Automotive News articles from April 2005

Automotive News archives from April 2005

Smart move - keep Smart out of U.S.(automobile industry)
April 4, 2005... Byline: William Jeanes The adjective "beleaguered'' clings lampreylike to the U.S. auto industry. Ford can't re-create the bullish days of its big-selling Taurus; GM's stock price stands at parity with the cost of four 12-inchers at...

Engineering issues vary by global market.(News)(Ford Motor Co.)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Lindsay Chappell Is it any surprise that the man who runs Ford Motor Co.'s North American engineering operations studied at the University of Paris? It's a shrinking world. Maybe in another era, what was engineered in America and...

Buff books compete more for auto ads; Auto magazines are no longer top choice for auto advertising.(Marketing)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Marty Bernstein Call them automotive enthusiast magazines or buff books. Either way, they no longer are the most popular venue for auto advertising in U.S. consumer magazines. Last year, the five largest enthusiast magazines...

Ford cuts fleet business, auction sales.(News)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Arlena Sawyers Ford Motor Co. says it has reduced greatly the number of new vehicles it sells to U.S. rental car companies. Ford also has trimmed the number of used vehicles it sells at wholesale auctions. Both moves have...

Mercedes has designs on fashion promotion.(Marketing)(Mercedes-Benz USA Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Kathy Jackson Mercedes-Benz USA LLC and its 17 dealerships in Southern California hope their association with haute couture will create hot sales. For the third year, the automaker and dealerships are sponsoring Mercedes-Benz...

Mitsubishi Evo arrives in fall.(News)(2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX )(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Kathy Jackson The 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX high-performance sports sedan rolls into U.S. dealerships this fall with more power and torque. Nicknamed Evo, it replaces the Evolution VIII and comes in three models: the...

Lutz: GM's strategy is working.(News)(Robert Lutz, General Motors Corp.)(Interview)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Rick Kranz With General Motors' financial problems making news, GM Vice Chairman Robert Lutz was the target of questions after the March 23 Cadillac press conference at the New York auto show. Lutz defended his vehicle strategy...

Ex-Chrysler executive gets ArvinMeritor CFO post.(Suppliers)(appointments)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Dale Jewett ArvinMeritor Inc. last week hired former Chrysler group controller James Donlon to be its CFO. Donlon, 58, replaced Carl Soderstrom. Soderstrom retired in September 2004, one month after Chip McClure became CEO. ...

GM reworks franchise contract; Some dealers worry proposal will ease killing a brand.(News)(General Motors Corp.)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Donna Harris As General Motors promises dealers it will preserve its brands, GM is revising its franchise agreement in a way that some dealers and dealership attorneys say could make it easier to kill a vehicle line. This...

Mazda will build new sport wagon.(News)(Mazda North American Operations)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Mark Rechtin Mazda North American Operations is counting on a new sport wagon to be the third core product in its lineup. The vehicle should arrive in late 2006 or early 2007. It will be based on the Mazda6 platform. ...

Court lifts DCX injunction in warranty-repair suit.(Legal File)(DaimlerChrysler AG)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Eric Freedman The California Court of Appeal has thrown out an injunction meant to stop DaimlerChrysler from violating unfair-business-practice laws in its handling of warranty repairs. The court ruled that adequate remedies are...

Readers to GM: Fix products, cut costs.(Marketing)(General Motors Corp.)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Bradley Johnson What's good for General Motors? Fix GM products and designs. Consolidate divisions. Take out costs. Focus on value rather than price. That advice emerged last month from an unscientific survey of readers of...

Relentless Toyota gains on GM.(Final assembly)(Toyota Motor Corp.)(General Motors Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Dale Jewett Toyota is looming large in General Motors' rear-view mirror. The Japanese automaker plans to build 9.7 million vehicles groupwide in 2008. That would be a 29 percent gain over last year and likely would push Toyota...

Malcolm's road trip to China.(Final assembly)(Malcolm Bricklin)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Gail Kachadourian Entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin says 11 dealers have ponied up $2 million each for a shot at being one of the initial 25 U.S. dealers of cars built in China. He says the money is sitting in an escrow account at...

