Automotive News articles from November 2004

Automotive News archives from November 2004

Dealers can control GMAC postings.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Arlena Sawyers General Motors Acceptance Corp. has added a do-it-yourself feature for dealers who sell vehicles on the captive finance company's remarketing Web site. Dealers who sell General Motors brands and use the GMAC...

Damages against GM reinstated in Chevy S10 lemon law case.(Legal File)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Eric Freedman The California Court of Appeal has reinstated a $33,750 jury award in a lemon law lawsuit involving the failure to repair a noise problem in a 2001 Chevrolet S10 pickup. The decision also allows the customer to...

Entrepreneur prefers platforms built by overseas automakers.(News)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Alysha Webb China has about 120 local automakers, but Alan Wang, chairman of Beijing CenTech Specialty Vehicles, doesn't buy his platforms from them. Instead, he turns to partners of automakers based overseas. "Only they can...

Letters to the Editor.(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... A 4-door Charger? Say it isn't so To the Editor: It is fun to see all the American manufacturers going to the retro design of automobiles. I was a child in the late 1960s/early 1970s and have such fond memories of great cars and trucks...

Law will limit car donation deduction.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Harry Stoffer The federal government is slamming the brakes on the car donation craze. The targets of the crackdown are taxpayers who claim overly large deductions by inflating the value of the vehicles they give away. But...

GM, Mitsubishi push warranties higher.(News)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Monica Link General Motors and Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America Inc. are pumping up their warranties to attract customers for their 2005 models. GM's 3-year/36,000-mile powertrain warranty stays the same for most of its...

Quit whining and boost your mpg; Domestic automakers must set big goals - then achieve them.(Opinion)
November 1, 2004... Byline: William Jeanes General Motors boss Rick Wagoner once told his competition to "quit whining,'' about GM's profligate use of rebates and deep deals. Wagoner's message was: We're doing this, so get used to it. Grrrr. On most...

Front crash test should be stiffened now by NHTSA.(National Highway Traffic Safety Administration )
November 1, 2004... It's time for NHTSA to raise the bar in the frontal-impact crash test that is part of the New Car Assessment Program. It makes sense that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is re-evaluating the current test, which now seems...

Cylinder deactivation tries to find favor again.(Special Report)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Tim Moran It seems that everyone wants a powerful engine, but nobody enjoys feeding it expensive gasoline. That's why cylinder deactivation, often attempted in the past but rarely successful, is finding favor with some automakers....

There's more on the Web.(News)
November 1, 2004... ** Online this week Nov. 2: Check our Web site, autonews.com, periodically Tuesday afternoon to get the latest update on U.S. light-vehicle sales. In our Data Center Friday, Nov. 5: * U.S. light-vehicle sales for Oct. & 9 mos. ...

Minority paradox: Success hurts; Loans for growth can bust 51% equity rule.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Lindsay Chappell Mercedes-Benz U.S. International Inc.'s plans to double production in Alabama next year should have been great news for T&WA Inc. The minority-controlled supplier of pre-assembled tire and wheel modules has...

Dealers.(People)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Milestones * Douglas McKibben of Glenbrook Dodge in Fort Wayne, Ind., received a 25-year award for Dodge from DaimlerChrysler. CAPTION(S): 25 with Jeep: John Heffernan, left, and Carl Heffernan of Bowling Green Jeep in Bowling...

Mopar Speed Shops are slow out of the gate.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Monica Link The Chrysler group is far behind its goal of setting up Mopar Speed Shops across the United States. When the automaker announced the concept to dealers at the Specialty Equipment Market Association show two years...

Hummer adds performance line; Alpha models are coming next year.(Hummer)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Kathy Jackson Following in the footsteps of sister division Cadillac, Hummer will introduce high-performance models, badged Alpha, starting in the first quarter of next year. Roger McCormack, Hummer's product director, says the...

Sirius, XM face off in satellite radio wars.(Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.)(XM Satellite Radio Inc.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Gail Kachadourian Satellite radio debuted in the continental United States in November 2001. The service charges people a monthly fee for 120 or more channels of music, talk and news. Subscribers in the contiguous 48 states can...

In-car charging pad eliminates wires.(Special Report)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... To help reduce driver distractions, Visteon Corp. and Splashpower Ltd., a British wireless technology developer and design company, created a wireless in-car charging pad for handheld electronic devices. How it works Devices such as a...

Ford Motor wants cleaner fuel in China.(News)(Interview)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Julie Armstrong If Ford Motor Co. were to set China's priorities, clean fuel would be at the top. China won't reap the benefits of advanced technology in vehicles if it doesn't get cleaner fuel, says Sue Cischke, Ford's vice...

