Operations: Page 226

Look Out For Pine Trees

When I was a kid, I had a dog named Dash. His mamma was a Collie. His daddy was from a good neighborhood, if you get my drift. Dash's favorite pastime was chasing rabbits among our yard's Georgia pines. Dash was fast, but challenged in the brains department. Sensing that, the rabbits started taking advantage of him. A rabbit would roar towards a pine tree, gauging his speed so that Dash's snarling

By THOMAS B. HUDSON • April 1, 2004

How to Cut Overhead

A respected dealer told me, My dealership overhead is set up to sell so many monthly units. Based on what I'm seeing in my market, this volume may no longer be realistic or attainable. I told him, It's obvious that if you can't attain the vehicle sales and gross required to be profitable with your current overhead, your only choice is to reduce your overhead to a level where you can obtain the desired

By Tony Noland • April 1, 2004

Explore the Trendline➔

Automotive Manufacturing

Production strategies are changing rapidly as tariffs and shifts in consumer buying patterns affect the industry.

By WardsAuto staff

Hauling Or Handling?

Cross/utility vehicles and SUVs present a challenge for shock absorber and damper makers because they are sold as passenger vehicles that also can be used as pack mules. Designing a shock absorber for load-handling isn't troublesome, as millions of pickup trucks prove. Pickups can handle heavy loads just fine, but because their shocks are designed largely for that purpose, there's usually a ride-quality

By Bill Visnic • April 1, 2004

We’ll Boost F&I Profits or Write a Check

If a dealership averages a hefty $1,500 or so in F&I profit per vehicle sale, it might be hard to come in and boost that by $200 per sale in 90 days, acknowledges Jim McDavid, vice president of North America sales for JM&A Group. But the company's F&I specialists will give it a shot as part of the JM&A challenge to dealerships signing up as customers. Says McDavid, If it's $1,000 per retail finance

By Steve Finlay • April 1, 2004

Budget for Obsolescence

While the year is still young, it's a good time for the parts manager to quantify potential parts inventory obsolescence and think about devising ways to deal with its possible excess beyond eliminating it through manufacturers' programs. Many parts managers wait until the end of their fiscal year, then scramble to solve revealed problems. Instead, evaluate your ability to get rid of obsolescence

By GARY NAPLES • March 1, 2004

Expect F&I Adjustments

Obviously I attend the NADA Convention each year in hopes of adding members to our 20 Groups and acquiring additional business for NCM. But as it turns out, that is only a side benefit. The real value I receive is from speaking with dealers and their managers to find out what's on their minds and to renew relationships. I, too, share the positive attitude of most of the convention attendees. Economic

By Tony Noland • March 1, 2004

Mini to Offer Commemorative Cooper S

CHICAGO – Continuing its drive to offer new varieties of its niche cult car, Mini USA says at the Chicago Auto Show here it will produce a limited-run model this year. Limited-edition Mini Cooper S MC40 commemorates brand’s most memorable racing win. The auto maker will produce 1,000 Mini Cooper S MC40 models for North America. The MC40 commemorates the original Mini’s underdog win of the 1964 Monte

By Bill Visnic • Feb. 5, 2004

Jaguar Unveils XK-RS Concept

CHICAGO – Early February in The Windy City seems like an odd time to unveil a convertible. But winter makes no impression on Jaguar Cars North America, which debuts what it calls the most-powerful street-legal convertible ever – the 550-hp XK-RS concept car – here at the Chicago auto show. Developed by Lansing, MI-based Rocketsports Racing and Jaguar, the XK-RS is based on the British auto maker’s

By Brian Corbett • Feb. 5, 2004

Mitsubishi to Discontinue Montero Sport

CHICAGO – In the wake of slower-than-expected sales for the Mitsubishi Endeavor cross/utility vehicle, Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc. is pulling the plug on its Montero Sport SUV, Ward’s has learned. The ailing Japanese auto maker blames Endeavor’s slow out-of-the-box start on cannibalization from its truck-based Montero Sport. The SUV and CUV compete in the same size segment and at similar

By KATHERINE ZACHARY • Feb. 4, 2004

Try This, Not a Chill Pill

Oh the weather outside is frightful But the fire is so delightful And since we've no place to go (there is no other business I love) Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! I am writing this on a cold and dreary day in Memphis drinking my hot tea, looking out my office window at the frozen parking lot below. Certain parts of the country have already had a lot of snowfall. It gets cold in Memphis, just

By Don Ray • Feb. 1, 2004

Silver Still a Sterling Color

Silver is still the world's leading vehicle color, and in North America, rich shades of medium-dark metallic gray increased in popularity. Meanwhile, red and other high-chroma colors hint at major changes to come in the automotive color palette. The findings are part of the latest DuPont Automotive Color Popularity Report, an annual trend tracker for more than 50 years. In the North American luxury

Feb. 1, 2004

Minivans Stable

The shine gradually is fading for the front-wheel-drive minivan as sales decline and marketers decide the soccer mom image doesn't cut it on the sales floor anymore. Minivan sales peaked in 1999 and 2000, when they reached 7.7% of the North American light-vehicle market, and since have fallen steadily to a 9-year low of 6.6% in 2003, according to Ward's data. The numbers suggest cross/utility vehicles

By Haig Stoddard • Feb. 1, 2004

Changing of the Guard

It took Edward T. Welburn 42 years to become GM's chief of design. Why so long? He started lobbying for the job when he was 11 years old. It's a corny story, but its true, says Welburn, 53. At an age when most kids are fantasizing about being an astronaut or sports star, he was writing GM saying he wanted to design cars. He didn't officially start work at GM until about 11 years later, after he graduated

By Drew Winter • Feb. 1, 2004

ASC New Name is American Specialty Cars

DETROIT – With sunroofs fast assuming commodity status, ASC Inc. is staking out new territory within the auto industry. The late Heinz Prechter created American Sunroof Co. in Southgate, MI, in 1965 and started cutting holes in roofs to let in more light for motorists. The company helped usher in what has become an enormously popular optional-equipment sector, as about 28% of new U.S. vehicles come

By Tom Murphy • Jan. 4, 2004

What’s the Big Wheel?