Auto News Digest.(Briefs)
April 4, 2005... Kelly-Ennis leaves GM DETROIT - Debra Kelly-Ennis, 48, general manager of Saab Cars USA Inc., has left General Motors and accepted a position with Diageo North America, an alcoholic beverage company. Jay Spenchian, Cadillac's marketing...

Mitsubishi to execs: Pay us back.(Final assembly)(Mitsubishi Motors Corp.)(Executives)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Dale Jewett Mitsubishi Motors Corp. wants former executives who covered up vehicle defects to pay up. The company seeks a total of about $12 million from three former presidents and four other executives for their roles in the...

Wouldn't you really rather have an Opel?(Final assembly)(automobiles)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Dale Jewett General Motors needs to sell Opels in the United States, says the head of Opel's labor unions. Never mind that Saturn will raid the Opel larder for the replacement for the L series. European design and...

Nissan joins the 1-million club; Relieved exec avoids awkward call to Mr. Ghosn.(Final assembly)(Nissan North America Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Dale Jewett There's no green jacket, secret handshake or demeaning hazing ritual, but the U.S. market's 1-million-units-a-year sales club has a new member: Nissan North America Inc. It's a small club. Other members that have...

Dealers.(People)(Kings Ford)(Pilgrim Subaru )(Jersey County Motors )(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Milestones * Robert Ring of Kings Ford in Cincinnati received a 25-year award for Ford from Ford Division. * Bill Hoehn of Hoehn Motors in Carlsbad, Calif., received a 30-year award for Mercedes-Benz from Mercedes-Benz USA LLC. *...

It's official: Smart's a no-go in the U.S.(News)(DaimlerChrysler AG)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Diana T. Kurylko DaimlerChrysler's Smart brand is not coming to the United States. "For the time being, we are not going forward with the Smart project in the U.S.,'' said a Mercedes-Benz USA LLC spokeswoman. The decision...

Subaru builds B9 Tribeca.(Production)(auto news)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Debi Domby * Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. begins production of the 2006 Subaru B9 Tribeca today, April 4. The B9 Tribeca is the first Subaru SUV built in North America. * General Motors' Lansing (Mich.) Craft Centre will...

Not all suppliers 'pay to play'; Europeans consider the U.S. practice unfair.(Suppliers)(payments)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Sylviane de Saint-Seine "Pay to play'' plans that require suppliers to make cash advances to land long-term contracts are common in the United States. But they have failed in Europe, supplier associations say, because parts makers...

Delphi: Top execs free from taint in scandal.(Suppliers)(accounting scandal)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Lindsay Chappell Delphi Corp.'s top executives may be off the hook in an accounting scandal that resulted in the departure of two top finance executives last month. According to a statement from Delphi's independent audit...

Automakers boost 2005 advertising budgets; Increases will be used to launch models.(News)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Jamie LaReau The four largest automotive marketers say they are spending more to advertise in 2005 than they did last year. They are earmarking much of the increased ad money to launch new models. Industry marketing executives...

Visteon loses money, execs don't.(Final assembly)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Dale Jewett Visteon Corp. racked up losses of $1.5 billion in 2004. But that didn't stop its top executives from getting raises. CEO Mike Johnston's pay totaled $4.16 million. That includes a 16 percent jump in salary to...

Lasso a Mustang? Maybe; Dealers scramble to meet demand.(Ford Motor Co., 2005 Ford Mustang )
April 4, 2005... Byline: Amy Wilson As problems go, this is a pretty good one to have. Still, Ford Motor Co. sales executives are having a devil of a time figuring out how to feed America's raging Mustang fever. From affluent teenagers to nostalgic...

GM delays launch of Cadillac SRX.(News)(General Motors Corp.)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Jason Stein General Motors has postponed the launch of the next-generation Cadillac SRX sport wagon because of the company's financial problems. In a memo last month, GM Vice Chairman Robert Lutz told vehicle line executives...

There's more on the Web.(News)(auto suppliers)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... **Down to the wire Auto suppliers are a smart bunch - how else could they keep cutting their prices and still deliver innovative new products? Supplier innovation is the heart of the Automotive News PACE Awards. There are 22 finalists...

GM, DCX join U.S. to build fuel cell fleets.(News)(DaimlerChrysler AG, General Motors Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Dale Jewett DaimlerChrysler AG and General Motors will join the U.S. government in building fleets of fuel cell vehicles for on-road testing over the next five years. GM is spending $44 million, and the Department of Energy is...

