Automotive News articles from November 2006

Automotive News archives from November 2006

Collaboration is needed.(Collins and Aikman Corp.'s Frank Macher )(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Collins & Aikman CEO Frank Macher's call for a supplier bill of rights is a noble idea, but it probably won't amount to much more than tilting at windmills. Macher, who is trying to lead C&A out of Chapter 11, says automakers ought to be...

Delphi dodges a bullet.(Delphi Corp. settlement with Securities and Exchange Commission)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Delphi Corp. did the right thing by settling the Securities and Exchange Commission's lawsuit that charged the supplier with violations of U.S. securities laws. Delphi was able to get past the matter, which involves improper accounting, without...

Mercedes chases older buyers.(Daimler-Benz AG)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Jason Stein Mercedes-Benz is shifting its marketing emphasis from sportiness to affluence as it tries to attract more well-off, older buyers. The average age of a Mercedes buyer in Europe is 54.8 years, among the highest in the...

Mercedes wants to make woopie with the boomers.(Daimler-Benz AG)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Edward Lapham The saying "You can sell a young man's car to an old man, but you can't sell an old man's car to a young man'' seems true enough. It may also be true if you make the statement politically correct and substitute...

Ford plans a diesel engine for Expedition.(Ford Motor Co.)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Amy Wilson Ford Motor Co. will offer a diesel and more powerful gasoline engines in its Expedition SUV this decade. Expedition chief engineer John Viera wouldn't provide exact timing but said the diesel and bigger gasoline...

Dura joins the Chapter 11 parade.(Dura Automotive Systems Inc.)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Robert Sherefkin Amid falling production schedules by the Detroit 3, Dura Automotive Systems Inc. sought Chapter 11 protection, its debts totaling $1.73 billion. CEO Larry Denton said the move was in the best interest of...

Late News.(Daimler-Benz AG accused for violating labor law)(Ford Escapes and Mazda Tributes under investigations)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... NLRB will hear Mercedes case BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A machinists union's complaint against management at Mercedes-Benz's assembly plant in Vance, Ala., is scheduled for trial here today, Nov. 6. The International Association of Machinists...

Odds are, a new car in Europe has a diesel under hood.(diesel engines)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... For nearly a decade, demand for diesel-powered cars in Europe has been growing steadily. Now, for the first time, diesels are outselling gasoline models. From January through August, diesels accounted for 50.6 percent of new-car volume,...

New Mariner promises smooth sailing.(Mercury Mariner 2008)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Rick Kranz Mercury will stress refinement and design sophistication when the restyled, re-engineered 2008 Mariner reaches showrooms early next year. The automaker says improvements such as thicker window glass, suspension...

Letters to the Editor.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
November 6, 2006... Brown should stick to topics he knows To the Editor: I take exception to Peter Brown's column, "No alliance? GM already knows everything'' (Oct. 9). What qualifications does Brown have to write about GM's business plans or...

Honda brings Mugen name to U.S.(Honda Motor Company Ltd. partnered with Mugen Co. to develop Mugen Civic Si)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Kathy Jackson Honda is launching a new performance trim level in the United States and giving it a name that is well known in Asia. The limited-edition Mugen Civic Si sedan will debut next spring. It is a more extreme version...

Ford layoffs won't spare design staff.(News)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Mark Rechtin Ford Motor Co.'s design division will not be spared the layoffs affecting other parts of the company, an executive said. The design department likely will reduce its head count by the same ratio as the blue-collar...

Ford to design 'confident' vehicles.(Ford Motor Co.)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Mark Rechtin In contrast to the dour mood at a company hemorrhaging red ink and cutting tens of thousands of jobs, Ford designers have been instructed to give its future products a "confident'' attitude. "We want to show that...

GM rolls out Performance Parts Web site.(Service & Parts)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Donna Harris As part of General Motors' campaign to sell more aftermarket accessories at its dealerships, GM's Performance Parts unit now operates its own Web site. The flashy, interactive Web site, gmperformanceparts.com,...

