Automotive News articles from June 2006

Automotive News archives from June 2006

Wanted: A clear role.(conferences)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... The recent Washington conference of the American International Automobile Dealers Association offered hard lessons about an organization that no longer is relevant to its members. It would be easy to blame the poor attendance at the annual...

Parcell's goal: Landing new business for plant.(Robert Parcell of CAMI Automotive Inc.)(Interview)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Dan Westell Robert Parcell spent the past 25 years in various manufacturing roles with General Motors before becoming president of CAMI Automotive Inc. in January. Parcell, 44, last month discussed CAMI's challenges with Special...

LaSorda still applies lessons from CAMI.(interview)(Interview)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Bradford Wernle In July 1987, 33-year-old, up-and-coming General Motors executive Tom LaSorda got the call to run CAMI Automotive Inc. in Ingersoll, Ontario, for GM affiliate Suzuki Motor Corp. The ensuing experience taught...

Make room for hybrids; Toyota figures out a way to slip the complex Camry Hybrid onto its Georgetown assembly line.(product evaluation)(Product/service evaluation)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Lindsay Chappell You wouldn't think it to look at the cars side by side. The Toyota Camry and its new gasoline-electric variation, the Camry Hybrid, look much the same. But slipping the new hybrid version - Toyota's first North...

20 years later, Cho still pushes U.S. self-reliance.(Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky Inc. celebrating 20th anniversary)(Fujio Cho)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Lindsay Chappell Fujio Cho, the man credited with launching Toyota Motor Corp.'s first greenfield North American auto plant here, returned for a visit in May. The occasion? The 20th anniversary of its groundbreaking. Cho's role...

Product was key to CAMI's transformation.(CAMI Automotive Inc.)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Dan Westell Robert Parcell, the new president of CAMI Automotive Inc., has small plans for the General Motors-Suzuki Motor Corp. joint-venture assembly plant here. But given the huge changes at CAMI during the past 21/2 years, that...

Auto News Digest.(Jeff Kuhlman joins Audi of America Inc.)(Toyota Motor Corp. recalled Prius hybrids)(General Motors Corp. investments )
June 5, 2006... 2 GM sedans top rollover test WASHINGTON - A pair of General Motors sedans, the Pontiac G6 and Buick Lucerne, got the top score of five stars in the latest rollover tests by the government. In announcing results last week, the National...

Ford will offer high-tech diesels in Super Duty trucks.(Ford Motor Co. get new truck engines from International Truck and Engine Corp.)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Richard Truett Ford Motor Co. is betting on a revamped Power Stroke diesel truck engine with a piezo electric fuel injection system to end quality problems and keep its top-selling Super Duty pickups ahead of the pack. Industry...

New Ford rebate: Free gasoline.(marketing)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... The Ford brand has tied the national furor over gasoline prices to a new customer offer that expires July 31. Buyers can choose 0 percent financing plus a prepaid MasterCard debit card that can be used to purchase up to $1,000 worth of...

Nissan exec: Spend ad cash on the Web.(Jan Thompson of Nissan North America Inc.)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Jean Halliday Automakers' aversion to marketing risk is widening the gap between the way car companies invest their advertising dollars and the way consumers spend their time, says the chief marketing executive of Nissan North...

Capitalizing on crossovers.(automobile industry)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Although the traditional Big 3 still control the lion's share of the light-truck market in North America, the New American Manufacturers are making inroads in the hottest growth segment: crossovers. Here's a look at the crossovers that foreign...

Poor May sales could test Big 3 resolve on rebates.(Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Corp.)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Dale Jewett The traditional Big 3 are teetering on the edge of yet another rebate war, but they appear reluctant to let things degenerate into another summer blowout sale. Soft May sales, an iffy economy and high fuel prices...

Supply Line.(Avon Rubber PLC sold to its management)(Visteon Corp.'s new facility)(Noble International Ltd. earnings)
June 5, 2006... Noble will raise dividend DETROIT - Noble International Ltd., a supplier of laser-welded parts, will increase its quarterly dividend by 20 percent, to 8 cents a share. The dividend will be paid June 30 to shareholders of record as of June...

