New Texas VW dealership going up

Beck Automotive Group is constructing Lewisville (TX) Volkswagen its second Dallas-Fort Worth VW dealership on a 13-acre site along the active I-35 corridor. The 30,695 sq.-ft. facility will conform to Volkswagen's Marketplace Prototype design. It will feature the familiar VW brand logo over the showroom entrance, set against a striking yellow backdrop. Bold use of glass and composite aluminum panels

June 1, 2001

Time to Spread the Risk

Will automakers attract capital over the long run when they can't provide adequate rates of return? Ah yes, wasn't this about the time when all those automakers were supposed to be raking in piles of profits? Remember how all those mergers and acquisitions were going to produce miraculous synergies? And remember how all those e-commerce ventures would cut costs and boost margins? Well, guess what?

By John McElroy • June 1, 2001

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

Butterfield brothers spend $12 million remodeling their Ford dealership in Utah

Butterfield Ford in Sandy, UT opened a new showroom and service facility following a $12 million remodeling project. Highlights of the 18-month project include a showroom that's doubled in size, a new business development center and fleet office, and a stand-alone service center. It has 68 stalls, state-of-the-art equipment and a large indoor service driveway. The remodeling made the parts department

June 1, 2001

GM partners adopting its CAD/CAM system

General Motors Corp.'s strategy of buying equity shares in numerous global automakers to obtain technical expertise and market share appears to be paying off big at least for its main product development software supplier. UGS, the former Unigraphics Solutions, which provides CAD/CAM (computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing) products, announced earlier this year that a number of GM's Asian

By Compiled by the staff of: WARD'S ENGINE AND VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY UPDATE • June 1, 2001

Pickup But a Let-Down: Blackwood’s Faux Feature

SANTA BARBARA, CA Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln division may be turning back the evolutionary clock on sport/utility vehicles (SUVs) with the introduction of its 02 Blackwood. At best, it should be called an SLUV sport vehicle. Unquestionably stylish and refreshingly enjoyable to drive, it recalls the curious car/pickup configurations of Ranchero and El Camino neither of which were able to pull their weight

By Eric Mayne • June 1, 2001

6,000 Ford dealers getting free leak-detecting device

A new tool designed to detect hydrocarbon leaks in vehicle evaporative emissions systems will begin making its way to the 6,000 Ford Motor Co. dealers in North America. The device will help service technicians find hydrocarbon leaks faster and cut down on chances repairs will be misdiagnosed. It's developed by Ford Research Vehicle and Technology engineers and STAR EnviroTech Inc., a Costa Mesa, CA-based

June 1, 2001

Trucks drive Toyota to record profits

Toyota Motor Corp. rode its popular Highlander and Sequoia sport/utility vehicles to record profits in fiscal 2000 (ended March 31, 2001). Overall unit sales climbed in both Japan and the U.S. during the year, resulting in a 6.6% increase in worldwide vehicle deliveries to 5.52 million units. Group operating profit was up 12.1% to $7.1 billion, beating expectations by analysts and Toyota's own record

By Compiled by the staff of: WARD'S AUTOMOTIVE REPORTS • June 1, 2001

Young Losers

If Cadillac had built a new SUV years ago, a BMW X5, and the Seville was a Mercedes C-Class instead of a big front-wheel-drive boat, Cadillac would be selling 300,000 a year today without losing a single Senior Citizen customer. My first wife used to say: Better to be an old man's darling than a young man's slave. Which brings me to the subject of this column: Enough of this youth craze. In the hunt

By Jerry Flint • June 1, 2001

Not the Synergy We Were Looking For

We heard plenty of talk when Daimer-Benz AG acquired Chrysler Corp in 1999. But one synergy Daimler definitely wasn't looking for was to share Chrysler's reputation for slipshod quality. Now it comes to light that DC's warranty costs are soaring, and it appears that defects in the highly regarded Mercedes 3.2L V-6 engine the German automaker's first V-6 ever may be partly responsible. DC's stock price

June 1, 2001

Magna: Ford’s Silent Partner

As Job One is just around the corner for Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln Blackwood, supplier Magna International Inc. largely has kept its role in the launch secret so as not to take credit away from its automaker customer. Lincoln tapped Magna to join the program team in developing its '02 Blackwood luxury sport/utility vehicle because the division needed engineering assistance in preparing the vehicle

June 1, 2001

This Elder gets respect

She has evolved from an immigrant who could speak no English, to a shy housewife, to a tough businesswoman. I'm not in love with cars, I'm in love with the business world, confesses Irma Elder, CEO of Elder Automotive Group of Troy, MI. Since taking over the Ford dealership following her dealer husband's death in 1983, Mrs. Elder's business acumen has made her one of the most well-known and successful

By Christie Schweinsberg • June 1, 2001

Not So Precious Anymore

General Motors Corp. is fed up. And so are other automakers with the high cost and unpredictable supply of palladium, used in catalytic converters to cut emissions. As a result, the major players in the auto industry are taking steps to significantly reduce use of the precious metal a critical element during the past decade or so to making cars and trucks run significantly cleaner. GM, quite possibly

By Brian Corbett • June 1, 2001

Not your grandfather’s Mercury

Mercury will continue its trend toward urban chic, courting youth along the way, but it won't abandon the generation that went before, says Lincoln-Mercury President Mark Hutchins. I think, over time, you're going to see Mercury go into the brand personality of a Mountaineer or a Cougar, Mr. Hutchins says, referring to the line's sport/utility vehicle and midsize specialty car both of which have undergone

