Automotive News articles from April 2006

Automotive News archives from April 2006

Ahead of their time; 7 innovations that flopped the first time around.(Insight)(gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles )
April 3, 2006... Byline: Richard Truett The Toyota Prius has been hailed for its hybrid technology, but did you know that gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles were traveling European roads more than a century ago? And that navigation system you used to...

Solstice: It's a little of this, little of that.(Insight)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Greg Migliore The eye-catching Solstice may be a halo car for Pontiac, but it is part Cadillac, part Chevrolet and part Hummer. And - oh, yeah - there's a bit of GMC, Saturn and scores of other General Motors brands tossed into the...

Auction Broadcasting sells site, invests in Net.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Arlena Sawyers Auction Broadcasting Co. LLC sold its vehicle auction site in Bradenton, Fla., to ADESA Inc. Revenue from the deal will enable Auction Broadcasting to strengthen its Internet sales capacity, company executives say....

3 technologies worth watching.(Insight)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Richard Truett When an automaker or one of its suppliers develops a new technology, there's no guarantee it will be embraced by the car-buying public. But Staff Reporter Richard Truett says three innovations bear watching. Here...

Bugatti speeds up Veyron output to cut wait times.(News)(Bugatti Automobili S.p.A.is increasing output )
April 3, 2006... Byline: Henning Krogh Bugatti is increasing output at its plant in Molsheim, France, to cut the waiting time for its Veyron sports car. "We want to take our annual capacity to 70 units, up from the 50 that were originally planned,''...

Mitsubishi speed; How the high-performance Evo Wagon made it to market so quickly.(Insight)
April 3, 2006... Byline: James B. Treece During Japan's Golden Week holidays in early May 2004, Tetsuro Aikawa placed an urgent phone call to Hiroshi Fujii with a seemingly impossible request. Aikawa, who would later become Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s...

GM settles minority dealer suit.(News)(General Motors Corp.)(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Arlena Sawyers General Motors has settled a lawsuit by two former dealers who alleged that GM's minority dealer program is deceptive and discriminatory. GM says it reached settlements last month with Ricardo Sanchez, who is...

Auto News briefly.(Briefs)
April 3, 2006... Need to lug just a little? Then this is your pickup Lotus Cars last week issued a press release to herald its first pickup. "The Lotus Elise `Load Lugga' is an Elise-derived flatbed that seeks to secure a slice of the ever-growing worldwide...

Info execs head for the exits.(Final assembly)(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... Three chief information officers from General Motors, Ford and the Chrysler group, including two who made the 2005 Automotive News list of 100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry, announced in March that they're taking jobs...

TRW sets up winter test site in China.(Insight)(TRW Automotive Inc tests its products in China)(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Alysha Webb As automakers and suppliers increasingly use Chinese engineers to develop global products, being able to test those products in China is crucial to keeping costs down. TRW Automotive Inc. knows that. Heihe, a frigid...

Chinese engineers design systems for global use.(Insight)(Delphi China technical center designed a DVD/radio system for its customers in China)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Alysha Webb Chinese drivers view their cars as a second home, so engineers at the Delphi China Technical Center designed a DVD/radio system for its customers in China. Now the graphics controller in the audio system is part of...

Make the case at Honda, and you can build it; Ridgeline advocate had the power to seal the deal.(Insight)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Lindsay Chappell One of the most momentous decisions in Honda Motor Co.'s recent history - whether to sell pickups in the United States - basically was decided by two guys in a meeting room. Gary Flint, a former General Motors...

Dual-fuel RX-8 is a drive toward tomorrow; Sports car powered by gasoline, hydrogen has its shortcomings.(Insight)
April 3, 2006... Byline: James B. Treece I'm cruising through an industrial district of the port city of Yokohama, Japan - in a Mazda RX-8 sports car. Traffic is slow, but every now and then it opens up and I can gun the motor with satisfying results. ...

Hydrogen's dirty secret.(Insight)(Fuel cell cars and other hydrogen-powered vehicles seem emissions-free)
April 3, 2006... Byline: James B. Treece Fuel cell cars and other hydrogen-powered vehicles seem emissions-free. But all they really do at this point is rob Peter to pay Paul. The Japan Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Demonstration Project has 10 hydrogen...

