Automakers: Page 442

Ford adjusts schedule despite May sales increase

Ford Motor Co. sees a 2.5% boost in May sales -- mostly in the hot sport/utility vehicle (SUV), pickup and minivan segment -- but announces plans to cut back production of passenger cars by 16.5% in the third quarter due to less-than-enthusiastic spring sales. General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Corp. sales drop 5.7% and 3%, respectively. Overall U.S. vehicle sales are down 1.3%, the fifth straight

July 1, 1995

Volvo seeks partner to build vehicle in N. America

AB Volvo is studying a plan to set up production in North America for a new SUV, Volvo Cars of North America Inc. executives tell Ward's. The Sweden-based automaker is discussing a joint-venture for the project with Mitsubishi Motors Corp., as well as several other companies, the VCNA executives say.

July 1, 1995

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

GM ironing out Russian Blazer deal

General Motors Corp. is in final negotiations to form a joint venture to assemble Chevrolet Blazer compact SUVs in Russia. The deal may be signed by September. GM is negotiating with ELAZ, which has a massive unfinished automotive complex in Yelabuga, Tatarstan, Russia. ELAZ conducted long, fruitless negotitations with Fiat SpA to build the A93 small car, engines and transmissions at the site, originally

July 1, 1995

Ford, Mazda cutting back at Flat Rock facility

AutoAlliance, the joint venture between Mazda and Ford, is cutting 90 salaried jobs at its assembly plant in Flat Rock, MI, home of the Ford Probe and Mazda MX-6 and 626. About 90 more administrative and technical jobs will be trimmed as part of the cut-back program. Those jobs consist of open positions resulting from retirement and a previous hiring freeze and about 30 Japanese staff members who

July 1, 1995

BMW looks beyond the mandates

With increased prosperity and the associated growth, corporations are challenged to accept broader responsibilities, including those relating to the environment.Fortunately, it is that very prosperity that allows us to be environmentally conscientious. Although regulatory mandates in the past have driven many of the industry's responses to those challenges, customers increasingly expect companies

By Ziwica, Karl-Heinz • July 1, 1995

Team Taurus - revisited for ‘96; an early look at the workings of Ford 2000

Consider Ford Motor Co.'s perilous situation: its all-new Taurus and Sable midsizers, the company's perennial best-selling passenger cars, are ready for introduction into a weakening market -- a market suddenly flash-point sensitive to "affordability."Yet in the first major redesign since their initial launch a decade ago, the 1996 Taurus and Sable -- codenamed DN 101 are more complex, take longer

By Bill Visnic • June 1, 1995

Air bags brace for impact; producers develop greener alternatives to sodium azide

If you think the only impact air bag producers care about is in a crash, think again. Concerns over the environmental impact of junked air bags is forcing them to redesign their products and search for more ecofriendly pyrotechnic materials to inflate the bags.This is no public relations exercise, either. Automakers are demanding more environmentally friendly air bags, and the installation rate of

By Drew Winter • June 1, 1995

Bird catches fire; Sunfire, Cavalier leave past models in dust

It has a racey new look, a catchy new name and a bold new attitude. "It" is Pontiac Motor Div.'s version of the General Motors Corp.'s revamped J platform -- Sunfire.The new Pontiac J model, called Sunbird in previous interations, takes more than the flame reference from its Firebird big brother in GM's "excitement" stable. Aerodynamic front-end styling gives Sunfire its family resemblance and the

By Tim Keenan • June 1, 1995

Aeroquip gets its biggest contract ever

Ford Motor Co. and Aeroquip Corp. sign a contract for the supplier to deliver $40 million to $50 million in power steering hose/tube systems annually for the next seven years. The hoses are for late 90s vehicles. Aeroquip says it's the largest single contract in company history.

June 1, 1995

New E-Class built with cost in mind

STUTTGART -- Search beyond the distinctive four-headlamp front end and you'll discover that Mercedes-Benz AG's new E-Class -- scheduled for launch this month -- heralds a second, even more significant revolution from the world's oldest carmaker.This E-Class is the first model Mercedes has ever built to a clearly defined cost target. Previously, engineering-dominated Mercedes simply didn't rank development

June 1, 1995

Toyota gets tougher on costs; look out - the leanest is about to get leaner

Just when they thought they were catching up with Toyota Motor Corp.'s pacesetting lean production methods, the world's other automakers face a new threat: Toyota is set to become still leaner.Already the envy of everyone else as the lowest-cost producer of high quality vehicles, Toyota is waging yet another war on waste.Spurred on by the persistently strong yen, which has forced price increases repeatedly

By David C. Smith • June 1, 1995

Ford limits cost of new car development

Ford locks product development spending for the rest of the decade. "This is really a stretch target," says car development chief Jacques Nasser. "We owe it to our marketplace. We owe it to our customers." Ford also owes it to itself. The company obviously never wants to undergo the industry ridicule and shellacking by the automotive press it took after spending an estimated six years and $6 billion

June 1, 1995

GM begins ambassador program

General Motors Corp. officials deny that their new ambassador program is aimed at repairing Gm's reputation as the domestic automaker with the worst supplier-OEM relations. The No. 1 automaker concedes, however, that the initiative, announced in Toronto in April, will improve communication between GM and its vendors. "I'm not sure we'll ever be the best-liked customer in the world," says Harold Kutner,

