Automotive News articles from August 2004

Automotive News archives from August 2004

Going global: Ford borrows platforms from Europe, Japan: Part 1 of 2; Doing more with less, Ford restocks showrooms with 16 new or redesigned sedans, sport wagons and minivans based on just 2 platforms.(News)(Ford Motor Co.)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Amy Wilson Ford Motor Co.'s North American product planners can thank their colleagues worldwide for the many new vehicles coming in the next several years. Two platforms originating in Europe and Japan will underpin as many...

Calendar.(Calendar)
August 2, 2004... AUTO SHOWS - 2004 Aug. 25-29 - Moscow International Motor Show, Krasnaya Presnya Expocentr, Moscow, 44-207-596-5224, www.motorshows-ite.com Sept. 16-26 - Oklahoma State Fair Auto Show, Oklahoma State Fairgrounds, Oklahoma City,...

Luxury isn't easy.(Opinion)(Lexus)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... The grass is always greener. Lexus wants to build a superluxury car. Hyundai and Subaru have designs on the luxury segment, and Volkswagen already sells a $98,000 Phaeton. Luxury requires more than good intentions. Lexus probably can...

Going global: Ford borrows platforms from Europe, Japan: Part 2 of 2; Doing more with less, Ford restocks showrooms with 16 new or redesigned sedans, sport wagons and minivans based on just 2 platforms.(News)(Ford Motor Co.)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Amy Wilson Ford Cobra Ford may build a high-priced, low-volume sports car after the GT's run ends. That means the two-passenger Cobra could debut as soon as the 2007 model year. Ford showed a Shelby Cobra roadster concept,...

Rise of the machines; Lower costs and better software enable robots to play a larger manufacturing role.(Insight)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Dale Jewett General Motors' Grand River assembly plant in Lansing, Mich., is the birthplace of the Cadillac CTS and STS sedans and the SRX sport wagon. The robotic fixtures in the plant's body shop that hold the steel panels...

Man trumps machine; When labor is so cheap, robots may be a disadvantage.(Insight)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Alysha Webb The huge divergence between China's wealthier coastal regions and its poor, rural areas is mirrored in the technical development levels of its thousands of component makers. Some plants are modern enough to be...

Ford developing brawny V-8, two V-6s.(News)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Amy Wilson Ford Motor Co. is developing several engines, including a V-8, a bigger V-6 and a V-6 diesel engine. The Hurricane V-8, as it has been dubbed by Ford insiders, is a 6.2-liter engine to join the truck horsepower wars....

Newcomer Smith must build Ford momentum; N.A. chief says new products bring new challenges.(News)(Ford Motor Co.)(Greg Smith)(Interview)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Amy Wilson Greg Smith, the new president of the Americas at Ford Motor Co., must ensure that the company properly launches several new vehicles this fall, such as the Ford Five Hundred sedan and Freestyle sport wagon. Smith is...

Davinci Selectwork moves to fill new need for marketers.(Marketing)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Jean Halliday Advertising Age Davinci Selectwork isn't a traditional advertising or media agency. The company in Dusseldorf, Germany, acts more like a project manager, working with a client's media buyers, planners and...

GM to raise prices 1% for 2005; Increase is just the first as stickers and rebates rise.(General Motors Corp.)
August 2, 2004... Byline: John K. Teahen Jr. If General Motors can be considered the industry's bellwether - and it often is - introduction-day price increases for the Big 3's 2005 models will rise about 1 percent this year. GM started the 2005 price...

Mitsubishi boss to look at dealer count.(News)(Mitsubishi Motors Corp.)
August 2, 2004... Byline: James B. Treece Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s new CEO will come to America this week to decide whether the company should reduce the size of its U.S. dealership body. With sales plummeting, Mitsubishi executives in Japan suspect...

PAG's British brands sink in red ink.(Premier Automotive Group)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Mark Rechtin How bad are things at Ford Motor Co.'s British luxury brands? Perhaps worse than you think. Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin lost more than $800 million combined during the first half of 2004, according to an...

