Automakers: Page
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JUST MULTIPLY NUMBER OF DOORS BY 2
ONE OF MY FAVORITE CARS - THE BUICK RIVIERA - may be coming back, only with twice as many doors as before.General Motors Corp. last year stopped production on the luxury coupe, citing poor sales.I asked Roger Adams, general marketing manager for Buick, about the possibility of GM resurrecting the Riviera, a sculpted car if there ever was one.That car won the hearts and minds of most Buick dealers,
By Steve Finlay • Dec. 1, 1999 -
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New Wheels: Dodge Dakota Gets Two New Doors, One New V-8
In addition to four full-size doors and a 63.1-in. (160-cm) bed, prospective Dodge Dakota Quad Cabs drivers will have the option of adding the next-generation "Magnum" V-8 power-plant.DaimlerChrysler's Dodge Div. picks up the "Magnum" moniker, but in fact the new V-8 is wholly different from the usual Magnum lineup, in that it's the new overhead-cam unit - lifted from its sole former duty in the Jeep
By Tim Keenan • Dec. 1, 1999 -
Explore the Trendline➔
Courtesy of Toyota Motor North America
TrendlineTop 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 -
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Nissan ‘In Bad Shape,’ But Now Has The Plan
TOKYO - Japanese interests worried that new Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. Chief Operating Officer Carlos Ghosn - whose moniker of "le cost killer" can scarcely be considered to have come to him affectionately - would do the unthinkable to "save" wallowing Nissan: close plants and cut jobs.The fears were well-founded: On the eve of the recent Tokyo Motor Show, Mr. Ghosn revealed to a startled (but not surprised)
By Bill Visnic and Mack Chrysler • Dec. 1, 1999 -
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Auto Talk: Delphi eyes Thailand; wins contracts in Asia
Eager to increase its Asia/Pacific presence, Delphi Automotive Systems reportedly is holding talks in Thailand on establishing a plant near new facilities set up by General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co.In the first nine months of the year, Delphi has won $1 billion in new contracts in the region that will show up in company revenues starting in 2001. Only 20% of the projects involve GM, its former
By WARD'S AUTO WORLD STAFF • Dec. 1, 1999 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
‘Country dealer’ eager to head NADA
WHITEVILLE, NC - He's a "country dealer" and proud of it. But big-city dealers anxious about looming national issues needn't worry about the dedication of the National Automobile Dealers Association's new chairman, Harold B. Wells.After 43 years as a GM and Chrysler Corp. dealer in this small Southern town, Mr. Wells is ready to carry the banner of all franchised dealers against any threats to a franchise
By Maynard M. Gordon • Dec. 1, 1999 -
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DaimlerChrysler: “The gloves are off for 2000”
The year-long Daimler-Chrysler marriage may have upset some Chrysler Corp. exec-utives and shareholders, but sales executives are blissfully celebrating the union."Dodge trucks, Jeeps and Chrysler-brand cars are so strong that we don't think the company and its dealers have enjoyed a better year in sales volume, profitability and enthusiasm since the Forward Look models of 1957," says M. John MacDonald,
By Maynard M. Gordon • Dec. 1, 1999 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
A New Way to Do Business
The contracts have been signed. The press conferences have been held. The auto industry is taking a great leap forward into the electronic age.If the first century of the automobile was devoted to selling the concept of affordable personal transportation, the next century begins with an eagerness to rethink the enormously complex process of manufacturing and selling these highly engineered machines.The
By Tom Murphy • Dec. 1, 1999 -
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Auto Talk: GM: Canada Should Levy Tariffs, If Canada’s Auto Pact’s Scrapped
It's not often an automaker will ask a government to apply tariffs on imports. But that's the position General Motors Corp. is taking in Canada, where status of the Auto Pact - a 34-year-old trade deal with the U.S. - is being threatened.Earlier this year the World Trade Organization issued a preliminary finding that the Auto Pact discriminates against certain companies and countries, thereby violating
By WARD'S AUTO WORLD STAFF • Dec. 1, 1999 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
DCC Has Just One Word for You: ‘Plastics’
Offering further proof that it is serious about someday producing plastic-intensive vehicles, DaimlerChrysler AG reveals last month it plans to offer 4,000 or 5,000 Jeep Wranglers with unpainted, thermoplastic hardtops beginning in '01. The new removable thermoplastic caps will replace those made of painted, thermoset sheet molding composite (SMC) material.The new top weighs just 47 lbs. (21 kg).