Dealers seek bigger share of truck aftermarket.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Gail Kachadourian Dealerships get just 40 percent of pickup buyers' spending on aftermarket accessories, a new study concludes. Raising that market share is a potentially rich source of profits for struggling dealers, the report's...

Fields demands bold styling; The downside: Ford's subcompact will be delayed.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Amy Wilson Mark Fields is trying to beef up Ford Motor Co.'s car lineup with a strong dose of in-your-face American styling - even if it means the automaker must delay some key products by several years. Company executives say...

Amid product changes, Ford to keep on truckin'.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Amy Wilson Mark Fields isn't ignoring trucks. One of the most important product changes in the Way Forward plan is aimed squarely at protecting Ford Motor Co.'s truck position, its greatest profit generator and most important...

Clarke: A coach, not a table-pounder.(Clarke started his career at Pontiac)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Jamie LaReau Troy Clarke's public persona is that of quiet, reserved General Motors executive. But he's a knowledgeable executive who questions subordinates closely to sharpen their thinking, a colleague says. Clarke, 51, is...

Flexibility helped supplier win M-B business.(contracts)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Lindsay Chappell Three years ago, recalls Gerardo Rojas, a longtime customer issued a challenge. Mercedes-Benz wanted to award his company, Brose North America Inc., some new business. A lot of new business. The problem was the...

Teaching Toyota's methods - without Japanese trainers.(Toyota plans to open a plant in San Antonio)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Lindsay Chappell To make it at Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America Inc. these days, managers must pass the smell test. Literally. As in, "See if you can smell what this is,'' Toyota manager Bill Turner says as he hands...

CarsDirect founder back, this time to aid retailers.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Donna Harris Scott Painter, who founded the online vehicle-buying service CarsDirect.com in 1998, is returning to auto retailing. But the 37-year-old entrepreneur, once an archrival of car dealers, now works with them. He says...

Podcast tells Fusion owners about features.(marketing)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Mary Connelly Ford Motor Co. is bringing a standard sales tool at auto dealerships - the walk-around - to new media. Starting this week, the Ford brand is offering a 10-minute audio podcast that promotes the mid-sized 2006...

Letters to the editor.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
June 5, 2006... Hey, look me over, Caddy and Lincoln To the Editor: Like the author of the May 22 column ("What's in a name? Here are 16 of the best''), I hate those meaningless alphanumeric names. I like John K. Teahen Jr.'s list of great names and...

The Final Say.(prices and rates of gasoline)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... "Is there a company more dangerous to America's future than General Motors? Surely, the sooner this company gets taken over by Toyota, the better off our country will be.'' New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman, criticizing GM's...

Auto News Briefly.(Automotive News Marketing Seminar)(Rolls-Royce has opened its first dealership)(Ford Motor Company Fund)
June 5, 2006... Nissan exec is Nashville-bound Jan Thompson, Nissan North America's marketing VP, is one of the few top executives making the trek from Los Angeles to the new headquarters in Nashville. Not that she is entirely revved up about the change....

Labor background gives Clarke edge; New N.A. leader has respect of UAW.(company management)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Jamie LaReau Troy Clarke might consider thanking - or blaming - the UAW for his new job as president of General Motors' North American unit. Last week, CEO Rick Wagoner relinquished North America to Clarke, 51. He had been...

Sebring convertible gets 2 tops: Hard, soft.(prices of convertible tops)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Bradford Wernle, Robert Sherefkin Chrysler plans a novel approach for the redesigned Sebring convertible. It will offer two models: one with a retractable hard top and one with a soft-cloth top, say dealer and supplier sources. ...

You don't need a hybrid for great fuel economy; Road test shows big differences between vehicles.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Kevin Wilson AutoWeek marked the 20th anniversary of Earth Day in 1990 by exploring future technologies. The magazine suggested cars would change radically in "this green decade,'' but enthusiasts would still be having fun. They...

E85: Lots of publicity, but jury's still out.(fuel that combines 85 percent ethanol with 15 percent gasoline)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Bob Gritzinger By now you're probably aware of E85, whether you caught President Bush hailing it in his State of the Union address or heard General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner touting it as he revealed his company's line of flex-fuel...