A week of milestones.(Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America Inc. reached i million units)(United States truck production reached 6 million units)(General Motors Corp's production reached 1 million units)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Debi Domby * Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America Inc. reached 1 million units on Tuesday, Oct. 31. That is six days later than in 2005. * U.S. truck production reached 6 million units on Wednesday, Nov. 1. That is 25 days...

Most Japanese expect sales to soar in next 6 months.(Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... All but one Japanese automaker expect North American sales to keep rising in the next six months. Only Fuji Heavy Industries, which makes Subarus, sees year-over-year sales falling in the second half of the current fiscal year, which ends...

Volvo: Big jump in '07 ad spend.(Volvo Cars of North America Inc.)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Mark Rechtin Volvo Cars of North America will boost its advertising budget by 40 percent in 2007. Launching the redesigned S80 flagship in February and new C30 hatchback next summer will account for most of the increase, said...

VW may hop into aftermarket.(Volkswagen AG to develop Thunder Bunny)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Unpimp zee auto, meine fuss. After mocking wildly accessorized compact cars in its GTi launch ads, Volkswagen is now looking into the aftermarket itself. At the Specialty Equipment Market Association show last week in Las Vegas, VW...

How the West was won (by carmakers from the East).(News)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Chalk up another milestone for Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai and the rest of the Asian manufacturers. This year, for the first time, it appears that Asian brands will outsell their domestic-brand rivals west of the Mississippi River. It's...

Ford seeks an Edge in crossover segment; Automaker looks for 100,000 sales annually.(Ford Motor Co.)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Amy Wilson Ford Motor Co. expects a lot from its 2007 Ford Edge crossover. Ford executives said at the product introduction here that the Edge exemplifies the product attributes the automaker now is demanding from its vehicles:...

Bahadur: 'I should have done more due diligence'.(B.N. Bahadur accused for inventory fraud in Delphi Corp.)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Byline: David Barkholz As a well-known industry consultant, B.N. Bahadur is the guy automakers hire to clean up messes in the supply chain. But in the case of Delphi Corp.'s accounting scandal, Bahadur was part of the mess. In its Oct....

Ford adds to supplier list.(Ford Motor Co. contracts with EWIE Co., MAG Industrial Automation Systems and Walbridge Aldinger Co.)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Amy Wilson Ford Motor Co. has named another five companies to its preferred supplier list. Four of the five are nonproduction suppliers that provide tools and materials not directly used in vehicles. The nonproduction suppliers...

Ford seeks steel futures market; GM won't join effort to stabilize prices.(Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp.)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Robert Sherefkin Faced with burgeoning steel costs and dwindling negotiating power with steel makers, Ford Motor Co. purchasing boss Tony Brown wants to change how the auto industry buys its most important raw material. And...

Reynolds to help dealers find more online prospects.(Reynolds and Reynolds Co.)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Ralph Kisiel Reynolds and Reynolds Co. wants to help its auto dealership customers capture more sales leads from the Internet, including those from subprime buyers. It's a new twist for a vendor that traditionally sells...

Lutz: No way GM will kill the electric car.(Bob Lutz, General Motors Corp.)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Jamie LaReau General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner will reveal a new step in GM's alternative-fuel vehicle programs at the Los Angeles auto show this month. While not saying which direction GM will take, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz says...

Delphi: A tale of fear, fast money; Feds: Improper accounting over warranty claims led to fraud case.
November 6, 2006... Byline: David Barkholz Barely 15 months after Delphi Corp. had been spun off from General Motors, Delphi CEO J.T. Battenberg III faced a crisis that reverberates today in the government's accounting fraud case against Battenberg and...

Corrections.(Correction)(Correction notice)
November 6, 2006... * A Page 1 story in the Oct. 30 issue gave the wrong number for one of the results of an online survey of auto dealers. Of the 61 Buick- Pontiac-GMC dealers surveyed, 60.7 percent said their dealerships are profitable this year. * A Late...

