Operations: Page 232

Aluminum Shoots for the Moon

Imagine if the U.S. failed to meet the challenge put forth by President Kennedy in 1961 of putting a man on the moon before the end of the decade and returning him safely. That's something akin to what the auto industry is dealing with after a recently released federal review of the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) concluded the program would not reach its goal of an 80 mpg car

By Brian Corbett • Sept. 1, 2001

NUMMI gets new labor deal

United Auto Workers union Local 2244 workers agree to a new 4-year labor deal at New United Motor Mfg. Inc. calling for a $1,450 lump sum payment and a 3% annual wage increase. Contributions to worker 401(k) savings plans will be boosted, and retirees get $550 lump sum bonuses each year of the deal. Cost of living will increase a penny for every 0.25 change in the Consumer Price Index. Election Day

By Compiled by the staff of: WARD'S AUTOMOTIVE REPORTS • Sept. 1, 2001

Explore the Trendline➔

Automotive Manufacturing

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

By WardsAuto staff

Magnesium Aims for Mainstream

The waiting continues. There will be no major breakthrough in 2002 regarding a large-scale magnesium application, an event that auto industry insiders began talking about a decade ago. Instead, the world's eighth most abundant element will use familiar applications such as instrument panel beams and steering wheel armatures to grow its average per vehicle content to 9 to 9.5 lbs. (4 to 4.3 kg). Trade

By Brian Corbett • Sept. 1, 2001

A new order?

There's much excitement over the auto industry's fledging Internet-based business models. They're touted as systems that ultimately can streamline the building and ordering of vehicles. But some of those models seem to challenge the industry's much-hallowed efficiency gains. For example, Build-to-Order (BTO) increases variability in assembly and does so far upstream. Some observers even suggest that

By Lincoln Merrihew • Sept. 1, 2001

SERVICE CENTER

In the sales department, well-trained personnel are trained to slow the customer down. Why's that confined to the showroom? Why not sit the customer down in the service department? Service departments really should take a lesson or two from the sales department. In the sales department, well-trained personnel are trained to slow the customer down or the customer will get the best price and bolt. That's

By WITH DAVE SKROBOT • Sept. 1, 2001

Companies

In recent years, there has been an explosion of customer relationship management tools hitting the market. They promise to help the dealer manage the customer better. The tools can make the job easier, but dealers must establish processes and procedures that ensure the tools will be effective. Here are companies that offer CRM tools made specifically for dealers: ADP Dealer Services 1950 Hassell Road

Aug. 23, 2001

How long you wait for roadside service depends on what you’re calling from

Drivers who use a telematics system -- an electronic concierge or in-vehicle personal communications system -- receive faster emergency roadside assistance when needed, according to results from the J.D. Power and Associates 2001 Emergency Roadside Assistance Study. The study identifies that drivers calling for service using land-based telephone wait an average of 50 minutes for help to arrive. Cellular

Aug. 17, 2001

Reynolds Chairman Holmes to retire in January

David R. Holmes, chairman of Reynolds & Reynolds Co. since 1990, will retire Jan. 1, 2002. He is 60 years old. Mr. Holmes served as president and CEO of the Dayton, OH-based company from 1989 until May 1999, when Lloyd “Buzz” Waterhouse joined the company as president. Last November, Mr. Waterhouse was elected CEO. “I’m very proud of the accomplishments of the Reynolds management team,” says Mr. Holmes.

By Wire Reports • Aug. 10, 2001

Big Three Market Share to Set Record Low

Wall Street has spoken, and the outlook for Detroit is not pretty. In a North American automotive market that already sliding, the Big Three’s share very well could set a record low this year, says Stephen J. Girsky, Morgan Stanley Dean Whitter’s automotive guru. The sad truth is, when the economy takes a dip, so too does the Big Three market share. The Big Three, including the Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler

By KATHERINE ZACHARY • Aug. 9, 2001

Day Pushes Lean to Lower Tiers

You know lean manufacturing initiatives still have a long way to go when a respected practitioner can identify $100 million of waste within his own company. Joseph Day, chairman and chief executive of Freudenberg-NOK, can even break down the waste: $30 million of it from five companies acquired in the past three years, $20 million still on the shop floor, $10 million in administration and product

By Tom Murphy • Aug. 9, 2001

Bill Hunt Leaving ArvinMeritor?

