GM Service Parts Operations wants a bigger chunk of the aftermarket business

General Motors Corp. will continue to diversify its revenue sources beyond its core business of selling cars and trucks by making a strong effort to expand its Service Parts Operations (SPO) business. SPO General Manager John Smith says the effort will focus on doubling the business of all-makes brand AC Delco during the next few years. It also will do more service work on late model GM vehicles through

By Brian Corbett • April 23, 2001

Renault unifies configuration and pricing for European web customers

Renault dealers and customers in France, Germany and the United Kingdom are getting a glimpse into the future of Internet retailing as the automaker is merging configuration and pricing technology on the web in those nations. Trilogy is the technology provider for Renault's three sites -- www.renault.fr, www.renault.co.uk, and www.renault.de. Officials say the sites offer an "enriched, efficient shopping

By Ward's reports • April 20, 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

Ford touts certified vehicle program as used and improved

Ford is launching an ad campaign this week touting its new certified pre-owned vehicle program as one of the best in the industry. The automakers says its “Ford Quality Checked” program focuses on improving quality, enhancing the pre-owned delivery experience, boosting customer satisfaction and giving “peace of mind” to used-vehicle customers. The program was developed in conjunction with dealers

By Ward's reports • April 18, 2001

Honda produces 10 millionth automobile in North America; prepares to add new plant

Honda reached produced its 10 millionth vehicle in North American last week. The company began local production in 1982 in Marysville, OH, and will open its 11th North American plant, in Lincoln, AL, this fall. Each year, Honda assembles more than 1 million vehicles in North America, including the Honda Accord, Civic and Odyssey, and the Acura TL, CL, MDX and EL (Canada only model). It also produces

By Wire Reports • April 16, 2001

First-ever Ward’s e-Dealer 100

Ward's Dealer Business has identified the top 100 automotive dealers initiating sales via the Internet. Anderson Honda in California, Dave Smith Motors in Idaho and Classic Auto in New Jersey top the list of e-dealers, which sold 61,356 vehicles to customers shopping on-line. The complete list is as follows: 1. Anderson Honda, CA, 2,346 units 2. Dave Smith Motors, ID, 2,252 3. Classic Auto, NJ, 1,598

By Cliff Banks • April 11, 2001

Asbury acquires dealerships in Jackson, MS

Asbury Autogroup, today, acquired two dealerships and five franchises in the Jackson, MS market and will add a ninth regional platform to its national organization, which is based in Stamford, CT. The dealerships are Gray-Daniels Ford and Metro Mazda-Hyndai-Suzuki-Isuzu. Dealers Bobby Gray, Noel Daniels and Steven Inzinna will join Asbury’s senior management group. The move allows Asbury to link these

By Tim Keenan • April 5, 2001

CHRYSLER GROUP DEALERS FUME OVER SUBSIDY CUTS

Chrysler Group dealers are fuming about six cuts to their subsidies that Daimler-Chrysler AG will implement as it attempts to stem the flow of red ink. The automaker, on the other hand, is asking its retailers to remember what manufacturer has been dealer friendly during the industry's recent boom. Dealers are upset about the elimination of approximately $125 per-vehicle marketing fees, floor plan

By Tim Keenan • April 1, 2001

Brembo busting out with ceramic brakes

Ceramic composite brake rotors are standard on Formula One racers, and a new era of road-car use is beginning with their optional and super high-cost fitment on bad-boy models like the Porsche 911 Turbo and Mercedes-Benz CLK 55 F1. In addition to outrageous stopping power, the carbon ceramic brakes are claimed to reduce weight by almost 13 lbs. (5.8 kg) per rotor, and they're nearly impervious to

By Bill Visnic • April 1, 2001

We’ll Be Rich as Rockefeller

This near-luxury market is strong, no doubt about that. But it's already growing crowded: the Lincoln LS, the Chrysler300M, the Passat V-6 4motion, the Audis, the Mercedes C-Class and BMW 3-series, the Lexus ES300. Bless the world's automakers. They expect that we are all going to be rich. Let's hope it's true. If it isn't, there's a lot of money being wasted on near-luxury models. Have you thought

By Jerry Flint • April 1, 2001

AUTOBYTEL, GM DEALERS TEST LOCATE-TO-ORDER IN D.C.

Autobytel and General Motors Corp. have selected the Washington, D.C. area and the Chevrolet brand to conduct a 90-day test of the two companies' new locate-to-order business model. The test program will combine the independent all-makes, all-models capability of Autobytel with a new GM locate-to-order vehicle inventory model. The test is designed to help GM and its dealers learn how to create an

April 1, 2001

YOUTH MOVEMENT HITS FORD MOTOR CO. EXECUTIVE LEVEL

The upper echelon of Ford Motor Co.'s global marketing department takes on a decidedly young, noticeably female and intentionally Internet-savvy look. In the span of 24 hours, 38-year Ford marketing veteran Robert Rewey retired as group vice president, Global Consumer Services and North America, and was replaced by 40-year-old Brian Kelley who had been responsible for the company's e-business strategies.

