Automakers: Page 427

SIEMENS DIAGNOSTIC TOOL FINDS FAULT

Siemens Automotive, the Germany-based supplier of original equipment electronic systems, is trying to convince various automakers to adopt its Siemens Diagnostic Information System (SIDIS).BMW and Volkswagen dealership service departments already are using versions of SIDIS, which consists of a set of three integrated components - SIDIS-R, SIDIS-D and SIDIS-W.SIDIS-R generates diagnostic trees based

By Tim Keenan • Sept. 1, 1999

Steel Turns Green

This month, workers at the Curtis Screw Co. in Buffalo, NY, will begin machining a part for Ford Motor Co. using a new unleaded "green steel." Bob Squier, president of Curtis, calls it a significant development for the industry because the new steel helps bring a truly environmentally friendly car closer to reality.Curtis is one of the largest screw machine parts suppliers to Detroit and a member

By Herb Shuldiner • Aug. 1, 1999

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

Forward Look--Shanghai car show gets high-class attention

SHANGHAI - Watching the crowds swarm into Auto Shanghai '99, it's hard to believe China's market is slipping sideways into another year of stagnation, the fourth in a row.Despite disappointing growth, many foreign automakers and parts producers remain captivated by the potential Chinese market for their products, sharing the enthusiasm of the crowds.An estimated 300,000 people pushed through the doors

By Mack Chrysler • Aug. 1, 1999

INTERNET WILL IMPROVE FACTORY LINKS

Wayne Williams, pres-ident of Williams Auto World in Lansing, MI, thinks DCS systems of the future will be Internet-based rather than satellite-based. As 1999 chairman of NADA's Information Technology Committee and holder of seven automobile franchises (VW, Subaru, Isuzu, Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Audi), Mr. Williams welcomes such new directions in factory communications technology."With seven franchises,

Aug. 1, 1999

Rebel Yell

RICHMOND, VA - A second "Battle of Richmond" could be shaping up, this time also centering on fear of control by an outside force.In 1865, the Union won the original battle for the capital of the Confederacy and of Virginia.This time, the Virginia Automobile Dealers Assn. and Ford Motor Co. are the potential adversaries.It might be far-fetched to call the latest conflict a North-South battle. But

By Maynard M. Gordon • Aug. 1, 1999

2000 MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE THOUGHS IT OUT AS OTHER SPORTY CARDS DISAPPEAR

SAN FRANCISCO - Nice as they were, the Ford Probe, Isuzu Impulse, Mazda MX-6, Nissan 240SX, Subaru XT and the VW Corrado all disappeared from the sporty coupe market, a segment with attractive entries but lousy sales of late.Likewise, Honda Prelude and Toyota Celica sales are soft. And General Motors Corp. appears set to end the Pontiac Firebird and Chevrolet Camaro lines.Then there's the Mitsubishi

By Steve Finlay • Aug. 1, 1999

DODGE THINKS UNCONVENTIONALLY WITH WILD THEME PARK EVENT FOR OWNERS

There are the traditional ways of marketing to car owners, such as mailers and dealership open houses.Then there are the untraditional ways.Put what DaimlerChrysler Corp.'s Dodge Div. did in Orlando, FL in the latter category.Dodge arranged for 12,000 people, consisting of 2,500 Dodge owners and their families, to spend the weekend at Universal Studios' new theme park, Island of Adventure."It's our

By Steve Finlay • Aug. 1, 1999

TRADITION REIGNS IN RICHMOND

RICHMOND, VA - History is in the air at a storied dealership on West Broad Street in this old capital of the Confederacy.It's Richmond Motor Co., a Ford dealership in Richmond, VA, since 1916, only 13 years after Ford Motor Co. was incorporated.It's a highly successful father-and-son dealership, whose 73-year-old president and CEO, Robert C. King, Sr., sits proudly below a portrait of his great-grandfather

By Maynard M. Gordon • Aug. 1, 1999

From Wall Street to Main Street

NORWALK, CT - "I didn't know anything about this business before I got into it," says Wall Street broker-turned-auto-dealer Marc Blitzer.He's president of Devan Motors in Norwalk, CT. In February of 1996, Mr. Blitzer and partner Jonathan Brostoff took over a dealership that had been losing money.Mr. Brostoff's father was a Buick dealer for 22 years in New York City. So the son had the auto business

By Herb Shuldiner • Aug. 1, 1999

...People and Places

CMSI President promoted to CEO Peter M. Leger, president of Credit Management Solutions Inc., has been named chief executive officer of the company.Formerly the head of ADP's dealer services division, Mr. Leger joined CMSI in 1998 as president and chief operating officer.Tuttle-Click Ford helps local school The students and staff of Rancho Santa Margarita Intermediate School in Irvine, CA, owe thanks

Aug. 1, 1999

‘Infinitely Meshable’---A new approach to automotive transmissions

Crackpot inventors are the bane of automotive editors. Because they stubbornly believe they've discovered the secret to 200-mile-per-gallon performance or zero emissions, they naturally demand to be heard.Their ideas seldom are truly new or backed by solid research, but that really doesn't matter. Someone is always willing to listen, eager to swallow the magic solution.If he was simply a garden-variety

By David C. Smith • Aug. 1, 1999

Show Them the Money

Back when I was in fifth grade I vividly remember my history teacher extolling the virtues of American industrial might. He practically bragged that American workers were the highest paid in the world. One of the most important lessons drilled into my little head was that when Henry Ford instituted the $5 work day he helped create a middle class that could finally afford to buy the very products it

