Automakers: Page 428

Ford’s C3P Moves Ahead

A few of my colleagues in the industry say we're crazy to undertake such a huge effort. It has never been done, and they say we won't be successful, but we'll be very glad to prove them wrong," Richard Riff, director of Ford Motor Co.'s C3P Project office told Ward's Auto World in the summer of 1996.Speaking recently at a major computer industry conference in Atlanta, Mr. Riff sounded very glad indeed

By Drew Winter • June 1, 1999

Small in Stature, Big in the Market-Why automakers maintain their small-carfocus

Small cars have been bullied by the biggies, both in the revenue column and on the road, but they've been able to hold their own.Wildly robust truck and SUV sales make for good headlines - and fat profits - so much so that it sometimes appears automakers aren't concerned about anything else, least of all small cars. But automakers haven't been totally blinded by the short-term profits large trucks

By SAID DEEP • June 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

All-New Lincoln--Can LS establish luxury/sport ‘street credentials?’

They've had more than their share of delays and doubters, from those inside Ford Motor Co. as well as outsiders, but the widely trumpeted 2000 Lincoln LS sedans are pretty darn close to being what Ford promised they would be back when the sedan first broke cover at the 1998 New York auto show.Richard Parry-Jones, Ford's product development chief, and his team of engineers have expended enough effort

By SAID DEEP • June 1, 1999

No-Shows in Korea --Foreign makers sidestep Seoul auto show

SEOUL - A total boycott by foreign carmakers due to the small exhibition space offered them, at what they deemed an exorbitant price, leaves the Seoul Motor Show '99 with just three domestic auto manufacturer exhibits. Such a small showing of cars is almost unheard of in today's world of global automakers. But the market in Korea is anything but normal.In reality, there are just two Korean auto manufacturers,

By JOHN RETTIE • June 1, 1999

GM Apologizes for the Cadillac of Lies

Losing isn't fun. But it can be done gracefully and without shame. At least a few people at the Cadillac Div. of General Motors Corp. needed to learn that lesson the hard way.The company has "disciplined" a number of employees (no word on how many) who manipulated December sales figures so that Cadillac would come from behind to beat Lincoln as the top luxury nameplate in the U.S. for 1998. GM isn't

June 1, 1999

New Toyota Chief Has U. S. Credentials

Toyota Motor Corp.'s newly named president, Fujio Cho, 62, says his most memorable job was building Toyota's Georgetown, KY, plant from scratch."When I went to the United States, there was nothing," he tells a Japanese reporter. When he left Georgetown to return to Japan in 1994, employees gave him a 10-minute standing ovation. "They loved that man," says an associate who was there.Mr. Cho this month

By Barbara McClellan • June 1, 1999

Fresh Perspective

The upcoming Tercel replacement, due to hit the U.S. market this fall as a '00 model, is the first in a raft of new cars aimed at drawing younger buyers back to Toyota showrooms. If it hits its targets, the high-content, low-priced Echo also could be one of the vehicles that breathes a little more life into the small-car market.Toyota made its mark in America by cultivating Baby Boomers in the '60s

By David E. Zoia • June 1, 1999

‘Co-Design Modularity’--GM’s small car solution

It must be painful for product planners weighing their options. On one hand is the small, practical car, sure to lose money because it is often priced for first-time buyers. On the other is a roomy, macho sport/utility vehicle (SUV) loaded with curb appeal and options that customers want, generating profits that can exceed the entire cost to buy a small car.What's an automaker to do? There is, in

By Tom Murphy • June 1, 1999

Some key people depart; Is Daimler running the show?

EcWe will see more (departures)," says Gerald Meyers, former cheif executive of American Motors Corp. and now a professor of management at the University of Michigan. "Daimler has only started to spread its wings".Indeed, a U.S. executive who participated in planning the merger tells WAW that "more and more, Daimler is beginning to act like a company that acquired another company rather than one that

By Frank S. Washington • May 1, 1999

The View from Tokyo--Japanese say Nissan got better deal

TOKYO - Analysts here are giving the recent tie-up of Renault SA of France and Japan's Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. two years, tops, before they proclaim it an enduring international love affair or a marriage made in hell.With $5.4 billion of Renault money, Nissan hopes to work down some of its bloated debt and continue unhindered with its long-term strategic plan to remain a full-line producer, while operating

By Roger Schreffler • May 1, 1999

Plastic Displaces PlasticGM chooses RRIM Over SMC for GMT800 Panel

Body shop workers at General Motors Corp.'s Silverado/Sierra factories manually lift a big sport side fenderand fasten it to a pickup truck rolling down the assembly line.It's worth noting because in the past workers needed hydraulic assist equipment to handle the sheet molding composite (SMC) fenders used on the GMT800's predecessor, the GMT400. The new sport side panels on the Silverado/Sierra pickups

By Brian Corbett • May 1, 1999

Jaguar S-TypeHead-turning styling backed up with solid performance

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - In this neighborhood, even the "every-day" cars are sleek, pricey and extraordinary. People still do a double-take as the new Jaguar Cars S-Type rolls by.Adequate proof, perhaps, that the styling guys in Coventry got that part right.There's more to it, of course. This marks the second all-new model for Jag since it joined the Ford family in 1990. The fears then were that Jag would

By Mike Arnholt • May 1, 1999

Finessing Quality RatingsWhen does buttering up turn into bribery?