Letters to the Editor.(Letters)
August 2, 2004... You can't sell it if it's not available To the Editor: I enjoyed your article on Cadillac's Night Vision in (some editions of) the June 28 issue. As the dealer principal of a single-point Cadillac store, Dover Cadillac in Dover,...

Goodyear reinvents the tire.(News)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Bill Sharfman Bill Sharfman is director of judging for the Automotive News PACE awards, an annual event that recognizes top innovations by automotive suppliers. This week, Sharfman launches an occasional column about PACE winners...

Gulf widens between Big 3, suppliers; Suppliers shift resources toward serving import brands.(Suppliers)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Lindsay Chappell In the contest to build better supplier relations, the Big 3 are still losing ground to the Japanese import brands. A study released today, Aug. 2, finds that for the fourth straight year, Big 3 suppliers are...

Luxury Maybach gets star-studded audience; Political insider hosts party to view luxury car.(Marketing)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Harry Stoffer There probably haven't been many Tupperware parties lately in the tony Georgetown neighborhood of the nation's capital. But about 160 invited guests dropped by the fashionable home of former White House counsel C....

Hubbert's last hurrah: M-B quality.(News)(Mercedes-Benz)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Diana T. Kurylko Longtime Mercedes-Benz chief Juergen Hubbert has launched an all-out quality drive as he prepares to hand over the keys to the company to Eckhard Cordes. Mercedes quality has come under heavy criticism as the...

Cordes may replace Schrempp - someday.(News)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Diana T. Kurylko The race to replace Juergen Schrempp as chairman of DaimlerChrysler AG is on. A contest is shaping up between Chrysler group CEO Dieter Zetsche and Eckhard Cordes, the 53-year-old Schrempp acolyte named...

Former ThyssenKrupp accountant testifies.(News)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Terry Kosdrosky Crain's Detroit Business A former attorney, accountant and confidant of two former ThyssenKrupp N.A. Inc. executives last week described in detail how he filtered money the men are accused of taking in a $6.5 million...

The future's not here.(Insight)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Lindsay Chappell In the 1990s, when the creative minds of the auto industry imagined what manufacturing should look like in 2004, 2005 or 2006, they envisioned an empty retail lot, empty shipping yards, empty warehouses, empty data...

Ford may build Fiesta, Mazda2 in Nanjing.(News)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Alysha Webb Ford Motor Co. will build the next-generation Fiesta and Mazda2 subcompacts at a new plant in Nanjing, China, according to a supplier industry source. The cars will be based on a new global small-car platform,...

Washington show seeks spotlight.(News)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Harry Stoffer Dealers in and near the nation's capital want to elevate their local auto show into the top tier of vehicle expositions. So they are changing the dates of the Washington show from the week between Christmas and...

Fiat brands will use 4wd in attempt to boost sales.(News)(Fiat S.p.A.)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Luca Ciferri Automotive News Europe Over the next two years, Fiat brands will introduce four-wheel-drive versions of 10 vehicles in a bid to lift Fiat Auto out of its sales doldrums. If consumers respond positively to the 4wd...

Automakers grease party machines; Big 3 support both sides of the aisle.(News)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Harry Stoffer North central Illinois produces corn, not cars. But General Motors plans a brunch for the congressman from the area when Republicans gather in New York for their national convention late this month. He is Rep....

U.S. spiffs cost Honda profits; Automaker's N.A. operating profit plunges 25.8% for quarter.(News)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Yuzo Yamaguchi The U.S. incentive war exerted downward pressure on North American quarterly earnings for Honda Motor Co. Between April and June, Honda's North American operating profit plunged by 25.8 percent from the year-ago...

Audi TT production remains in Hungary; Plant in Germany wanted the roadster.(News)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Jens Meiners Automotive News Europe Audi will continue to build the TT coupe and roadster in Hungary when the next-generation models are introduced in late 2007. The decision is good news for the 5,000 workers at Audi's plant...

Michelin expects run-flat tire sales to surge.(News)(Compagnie Generale des Etablissement Michelin)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Sylviane de Saint-Seine Automotive News Europe Michelin anticipates sales of run-flat tires to increase significantly as car manufacturers start to install them on higher volume cars. Run-flat tires have been confined mostly to...