'07 Altima slims down, buffs up; Simple challenge: Stay ahead of rivals.(developed by Nissan Motor Company Ltd. and Regie Nationale des Usines Renault)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Lindsay Chappell No one was looking for a breakthrough on the 2007 Nissan Altima. That already happened with the Altima five years ago. Nissan Motor Co. found its groove in the mid-sized car segment in the 2002 model year with...

SAP will bring its dealership software to N.A.(Dealer Business Management software)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Ralph Kisiel Microsoft Corp. isn't the only global company interested in selling automotive dealerships the software to run their stores. SAP AG, a software giant in Walldorf, Germany, has developed a dealership management...

I'll take a car with that guitar, thanks.(Volkswagen AG giving guitar with most of its cars)(Column)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Victor Galvan In the never-ending quest to replace the cash-on-the-hood incentive with something more novel and less costly, Volkswagen has tapped into the would-be guitar god (or poser-before-the-mirror) demographic. VW is...

Ford's goal: Smart sharing; Can product boss Kuzak repeat his European success?(Ford Motor Co., Derrick Kuzak)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Amy Wilson For a glimpse of what may happen to Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. vehicle lineup, look at the C1 platform that Derrick Kuzak developed for the European Ford Focus. That versatile small-vehicle architecture has spawned...

Hats off to Sykora, NADA's first female leader.(Annette Sykora, National Automobile Dealers Association )(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Annette Sykora of Texas will lead the National Automobile Dealers Association as chairman in 2008; we congratulate her and the dealer organization. It will be a first for NADA, and it has been a long time coming, but it is proper...

Bose shrinks components for Japan customers.(News)
November 6, 2006... Byline: James B. Treece I'm sitting in the center of a sound room at the Tokyo offices of automotive acoustic supplier Bose Corp. My hosts are playing a mix of gospel, jazz and rock music through five 18-inch speakers surrounding me. The...

Chrysler contract boosts French supplier.(News)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Bradford Wernle Although Faurecia is the ninth-largest auto supplier in the world, the French conglomerate remains a comparative minnow in North America. But a big contract with DaimlerChrysler to supply major systems to the...

Chrysler sale talk still buzzes.(Final assembly)
November 6, 2006... Talk that DaimlerChrysler might shed its Chrysler group business is still simmering in the German press despite repeated company denials. An anonymous DaimlerChrysler board member told the German magazine Der Spiegel: "We would be...

Leno's biodiesel baby.(Jay Leno's EcoJet )(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... GM design chief Ed Welburn, left, and entertainer/car enthusiast Jay Leno show off Leno's mid-engine, turbine-powered EcoJet concept at the SEMA show. Leno asked GM's Advanced Design Studio to help design the 650-hp concept, which runs on...

Hogan, Ustian will speak at World Congress.(Mark Hogan, Daniel Ustian)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Building collaboration among automakers and suppliers is a growing concern as companies struggle to cut costs, add value and remain profitable. Two executives who have seen both sides of the issue will speak at the Automotive News World...

Japan exports foretell more U.S. plants.(News)
November 6, 2006... Byline: James B. Treece Steeply rising U.S.-bound exports are pointing to more Japanese-owned factories in America. Japan's exports to the United States, historically a good indicator of Japanese factory plans, are on track to hit...

Pontiac seeks real sales from make-believe Internet world.(General Motors Corp. Pontiac Div. introduced Second Life website)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Mary Connelly Pontiac is setting up shop on a fantasy Internet site called Second Life, in an effort to attract younger buyers in real life. The brand plans to open a virtual dealership on the site, sell virtual vehicles for...

With ads in Mandarin, Hindi, Chrysler targets ethnic groups.(News)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Laura Clark Geist Chrysler's marketing campaign for the redesigned Sebring includes distinct appeals to black, Hispanic and Asian-American consumers. "We now have the right vehicle for these markets,'' said Susan Thomson,...

Make time for a new trip: SEMA.(Specialty Equipment Market Association )(Brief article)(Column)
November 6, 2006... Byline: KEITH CRAIN If you are in the retail business, it is important to attend NADA's national convention every year. There is so much going on in retail that it makes sense to spend a few days with your peers to find out about it. ...