Murtaugh jolts GM by quitting.(Final assembly)(Phil Murtaugh)(General Motors Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Dale Jewett Phil Murtaugh, General Motors' point man in China for nine years, quit abruptly last week. GM says Murtaugh, 50, CEO of General Motors China, resigned for personal reasons. GM sent Australian native Kevin Wale, 49,...

GM slims down 'Phat' program; Problems delay music-DVD system.(News)(General Motors)(PhatNoise Inc.)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Greg Bowens General Motors has cut back plans to offer portable digital music and movie systems in its 2005 minivans. "Any time you have a new technology you sometimes run into challenges that were unexpected,'' said GM...

Jaguar Cars chooses advertising agency.(Marketing)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Jamie LaReau Jaguar Cars expects its new global advertising agency to help restore "glamour and cachet to the brand,'' says the brand's North American chief. Jaguar named Euro RSCG/Fuel last month to create and execute...

Mercedes' new wagon.(News)(2006 Mercedes-Benz R-Class Large Wagon )(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Mercedes-Benz has unveiled its six-passenger, all-wheel-drive 2006 R-class wagon. U.S. sales begin this fall. The R class will be assembled in Mercedes' plant in Vance, Ala., and V-6 and V-8 models are planned.

Isuzu 'fesses up.(Final assembly)(Isuzu Motors Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: James B. Treece Isuzu last week admitted to authorities that it has illegally tested prototypes on Japan's public roads since the late 1960s. The testing caused one death and 27 injuries. Isuzu drove the prototypes to see how...

VW pushes lifestyle over product in ads; Marketing campaign for redesigned Jetta disappoints some dealers.(Marketing)(Volkswagen of America Inc.)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Jamie LaReau Volkswagen of America Inc. is sticking to the style of advertising it's known for - hip spots that emphasize lifestyle and image over product information. As VW launches its redesigned Jetta, some dealers wish the...

Kia plans HQ.(News)(Kia Motors America Inc. building a headquarters )(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Kia Motors America Inc. will build a 236,000-square-foot headquarters on a 21-acre site in Irvine, Calif. The $70 million campus should be complete by December 2006. Kia has been in Irvine since 1993, when it opened a U.S. office. The...

Ford's query: Does a Volvo need to be Swedish?(News)(Volvo Car Corp., Ford Motor Co.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Mark Rechtin Volvo Car Corp. is conducting consumer research to see whether a Volvo built outside of Sweden - or alongside a Ford-branded vehicle - would be tainted. "The majority probably doesn't know where their cars are...

Another ex-Ford exec will try to save Mitsubishi.(News)(Jerry Berwanger of Ford Motor Co. joins Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc.)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Lindsay Chappell Mitsubishi Motors Corp. has entrusted its North American plant to another Ford man. Jerry Berwanger, who spent 27 years with Ford Motor Co. before moving to Mitsubishi five years ago, replaces Rich Gilligan as...

Going broke isn't cheap; The Chapter 11 blues: Few assets, gigantic legal fees.(Intermet Corp.)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Richard Truett Bill for preparing a legal brief: $1,625. Cost of a 21/2-hour phone call: $312. A one-day trip from Detroit to New York for a lawyer to attend a meeting: $4,160. Cost of reorganizing in Chapter 11 bankruptcy: not...

Chrysler wants to revamp 'upfront' ad process.(Marketing)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Abbey Klaassen Julie Roehm thinks the sale of TV advertising time would work better if the process more closely resembled the stock market. The Chrysler group's director of marketing communications used an advertising forum in...

Launches, new media boost 2004 auto ad spending.(Marketing)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Jamie LaReau Automakers spent 12.6 percent more to advertise vehicles in the United States last year than they did in 2003. New-vehicle launches and rapid growth in nontraditional and interactive marketing accounted for most of...

Cadillac may share Sigma architecture; Buick, Pontiac could get rear-drive models.(News)(General Motors Corp. Cadillac Motor Car Div)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Rick Kranz General Motors may derive rear-drive Buicks and Pontiacs from an exclusive Cadillac vehicle architecture. But don't expect any Chevrolets based on Cadillac underpinnings. A less costly version of Cadillac's Sigma...