Not all suppliers in the heartland are hurting.(Opinion)(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... It has been all too easy for many media outlets, some Wall Street analysts and certain uninformed critics to write off the entire traditional U.S. automotive supply base under the heading "Rust Belt.'' That's faulty reasoning, and it translates...

Industry sees promise of piezo injection; Technology lowers emissions in diesel engines.(Insight)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Richard Truett A new type of high-performance fuel injector starting to appear on European cars could play a big role in helping diesel engines meet stringent U.S. emissions. It's the piezo injector, a smaller, lighter and...

Mercedes offers full-sized GL to combat Cadillac Escalade.(Mercedes-Benz USA Inc.proudly calls the 2007 GL Sport utility vehicles)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Rick Kranz Mercedes-Benz proudly calls the 2007 GL a full-sized SUV. "We are aiming at the mainstream full-sized SUV buyers, those people who still relate to full-sized SUVs, still need full-sized SUVs and still desire...

Lincoln LS run will end.(Production)(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Debi Domby Ford Motor Co. will end production of the Lincoln LS next week. About 262,900 cars have been built since production began in April 1999. The car is built at Ford's Wixom, Mich., plant. The Lincoln Town Car will continue...

New CAFE rules could backfire; Automakers may have an incentive to build bigger trucks.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Harry Stoffer The Bush administration insists that its new fuel economy rules will force SUVs, pickups and minivans to get better gasoline mileage. But skeptics wonder whether the Law of Unintended Consequences will overtake that...

Lear cracked the Korean market by doing it Hyundai's way.(Suppliers)(Dymos)(Hyundai Corp)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Lindsay Chappell To crack the Korean auto industry, just take Lear Corp.'s simple advice: Do it Hyundai's way. Four years ago Lear did no business with Hyundai Automotive Group. Then the automaker made a proposal: Create a...

European Web portal pushes for U.S. business.(supply chain management portal)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Ralph Kisiel SupplyOn AG, created during the heat of the dot-com frenzy, has quietly and steadily developed into a supply chain management portal mostly for its six founding German automotive suppliers. And now it's on the...

E-mails boost service business for Group 1; Targeted messages get higher response than mass mailings.(Service & Parts)(Group 1 Automotive Inc promotes through customized e-mail to service customers)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Donna Harris Customized e-mail to service customers is generating big responses - and revenues - at dealerships run by Group 1 Automotive Inc. The messages target customers whose vehicles are most likely to need work, based on...

Group 1 agenda: Centralize, streamline; Appeal of running a public company lured CEO Hesterberg from Ford.(Group 1 Automotive Inc)(Interview)
April 3, 2006... Byline: David Sedgwick, Donna Harris Group 1 Automotive's Earl Hesterberg is in the market to buy import auto dealerships - not domestics. He wants to centralize his stores' sales practices without killing his managers' entrepreneurial...

Audi considers diesel engine for next S6.(Insight)(Audi AG configurations for its S-model performance vehicles)(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Jens Dralle Audi is considering adding more engine configurations for its S-model performance vehicles, including more turbocharged and diesel engines. "The next generation of the S6 could get a diesel,'' said Kirstin...

Engineering firm EDAG has new owner.(Insight)(EDAG Engineering + Design AG)(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Klaus-Dieter Floerecke EDAG, the German engineering and design specialist that displayed a Pontiac Solstice hardtop concept at this year's Detroit auto show, has a new owner. Equity investor Aton has purchased 100 percent of...

Asbury focuses on faster service.(Service & Parts)(Asbury Automotive Group Inc focuses on keeping customers)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Gail Kachadourian Auto dealerships must prepare to compete even more fiercely with independent repair shops for service work, says John Stamm, vice president of operations of Asbury Automotive Group. Stamm says the public...

Toyota's U.S. r&d shifts into second gear; New $150 million center provides room to grow, visibility.(Insight)(Toyota Motor Corp prepares for a 150 million research&development center)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Lindsay Chappell Toyota Motor Corp. has not decided yet whether to put up a billboard along U.S. 23 in York Township, advertising its plans to Detroit-area commuters. But soon enough, passers-by will know. Toyota is preparing...