The bleeding continues at Delphi.(contracts)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Delphi continues to hemorrhage cash while it deals with the future of its union work force. U.S. operating losses in April ballooned to $181 million, nearly double the $93 million loss in March, according to a monthly operating report filed...

N.Y. investment fund takes wheel maker's stock for a spin; 21% stake in Superior is a big bet that segment's skid will end.(market shares)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Robert Sherefkin A New York investment fund is playing its own version of "Wheel of Fortune'' with an auto parts maker. Third Avenue Management LLC has quietly taken a 21 percent position - about 5.6 million shares - in wheel...

Nissan takes global approach to buying parts.(interview)(Interview)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Lindsay Chappell Since Nissan formed its global alliance with French automaker Renault in 1999, Nissan North America Inc. has changed how it buys parts and materials. A central office outside Paris now handles nearly 70 percent...

Mpg angst holds promise for Japanese suspension supplier.(production management)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Lindsay Chappell A key Japanese supplier of aluminum suspension parts is mobilizing to take advantage of growing fuel economy concerns in the United States. Kobe Steel Ltd., which claims an 80 percent share of Japan's market...

Production.(production management)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... The Cadillac Escalade ESV had its largest production month in May, when 2,468 were produced. The SUV is built in Arlington, Texas. The previous best month was 1,902 in February 2004, when the SUV was built in Silao, Mexico. A 2007 Escalade ESV...

Late News.(marketing of Nissan North America Inc)(Nicole Nason has taken the helm of the federal government's motor-vehicle safety agency)(Group 1 Automotive Inc names senior vice president)
June 5, 2006... Nissan fears Altima, Sentra fires LOS ANGELES - Nissan North America Inc. has told its dealers to stop selling 2006 four-cylinder Altimas and Nissan Sentra SE-Rs assembled between January and May of this year because of a chance of engine...

Personnel.(new appointments)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... CALLCOMMAND - Paul Moran to vice president of sales, from vice president of sales for Who's Calling. Scott Alan to executive director of sales, from executive director of national accounts for Who's Calling. CallCommand, of Cincinnati,...

Honda diesel plans could aid Europeans in Japan.(management of Honda Motor Co.)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: James B. Treece Honda Motor Co. indirectly could help European carmakers sell more cars in Japan. Honda CEO Takeo Fukui says the Japanese carmaker plans to unveil a diesel engine so clean that it meets the strictest...

Nissan looks to new models to end slump.(Nissan Motor Co product enhancement)
June 5, 2006... Byline: James B. Treece Nissan Motor Co.'s weak performance in April is taking some shine off the turnaround engineered by CEO Carlos Ghosn. Nissan's April sales fell in the United States, Europe and Japan. Production in all three key...

Nissan will build Suzuki a pickup for N.A.(Nissan Motor Co. plans to supply Suzuki Motor Corp)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: James B. Treece Nissan Motor Co. plans to supply Suzuki Motor Corp. with a compact pickup for sale in North America beginning in 2008. That is part of a collaboration in which the two companies will supply each other with...

Kaizen: Nissan N.A. calls for backup.(Nissan North America Inc.)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Lindsay Chappell Nissan North America Inc. wants its suppliers to get more serious about kaizen, the Japanese word - it means continuous improvement - that has whipsawed the auto industry for the past two decades. Nissan is...

M-B design chief: Styling drives brand image.(interview)(Interview)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Harald Hamprecht Peter Pfeiffer, chief designer for Mercedes-Benz, considers design to be the most important driver of the decision to purchase a vehicle. Pfeiffer spoke about new models and trends with Harald Hamprecht, an...

GM plans first wholly owned plant in Russia.(General Motors plans to build its first fully owned car assembly plant in Russia)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Jason Stein General Motors plans to announce soon that it will build its first fully owned car assembly plant in Russia. Last week GM was acquiring land for a $127.5 million factory in the St. Petersburg suburb of Shushary,...