Honda seeks to improve parts shipping to Ala. plant.(News)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Lindsay Chappell Honda Motor Co. is looking for ways to help suppliers ship parts more efficiently to its new assembly plant in Lincoln, Ala. Honda is working with companies that transport components from factories in the...

Chinese flock to American-style RVing; Stay in a hotel? No way, says footloose couple.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Alysha Webb Xiao Yang and his wife love to travel to China's remote locales, such as the desert of Inner Mongolia. They shy away from tour groups and don't like hotels. "That's just like staying at home,'' says 45-year-old Xiao....

Engineers use high-tech glasses to spot problems.(News)(Ralph Kisiel)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Ralph Kisiel Wearing 3-D glasses, General Motors engineers stare intently at a floor-to-ceiling screen. They're not watching a B-grade horror film. That's not Godzilla popping out from the screen; it's a 3-D image of a future...

Robust U.S. sales help Nissan post gain.(News)(Nissan Motor Co. )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Yuzo Yamaguchi Higher sales helped Nissan Motor Co. post a 6.3 percent gain in operating profits in North America for the fiscal first half ended Sept. 30. Unit sales in the United States rose 16.6 percent to 489,252, which...

Intier shareholders will profit the most.(Suppliers)(Intier Automotive Inc.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Julie Armstrong Intier Automotive Inc. shareholders are getting the best deal among the three companies Magna International Inc. is buying back, according to Robert W. Baird & Co., an investment banking company in Milwaukee. ...

Wagoner: GM Europe plan was not aggressive enough.(News)(Rick Wagoner )
November 1, 2004... Byline: Jason Stein Three years after its inception, General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner admits that Project Olympia, the cost-cutting initiative designed to return General Motors Europe and Adam Opel AG to the black, didn't go far enough. ...

Tire monitor can check pressure from within wheel.(Special Report)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Tim Moran Underinflation can cause dangerous wear at the edges and sides of a tire. In the aftermath of accidents linked to tire tread separation on Ford Explorers equipped with Firestone tires in the United States, Congress...

Electric power steering: No more pumps, hoses, fluids.(Special Report)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Tim Moran The advantages of electric power steering include adaptability, fuel savings and freedom from hose and belt links to the engine compartment. How it works Traditional power steering uses power from a hydraulic...

Adaptive cruise control leaves a gap.(Special Report)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Tim Moran Adaptive cruise control lets a car hold a speed but adjust to changing traffic conditions with automatic braking and acceleration. Traffic experts say they could smooth driving and reduce traffic jams if one in five...

U.S. Hyundai: 1 million will be tough; Has the home office set the bar too high?(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Rick Kranz Hyundai Motor Co.'s goal of selling 1 million Hyundai-brand units annually in the United States by 2010 is creating a few waves on this side of the Pacific Ocean. "That was one of those comments that, the moment it...

Cordes, Leuliette address congress.(Eckhard Cordes)(Tim Leuliette)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Eckhard Cordes, head of DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes car group, and Tim Leuliette, CEO of Metaldyne Inc., are the newest additions to the speakers' roster at the 2005 Automotive News World Congress. Cordes, a member of the DaimlerChrysler...

Stability control helps drivers avoid disaster.(Special Report)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Tim Moran Electronic stability control systems can help prevent the kind of swerves and skids that can cause top-heavy vehicles to roll over. A stability control system senses when a vehicle is nearing a disaster by measuring...

Automakers think green.(Special Report)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Richard Truett With oil prices at all-time highs, some consumers - especially those in the United States - are considering buying vehicles that deliver better fuel economy. Tougher emissions laws worldwide and a growing desire...

Bo goes to the suppliers; GM's SWAT teams visit parts makers' plants to ensure smooth car launches.(Bo Andersson)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Robert Sherefkin General Motors has dispatched 244 purchasing staffers to monitor suppliers' factories. Their task: Prevent quality glitches during GM's launch of the Cobalt, four minivans and the Buick LaCrosse. Bo Andersson,...

Snapshot.(contracts)
November 1, 2004... Magna Steyr will build 300s Now that the Chrysler 300 sedan has taken the United States by storm, the Chrysler group wants to conquer overseas markets. Last week, it hired Magna Steyr to assemble the hot-selling 300 at its plant in...

Honda forecasts Accord sales to decrease in U.S.(News)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Yuzo Yamaguchi Honda Motor Co. expects U.S. sales of the Accord to fall this year as much as 7 percent to about 370,000. "We're cautious about the Accord,'' says Honda Executive Vice President Koichi Amemiya. "We'll spend...

