Automakers: Page

Bridgestone/Firestone Keeps Rolling with New Tire Tech

PHOENIX In the computing world there's Pentium, Pentium II and Pentium III. In the tire world there's UNI-T, UNI-T/AQ and UNI-T/AQ II. And although tire engineers don't move as quickly as their counterparts in the computer industry, tire technology advances just as inexorably. Consumer and automaker demand for tires that ride better, last longer, perform better as they wear and provide more grip on

By Tim Keenan • March 1, 2001

Leaf Relief

DETROIT If there's one thing this industry reveres, it's a cheap and effective design. How else to describe the rear suspension of every pickup truck and most truck-derived sport/utility vehicles (SUVs) currently sold? Solid rear axles and leaf-spring suspensions have been around since Daimler met Benz, and that fact is what helps trucks and SUVs to be such huge profit centers: They use century-old

By Bill Visnic • March 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

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

Ram-bunctious!

DETROIT The grille is unmistakably Dodge. The hope is loyal Ram fullsize pickup buyers will remain equally true. The '02 DaimlerChrysler Corp. Dodge light-duty Ram headed for production in July and to U.S. dealerships in the fall headlined this month at the Chicago Auto Show (see p.84). The new and restyled beast boasts a pair of new-to-Ram engines, an even higher hood, and a larger cab in a concentrated

By Alisa Priddle • March 1, 2001

Putting a New Spin on DaimlerChrysler Corp.

What will a profitable DaimlerChrysler Corp. look like two years from now? Will it still be an integral part of DaimlerChrysler AG? Will its products retain styling edge and regain segment domination? Will the historic merger be deemed successful? The architects of the megadeal and their successors insist the economic reasons that prompted the merger continue to hold true. But talk of spinning off

By Alisa Priddle • March 1, 2001

Sharpen those pencils!

Is an Oldsmobile franchise worth less for multi-franchise dealers than for the country's 63 exclusive Olds dealers? Yes, says General Motors Corp. which is phasing out the brand. GM's transition financial assistance package (TFAP) sets a sliding scale of $1,500 to $2,900 per vehicle unit for determining amounts payable to Olds dealers. The largest amount which was initially $2,400 per vehicle before

March 1, 2001

Youth club honors Beau Boeckmann

The Boys & Girls Club of San Fernando Valley, CA, presented their Community Hands Award to Galpin Ford Vice President Beau Boeckmann, son of Galpin's owner Bert Boeckmann.. We salute Beau for his long-time commitment, not just to our club programs, but for his total involvement in working for the betterment of our youth, says Leroy Chase, Jr., president of the Boys & Girls Club.

March 1, 2001

Suburban Collection opens Honda and Acura points in Michigan

The Troy, MI-based Suburban Collection, owned by David T. Fischer, opened two new stores Suburban Honda and Suburban Acura in Farmington Hills. The facilities are built on a nine-acre parcel close to several major highways and expressways in suburban Detroit. The project cost $9 million. The Suburban Collection now encompasses 15 dealerships selling 16 domestic and import brands.

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

Searching for Style

Style. U.S. automakers had it to spare in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. Then they lost it. Now they want it back. Bad. Along with every other car company. It has little to do with a new aesthetic sense growing at automakers worldwide, although that indeed is a trend. Rather it is a dollars and cents issue. Suddenly styling – not just sound design – is separating winners from losers in the marketplace.

By Drew Winter • Feb. 16, 2001

European Ecoplants

Green concerns driving new assembly plant design Small footprints are ecological bragging points of two new European assembly plants now in the pilot-production phase. Volkswagen AG's plant for its new W12 "D" luxury car is in the middle of downtown Dresden, Germany. It rises three stories into the air to remain compact. Toyota Motor Corp. built its Yaris plant in the middle of huge acreage in an

By William Diem • Feb. 1, 2001

Bill Lovejoy makes GM dealers happy

His reputation as a straight-shooter serves him well A year ago, the General Motors Corp. high command asked William J. Lovejoy to take a position tantamount to taking over Napoleon's troops at Waterloo. GM wanted the likeable New Yorker to replace Roy S. Roberts as vice president and group executive of the automaker's North American vehicle sales and service operations.GM dealers were up in arms.

By Tim Keenan • Feb. 1, 2001

BMW Financial sets record selling off-lease vehicles

Sales of off-lease certified BMW vehicles helped set an income record in 2000 for BMW Financial Services, says its president, Robert Devine.In 2000, BMWFS surpassed the $5 billion mark in lease and retail financing income, while the pre-owned vehicle total exceeded the 40,000 mark, says Mr. Devine."This occurred despite BMW's spinoff of Land Rover last June to its new owner, Ford," says Mr. Devine.