June 1, 1995

GM to sell Magnaquench

During Roger Smith's tenure as GM's chairman, high-technology was the order of the day, and the Magnaquench magnet operation in Anderson, IN, was supposed to revolutionize the corporation's small-motor business. Now, GM appears ready to sell the business to Beijing's San Huan Group Inc. for $70 million, reports The Detroit News, as part of its components-group consolidation. Magnaquench would be the

April 1, 1995

Kia is not shy about its product goals

Borrego Springs, CA -- Tiny Kia Motors America Inc. is not shy Bas it carves its way into the crowded U.S. vehicle market. The South Korean automaker has plans for two upscale models and is eyeing U.S. assembly, just a year after it entered the market.Kia recently launched its second vehicle in the U.S. - the Sportage compact sport/ utility. It joins the Sephia compact sedan at Kia's 96 dealers in

April 1, 1995

It’s ESP! Mercedes/Bosch system tames those slippery roads

ARJEPLOG, Sweden With claims of a system that may be five times more effective than antilock brakes (ABS) in preventing accidents, engineers at Mercedes-Benz AG and Robert Bosch GmbH introduce their innovative high-tech Electronic Stability Program (ESP) on frozen Lake Hornavan outside this small town near the Arctic Circle.What the Mercedes/Bosch folks term as revolutionary may be too strong a description,

By Mike Arnholt • April 1, 1995

Which automakers are coming back to the U.S.?

GENEVA -- Several European manufacturers are rumored to be fashioning plans for U.S. entries.Top officials of two of those companies -- Peugeot SA, Fiat Spa and Renault SA -- were interviewed by WAW at the Geneva auto show, but only Peugeot lends credence to the scuttlebutt.A decision whether to return to the U.S. market will come in the next several months, says Peugeot Chairman Jacques Calvet. Sales

April 1, 1995

GM buys ‘96 Olympics

General Motors Corp. is signing on to be the sole domestic car and truck sponsor for the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team and the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta for between $5 million and $10 million, the Detroit Free Press reports. Philip Guarascio, GM's VP of marketing and advertising, now has to make sure the investment pays off. "We will have tons of vehicles all over the place," he predicts. "Our plans

April 1, 1995

New Chrysler minivan has all the extras; strong styling and long listof new features will rachet up the standard for competitors

Big Sur, CA - Look out suburbia, there's a new guy in town. Just park that old Chrysler minivan next to the 96 Caravan and Voyager, and if you're style- and comfort-conscious, there'll be a new vehicle in the driveway come next model year.With total sales of around 4 million over 12 years, Chrysler Corp. has owned the minivan market since the first one came down the line in late 1983; that makes improving

By Sorge, Marjorie • April 1, 1995

Inside GM’s global purchasing; it’s a tough process, but they’re working toward warmer supplier relations

First things first: If you want to reach the top at General Motors Corp.'s purchasing organization, just pick up the phone and punch in 810-986-2290.That will get you into Harold R. Kutner's office at GM's North American Operations (NAO) headquarters in Warren, MI, and he promises to take all calls. He's the top honcho: vice president-worldwide purchasing. After that, you're on your own.Mr. Kutner's

By David C. Smith • April 1, 1995

GM: NAO can survive downtown

General Motors Corp.'s North American Operations could break even on a cash-flow basis in 1995, even if a mild downturn -- a 7% to 10% dip -- occurs in the U.S. new vehicle market, top executives tell financial analysts in a meeting in Rye, NY.Analysts say GM brass also told them the company is taking a more critical approach to reviewing management performance and is tying executive bonuses closer

April 1, 1995

No sob story from Saab

Saab Automobile AB may build a new car that would fall under the 900 by the end of the decade, says Keith O. Butler-Wheelhouse, president and CEO. "I think it would likely be smaller than larger," he says. "But that is going to depend a lot on what happens in the market. It depends on how the new smaller luxury cars from Mercedes and BMW and Audi do. They may play well in Europe and not play well

April 1, 1995

NVG celebrates 5 years; heads new composite venture

New Venture Gear Inc., the historic joint venture between the manual transmission businesses of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Corp., celebrates its fifth year with a black-ink bottom line and a government grant to explore composite materials for driveline products.NVG turns its first profit in fiscal 1993 and improves its bottom line in 1994 on the heels of $1 billion in sales. "I think we achieved

By Tim Keenan • April 1, 1995

Hyundai a bear on ‘95 sales

Only 14.9 million light vehicles will be sold in the U.S. during 1995, predicts N. Douglas Mazza, executive vice president of Hyundai Motor America. He says the rising prices of cars and light trucks is pushing more buyers into used vehicles, and younger buyers are foregoing a new car, opting instead to spend their dollars upgrading their computer systems or on other big-ticket items.

April 1, 1995

GM’s Saginaw Steering expands in Far East

China, Japan and Vietnam grab increasing attention from General Motors Corp.'s Delphi Saginaw Steering Systems.Donald L. Runkle, GM vice president and Saginaw general manager, reveals details of new joint ventures recently signed in China and Japan, and tells WAW partsmaking "discussions" are under way in Vietnam as it prepares to join the ASEAN trading block where 2 million vehicles currently are

April 1, 1995