Automakers: Page

Well Focused Is this Ford global platform really that versatile?

Al Kammerer, Ford Motor Co.'s vehicle line director for the Focus platform team, is trying to explain to a room of skeptical journalists what his 600 team members learned from Ford's last global vehicle effort, the infamous $6 billion CDW27 program that gave birth to Mondeo, Contour and Mercury Mystique."Back in the pre-Ford 2000 days we had watchers watching the people doing," says the earnest Mr.

By GREG GARDNER • Nov. 1, 1998

Adeus AutoEuropa: VW to build SUV at plant

Volkswagen AG may build a new sport/utility vehicle (SUV) with Porsche AG at the plant in Palmela, Portugal, it currently shares with Ford Motor Co. VW will buy Ford's 50% stake in the $2.6 billion AutoEuropa Automoveis Ltda. joint venture, which currently makes Ford Galaxy, VW Sharan and SEAT Alhambra minivans. VW is expected to gain full control of the plant on Jan. 1. AutoEuropa will continue to

Nov. 1, 1998

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

Restless Ruble Currency crisis mars Moscow show, but automakers say they’llstay

MOSCOW - While visitors to the recent Moscow auto show admired the new Lada Niva, three Volga concept cars, and upscale Jaguars, Ferraris and Maseratis, auto executives exhibited worried faces.But facial expressions and financial turmoil aside, automakers continue to reaffirm their long-term commitments to Russia."Carmakers such as GM/Opel, Fiat and Renault and some of the Korean OEMs are proceeding

By Peter Homola • Oct. 1, 1998

Saturn, Cadillac and Yellowstone I tried to stop writing about GM, but . . .

I keep promising myself to stop writing about General Motors, but they keep doing these things. This company will make one great Harvard Case Study some day. Right now, Saturn, Cadillac, and Yellowstone all deserve some critical comments.First, Yellowstone (the U.S. version of GM's Brazilian Blue Macaw venture):n The prototype plant, Blue Macaw in Brazil, isn't even in production, yet here is GM promising

By Jerry Flint • Oct. 1, 1998

A Plethora of Pickups Are the full-sizers headed for their peak?

Despite Toyota Motor Co.'s reputation for impeccable quality and a new, multivalve 4.7L V-8 engine, its Tundra full-size pickup truck enters the market at a time when demand in this highly profitable segment is beginning to slow and competitors are upgrading their offerings.General Motors Corp. is ramping up production of its 1999 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, powered by its enhanced family

By GREG GARDNER • Oct. 1, 1998

In the Headlights: ‘99 BMW 3-series

It's a little longer. A touch wider. Wheel base is stretched a tad. Engines are improved.Sounds like the formula for anybody's new car. But this is the all-new 3-series. Like the generation before it, you can bet the new "3" will be the same uncatchable mechanical rabbit, out of reach for its competitors.Yes, the previous 3-series' attributes magically meshed to make it the unchallenged segment leader,

By Bill Visnic • Oct. 1, 1998

AAMA Will Disband; What’s Next Is Unclear

Shareholder approval of the DaimlerChrysler AG merger marks the end of the automotive industry's political Cold War. Consequently, the American Automobile Manufacturers Assn. has little to do.So the domestic industry's lobbying arm will disband by the end of this year.The association's bylaws say members can't be owned or operated by a foreign company. Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. have

Oct. 1, 1998

In the Headlights: Suzuki Grand Vitara

Controversy is the last thing most automotive executives want in the final months before a new vehicle launch.But for American Suzuki Motor Corp., its spat with General Motors Corp. over its new V-6 engine actually could serve as a great marketing tool for the Grand Vitara, the company's small sport/utility vehicle equipped with the new 2.5L powerplant.Grand Vitara is the much-refined offspring of

By Tom Murphy • Oct. 1, 1998

Saturn Returns to Orbit

After months of treating Saturn Corp. like any other business center that must meet profit targets to justify new investment, General Motors Corp. has agreed to build a new small sport/utility vehicle in Spring Hill, TN, and substantially boost the capacity from about 320,000 cars a year to 420,000.Early reports that the expansion could hike Spring Hill's potential output to 500,000 are predicated

Oct. 1, 1998

Give Me the Night (Vision) Techy military tool takes to the streets in 2000

Night driving is dangerous - in fact it's more than three times more likely to end in a fatality than daytime driving, safety experts tell us.Since the first autos crept out after sundown with their acetylene lamps glaring, automakers have looked for ways to make night driving safer.Borrowing heavily from the military, both General Motors Corp.'s Cadillac Motor Car Div. and Ford Motor Co.'s Jaguar

By KATHI JACKSON • Oct. 1, 1998

More Than a Mini Success Chrysler minivans mark 15th anniversary

For a product that changed the face of the auto industry and will celebrate its 15th anniversary next month, the minivan several times had to avert disaster from its product development stages to its ceremonial rollout Nov. 2, 1983, at Chrysler Corp.'s Windsor, Ont., assembly plant.That's when company Chairman Lee A. Iacocca drove the first production version of the T-115 minivan off the assembly

By Brian Corbett • Oct. 1, 1998

Making Horses - and Using Them ‘99 drivetrain advances are as much aboutusing horsepower as making it

Drivetrain development has reached a fascinating new plateau.First, nobody's suggesting anymore (with the possible exception of Toyota Motor Corp.) that electric or hybrid vehicles will be a significant force in the car business for a number of years.Powertrain engineers from all over are asserting the new empowerment of internal-combustion engines: electronic controls are evolving to new levels of

By BILL VISNIC and JEFF GREEN • Oct. 1, 1998

Tracking Toyota’s Tundra How rising stars at GM came to lead an army ofhand-picked Hoosiers

