Automakers: Page 437
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Lack of fourth door plagues Ford
Ford Motor Co. is taking plenty of heat these days for failing to offer a fourth, rear passenger sliding door on its Windstar minivan, which debuted in 1994. Meantime, General Motors Corp. engineered a fourth door on its all-new '97 U-van see cover story, p.26), and Chrysler Corp. offers it as a $500 option on its new-for-'96 minivans. As a stopgap before the next Windstar comes along -- likely 1999
April 1, 1996 -
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Isuzu joining small SUV fray
Who says tariffs don't bring jobs to the U.S.? Another Asian automaker is ready to build a small sport/utility vehicle for the 1998 model year at its Subaru-Isuzu Automotive plant in Lafayette, IN. The new SUV will be smaller than the Amigo, which Isuzu stopped importing from Japan two years ago because of the 25% import duty that made it cost as much as a Chevrolet Blazer. It will enable Isuzu to
April 1, 1996 -
Explore the Trendline➔
Courtesy of Kia Corporation
TrendlineArtificial 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 -
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Borg-Warner grabs Chrysler contract
Borg-Warner Automotive Inc. has been awarded a contract to design and produce a complete engine-timing chain system for Chrysler Corp. The system will be featured on the automaker's new double overhead cam 2.7L engine for the 1998 model year. The contract's value, believed to cover some 300,000 engines annually, is not disclosed.
April 1, 1996 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Women bring an added perspective to the auto industry
They're running plants, designing cars and, well doing their thing. It started in the 1960s when corporations throughout America, including the U.S. Big Three, buckled to growing pressures and began electing women and minorities to their boards of directors. Today that's commonplace: GM has two women directors, Ford, two, and Chrysler, one.Although a small number of women began making inroads at the
April 1, 1996 -
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Geneva: chic and sleek; Jaguar’s new E-type is a show stopper
But Jaguar takes a decidedly unhistoric tack with its powertrain -- a Ford-designed 4L V-8 with variable-valve timing and a ZF AG 5-speed automatic replace the inline 6-cyl. found in the old E-type. An XISM ragtop derivative will debut at the New York Auto Show this month.Lotus Cars plc manages to highlight its new V-8 Esprit amid a swirl of rumors about a Korean buyout. The high-performance carmaker
April 1, 1996 -
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Taking a ‘deep dive’ with Ford; No. 1 automaker lifts veil on ‘total cost strategy.’
If it all works, Ford Motor Co. will become the world's lowest-cost automaker with the fastest new-product turnaround, affordable prices, high quality and after-tax profits averaging 5% return on sales (ROS) by the turn of the century.Ford's ROS was 1.9% last year. it's all part of a grand "total cost strategy" Ford is implementing under its Ford 2000 globalization scheme, which began 15 months ago
By David C. Smith • April 1, 1996 -
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So long Kirk, hello Steve; Chrysler’s Bob Eaton now faces the UAW’s Yokich
"Where we can, we would like to export from the United States because the United States is the lowest cost place to produce cars in the world "Chrysler ChairmanRobert J. EatonNow that he has dodged the bullets fired by billionaire shareholder Kirk Kerkorian, Chrysler Corp. Chairman Robert J. Eaton turns his attention to upcoming negotiations with the United Auto Workers union led by Stephen Yokich
By Gardner, Greg • April 1, 1996 -
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More at stake in GM’s Dayton strike.
This time, Dayton. Next time, Janesville, WI, or Lordstown, OH, Tor Oklahoma City.If General Motors Corp. is truly committed to overhauling its parts-sourcing strategy, it may have to dig deeper into its $12 billion cash reserves to fight more battles like last month's 18-day stand-off at two Delphi Chassis brake plants in Dayton.These are brutally competitive times. If Robert Bosch Corp. comes along
April 1, 1996 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Opel Sintra offers something others don’t
The transatlantic cooperation be tween General Motors Corp's North American engineers and the design team at Opel will give the '97 European Sintra significant advantages over other European minivans.Already the van market is bursting at the seams, stuffed with new model introductions over the past two years, including the Ford Galaxy/Volkswagen Sharan, Mercedes-Benz Viano and the Citroen Evasion
By ROB CLEVELAND • April 1, 1996 -
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Ssay it with SSUVs: Korea’s SSangyong goes where the buyers are
Whoever coined the phrase "Go for the jugular" must have known a thing or two about South Korea's Ssangyong Motor Co. Ltd.Unlike Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd. and Kia Motors Corp., who led their charge into North America with inexpensive, small cars spun off cheap, low-tech platforms, Ssangyong plans to take a radically different path. And this one will be right into the Big Three's stronghold: the sport/utility
By Knapp, Gwendolyn S. • April 1, 1996 -
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From Kroger to kaizen
Japanese U.S. transplant automakers make strong cases for their progress in becoming American companies. While levels of local content and enormous operational investments are beginning to support that case, American workers are the building blocks.Some Japanese automakers are passing the gavel to their American counterparts, empowering them to govern the bulk of the business including vehicle design,
By Knapp, Gwendolyn S. • April 1, 1996 -
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A firm believer in teamwork
Maureen Kempston Darkes' first car was a Chevrolet Camaro. Now, the 47-year-old lawyer is responsible for the plant that churns them out in Ste. Therese, Quebec, as well as General Motors of Canada Ltd.'s other operations.Her appointment in 1994 to president of GM of Canada and GM vice president was a milestone on several counts. She holds the highest operating post ever achieved by a woman at GM.
