Automakers: Page 433

Crunch Time for Skilled Trades Neglect of vo-tech is making labor shortageeven worse

In an age when General Motors Corp. wants to slice 50,000 hourly workers from its rolls and plummeting Asian currencies make off-shore investment more enticing than ever, Mike Miller offers a desperately needed fresh face for American manufacturing.A 19-year-old raised in the Detroit suburb of Clinton Township, he is in the midst of a machining apprenticeship that will qualify him as a journeyman

By GREG GARDNER • Aug. 1, 1998

Gerd Klauss Takes Over at Volkswagen of America

Despite its impressive comeback in the United States, top management of Volkswagen AG is replacing Volkswagen of America Inc. President Clive Warrilow with Gerd Klauss, effective at year's end.Mr. Klauss, currently president of Audi of America Inc., takes over a company with a healthy helping of momentum in the world's most competitive automotive market. Volkswagen's U.S. sales through the first half

Aug. 1, 1998

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

So Long, Bob. Hello Bob Chrysler’s Lutz isn’t ready to settle down

Chrysler Corp. Vice Chairman Robert A. Lutz in July cleaned out his spacious, memento-filled office, and, at age 66, moved on to a new chapter in his varied and colorful life.Only he knows what lies ahead. He already serves on four corporate boards and a handful of civic, educational and charitable organizations. Yet despite his many accomplishments in an automotive career that has spanned 35 years

By David C. Smith • Aug. 1, 1998

Does BMW want a slice of Subaru?

With automotive companies gobbling each other up Pac Man style, Tokyo is buzzing with rumors BMW AG is poised to take over Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.'s small 4.5% stake in Subaru-maker Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. Of course, speculation surrounding such mergers pop up every week now that Chrysler Corp. and Daimler-Benz AG have announced marriage plans and Volkswagen AG has gone on a buying binge. But this

Aug. 1, 1998

Strikes Delay Delphi’s Seat Biz Sale to Lear

Lear Corp. will not complete the acquisition of Delphi Automotive Systems' seating business until early in the third quarter, largely due to the two General Motors Corp. strikes in Flint. The deal originally was to be completed in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Lear has started producing seats for Ford Ranger pickups made in Thailand. The General Seating Thailand operation in Rayong is a 50-50 joint

Aug. 1, 1998

Volkswagen-Volvo: The Next Big Deal?

It began with Volkswagen AG expressing interest in AB Volvo's commercial truck business, but discussions between the German and Swedish automakers have covered a broader range of possible cooperation, says Volvo CEO Leif Johansson.Mr. Johansson and VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech "talked about different areas of cooperation." Hans-Juergen Uhl, managing director of the VW works council, says the VW supervisory

Aug. 1, 1998

Ford makes speedy purchase of Cosworth Racing

Cosworth without Ford? That appeared to be the future when Audi AG inked a deal to buy Cosworth Engineering from Vickers plc for $192.3 million. But just one day out of the starting blocks as Cosworth's new owner, Audi peddles the Cosworth Racing subsidiary to Ford Motor Co. The deal allows Cosworth Racing to continue supplying Ford with Formula One, Indy Car and Touring Car racing engines. "Cosworth

Aug. 1, 1998

Everybody Likes to be Stroked GM’s 3.5L Twin Cam basics are best

WARREN, MI - I walk into the headquarters of General Motors Corp.'s Powertrain Group here, and Max Freeman, Powertrain's assistant chief engineer, is in top gear.He and Allen Cline, from Powertrain product engineering, are ready to talk engines - specifically, GM's all-new 3.5L Twin Cam V-6, often dubbed Shortstar owing to its modular-type derivation from DOHC all-aluminum 4.6L Northstar and 4L Oldsmobile

By Bill Visnic • Aug. 1, 1998

1999 Corvette Hardtop: Chalk one up for checkbook liberation?

More bang for your buck: That's what the latest Corvette iteration promises - to the delight of drivers demanding the highest performance.General Motors Corp. revisits its muscle car roots with the '99 Hardtop, the first fixed-roof 'Vette to grace the fold since the venerable Stingray era came to a close in 1967. Conspicuously absent is much of the high-tech gadgetry and hotrod-in-suburbia comforts

By NATALIE NEFF • Aug. 1, 1998

Ford and Chrysler beat Wall Street hopes; GM 2nd qtr. earnings tumble

Collectively, second-quarter earnings of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp. were off 22% from a year earlier - $3.8 billion vs. $4.8 billion. But that masks the underlying story: Ford and Chrysler met or exceeded analysts' expectations, while the $1.2-billion cost of two parts-plant strikes drove GM's profits down 81% from a year ago. GM's bid to prop up market share through aggressive

Aug. 1, 1998

Is QS-9000 Working? Quality standard still has doubters

There's not a great deal of middle ground when it comes to QS-9000 quality certification. And it doesn't seem to matter if you work for a supplier or an automaker; the questions about the effectiveness of the Big Three's quality standard persist.For supplier respondents, the good news is that 46% say their manufacturing process and product quality have improved, thanks to QS-9000. The remaining 54%

July 1, 1998

Ford’s Frenzied “F” Facelift

Okay, Ford Motor Co. might not like the insinuation that its slight '99 facelift of the immensely popular F-Series light-duty truck line (F-150/F-250) is "frenzied," but let's put it this way: before the total remake of the F-Series for '97, it had been 17 years since the last all-new F truck. Now, just a bit more than two years into the new generation, Ford's throwing a facelift at it.What's the

