Automakers: Page

Infiniti axes QX4 SUV

Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.'s Infiniti luxury division has quietly dropped its QX4 SUV. Production of the luxury truck stopped in November 2002, and the last units currently are being sold down. Instead of replacing the midsize luxury QX4, which sold just under 17,000 units last year, Infiniti will offer the FX45 and FX35 cross/utility vehicles (see story, p.58), which go on sale in the U.S. early this

March 1, 2003

Soccer-Mom Nirvana

PALM SPRINGS, CA Toyota Motor Corp. hopes to set a new benchmark for the minivan segment when its all-new '04 Sienna arrives in showrooms in mid-March. With its trademark attention to quality and detail, an additional trim level, optional all-wheel drive, a laundry list of additional features and a pledge to price it $1,000 less than the outgoing model, it is entirely possible Toyota can establish

By Alisa Priddle • March 1, 2003

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

The Other Side

Carlos Mazzorin is not the first Big Three purchasing czar to cross over to the other side by joining a major supplier with whom he previously sat across the table negotiating contracts. Thomas Stallkamp, now chairman of MSX International, headed Chrysler Corp.'s purchasing during the 1990s before rising to president and then departed soon after the merger that created DaimlerChrysler AG in late 1998.

By David C. Smith • 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

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

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

GM Plans 6-Speed

General Motors Corp. will build an advanced 6-speed automatic transmission at a former WWII bomber plant in Willow Run, MI, preserving nearly 600 jobs. The plant employs roughly 4,000 hourly and 400 salaried workers. The investment will cost GM $300 million. The new Hydra-Matic 6-speed automatic, says Homi Patel, vice president of GM Powertrain, is earmarked for up-level rear-wheel-drive cars and

By Bill Visnic • 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What’s It Worth Now?

Dealerships in Georgia say it may be too soon to fully gauge the impact on body shops of a recent Georgia Supreme Court ruling that State Farm mustpay its auto policyholders for diminished value. It really hasn't hit us full force, but long term I know it will affect us, says Scott Porter, body shop manager for Curry Honda in Chamblee, GA. The ruling, and State Farm's subsequent $250 million settlement,

By John Yoswick • Feb. 1, 2003

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em

Carlos Mazzorin, Ford Motor Co.'s former group vice president of global purchasing who was vilified for his penny-pinching ways by supplier execs, will find out how the other half live. The 61-year-old Mazzorin comes out of retirement to become chairman and CEO of Magna Donnelly, the Holland, MI, subsidiary of Magna International Inc. that produces mirrors, windows, door handles and electronics. Oh,

Feb. 1, 2003

Flagship Maxima

SPECIFICATION 2004 Nissan Maxima SE Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel drive, 5-passenger 4-door sedan Engine: 3.5L (3,498 cc) DOHC V-6, aluminum block/aluminum heads Power (SAE net): 265 hp @ 5,800 rpm Torque: 255 lb.-ft. (346 Nm) @ 4,400 rpm Compression ratio: 10.3:1 Bore Stroke (mm): 95.5 81.4 Transmission: 5-speed automatic/6-speed manual Wheelbase: 111.2 ins. (282 cm) Overall length: 193.5

By KATHERINE ZACHARY • Feb. 1, 2003

Good Samaritan Dealer Volunteers to Help the Dying

Dave Hines, co-owner of Snethkamp Chrysler-Jeep in Redford, MI, volunteers in his spare time at the Hospice of Michigan, doing what he can to ease the strain and pain of the dying. Typically, he spends about four hours each week with the person to whom he's assigned. You get close to people and when they die, says Hines, 56, a 30-year veteran of the automotive retail industry. He got involved with

Feb. 1, 2003

AWD All Around

On the heels of winning the North American Truck of the Year honors with its XC90 SUV, Ford Motor Co. reveals Volvo will source all-wheel-drive systems to the parent company as the technology proliferates across its lineup. Richard Parry-Jones, group vice president-global product development and chief technical officer, tells Ward's AWD will become available on a wider array of Ford and Ford-owned

Feb. 1, 2003

Temic Pays Off

Ctontinental AG's top executive says the decision two years to acquire a controlling interest in the Temic GmbH electronics division of DaimlerChrysler AG has exceeded all expectations. Electronic content in vehicles is steadily rising, which translates into solid growth potential in both the near-term and long-term business plans for Temic. But the chipmaker, with annual sales of $960 million (E1

By Tom Murphy • Feb. 1, 2003

Flex Time

LANSING, MI General Motors Corp.'s Lordstown, OH, and Orion Township, MI, assembly facilities will be the next to be retooled with a manufacturing technology new to GM that saves money and factory floor space while increasing production flexibility. GM has been using the programmable body shop tooling, called C-Flex, at its plants in Moraine, OH, and Oklahoma City. GM's Lansing Grand River plant here

By Brian Corbett • Feb. 1, 2003

Jewel of a Jaguar Store to Open in Pennsylvania

A&L Motors, a Jaguar and BMW auto dealership in Monroeville, PA, is nearing the final phase of constructing a new 25,000 sq. ft., state-of-the-art Jaguar showroom and office complex. Upon completion, A&L Motors, which celebrates its 55th year in business in 2003, will move to the next generation of service with a total focus on customer satisfaction. We're excited about this new facility, dedicated

Feb. 1, 2003

Enthralled

SPECIFICATION 2003 Infiniti G35 Engine: 3.5L (3,498 cc) 60-deg. DOHC V-6; aluminum block/aluminum heads Horsepower (SAE net): 260 @ 6,000 rpm Torque: 260 lb.-ft. (353 Nm) @ 4,850 rpm Compression ratio: 10.3:1 Specific output: 74 hp/L Date delivered: 4-11-02 Total miles/miles covered in this report: 30,313/9,666 Overall fuel economy: 22.7 mpg (10.4L/100 km) Total maintenance cost: $274.16 Non-scheduled

By Bill Visnic • Feb. 1, 2003

Customer Service A-to-Z

It's no longer a competitive advantage to provide good customer service; it's a prerequisite. Here then is my A-to-Z on exemplary customer service and how to achieve it in easy, practical ways: Acknowledge: Acknowledge everyone who walks in. High-volume Prestige Ford in Garland, TX, has a 10-foot rule. Someone meets and greets guests within 10 feet of their entering the dealership. Be there: Even

By DAVID SKROBOT • Jan. 1, 2003