Vehicles: Page 198

XM Satellite Radio begins broadcasts Sept. 12

The face of in-car entertainment likely will change forever beginning Sept. 12, when XM Satellite Radio begins broadcasting 100 channels of commercial-free music, news, talk and sports to vehicles on the road. The historic broadcast will originate at XM Satellite Radio's headquarters and broadcast studio complex in Washington, DC. Only drivers of certain Cadillac models in Dallas/Fort Worth and in

By Tim Keenan • Aug. 20, 2001

JCI Enters Fuel Injector, Controller Market with Sagem

Johnson Controls Inc.’s $435 million acquisition of the automotive electronics business of Sagem SA of France represents a significant strategic move that takes JCI well beyond its current status as one of the world’s largest suppliers of vehicle interiors. With Sagem, JCI will be a producer of fuel injectors and engine controllers, putting JCI in a market already saturated by Delphi Automotive Systems

By Tom Murphy • Aug. 9, 2001

International Truck Spends $900 Million on All-New Platform

International Truck and Engine Corp. spent $900 million on the all-new product platform it began rolling out with a medium-duty model in April. “That’s a considerable investment for a company with a market cap of around $2 billion,” points out Mark Stasell, vice president of product development at International. Two more new trucks are on the way this year, with plans calling for another two big rigs

Aug. 8, 2001

First GM Fuel Cells Will Be for the Home

General Motors Corp. announcement Tuesday that its first fuel cell commercial application may be a stationary unit rather than in a vehicle should come as no surprise considering some 50% of the suppliers involved in fuel cell development with GM are non-automotive businesses. “There are between 40 and 60 supplier partners that we’re working with,” says Byron McCormick, director of GM fuel cell research.

By Brian Corbett • Aug. 8, 2001

MEDC Wants Fuel Cell Tech Center

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. wants to open a technology center to develop fuel cells in metro Detroit and is considering initiatives to assist the Michigan auto industry. “We haven’t decided on a location at this point,” Mike Finney, vice president of Emerging Business Sectors for the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) tells Ward’s. “We’re essentially following up the results of

By Brian Corbett • Aug. 8, 2001

Mitsubishi Electric Offers 6-Disc DVD Changer

Pushing the bounds of in-vehicle entertainment just a little bit higher, Mitsubishi Electric Corp. says it will offer an in-dash 6-disc DVD changer in an '03 model vehicle. What's more, say the folks at Mitsubishi Electric, the unit plays both DVDs and CDs and takes up less space than other DVD changers on the market today. Now a road trip can include the convenience of a pre-selected mix of both

By Mike Arnholt • Aug. 1, 2001

Wingcast/Oracle JV produces software

A voice-activated, in-vehicle e-mail access system is among the first products the public will see from a strategic alliance between Oracle Corp. and Wingcast Inc. Under the agreement, which also calls for the participants to maintain an already established research and development center in San Diego, Oracle becomes the exclusive supplier of software engines for Wingcast products. Wingcast a wireless

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

Ford plans sweeping powertrain changes

Ford Motor Co.'s plan to reopen an Ohio engine plant is the first in a series of moves to overhaul it's powertrain products and operations, WAW has learned. By late 2003, Ford says it will be building all-aluminum 2.5L and 3L Duratec V-6s at the mothballed Cleveland Engine Plant #1 (CEP1) in Brook Park, OH. But in a currently vacant portion of the same plant, Ford will unveil an all-new 3.5L V-6 before

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

Casting industry names its stars

It may not have Emmy-level profile just yet, but the American Foundry Society decided it's high time its members got a taste of awards-type competition. So at the AFS' 105th annual Casting Congress, the society held its first-ever Casting Contest. A total of 41 metal components were submitted by casting suppliers vying for Casting of the Year honors. Independent judges evaluated the entries based

By Compiled by the staff of: WARD'S ENGINE AND VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY UPDATE • Aug. 1, 2001

2001 Ten Best Engines: Long-Term Intro

DETROIT Whenever we introduce the latest Ward's 10 Best Engines award winner that we'll be testing for the next year, it usually necessitates some background. We'll dispense with most of that this time, because we figure you all know, after seven years of handing out our annual 10 Best Engines awards, that with each new batch of Best Engines, we pick one or two and subject them to a year-long endurance

By Bill Visnic • Aug. 1, 2001

Mitsubishi Not Backing Off from GDI Engines

OKAZAKI, Japan Speculation that Mitsubishi Motor Corp. may de-emphasize its hallmark gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine is premature. To the contrary, in fact, as the automaker late last month promoted its two top GDI engineers. Akira Kijima, chief proponent of the company's trademark GDI engine, now is senior executive officer and corporate general manager for research and development at Mitsubishi's

By Roger Schreffler • Aug. 1, 2001

Competitiveness spurs more electronics and sensors in new vehicles

As automobile manufacturers strive to differentiate their cars from those of their competitors, they will emphasize comfort, convenience and safety to attract customers, according to research from Frost & Sullivan, a marketing and consulting firm. Automakers are installing more electronic systems to provide the comfortable driving experience consumers demand. Automotive sensors, which monitor and

July 27, 2001

A Unique Way to Produce Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD)

