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What’s Salesperson’s Role?
Who would ever think about stopping a sale in today's economy when the opportunities are so few and far between? But nearly every day I get emails from people who have read my articles or blogs or who have participated in APB educational programs. The correspondents lament about sales people who simply were not interested in helping customers buy. Is business really that good that a salesperson can't
By Richard F. Libin • Aug. 1, 2010 -
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Arlington Is No Motor City
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.[caption id="attachment_35" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Vintage Cadillac graces Woodward Dream Cruise."][/caption] The April is...
By Tom Murphy • July 28, 2010 -
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Retooling Sets Stage For New Reality
By 2015, Detroit’s auto making capacity in North America should shrink to 59%, while Asian and European transplants will grow their shares to 35% and 6%, respectively.
By Tom Murphy • July 20, 2010 -
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Delinquent Automotive Debtors Easing Downward
Finance conference participants note nobody wins when an auto loan goes bad – not the lender, the dealership and certainly not the borrower.
By James M. Flammang • July 19, 2010 -
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‘Fire Up the Video’ at Car Dealerships
The boldest idea out of the suggestion box is Napoleon Rumteen’s proposal of recording dealership staffers either confessing their sales sins or touting their accomplishments.
By Steve Finlay • July 6, 2010 -
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Walking In L.A.
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. The Missing Persons, a 1980s rock group, recorded “Walking in L.A.” that, despite the song title, is about not walking in Los Angeles. “N...
By Steve Finlay 2 • June 30, 2010 -
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When Push Comes to Pull, Are Auto Makers Asleep at Switch?
Added functions mean more dials, knobs and buttons are competing for space on the center stack.
By Christie Schweinsberg • June 29, 2010 -
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Malaysia Unable to Protect Proton From Aging Product Lineup
The national car company remains handicapped by lack of scale, overcapacity, outdated technology, a limited product lineup and lack of exports, analysts say.
By Mack Chrysler • June 23, 2010 -
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Online Chat Helps Car Sales
“Chat is one of the most amazing things we have done, even though we were not quick to jump on it,” says Shaun Kniffin of Germain Motor Co. dealership group.
By Steve Finlay • June 15, 2010 -
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Chevy Shorthand: Like a Rock
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.I’m sending $10 to Alan Batey, vice president for Chevy sales and service, as a down payment.Not for a car, but in lieu of future abuses of ...
By Barbara McClellan 2 • June 10, 2010 -
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Class 8 Jump Boosts Canada Big-Truck Sales
Class 4 volume-leader Ford crushed the competition with 144 deliveries. No other brand recorded more than nine sales.
By Eric Mayne • June 10, 2010 -
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Remy Sees Growth in China as Market Matures
“There’s always a Chinese counterpart whose product (costs) much less than ours,” Remy President Jay Pittas says. “But we’re starting to see quality levels and expectations” of auto makers come up to global standards.
By Christie Schweinsberg • June 10, 2010 -
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Mercury Distant Memory in Canada
Canadian dealers suggest Mercury’s elimination was beneficial, but sales numbers suggest the auto make suffered.
By Byron Pope • June 4, 2010 -
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Another Saab Story
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.Hear that? That's the sound of a nationwide shrug. A big "whatev." It greets reports that suggest Mercury's demise is imminent. Ford is ...
June 2, 2010 -
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JCI ‘Head Medium Display’ Drawing OEM Interest
HMD projects vital vehicle information on a pop-up screen placed on the dash just beyond the steering wheel, rather than directly onto the windshield as with a traditional HUD.
By Byron Pope • June 2, 2010 -
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Don’t Sell India Short on Luxury, Visteon Warns
Indian consumers are more discerning than the West perceives, says Richard Vaughan, design office manager at Visteon Corp. Right now, there's a general belief in the West that India goes for smaller, cheaper versions of Western vehicles, says Vaughan, who spent much of the last year coordinating consumer research in Dehli and Bangalore. Indian consumers want something different, he says during a panel
By Eric Mayne • June 1, 2010 -
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EU’s New Block Exemption Rules Please Auto Industry, Good for Consumers
Not only do the new laws stay in place for 13 years, but they also allow auto makers to decide how they sell vehicles and secure aftersales service, including preserving the right to have franchised dealers.
By Keith Nuthall • June 1, 2010 -
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Maruti Suzuki Remains Confident in Face of Growing Competition
The auto maker expects to be a major beneficiary of the Indian market’s boisterous growth, with plans to increase installed capacity to 1.25 million units by 2012, part of a 5-year, $2.3 billion expansion and improvement plan.
By Mack Chrysler • May 26, 2010 -
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So Many Crises Bubbling, So Little Time
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.The world has the jitters, and that can’t be good for the global auto industry, which suffers whenever there’s a lack of consumer confidence...
By Barbara McClellan 2 • May 25, 2010 -
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Global Platform Strategy to Further Industry Consolidation, Firm Says
Auto makers that can squeeze 1 million units of annual production out of a global platform will realize a $700 per-vehicle cost advantage over lower-volume competitors, A.T. Kearney says.
By Christie Schweinsberg • May 19, 2010 -
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U.S. Big Trucks Post Year’s Best Results in April
Class 8 nets the largest increase of all groups, up 29.5%, with Classes 4 and 7 recording relatively small declines.
By Christie Schweinsberg • May 13, 2010 -
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Saab, International Fleet Sales Agree to Distribution Plan for Canada
About 20 dealers in the country have expressed an interest in selling Saab’s products, the auto maker says, and vehicles would begin arriving in September.
By James M. Amend • May 11, 2010 -
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Use Financial Documents to Build Dealership Service Profits
“The balance sheet on the financial statement helps managers take the service department’s temperature,” says fixed-operations consultant Ed Kovalchick.
By Jim Leman • May 11, 2010 -
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Used Cars Putting Squeeze on Mexico New-Vehicle Sales
It’s estimated up to 1 million used U.S. cars entered Mexico annually from 2003 to 2008.
By Byron Pope • May 10, 2010 -
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Just Who Are These Guys?
As a cub reporter about 40 years ago, one of my first assignments was to interview a man who claimed he perfected the perpetual-motion machine. I sense the same thing about Chinese cars coming to America. Not that they won't come. I'm certain they will. But like the perpetual motion machine, the bugs still are being worked out. My wonderment is rather about the type of characters in the U.S. that
By Jim Leman • May 1, 2010
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