By Gazdik, Tanya • April 1, 1996 -
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She’s in it for the cars
No one had yet conceived of the Prowler in 1985 when Chrysler Corp. executives singled out Cynthia J. Frey from a Boston consumer clinic and asked her to come to work in Detroit.Now, a decade later and with a stimulating academic career teaching marketing at Boston College behind her, Ms. Frey is program manager for the innovative open-wheel roadster that rolls into showrooms a year from now (see
By Neff, Natalie • April 1, 1996 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Shrink-wrapping a mini-van
On paper the plan looks brilliant. Design a van to sell in both North America and Europe, leverage a global supply base that is beginning to feel comfortable with a once-chaotic purchasing system and build them all in one assembly plant with a local union that is just glad to see a second shift again.But mix Opel engineers with their counterparts from General Motors Corp.'s Midsize Car Div., add the
By GREG GARDNER, Michael Arnholt • April 1, 1996 -
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Chrysler’s Prowler: more than a material showcase, it’s a real product
Anyone wondering why Chrysler Corp. has some of the world's lowest product-development costs should visit their local Plymouth showroom early next year. Sitting there, briefly, in a few lucky dealerships, will be one of the more technologically impressive production vehicles to come along in some time.Even if you hate its retro-style looks, pull your nose up at its mundane 3.5L engine, and sneer at
By Drew Winter • March 1, 1996 -
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Honda’s small sport-ute will come to U.S. next year
First came the Kia Sportage, then Toyota's RAV4, so Honda is Americanizing its CR-V small sport/utility for introduction in the U.S. by early 1997. The CR-V will be built to U.S. safety and emission specifications with a 2L, 4-cyl. engine and full-time 4-wheeldrive. Its overall length (1 76.4 ins. or 4,480 mm.) is about the same as the Honda Passport, but it will have considerably less cargo volume,
March 1, 1996 -
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ASTEC leads Delphi global push
TOKYO - In one corner of Genera Motors Corp.'s Asian Technical center (ASTEC) on the outskirts of Tokyo engineers are busy dismantling Nissan Pulsar.Although the tear-down under way is part of an exercise modeled after Gm's Mona Lisa program to determine best-in-class parts used in the States, this car holds little interest for those focused on the U.S. market. "The U.S. doesn't understand the market
By David E. Zoia • March 1, 1996 -
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Ford offers leaner Taurus, plans ‘superdoor’ for Windstar
From $600 rebates to the new no-frills Taurus and Sable, Ford is finally getting the message about affordability. The bare-bones midsize sedans, both available in April, will come without cruise control, floor mats, power door locks or a cassette player. All interiors will be gray. You can have any exterior color you want as long as it's white, red, gray, silver or green. The Taurus G will be stickered
March 1, 1996 -
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ABD develops new suspension test rig
High consumer expectations are leading automakers to demand higher quality components from their suppliers. The testing equipment industry, in turn, is coming up with faster and more accurate methods of certifying automotive components.England-based Anthony Best Dynamics Ltd. recently unveiled a new system for measuring vehicle suspension characteristics. The Suspension Parameter Measurement Machine
By Tim Keenan • March 1, 1996 -
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Vive la difference: Ford’s Richard Parry-Jones relishes challenges ofworld cars.
Ford Motor Co.'s ambitious Ford 2000 program puts unprecedented responsibility on the automaker's Europe-based small/medium front-drive vehicle program center (VPC) -- some 40% of the automaker's worldwide volume.But Richard Parry-Jones, Ford's British-born vice president in charge of that center, has experience with world cars and welcomes the challenge.Mr. Parry-Jones' shepherding of the CDW27 project
By ROB CLEVELAND • March 1, 1996 -
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GM flips EV1 ‘on’ switch
A spate of technically intriguing vehicles have cropped up recently, some nearly ready for the road, others still in the dream stage. WAW takes a close look at a selection on the following seven editorial pages, starting with General Motors Corp.'s EV1 electric car and including Delco Electronics SSE and Chrysler Corp.'s Prowler and Viper Coupe.Whether or not General Motors Corp. makes money on its
By Gardner, Greg • March 1, 1996 -
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Vectra-based Saturn running behind schedule
Saturn Corp.'s Project Innovate, the program aimed at creating a midsize move-up car from an Adam Opel AG Vectra platform, is running behind schedule, say Saturn insiders. The car, which is Elated for a 1999 model year intro and would be built at General Motors Corp.'s Wilmington, DE, plant, will not be a rebadged Vectra, says Saturn President Donald W. Hudler. It will be wrapped in Saturn's patented
March 1, 1996 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Takata goes green
Because of possible disposal problems with conventional sodium azide-fueled inflators, air bag producers are racing to develop more environmentally friendly versions (see WAW--June '95, p. 41). Takata Inc. claims to be the first supplier to provide automakers with an "ultra-downsized, environmentally friendly, non-azide inflator for the '96 model year." The new air bags will be used on four vehicle
March 1, 1996 -
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Automakers need 250,000 more workers
Just when the job-eating, downsizing management mindset seems to be spinning out of control, here comes a group of cock-eyed optimists from the University of Michigan's Office for the Study of Automotive Transportation.The Big Three will hire 250,000 over the next eight years -- that's in the United States alone. Up to 129,000 of those hires could happen in Michigan.That's the thrust of "Driving America's
March 1, 1996 -
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GM VLEs learn to lean to the left
When it comes to reinventing itself, General Motors Corp. is quite familiar with consultants. Kinsey & Co., A.T. Kearney Inc., you name it, any major consulting firm worth its fees, has taken a whack at the organizational thicket enshrouding the world's largest automaker.But for guiding the training of GM's 13 vehicle line executives, GM has linked up with Alfredo (Fred) M. Kofman, an Argentine-born,
March 1, 1996
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