SELECTED DEALERS SELL SOUPED-UP CADILLAC SLADE FOR $75,000-$100,000

Classic Cadillac in Atlanta, GA, Bud Davis Cadillac in Memphis, TN, Williamson Cadillac, Miami, FL and Cadillac Village, Norwood, MA, are the latest to join the list of XS-500 Escalade dealers. Approximately 20 Cadillac dealers are now building and selling supercharged 500-plus hp XS-500 Escalades. More than twice that number have ordered CoolCharger Supercharger Systems and PowerPak Kits as used

July 1, 2002

SOME CADILLAC DEALERSHIPS GET FRESHENED LOOK

General Motors Corp. is partially bankrolling renovation work at about 150 key Cadillac dealerships so the showrooms better reflect the luxury division's new styling and products. One dealership has done the facelift, and work is underway at 12 more, says Kim McGill, Cadillac director-retail development. About 75 dealerships will complete the upgrades this year, followed by another 75 in 2003, says

July 1, 2002

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

Chrysler Wish: No More Gray

Occasionally, when a defective part on a vehicle requires attention, identifying the responsible party is simple. For the Chrysler Group, the significant majority of problems are not so black and white but fall instead into a gray area, where laying blame is extremely difficult, says Peter Rosenfeld, vice president-worldwide procurement and sourcing strategy. To minimize this oft-contentious finger-pointing,

July 1, 2002

Wolfsburg award goes to Fox

FOX Volkswagen of Rochester, MI, as the top-performing VW dealership in the U.S. and Canada last year, gets Volkswagen of America Inc.'s prestigious Wolfsburg Crest Club Award. Candidates are judged by how well they meet sales objectives, annual volume planning, customer satisfaction, VW parts sold and the number of employees who are certified. It was another year of tremendous growth, Michael Fox

July 1, 2002

Lexus boosts its black-owned dealership ranks

Last year was not bad for Chatham Parkway Lexus. The year-old store near Savannah, GA, sold 479 units. Along with Chatham Parkway Toyota, which shares the 9-acre complex, the new enterprise earned almost $1 million. On the face of it, that's no big deal. But Winston Pittman owns Chatham Parkway Lexus. He happens to be black. His store is one of six points that Lexus has awarded to African-Americans

By Frank S. Washington • July 1, 2002

AUTONATION BUYS 2nd BMW STORE

New- and used-car retailer AutoNation Inc. is purchasing Claridge BMW in Fremont, CA. Parties are mum on terms of the all-cash deal. The store had 2001 revenue of $63 million. Owner Tom Claridge will not stay on at the dealership. A letter of intent has been signed. This will be AutoNation's second BMW franchise and its 20th new vehicle franchise in the San Francisco Bay area. AutoNation CEO Michael

July 1, 2002

70 MERCEDES DEALERS WANTED TO SELL NEW MAYBACH

NEW YORK DaimlerChrysler AG will start selling its new $350,000 Maybach super luxury car in the U.S. next spring after the auto maker nails down which Mercedes-Benz dealers will move the precious metal. We're talking to 200 dealers, and looking for about 70 who are serious, says Fred Heiler, a Mercedes-Benz USA spokesman. Those 200 dealers out of 320 Mercedes dealers in the U.S. overall have exclusive

By Steve Finlay • July 1, 2002

GM’s Jack Smith Set to Cap 42-Year Career

Jack Smith's office at 1660 L. St., General Motors Corp.'s Washington headquarters, is modest compared to his sprawling suite at GM's World Headquarters in Detroit. Not a phone booth, but modest in size and furnishings. Somehow it fits his personality: A small town boy from Worchester, MA, who despite his lofty title as chairman of the world's largest industrial corporation still clings to his Yankee

By David C. Smith • July 1, 2002

Daewoo suppliers may ship to GM worldwide

General Motors Corp. has a purchasing team in South Korea investigating ways to export parts from new equity partner Daewoo Motor Co. Ltd.'s suppliers to other GM operations around the world, Vice President Bo Andersson says. The worldwide purchasing executive says a dozen people are spending 90 days in Korea looking at opportunities to export parts to Europe, Mexico and Canada. Our least priority

By Brian Corbett • July 1, 2002

Dealership creates an Evel Knievel F-150 Gladiator pickup truck

Beau Boeckmann, vice president of Galpin Ford in North Hills, CA, is a lifelong fan of stuntman Evel Knievel. To honor his hero, Boeckmann conceived the Galpinized Evel Knievel F150 Ford pickup. Knievel attended the dealership debut of the truck named for him. The dealership also hosted a luncheon in his honor. I've always been impressed by his courage and determination to come back over and over

July 1, 2002

Ford: Use It Or Lose It!

You want optimism on Ford? Read the other stories. I say that Ford's if you want to call it that, is going badly. Today's problems: There's no inspiring leadership; too many key executives don't know the American market; many of the if you want to call them that, like the plan to kill Escort, Cougar, Continental and Villager minivan were made years ago. And what I've heard of the new product plan

By Jerry Flint • July 1, 2002

The best of the best tell how they do it

Longo, Ricart and GalpinLongo, Ricart and Galpin Hmmmm Okay folks, this is getting familiar. Going back to 1991 except for a couple of years when Longo Toyota chose not to participate these same three dealerships have reigned atop the annual Ward's 500 ranking. And it doesn't look like it's going to change anytime soon. You can also add to the top mix Fletcher Jones Motor Cars, fourth or fifth the

