Operations: Page
-
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Online System Helps Car Dealers Take Stock, Keep Factory Happy
Dealers can bypass taking delivery of vehicles they don’t want and still stay eligible for auto maker reward programs.
By Mac Gordon • Sept. 14, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Chevy Camaro ZL-1 Geared for Shift to Automatic Transmissions
Other Chevy performance cars lean toward the 6-speed automatic, including the Camaro SS, with 70% of buyers skipping the third pedal and 65% of base Corvette owners doing the same.
By James M. Amend • Sept. 14, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Abarth Pulls Sheet Off Trio of Performance Models
Abarth says its third unveiling marks a milestone. The 695 Competitzione is the brand’s first “street legal” Scorpion race car.
By Ward's Staff • Sept. 13, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Saab Back in Reorganization
Chairman and CEO Victor Muller remains confident the auto maker can become viable.
By James M. Amend • Sept. 7, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
What’s It Take to Make $1?
During the New Years Eve celebrations, my wife and I were watching the Times Square festivities when one of the commentators gave a list of people's top New Year's resolutions for 2011. The top three were: Save more money. Lose weight. Quit smoking. My wife asked, What are your resolutions for 2011? I replied, Since I don't keep them I don't make them. She said, That's terrible. You need to do something
By David Linton • Sept. 1, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Don’t Confuse Union Man With Peking Man
Editor's note: This story is part of the WardsAuto digital archive, which may include content that was first published in print, or in different web layouts.What is a fair price? It’s a question that has dogged the species since Peking Man crafted the first flint arrowhead. Back then, negotiati...
Aug. 31, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Live and Learn from MPG Calculations
Editor's note: This story is part of the WardsAuto digital archive, which may include content that was first published in print, or in different web layouts.Bloggers who can write what they want without a watchful eye of an editor – or better yet, a team of editors – can find themselves in troubl...
By Tom Murphy • Aug. 30, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
World Vehicle Sales Inch Above Year-Ago Levels
North America’s 1.3 million-unit total put it ahead of China in monthly sales for the first time since July 2010. The tally also was enough to account for 21.1% of world sales.
By John Sousanis • Aug. 26, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
U.S. Auto Dealership Count Rises
Dealership numbers have declined 1% to 2% annually over the past 20 years but dropped rapidly in 2008 and 2009 as auto makers reduced their networks in the face of declining sales and hard times.
By Steve Finlay • Aug. 24, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
South Still Magnet for Foreign Auto Makers’ Investments
The auto makers’ total investment in the region exceeds $28 billion. Vehicle capacity has risen to more than 3 million units, one-fourth of the U.S. total.
By Roger Schreffler • Aug. 17, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
U.S. Researcher Preparing Prototype Cars Powered by Heavy-Metal Thorium
Small blocks of thorium generate heat surges that are configured as a thorium-based laser, says U.S. inventor Charles Stevens. These create steam from water within mini-turbines, generating electricity to drive a car.
By Keith Nuthall • Aug. 11, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Researcher Says Teaming Spiders, Goats Could Result in Safer Airbags
A Utah molecular biologist believes spider silk drawn from goats’ milk could make airbags safer, because those used now are made from materials that can injure vehicle occupants when deployed.
By Alan Harman • Aug. 5, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
UAW Chief Bob King Says Successful Detroit Three Key to Organizing Transplants
Perceptions are shifting, the union official says, as a revitalized Detroit Three gain market share and make quality and productivity improvements.
By James M. Amend • Aug. 3, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Covisint Looking to Provide Driver-Identity Management Security System to OEMs
The technology firm has created a management-services system that binds a connected-vehicle owner’s phone identity to his vehicle identity to secure private data.
By Christie Schweinsberg • Aug. 2, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Steel Process May Boost MPG
DETROIT-AREA DO-IT-YOURSELFER AND self-taught metallurgist Gary Cola says he is creating steels that are 7% stronger than conventional steels and even tougher than some titanium alloys. Astonishingly, Cola's process takes a mere 10 seconds. He calls the new steel Flash Bainite and is now working with Ohio State University researchers to determine the science behind his processing treatment. OSU researchers
By Herb Shuldiner • Aug. 1, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
A-PILLAR CONFLICT VISIBILITY vs. ROOF CRUSH
The automotive design community sat up and took notice in 1996 when the Volks-wagen Passat launched in Europe on the new B5 platform. The car's A-pillars were bowed, the windshield more steeply raked and the roof was a shockingly complex array of angles and flowing lines that seemed to connect the hood to the trunklid.
Aug. 1, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Let’s Lose the L Word
In June of 2000, I wrote an article titled Wanna Buy Your Lawyer a Yacht? The article bemoaned the fact that people in the car business were aiding and abetting the plaintiffs' lawyers and consumer advocates intent on bringing lawsuits against dealers and finance companies. I urged a vocabulary change. In the 11 years since then, I'm sorry to report that things haven't changed much. Here's some of
By Tom Hudson • Aug. 1, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
TechShop, Maker Faire Celebrate Innovation
Editor's note: This story is part of the WardsAuto digital archive, which may include content that was first published in print, or in different web layouts.A great idea is a terrible thing to waste. That seems to be the philosophy of TechShop Detroit, which opens in November in an Allen Park, ...
By Tom Murphy • July 29, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
World’s Fastest Production Car Planned, Named by Shelby
To pass the Bugatti Veyron as the world's fastest production machine, the Tuatara will have to top 267 mph.
By Alan Harman • July 29, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
PSA Partners With Universities to Form Global ‘Open Labs’ R&D Project
The French auto maker is looking to pass competitors on future technologies with the help of academia, but it is giving something back as well: access to its industrial tools and technology.
By William Diem • July 27, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
OEMs Seek to Stay in Black, Despite Reflective Paint Concerns
BASF claims it can comply with the original CARB rule, scuttled last year, that mandated 20% reflectivity for all colors.
By Eric Mayne • July 21, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Genesis V-6 Smooth and Powerful, But Late
A direct-injection 333-hp 3.8L V-6 represents the most notable change this year in the Genesis sedan, but is it too late to the high-output party?
By Tom Murphy • July 18, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Exports Help Shore Up India’s Weak Vehicle Sales in June
SIAM is lowering its 2011 sales forecast for the second time in two months to 11%-13%. Parts makers, still recovering the 2008 global meltdown, now are worried about their fresh plant investments.
By Sudhakar Shah • July 15, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Class 8 Truck Sales Soar in Canada
June’s performance marked the heavy-truck market’s second-best all-time monthly gain after August 2010’s 92.4% jump, a result skewed by 2009’s recession-induced sales slump.
By Eric Mayne • July 14, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
U.S. Big Trucks Record Milestone Sales Month
June’s delivery climb marked the U.S. market’s sixth consecutive month of year-over-year gains, but breaks a streak of two straight months when the industry set new 2011 benchmarks.
By Eric Mayne • July 14, 2011
Previous