Dealer is held liable for loan guarantees.(Ford Motor Co., Ford Motor Credit Co. sued by Michael Daugherty of Daugherty Lincoln-Mercury Inc.)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Eric Freedman A former Lincoln-Mercury dealer in Sacramento, Calif., is personally liable to Ford Motor Credit Co. for more than $500,000 owed under his floorplan financing and capital loan agreements, a federal judge has ruled....

Custo-mized H3.(Hummer unveiled the Custo H3)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... To boost European sales, Hummer asked Barcelona, Spain, fashion designer Custo to customize an H3. The goal is to attract European buyers who are fascinated by the American SUV brand but want more luxury features, such as leather seats and...

A Harlem renaissance for autos; Neighborhood gets first new-car stores since '60s.(Planet Automotive Group Inc., Otis Thornton opens)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Arlena Sawyers The Harlem section of New York City, best known as the home of the Apollo Theater and Bill Clinton's post-presidential office, now boasts its first new-vehicle dealerships in four decades. Although the two stores...

Michelin's death won't stop car rally.(Compagnie Generale des Etablissement Michelin's Edouard Michelin)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Richard Truett Michelin this month plans to hold its annual Challenge Bibendum, the rally for green cars and the latest related transportation technology, despite the May 26 death of Edouard Michelin, the company's joint managing...

Dealers: Reboot Saturn order; Let us use own computer system, not GM's choice.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Ralph Kisiel All the DCH Auto Group wants is the right to choose. The dealership group, with six Saturn stores in New Jersey and New York, wants to consolidate its stores on one computer system. That includes its 20 non-Saturn...

With demand up, VW will send U.S. fewer diesels; Fuel injection change will limit numbers until '08.(production management)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Richard Truett North American Volkswagen dealers next year will have fewer diesels to sell at a time when demand is growing. Next year, Volkwagen AG will change its diesel systems from an old-style mechanical fuel injection...

Luxury loyalty.(acquisitions)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Ford and GM spent boatloads of money to acquire Jaguar and Saab in 1989. At about the same time, Toyota was investing heavily to launch Lexus from scratch. Which had the best strategy for breaking into the prestige-car market? Take a look at...

For Detroit 3, bleak May could turn into black June and July.(sales and earnings)
June 5, 2006... Byline: John K. Teahen Jr. U.S. sales of new cars and light trucks for the Detroit 3 were down 8.9 percent in May, but it might have been only the shower before the deluge. Last June, General Motors began its employee discount...

An interactive Internet: Why not use it? Imagine all that automakers could do with this great tool.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Victor Galvan One day, maybe soon, an enterprising automaker finally will embrace this amorphous Internet goliath and give its customers a truly interactive owners' club. When that day comes, the impact will be seismic. Other...

GM builds fewer Cadillacs in China.(general motors production management)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Alysha Webb General Motors is scaling back plans to produce Cadillacs in China. Production of a stretched version of the STS, due to begin in late September in Shanghai, has been halved, say suppliers to the program. Production...

Asia sales strong; GM still on top.(sales and earnings of the Automobile industry)
June 5, 2006... Byline: James B. Treece Asia-based automakers are racing toward global domination. Some are growing with exports, but many are expanding in China, India and Southeast Asia. In 2005, automakers from Korea, China, Japan and India...

Calif. leads the way in fleet fuel cell tests.(News)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Kathy Jackson Money was no object when oil sheiks from Saudi Arabia contacted DaimlerChrysler in suburban Detroit to buy Mercedes F-Cell cars. But DaimlerChrysler had other plans for the rare vehicles. The F-Cell, a...

Auction company combines divisions.(new appointments)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Arlena Sawyers ADESA Inc. is consolidating its vehicle auction, salvage and finance units. The No. 2 North American auction company also has placed a former executive of a parts supplier in charge of its operations. ADESA CEO...

Mercedes plant handles parts distribution, too.(management)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Lindsay Chappell Suppliers make parts. Automakers put them into new vehicles. Sales organizations distribute duplicate parts to retailers for repairs to previous years' vehicles. That's the way it works across the auto...