Hummer boosts ad budget to promote new H3.(Hummer)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Kathy Jackson Hummer will increase its marketing budget sharply when the smaller H3 goes on sale in the second quarter of 2005. The mid-sized H3 joins its big, expensive siblings - the H1, the largest of the Hummers, and the...

Contracts in hand, Faurecia plans for N. American growth.(Suppliers)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Rhoda Miel Plastics News In Europe, French auto supplier Faurecia SA is a giant; it supplies seats, instrument panels, front-end modules and exhaust systems to automakers throughout the Continent. The company is the...

Membrane maker has new material.(Suppliers)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Rhoda Miel Plastics News A California company has a new way of making membranes that it claims can jump-start the attempt to make fuel cell-powered vehicles. PolyFuel Inc. of Mountain View, Calif, has developed a...

Wagoner: Saturn will try to move upscale.(Rick Wagoner)(Brief Article)(Interview)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Jason Stein General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner says the company will move Saturn slightly upscale to compete with import brands such as Volkswagen and Honda. During an interview with Automotive News, he said Saturn will have a...

Safety concerns drive demand for voice-recognition systems.(Special Report)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Douglas A. Bolduc Automakers are under pressure to develop voice-based systems to reduce reliance on visual commands and the pressing of buttons. How it works Combining wireless technology and voice recognition gives...

New Fords slow to reach dealers; Quality flaws turn up on sedans, wagons.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Amy Wilson It will be nearly Thanksgiving before the new Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego sedans and Ford Freestyle sport wagon roll into dealerships at full volume numbers. Ford's Chicago assembly plant was scheduled to...

Car dealers hold fate of satellite radio.
November 1, 2004... Byline: KEITH CRAIN When you double down with everything you own, it's often said that you just bet the farm. A couple of weeks ago, the Sirius Satellite Radio people did just that. Sirius and rival XM Satellite Radio have let the...

Remembering Georg Auer: Our irrepressible man in Vienna.(Obituary)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Richard Johnson Georg Auer, our longtime Vienna correspondent, may be the only person who ever killed a man with a camera. It happened in 1956, when Austria's pre-World War II fascist leader Furst Rudiger von Starhemberg, a man...

Lane-change warnings come to U.S.(Special Report)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Chaz Osburn Safety is the driving force behind lane-departure warning systems. According to French supplier Valeo SA, lane change errors were a factor in more than 410,000 U.S. crashes in 2002, the latest year for which data are...

Cool it, Korea! U.S. says Hyundai headquarters is moving too fast on luxury.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Rick Kranz Hyundai's U.S. sales division is arguing with executives back at the home office in Korea. The issue: The timing for the U.S. launch of a luxury channel aimed at BMW and Lexus buyers. Executives at Hyundai Motor...

Is Honda losing its cool among youths?(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Mark Rechtin Chilling out with a dozen other Scion tC coupe owners on the cliffs of suburban San Pedro, 27-year-old Mike Bittner holds court. Bittner is impressing his fellow ScionLife club members with the car's custom leather...

New Magna strategy was pre-Hogan; Supplier spinoffs return to the fold; whither Don Walker?(Mark Hogan)(Interview)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Julie Armstrong Almost as soon as Mark Hogan arrived as president of Magna International Inc. a few weeks ago, the giant Canadian supplier's aggressive decentralization strategy began to unravel. Coincidence? Yes. The...

Auto News Briefly.(Briefs)
November 1, 2004... Arnold: I'll be back (often) California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz got plenty of mileage last week out of a photo op depicting The Governator refueling his new hydrogen-powered Hummer H2. It was an...

Ford Motor comes up short in minivan residual ratings.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Arlena Sawyers A revival of residual values at Ford Motor Co. does not include its minivans. Automotive Lease Guide forecasts 2005 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans will have a resale value of 35 percent of their...

Acceptance of Bluetooth has been slower than expected.(Special Report)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Alex Graham Bluetooth is a short-range wireless connection system that enables various digital devices such as in-car audio, personal digital assistants and mobile phones to communicate. In the future, off-board navigation and...

Active lighting has bright future.(Special Report)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Alex Graham Active front lighting appeared on Europe's roads in late 2002. Now some 15 models around the world offer active lighting as an option. One-half of the Lexus RX 330s assembled in Canada have active lighting, which...

Popularity of particulate filters grows in Europe.(Special Report)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Alex Ricciuti Particulate filters are used to reduce particulate matter - soot - from diesel emissions. Soot is an environmental concern because medical research indicates long-term exposure could cause cancer. Health concerns...