GM warranties take big leap.(General Motors Corp.)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Kim Scherer General Motors offers the most notable upgrades in warranty coverage for the 2007 model year. Every 2007 GM vehicle comes with basic and powertrain warranty coverage of 5 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes...

Supplier management buyout fails; Four top executives quit after founder rejects their offer.(Saturn Electronics and Engineering Inc.)(Company overview)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Robert Sherefkin As founder, chairman and CEO, Wallace Tsuha Jr. is used to getting his way at automotive electronics supplier Saturn Electronics & Engineering Inc. Just ask the four senior executives who suddenly left the company...

Kia offers aftermarket parts.(Kia Motors America Inc.)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Kathy Jackson Owners of some Kia cars can now buy performance aftermarket parts at Kia dealerships that are backed by a warranty from the automaker. It is the first such program offered by Kia, Len Hunt, executive vice...

Chrysler is close to deciding Imperial's fate.(News)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Bradford Wernle Chrysler is nearing a decision on whether to produce a vehicle based on the Imperial concept shown at the Detroit auto show in January. "The development teams have gotten us all the information we need to make a...

Opel gives clues to new Vue's debut.(Opel Antara 2007)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Rick Kranz Saturn will stage the world debut of its redesigned 2008 Vue at the Los Angeles auto show late this month, but the secret is out. The 2007 Opel Antara and 2008 Vue are virtual clones when it comes to exterior...

Display of Courage.(XM Satellite Radio Inc. marketing Acura Courage )(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... XM Satellite Radio will be the primary sponsor of the Acura Courage in the American Le Mans Series. The car was shown for the first time at SEMA at the XM booth. It is powered by the first racing engine designed and developed by Honda in the...

Lexus may add muscle, try again with L-Tuned.(Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. Lexus Div.)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Lexus may try to revive its failed L-Tuned brand by adding some sizzle. Its first try, in 2000, at countering high performance from BMW's M Division and Mercedes-Benz's AMG group fizzled badly and was scrapped in 2003. But Lexus' U.S....

Dynamic lines define concept of 'kinetic' design; Ford of Europe will use cues found on IosisX crossover.(Ford of Europe Inc.'s Martin Smith interviewed)(Interview)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Wim Oude Weernink Automotive News Europe When Martin Smith took over as Ford of Europe's executive design director in July 2004, he discovered the elements of a new design language already in the works. Smith christened it...

Dow CEO calls for fuel efficiency.(Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Michigan), Andrew Liveris )(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Byline: April Wortham The auto industry has a pivotal role in helping ease the nation's energy crisis and, in turn, making U.S. manufacturers competitive again, Dow Chemical Co. CEO Andrew Liveris said last week. Liveris, speaking to...

Ford: Fleet sales will tumble in '07.(Ford Motor Co.)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... With the Taurus out of the picture, Ford expects the daily rental portion of its fleet sales to fall to well below 50 percent in 2007 and overall fleet sales to drop by double-digit percentages during the year. Production of the Taurus,...

Indian automaker targets U.S. Mahindra plans SUV, pickup in '08.(Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. distribution agreement with Global Vehicles U.S.A. Inc.)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Lindsay Chappell Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., a small automaker in Mumbai, India, is quietly preparing to enter the United States. Mahindra has signed an independent distributor, Global Vehicles U.S.A. Inc., of Alpharetta, Ga. ...

Buick wants to woo black buyers.(News)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Kathy Jackson If more blacks start driving Buicks it could help the brand overcome its biggest problem: the perception that it is a boring, old person's car. That's the view of Steve Shannon, Buick's general manager. He says...

Slavery claim rocks iron supply chain.(Ford Motor Co.)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Ford says it has stopped buying pig iron - a key ingredient of steel - from an importer that news reports and government officials say relies on charcoal produced by slave laborers in South America. Bloomberg News reported last week that...