Dana's restructuring will move work outside the U.S.(Suppliers)(Dana Corp moves its operations of United States of America)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Philip Nussel Like other troubled U.S. auto suppliers, Dana Corp. plans to fix its ailing North American business by moving more operations out of the country. CEO Mike Burns is touting that strategy as a crucial part of his...

Mitsubishi tests new small car in U.S.(Mitsubishi Corp is testing a small car in California)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Kathy Jackson Mitsubishi, eager to expand its U.S. lineup, is testing a small car in California. Two i cars arrived in March and will be driven in the Los Angeles area. The i car is sold in Japan. "We will drive it to get...

Corrections.(Correction)(Correction notice)
April 3, 2006... * A car cutaway on Page 28D in some editions of the Feb. 27 issue gave the wrong supplier for carpet on the 2007 Toyota Camry. The supplier is Amtex. * A story on Page 16 of the March 27 issue incorrectly reported which satellite radio...

Fusion sales are hitting stride at 6-month mark.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Amy Wilson Six months after going on sale, the Ford Fusion, touted as the brand's game-changer in the car business, is stacking up respectable midseason stats. Ford sold 19,142 Fusions in the first two months of this year. It...

Supply line.(Briefs)(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... ThyssenKrupp joins Ford's preferred list DETROIT - ThyssenKrupp Automotive has been added to Ford Motor Co.'s list of preferred suppliers. Twenty-nine companies are now on the list. Ford hopes that trimming its supplier ranks worldwide will...

Another N.A. plant for Toyota? Count on it.(North America)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Mark Rechtin Expect still another Toyota assembly plant in North America. Toyota Motor Corp.'s North American planning group is evaluating the company's North American sales plan for 2010 and beyond. The group's early...

Why does Toyota need extra capacity? Just do the math.(News)(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Mark Rechtin How do Toyota's planners determine if they need a new plant in North America? The company assembled 1.56 million cars and trucks in North America in 2005, while selling 2.47 million units. That means it assembled...

AIADA axes new PAC; Troubled dealer group pulls back to mend fences.(News)(American International Automobile Dealers Association)(Political Action Committee )
April 3, 2006... Byline: Harry Stoffer Between the beginning and end of March, leaders of the import-brand auto dealers' association made a 180-degree turn. During the week of March 6, the American International Automobile Dealers Association said it...

Can Cadillac's 'baby' be a boomer in Europe?(Final assembly)
April 3, 2006... Cadillac's volume seller in Europe will be... a Saab, mostly. The BLS, dubbed the "baby Cadillac,'' goes on sale in Europe this month, and General Motors expects it to account for 75 percent of Cadillac's 20,000 targeted European sales by...

It's a confusing marketplace.(Column)
April 3, 2006... Byline: KEITH CRAIN Much of the U.S. automotive industry and the analysts and media that report on it are in Detroit. For most of the past century, Detroit was the hub of the industry, and much of the domestic manufacturing was done...

From White House traffic cop to ... ?(Final assembly)(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... For 51/2 years, Andrew Card has built a reputation as a relentlessly hard-working guy in one of the world's toughest jobs. As President Bush's chief of staff, Card found that his plate overflowed with responsibilities. But the former chief...

Future Freelander.(News)
April 3, 2006... Land Rover engineers were snapped testing the redesigned Freelander in southern Germany. The crossover is being developed on a modified version of Ford Motor Co.'s European C1 platform, called EUCD. That platform will be shared with the...

More horses in Dearborn.(Final assembly)(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... What's the definition of "energy crisis'' in Detroit? When your biggest engine doesn't have enough of it. And that's why a Hurricane may be brewing in Dearborn. According to a report in The Detroit News, Ford North America boss Mark...

BlackBerry: Source of freedom, or crack for the work addict?(wireless communications devices such as blackberry let auto executives keep in constant touch with their offices)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Gail Kachadourian Robert Lutz's boss and wife both complain about the amount of time he spends on his BlackBerry. But the General Motors product czar insists he wouldn't be without the wireless communications device."It's an...

Nader urges auto engineers to adopt ethics code.(The Society of Automotive Engineers needs to have an ethics code )
April 3, 2006... Byline: Harry Stoffer The Society of Automotive Engineers desperately needs to have an ethics code for members, consumer advocate Ralph Nader says. "It boggles the mind that SAE, in its 102-year existence, has never adopted an ethical...