Volvo recalls SUVs for ball joints, wiper arms.(production management of automobile industry)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Harry Stoffer Owners of most 2003-06 Volvo XC90s will be asked to return their SUVs to dealerships for two repairs. Volvo Cars of North America Inc. said about 109,000 of the vehicles need new outer tie-rod ball joints. ...

'Deal ... or no deal?' VW style.(contracts)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... More than 22,000 unionized workers at General Motors have agreed to take up to $140,000 to leave their jobs, and GM thinks that number will climb to near 30,000 before the offer expires June 23. If the General wants to speed things up, it...

Lotus names new CEO for its U.S. operations.(new appointment of Robert Braner)(chief executive officers)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Bradford Wernle Group Lotus PLC has named Robert Braner, 67, CEO of Lotus Cars USA Inc. Braner replaces John English, who has held the post since 2004. The appointment marks the second management change this month for Group...

GM subsidizes gas guzzlers; it's the wrong slant.(management of General Motors)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... General Motors' promotion that reimburses some buyers for gasoline purchases is ill-advised for an automaker that is trying to burnish its green image. The program should be dropped, not expanded. GM executives might like consumers in...

Nissan exec: GM's living in a fuel's paradise.(General Motors seminars, prices and rates)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... General Motors got no respect for its latest sales promotion at the Automotive News Marketing Seminar, held in Los Angeles last week. The five seminar panelists were asked to predict gasoline prices in the coming year. Most thought they...

Mitsubishi: We won't leave U.S.(sales and earnings of the company)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Kathy Jackson Mitsubishi says it has no plans to leave the United States. Hiroshi Harunari, CEO of Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc., said the company has been selling vehicles in the United States for 25 years. "The next 25...

BMW subtracts to add flexibility in S.C. 2 lines become 1 that can build any of 35 models.
June 5, 2006... Byline: David Barkholz When employees at BMW's Spartanburg, S.C., assembly plant returned to work from Christmas vacation Jan. 9, they needed maps to find their workstations. The workers found a new world after their four-week...

Leading parts-catalog business may be sold.(ProQuest Co.'s )(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Donna Harris The leading supplier of electronic parts catalogs to auto dealers could be sold. Its parent company seeks to reduce debt and address other problems. ProQuest Co., an educational publisher in Ann Arbor, Mich., says...

Mitsubishi seeks wide-track niche.(Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s Akinori Nakanishi)(Interview)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Kathy Jackson Akinori Nakanishi, Mitsubishi's chief designer, has a mission: Give all future vehicles a sporty, wide-track look. His team must also cut design time, which saves money and gets vehicles to market quickly. ...

Report: U.S. automakers make productivity gains but lag Japan.
June 5, 2006... Byline: David Barkholz Domestic automakers can point to productivity improvements as a silver lining in their overall North American performance. But they continue to trail Japanese competitors, according to the annual Harbour Report...

Suppliers to give D.C. piece of their mind.(Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Harry Stoffer Suppliers matter. That, in shorthand form, is the message supplier CEOs and other senior managers plan to deliver to lawmakers and federal officials this week. The Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association...

A declaration of oil dependence.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... First there was Tax Freedom Day - the day on the calendar when Americans begin working for themselves rather than the tax man. Now there's Oil Dependence Day - the day Americans become fully dependent for the rest of the year on imported...

Not all premium features will go mainstream.(Adaptive cruise control)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Rick Kranz Adaptive cruise control is a pricey feature, offered on luxury models and a handful of other vehicles. So what's the likelihood of applications in mainstream and low-end vehicles? Not much, considering that adaptive...

Isn't it really the Big 2 now?(DaimlerChrysler AG)
June 5, 2006... Byline: KEITH CRAIN I like Dieter Zetsche, the CEO of DaimlerChrysler. He did a great job on his first tour of duty in the United States at Freightliner and was just what was needed at Chrysler after the merger. His successor at the...

BMW will offer 4 years of free telematics service.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Tim Moran BMW says it will provide four years of connection to its BMW Assist emergency service on all vehicles sold in North America beginning with 2007 models. The decision potentially represents about $80 million annually in...