Oct. sales were up, but skip the party.(automobile sales)
November 6, 2006... Byline: John K. Teahen Jr. Truck sales staged a satisfying comeback last month. But a huge "caveat emptor'' ought to be stamped on all the month's U.S. sales numbers. Would-be analysts are warned not to compare October 2006 sales with...

Dealers.(Dick Cerame, Tom Cerame and Bob Cerame awarded)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Milestones * Dick Cerame, Tom Cerame and Bob Cerame of Paul Cerame Lincoln-Mercury in St. Louis received a 25-year award for Lincoln and Mercury from Ford Motor Co. CAPTION(S): 25 with Chevrolet: Joseph Staffilino, right, of...

Calendar.
November 6, 2006... AUTO SHOWS - 2006 Nov. 4-12 - New England International Auto Show, Bayside Expo Center, Boston, 800-322-4821, www.paragonexpo.com Nov. 5-10, Saudi International Motor Show, Jeddah International Exhibition & Convention Centre, Jeddah,...

Supply line.(Continental Automotive Systems plans to close its electronics planti in New York.)(Heuliez Group and ASC Inc. to form an alliance.)(Tenneco Inc. income figures.)
November 13, 2006... Continental will close N.Y. plant DETROIT - Continental Automotive Systems on Nov. 2 said it plans to close its electronics plant in Elma, N.Y., and ship the work to Asia by 2009. About 380 employees at Elma will lose their jobs. The...

Gamma: GM small cars go global; Factories will spring up in low-cost countries.(General Motors Corp.)
November 13, 2006... Byline: Alysha Webb General Motors is a global company, but so far it has had trouble creating truly global platforms that use huge volumes to cut costs. That's starting to change. Supplier and GM sources say GM is planning a new...

Focus on finance; A collection of facts and figures from the world of F&I.
November 13, 2006... 5 graphs: Let's not haggle. Shoppers increasingly prefer that dealers offer a set price on a vehicle, according to a study released by Kelley Blue Book in September. * Maturity level. In August, the average maturity of new-car loans was 62.9...

Piech likely to push hard for VW clout; Pischetsrieder ouster seen as part of larger strategy.(Ferdinand Piech)(Volkswagen AG)(Bernd Pischetsrieder)
November 13, 2006... Byline: Jason Stein Ferdinand Piech, who engineered the ouster of Volkswagen CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder last week, is eager to increase his family's influence over VW's operations and strategy, sources say. Piech, 69, heads the family...

Show me the money; 0 percent financing has returned, thanks in part to rising interest rates. But cash rebates can generate more sales, some dealers find.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Laura Clark Geist Zero percent financing was a quick fix by captive finance companies to bring consumers back into dealership showrooms after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Now, with interest rates rising, 0 percent loans are making a...

Late News.(Ford Motor Minority Dealers Association to discuss attrition rate among Ford Motor Co.'s black dealers.)(Autobytel Inc. posted a net loss of $24.2 million for the first nine months of 2006. )(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Black dealers seek talks with Bill Ford DETROIT - The Ford Motor Minority Dealers Association wants an emergency meeting with Ford Motor Executive Chairman Bill Ford to discuss what the group calls the alarming attrition rate among the...

Blessing in disguise; Longer factory warranties don't faze independent service contract sellers as other `wrap products' proliferate.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Mary Connelly Those new extended powertrain warranties General Motors and Ford have resorted to this year aren't hurting independent service contract providers. In fact, the independents say they are helping. The providers...

Dealers: Extended factory warranties boost profits.(Insight)
November 13, 2006... Byline: Mary Connelly John Bergstrom, CEO of one of the largest dealership groups in the Midwest, reels off three reasons why he favors General Motors' extended powertrain warranties on 2007 models. 1. "It has helped us immeasurably in...

GM Planworks' new chief's goal: Enhance digital media.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Byline: Mary Connelly The agency that buys advertising time and space for General Motors is reshaping its leadership. GM Planworks says the moves reflect changes in consumers' media habits and GM's brand structure. GM Planworks this...

