. products when trying to outrun the police. That comes from Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research in Bandon, OR. When an intern had nothing else to do, he had her watch 50 episodes of the TV show Her assignment: Mark down what vehicles offenders were driving as they led police on pursuits. Her findings: 63% of them drove GM products.

By Steve Finlay • April 1, 2003

Iacocca Backs Off On Bush

Lee Iacocca raised money for George W. Bush, and he's also close to his parents. But in a lengthy interview with Ward's on the eve of the Iraqi war, the former Ford Motor Co. president who later rescued the former Chrysler Corp. from bankruptcy parts company with the President. I've got to support him because I voted for him, says Iacocca, who himself was a potential presidential candidate in the

By David C. Smith • April 1, 2003

Defining Moment

SAN FRANCISCO The beauty of being first into a segment is the ability to define it. Chrysler Group enjoyed that luxury when it created the minivan, almost 20 years and 10 million people-movers ago. Today, from the same Windsor, Ont., Canada, plant that still makes minivans comes the all-new '04 Chrysler Pacifica, the product of an all-new platform. This cross between a minivan, SUV and sedan has been

By Alisa Priddle • March 1, 2003

Bill Ford Jr. Does NADA

SAN FRANCISCO Ford Motor Co. Chairman and CEO William Clay Ford Jr., who cancelled his 2000 NADA convention appearance on short notice in 2000, was all over the place at this year's gathering. Ford delivered the convention's keynote address, spoke at a J.D. Power & Associates' conference associated with the convention, and hit the exposition floor to meet and greet dealers. It seemed to pay off. I

By Steve Finlay • March 1, 2003

Mazda Zooms In With Fresh Look

BOUNTIFUL, UT Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) is trying to make its vehicles more exciting, and now wants to do the same thing to its dealerships. That's evidenced by a first-of-its-kind store here just outside Salt Lake City. Bountiful Mazda is the nation's first dealership off Mazda's Retail Revolution designs of how a modern Mazda store should look. Twenty more facilities like it are in

By Steve Finlay • March 1, 2003

Mission: Refinement

Despite the incessant chatter about polishing the Ford oval, no bauble in the auto maker's global lineup is more treasured than the next-generation F-Series. Ford's fullsize pickup is the best-selling vehicle in automotive history, tallying more than 27 million unit sales since 1948. You're playing with the crown jewels here, Ford Motor Co. President and Chief Operating Officer Nick Scheele tells

By Eric Mayne & David E. Zoia • March 1, 2003

EuroMotorcars Building 2nd Benz Store

After a major expansion and renovation of its Mercedes-Benz dealership in Bethesda, MD, EuroMotorcars plans to open a second Mercedes dealership nearby in Maryland's Germantown. EuroMotorcars Germantown will cover four acres and include over 40,000 sq. ft. of building space, a showroom for 15 vehicles and a multilevel parking area for new- and used-car inventory. An early 2004 opening is planned.

March 1, 2003

Titan-ic Significance

We're standing with a midlevel Big Three executive at the North American International Auto Show in January, and the tension is building as Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. prepares to unveil its first-ever fullsize pickup. The sheet is yanked and it's immediately obvious Nissan isn't fooling around: The '04 Titan is truly full-sized, assertively styled and almost brazenly presented. The exec turns and says,

By Bill Visnic & Katherine Zachary • March 1, 2003

Sneak Peek

Early driving impressions on General Motors Corp.'s Cadillac SRX are promising. While the auto maker isn't permitting formal test drives until later this spring, GM offered Ward's and other media the opportunity to test drive pre-production SRXs at its winter proving grounds in Kinross, MI. Thanks to a dazzlingly engineered integrated chassis control system, the all-wheel drive SRX out-dueled the

By Brian Corbett • March 1, 2003

4Matic Growing

Traversing through just a few inches of snow could be a monumental feat for most luxury sedans, most of which feature rear-wheel drive. That isn't the case for the latest family of Mercedes sedans and wagons (E-Class, C-Class and S-Class), which now come with optional all-wheel drive, putting these formerly dry-pavement-only cars in a new light. Mercedes' AWD system, dubbed 4Matic, debuted in 1986

March 1, 2003

Texas Tundra

Toyota Motor Corp. addresses the colossal U.S. truck market and its own need for more capacity with plans to build an $800 million pickup truck plant in San Antonio, TX. The No.1 Japanese auto maker plans to produce 150,000 next-generation Tundra pickups annually at the plant, which will be its sixth in North America. The next-generation truck reportedly will be larger, in order to better compete

By KATHERINE ZACHARY • March 1, 2003

Shootout: Ford Tells Asbury No Deal

An unusual is taking shape in California over Ford Motor Co.'s refusal to allow publicly owned Asbury Automotive Group to buy one of its San Diego stores. Rebuffed multi-franchise dealer Robert H. Baker has taken the matter to the powerful California New Motor Vehicle Board (NVMB). The board, three of whose members are franchised dealers, has slated a March hearing in Sacramento. The case is called

By Mac Gordon • March 1, 2003

EDS, IBM Battle Over Ford Deals

Ford Motor Co. becomes a virtual battleground for software giants Electronic Data Systems Corp. and IBM Corp. as the latter says it will supply the auto maker with design and data management applications. A resulting news report suggests EDS was spurned by Ford because its products are too pricey. An agitated Tony Affuso, EDS president-PLM Solutions, tells Ward's the report totally misrepresented

March 1, 2003