Automotive News articles from August 2008

Automotive News archives from August 2008

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August 4, 2008... Partsedge's Justin Wille: "The part is not sitting there idle.'' A dealership "can be using that capital for other purposes.''

1 week's notice: Chrysler dealers deserved better.
August 4, 2008... Chrysler LLC dealers were shocked by the July 25 announcement that Chrysler Financial is getting out of the leasing business. And they were stunned by the breathtaking speed with which the change is to take effect. Dealers were given...

Silver dealer.
August 4, 2008... Bob Clapper, left, vice president, and Jim Fagan, president, of Fagan Chevrolet-Cadillac in Janesville, Wis., received 25-year awards from General Motors for Chevrolet and Cadillac.

Right products, diverse customers raise suppliers' profits.(Financial report)
August 4, 2008... Byline: David Barkholz BorgWarner Inc. and TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. are proving that suppliers based in North America can make money, even in this market, with the right products and a diverse customer base. Riding the success of...

After 5 funky years, Toyota's Scion now finds itself in a funk.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Mark Rechtin Scion got off to a fast start five years ago, but now Toyota executives are forced to rethink their funky experiment and do it a lot sooner than they expected. At issue is Scion's mission and whether the idea...

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August 4, 2008... U.S. sales of the Chevrolet Aveo fell 19.7 percent in June. The letter writer, a Chevy dealer, asks: "Why? Surely this must be the right car for the times.''

It's a body, er, a bus by Fisher.(Greg Fisher to build hybrid bus)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... Byline: Bill Shea Greg Fisher is getting back into the coachbuilding business. Fisher is the grandson of Fisher Body Co. co-founder Albert Fisher who, along with his brothers, ran the car body company whose iconic coach symbol was...

Get used to the roller coaster.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Keith Crain Just as everyone was getting used to the disaster we call the domestic automobile business gasoline was way more than $4 a gallon and oil was pushing $150 a barrel the unexpected happened. The prices of a barrel...

With leases off the table, Chrysler offers new sales incentives.(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... Byline: Bradford Wernle On Friday morning, dealer Troy Allen got the details of Chrysler LLC's first monthly incentive program since the automaker ended leasing. Allen, owner of Allen Motors, a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep store in Derry,...

Clarification.(Correction notice)
August 4, 2008... A Late News item on Page 3 of the July 21 issue stated that the South Carolina Department of Insurance was seizing the assets of Heritage Warranty Risk Retention Group Inc. The item should have noted that the company, which insures vehicle...

Personnel.
August 4, 2008... TOYOTA FINANCIAL SERVICES Dave Pelliccioni, 60, to senior vice president and chief administrative officer. He had been senior vice president of sales and marketing. Mike Groff, 53, to group vice president of sales, product and marketing....

Sirius-XM satellite radio deal: A mixed bag.(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... Last week's merger of Sirius and XM is a mixed blessing for automakers, says Thilo Koslowski, an analyst with Gartner Inc. Customers get more program choices, making the service more desirable. But having just one provider means carmakers...

Acura lineup to grow by '10; sees "potential for coupe'.(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... Byline: Kathy Jackson Acura will add a nameplate to its lineup in 2010 as part of an effort to become what company executives call a "tier 1 luxury brand.'' "We will have an all-new vehicle,'' said Dan Bonawitz, vice president for...

Our flag is still there.(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... Our flag is still there A flag flap between a Florida dealer and local officials ended last week with a ruling that will allow the dealer to keep the Stars and Stripes flying. Greg Clark, owner of Cecil Clark Chevrolet in Leesburg,...

Ready for takeoff?
August 4, 2008... Private jets weren't the only sleek, flashy vehicles on the runway at Lamborghini Long Island's 2008 Gallardo Spyder Road Show. Throughout the event at an airport near the Jericho, N.Y., dealership, guests maneuvered the sports cars through a...

Microsoft will offer Live Search.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Leslie J. Allen The software that powers infotainment systems such as Ford Sync soon may allow motorists to do Internet searches likely by voice while they drive. Microsoft Corp. will make its Live Search Web search engine...