In spite of the claimed advances in alternative energy sources, petroleum-based fuels are still, and will be for the foreseeable future, the main source of energy used to produce our electricity, heat our buildings, and power our vehicles. However, many governments are restricting the amounts of contaminants, sulfur, NOX, particulates, and/or aromatics and olefins, a fuel may have in order to assure

By Dr. W.S. Min, SK Corporation, Taejon R&D Center • July 23, 2001

WWII Engine Design Revived

When Dimitrios Dardalis was a boy growing up in Athens, Greece, he chanced upon a book describing a British fighter-plane engine with a moving cylinder. That idea remained in his mind until he became a graduate engineering student at the University of Texas-Austin, where Mr. Dardalis decided to design a new-age, rotating cylinder-liner engine. Mr. Dardalis, 30, started investigating the idea seriously

By Herb Shuldiner • July 1, 2001

Firm gets patent for telematics software to aid road warriors stuck in traffic

InfoMove Inc., a developer of telematics software and services, received approval of a patent that provides a system for instantaneously monitoring traffic congestion by collecting location and speed information from motor vehicles. The monitoring and reporting of this information will enable drivers to receive estimated time of arrival and alternative route recommendations based on current and predictive

June 8, 2001

Semiconductor market to grow 4%

Consumer demand for so-called vehicles with driver information systems and voice recognition is fueling growth in high-powered semiconductors, says Scott Anderson, Motorola Inc.'s senior vice president and general manager, Transportation Systems Group. He predicts the automotive semiconductor market will grow 4% this year, bucking the trend in the overall semiconductor industry, which is expected

By Compiled by Senior Editor Tom Murphy [email protected] • June 1, 2001

Thirty-Two Years Later, Behr Arrives in Motown

German supplier Behr America Inc. has traveled a long and indirect road to Detroit. Since 1969, the supplier of air conditioning and engine cooling systems has had U.S. operations in New Jersey, Charleston, SC; Fort Worth, TX; and Canton, SD. A year ago, the company opened a plant in Webberville, MI, near Lansing, that produces the industry's first electronically actuated engine cooling fan clutches

June 1, 2001

Never Fail

A year ago, Freudenberg-NOK General Partnership lost an automotive sealing contract temporarily. The company had quoted a job for an engine subsystem, but cost concerns prevailed and the German-Japanese supplier lost the contract to a lower-priced competitor. Some months later, it seems the competitor wasn't up to the task, and the customer came back to Freudenberg-NOK and asked if it could take over

By Tom Murphy • June 1, 2001

A bells-and-whistles system isn’t needed for effective CRM

These days, dealers are bombarded by companies that claim to have the next best idea in customer relationship management (CRM) software, but most dealers already have pretty much what they need to do effective CRM on their current computer systems. We get calls once or twice per month, says Jean Demers, systems administrator for the Orlando-based Automotive Services Network, which operates 10 stores

By Tim Keenan • June 1, 2001

Thermostat, Thy Days are Numbered

We tend to get the impression that the tectonic plates of automotive technical advance are undergoing a virtual stutter-step when, in the space of a month, we're chatted up by no fewer than three big-name suppliers and one highly experienced independent engineer all on the matter of the same subject: electronic control of engine cooling. Before long, you likely will know this technology by many names.

By Bill Visnic • June 1, 2001

Ward’s MegaDealer 100 Overview

Auto sales reached a record level in 2000, and that truth is reflected in this year’s Ward’s Megadealer 100, which has evolved from just a list of the most successful dealer groups to a barometer of the automotive retail marketplace. Fueled by a record year for selling vehicles, the “century club” brought in $101.5 billion in revenue last year, up 13% from the previous year. Their total new units

By Tim Keenan • May 30, 2001

New Land Rover ‘Centre’ will sell Land Rover vehicles exclusively

Purchasing one of the world's more prestigious sport-utility vehicle just became easier in the eastern Los Angeles area with the opening of Land Rover Riverside, one of the newest Land Rover retail outlets in the U.S. Land Rover Riverside officially opened for business on May 1. This new auto retailer is one of 132 U.S.-based Land Rover retail outlets and is the 90th of Land Rover's critically acclaimed,

By Wire Reports • May 3, 2001

Kelly buys Saab franchise in Lancaster

The Lancaster, PA-based Kelly automotive organization has purchased the Saab franchise from Henry Mearig Inc., adding to its Cadillac franchise to become a leading luxury brand dealer in central Pennsylvania, Kelly Cadillac has been in the Lancaster area since 1984.

May 1, 2001

One-Stop Cockpits

All right, all you interior megasuppliers begging for responsibility for the entire passenger compartment of a vehicle now's your chance. This month, General Motors Corp. will name five suppliers as lead interior integrators to manage the sourcing of interior parts for every North American vehicle that GM produces. GM invited 10 suppliers to write feasibility studies on ways that they could improve

By Tom Murphy • May 1, 2001

Ward’s e-Dealer 100 sold 61,356 vehicles online last year.

To see the Ward's e-Dealer 100 list, click here. Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader Free download. To see more e-Dealer 100 information, click here. The Ward's e-Dealer 100 is a story about dealers and their successes. Much recent media attention has been directed at the dot-coms specifically third-party sites and their pending doom. The resulting message may be that on-line automotive retailing is a fantasy.

By Cliff Banks • April 25, 2001