By Compiled by the staff of: WARD'S AUTOMOTIVE REPORTS • June 1, 2001

2002 Thunderbird: A Sound Investment

I awoke last night to the sound of thunder. How far off I sat and wondered. From Bob Seger's Night Moves, copyright 1976, Gear Publishing Co. (ASCAP) MONTEREY, CA How far off, indeed. Ford Motor Co. can't say precisely when Job One for its 02 Thunderbird will be, saying only that the event will take place sometime during the third quarter. Cars will go on sale at that time, largely missing the summer

By Eric Mayne • June 1, 2001

Brazil production up, but energy crisis looms

April was the second-best April in Brazil's automotive history, with vehicle production totaling 168,000 units, up 24.1% over the same month last year. Compared with March, however, production dropped 8.3%. Brazil's automakers group, Anfavea, says the record for production was set in April 1997, with 194,000 units. Brazil's automakers in April sold 135,519 cars, buses and trucks, for a four-month

By Compiled by the staff of: WARD'S AUTOMOTIVE INTERNATIONAL • June 1, 2001

Toyota Considers Corolla, Echo, Camry, Yaris for Mexico

Toyota Motor Corp. announces it will establish a sales arm in Mexico City beginning in 2004, but denies it will begin manufacturing there anytime soon. Toyota Motor Sales de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc., will begin planning for sales, marketing and service operations slated to begin in Mexico City by Jan. 1, 2004, when the North American Free Trade Agreement

June 1, 2001

FORD ADVISES SOME DEALERS ON FRANCHISE EXIT STRATEGIES

Ford Division announced a program to advise its 1,600 lowest-volume dealers, selling 250 new vehicles a year or fewer, on franchise-termination strategies. The option is entirely voluntary and affects retailers not on the regular list, according to the division's officer in charge, Timothy Witte.

June 1, 2001

Ghosn guides Nissan off critical list

Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. is back in the black after posting record earnings for 2000. On May 17 the Japanese automaker reported a consolidated net profit of $2.7 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2001. The earnings beat Wall Street expectations and Nissan's own forecast of $1.8 billion made last October. The Nissan Revival Plan has produced the best financial performance in the company's history

By Compiled by the staff of: WARD'S AUTOMOTIVE REPORTS • June 1, 2001

Good employees make a big difference

In sunny Southern California, a place not normally associated with rough and tough Chevy trucks, Connell Chevrolet in Costa Mesa had a banner year for new vehicle sales on the strength of Tahoes and Suburbans. As a result, they jumped 83 spots from last year to land at number 297 on the Ward's Dealer Business 500 with 2,474 new retail units sold, increasing total revenues from $82 million in 1999

By Christie Schweinberg • June 1, 2001

Toyota Financial hits $100 billion

It began with a loan on a used car. Seventeen years later, Toyota Financial Services (TFS) has surpassed the $100 billion mark for the financing of automotive-related retail and lease contracts. That includes retail and lease volume in the U.S. on 5.4 million vehicles. TFS has grown from a small company with eight associates to become the third largest captive finance company, and the ninth largest

June 1, 2001

GM top scientist to reinvent global R

General Motors Corp.'s six science laboratories once were the envy of the industrial world. The brainpower harnessed on its Warren, MI, campus enabled GM to become a renowned product innovator. But in recent years, the reputation of its laboratories has sagged in concert with its market share, and GM has been criticized for not being able to spin research and development efforts into marketplace gold.

By Compiled by the staff of: WARD'S ENGINE AND VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY UPDATE • June 1, 2001

Avalanche of Opportunity

PALM SPRINGS, CA General Motors Corp.'s mantra, of late, has been that it intends to be a leader in innovation and technology. Specifically, the automaker has set a goal for half of its vehicle portfolio to be innovative vehicles or vehicles with innovative features and technologies, moving to 100% in five years. Though vague in terms of what constitutes the goal appears ambitious, and suggests a

By MICHELLE KREBS • June 1, 2001

Ford and Goodyear band together to replace tires; Firestone goes on the attack

Ford and Goodyear are working together to assist customers affected by Ford's massive recall of all Firestone Wilderness AT tires on the automaker's vehicles. Meanwhile, Bridgestone/Firestone, which went through a bitter corporate divorce with Ford, is going on the attack, claiming the Ford Explorer is defectively designed, and asking the federal government to investigate the popular SUV. Several

By Steve Finlay • June 1, 2001

GM Axes New Crossovers

General Motors Corp. has delayed indefinitely or possibly axed completely the Epsilon-based Pontiac Banner and Buick Signia crossovers, sources say. Code-named GMX390 and GMX391, the sedan-like vans were due in the 2003-2005 timeframe. Banner was supposed to replace the Pontiac Bonneville and Signia (see cover story, Feb. '98) was to take the place of Buick LeSabre, sources say. Portions of the Epsilon

June 1, 2001

You Need Green to be Green

Who'd have thought the two biggest players in the U.S. auto industry would be at odds with the White House over global warming with the automakers competing to get ahead of the environmental curve and the Bush Administration moving in quite the opposite direction? It wasn't that long ago that the auto industry fought increasingly stricter federal tailpipe emissions and fuel economy mandates with all

By David C. Smith • June 1, 2001