Automakers: Page 422

GM Establishes Database for Racing Injuries

ORLANDO - While most of the General Motors Racing brain trust was sweating out the final laps of the Delphi Indy 200 at Walt Disney World in late January, at least two GM officials - Thomas W. Gideon and John W. Melvin - were more concerned about the condition of Jaques Lazier and Davey Hamilton.Long before Robbie Buhl's Oldsmobile Aurora-powered racer passed Eddie Cheever's Nissan Infiniti-equipped

By Tim Keenan • March 1, 2000

MERCEDES-BENZ GOES FOR EXCLUSIVITY WITH CL500 BILLED AS “PURE SEDUCTION”

What does Mercedes-Benz USA, which sold more luxury cars than anyone else in the nation last year, do for an encore in 2000?Ironically, one thing is to launch a vehicle with an incredibly limited production.It's the CL500 Coupe, retailing for $85,500 and billed as one of the most technologically advanced cars ever.MBUSA's allotment for this year is 2,500 units in the U.S. That's about 20% of worldwide

By Steve Finlay • March 1, 2000

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

New job after 30 years at Ford

Thomas N. (Toby) Hynes has joined distributor Gulf States Toyota (GST) as president and general manager, ending a 30-year career at Ford which included nearly four years of service as president and chief operating officer of Ford Credit's Primus financial division.Mr. Hynes succeeds Earl Hesterberg at Gulf States. Mr. Hesterberg, a onetime Nissan Motor Sales U.S.A. senior executive, moved to Ford

March 1, 2000

Materials: Boxed In

NORTH BALTIMORE, OH - It's five hours from this small town south of Toledo to Louisville, KY, and the big trucks are loaded and ready.Each truck will transport 33 sheet-molded composite (SMC) pickup boxes for the new Ford Explorer Sport Trac, a sport/utility vehicle (SUV) hybrid reaching dealerships this month, which is assembled at Ford's Louisville truck plant.The boxes are molded at the Budd Co.'s

By David C. Smith with Said Deep • March 1, 2000

Florida’s Kelly Ford celebrates 25 years

It was a homecoming of sorts when Ford Div. President James G. O'Connor attended the 25th anniversary celebration at Kelly Ford in Melbourne, FL.He's a former employee of Kelly Ford in Atlanta. He was general manager of the store from 1970 to 1972.Mr. O'Connor was joined at the party by former Ford and Chrysler executive Bennett Bidwell, who is a member of the Kelly Management Corp. board of directors.Three

March 1, 2000

GM INTRODUCES NEW A/C RECYCLER

Repairing a vehicle's air conditioning system can be a time-consuming operation fraught with problems unrelated to repairing the mech-anical parts.Ever since R12 (Freon) was outlawed, the substance has had a tendency to creep into service department equipment and customer vehicles, causing each to function below their capabilities. Such problems hurt the bottom line and customer satisfaction.General

By Tim Keenan • March 1, 2000

Auto Talk: Audi Opens Torture Chamber for Electronics

You're cruising the Autobahn at a healthy click when your dashboard lights up like a Christmas tree. So you slow down, and all is well once you get away from that annoying but powerful short-wave radio transmitter parked by the side of the road.Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) is a hot issue for automakers who are struggling to keep on-board electronic systems from interfering with each other and

By WARD'S AUTO WORLD STAFF • March 1, 2000

Here’s to you: the Rendezvous, Daewoo and Subaru

Highlights of the Chicago Auto Show: GENERAL MOTORS: Buick Division will finally get an SUV - the Rendezvous, an upscale truck that debuted at the Chicago show and goes on sale in the second quarter of 2001 as a '02 model.It will be targeted at buyers who are younger than the average age of 60 for Buick owners, says Roger Adams, the division's marketing general manager."Our research shows that the

By Steve Finlay and Brian Corbett • March 1, 2000

F&I is not Greek to new chairman

Closer relationships with dealer and consumer customers are a key goal of Ford Credit's new chairman and CEO, Don Winkler, former chief of the Finance One subsidiary of Bank One Corp.Mr. Winkler, 51, switched from Bank One to Ford Credit after Philippe Paillart unexpectedly gave up the Ford post to pursue an assignment.Mr. Paillart's resignation was announced by Ford President and CEO Jacques A. Nasser,

March 1, 2000

Are you wild enough?