A man leases a new ML320 Mercedes-Benz sport/utility vehicle (SUV). The day he picks it up the salesman spends an hour cheerfully explaining every aspect of the vehicle and its operation to the man and his wife. The next day the dealership sends the man's wife a dozen long-stemmed roses, thanking them both for their business."Wow," says the man, a cynical automotive journalist. "What a shrewd move.

By Drew Winter • May 1, 1999

The Renault Nissan Deal

PARIS - Two days after Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. announced their historic affiliation in March, the French auto-makers' association, CCFA, reviewed press coverage.In general, English-language publications expressed skepticism while acknowledging the opportunity. French publications showed enthusiasm while acknowledging the risk. The difference is in how you remember Napoleon: Losing at

By William Diem • May 1, 1999

Mercedes Breaks New Ground to Lighten CL Coupe

GENEVA - Mercedes-Benz has never been known as a maker of lightweight cars, but it has taken a very serious stab at weight reduction with its new flagship CL Coupe: It's smaller and about 750 lbs. (340 kg) lighter than its hulking predecessor, which weighs almost 5,000 lbs. (2,300 kg).Set to go on sale late this year in Europe and early next year in the U.S., Mercedes forecasts global sales of 3,500

By Andrea Wielgat and Drew Winter • May 1, 1999

What’s in a Name?Impala is not an endangered species

The Impala is back - again. This spring, as Chevrolet resurrects one of the most successful badges in American motoring history, it's betting that 200,000 buyers will want to park the historic marque in their garages each year.That's a lot of Impalas. A lot more, at least, than the last generation - the Caprice-based, enthusiast-pleasing Impala SS - sold, but only a fraction of the over-1 million

By Brian Corbett • May 1, 1999

Ford Shuffles the Deck, TooNasser puts his stamp on the upper echelon

Jac Nasser has never been one to let an opportunity pass. Which is why few at Ford Motor Co. - or any of his competitors, for that matter - are surprised at the speed at which Ford's new chief has moved to put his stamp on the world's No. 2 automaker.Mr. Nasser grabbed executives from some of his rivals and from places such as Whirlpool Corp. and General Electric, people he believes can help him strengthen

By SAID DEEP • May 1, 1999

Plastic Gains Ground in Ips

Thanks to the growing emphasis on modules, instrument panels with structural plastic innards are winning acceptance on some high-volume car programs after a long trial period. Sources say General Motors Corp. plans to use structural plastic IPs for its upcoming Delta Program small cars. It also is evaluating them for its larger Epsilon program vehicles, which include midsize sedans such as the 2004

By Drew Winter • May 1, 1999

VW’s Freeman ThomasAn underrated star designer?

No one can deny that Volkswagen is on a roll. The German automaker has come a long way from the early 1990s when VW was doing poorly in Europe and even worse in North America. It was so bad some pundits predicted VW, which rode to fame on the original Beetle in the '50s and '60s and built Rabbits in Pennsylvania in the '70s and '80s, might even abandon the crucial U.S. market.Now there's speculation

By JOHN RETTIE • May 1, 1999

Technology and the Merger Among Equals

Bernard Robertson, Auburn Hills' tech top dog, interprets DC's technology mantraBernard Robertson, DaimlerChrysler AG senior vice president of engineering technology, in April assumed the duties of Chris Theodore, senior vice president of platform engineering. Mr. Robertson now is DC's senior technical executive in the U.S. He speaks with WAW about the effect of executives leaving the company, how

By Bill Visnic • May 1, 1999

Audi TT

Some 19 months after the Concept 1 debuted in Detroit, Audi launched the TT show car at the 1995 IAA Frankfurt show. Like Concept 1, it was a show-grabber. Again Mssrs. Mays and Thomas had conceived a hit, but this time the roles were reversed.Mr. Thomas lays out the history: "J. asked me to go to Germany to assist him (after he had been appointed as the new head of Audi design). I said 'No' at first,

May 1, 1999

JITWhen ASAP Isn’t Good Enough

It was a dark and stormy night a little over a year ago that caused the unthinkable.Toyota Motor Mfg., the auto industry's model of efficiency, had to shut down its Georgetown, KY, plant for nearly a day because an ice storm in the Midwest left roads unpassable. Indiana and Illinois were like an Arctic wasteland, and suppliers had no way to ship parts to Kentucky. Toyota's 8,000 employees got the

By Tom Murphy • May 1, 1999

Alive and WellJIT thrives in its birthplace - Japan

TOYOTA CITY - If Toyota Motor Co. is rethinking the basics of "just-in-time" delivery at its North American plants - as some reports have indicated - it's hard to see evidence of it here in Japan.If anything, kanban, a form of "just-in-time" delivery particular to Japan, is likely to increase in importance as the industry shifts away from "mass production" of vehicles to "mixed production."Recent

By Roger Schreffler • May 1, 1999

Excursion: The Ultimate Golf Cart

The Sierra Club would love to throw stones - they'd better be big - at Ford Motor Co.'s new titanic sport/utility vehicle as another example of American conspicuous consumption.But in a way, the No. 2 automaker can't be blamed for exploiting a market that has treated it so well in recent years. From small to large, every SUV segment is saturated, and new foreign players are crowding the playing field

By Said Deep and Tom Murphy • April 1, 1999

Tooling Up for Change

The correlation between maximizing shareholder value at an automaker and manufacturing engine blocks is hard to understand at first, but one look at an old-fashioned powertrain machining line makes it clear. These giant "transfer lines," which seem to stretch the length of a football field or longer, cost $100 million to $150 million apiece. Make mistakes with a few of these babies, and as the saying

By Drew Winter • April 1, 1999