Software helps dealers manage parts.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Alysha Webb Suppliers and automakers are finding customers for software systems that promise to help auto dealerships manage parts inventories better. Stocking obsolete or surplus parts can cost dealerships money. A lack of...

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August 4, 2008... In June, the transaction price of a new 2008 Toyota Prius was $26,672 u $1,273 less than that of a used 2008 model.

Losing leases: It hurts already; Dealers scramble for new ways to trim shoppers' payments.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Arlena Sawyers, Donna Harris and David Kushma Alan Helfman already misses his leasing business. The Chrysler-Jeep dealership in Houston where Helfman is general manager leases about 20 of the 100 new vehicles it moves each...

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August 4, 2008... General Motors' new plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, began building salable units of the Chevrolet Aveo, shown, on Wednesday, July 30. The cars assembled there will be sold in Mexico and South America.

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August 4, 2008... July sales of the Chevy Malibu gave General Motors reason to think twice about the industry's headlong rush to small cars. The redesigned mid-sized Malibu, above, posted a sales gain of 78.6 percent over the old Malibu's performance in July...

Service survey: Customer satisfaction rises; Study shows shift from repair work to maintenance.(Survey)
August 4, 2008... Byline: Andrew Grossman Just 35 percent of auto dealership service customers are bringing in their new vehicles for repairs rather than routine maintenance, a new study by J.D. Power and Associates concludes. That's the lowest ratio of...

Late News.(Ford Motor Co. consolidating sales and marketing for Ford division, Lincoln and Mercury)(Mitsubishi Motors Corp. restructuring dealer advisory board)(General Motors repeating employee discount program)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... Ford merges brands' sales, marketing DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. consolidated sales and marketing for Ford division, Lincoln and Mercury on Friday, two executives close to the automaker told Advertising Age, another Crain Communications...

Now THAT'S resale value ...
August 4, 2008... Word on the street is that the Prius is in such short supply that some Toyota dealers have contacted Prius owners and offered to buy back the hybrids at the original sticker price. Now the Power Information Network has some data that may...

Service satisfaction.
August 4, 2008... These are the best- and worst-performing brands in J.D. Power and Associates' 2008 Customer Service Index Study, which measures satisfaction with dealership service. Scores are on a 1,000-point scale. The best * Jaguar: 923 *...

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August 4, 2008... Microsoft's Tom Phillips: People want the same services in their vehicles as they have at their desks.

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August 4, 2008... Once again, the author says, the Detroit 3 are playing catch-up in a hot segment. In the mid-sized crossover segment, he says, several of their entries, including the Pontiac Aztek, shown, failed to catch on with consumers.

Don't be misled by Chery's sales; it's a key player.(Chery Automobile Company Ltd.)(Financial report)
August 4, 2008... Byline: Yang Jian Chery Automobile Co., long the fastest-growing Chinese automaker, stopped growing in the first half of this year. Can it still become a world-class automaker a goal its president, Yin Tongyao, set late last year? ...

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August 4, 2008... Jim Callaway Dealership manager Andy Furman, who hatched the effort: Ex-convicts represent "an untapped market.''

Last-minute leases swamp Chrysler.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Bradford Wernle A frenzy erupted on the floor of Carl Galeana's Van Dyke Dodge store in suburban Detroit last Monday and Tuesday. Galeana moved 83 new vehicles at least four times the normal business volume in two frantic...

Nissan offers buyouts to its Tenn. workers.
August 4, 2008... Byline: April Wortham Nissan North America Inc. will offer voluntary buyouts to workers at its two Tennessee factories to counter slow sales of full-sized pickups and SUVs. Technicians and salaried employees at the Smyrna assembly and...

Supply Line.
August 4, 2008... GKN to supply F-150 FX4's differential DETROIT GKN Driveline Torque Technology will begin supplying the electronic locking differential for Ford's redesigned 2009 F-150 FX4 pickups this year. The differential will be made at GKN...

COO latest to leave Chamco; joins ZX Auto.(Thomas Del Franco joins Hebei Zhongxing Automobile Co.)
August 4, 2008... Byline: Namrita Chow Chamco's COO has jumped ship to ZX Auto. Hebei Zhongxing Automobile Co., also known as ZX Auto, has hired Thomas Del Franco as general manager for worldwide sales of subsidiary ZX International. He is to be based...

