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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

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

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

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

Can This Guy Work Magic?

With breathless excitement, the U.S. Big Three automakers joined hands in February 2000 and declared war on inefficiency. Having pursued separate paths in launching business-to-business e-commerce strategies, Detroit's brass realized how wasteful that would be. They were ecstatic over the prospect of melding each company's initiatives into one colossal Internet exchange that could manage the entire

By Tom Murphy • June 1, 2001

Connecticut dealership switches franchises from Jeep to Dodge

The former Stahl's Jeep of Derby (CT) is now Stahl's Derby Dodge. The new name reflects its new inventory of Dodge cars and trucks exclusively. The family-owned company dates to 1917. It started out repairing batteries. It started selling Hudson cars in the 1940s, then AMC products. It was a Jeep dealer for 30 years before switching to Dodge this year. Our new focus gives us a tremendous opportunity

June 1, 2001

GM improves its minority dealer efforts

General Motors Corp.'s minority dealer program hit all of its growth targets last year but its future may be even tougher than its imperfect past. The number of GM minority dealers grew from 320 in 1999 to 350 last year, 70% of them owned their businesses and 77% of GM's minority dealers were profitable. Those numbers are in stark contrast to 1998, when only 62.5% of GM's 280 minority dealers were

By Frank S. Washington • June 1, 2001

UnitedAuto buys two big dealerships in New York

UnitedAuto Group Inc., a leading publicly traded megadealer acquired two big dealerships in the New York metro market, Mercedes-Benz of Nanuet and KEA Honda,also in Nanuet. According to UAG, the stores’ annual revenues will be about $100 million, and will increase UAG’s revenue in the New York market by approximately 12%. The acquisitions brings UnitedAuto Group’s dealership total to 90 stores and

By Cliff Banks • May 31, 2001

The “Little Guys” – Who Aren’t So Little – See Big Guys Such As AutoNation As Just Another Dealer

Jumping nine spots from its position last year, Rick Case Enterprises, Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, FL, is No. 87 with total revenue rising from $244.7 million in 1999 to $289.3 million for 2000. Chairman and CEO Rick Case attributes this to the continued demand for the foreign nameplates he sells at his ten dealerships like Honda, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Daewoo and Hyundai, and further demand for luxury vehicles

By Christie Schweinsberg • May 30, 2001

Hyundai dealers worldwide to get high-tech parts catalog system

International automotive industry I.T. developer, Infomedia Ltd, signed a five-year global data license agreement with Hyundai Mobis to supply its electronic parts catalog system (EPC), Microcat., to Hyundai dealers around the world. Last year, Hyundai was the fastest growing automaker in the world, notes Richard Graham, Chairman and CEO of Infomedia Ltd, based in Sydney Australia. An EPC is a sophisticated

By Wire Reports • May 11, 2001

GM to Make Move on Daewoo Deal, Insiders Confirm

SEOUL-- General Motors Corp., with alliance partner Fiat SpA, intends to present a summary of its proposal for the purchase of some or all of the assets of insolvent Daewoo Motors Co. Ltd. to the state-owned Korean Development Bank within the next two weeks, Ward’s Automotive International has learned. KDB is Daewoo’s main creditor. The meeting could take place as early as May 18. GM’s board of directors

By Vince Courtenay • May 11, 2001

Ford-Firestone relationship ‘tested’ but continues

Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone -- best friends and business associates -- would have found it painful to watch their successors before congressional committees blaming each other for the recall of 6.4 million Firestone tires on Ford Explorer SUVs linked to a rash of rollover accidents after the vehicles’ tires shredded. In the end, the tire supplier took the obligatory "hit" for the automaker and

By Tim Keenan • May 4, 2001

Switching Teams Used to be Rare

Job-hopping is not a new phenomenon in automotive circles, although the pace clearly is accelerating as the age of loyal worker bees comes to an end. Some of the more notorious job changes: Lee A. Iacoccca from the Ford Motor Co. to Chrysler Corp. in 1978, and the late Semon E. (Bunkie) Knudsen from General Motors Corp. to Ford a decade earlier. Robert A. (Bob) Lutz, who retired in 1998 as Chrysler's

By David C. Smith • May 1, 2001

Metro Detroit Chrysler Jeep dealers donate $48,500 to United Way

The Chrysler Jeep Super-stores of Southeastern Michigan gave a $48,500 gift to the United Way. The money was raised during the Chrysler Jeep Superstores' third annual end-of-the-year gift exchange event. The special holiday new vehicle sales event ran from Dec. 26-31. Dealers donated $50 to the United Way for each vehicle that was sold or leased during the event. We're pleased to be a supporter of

May 1, 2001

SL roadster ready for EHB; Are consumers?

BOXBERG, Germany DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes-Benz division is making a significant commitment to the concept of electro-hydraulic braking (EHB), the first step toward a completely dry system. The totally redesigned 02 Mercedes SL roadster, which launches this summer in Germany, will be the first series-production car to feature 4-wheel EHB as standard equipment. yes, but volumes for the super-pricey

By Tom Murphy • May 1, 2001

Ford Plays Matchmaker

Sometimes it's a foundering supplier that needs rescuing. Or two parts-makers have a good idea to combine their strengths for mutual benefit. Or a deep-pocketed financier makes an offer that a small independent supplier just can't refuse. Whatever the reason, mergers and acquisitions within the automotive supply chain make the financial pages just about every day. But in the background stands the

By Tom Murphy • May 1, 2001

Buick Expects Big Finish to Boost 2001

Mark Hines, brand manager for the Buick Regal and Century, says both cars have a similar sales story so far this year. First quarter retail deliveries are down 24% for both models, as Buick sales overall have plunged 16.4%. There are two reasons for the large drops, Mr. Hines says: Buick has only carryover models for the first half of the year, and 00 sales got a boost from an owner loyalty incentive

May 1, 2001

DIETER ZETSCHE’S FACIAL SHRUBBERY: A 31-YEAR PROJECT STARTED AS A LAD

Dieter Zetsche arrived in the U.S. with the tough task of blotting up the red ink at Chrysler. The German auto executive has been subsequently vilified for overseeing thousands of Chrysler job cuts. That's prompted a lot of questions about the transplanted Chrysler president. Like Who is this guy? and What makes him tick? A different line of questioning: Where'd he get that wild and bushy mustache,

May 1, 2001