By John McElroy • Aug. 1, 1999

NOT ALL FORD DEALERS THINK IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO CONSOLIDATE IN TULSA, OK

Editor's Note: A Ward's Dealer Business story in July looked at Ford Motor Co.'s consolidation efforts in certain markets such as Tulsa. Participants say it's working but critics are doubtful as this following report indicates:Branding the Ford Collection program an "intrusion" into the retail marketplace, outspoken Ford dealer Ed Mullane assails the automaker for "destroying the very franchise system

Aug. 1, 1999

DaimlerChrysler’s Tom Sidlik: ‘We were the fat slovenly Americans’

Q - Have you discovered many efficiencies in combining the purchasing functions of your new company?A - There are a lot of good purchasing people on both sides of the Atlantic, and we need to work together to come up with a new and better way. We'll look back 10 years from now and say, "Boy those guys had a great opportunity." We've got a couple thousand people over in Stuttgart who look at the world

July 1, 1999

Yellowstone Meets Death Valley--But GM and the UAW still need each other

Yellowstone was the name General Motors Corp. chose last year to describe its plan to build small cars profitably in new factories based on modular assembly.Yellowstone was the first, and still most famous, national park, spreading throughout three Western states.But you won't hear it mentioned anymore at GM. Nor any derivation of the word "module." They're as dead as the unearthly silence of Death

By David C. Smith • July 1, 1999

Get Smart--Unigraphics system shaves weeks from die design

Changing a die design for a body panel stamping is difficult, expensive and an unfortunate way of life for some automakers.Unigraphics Solutions has an answer with its latest technology, Smart Model. The St. Louis-based company is the primary supplier of computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing tools (CAD/CAM) to the world's largest automaker, General Motors Corp., and the world's largest

By Tom Murphy • July 1, 1999

The Mating Game

If you're expecting to see more automakers getting hitched, you're not alone. About two-thirds of supplier respondents (67%) and 80.6% of OEM respondents say they expect more tieups among major OEMs.There is less consensus, however, as to whether OEM consolidations are good for suppliers. More than half of OEM participants (55.3%) say that recent deals (DaimlerChrysler, Ford-Volvo, Renault-Nissan)

July 1, 1999

1999 Harbour Report

It's tough to stay on top. Just ask the Detroit Red Wings. They were eliminated early in this spring's NHL playoffs after winning two Stanley Cups back to back. So it should not be a surprise that after five years of being rated as the most productive auto assembly plant in North America by the influential Harbour Report, Nissan Motor Mfg. Corp. (NMMC) in Smyrna, TN, is ceding its crown to another.What

By Drew Winter • July 1, 1999

GM’s Harold Kutner:--‘There’s nothing in this game for free.’

Q - Is the next great frontier in terms of savings in the supply chain still in the area of logistics?A - I think probably the next frontier is a result of e-commerce types of initiatives. The way we market vehicles, and the instant gratification from the e-commerce customer in the next century is going to drive a different paradigm into the supplier ranks. What I'm talking about is suppliers sensing

July 1, 1999

Pontiac Aztek SUV Hits Streets in ‘01

Pontiac has decided to jump on the small sport/utility vehicle (SUV) circuit as early as 2001 with its Aztek concept that it teased viewers with at the Detroit auto show last January.The sport wagon/SUV has been in General Motors Corp.'s Validation Center in Pontiac, MI, for at least two months. Using the Aztek's body-in-white design, workers have been validating body shop equipment that will be used

July 1, 1999

Mazda Hopes MPV Will Move Sales

KESWICK, VA - Ferrying our Mazda minivans in pairs across the picturesque James River on a raft nudged along by men with long poles, we are steeped in historic scenery. In one direction sits Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson. In another, Appomattox Court House, where Lee's surrender to Grant ended a horrific civil war and determined the fate of the fledgling nation.Later, as we back our vehicles

By Barbara McClellan • July 1, 1999

Satellite Radio: the Auto Industry’s Space Race

The competition between two East Coast-based companies hoping to be the first to market with a groundbreaking convenience item boils down to a blast off sometime in 2000. The payload: satellites that will beam down to cars and trucks up to 100 channels of audio entertainment.XM Satellite Radio of Washington and CD Radio Inc. of New York, which won the two licenses offered by the Federal Communications

By Brian Corbett • July 1, 1999

Saturn Grows Up--Adding midsizer extends Saturn into 41% of the market

SCOTTSDALE, AZ - For nine years now, Saturn Corp. has been producing essentially the same underpowered 4-cyl. subcompact.The marketing's been great; the cars, so far, not earth-shattering. But they've sold 2 million of these plastic-paneled icons and in the process have taught General Motors Corp. and its fellow automakers around the world a thing or two about manufacturing processes, worker and customer

By Mike Arnholt • July 1, 1999

Ford’s Carlos Mazzorin: ‘Prices come down as the technology improves’

Q - The auto industry has pretty much gone to sharing warranty work with suppliers to push those costs down. But what about the dealers? They love warranty work.A - That's very relative because the higher your warranty cost, the more unsatisfied the customer is. For the dealer, the No.1 objective is a satisfied customer that will come in and buy a car. You will only go so many times to fix your car

July 1, 1999

Risky Business--Automakers patiently wait out Brazil’s woes

Brazil still may be suffering from economic hiccups these days, but no one is giving the patient up for dead. In fact, Brazil has had fewer bankruptcies and business closings than predicted, even as it struggles with its deepest recession since the early 1990s.Insiders will tell you that Brazil's history - and possibly its future - is full of high interest rates and repeated recessions. It does give

By Andrea Wielgat • July 1, 1999