Automakers: Page 444

Drivetrains ‘96.

Some auto execs express concern about an imminent affordability crisis." But if customer rebellion is coming, the revolt won't be instigated on the perception that automakers are milking profits by foisting outmoded drivelines on the motoring public. The 1996 model year may be short on truly all-new products, but the advances in powertrain development are of near epic importance.No, there aren't many

By Bill Visnic • Oct. 1, 1995

Inland balks at price cuts

The Wall Street Journal reports that third-quarter earnings for Inland Steel Industries Inc. will fall below last year's $30.7 million, in part because automakers are punishing it for refusing to cut prices. Automakers, who buy about 40% of Inland's shipments, reduced orders after it balked at lower prices. Steel analysts say General Motors Corp. cut back purchases from Inland for reasons other than

Oct. 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

It’s official: ‘96 Civic is an American car

The next thing you know dogs and cats will be sleeping together. The Honda Civic will be classified as a U.S. domestic car for the first time with the debut of the all new '96 model, American Honda Motor Co. Inc. reveals. Sedan, coupe and hatchback versions of the car, built in East Liberty, OH, have an Environmental Protection Agency domestic content rating of 92%, Honda says. Actual domestic content,

Oct. 1, 1995

If at first you don’t succeed....

Jack Smith walks through the Design Dome at the General Motors Technical Center and is flagged down by a chief designer eager for feedback on a future project."Hey, Jack. What do you think of this new design?""Boy, that's really neat. We ought to put that in."Wrong answer, Jack.OK, that wasn't really GM President John F. (Jack) Smith Jr. in the dome on a sunny day last June, but rather someone pretending

By Alan L. Adler • Sept. 1, 1995

Latest plan pares North American output

Automakers reduced their North American production schedules in the third quarter by 26,900 units to 3,355,700 cars and trucks. That includes an estimated 36,900-unit shortfall in July, followed by a 14,200-unit increase in August and a modest reduction of 4,200 units in September. The revised schedule does not include changes from Ford, which is not expected to make major changes in its build schedule

Sept. 1, 1995

Chrysler tries to rid ‘96 models of NVH

The last five years have brought an astonishing reversal at Chrysler Corp. While redesigning its entire product line from the dowdy, boxiness of the K-car to the slick curves of its cab-forward concept, Chrysler has become the low-cost developer of new cars and trucks.That feat has transformed the company into one of the most profitable automakers in the industry. But there's plenty more to do.Chrysler's

Sept. 1, 1995

BMW stock drop means more U.S. jobs

BMW AG reports a six-month profit of $221 million.that's a 5% improvement from the same period last year. But the German carmaker's stock price dropped 2% because earned revenue was less than predicted. The gap was caused by the strengthening Deutschmark, and that fuels speculation that BMW will shift more production to its South Carolina assembly plant. Its annual capacity already has been increased

Sept. 1, 1995

Chrysler unveils Sebring ragtop

Chrysler officials say they used the Camaro convertible as a benchmark in designing the Sebring convertible and that it surpasses that car in a couple of key areas. For example, they say rear legroom, at 35.2 ins., is 8 ins. more than the Camaro's, and trunk room, at 11.3 cu.-ft., is 4 cu.-ft. greater than Camaro's.Among the car's key features: front seat belts are integrated into the seats, eliminating

Sept. 1, 1995

Auto Hall of Fame will move to new home

The Automotive Hall of Fame will move to Dearborn. MI, next year. That's appropriate. It's the only facility that honors automotive pioneers and leaders from around the world and it should be near the facility that is synonymous with the industry: The Henry Ford Museum.Next year marks the automotive industry's centennial, and the 56-year-old Hall of Fame is launching an $8 million capital fund drive

Sept. 1, 1995

Silence of the cams

Anyone who remembers the 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee commercial in which the vehicle's window rises to eliminate the sound of a background waterfall understands that quiet sells in today's automotive marketplace.Automakers discovered several years ago that safety sells, now they are becoming aware that silence is golden as well. Instead of using Band-Aid fixes at the assembly plant or relying on the

By Tim Keenan • Sept. 1, 1995

Delco Remy America; Sperlich shuns retirement, takes company global

Delco Remy America (DRA), the privately held company spun off nearly a year ago from the Delco Remy Div. of General Motors Corp., is alive, on track and operating among other places in Budapest, Hungary.DRA is headed by Chairman Harold K. Sperlich, one-time Ford Motor Co. senior executive and president of Chrysler Corp.'s automotive operations, who, for the first time, finds his own money on the line."(It's)