Correction.(Correction notice)
August 4, 2008... A Page 1 story in the July 28 issue named a wrong plant for Toyota Corolla production. Besides New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. in Fremont, Calif., the car is built at Toyota's Cambridge, Ontario, plant.

GM's really bad news: Its revenue.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Jamie LaReau A $15.5 billion loss is bad enough, but that may not even be the worst news in General Motors' abysmal second-quarter earnings report. Here's the really bad news: General Motors' North American quarterly revenue...

Ohio Chevrolet dealership targets a captive market.(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... Byline: Alysha Webb In its quest for customers, a Chevrolet dealership in Cincinnati is thinking big as in the big house. Jake Sweeney Chevrolet is writing to wardens of nearby state prisons, soliciting potential buyers among inmates...

Researcher: Vehicles can prevent crashes; Retiring official points to `next frontier for safety'.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Harry Stoffer Safety advocates railed when the federal government scrapped research vehicles it developed in the 1970s and 1980s to show how to protect occupants from injuries in crashes. But Joseph Kanianthra, who helped...

Crisis at Chrysler: Buyers bail; Cars sales plunge, trucks tank despite 11th-hour leases.(Chrysler L.L.C.)(Financial report)
August 4, 2008... Byline: Jesse Snyder Consumers are bailing out on Chrysler LLC the sign of a company in crisis. Despite a four-day flurry of leasing to beat Chrysler Financial's exit from the sector, Chrysler still posted the biggest loss of any...

Industry nemesis again turns up heat on climate.(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... Byline: Harry Stoffer Automakers say a new law requiring vehicles to average at least 35 mpg by 2020 ensures that they will do their part to combat climate change. Not everyone is convinced. Dan Becker, a longtime advocate of higher...

McCurdy applies some political (tire) pressure.
August 4, 2008... Who would have thought Dave McCurdy's experience as a teenage pump jockey at Oklahoma gas stations in the 1960s would come in handy 40 years later, now that he's an auto lobbyist? But there he was last week, kneeling in a sweltering...

Dealers.
August 4, 2008... Citizenship * Don Beyer Volvo in Falls Church, Va., sponsored a blood drive for the American Red Cross. The dealership offered a free oil change or free gasoline to employees and customers who donated blood. Mike Beyer is the dealer...

25 with Subaru.
August 4, 2008... Richard Macleay, left, of the Car Store in Norwich, Vt., receives a 25-year award for Subaru from Tomohiko Ikeda, CEO of Subaru of America.

Auto News Digest.
August 4, 2008... S&P downgrades American Axle DETROIT Standard & Poor's downgraded its credit rating for American Axle Manufacturing & Holdings Inc. last week, predicting the supplier will continue to take a beating in a deteriorating market for light...

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August 4, 2008... Workers in Japanese automakers' U.S. plants, including Nissan's factory in Smyrna, Tenn., above, generally have been spared employee reductions u until now.

GM's favored 4.
August 4, 2008... GM will pay for software integration with the 4 dealer management system vendors it has endorsed. All other software vendors must foot the perhaps 6-figure bill themselves. That divides the world of vendors into winners and losers. * In:...

Joseph Kanianthra.
August 4, 2008... Title: Former associate administrator for vehicle safety research, NHTSA Age: 74 Retirement plans: Writing, teaching, consulting Other career highlights: Taught mechanical engineering, University of Tennessee What he drives:...

On the Web.
August 4, 2008... This week at www.autonews.com * Wednesday: Supplier Magna International releases its quarterly financial report. * Thursday: Automotive retailer Lithia Motors releases its quarterly financial report.

GM favors 4 endorsed vendors of dealer management systems.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Ralph Kisiel General Motors is encouraging all its dealers to buy dealership management systems from GM-endorsed vendors. GM's stance could make it more costly for dealers to choose vendors that the automaker doesn't endorse....