PACE Awards honor supplier innovations.(News)(Automotive News PACE Awards)
April 4, 2005... Here are profiles of six of the 22 finalists for the 2005 Automotive News PACE Awards. What: Automotive News PACE Awards honoring innovative automotive suppliers Cosponsored with: Capgemini and the Transportation Research Center Inc....

Calendar.(Calendar)
April 4, 2005... AUTO SHOWS - 2005 April 1-10 - Pacific International Auto Show, BC Place Stadium, Vancouver, British Columbia, 604-214-9964, www.bcautoshow.com April 8-10 - Albany Auto Show, Pepsi Arena, Albany, N.Y., 518-452-0584, www.enycar.org ...

U.S. auction giant arrives in China; Manheim, Chinese partner will form joint venture.(News)(Cox Enterprises Inc. Manheim Auctions Div)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Alysha Webb Manheim has come to China. The U.S. auto auction company has opened an office in Shanghai and is forming a joint venture with a Chinese partner that has not been publicly identified. But Manheim can't do business in...

Chrysler franchises attract buyers; 8 dealers purchase stores; 63 are thinking about it.
April 4, 2005... Byline: Mary Connelly The Chrysler group's 4-month-old campaign to persuade powerful dealers to buy its franchises is starting to pay off. After Chrysler group CEO Dieter Zetsche's pitch to 164 dealers last December, eight have...

CarMax ends its fiscal year on high note.(News)(sales and earnings)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Arlena Sawyers CarMax Inc. ended its 2005 fiscal year on a positive note after a rough start, its top executive says. CEO Austin Ligon says CarMax earned $29.7 million on revenues of $1.39 billion during its fourth quarter,...

Honda looks to marketing to retool its cool.(Marketing)(American Honda Motor Company Inc.)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Jean Halliday A Honda owner who unveiled a souped-up Civic at a tuner event last year got a distinctive reception. The crowd booed. The Civic is the signature model of American Honda Motor Co. Inc. It was once the most popular...

Farley says Scion must keep taking design risks.(News)(Jim Farley, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. Scion Div.)(Interview)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Mark Rechtin Three Scion concept vehicles unveiled at the New York auto show in March could be the next round of new products from Toyota's nascent youth brand. Automotive News Staff Reporter Mark Rechtin spoke with Scion Vice...

When John Z. got the auditor on board.(News)(John Z. DeLorean, General Motors Corp.)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Jim Dunne The March 19 death of John Z. DeLorean prompted a lot of memories and inevitable storytelling by those who knew him. This story reflects both the era and the outsized persona of the General Motors maverick. My most...

Toyota's drive keeps it out front; Disciplined business approach may keep styling, ads ho-hum.(Marketing)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Jean Halliday Toyota Motor Corp.'s culture of kaizen, or continuous improvement, includes a degree of paranoia, executives and observers of the automaker agree. That gives Toyota a big edge in product development and operating...

Chevrolet, Major League Baseball sign sponsorship deal.(Marketing)(General Motors Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Jamie LaReau As Major League Baseball begins its new season this week the sport has a new official vehicle - Chevrolet. A three-year sponsorship agreement between General Motors and Major League Baseball Properties gives...

New York show is unique, important.(North American International Auto Show)(Brief Article)(Column)
April 4, 2005... Byline: KEITH CRAIN Last week, hundreds of thousands of folks visited another auto show. In fact, the show had the largest attendance of any in the country. And what makes it bizarre is that most of the visitors came by public...

IN OTHER WORDS.(Final assembly)(Robert Lutz, General Motors Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... "Let me say it now, for the world to hear: No, we have no plans to shed a brand. Period.'' - GM Vice Chairman Robert Lutz, on the Fastlane Web log. Lutz complained that the media took out of context statements he made at an analyst...

Explorer still in lawyers' sights.(Final assembly)(Ford Motor Co. redesigned Ford Explorer)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Charles Child Plaintiffs' lawyers are keeping the Ford Explorer in their sights. A study sponsored by plaintiff's attorney Tab Turner says Ford Motor Co. supplied incomplete data to federal regulators, Reuters reports. Ford...