Toyota expands in North America as sales grow.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Lindsay Chappell As far as North American investment goes, Toyota is on fire. With little fanfare over the past several months, the world's No. 2 automaker has set projects in motion to enlarge almost every one of its North...

Letters to the Editor.(Letters)
April 3, 2006... Honda's cornfields are an ideal spot To the Editor: The March 20 story "Honda's U.S. r&d center looks locally for talent'' was interesting. It illustrates another way that Honda, through innovative thinking, has changed the automotive...

IUE prepares to take a hard line with Delphi.(Suppliers)(International Union of Electrical Workers)(Delphi Corp.'s biggest labor headache)
April 3, 2006... Byline: David Barkholz Despite tough talk in recent weeks, the UAW may not be Delphi Corp.'s biggest labor headache. That honor may well go to the International Union of Electrical Workers, which represents 8,500 hourly Delphi...

GM's board needs some new flavors; Tap Jones, Google, eBay and maybe even late-night TV.(General Motors Corp)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Edward Lapham When Ross Perot was a General Motors director in the mid-1980s, he challenged conventional wisdom and the automaker's ingrained way of doing business. He insisted that other nonemployee directors had a fiduciary...

It's garage sale time at Delphi; Attention shoppers: Supplier is selling.
April 3, 2006... Byline: Robert Sherefkin, David Barkholz Delphi Corp. is about to hold the nation's biggest garage sale. On Friday, March 31, Delphi announced plans to shrink its U.S. manufacturing empire from 44 plants to just eight. The old...

Designer: New digs will make Acura bolder.(interview of Dave Marek)(Interview)(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Kathy Jackson American Honda has broken ground on a $15 million design center for its Acura brand in Torrance, Calif. When the center opens in the summer of 2007, it will be the first time Acura has not shared design space with...

Late News.
April 3, 2006... Insurers alter test rules WASHINGTON - TV viewers are familiar with the high-speed vehicle crashes staged by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. But under a new plan, fewer cars and trucks will get rammed into that offset frontal...

The PACE of change; Annual awards honoring auto industry innovation have had a lasting effect.(PACE awards)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Tim Moran Many of the toys and innovations taken for granted in today's cars and trucks were viewed as breakthrough technologies just a few years ago. Since 1995, the Automotive News PACE Awards helped unveil many of these...

Cadillac downshifts to rev up 'renaissance'.(2007 Escalade )
April 3, 2006... Byline: Harry Stoffer Cadillac's U.S. sales were flat last year and are down a bit this year. But company executives insist the leveling off is merely a breather before the next phase of Cadillac's renaissance gets in gear. From...

Wagoner builds cash stockpile; Analysts: GM wants to be ready to avert a strike at Delphi.
April 3, 2006... Byline: Jamie LaReau General Motors will continue negotiations with Delphi Corp. and the UAW after the supplier asked a bankruptcy judge Friday, March 31, to reject Delphi's labor contracts. GM stopped short of saying it would bail out...

S&P is leery of Lear.(Lear )(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... Lear announced new bank loans and a European joint venture last week... and Standard & Poor's was underwhelmed. The credit rating agency lowered Lear's rating three notches, to B+, in expectation of substandard 2006 earnings and Lear's...

Delphi demands price hikes.
April 3, 2006... Byline: Philip Nussel, David Barkholz As General Motors bails out Delphi Corp., its former parts operations, the automaker is harvesting some bitter fruit that it has sowed. Delphi was driven into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in...

Dealers.(40-year award)(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... Milestones * David Ellis of Glendale Dodge in Glendale, Calif., received a 40-year award for Chrysler Financial Services from DaimlerChrysler. * Bud Brown and Phil Brown of Bud Brown Chrysler in Overland Park, Kan., received a 40-year...

New GM system automates parts ordering; Dealers like the way it improves inventory control.(General Motors)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Ralph Kisiel General Motors says that its new Web-based parts replenishment system is helping dealers stock the right parts in the right quantities. Dealers using the voluntary Retail Inventory Management system now have the...