Happy 100th!
August 4, 2008... The Diehl family of Diehl Ford in Bellingham, Wash., welcomed Ford Motor CEO Alan Mulally as a guest at the dealership's 100th birthday party. Bob Diehl, left, the president, and Mike Diehl, the general manager, are the third and fourth...

Pain spreads beyond Detroit: Nissan offers employee buyouts.
August 4, 2008... Byline: April Wortham Japanese carmakers have staked their reputations on shielding U.S. workers from bumps in the marketplace. Yet there was Nissan last week looking a lot like one of those downsizing Detroit 3 companies. Nissan...

In and out of stock.
August 4, 2008... Poor parts inventory management afflicts a dealership in at least 2 ways. 1. Carrying unneeded or obsolete parts wastes money. 2. Lacking needed parts delays repairs, annoying service customers.

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August 4, 2008... Sales and promotions manager Jeri Yoshizu: "Scion is being forced to change. We have to refresh our message and move our picture to the new 18- to 24-year-olds.''

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August 4, 2008... Scion Vice President Jack Hollis measures success not by sales but by the number of new, young customers who buy Toyota.

A star is born: The saga of the shrinking sticker.(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... In late June, gasoline prices soared and Albuquerque, N.M., Dodge dealer Ken Zangara watched his Ram pickups gather dust. Then his brainstorm, a 50 percent-off-sticker sale, moved 150 new Rams, gave Zangara Dodge its best July ever and made...

Obama-mobile? Or McCain-carrier?
August 4, 2008... Chris Doane/Brenda Priddy & Co. No, this isn't a prop from the new X-Files movie. It's believed to be the next presidential limousine, a camouflaged Caddy that's going through final testing before carrying the next U.S. president on Jan....

PACE Awards open for innovative suppliers.(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... Auto suppliers have until Sept. 12 to apply for the 2009 Automotive News PACE Awards. The awards co-sponsored by Ernst & Young and the Transportation Research Center Inc. recognize suppliers for innovation. This will be the 15th year for the...

At Tech Center, form follows function.
August 4, 2008... It's an architectural showcase on 900 acres in a Detroit suburb, designed by two of the 20th century's premier architects. Its style and grace long have been extolled as a fitting place for technological visions to spring into reality. But...

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August 4, 2008... Dan Becker, former Sierra Club global warming director, has a new job heading the Safe Climate Campaign.

Best sales news: July is over.(Financial report)
August 4, 2008... Byline: John K. Teahen Jr. Another month, another horror story. Last month, automakers sold an anemic 1,136,539 new cars and light trucks in the United States. That was down a distressing 13.2 percent from last year's 1,309,135 sales....

Lincoln reworks bonus plan for dealers.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Amy Wilson Lincoln is retooling a bonus program for its financially struggling dealers instead of scrapping it as previously scheduled. The bonus program will be structured differently from recent years, but the result is the...

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August 4, 2008... Scion's youthful demographic is aging as baby boomers looking for Toyota fuel economy are attracted to Scion's xD.

Picture this.
August 11, 2008... * Art for Acura Acura hit the road to generate marketing mileage for its newly launched 2009 TSX sedan. Acura and the arts and entertainment organization Gen Art got together to curate a three-city photography exhibition, "Capture the...

Enough, says Nissan: We're passing along higher costs.(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... Enough is enough, says Nissan. After fuming for two years about the soaring costs of steel, plastics and other raw materials, the automaker has begun raising sticker prices. The 2009 Titan full-sized pickup got a $190 raw materials...

Japan embraces fuel efficiency.
August 11, 2008... Japanese automakers are planning a new generation of highly fuel-efficient vehicles. Honda will sell a new hybrid in 2010, while Mitsubishi and Nissan are developing electric cars for low-cost urban driving. A comprehensive review of...

Honda's lineup prospers; Japanese rivals scurry to revise product plans.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Rick Kranz If there were an award for the smartest and luckiest automaker, Honda probably would have been declared the winner this year. The spike in gasoline prices has pushed the product programs of some automakers into the...