Toyota's Scion boss moves up the ladder; Farley, who got youth brand off to a fast start, gets top Toyota marketing post as part of management shuffle.(News)(Jim Farley, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. Lexus Div.)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Mark Rechtin Jim Farley, who oversaw the national launch of the Scion brand, has been named vice president of marketing for Toyota Division. Under Farley's watch, Scion introduced three vehicles and has quickly shot past...

Nip and tuck.(News)(Saab 9-5 automobile)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The Saab 9-5 will receive a minor facelift this fall. While this prototype sedan is camouflaged, the restyled front fascia and headlights are clearly visible. The taillights also will be restyled. CAPTION(S): photo

G6 giveaway doesn't bring big sales; Pontiac may have spun more buzz for Oprah than for car.(Marketing)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Matthew Creamer, Jean Halliday Pontiac pulled off a watershed media stunt when it introduced the G6 last September. It gave away 276 cars to shocked audience members on Oprah Winfrey's TV talk show. So why is the G6 gathering...

Ford: More import buyers wanted; Conquest data for new cars looks promising.(News)(Ford Motor Co.)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Amy Wilson So far the new Ford Five Hundred sedan is not attracting as many buyers who trade in imports as company executives had hoped. About one-third of Five Hundred customers are coming from outside the Ford, Lincoln and...

Big SUVs off; March sales up 4.6%.(Sales)(sport utility vehicles)
April 4, 2005... Gasoline prices hovering above $2 a gallon are changing consumers' buying habits. Sales of large SUVs fell hard in March. And fuel-saving hybrid vehicles, which use a gasoline engine and an electric motor to power the wheels, rose sharply....

Supply line.(Briefs)(automobile industry)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Johnson Controls will buy Delphi's battery business DETROIT - Johnson Controls Inc. will acquire Delphi Corp.'s global automotive battery business, including a long-term contract to supply batteries for General Motors vehicles. The...

AutoNation makes online sales deal.(News)(LiveDealAutos.com)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Arlena Sawyers The nation's largest dealership group is offering 20,000 used vehicles for sale on a new Web site. On Friday, April 1, the 270 dealerships owned by AutoNation Inc. listed used-vehicle inventories on...

Toyota mulls Michigan, South for plant.(News)(Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc.)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Mark Rechtin Toyota is considering sites in Michigan, the South and elsewhere for its seventh North American assembly plant. Dennis Cuneo, senior vice president of Toyota Motor North America Inc., says the automaker prefers to...

Mercedes will be first with new radar system.(News)(Daimler-Benz AG)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Dan Thisdell Mercedes-Benz expects to be the first automaker to market a car featuring a new generation of short-range radar that could reduce the risk of accidents. The system, developed by DaimlerChrysler and supplier Tyco...

Rolls: We must sell 1,000 cars annually.(News)(Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Jens Meiners Rolls-Royce must sell more than 1,000 cars annually to be profitable, its former head says. Last year the ultra brand sold 792 units globally of its only model, the Phantom sedan. But Stefan Krause, BMW AG's...

Chrysler raises prices $123.(News)(increase on its 2005 cars and light trucks)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: John K. Teahen Jr. The Chrysler group has posted the fourth increase on its 2005 cars and light trucks. It averaged a sales-weighted $123, or 0.5 percent. The group's sticker prices have risen an average of $418, or 1.6...

Battered GM posts a gain.(Sales)(General Motors Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Jason Stein General Motors shook off a month of bad news to outperform analysts' sales projections - and outpace Ford Motor Co. - in March. Buoyed by strong demand for pickups, GM's monthly sales rose 2.5 percent compared with...

Chrysler says all dealers may sell SRTs.(News)(Street and Racing Technology)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Mary Connelly The Chrysler group will allow all Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealerships to sell its limited-edition SRT performance vehicles. Chrysler wants to build on the showroom drawing power of SRT as it expands its...

Subaru tries new kind of ad campaign; Effort will try to entice new buyers to the brand.(News)(Subaru's B9 Tribeca, Subaru of America Inc.)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Diana T. Kurylko Subaru of America Inc. will back the launch of its first seven-seat SUV with an advertising campaign aimed at bringing new buyers to the brand. TV, print and Internet ads that began running on March 21 feature...