Bank offers prepaid savings program for vehicles.(Marketing)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Monica Link You're 18 years old, and you want to buy a car or truck. You have no credit history and no one to co-sign a loan application. There's no cause for concern - if your parents had the foresight to open a prepaid...

Dealers.(People)(Automobile Dealers Association of Eastern Ohio)(Laffin Chevrolet-Oldsmobile)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Citizenship * The Automobile Dealers Association of Eastern Ohio, which represents dealers in Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties, held a charity auction that raised $29,216 for the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Northeast Ohio. ...

Supply line.(Briefs)(Hella Behr Vehicle Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Delphi plans tech center in China SHANGHAI - Delphi Corp. has begun construction on a technical center in China. The center will develop components and engineering systems for the supplier's customers in China. It will employ 500...

Lifeline for Lincoln.(Lincoln Industrial Corp.)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Help is on the way for Lincoln. The entry-luxury Zephyr, top, is due next year. Lincoln also will get a pickup in 2005. Meanwhile, Ford Division will add the Freestyle, above, this fall to the industry's stampede of sport wagons. The...

First a buyer, now a seller.(News)(Interview)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Gail Kachadourian New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez will open a Mercedes-Benz dealership next year. Here is his history as a Mercedes-Benz customer, as told to Staff Reporter Gail Kachadourian. When did you buy your...

Retirements create service technician shortage.(News)(Interview)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Ralph Kisiel The shortage of service technicians continues to be a problem. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that it expects the number to reach 100,000 next year. The National Automobile Dealers Association says about 35,000...

Ford ads: If your used car isn't certified, you might get burned.(Marketing)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Arlena Sawyers A new advertising campaign for Ford Motor Co.'s certified used-vehicle program warns would-be buyers about owners who sell their cars and trucks privately. The ads assert that private sellers cannot offer buyers...

Dodge Charger is expected to race in NASCAR; New version of vehicle will replace Intrepid.(Marketing)(National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)(Dodge Div.)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Jason Stein The car won't look like an Intrepid. It won't even look much like a traditional Charger. But the Chrysler group's Dodge division will have a new entry when next year's NASCAR season begins in February. Pending...

Chrysler brings some zaniness to launches; Word-of-mouth marketing pays off for automaker.(Marketing)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Jason Stein Jason Vines had been the Chrysler group's vice president of communications for barely two weeks when Chrysler group CEO Dieter Zetsche approached him at the Detroit auto show in January. A news conference about the...

Time to prepare for a future of more costly fuel.(Opinion)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Gasoline prices in the United States have backed off from their springtime peaks and have stabilized at an average of less than $2 a gallon. That's good news for American families driving around the country on summer vacations, and it's good...

Mitsubishi crisis is Round 2 for Gilligan.(News)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Lindsay Chappell Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s financial crisis and restructuring has left Rich Gilligan with an unpleasant task. In the next three months, the U.S. manufacturing president must eliminate 1,200 jobs at Mitsubishi's only...

The art of duplication; The auto industry is moving to common production systems to cut costs, improve quality and become more flexible.(Insight)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Dale Jewett The 244 workers at the Chrysler group's transmission plant in Kokomo, Ind., are busy assembling rear-wheel-drive gearboxes for the hot-selling Chrysler 300 series and Dodge Magnum. The $455 million plant, built in...

Mercedes drops supercharger technology.(News)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Jens Meiners Automotive News Europe Mercedes-Benz will drop supercharged Kompressor gasoline-powered engines from its lineup in favor of turbochargers. Mercedes will add a turbocharged 2.0-liter gasoline engine for the A-class...

Japan's top 3 boost N.A. exports in June.(News)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Yuzo Yamaguchi The top three Japanese automakers boosted exports to North America in June. Nissan Motor Co. posted a 23.8 percent surge compared with June 2003, driven by robust demand for the Murano SUV and Infiniti G35. ...