By Bill Visnic • July 1, 1998

Let the Good Times Roll

Talk to purchasing executives such as General Motors Corp.'s Harold R. Kutner, Chrysler Corp.'s Thomas W. Sidlik or Ford Motor Co.'s Carlos E. Mazzorin and you get the impression the good times can roll forever.Global purchasing in larger volumes than ever, flat or falling commodity prices, even collapsing Asian currencies all are helping to keep auto parts prices under control.The continuing exodus

July 1, 1998

GM Stumbles, Fumbles Overseas International Operations take a hit

The road to China, Thailand, Russia and Brazil runs through Detroit.At least it will for General Motors Corp., which over the next few months is shifting its International Operations (IO) command center out of Zurich back to the Motor City.The move comes on the heels of some unexpected stumbling at GMIO - part self-inflicted, part global economics - that sent the group's earnings plunging 69% in 1997

By David E. Zoia • July 1, 1998

Putting People Before Strategy --Daimler-Chrysler can learn from suppliermergers

Mike Plumley understands merger-mania from the front lines.Three years ago his family-owned Plumley Co. was an independent supplier making hoses and gaskets in Tennessee. Today it's a division of Dana Corp.Mike Plumley and his three brothers owned the company. Two wanted to grow the business, but the other two siblings wanted out."We could have bought out our brothers, but the first recession probably

By TOM MURPHY and JEFF GREEN • July 1, 1998

Jeep Ain’t Asleep

The public relations folks at Chrysler Corp. won't let me tell you how the 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee stacked up against its soon-to-be corporate cousin the Mercedes-Benz ML320 during some muddy boulder-crunching off-road maneuvering last March in Chelsea . . . at least not for another couple of months.But here's a good bit of what Jeep engineers told me about their flagship sport/ute before I jumped

By GREG GARDNER • July 1, 1998

Audi-Cosworth Deal; Ford Says ‘No Thanks’

With Volkswagen AG's Audi Div. about to acquire Cosworth, the British racing-engine and automotive engineering specialty company, some companies' Cosworth services may be left out in the cold. The most notable will be Ford Motor Co. Ford has had a long relationship with Cosworth and currently depends heavily on the British developer of racing engines for its CART and Formula One powertrains.Ford apparently

July 1, 1998

Home Away from Home Fiat targets Argentina with a new plant and products

BUENOS AIRES - It may be an ocean away, but Argentina is like home for Fiat SpA.The Italian company has turned the South American country into a little Italy, replicating everything from its most successful car plant to its dominance in car sales.The centerpiece in all this is the new, state-of-the-art facility at Cordoba, a key component of Fiat's world-car strategy, plus two strong brands - each

By Andrea Wielgat • July 1, 1998

Reversal of Fortunes GM’s NAO comeback stymied by strikes

Reversal of FortunesJust as General Motors Corp.'s North American Operations were starting to show some profit punch, the United Auto Workers union put on the gloves, effectively knocking out the automotive giant in June.And more bad news may be coming. Even after strikes at two key plants in Flint (MI) are settled, GM's war with the UAW likely will continue through the summer. The next front: a Flint

By GREG GARDNER • July 1, 1998

Ford’s New Brazil Plant Empowers Suppliers

In yet another step toward integrating suppliers more closely into the actual production of a vehicle, Ford Motor Co.'s new assembly plant near Porto Alegre, Brazil, will use extensive supplier-built modules for a small sedan or car-based sport/utility vehicle.One supplier will deliver a "rolling chassis," much like Dana Corp. is doing at Chrysler Corp.'s new pickup truck plant in Brazil. Other suppliers

July 1, 1998

Automotive Aftershocks?

NEW DELHI - Despite India's newly shaky status in the world community after its muscle-flexing May nuclear tests, its throng of automakers aren't likely to feel any aftershocks.No less than 15 vehicle makers, including the world's biggest, already are - or soon will be - fighting for a share of India's petite and increasingly cutthroat car market, which grew only 1% to 416,408 units in fiscal year

By Mack Chrysler • July 1, 1998

A Talk With Rick Wagoner --NAO chief upbeat in pre-strike interview

Several weeks before the UAW struck General Motors Corp.'s stamping plant and Delphi Automotive Systems' plant in Flint, G. Richard Wagoner, president of GM North American Operations spoke with WAW Senior Editor Greg Gardner. Here are excerpts from that interview:Q - With the transfer of Lou Hughes (president of GM International Operations) and other international executives from Zurich to Detroit,

By GREG GARDNER • July 1, 1998

Bumper Battleground--Automakers, insurers continue to fight over standards

The smooth, flowing lines of most new cars and trucks conceal bumpers so well consumers rarely give them a second thought. But back into a pole in a Wal-Mart parking lot on a busy weekend and bumper design suddenly becomes an important part of your life.If you ram the pole in a Hyundai Elantra going 5 mph (8 km/h), you're looking at more than $1,700 in damage and all the hassle that entails: dropping

By Drew Winter • July 1, 1998

Who’s Next?--DaimlerChrysler deal gets rumor mill spinning

Now what?The seismograph is still shaking from the pending DaimlerChrysler merger of the century, but the buzz already has shifted to who's next to spring a mega-deal.Just as the Citicorp-Travelers merger ignited a flurry of shotgun weddings in the banking industry, so will DaimlerChrysler's amalgamation trigger even higher stakes combinations among carmakers."There's no doubt this will precipitate

By ANDREA WIELGAT and BARBARA McCLELLAN • June 1, 1998

DaimlerChrysler will Face Wide Gap in Executive Pay

It's no secret that German executives are paid far less than their American counterparts, and that could be a disincentive for Chrysler managers to stay around after the mega-merger is consummated, says Graef Crystal, an executive compensation analyst and consultant."I definitely foresee problems," says Mr. Crystal, who advised Volkswagen of America 20 years ago after it opened its assembly plant

June 1, 1998