Auto News digest.(Toyota Camry price)(General Motors new plant)(CarMax Inc new facility)
April 3, 2006... Camry hybrid sticker: $26,480 LOS ANGELES - The hybrid version of the 2007 Toyota Camry sedan will have a sticker price of $26,480, including shipping, when it goes on sale in May. The Camry hybrid's sticker price is about $5,000 less...

Taking Wagoner's temperature.(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... Call it the "Wagoner watch.'' Last week, speculation among national media about whether General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner will survive - and who might succeed him - hit a fever pitch. We chronicle some of the conjecture. * The Wall...

Experts: Fuel economy add-ons rarely work.(Insight)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Tim Moran Improve fuel economy - type those words on Google, and you'll get more than 23.4 million Web pages on the subject. Look closely. You'll also see an abundance of atomizers, magnets, fluids for crankcases and fuel tank...

Kia's new U.S. plant is no windfall for U.S. suppliers.
April 3, 2006... Byline: Lindsay Chappell When Kia Motors Corp. opens its $1.2 billion vehicle assembly plant in Georgia in 2009, the largest companies supplying the parts are more likely to be named Mobis or Dongwon than Magna or Dana. Instead of...

After the White House, big auto job would be a good fit for Card.(Final assembly)(Card, Andrew H., Jr)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Edward Lapham It would be great if Andy Card could land a powerful and influential job in the auto industry. He'll probably want to take a few days off after his last day as White House chief of staff on April 14, but that's...

Tiptop hardtops.(web site list)(Website overview)(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... While retractable hardtop convertibles have been around for decades - Lancia produced a power-folding hardtop in the 1930s - engineers have taken the technology to new levels. Today's retractable hardtop mechanisms, which typically are...

Solstice GXP: Lots of power in a small package.(Insight)(a bigger engine is how you get more power to the wheels)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Richard Truett Ask a performance enthusiast the best way to make a car go faster, and he'll probably say there's no replacement for displacement. A bigger engine is how you get more power to the wheels. But as automotive...

Personnel.(Doug Rulon his management)(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... COOPER-STANDARD AUTOMOTIVE INC. - Doug Rulon, 45, to director of global continuous improvement for the company's global sealing systems division in North America. He had been a manager for the supplier readiness group at Lear Corp. ...

What Mitsubishi needs.(Mitsubishi )(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... For a while, it seemed as if Mitsubishi was making progress in the United States after the disastrous sales meltdown caused by a weak product lineup and its inability to offer competitive consumer loans. But despite some new products and...

Calendar.(Calendar)
April 3, 2006... AUTO SHOWS - 2006 March 31-April 9 - Vancouver International Auto Show, BC Place Stadium, Vancouver, British Columbia, 604-214-9964, www.bcautoshow.com April 1-9 - Auto Mobil International, Leipzig Exhibition Center, Leipzig, Germany,...

Carmakers cut advertising budgets in 2005.(advertisment spending by automakers )
April 10, 2006... Byline: Laura Clark Geist Car companies launched four dozen new or redesigned vehicles in the United States last year. U.S. automakers touted their employee pricing programs all summer. Despite those major initiatives, automotive...

Pumped-up pickup.(News)(Brief article)
April 10, 2006... The 2008 Ford Super Duty prototype is shown at left, alongside the current model, in this spy photo. Ford will pump up the truck's branding with prominent lettering on the grille, tailgate and instrument panel. The truck has all-new sheet...

Dodge hunts Caliber buyers among Internet junkies.
April 10, 2006... Byline: Mary Connelly One of every five dollars Dodge spends to launch the Caliber will be Internet-related. The brand is pursuing twentysomething single guys who are captivated by the Web and video gaming. The young men Dodge seeks...

Auto advertising slump crushes magazines.(decrease automakers magazine advertising)
April 10, 2006... Byline: Nat Ives, Jean Halliday Auto advertising in magazines suffered a meltdown in 2005 that cost publishers almost $100 million in revenue. And the new year in magazine advertising for cars and trucks has dawned a lot like last year...

Obituaries.(Albert Serra founder of Serra Investments)(Wil Smyly retired owner of Smyly Autos Inc)(Obituary)(Brief article)
April 10, 2006... Albert Serra GRAND BLANC, Mich. - Albert Serra, former dealer and founder of Serra Investments, which owned more than 20 dealerships across the country, died here April 1. He was 77. In 2000, Serra's son Joe bought the business, which now...

