Automakers: Page

Four-Door Sedan as Benchmark

I would be delighted to tell you that the all-new 2002 Toyota Motor Corp. Camry is a rollicking, rollercoaster of a car to drive. That would fill in the final blank on Camry's job application for Best Car In The World. The Camry, after all, is every competing automaker's benchmark for engineering, build quality, refinement. All-around goodness. But Camry's never been emotional either to look at or

By Bill Visnic • Oct. 1, 2001

Survey says body shop technicians’ pay and benefits increasing

Some findings of a survey on collision repair technicians didn't surprise D.J. Shepherd, manager of the Dub Miller Ford body shop in Rosenberg, TX, near Houston. The survey of 400 independent and dealership collision repair shops around the country found that the average age of body shop technicians is rising. Mr. Shepherd says most of his shop's 13 employees are in their mid-40s or older. The survey

By John Yoswick • Oct. 1, 2001

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

UPBEAT DEALER MEETING TURNS SOMBER

THE 2001 NISSAN NATIONAL DEALER MEETING IN Las Vegas was intended as an upbeat event, a pep rally of sorts by a car company that''s coming off some bad years. More than 2,000 dealers, family members and others flew in, ready to get down to business and to hear of Nissan''s comeback plans, leveraged by the redesigned 2002 Altima. Then came the horrible news of the day: terrorists had drilled airliners

By Steve Finlay • Oct. 1, 2001

Too Hot to Handle

General Motors Corp. says it will debut, by 2005, a motion sensor embedded in headliners that will detect if a child, pet or vulnerable adult is left inside a dangerously hot vehicle. The low-energy sensor, being developed using the automaker's minivans, uses technology similar to Doppler weather radar. It measures the temperature in the vehicle and how fast the mercury is rising. The sensor is delicate

Oct. 1, 2001

Can Premier Automotive Group Answer the Call to Save Ford?

Cue the cheesy theme music and hammy narrator Deep inside the bowels of Ford Motor Co.'s world headquarters, the storied automaker's sharpest minds are in a dither. For with each passing day, the news is increasingly dreary. And every dispatch arrives like a punch from an arch nemesis. Dwindling market share. Wham!Declining truck profits. Biff!Waning consumer confidence. Thwump! Desperate, the brain

By ERIC MAYNE with Herb Shuldiner and David E. Zoia • Oct. 1, 2001

Terror Attacks Stall Industry; Long-term Impact Unknown

September's devastating terrorist attacks on the U.S. continue to hold the country's auto industry hostage. In terms of human loss, the tragic event claimed the life of Linda Gronlund, 46, environmental compliance manager for BMW of North America and former assistant general council for Volvo Cars in North America. She was a passenger on United Airlines flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania, one

Oct. 1, 2001

DEALERSHIP PITCHS IN DURING THE WTC DISASTER

It began as a somber day for Tom Gowen, general manager of Kelle Chevrolet in Howell, NJ. And it got a lot worse. The mother of one of the dealership's principals was being buried that day and the World Trade Center was not even on his radar screen the morning of September 11. But before the day was over Mr. Gowen was to play an important role in the lives of many survivors, bystanders and others

By Herb Shuldiner • Oct. 1, 2001

Growing Interest for 4-point Seatbelts

Ford Motor Co. took a trio of seats to the Frankfurt auto show in Germany last month to see if Europeans have similar tastes to North Americans when it comes to being strapped in. The carmaker conducted similar seatbelt tests in Detroit during the North American International Auto Show in January. The 2,000 showgoers who tried them favored the 4-point seatbelts over the current 3-point system on all

By Alisa Priddle • Oct. 1, 2001

Ford’s Health-Care Costs Need a Doctor

Ford Motor Co. is wrestling with a that would see its health care costs increase 20% next year, WAW has learned. Ford confirms it is in negotiations with Blue Cross and Blue Shield, the document's author and the administrator of Ford's primary employee health-care plan, but won't reveal its implications or disclose how much is spent on employee health care. An insider tells WAW that such a hike would

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

VIRTEXX Assesses Driver Distraction

After six months of development, Ford Motor Co. is ready for serious experiments on driver distraction on a virtual highway in its VIRTEXX (VIRtual Test Track EXperiment) simulation dome. Data from the first tests soon will be available to develop in-house standards by year-end. It will be used to help the carmaker understand what products and services it should offer in its vehicles to promote safety

By Alisa Priddle • Oct. 1, 2001

He wins $1 million but not for long

GM sales and marketing VP Michael Grimaldi shot a charity golf match hole in one. The feat won him $1 million. Not so fast, though. As a sponsor of a WJR-AM radio fundraiser, GM had paid Mr. Grimaldi's $5,000 entry fee. GM policy says that, under such circumstances, he was representing the automaker and therefore isn't personally entitled to receive any prizes. Instead, the money went back to charity.