Bigger is better and badder. That's driving the sales of custom wheels these days. Auto makers now regularly offer their vehicles with 18-in. wheels, some as large as 20 inches. Custom wheel shops offer 26-in. rims. Meanwhile, some 30 inchers were spotted at SEMA's big aftermarket show this year. This my-wheels-are-bigger-than-yours mentality has lit up sales. SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Assn.)

By Frank S. Washington • Jan. 1, 2004

Seal a Deal in 7 Seconds

Can you close a sale in just seven seconds? If you make a great first impression, you can do it even faster. Seven seconds is about what one has to make a winning first impression. If yours is unfavorable, you won't get another chance. But if it's great, you can bet the customer is likely to take you and your dealership seriously. Whether your initial meeting is face-to-face, over the phone or via

By Lydia Ramsey • Jan. 1, 2004

Power, Output and Thrift: Powerful Trio

Maybe I’m just a cheap date. Don’t get me wrong I love power. I love horsepower, especially when I can hear and feel it permeate the entire vehicle. Torque does it for me. But I have a prudent side. And it was soundly trampled on by my fellow judges who refused to see the light when it comes to the Dodge SRT-4 and its wonderful, lively 2.4L turbocharged DOHC inline 4-cyl. engine. This little baby

By Alisa Priddle • Dec. 30, 2003

Thriving Overseas

NISHIO, Japan A plant tour for visitors who make the trek 140 miles (225 km) southwest of Tokyo, past Mount Fuji, to Denso Corp.'s mammoth manufacturing complex here generally ends the same way every time on a bus, heading up a tight, one-lane service road that twists like a librarian's hairpin all the way to the top of a hill covered with nothing but trees and shrubs. It's from this vantage point

By Tom Murphy • Dec. 1, 2003

Currency Crunch

There is no true international language, but when money talks, everyone seems to understand, whether you're in Europe, Russia, Japan or the U.S. The ebb and flow of currency is the lifeblood of the global economy, but its valuation has become one of the biggest friction points in global trade. It now is the biggest single issue that is both drawing markets together and dividing the world's major auto-producing

By Tom Murphy • Nov. 1, 2003

Insider Trading Hits AmeriCredit

Subprime lender AmeriCredit Inc. says it's censured five non-executive employees after an SEC investigation found they engaged in insider trading of the company's stock in January of 2002. The Fort Worth, TX-based company says the present or former employees traded in shares of stock prior to release of quarterly financial results. The company paid a $100,000 penalty. AmeriCredit, whose substantial

Nov. 1, 2003

Aston Martin Expands Stores; Debuts DB9

GAYDON, U.K. The new DB9 is the coolest car on the planet, Aston Martin CEO Ulrich Bez says unabashedly. But it's even more than that, says the German head of a very, very British car company. The sleek and potent DB9 is the lynchpin of Aston Martin's biggest change in our 89-year history, says Bez. That change is a serious determination to make some serious money. Ten years ago, Aston Martin was

By Steve Finlay • Nov. 1, 2003

What’s Hot: Segment-Busters

Every October at the start of what still is considered the new model year, Ward's tries to make some sense of the onslaught of new vehicles sort of a segment-by-segment “what’s hot, what’s not” take on new product. And every year, a super-hot segment comes out on top. But for ’04, and presumably beyond, there’s something even hotter than being in the coolest segment: not being in a segment at all.

By KATHERINE ZACHARY • Oct. 16, 2003

Screening Customers

In the showroom, a 100-in. plasma screen portrays happy drivers cruising through beautiful forests, safely navigating slick roads and putting an SUV through its paces. In the caf as customers consider their purchase or wait for servicing, they can have a snack as two 42-in. plasma screens keep their attention. And if a restroom stop is in order well the video screens are smaller there. Rockland Toyota

Oct. 1, 2003

Range Rover Jr.

Consolidating production of the Jaguar X-Type and the next-generation Land Rover Freelander heralds the arrival of a baby Range Rover, Ward's learns. But the new vehicle won't mitigate 1,100 job losses at Land Rover's Solihull Assembly Plant in West Midlands, U.K., says Amicus, the union representing affected workers. Amicus resents Land Rover's announcement that it will build the next-generation

By Eric Mayne • Sept. 1, 2003

Lost in NY Cyber Space

I checked online services to price hotel rooms for a weekend stay in New York City. I wanted something on the upper east side, close to all the cool stores and to my son who's doing an internship in the city. Orbitz.com had the best rates on the hotels that interested me. After a few minutes I was out of my office, armed with information and on my cell phone to the Mrs. to coordinate dates and times.

By Peter Brandow • Sept. 1, 2003