Mercedes changes R-class target, price.(Daimler-Benz AG new R-class crossover )
April 10, 2006... Byline: Diana T. Kurylko After its six-passenger R-class crossover suffered an identity crisis, Mercedes-Benz has bumped up sales by lowering the vehicle's price and targeting a different group of buyers. Since launching the R class...

Patriot takes Jeep further away from its off-road roots.(Brief article)
April 10, 2006... Byline: Mary Connelly Jeep's new Patriot crossover will be another departure from the brand's off-road heritage when it bows in the fourth quarter. The first will be the Jeep Compass, which was unveiled in January. The Patriot will...

Innovations flourish despite tough times.(awards for top innovations)
April 10, 2006... Byline: Philip Nussel Whether it's a new safety system, an energy sensor, a defogger or the reinvention of the screw, the automobile evolves and improves every year. The Automotive News PACE Awards last week celebrated the year's top...

GM: GMAC sale will help dealers.
April 10, 2006... Byline: Jamie LaReau Buick-Pontiac-GMC dealer Bob Fusco needs great lease deals to compete in the New York area. He hopes General Motors' deal to sell 51 percent of its stake in its financing arm, General Motors Acceptance Corp., will...

Escapist TV: Ford's spokesfrog stars.(Ford Escape Sport-utility vehicle)(Brief article)
April 10, 2006... Byline: Amy Wilson Ford Motor Co. is taking product placement to a new extreme. Kermit the Frog, the new "spokesfrog'' for the Ford Escape Hybrid SUV, hosted the Sunday, April 9, episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.'' The...

Auto News digest.(BMW AG plans to market diesel vehicles in United States)
April 10, 2006... BMW wants 50-state diesel DETROIT - BMW AG still is considering a diesel-powered vehicle for the United States, but that won't happen until the automaker knows it can sell it in all 50 states. "This will take us a little more time, but...

Ford: V-8, cab room are key Sport Trac changes.(new launch from Ford)
April 10, 2006... Byline: Amy Wilson With an optional V-8 engine and more interior room, the 2007 Ford Explorer Sport Trac was redesigned to answer customers' top demands, Ford says. Ford's overhaul of the Sport Trac puts the SUV pickup on the updated...

Aisin grows with more GM business.(General Motors expecting good business from Aisin Group)
April 10, 2006... Byline: Ralph Kisiel General Motors may be losing money and market share, but GM has been good for Aisin Group, a Japanese Tier 1 supplier of brakes, transmissions, chassis and other automotive components. In North America, Aisin is...

GM drama: We almost lost Rick; Wagoner sought GM board backing - and got it.(General Motors Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner ask forvote of confidence )
April 10, 2006... Byline: Jamie LaReau When General Motors' board of directors issued an April 3 press release noting its support for CEO Rick Wagoner, the bland statement offered no hint of the board's behind-the-scenes drama. On Sunday, April 2,...

Letters to the Editor.(Letter to the editor)
April 10, 2006... Newspapers nuked themselves To the Editor: I want to respond to David Sedgwick's column ("Will Holt nuke newspapers?'' March 27) about Cobalt CEO John Holt. Sedgwick contends that Holt will eliminate the need for car ads in...

Lear fears GM strike fallout.(General Motors)(Brief article)
April 10, 2006... Lear is afraid it could become collateral damage if the UAW strikes Delphi. Such a strike would shut General Motors within days, and GM is Lear's largest customer. The seat and interiors maker generates about 25 percent of its $17 billion...

Innovators of the year.(awards for automotive innovations)(Brief article)
April 10, 2006... Automotive News and co-sponsors Microsoft, SAP and Transportation Research Center Inc., with additional sponsors City of Sunderland (United Kingdom), the Original Equipment Suppliers Association and WCSX-FM, present the winners of the 2006...

Bankruptcy is out of the question.(Column)
April 10, 2006... Byline: KEITH CRAIN It would appear to some that the latest and greatest financial technique might be to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. Certainly among airlines, we've seen several huge carriers file for Chapter 11...