Autobytel launches En Espanol Web site.(Marketing)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Jason Stein Amy Lombardo, the Internet manager at Sunrise Superstore in Amityville, N.Y., saw a growing number of Hispanic shoppers at her dealership. But many of them weren't buying. So Lombardo decided to get proactive. She...

Dodge Dakota gets new marketing spin; Redesigned pickup will get a high-output V-8 but not a Hemi.(Marketing)(Dodge)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Jason Stein That thing got a Hemi commercial? Not the 2005 Dodge Dakota. When Dodge launches the redesigned small pickup in October, the Dakota's marketing focus will shift. There's no Hemi power in this truck. So...

Purves wants a new image for technicians.(News)(Automotive Youth Educational Systems)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Ralph Kisiel Tom Purves says it's time that high school teachers stop thinking of dealership service technicians as grease monkeys. "Most educators think it's a less-than-wonderful occupation,'' says Purves, CEO of BMW North...

Big 3 needs to apply lean lessons beyond factory floor.(Insight)(Big 3 Precision Products Inc.)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Dale Jewett The Big 3 have spent more than a decade studying the lean manufacturing methods of Toyota and Honda and trying to make their assembly lines more efficient. But it is only within the past few years that the U.S....

How Hyundai made the grade; Improvement started with a push from Chairman Chung.(Insight)(Hyundai Motor Company Ltd.)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Peter Chang April was the coolest month for Hyundai Motor Co. In the United States, the Hyundai brand topped Toyota in J.D. Power's Initial Quality Study. Once a byword for badly built cars, Hyundai finally broke through....

After respite, steel prices soar; Major mill raising prices $110 per ton.(News)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Robert Sherefkin After nearly three months of decline, steel prices are on the rise again. U.S. Steel Corp., a major supplier to the industry, last week announced plans to raise prices this month by $110 per ton. That...

From diamond to dealership; Yankee star `A-Rod' will sell Mercedes.(News)(Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network L.L.C.)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Gail Kachadourian It's seven hours before New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez will play in this year's all-star baseball game. "A-Rod'' is dutifully sitting through a series of media interviews. Rodriguez is the...

Japanese tuner store is a major retail hit in California.(Marketing)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Marty Bernstein Reaching out to young, car-obsessed tuners in California is not a new strategy for aftermarket retailers. But marketers often have difficulty reaching tuners because their preferences tend to change quickly. ...

There's more on the Web.(News)(Calendar)
August 2, 2004... **Online this week Aug. 3: Automakers announce U.S. car and light-truck sales, July and 7 months Tuesday, Aug. 3-Friday, Aug. 6: Automotive News' daily coverage of the Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, Mich. In our...

Making concessions; Auto unions are forced to absorb downgrades in work rules as manufacturers struggle to compete.(Insight)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Lindsay Chappell One of the most powerful labor unions in the world, IG Metall of Germany, was pressed this summer to accept smaller wage increases and new work rules for Mercedes-Benz assembly workers in Sindelfingen, Germany. ...

Motor homes sales jump.(Sales)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Monica Link With vacation season in full swing, U.S. shipments of motor homes are rising. Shipments jumped 19.6 percent in June to 6,700 units, a 1,100-unit increase over the year-ago month. For the first six months,...

Chrysler, Mitsubishi plans in limbo; Companies will build pickup, but minivan is put on hold.(News)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Rick Kranz The Chrysler group's tentative plans to produce a minivan and perhaps other vehicles for Mitsubishi Motors Corp. are on hold. Discussions were interrupted after DaimlerChrysler AG's board decided in April not to...

Dealership learned from grocery stores; Traffic flow and eye appeal are important elements.(Marketing)(Dealership)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Donna Harris Nalley Lexus Galleria in suburban Atlanta is showing that a dealership can learn from grocery and department stores. Designers of the dealership in Smyrna, Ga., paid attention to traffic flow, displays, impulse...

Suppliers sound off; Wary executives wrestle with an uncertain economy and rising steel prices.(Insight)(Panel Discussion)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Peter Brown, David Sedgwick, Julie Armstrong The industry's crystal-ball gazers expect U.S. light-vehicle sales to approach 16.8 million units this year. By any measure, that's a good year. But suppliers are a nervous bunch....