Maximum torque brakes improve stopping.(Special Report)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Chris Wright Maximum torque brakes bolster stopping power by using smaller components. How it works Maximum torque brakes use a floating disc. When the brakes are applied, the disc "finds'' where it should be on the...

Industry needs a new refrigerant.(Special Report)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Chris Wright The auto industry needs a new refrigerant to replace R134a. Carbon dioxide, though a greenhouse gas, may be the successor to hydrofluorocarbon, which may be limited or forbidden in some European countries this...

Digital TV will bring big changes in car systems.(Special Report)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Jens Meiners Starting in 2006, some European TV stations will turn off analog signals in favor of clearer digital transmissions. The switch is expected to boost demand for in-car TV systems, moving them into mid-sized vehicles...

CVTs and small cars make a perfect team.(Special Report)(Continuously variable transmissions)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Wim Oude Weernink Continuously variable transmissions are more efficient and provide more torque and power than traditional transmissions. CVTs also are suited for small cars. By 2012 CVTs are expected to have a 20 percent...

Shocks are getting a shake-up.(Special Report)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Wim Oude Weernink Technology advances have given the humble shock absorber an electronic future. Some advances include using magneto-rheological fluid that can be made syrupy or waterlike depending on a mild electrical charge....

New sensors mean safer airbags.(Special Report)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Tim Moran Safety restraint systems such as airbags have the potential to injure out-of-place occupants. But new seat and interior sensors are enabling automakers to improve safety. These sensors help identify not only where a...

Turbochargers boost fuel economy, power.(Special Report)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Alex Graham The pressure to gain fuel economy is pushing carmakers to downsize engines and add turbochargers that can boost power on demand. This means fuel consumption - and emissions - can be cut without sacrificing power....

Systems help boost pedestrian safety.(Special Report)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Lyle Frink Automakers doing business in Europe have less than a year to meet phase one of the pedestrian safety requirements that take effect Oct. 1, 2005. Even tougher rules come into force starting in September 2010. ...

Space-saving run-flat tires gain momentum.(Special Report)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Jens Meiners Run-flat tires are designed to prevent a driver from losing control when a tire loses pressure, especially at high speeds. Equally important, a driver can continue traveling on a punctured run-flat tire for as far as...

Hyundai seeks flexible pickup plan.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Rick Kranz John Krafcik gave up a 14-year career at Ford Motor Co. when he joined Hyundai Motor America in April. Today he is the company's vice president of strategic planning and product planning. At Ford, Krafcik was chief...

GM CEO likes health care idea.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Jason Stein Mired in a health care problem with few apparent alternatives, General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner says a new legislative option might work. Wagoner says reinsurance could be a light at the end of a very dark financial...

Axing jobs is no solution for GM Europe.(Opinion)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Wolfgang Eschment People in Germany can hardly believe their ears when they hear what Carl-Peter Forster, president of General Motors Europe, is saying from company headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. "The two biggest German...

Ford Europe chief says reorganizing will avert woes.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Bradford Wernle Automotive News Europe Ford of Europe Chairman Lewis Booth believes restructuring will spare Ford the turmoil facing archrival General Motors Europe. But Ford of Europe probably will post a loss this year. And an...

By-wire technology offers design flexibility.(Special Report)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Tim Moran Direct links between a vehicle and its driver, including steering, brakes and engine control, make for reliable but cumbersome systems. Controlling those systems electronically, rather than physically, is the aim of...

Grand Prix gets a V-8.(News)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Pontiac will offer the first Grand Prix with a V-8 since 1987. The Grand Prix GXP, with a 5.3-liter V-8, goes on sale next spring. Pontiac says the car will go from 0 to 60 mph in 5.9 seconds. GM Vice Chairman Robert Lutz unveiled the car last...

Late News.
November 1, 2004... DCX reveals SEC probe DETROIT - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating a claim by a former DaimlerChrysler AG auditor that the automaker has been keeping secret bank accounts to bribe foreign officials. ...

Coker: Aftermarket is $30 billion business.(News)(Joseph Coker )(Brief Article)(Interview)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Eddie B. Allen Jr. After serving the first year of a two-year term as chairman of the 5,700-member Specialty Equipment Market Association, Joseph Coker still views himself as an "old country boy from Chattanooga, Tenn.'' Coker,...

Auto News Digest.(Briefs)
November 1, 2004... Hemi engine gets beefier LOS ANGELES - A more powerful Hemi engine will reach the market when the Chrysler 300C SRT-8 arrives in showrooms in the spring. The 300C will have a 6.1-liter V-8 rated at 425 hp. The 5.7-liter V-8 Hemi now on...