By David Zoia and Drew Winter • Dec. 1, 1999 -
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FORD SELLING COLLISION INSURANCE
Ford Credit Co. is taking a major step towards adding vehicle collision insurance to its portfolio of F&I products.After pilot programs in Florida by Ford in the last few years and GM's Motors Insurance previously, Ford teamed up with Connecticut's huge Hartford Financial Services Group to offer vehicle coverage to all its customers, starting with Florida and adding 10 more states before year-end.Florida
By Maynard M. Gordon • Dec. 1, 1999 -
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VP leaves Ford to start website centering on auto repairs and parts
Dr. Ronald E. Goldsberry is leaving his Ford Motor Co. vice-presidency Jan. 1 to become chairman and chief executive officer of a new San Francisco-based website seeking to establish an online auto repair and parts marketplace.Called Carstation.com, the new website would link dealer service departments, body shops, parts vendors, insurance companies and consumers in cooperative systems designed to
By Tim Keenan • Dec. 1, 1999 -
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Staying Connected
Jac Nasser is sweating.This is the afternoon shift at Ford Motor Co.'s Wayne Assembly Plant. And amid the noise, heat and the curious eyes of dozens of workers, Mr. Nasser is trying hard not to fall behind as he struggles to install wiring harnesses on Escorts.This is one of the more difficult jobs at the plant, as Mr. Nasser himself has discovered.With some 30 different wiring harnesses to choose
By Said Deep and Drew Winter • Dec. 1, 1999 -
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BENTLEY TO REVAMP U.S. DEALERSHIPS ALONG WITH INTRODUCTION OF ARNAGE
Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor Cars Inc. is counting on the debut of a new Bentley sedan, plus launch of a pumped-up adver-tising campaign and a program to revamp its dealer showrooms, to increase future sales for the ultra-luxury marque.To pave the way for Bentley growth in the U.S., the carmaker expects to spend $3 million-$4 million on advertising this year. And it is undertaking a program with
By Dave Zoia • Dec. 1, 1999 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
NVG Wins Work for BMW, VW, Ford
Nine years ago, New Venture Gear was an idea launched in desperation, a last-ditch effort to turn around General Motors Corp.'s transmission plant in Muncie, IN, and then-Chrysler Corp.'s transfer case plant in East Syracuse, NY.Both facilities had tenuous futures. The Chrysler plant was barely breaking even, and the GM plant was losing money. A driving force of the partnership was the ability to
By WARD'S AUTO WORLD STAFF • Dec. 1, 1999 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
LOOK FOR CAMARO, FIREBIRD RETRO RESURRECTIONS
Two General Motors sports cars -the Chevrolet Camaro and its platform cousin, the Pontiac Firebird - are bound for the history books.But if history repeats itself, so sometimes do discontinued car lines. They can come back with new looks for repeat runs. The Camaro and Firebird will go out of production in 2002, but may resurface a few years later with retro looks.The same thing happened with the
By Steve Finlay • Dec. 1, 1999 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Merger? What Merger?--Clearly now, DaimlerChrysler is a German company
DaimlerChrysler AG co-chairman and CEO Juergen Schrempp has put his management team in place.In a move to speed DaimlerChrysler's consolidation into one company, Mr. Schrempp streamlined the management board, created three global automotive divisions and disbanded the integration committee, allocating its ongoing initiatives to line businesses. Out of the shakeup comes an Automotive Council, in effect
By Frank S. Washington • Nov. 1, 1999 -
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Can Cadillac Come Back?