By Houston, Tom • Aug. 1, 1995

American Axle; former Chrysler VP takes old operations to new heights

What do you get when you cross a string of well-worn General Motors Corp. parts plants scattered throughout the "rust belt" with a zealot who wrote a book on manufacturing? At least in one case the result is an efficient, profitable private company called American Axle & Mfg. Corp. (AAM).Last year a small group of investors, spearheaded by former Chrysler Corp. executive Richard E. Dauch, bought a

By Jakobowski, Tom • Aug. 1, 1995

BMW’s $20,000 318ti; features hatchback styling

BMW says it's using the new model to expand its appeal and get back to its roots as a producer of affordable sporty cars, and reminds that it isn't the first hatchback BMW has ever made. In 1971 the automaker introduced a hatchback designated as a Touring model. That name continues today on BMW's station wagons.Unfortunately, U.S. consumers usually associate hatchbacks with entry-level economy cars,

Aug. 1, 1995

Toyota says sayonara to Fiero-fighting MR2

Toyota Motor Corp. drops the sporty MR2, ending a 10-year run. The Pontiac Fiero-fighting MR2's best year was 1985, when it debuted, as Americans snapped up 32,314. Even so, it long outlasted Fiero, which suffered burnout in 1988. Dubbed "Mr. Two" by its cultish following, the 2-seater fell victim to its high price, $24,000 to $30,000, and a soft market for sporty coupes. During this year's first

Aug. 1, 1995

Ford, Engelhard ready to test smog eaters; drive your car, clean the air.

Ford Motor Co. and Engelhard Corp. have begun a nine-month test program for their new, jointly developed "PremAir" automotive catalyst system that the companies think will take pollution control beyond today's exhaust treatment schemes.The PremAir system employs a vehicle's radiator and air conditioning condenser -- coated with a special catalytic material -- to clean ground-level, smog-producing

By Bill Visnic • Aug. 1, 1995

Mercedes’ China deal: politics or policy?

Merdedes-Benz AG's recent triumph over Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp. in winning rights to a key minivan deal in South China last month, raises the question of whether China's decision was based on deteriorating political relations with the U.S. or rooted in the best interest of China's new automotive policy.The German giant, previously believed to be the runner-up due to its inexperience with

Aug. 1, 1995

Skirting the issue: AE Goetze increasing coated-piston production

While teams of advanced engineers around the globe search for tomorrow's alternatives to the internal combustion engine, automakers and suppliers are refining current powerplant designs to meet the demands of today's consumers obsessed with longer vehicle life and less engine noise.Ford Motor Co. and AE Goetze North America -- part of the British T&N plc's Piston Products Group -- worked together

By Tim Keenan • Aug. 1, 1995

Ford 2000 gets mixed reviews

Infinity may sound like the name of a worthy luxury competitor but it also can be a label for Ford 2000 -- the global, pedal-to-the-floor endeavor that aims to wrest world leadership from ancient rival General Motors Corp. and create annual savings of $3 billion by the end of the century. At the halfway point of its first full year, Ford 2000 is getting mixed reviews, if not outright hostility by

By Rothenberg, Al • Aug. 1, 1995

Spinoff: life after GM

Three years after it began, a strategy to divest several business units of General Motors Corp.'s Delphi Automotive Systems comes to a close with the late June sale of Magnaquench magnets to a Chinese consortium with offices in Delaware. GM officials are pleased with the results of the program, and the new owners of the divested operations feel likewise.Simplification was the rationale when GM's Automotive

By Tim Keenan • Aug. 1, 1995

Bribery probe reaches high execs at Opel

FRANKFURT -- An investigation into bribery and kickbacks at Gerneral Motors Corp.'s Adam Opel AG unit and German construction firms encompasses more than 200 people -- 40 Opel employees.Opel began an internal investigation into "improper gifts from suppliers" to managers in its manufacturing engineering department in May 1994. The cases involved a number of construction firms whose employees allegedly

Aug. 1, 1995

Chrysler eyes steel crossmembers

After having supply problems earlier in the year with the innovative cast aluminum crossmembers on its new minivans, Chrysler Corp. reportedly has reached an agreement with The Budd Co. to supply conventional steel crossmembers. It is not known if the steel will be used to replace the aluminum versions or will simply be used as an additional supplier -- nobody at this point is talking. One other theory

Aug. 1, 1995

Ford’s margin down but optimism still strong

Ford says its earnings reflect a drop in overall U.S. automotive profits, primarily due to lower per-vehicle margins. Worldwide revenues rose to $36.4 billion from $33.8 billion a year earlier but worldwide vehicle sales dipped to 1,811,000 vs. 1,850,000 units. Ford's U.S market share, however, climbed to 26.2% in the quarter, up from 25%. In Europe, combined car and truck share was 12.2% vs. 11.9%.

Aug. 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

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

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