Dealers style showrooms to get outdoorsy customers to trek on over Although it isn't likely people will be heading to the local Ford dealership to plan their next hiking trip, dealers nationwide have started to respond in major ways to a Ford Motor Co. sport/utility vehicle-advertising program.Ford has lumped all its SUVs, the Explorer, Expedition, Excursion, Explorer Sport Trac and upcoming Escape

By Jeff Green • March 1, 2000

Volkswagen Turns Up the Heat

Look, there's no arguing with Volkswagen AG's recent U.S. sales boom. The Passat started it, a blunt message that midsize sedans needn't be a styling snore. The perky New Beetle fanned the flames, and the restyled Jetta is the gasoline for the blaze, reaching the young - and young at heart - in embarrassingly effective fashion.Proof, then, that great styling sells. But we're told that "performance"

By Bill Visnic • March 1, 2000

Pipeline: Meritor Opens Lid on New Market

Meritor Automotive, which pioneered the one-piece roof module in Europe on the DaimlerChrysler MCC Smart car, is pushing the concept globally and now has development agreements with four automakers.The Troy, MI, supplier isn't identifying the customers except to say they are considering the modules for cars and light trucks in various markets, likely by 2004.Currently, roofs are stamped, formed and

By Tom Murphy • March 1, 2000

Brand Spanking New

It's no silver bullet - it won't solve all of General Motors Corp.'s production problems. And it definitely isn't Yellow-stone, company executives admit.But the new assembly plant now under construction in Lansing, MI, is expected to be the most efficient and flexible facility in GM's global empire. It's also a 3-D brick-and-mortar testament to the automaker's new philosophy to develop common best

By David E. Zoia • March 1, 2000

FORD TESTS NEW DEALERSHIP SIGN

A new sign to identify Ford dealerships is being tested at a store down the street from Ford Motor Co. headquarters in Dearborn, MI.By 2003, Ford Division hopes signs just like it will be completely installed at its 4,200 dealerships across the nation.The first, at Village Ford, is undergoing tests for durability and readability.The sign features the familiar blue Ford oval atop a pedestal."The blue

March 1, 2000

THE KIDS (AND GRANDKIDS) ARE ALL RIGHT

Former dealer Nat Shulman gets this magazine's last word because his column appears on the last page.This month he uses that forum to take exception to the notion that Henry Ford is the automotive person of the century.It's a provocative column, noting that Mr. Ford, while indeed an automotive pioneer, had some deep character flaws.But what's ironic to look at, too, are the lives of Henry Ford's descendants,

By Steve Finlay • March 1, 2000

Auto Talk: Arvin Wants to Clear the Air on Cobra

Wes Vance doesn't want to reopen old wounds, but he would like to clear his company's name.The president of exhaust at Arvin Industries Inc. says his company was unfairly blamed for horsepower deficiencies identified by owners of Ford Motor Co.'s '99 Mustang SVT Cobra.Owners complained that the Cobra didn't generate the advertised 320 hp, and Ford attributed much of the problem to excessive backpressure

By WARD'S AUTO WORLD STAFF • March 1, 2000

Leading Honda Back to F-1

Takefumi Hosaka Managing director at Honda R&D Co. Ltd. For Takefumi Hosaka, Saturday the 12th of March will be one of the biggest days of his career. The 50-year-old executive, together with 15 of his juniors, plans to be in Melbourne for the 16th running of the Australian Grand Prix.The date marks Honda's return to Formula One racing and is the first of 17 Formula One races on this year's calendar.When