By WARD'S DEALER BUSINESS STAFF • Feb. 1, 2001

Shooting Blanks

Shooting Blanks Aerospace company advances aluminum welding technology A Canadian engineering firm is adopting a unique strategy in the war to reduce vehicle weight.It's shooting blanks.Liburdi Engineering, a Toronto-area company with a high-flying reputation in aerospace, is on the radar screen of at least five automakers because of its welded aluminum blanks.Now a staple of the steel industry, so-called

By Eric Mayne • Feb. 1, 2001

Belly Up to the Bar Code

2D symbology, now required by GM, can prevent recalls Bar codes are not sexy, but the auto industry would stumble terribly without them. Cars could be built with the wrong colored seats - or no seats at all. There would be so many recalls that automakers would have to start paying dealers for franchises. The build-to-order thing? Forget it.The bar code is ubiquitous. You'd have to watch Little House

By Tom Murphy • Feb. 1, 2001

CADILLAC UNVEILS ESCALADE PICKUP

Cadillac provided a surprise glimpse at its answer to the Lincoln Blackwood, showing off its '02 Escalade EXT at the Los Angeles Auto Show.The EXT is a cross between a luxury sport/utility vehicle and a pickup truck.The luxury sport/utility truck (SUT) is equipped with the same 345-hp 6.0L V-8 as the Escalade, "making it the most powerful SUT (sport utility/truck) in the world," says Gary White, General

By WARD'S DEALER BUSINESS STAFF • Feb. 1, 2001

CHRYSLER: THE NEW PREMIUM BRAND?

CHRYSLER IS FEELING HIGH CLASS DESPITE ITS current money problems.Consumers for years perceived Chryslers as large and conservative family sedans, according to Maureen Edson, a Chrysler marketing manager."But that's no longer applicable," she says. "More and more consumers see Chrysler as upscale and leading edge."Accordingly, Chrysler is trying to gild its image, move on up and re-position itself

By Steve Finlay • Feb. 1, 2001

Land Ho!

GM transforms rust belts to green belts The consumer's image of a press conference featuring an industrial company and the Environmental Protection Agency is not very good.And David Skiven, executive director of General Motors Corp.'s Worldwide Facilities Group, recognizes this as he kicks off a gathering of scribes featuring the automaker and the EPA at GM's Truck Product Center (TPC) in Pontiac,

By Brian Corbett • Feb. 1, 2001

Lean and Green

Honda will re-do all of its plants by 2003 SUZUKA, Japan - In refurbishing its Suzuka assembly plant, Honda Motor Co. Ltd. has taken "best practices" from its production facilities in Japan and overseas.The company's goal: to put in place a "green" manufacturing system by 2003.The No. 1 and No. 3 Suzuka lines will be the "standard" for all Honda production facilities around the world, says Honda President

By Roger Schreffler • Feb. 1, 2001

SOME ‘NET VENTURES ARE LEMONS; THIS IS LEMONADE

Toyota site has better closing rate than for walk-ins "The Internet a lemon?" "FounderingSales.com?"That's what banner headlines in Fortune magazine and the Detroit Free Press proclaimed, citing direct-sales dot-coms' gloom and doom in sales results, dealer satisfaction and, perish the thought, common stock values.But the publications should check out the latest report from Gulf States Toyota. Its

By Maynard M. Gordon • Feb. 1, 2001

WHAT NOT TO DO IN A TOUGH SITUATION

Deception and denial are of little help for employers caught in business crisis situations, according to former American Motors Chairman and CEO Gerald C. Meyers.Now a professor of crisis management at the University of Michigan Business School, Dr. Meyers specifically singles out DaimlerChrysler Chairman Juergen E. Schrempp and senior executives of Bridgestone/Firestone for engaging in "D-word" reactions

By Maynard M. Gordon • Feb. 1, 2001

HOW SUCCESS CAME TO TOP OLDS DEALER

"A warm spot in our hearts for that great old name" ELLISVILLE, MO - Thirty years ago, what was to become the largest-volume Oldsmobile dealership got its start here in a trailer and with a $200,000 loan from GM's Motors Holding Division.The new dealer kid on the block back then was Frank Bommarito.He had started out as a kid car washer at McMahon Ford and then did the same thing at Vincel Pontiac,

By Maynard M. Gordon • Feb. 1, 2001

DCC LOOKS FOR SALES BOOST FROM ITS ALL-NEW JEEP LIBERTY

DaimlerChrysler Corp. is looking to sell 200,000 new Jeep Liberty sport/utility vehicles (SUVs) annually, about 40% more than sales for the outgoing Cherokee it replaces.The all-new '02 model small SUV was unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show. The Liberty goes on sale in the spring. Prices have not been announced but are expected to start at $18,000 and top out at $25,000 when equipped with a V-6 and

By WARD'S DEALER BUSINESS STAFF • Feb. 1, 2001

New ZF shifter allows flexible layouts

A cable-operated manual gearshift mechanism developed in Germany by ZF Lemforder Fahrwerktechnik AG & Co. KG permits greatly enhanced installation flexibility, says the company.With the new cable-linkage design, the shift lever can be integrated in the instrument console or steering column - as well as in any position on the floor. The twin stranded-wire Bowden-type cables are easily routed around

By David Scott • Feb. 1, 2001

AUTONATION’S CEO REPORTEDLY SAID `NEIN’ TO CHRYSLER OFFER

AutoNation Inc. CEO Michael J. Jackson reportedly was sounded out by his old boss at DaimlerChrysler to fill the suddenly vacant top spot at DC's Chrysler Group.A highly placed source in DC management and several DC dealers say that before assigning the Chrysler presidency to long-time Mercedes-Benz executive Dieter Zetsche, DC Chairman and CEO Juergen E. Schrempp offered the job to Mr. Jackson.The

By WARD'S DEALER BUSINESS STAFF • Feb. 1, 2001