By Cliff Banks • June 1, 2002

Need a part for a ‘38 Ford? Call Sanderson

David Kimmerle, owner of Sanderson Ford of Glendale, AZ got a phone call at home from a man looking for a part for a 1938 Ford vehicle. Kimmerle called his parts manager to check. To the man's surprise, they stocked the part. Stories like this illustrate how Sanderson Ford has built one of the nation's top parts operations. With revenue of over $40.9 million in 2001, the dealership is the top-ranked

By Cliff Banks • June 1, 2002

Toyota Warns of Chinese Threat

It's China's auto industry, not more established competitors, that is setting the bar for Toyota Motor Corp.'s next round of cost-cutting and efficiency improvements, says Kosuke Shiramizu, executive vice president-Manufacturing and Quality Management. In a wide-ranging interview at Toyota City, the 62-year-old executive charged with carrying on the legacy of Toyota Production System founder Taiichi

June 1, 2002

Earnardt builds 1st dealership at new Arizona auto mall

Earnhardt Auto Centers, Nissan and DMB Associates are building a new Earnhardt Nissan store in Mesa, AZ, the first dealership to officially begin construction at DMB's Auto Center at Superstition Springs. The impending complex is a 30-acre, five-dealership ensemble in the heart of Phoenix's booming East Valley. Earnhardt's first Nissan franchise will be a 38,350-sq.-ft. sales and service facility

June 1, 2002

SRX: Better Late Than Never

It may be late to the luxury cross/utility vehicle (CUV) market, but the Cadillac SRX remains an innovator, claims Cadillac Marketing General Manager Mark LaNeve. We are late to market, you're right, acknowledges LaNeve to media gathered in Rochester Hills, MI, at General Motors Corp.'s Vision Center for the unveiling of an SRX foam model. But no one has a product like this, with this kind of performance

June 1, 2002

F-Series to Follow SUV Hydroforming Lead

Add Ford Motor Co.'s next-generation F-Series pickup to the growing list of vehicles that employ hydroforming in their designs, says Chris Theodore, vice president-North America product development. The pickup America's best-selling truck for 25 years will follow the lead set by '03 Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator, Theodore tells Ward's. Prototype pickups were recently inspected. When F-Series

June 1, 2002

Porsche Buyers Go Semi-Automatic

Either Porsche drivers are getting lazy or automatic transmissions have achieved parity with manual transmissions in the eyes of persnickety performance-car drivers. Porsche Cars North America says the installation rate of its Tiptronic S 5-speed automatic transmission for 911 models sold in North America is running at nearly 25%, which is a marked increase from the 18% rate when Tiptronic was introduced

June 1, 2002

Passat W8: Identity Crisis for VW?

HALF MOON BAY, CA Is it a full-blown European luxury sedan or just another 4-door sedan with a V-8? That's a question even the folks at Volkswagen of America Inc. have trouble answering as they struggle to pinpoint just where the new '02 Passat W8 fits in the market. Although VW tries hard to maintain its cutesy, awe-shucks brand image, this new high-powered Passat gives off an upscale feel that's

By Kevin Kelly • June 1, 2002

The Roof is on Fire!

When DaimlerChrysler AG hired Webasto Roof Systems Inc. to design and build the modular glass top for the new Mercedes C-Class sports coupe, the auto maker estimated that 30% of buyers would opt for this more expensive lid. The sports coupe was on U.S. roads for less than eight months when it became obvious that Stuttgart greatly underestimated demand for the innovative sliding sunroof. Even in the

By Tom Murphy • June 1, 2002

Strength in Numbers

Two heads are better than one. It's not a law of nature on par with any of Newton's discoveries. It's more in line with the incontrovertible laws of human nature, such as: What goes around, comes around. Now, multiply the aforementioned pair of brains by three and you have Ford Motor Co.'s formula for product development success full of promise and, critics say, unhindered by a guiding light like

By Eric Mayne • June 1, 2002

FIRESTONE AND INDY 500 TEAM UP WITH A NEW TIRE

Bridgestone/Firestone, which lost a business relationship with Ford Motor Co., now has a fresh one with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A new product from that partnership is the Firehawk Indy 500 tire. It's the first time in Indy 500's 90-year history that a tire for street and highway use will sport the Indy name and logo. Bridgestone/Firestone is trying to recover from the controversy of allegedly

June 1, 2002

The service bays are even air-conditioned

Location, location, location, are Robert Kirland's first words when asked how the service department in his Autohaus Pompano Mercedes-Benz store in Florida has become so successful. Ranked 45th overall on the Ward's 500 and fifth in service revenue, the store has become a model for other Mercedes stores in the country. Five years ago the dealership moved from Federal Highway to Interstate 95 and took

By Cliff Banks • June 1, 2002

BENCHMARK YOUR EXPENSE CONTROLS

Thanks to automakers' incentives programs, new vehicle sales continue at a rapid pace as we hit the mid-year point. We're on pace for a 17.5 million-unit sales year. Question? In your dealership operation, what is your year-to-date sales and profit trend? Is it consistent or better than your forecast? Is your pace consistent with the industry? The NCM Client database 2002 shows an increase in sales

By Tony Noland • June 1, 2002

JM Lexus flexes as new-car powerhouse

JM Lexus in Margate, FL, has been the number one Lexus retailer in the world for the last 11 years. The dealership jumped to 5th on the new Ward's 500 ranking from 11th last year. With $243.6 million in new retail revenue, the store is one of the nation's new-car powerhouses. I guess you could say ego keeps us there, says General Manager David Mullen. He also credits dealer principal Pat Moran for

By Cliff Banks • June 1, 2002