Lower spiffs fuel stronger second-quarter profits for Chrysler.(News)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Mary Connelly New products selling with lower incentives boosted the Chrysler group's second-quarter profits. Chrysler's operating profit totaled $628 million in the second quarter. It posted an operating loss of $1.16 billion in...

Auto News digest.(Briefs)
August 2, 2004... NHTSA looks at 2002-04 Vues WASHINGTON - Federal safety officials have begun a preliminary evaluation of 2002-04 Saturn Vue SUVs to determine if the rear suspension is defective. Wheels collapsed under two Vues during government...

McCann's Neel brings world to GM table; Long advertising career has taken him around globe.(Marketing)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Jean Halliday Advertising Age Garry Neel says he was shocked to discover that key executives of the McCann Erickson advertising agency who handle General Motors accounts worldwide had never gathered to share ideas. Neel, 49,...

GM's behemoth hums along in Spain; Hummer importer is beaming: Sales have topped 30.(News)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... The numbers are minuscule, but General Motors' heavyweight Hummer seems to have hit the mark in Spain. Since the three-ton, $96,000 Hummer H2 appeared at the Madrid auto show in May, sales have surged, says Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros,...

Breaking ground; Chrysler's Dakota plant runs 3 shifts a day without pausing even a minute during changeover.(Insight)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Mary Connelly Craig Corrington is taking a high-stakes gamble at the Chrysler group's Dodge Dakota truck assembly plant. He is running the plant 24 hours a day with not even a one-minute break between three shifts. And he hired...

GM dumps CVTs in favor of automatics.(News)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Richard Truett The failure of General Motors' continuously variable transmission, or CVT, is a rare and costly misfire for GM's hard-charging Powertrain division. Last week GM said it would end production of CVTs at the end of...

Growth takes toll on 2 public retailers.(News)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Donna Harris The quarterly earnings of two big public dealership groups reflect the cost of their aggressive growth strategies. AutoNation Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Group 1 Automotive Inc. of Houston posted lower net...

At Ford, more models, smaller runs; 4 vehicles will replace Taurus.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Amy Wilson Ford Division is replacing its highest-volume car, the Taurus, with four vehicles that will each sell in much smaller volumes. The Taurus, an industry icon that sold 401,049 units in 1996, will be retired, possibly...

Late News.
August 2, 2004... Plan could kill CARB LOS ANGELES - A panel created by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to reduce waste has proposed eliminating the California Air Resources Board. The panel proposes to suspend 118 boards and commissions and 1,153...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
August 2, 2004... * A Late News item on Page 1 of the July 26 issue incorrectly reported where Hyundai Motor Co. will begin selling gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles this year. The vehicles will be sold to fleet buyers in South Korea.

Honda gets a woman's touch; Project leader spices up interior of redesigned Life.(News)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Yuzo Yamaguchi Honda needed a woman in its Life - and getting one made all the difference for the little Japan minicar. A few feminine touches on the 660cc economy car, courtesy of Yasuko Matsuyama have perked up sales since...

Puttin' on the Ritz; Public retailers move toward luxury lines.(News)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Donna Harris The nation's largest public dealership groups are snapping up high-line stores and pampering luxury customers in an effort to fatten profits. AutoNation Inc., UnitedAuto Group Inc. and Group 1 Automotive Inc. have...

Porsche adds N.A. dealers to handle new models.(News)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Diana T. Kurylko Porsche Cars North America Inc. will add 10 to 15 dealers in the next two years to handle an expected jump in sales. Porsche soon will replace its 911 and Boxster models and the year-old Cayenne SUV already has...

Isuzu ends its Indiana run.(Production)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Debi Domby * Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. built its last Isuzu Rodeo on July 23. Approximately 725,000 Rodeo SUVs were produced over a 14-year production run at the plant in Lafayette, Ind. The Rodeo was the last Isuzu to be...