PRINCETON, IN - Seizo Okamoto dances around the question of which competitor Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana Inc. benchmarked in developing its new Tundra full-size pickup truck."It is very difficult to tell which is best," says the president and chief executive officer of Toyota's newest U.S. plant just south of this southwestern Indiana city."In size, our Tundra is smaller than Ford's F-150,

By GREG GARDNER • Oct. 1, 1998

Desert Storm Comes to the Family Garage

CARMEL, CA - I recently sat behind the wheel of a 2000 Cadillac DeVille staring into the dark night, unable to see beyond the glaring headlights of a bus deliberately parked about 50 yds. (46 m) ahead. Then a General Motors Corp. engineer flicked a switch to turn on a new, infrared (IR) night-vision system. A head-up display (HUD) projected ahead of the windshield.With the HUD image, I now could easily

Oct. 1, 1998

Make the Customer Happy New model year arrives with a load of suppliergoodies

Since when did suppliers find time for market research to find out exactly what the driving public wants in a personal vehicle?Consumer clinics, of course, are critical when it comes to automakers marketing their products.But it would seem difficult for suppliers to do extensive studies on their own specific products when their primary purpose must be to satisfy the ever-shifting demands of their

By Tom Murphy • Oct. 1, 1998

Bill Ford, Jac Nasser Share Leadership in Ford Succession

In a smooth transition that has been expected for many months, Ford Motor Co. has tapped 41-year-old William Clay Ford Jr. as its next chairman and Jacques A. Nasser as its next president and chief executive officer, both succeeding Alex Trotman, who will relinquish all three titles Jan. 1, 1999.It marks the first time since 1980 that a member of the Ford family has been chairman."This is the time

Oct. 1, 1998

Can Jay Alix’s Tonic Cure What Ails Peregrine?

It won't be easy, and it won't be pretty. But it is possible for Peregrine Inc., the supplier founded just over a year ago through the purchase of four General Motors Delphi Automotive Systems plants, to recover from the brink of bankruptcy.In fact, Jay Alix, the turnaround specialist who bought Peregrine earlier this year, says his restructuring plan could have the company on the path to profitability

Sept. 1, 1998

General Motors and the UAW Deserve Each Other They’re headed on a dead-endcourse

The General Motors strike is over, but a few things should be said. Imagine you are a supplier. Your best customer accounts for 30% of your business. He pays top dollar for your goods. The last few years his business hasn't been so good, so he has cut back on his orders. He complains about your prices - says you're not competitive in this global market. But he still pays top dollar for your work.

By Jerry Flint • Sept. 1, 1998

Plastics Get Smart Europe’s new micro car sports plastic panels

This year's blockbuster DaimlerChrysler merger has suppliers on both sides of the Atlantic worrying. In Europe, traditional Daimler-Benz suppliers fear they'll be asked for drastic price cuts when Daimler's purchasing department finds out what Chrysler is paying for various parts. Chrysler's vendors are leery of Mercedes' hands-on approach to supplier relations.But the marriage bodes well for at least

By STEPHEN E. PLUMB • Sept. 1, 1998

Skoda’s on a Whirl Czech carmaker is doing something right

Three years ago the most powerful Skoda packed a scant 75 hp. Today's top Octavia has 125 hp, with 150 hp in the pipeline, and the upward trend doesn't end there. Skoda, like parent Volkswagen AG, plans a new V-8. A 250-hp Skoda, no less.The Czech carmaker - by one interpretation, the third oldest in the world behind Mercedes-Benz and Peugeot - is now Europe's fastest-growing volume marque. Sales

By Peter Robinson • Sept. 1, 1998

Chrysler’s Plastic Car Push

The quest for lower-cost, lighter-weight, less-polluting vehicles is a never-ending task, but it promises to become even more challenging for automotive engineers in coming years thanks to mounting pressure to improve fuel economy and curb greenhouse gases. And it is a task in which materials will begin to play an increasingly important role.Because materials are such a crucial component of the automotive

By Drew Winter • Sept. 1, 1998

Window to the World On-glass antennas make a comeback

It's easy to see why a designer would love to rid an auto body of a radio antenna: It's unsightly and a detriment to styling. It's easily damaged and vandalized. It contributes to wind noise. The power antenna is expensive and takes a lot of abuse.General Motors Corp. and other automakers have been building antennas that are fluted, or spiral shaped, for better wind management and have been placing

By Tom Murphy • Sept. 1, 1998

Grin and Bear It Despite strike, suppliers still need GM

The 54-day strike against General Motors Corp. is over, and suppliers want to forget it as quickly as Jack Smith does.But it's not so easy when the ugly confrontation left an indelible mark on supplier profits. Of course, there is potential for more unrest in next year's contract talks with the United Auto Workers union.At some point, will all this aggravation force suppliers to reconsider how much

By Tom Murphy • Sept. 1, 1998

GM Plants: Who’s on hit list?

"We will strive for even higher capacity utilization than the current level of 94%. We will make the total production system leaner, faster and more flexible. We are planning on building new assembly plants to replace and consolidate older plants. The new plants will be lean and agile in every respect, operating 24 hours a day."- John F. Smith Jr., Aug. 5, 1998"In 1992 we had 109 models. Today we

Sept. 1, 1998

Share is Small but Growing Magnesium’s cost still a key issue

Just how badly do we need to reduce weight? This is the perennial question automotive engineers ask when evaluating magnesium applications.The ultra-lightweight metal is making steady progress. Byron B. Clow, executive vice president of the International Magnesium Assn. says that in North America alone magnesium components used by automakers have jumped from 33 in 1991 to 162 in 1997. American Metal

By FRAN SMITH • Sept. 1, 1998