Tight credit hinders lease deals; Detroit 3 dealers more likely to embrace 72-month loans; lease business shifts to imports.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Donna Harris As automakers and big banks slash their vehicle leasing programs, dealers are finding few options. For customers who want or need low monthly payments, dealers say, financing will get tougher. Since July, the...

Mitsubishi seems to be waiting on CAFE.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Kathy Jackson Mitsubishi execs have promised U.S. dealers that the automaker will not abandon this market, but there do not seem to be enough new products in the pipeline for the company to remain competitive here. Fuel prices...

Subaru looks to long term.(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... Byline: Diana Kurylko Unlike its Japanese competitors, Subaru is not positioned to benefit from rising gasoline prices by offering subcompacts and alternative drivetrains. Specifically: * There is no plan to homologate any of the...

Scion struggles with predictable designs, lengthening cycles.(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... Byline: Mark Rechtin Toyota's youth brand is in a sticky situation. When it was created, Scion was to have quick-lived products that were packed away after one generation. The succeeding product was to have no similarities to the one...

Toyota considers stretching cycles of more products.(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... Byline: Mark Rechtin The surprise success of the Toyota Corolla in the final year of its extended, six-year product cadence has Toyota Motor Corp. executives studying whether to stretch the product cycles of more vehicles. At issue is...

Lexus cars await redesign while buyers snub trucks.(Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. Lexus Div.)(Lexus RX 350)
August 11, 2008... Byline: Mark Rechtin Toyota's luxury division is in a bit of a pickle. Lexus sales have been weighted toward the RX 350 crossover and large SUVs at a time when the market is moving away from those vehicles. Also, Lexus released a...

Opinion.(political aspects of automobile industry)(Column)
August 11, 2008... The silly season of presidential politics is upon us The run-up to the national election in November is shaping up to be a long political silly season, especially where the auto industry is concerned. Since Michigan is considered a...

Auto industry is singing a new song.(designing and building of small cars)
August 11, 2008... Byline: John K. Teahen Jr. Remember "Let's Do It,'' a Peggy Lee hit of all too many years ago? If Ms. Lee were still with us, she could get more mileage out of that song today, with different lyrics: GM plants do it, Ford...

Dana suit's message: Give cost relief.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Robert Sherefkin and Craig Trudell When Dana Holding Corp. sued Chrysler LLC over contract terms last week, Dana sent a message to all its customers: Dana needs to be reimbursed for rising raw material costs. On Wednesday, Aug....

Suppliers: Apply for 2009 PACE Awards by Sept. 12.
August 11, 2008... Auto suppliers have until Sept. 12 to apply for the 2009 Automotive News PACE Awards. The awards co-sponsored by Ernst & Young and the Transportation Research Center Inc. recognize suppliers for innovation. This will be the 15th year for...

Mazda will add standard features to small cars.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Mark Rechtin Small doesn't have to mean cheap. At least that has been the recipe for success for the Mazda3 compact hatchback and sedan in America. Now Mazda says it plans to adopt that idea for other vehicles in the model...

Conference topic: Green cars.(Conference news)
August 11, 2008... Automotive News will host a one-day conference devoted to green-car issues on Thursday, Nov. 13. The Automotive News Green Car Conference/Exhibition will be held at the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi, Mich. Industry leaders will...

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August 11, 2008... Shubho Bhattacharya, a Honda staff engineer, monitors temperature and relative-humidity settings in a paint spray booth.

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August 11, 2008... Wrapped up like a big present is Nissan's camouflaged Cube, a small, boxy hatchback. Sales begin next year.

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August 11, 2008... The redesigned Honda Fit, right, which has been on sale since late 2007 in Japan, goes on sale this fall in the United States.

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August 11, 2008... At this year's Detroit show, Nissan displayed the Forum concept, hinting at a van focused more on Soccer Dads. Mom.

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August 11, 2008... The next Quest minivan may be a mixture of the current version with the next generation of Japan's Elgrand van, right.

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August 11, 2008... The Urban Cruiser goes on sale in Europe as a Toyota in 2009. For the United States, styling would have to change to appeal to Scion's young buyers.

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August 11, 2008... The Venza crossover is based on the Camry platform and has styling that splits the difference between a Sienna and a Highlander.