Honda plans run-flat tires for minivan; It is Michelin's first high-volume use in U.S.(News)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Yuzo Yamaguchi Honda Motor Co.'s redesigned Odyssey minivan will be offered this fall with Michelin's Pax run-flat tire system, according to Honda sources. The minivan, produced in Lincoln, Ala., will be the first Honda in the...

Honda gets a family pickup.(News)
August 2, 2004... Honda will offer a pickup in the United States, albeit a nontraditional one. The mid-sized truck is designed for family activities, not work sites. The vehicle has all-wheel drive and unibody construction. Due next spring as a 2006 model, it...

Chrysler group eyes youth brand; Dealers divided on whether new division is needed.(News)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Mary Connelly Chrysler group dealers were surprised - and divided - by published reports that the company is studying a new division aimed at youth buyers. "As a dealer in California, it would be a home run here,'' says Mark...

Hey, GM, put away those '29' pins.(Column)
August 2, 2004... For a while, some General Motors executives have been sporting "29'' buttons in their lapels. In case you forgot, the "29'' was to remind everyone that GM's goal was to get 29 percent of the light-vehicle market in the United States. ...

Robots do more.(Insight)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Gail Kachadourian Robots are becoming more critical at auto assembly and supplier plants. And they are taking on more responsibility. Here are three trends to watch: 1. Flexible fixturing Flexible fixturing is a system in...

Chrysler plant's 3rd shift lures GM veteran.(Insight)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Mary Connelly The Chrysler group is relying on a General Motors manufacturing veteran to launch the redesigned 2005 Dodge Dakota. Bob Bowers built a 37-year career at GM. After retiring from GM in 2000, he is back in the work...

Court terminates Schwarzenegger suit against Ohio store.(Legal File)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Eric Freedman A federal appeals court has ended actor Arnold Schwarzenegger's $20 million lawsuit against an Akron, Ohio, area new-vehicle dealership, saying California courts have no jurisdiction over Fred Martin Motor Co. ...

2-seater may follow Ford GT; Carmaker eyes `Viper fighter' for 2007.(News)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Amy Wilson Ford Motor Co. is one step closer to building another high-priced, low-volume sports car after GT production ends. Ford has prepared a concept that will be shown Aug. 12 at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in...

Prof.: Blacks pay more for Honda loans.(News)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Kathy Jackson Black customers pay higher loan markups than whites when they finance purchases at U.S. Honda dealerships in the United States, according to a report by Mark Cohen, a professor of management at Vanderbilt University....

Delphi Corp. gets OK from UAW to close plant.(Suppliers)(facility closures)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Julie Armstrong Delphi Corp. has worked out a deal with the UAW that lets the supplier close its unprofitable Flint West plant in Michigan. Delphi spokesman Brad Jackson said last week that generator production had ceased, but...

Cadillac to roll out entry-level CTS for 2005; Automaker wants to be competitive with rivals such as BMW.(News)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Dave Guilford Cadillac will offer a lower-priced entry-level version of the CTS sedan with a smaller engine for the 2005 model year. The division will replace the base model's 3.2-liter V-6 and lower the price slightly from the...

America bound.(Insight)(Interview)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Richard Truett Few people in the auto industry are more bullish about manufacturing in the United States than Richard E. Dauch, CEO of American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. At a time when suppliers are shipping factories and...

Why can't Toyota dealers match Lexus? The Lexus advantage: new buildings, culture and expectations.(Opinion)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Edward Lapham One of the biggest disconnects in the industry is how Toyota dealers can sell such great products yet have such lousy CSI scores. It must be a brand thing because ever since Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. launched...

Auto News briefly.(Briefs)
August 2, 2004... Comic strip lowers the boom on Mitsubishi In the United States, corporate problems hit the big time when a company becomes the butt of jokes by late-night comedians Jay Leno and David Letterman. In Japan, that function is performed by...

Unlocking the door; Company neutrality agreements could be the key to organizing union-wary Southern plants.(Insight)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Lindsay Chappell The UAW used to be as welcome at Freightliner LLC's Southern truck factories as a mice infestation. The plants were staunchly union-free, and managers and workers got a clear message that the company preferred it...