Shortly after ArvinMeritor Inc. celebrated its one-year anniversary, it appears the company will lose one of its founders. Rumors surfaced here in Traverse City that Bill Hunt would soon step down as the company’s vice chairman and president. Mr. Hunt, 56, raked in $10 million in 2000, most of it in stock options, according to ArvinMeritor’s proxy statement. He was in line to succeed Larry Yost as

By Tom Murphy • Aug. 9, 2001

Training, Literally at Your Fingertips

Is your employer hassling you to take some training courses, but you lack the motivation or desire to return to school? Well, stay in your pajamas, grab a cup of coffee, sit down in front of the computer and get ready to learn. The Michigan Virtual University (MVU), established in 1998 by Gov. John Engler and the Michigan Economic Development Corp., provides courses, seminars and training electronically

By MAYA RHODES • Aug. 7, 2001

A Purist’s Lament

Want to get to a hydrogen economy sooner? Make all the cars in the Indy 500 run on it. This is one of the few industries in the world that has a sport organized around its products. Motor racing attracts millions of spectators around the world who enthusiastically cheer on their favorite cars, teams and drivers. It's a phenomenon that the computer, bio-tech, or financial service industries will never,

By John McElroy • Aug. 1, 2001

Steel Strikes Back

Early 2001 looked bleak for the American Iron and Steel Institute. Rising energy prices were stinging steel factories already hurting from years of battling low-priced imports. As a result, AISI's membership dues declined, and the steel industry consortium was forced to cut its advertising budget. And there appeared to be no help on the way from the Bush Admin. in the form of import quotas. What a

By Brian Corbett • Aug. 1, 2001

Maintain and improve successful special finance departments

Remember the famous seven last words: We've never done it that way before! Since 1994 special financing in automobile dealerships has continued to grow and prosper. But many dealers find themselves struggling to maintain this profit center. A key to that is management setting parameters that will insure success. Remember the famous seven last words: We've never done it that way before! Today, more

By Paul Snider • Aug. 1, 2001

How to handle the unbankable customer

We believe that growth rate of the unbankable customer segment of the automobile market will accelerate during the next 12 months. How do you handle the unbankable customer in your dealership? Are you recognizing your share of this potentially profitable market? What opportunity does this segment of the business present? How is the market changing? Where is the market headed over the next 12 to 18

By Christopher Leedom • Aug. 1, 2001

Treadwell Takes Over at ASC

Industrialist Heinz Prechter, who was found dead at his home in Grosse Ile, MI, from an apparent suicide July 6, is succeeded as chairman of ASC Inc. by David Treadwell, formerly vice chairman of the company. The American entrepreneur, Mr. Prechter, 59, is best known for pioneering the U.S. sunroof market and his fund-raising prowess within the Republican Party. He founded ASC in 1965, known then

Aug. 1, 2001

Heinz Prechter and John Montgomery: A Remembrance

I doubt that they knew each other, but in July two of my longtime industry associates passed away. Heinz Prechter (see story p.22) was 59, John O. Montgomery was 80. Mr. Prechter gained international recognition as the young German immigrant who started his own sunroof company in the San Francisco area when he was barely out of his teens, then moved to the Detroit area where he built a global empire

Aug. 1, 2001

Ready to Blossom

SHANGHAI Stroll the Bund on a Sunday evening and one thing quickly becomes clear there's money to be had here. From the towering, ever-increasing number of skyscrapers that light up the night along the Huangpu River, to the souvenir hawkers selling post cards and film to mostly Chinese tourists, to the people, themselves, who walk Shanghai's financial district corridor with cell phones firmly planted

By David E. Zoia • Aug. 1, 2001

Caterpillar Corporate Licensing Program

Probably each of you know that the most difficult thing about giving a speech is coming up with the first thing that you´re going to say. Although I´ve given this talk about two dozen times both inside and outside of Caterpillar, I struggled with exactly how to begin this morning until I heard the last speech given here. If Chuck Dennis from 3M is out there, I´d like to thank him for giving me my

By Bill Berlinger, Caterpillar Inc. • July 23, 2001

Quality Ain’t Everything

I used to say that buying a Taurus was like marrying Marilyn Monroe. she would never cook you breakfast she would never be on time for anything But there were other compensations. First, I am not against quality and I am all for safe cars. If a car has serious problems, it won't sell. One of my sons, a magazine writer, has been driving a Taurus for 120,000 miles. It never, not once, broke down on

By Jerry Flint • July 1, 2001

IT’S TIME TO GET BACK TO THE BASICS

Tenure is only accomplished through success; that is, the sales personnel making money. Here's a news flash: Some dealers are behind in their year-to-date sales and profit forecast. Obviously, I'm being facetious. As we all know, many, if not most dealerships, are not performing at the level anticipated when we sat down for our 2001 forecasting session in late 2000. Does this mean that we abandon

By Tony Noland • July 1, 2001

Dealer of the Year

There are dealers and then there are dealers. Dealers are successful beyond most other dealers' comprehension. Dealers are held in such high regard by manufacturers that often they're called on to try out new things. Dealers are the kind of businessmen who other dealers look to for ideas and advice. Dealers share their success with their community, their country and often the rest of the world. H.F.

By Tim Keenan • July 1, 2001

Ron Martin’s Four Characteristics of a Strong F&I Department

1. Thinking outside the box: in other words, not buying into the idea that having a aggressive selling F&I department somehow disrupts the sales department. 2. Giving your F&I Manager the same respect and compensation as any other manager at the dealership. 3. Having the right people. Don't put a weak sales person in F&I. This person should be one of the best sales people in your organization. 4.

By Ron Martin • June 21, 2001

Overview story

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By Cliff Banks • June 8, 2001