Letters to the Editor.(Letter to the Editor)
April 4, 2005... Web experts aren't auto sales experts To the Editor: Third-party lead vendors or their subsidiary companies have no business commenting on why many dealers lose out online. Response time is the most important aspect in selling cars...

Late News.
April 4, 2005... Hybrid Highlander: $33,595 LOS ANGELES - Prices for the gasoline-electric hybrid version of the Toyota Highlander sport wagon will start at $33,595, including destination charges. The price for the two-wheel-drive hybrid version is $6,840...

Don't let Big Oil delay clean fuel for diesels in U.S.(Opinion)(environmental policy)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The U.S. oil giants want the EPA to cut them some slack on the subject of clean diesel fuel. The U.S. auto companies should make sure that doesn't happen. Oil companies are wrong to try to delay or relax rules that call for ultralow-sulfur...

Scion brand enters the music business.(Marketing)
April 4, 2005... Byline: Jean Halliday Scion built its reputation as a brand for influential young consumers and the hip-hop underground culture. Now Scion is entering the music business. The youth brand of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. is promoting...

GM: Good guess or bad?(Opinion)(General Motors Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... General Motors, desperate for big-profit vehicles, reportedly plans to introduce the next Chevrolet TrailBlazer and GMC Envoy in July 2007, six months ahead of schedule. Is it a sales-production coup, or is it another indication that GM's...

Auto News Briefly.(Briefs)
April 4, 2005... New product: An old Beetle Volkswagen, grappling with a slump in U.S. sales, didn't unveil any products at the New York auto show, but there was still a lot of love at the VW stand. Love Bug, that is. VW showed off the star of Herbie:...

Calendar.(auto shows and conferences)(Calendar)
April 11, 2005... April 9-17 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution International Auto Show, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, 770-916-1741, www.ajcautoshow.com April 13-17 - Dallas Auto Show, Dallas Convention Center, Dallas, 214-637-0531,...

Urban crowding taxes engineers for solutions; Cities seek ways to end traffic jams, accidents.
April 11, 2005... Byline: Lindsay Chappell For a glimpse of the future, automotive engineers should consider the situation in London. Traffic congestion in downtown London has gotten so bad that two years ago the city imposed a congestion fee for...

Ford puts Jack and Jill to work; Computer-generated employees pinpoint problems on factory floor.(Ford Motor Co.)
April 11, 2005... Byline: Lindsay Chappell Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. manufacturing work force has gotten younger since Ford negotiated the 1999 labor contract with the UAW. The average age then was 44. Now, after five years of early retirements, layoffs and...

But will you even have a job?(auto industry engineering employment scenario)
April 11, 2005... Byline: Lindsay Chappell North American suppliers are struggling. General Motors and Ford Motor Co. are losing U.S. market share. U.S. auto sales are down through March. It's hardly a robust time to think about going into auto...

Tire monitors are mandated.(tire pressure monitoring systems)(Brief Article)
April 11, 2005... Byline: Harry Stoffer A requirement that all new vehicles be equipped with tire pressure monitoring systems will be phased in during the 2006-08 model years, according to a federal rule issued last week. The rule applies to cars and...

Ex-dealer loses bid to reverse theft conviction.(South Dakota Supreme Court finds Lance Swalve guilty)
April 11, 2005... Byline: Eric Freedman The South Dakota Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a former GMC dealer who defrauded customers and cheated a company that provides extended warranties. The court found no basis to toss out the conviction...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
April 11, 2005... Don't overlook Honda's hybrids To the Editor: Thank you for your timely story on hybrid vehicles ("In hybrids, it's Toyota vs. the world,'' March 21). I agree that many other automakers are hedging their bets. However, suggesting that...

Feeling the pressure; As gasoline prices soar, the auto industry seeks mileage gains, reliability.
April 11, 2005... Byline: Richard Truett When you look at who is under pressure these days at the Big 3, look to the people running the carmakers' powertrain divisions. After a year of price swings that pushed a gallon of gasoline to near $3 in some...

Quality risks increase as microprocessors multiply; Does it really take 3 control units to operate a window?
April 11, 2005... Byline: Lindsay Chappell Wiring microprocessors into cars and trucks was a milestone of engineering achievement. But does a car really need 10 of them? How about 25? Or 50? Or how about 200? The challenge of the next five to 10...