Automakers: Page

From ‘Drive by Wire’ to Adjustable Pedals

It started out as a small contract held by a company Teleflex Automotive acquired in 1997.Teleflex, a supplier of automotive cables and shifter control systems, wanted Comcorp Technologies of Warren, MI, for its expertise in "drive by wire" electronic throttle controls. Today, that small contract for adjustable pedals on some Ford Expeditions has blossomed into much more.Besides being offered as standard

By Drew Winter • April 1, 2000

Back to Basics for BMW

Wanna buy BMW?That's a question WAW asked a year ago (see WAW - April '99, p.28), and the answers came back loud and clear. A resounding "Yes" from nearly every carmaker in the world with the means, an even more emphatic "We're not for sale" from BMW AG executives and controlling shareholders, the Quandts (48%).Officially, those positions haven't changed. But with last month's sale of Rover to turnaround

By David E. Zoia- with Said Deep • April 1, 2000

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

Ford dealer victorious in Disney race

Indianapolis area Ford dealer Robbie Buhl won the first major auto race of the millennium when he took the checkered flat at the Delphi Indy 200 at Walt Disney World.Mr. Buhl, who owns Robbie Buhl's Smart Ford-Mercury in Danville, IN, started 22nd and worked his way to the front with a masterful pit strategy and tenacious driving."We had a car capable of winning and put ourselves in a good position,"

April 1, 2000

VW Dealership Breaks Ground in Texas

Park Cities Volkswagen in Dallas, TX, broke ground last month on a new stand-alone dealership.Currently part of Leo Griggs' Park Cities Chrysler-Plymouth-Jeep-Volkswagen, the new VW store will be a 36,000-sq.-ft. building formerly occupied by Friendly Chevrolet."Volkswagen is to this decade what Honda was in the '80s," says Mr. Grigg. "They have the designs and features consumers demand, and with

April 1, 2000

Hyundai Finance honors 10 dealers

Hyundai Motor Finance Company gave its new Pre-sident's Club Award to 10 dealerships that produced the largest dollar volume of vehicles financed through HMFC in 1999.The dealerships are: College Park Hyundai, College Park, MD; Rick Case Hyundai Group, Fort Lauderdale; Ben Stepman Hyundai, Henderson, NV; Automax Hyundai, Killeen, TX; Lee Hyundai, Fayetteville, NC; Carl L. Gregory Hyundai Group, Columbus,

April 1, 2000

FORD E-ALLY SEEKS OK FOR DEALERSHIPS

A website development agreement between Ford and the privately owned computer software giant Trilogy Inc. has given a shot in the arm to a controversial e-commerce auto sales project.That is the ongoing dealer-purchase initiative of CarOrder.com, a subsidiary of Trilogy and the recipient of $100 million from its parent to shop for and buy dealerships.Carorder's zealous president, 23-year-old Brian

By Maynard M. Gordon • April 1, 2000

PT Cruiser is hot, hot, hot; DC increasing production

Dealers began receiving DaimlerChrysler AG's PT Cruiser just last month, and the automaker already is boosting production of its all-new segment-redefining crossover vehicle. Because of the unprecedented demand, DC will supplement production of the Cruiser at its Eurostar factory in Graz, Austria. The DC plant in Toluca, Mexico, assembles the Cruiser and is scheduled to build 120,000 units this year

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

CHRYSLER PT CRUISER IS A VEHICLE FOR ‘BIG AL’ - AS WELL AS LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS

SAN DIEGO - Al Capone might have liked the Chrysler's new PT Cruiser."It reminds me of the cars the gangsters drove in those old movies," says a middle-aged woman who came upon one parked in La Jolla, CA as she walked her dog.Then again, it's expected to appeal to a lot of different people. That includes:* Young people who think it's too cool.* Older people who think its retro look is the cat's meow.*

By Steve Finlay • April 1, 2000

Small fish in a big pond make a decent splash

Stewart Management Group makes its first appearance on the Megadealer 100 list this year by virtue of its sole 1999 acquisition, Hoover Toyota in a suburb of Birmingham, AL.The Michigan-based group is among interesting players who are large enough to make the Ward's Dealer Business 100 Megadealers list, but are small compared to titans such as AutoNation Inc.Stewart (which ranks 90th) also operates

By Fred Bonnie and Maynard Gordon • April 1, 2000

Intrigue Could Get Cutlass Revival

Hoping to boost Oldsmobile Intrigue sales, General Motors Corp. says it likely will increase marketing efforts for the sport sedan and is considering reviving the Cutlass brand as an Intrigue model."Dealers are asking for Cutlass, possibly a Cutlass version of the Intrigue, which would help us kill two birds with one stone by bringing back a popular name and at the same time getting recognition for

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

Toyota gets set to start the e-business parts revolution

Toyota Motor Sales is predicting that its new e-business initiative with i2 Technologies Inc. - iStarXchange - will revolutionize the automotive replacement parts market. The revolution is set to start within the next three months.The new southern California-based company, in which Toyota holds a majority stake, is designed to provide installers, dealers and retailers with an on-line marketplace to

By Tim Keenan • April 1, 2000

2000 Geneva Auto Show

The story at this year's Geneva auto show might just be what isn't going to be there.Virtually every auto journalist expects to see the all-new C-Class on the Mercedes-Benz stand. But Stuttgart's big-selling mid-size sedan won't be showing at Geneva's Palexpo.Instead, DaimlerChrysler AG is holding the C-Class for a show closer to its May launch, hoping to sell out the hefty remaining inventories of

By Andrea Wielgat, William Diem, Giancarlo Perini, Peter Robinson • March 1, 2000

Daewoo: Let the Bidding Begin

The world's automotive powerhouses, in an effort to grow mightier, have dedicated teams of experts and major resources to answer one important question: What is the deal with Korea?General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. are leading the charge into the largest country in Asia as-yet untouched by the West, with their interest in the purchase of the insolvent Daewoo Motor Co. Ltd.South Korea's No.2

By KATHERINE ZACHARY • March 1, 2000

Injection Molding for Low-Cost High Mileage

For years, the argument's been "steel versus aluminum" for taking body and chassis construction into a new era. But Daimler-Chrysler AG's recent unveiling of its latest Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) prototype may change that discussion to "steel and aluminum versus plastic."Quietly but resolutely, DC is pushing the envelope in plastic-body engineering. It's latest ESX3 - a prototype

By Bill Visnic • March 1, 2000

Common Ground

The Chinese invented paper, gunpowder, the compass.But these days, if you want to be innovative, you've got to have state-of-the-art technology. And that's where modern-day China lags far behind, says Tai Chan, president of the Detroit Chinese Engineers Assn. (DCEA).Mr. Chan, an environmental engineer who works at General Motors Corp. as Executive Secretary of the GM-China Advisory Board, says when

By KATHERINE ZACHARY • March 1, 2000

Auto Talk: GM Rings in Era of e-Commerce

Harold Kutner was hearing bells recently, and it was music to his ears.The General Motors Corp. group vice president is the purchasing chief for the world's largest automaker, but in January he was playing salesman and enjoying it. GM was selling several stamping presses, and it turned to Commerce One, its partner in the newly launched GM TradeXchange, for help.Commerce One, with a Canadian auction

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

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

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