By WARD'S AUTO WORLD STAFF • March 1, 2000

BY DESIGN

Ford design chief J. Mays calls it the 10-year-old-boy test: "When a kid sees a car on the street he has to instantly be able to say 'Oh, that's that fill-in-the-blank Ford.' They've got to identify it instantly and they've got to like it."And if not?Then you're toast in 2007.Automotive designers always have wanted to create cars and trucks that make kids stop and stare, but now it has turned into

By Drew Winter, Peter Robinson, Roger Schreffler, KATHERINE ZACHARY • Feb. 1, 2000

The Contrarian: Heaven Can’t Wait

Cole: Ed Cole reporting as ordered, sir.Gabriel: We're sending you back, Cole.Cole: I thought we never went back, sir.Gabriel: That's usually true, but there are exceptions, and we've got a job for you. The Big Guy always liked General Motors. You knew that. Now he's worried. He heard they are going to buy engines from Honda, and getting all-wheel-drive knowhow from Subaru. Did you hear that?Cole:

By Jerry Flint • Feb. 1, 2000

2 new Internet ties: GM-AOL, Ford-Yahoo!

GM and Ford forged agreements with two of the biggest sales and marketing players on the Internet, America Online Inc. (AOL) and Yahoo! Inc., respectively.Adding substantial clout to other Web site arrangements and their own cyber services, GM said that by midyear it would tap into AOL's 20 million subscribers, while Ford looked forward to reaching the 105 million users of Yahoo's programs."We already

Feb. 1, 2000

New Wheels: How High the Moon

LAGUNA BEACH, CA - It doesn't attract gawkers in this hilly southern California beach city as we tool down the main drag, Highway 1, some 45 miles (72 km) from Los Angeles.That's because outwardly it doesn't look much different than a standard 2000 Buick Regal. And you wouldn't mistake it for a typical convertible with the top down, even though it is indeed a "convertible." From the side it looks

By David C. Smith • Feb. 1, 2000

New Wheels: Focus, Exterra Nail NACOTY, NATOTY Awards

DETROIT - Mass-market customers are well-served by this year's winners of the North American Car and Truck of the Year 2000 awards. Ford Motor Co. beats out Audi AG - and its own Lincoln Div. - with the Focus subcompact besting the other NACOTY finalists, the Audi TT and Lincoln LS.Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. enjoys confirmation of its resurging market acumen, as the popular-with-the-young-buyer Xterra

By WARD'S AUTO WORLD STAFF • Feb. 1, 2000

BODY SHOP TRAINING BRINGS HIGH CSI

More than 3,400 tech-nicians have gone through Toyota's body and paint training since it began eight years ago, and it seems to be paying off."We've seen dramatic improvement in consumer satisfaction index and financial performance," says John Saia, technical & body training development manager at the Toyota Training Center in Torrance, CA. "This training is an element of that. It doesn't stand alone."It

By Tim Keenan • Feb. 1, 2000

Truck Models Growing Like Sneakers

It wasn't long ago that a single pair of sneakers was all that you needed to run, walk or jog. Today shoemakers have footgear for every imaginable activity and have most of us convinced that three pair are better than one.Automakers may never be able to aspire to such a vision with vehicles, but the new wave of sport/utility vehicles (SUVs) now coming to market point out that the segment, like footwear,

By SAID DEEP • Feb. 1, 2000

GM and its dealers “kiss and make up”

In 1998, General Motors Corp. had such bad relations with the United Auto Workers, a bunch of strikes broke out. GM spent much of 1999 making peace with the union.Last year, GM relations with its dealers went bad, turning ugly when the automaker announced a plan to buy nearly 800 dealerships.GM dealers went ballistic. They were furious - and said so, publicly. They saw the automaker's move as a turf

By Steve Finlay • Feb. 1, 2000