By Tim Keenan • April 1, 2001

HOW TO SAVE A LOT OF MONEY AND SLEEP AT NIGHT

Soon these guys were back to telling foul jokes, and one had the poor judgment to wrap up a mixed-audience sales meeting by popping a porn movie in the training room VCR. By this time, you are undoubtedly weary of all the warnings and informational overload regarding discrimination claims in the U.S. The dangers still exist, however, for dealers to sustain monumental jury awards and some could, potentially,

By Joseph Coulter • April 1, 2001

Crevier BMW: 25% of sales are on line

In 1998, the Ziff Davis media and marketing firm named Crevier BMW's web site as the best new-car site in the country. Three years later, a quarter of the Santa Ana, CA dealership's sales start with a point and a click. Owner Donald Crevier says, “25% of our business is coming to us from the Internet.” He believes the high percentage can be partly attributed to the fact the store sells a luxury brand

By Christie Schweinsberg • April 1, 2001

LEVI JACKSON WAS A DEALER PIONEER

Not only was Mr. Jackson the first African-American executive at Ford, but one of the few at any major company in North America at the time. THERE'S AN AGE-OLD EXPRESSION THAT YOU DON'T realize how good someone or something is until they're gone. Well that's definitely true for myself in the case of Levi Jackson. When I read last December that Mr. Jackson had died, I felt bad for two reasons. One,

By Tim Keenan • April 1, 2001

The 02 Lexus SC 430 is for the rich, tanned and patient

Lexus now has a convertible. Finally. But it will require hard cash to procure the new hard top SC 430. It takes 25 seconds for the retractable aluminum-alloy top to perform a contortion act and stuff itself into the trunk. It takes $61,295 to buy the fully loaded 2002 model. It will take patience, too. The first year's production is all but sold out. Lexus dealers already wrote nearly 10,000 paid

By Steve Finlay • April 1, 2001

Bad Drivers, Good Credibility

A few months ago Car and Driver magazine tried to roll a '94 Ford Explorer by deliberately blowing out the left rear tire. It couldn't be done, not at 30 mph (48 km/h), and not at 70 mph (112 km/h). During the last blowout run, test driver Larry Webster didn't even have his hands on the steering wheel when the tire was deflated by a remote control device at 70 mph. The Explorer didn't veer or pull.

By Drew Winter • April 1, 2001

Shotgun Wedding

More than two years after its landmark international merger, DaimlerChrysler AG is starting to think like a global automaker. Its long-awaited restructuring plan, laid out in Stuttgart Feb. 26 by Chief Executive Juergen Schrempp and crew, calls for a new level of cooperation and cross-breeding from DC's various camps in the U.S., Europe and Japan. At the core is a platform-sharing strategy that will

By ALISA PRIDDLE and KATHERINE ZACHARY • April 1, 2001

Anderson Honda is No.1 e-Dealer

The top dog in the inaugural Ward's Dealer Business e-Dealer 100 is John “Big Dog” Anderson's Honda store in Palo Alto, CA. Anderson Honda initiated the sale of 2,346 units on line last year. Almost half of its sales revenue came from Internet sales in 2000. With an owner like John Anderson, the store's success is no surprise. He's a “take-no-prisoners” kind of guy and his energy level is well known

By Cliff Banks • April 1, 2001

Special dealerships are part of Ford’s luxury strategy

They aren’t saying so directly, but Ford Motor Co. evidently has its eye on becoming the leader in the luxury car segment. The leadership is in place, the brands have been acquired and the strategy is taking shape. That includes building dealerships selling all five makes in the Premier Auto Group. It's enough to make other players in the luxury segment sit up and take notice. The first step in Ford’s

By Cliff Banks • March 19, 2001

GM Chairman to Meet with South Korean President

SEOUL --General Motors Corp. officials are declining to comment on whether GM Chairman John F. Smith will meet privately this week with South Korea President Kim Dae-Jung to discuss GM's possible acquisition of Daewoo Motor Co. Ltd. GM has been in serious discussions on a possible take-over of the bankrupt automaker since last September. Daewoo reportedly owes creditors $16 billion. Smith is scheduled

By Vince Courtenay • March 8, 2001

SAE 2001: Light-Weight Wheels Get Dressed Up

To satisfy the never-ending quest by automakers to shed needless weight, the Epilogics Group developed its lightweight Kuhl wheel. Now it's adding some upscale styling. Through licensee Hayes Lemmerz International, Epilogics is taking its new chrome clad wheel to market to compete with other upscale wheel trim offerings. The chrome 5-spoke "cover" was developed in cooperation with Lacks Wheel Trim

By Mike Arnholt • March 6, 2001

Automotive Injection Molder Touts E-commerce Capabilities

Covisint, the giant e-commerce portal being developed by GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler and several other big automakers and suppliers has gotten the lion's share of attention when it comes to e-commerce in the auto industry, but in fact a lot is happening on the lower tiers as well. A case in point is Nypro Automotive, a Clinton, MA-based molder of precision plastic parts which announced a new "Extranet"

By Drew Winter • March 5, 2001

SAE 2001: Gentex Auto High-Beam System to Bow in ’04 Lincolns

DETROIT – Gentex Corp. says its new SmartBeam intelligent high-beam headlamp control system will make its debut on an ’04 model Lincoln. The Zeeland, MI-based supplier of electrochromic mirrors won’t specify the model, but the new device is likely to bow first on the Town Car, followed by the LS. The system uses a forward-facing CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) image sensor developed

By David E. Zoia • March 5, 2001

Hyundai XG300: Dare to Reach

MONTEREY, CA Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd. leads the charge in the Korean automakers' climb up-market with its new-for-North America '01 XG300 sedan. The XG300 imparts a look and feel more tailored to the Korean domestic market than for export unfortunate, since the car is Hyundai's first export foray into the luxury market. The reach and Hyundai officials acknowledge that it indeed is a reach is a timid

By KATHERINE ZACHARY • March 1, 2001

Dale Earnhardt worked hard as a dealer

When the black No. 3 Goodwrench Chevrolet Monte Carlo crashed into a concrete wall at the Daytona 500, the dealer community also lost one of its own. Dale Earnhardt, 49, who died in that crash, made the most of his NASCAR earnings by investing in many businesses, not the least of which was Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet in Mooresville, NC. In a 1998 interview with Ward's Dealer Business, Mr. Earnhardt showed

By Tim Keenan • March 1, 2001