Ford dealers are hungry; how about an Italian recipe?(Ford Motor Co.)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Edward Lapham Many Ford dealers are experiencing tough times. The automaker's slumping share of the U.S. market translates into fewer sales for dealerships and lower profits. Last year, combined profits for Ford-brand...

Dot-coms: The boom resumes; Online shoppers, dealers have a bushel of new choices.(usage of websites)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Ralph Kisiel The dot-com boom is back for auto retailing. The number of Web sites on which online shoppers can request a price quote on a new vehicle from dealerships has exploded in recent months. The sites have alluring names...

Hardtop convertible Eos fills Cabrio niche for VW.(new car information from Volkswagen AG)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Diana T. Kurylko Volkswagen is returning to the compact convertible market with the Eos, which will compete with vehicles such as Pontiac's G6 convertible. The hardtop Eos goes on sale in the United States on Sept. 9. But...

Dealers.(Ford Motor Co. awards Dennis Cook of Herman Cook Volkswagen)(Volkswagen of America Inc. awards Charles Wimberley of Wimberley Ford-Mercury Inc.)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Milestones * Dennis Cook of Herman Cook Volkswagen in Encinitas, Calif., received a 35-year award for Volkswagen from Volkswagen of America Inc. * Charles Wimberley of C. Wimberley Ford-Mercury Inc. in Dowagiac, Mich., received a...

Toyota's Ky. plant leads transplants in output; The ranking reflects 2005 production.(Special Report)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Bowdeya Tweh When the Asian automakers, led by Honda Motor Co., came to the United States en masse in the 1980s, few could have predicted the impact on the North American auto industry. In 1982, Honda produced about 620...

Canada gains a curling fan.(CAMI Automotive Inc.'s Robert Parcell)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Dan Westell Robert Parcell, president of CAMI Automotive Inc. since January, is taking his Canadian assignment seriously. When pressed for personal details, Parcell ducks: "I'm a pretty bland person. I'm not very interesting.''...

Dealership Buy/Sell.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Chrysler group store in N.C. gets new owner BUYER: Greg Abraham (This is his first dealership.) SELLER: Jim Sparks, owner of Sparkie's Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep in Forest City, N.C. NEW NAME: Mountain Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge SIZE: Last...

Wanted: A few innovative dealers.(News)
June 5, 2006... Have you created a showroom that shoppers can't resist? Discovered a recipe for loyal salespeople? Found a way to put some fun into F&I? If you are a franchised new-car dealer and have pioneered a winning strategy in any part of your business,...

Access to dealer information is crucial, data miners tell Reynolds.(News)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Ralph Kisiel Eight companies have formed a coalition to protect their access to data that they regularly pull from dealership computer systems. The coalition was formed soon after the National Automobile Dealers Association...

The mob's automotive hit list.(Final assembly)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Everybody's doing market research: what boomers drive, what Gen Y drives, what the 18-to-45 set drives. Forbesautos.com wanted to know what the mob drives. In its list of Top 10 vehicles driven on HBO's "The Sopranos,'' Forbes cast serious...

Premium goes mainstream; From safety to sound systems, features are no longer just for luxury drivers.(News)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Rick Kranz Premium features once were the territory of, well, premium vehicles. Expensive features such as front airbags and antilock brakes debuted in luxury vehicles. Then, over several years, they trickled down in an...

Calendar.(Calendar)
June 5, 2006... AUTO SHOWS - 2006 June 23-25 - Australian Auto Trade Fair, Sydney Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbor, Sydney, 61-2-9452-7575, www.autotradefair.com.au July 2-8 - Syrian International Motor Show (SYRAUTO ), New Damascus International...

Imports bowl over Big 3 in 1st quarter ad spending.(News)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Mark Rechtin Despite big advertising expenditures on the Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl, the Big 3 were outspent by import brands on ads during the first quarter. It was the second time in three years that import brands...

Michelin's legacy.(death of Edouard Michelin)(Obituary)(Brief article)
June 12, 2006... A terrible irony about Edouard Michelin's death in a boating accident May 26 was that it occurred just days before Challenge Bibendum, the annual green-car rally he launched in 1998. Each year, the Bibendum has grown in importance. It has...