Cadillac hasn't competed in the grueling 24-hour LeMans race since 1950, but come next June 12 it'll go head-to-head in the French classic with 47 world-class cars seeking one of racing's most prized trophies.The specially built car will be powered by a twin-turbocharged version of Cadillac's Northstar V-8. Whether it wins, places or even finishes really doesn't matter too much: Simply showing up
By Drew Winter, David C. Smith • Nov. 1, 1999 -
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Mazda hopes to attract more families with its new MPV
Mazda Motor Corp. believes its all-new front-wheel-drive '00 MPV (multipurpose vehicle) will be the siren's song that lures young families to its brand. The stylish short-based minivan is one of the smaller vehicles in its segment and is priced affordably, starting at $19,995.Mazda wisely benchmarked the Honda Odyssey, which can't be produced fast enough to meet U.S. demand. MPV offers dual sliding
Nov. 1, 1999 -
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Toyota takes on the youth market
Despite selling more pass-enger cars than any other maker in the U.S. market last year, Toyota Motor Corp. knows that if it doesn't find a way to appeal to young buyers, its future is bleak. One of Toyota's little secrets is that the average age of its buyers is disturbingly Buick-like.To address that problem, Toyota is looking to lure Generation Xers, as well as those coming up behind them, with
By Barbara McClellan • Nov. 1, 1999 -
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Chart topper Mercedes CL Coupe
What does $85,500 look like? For the lucky 2,500 buyers in the U.S. next year it looks like the new Mercedes-Benz CL Coupe.Mercedes would use words like dream car, pure seduction, technological trendsetter or "car for whom good just isn't good enough" to describe its top-of-the-line vehicle. These descriptions are accurate but, really, would you expect anything less from Mercedes' big coupe?"The coupe
Nov. 1, 1999 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
What’s the Big Deal?
Last year, General Motors Corp. acquired majority ownership of several under-performing deal-erships in California's San Fernando Valley.Fifteen other area GM dealers subsequently filed a formal protest to the plan in which GM put up $18 million and brought in dealer Wes Rydell to invest $2 million and to run the San Fernando dealerships.The protesting dealers saw the GM Motors Holding arraignment
By Maynard M. Gordon and Steve Finlay • Nov. 1, 1999 -
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Honda goes both ways with new S2000 and Insight two-seaters
Honda Motor Co. Ltd.'s model-year 2000 lineup includes two new sporty little 2-seaters that couldn't be less alike.The Honda S2000 is a rocketing push-button-start roadster, which couples a sky-high-revving, 2L 4-cyl. engine with a close-ratio 6-speed manual transmission. What we have is Honda's second rear-drive car ever to hit U.S. pavement, sporting 240 hp, and the ability to do 0 to 60 mph (97km/h)
Nov. 1, 1999 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
HURRICANE FLOYD GOES EASY ON DEALERS - EXCEPT ONE
When the remnants of Hurricane Floyd rolled over Danbury, CT, it dropped enough rain to wipe out the stock of Greentree Motors, a Toyota and Lincoln store. About 200 vehicles were trapped in a flooded lot and destroyed by the deluge. Danbury received some 13 inches of rain that day.It was the most serious single setback any dealer suffered from the monster storm that wreaked havoc in Georgia, the
By Herb Shuldiner • Nov. 1, 1999 -
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NEW MEXICO FORD DEALERS FORM THEIR OWN “COLLECTION” AS AN ALTERNATIVE
Three Ford dealers in Albuquerque, NM, formed their own co-operative, and are presenting an alternative to other strategies.The three Ford dealers, anxious to remain competitive but achieve economies of scale in non-competing areas, formed the Zia Automobile Group.It's billed as an alternative to Ford's beleaguered Collection plan.The automaker took two months to approve the group. One of its goals
Nov. 1, 1999 -
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Occupied Chrysler--Time to change your ways or sell it off, Juergen
Sometimes things just don't work out." I remember Henry Ford II saying that when he fired his president - and a very good man, too - Bunkie Knudsen. Remember that quote. I'll get back to it later.Back on Sept. 2, my editor suggested I write this column on DaimlerChrysler. I wrote it Sept. 30, but you're not reading it until some time in November. I just want you to understand the time problem, because
By Jerry Flint • Nov. 1, 1999
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