Oct. 1, 2001

Hyundai to send CKD kits to Russia

Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd. signs a contract with Doninvest of Russia, involving assembly of some 70,000 units of the Accent over a 5-year period. The cars will be shipped as complete-knocked-down kits for assembly at the Doninvest plant in TagAz. They will carry the Russian label Hyundai expects to ship 3,500 units this year and 8,000 in 2002, with the remaining 58,000 shipped over a 3-year period through

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

Mercedes new ad campaign targets affluent blacks

Mercedes-Benz has redesigned its model lineup, lowered it prices and loosened up its brand image in the last seven years. Now, the automaker is testing a marketing program that will enable it to zero in and target a more diverse audience with rifle-shot accuracy. In other words, Mercedes-Benz USA's advertising and marketing message is going local. We want to do more event marketing, rather than just

By Frank S. Washington • Oct. 1, 2001

Ban the Bland

When Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. peeled the wraps off its now-famous Nissan Revival Plan in October 1999, the ailing automaker promised that its turnaround not only would rely heavily on cost cutting, but also would draw strength from a reinvigorated product lineup. In May, Nissan touted stronger-than-expected financial results for the previous fiscal year, with a compelling return to profit. This fall,

By KATHERINE ZACHARY • Oct. 1, 2001

GM Brazil exports increase as production stalls

General Motors do Brasil is finding success in an intensive campaign to seek new markets, increasing its exports 33.7% in the year's first half, while slowing production to meet falling local demand. Brazil's economy this year has been severely impacted by an ongoing energy crisis, increased inflation, a currency devaluation and fallout from neighboring Argentina's economic crisis. Jose Carlos Pinheiro

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

Cadillac Escalade EXT not a me-to SUT

Some General Motors Corp. staffers were unnerved when Ford Motor Co. unveiled its Lincoln Blackwood concept luxury sport utility truck (SUT) at Detroit's North American International Auto Show in January, 1999. The reason for the concern: Cadillac was in the midst of working on its own cross between a luxury full-size SUV and a premium pickup truck the Escalade EXT, a spin-off of the Escalade SUV.

By Steve Finlay • Oct. 1, 2001

Delphi Loses its Appendix

The competition is licking its chops in anticipation of a seemingly magical date that is only a few months away. On Jan. 1, Delphi Automotive Systems loses its right of last refusal for replacement business in the U.S. and Canada with its former parent, General Motors Corp. It's spelled out in the Supply Agreement clause buried in the 151-page prospectus issued in January 1999 before Delphi's spinoff

By Tom Murphy • Oct. 1, 2001

VW appoints former BMW head as CEO

Volkswagen AG appoints Bernd Pischetsrieder as chairman of the company's management board effective April 17, 2002. The move ends months of speculation around the succession of longtime VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech, who took over the German automaker in 1993. During a press briefing at the recent Frankfurt Motor Show, Mr. Piech congratulated Mr. Pischetsrieder on his appointment saying: He is the ideal

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

Craft Centre Likely to Make Bengal

General Motors Corp. likely will build the all-new Buick Bengal convertible coupe at its Lansing, MI, Craft Centre, sources tell WAW. That's been the talk around here, says a union source in Lansing. That name (Bengal) has been tossed around more than once. Everyone has heard about the Bengal going into production, but here the word is loud and clear. A source close to the automaker confirms the Bengal

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

“Yellow” is the new rebel’s yell! “Orange” may be next!!

Blue is making a car-color come-back. But yellow is gaining ground with motoring non-conformists. So says Alan Eggly, a Ford senior color and trim designer. Before, if you saw a yellow vehicle, it was a school bus, taxi or sports car. Now, yellow -- from bold to subtle hues -- leads Ford Motor Company's vehicle color palette for 2002, says Mr. Eggly. “In the past, it was rare to see yellow on anything

By Steve Finlay • Sept. 28, 2001

GM, Ford announce 0% financing

In an attempt to invigorate sharply declining vehicle sales following last week's tragic attack, both General Motors and Ford Motor Co. this week announced no-interest vehicle loans. The programs are scheduled to run from September 20 through the end of October. General Motors was first to introduce its "Keep America Rolling" program, announcing it early Thursday morning. As early as Thursday afternoon,

By Wire Reports • Sept. 21, 2001

GM, Daewoo Iron Out Last-Minute Details

SEOUL -- After 10 months of complicated negotiations, General Motors Corp. and Daewoo Motor Co. Ltd. are poised to sign a memorandum of understanding stating the terms under which the GM and alliance partner Fiat Auto SpA alliance will acquire selected Daewoo assets. Along with Daewoo’s two most modern Korean car plants, the Daewoo Technical Center and Daewoo Motor Sales’ dealership network, the deal

By Vince Courtenay • Sept. 19, 2001

GM Ready to Sue Some Dealers

General Motors Corp. is prepared to go to court to stop dealers from selling a GM nameplate and competitive products next to one another on the same showroom floor, according to a top company executive. GM's opposition to sharing showroom space stems from other automakers namely Koreans offering dealership sales personnel cash incentives in addition to their typical retail commission, says Bill Lovejoy,

Sept. 1, 2001

DCC design: AWD Jeeps, cab backward

The Chrysler Group is throwing out design cues the cab-forward look of its large cars and doing the once unthinkable affixing the Jeep brand on all-wheel-drive (AWD) vehicles. Some future Jeeps could be developed with less offroad-oriented AWD instead of 4-wheel drive (4WD). While Wrangler will always retain the ability to cross the ultra-rugged Rubicon Trail, Chrysler Group Design Chief Trevor Creed

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

Ford dealers score with alternative service facilities

Quality Care Service Centers and Quick Lanes are giving Ford and Lincoln Mercury dealers around the country added income, keeping otherwise wandering service business in house and attracting non-Ford buyers into the showroom. Twenty Quality Care Service Centers and 84 Quick Lanes currently are in operation. The main distinction is the Quality Care Service Centers are away from the dealer's primary

By Tim Keenan • Sept. 1, 2001