Ford hits brakes on Focus again.(Production)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Debi Domby * Ford Motor Co. will suspend production of the Ford Focus again because of slow sales. The Wayne, Mich., plant will be down starting today, Nov. 1, and will return on Monday, Nov. 22. At that time, the plant will have...

Company hopes its system for heated wiper fluid will wash out the competition.(Suppliers)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Terry Kosdrosky Crain's Detroit Business Although most auto suppliers face grueling cost pressures and many face soaring prices for raw materials, at least one small company feels protected from the storm. Armed with a newly...

BMW renovation adds high-tech flexibility; Regensburg factory boosts BMW's product quality.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Anna Kochan Automotive News Europe BMW expects its 500 million-euro investment in its assembly plant here to give it greater manufacturing flexibility, more capacity and better quality. BMW has implemented a series of...

GM works to simplify plastics specifications.(General Motors Corp. North American Operations)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Rhoda Miel Plastics News General Motors' North American operations has a list of 30 specifications for plastics used on auto exteriors. For thermoplastic polyolefins, the specifications get even more precise, with 119 measurements....

Big 3 incentives rise faster than prices.(Incentives)
November 1, 2004... Byline: John K. Teahen Jr. The Big 3 are losing ground in their struggle to balance rebates and price increases. An Automotive News analysis finds that the Big 3 raised sticker prices an average of $204 when they introduced their 2005...

New Ford GT gets compact air pump, tire sealer.(News)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Richard Truett The new Ford GT supercar doesn't come with a spare tire or even run-flat tires. But a flat tire likely won't leave the lucky owner of the low-slung, limited-production, $140,000 car with a deflated ego. Ford's...

GM's profits shrink in China.(General Motors)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Alysha Webb General Motors is playing its hand well in China. GM has 10 percent of China's passenger car market, up from 8.5 percent at the end of 2003. It may become the market leader in China in less than five years,...

Kia spends heavily to bring back Sportage.(Kia Motors America Inc.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Kathy Jackson Kia will bring the compact Sportage SUV back to the U.S. market on Jan. 1 after a two-year absence. Peter Butterfield, CEO of Kia Motors America Inc., says the company plans to spend about $30 million on...

No more Aztek.(automobile)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Pontiac will get a new sport wagon next year, the 2006 Torrent. It is expected to replace the Aztek. The vehicle will share a platform with the Chevrolet Equinox and Saturn Vue. General Motors released these sketches of the Torrent last week.

Nissan's Connelly: Rebates are unhealthy.(Nissan North America Inc.)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Kathy Jackson Nissan executive Jed Connelly got no takers when he called on the industry to curb its dependence on incentives. "Where the industry is today isn't healthy,'' he said, referring to the hefty incentives paid out to...

Calendar.(Calendar)
November 1, 2004... Nov. 3-7 - Seattle International Auto Show, Seattle Seahawks Exhibition Center, Seattle, 206-542-3551, www.seattleautoshow.com Nov. 4-7 - Massachusetts International Auto Show, Centrum Centre, Worcester, Mass., 508-836-2222,...

Mercury's new sedan.(News)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Mercury will expand its line next year with the 2006 Milan, a front-drive sedan developed from Mazda6 architecture. Pictured are an artist's rendering, above, and a hurriedly snapped photo of a version that is nearly ready for production. The...

Direct injection is no longer just for diesel.(Special Report)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Lindsay Chappell High-pressure direct-injection fuel systems have been helping automakers improve the efficiency of their diesel powertrains. Now many hope to apply the same technology to gasoline engines, which constitute a larger...

Hyundai to dealers: Boost customer relations.(News)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Mark Rechtin Bob Cosmai, CEO of Hyundai Motor America, knows it takes more than short-term good sales to make a franchise succeed. Hyundai needs better customer relations at its dealerships. "We don't want to be a one-shot...

Chrysler group offers Hemi motor for sale.(News)(Brief Article)
November 8, 2004... Byline: Chaz Osburn The Chrysler group plans to sell crate versions of its powerful 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engine, made popular by the hot-selling Chrysler 300C and Dodge Magnum, through its Mopar parts division. The Chrysler group will...

It's business as usual in Washington.(automobile industry)(Column)
November 8, 2004... Byline: KEITH CRAIN Last week, after what seemed like the longest presidential campaign in history, President Bush won re-election for another four years. It looks as though the automobile business won another reprieve from any of the...