The new General Motors: Try this lineup; GM can do well with 3 brands - if one is Chevy.(General Motors Corp.)
November 13, 2006... Byline: John K. Teahen Jr. All my life, I have been intensely interested in General Motors. It's a family thing, a two-generation thing. My dad went to work for Fisher Body in 1916 and retired in 1953. Fisher Body became part of GM...

Supplies rise in October.(Chrysler Corp.)(General Motors Corp.)(Ford Motor Co.)
November 13, 2006... Byline: Diana T. Kurylko Carmakers entered the final quarter of 2006 with a glut of unsold vehicles. An industrywide 70-day supply as of Nov. 1 was up from 63 days as of Oct. 1. The Detroit 3 had an 83-day supply, up from 77 days a...

Impala goes back to rwd in '09.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Byline: Rick Kranz Chevrolet's Impala is going rear-wheel drive in 2009. General Motors sources say the next Impala will share a rwd platform with the upcoming Chevrolet Camaro, which will be built late in 2008 in Oshawa, Ontario....

How the middle class (auto) is getting squeezed.(Power Information Network )
November 13, 2006... Americans are buying smaller vehicles, but that doesn't mean they are abandoning big ones. It's medium-sized models that are getting squeezed. Using vehicle dimensions, Power Information Network has divided the industry into three...

Dana's plan: Blow up the contracts; Supplier wants breaks from automakers, unions, retirees.(Dana Corp.)
November 13, 2006... Byline: Philip Nussel Dana Corp. is joining the growing ranks of troubled suppliers leveraging their Chapter 11 status to rewrite contracts with automakers. In addition to scrapping those contracts and getting help with rising...

Horbury: Lincolns can't look like Fords; Design boss favors different sheet metal, launch schedule.(Peter Horbury)(Lincoln MKS sedan)
November 13, 2006... Byline: Amy Wilson In the future, Lincoln vehicles should sport mostly distinct exterior sheet metal and be introduced on a separate timetable from their Ford platform mates, Ford Motor Co.'s top U.S. designer says. Lincoln and Mercury...

Toyota: North America sales will slow.(Toyota Motor Corp.)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Byline: James B. Treece If you believe Toyota Motor Corp., its sales growth in North America is about to slow. Toyota says car and truck sales in North America in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007, will total 2.87 million, up 12.3...

Auto News digest.(Visteon Corp. plans to jobs after loss for the third quarter. )(TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. income figures.)(Delphi Corp. faces losses in September dur to customer production cuts.)
November 13, 2006... Visteon will cut 900 jobs DETROIT - Visteon Corp. said it plans to cut 900 salaried jobs after posting a $177 million loss for the third quarter. The former Ford Motor Co. parts unit said it will take a $65 million charge during the...

When the music stops, who'll wind up where?(Volkswagen Group)(Fiat S.p.A.)(DaimlerChrysler AG)(Bernd Pischetsrieder )(Sergio Marchionne )(Alan Mulally)
November 13, 2006... Byline: Edward Lapham In Germany, the game is called Reise nach Jerusalem, which translates to "Journey to Jerusalem.'' We usually call it musical chairs. No matter what you call it, it's a game that kindergartners play at birthday...

Auto interiors improve, but suppliers battle overcapacity.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Byline: David Barkholz The Detroit 3 are winning acclaim for their vehicle interiors, but the interiors industry has never been sicker. Where's the disconnect? It's because the North American industry has far more manufacturing...

Pickups could pick up, but SUVs may be yesterday's news.(sports utility vehicles)
November 13, 2006... Byline: John K. Teahen Jr. What are the most intriguing questions in today's automotive sales arena? I think they concern the future of pickups and SUVs. Have their days of glory ended? Will they ever return to the heights of a few...

Industry must say a resounding no to slave labor.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Automakers and suppliers must keep slave labor out of their supply chains - at any cost. Much of the world was shocked when Bloomberg News revealed that a supplier had relied on Brazilian slave labor to produce raw materials for some...

Truck buyers, where the heck have you gone?(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... This isn't a year truckmakers and sellers will remember with fondness. Trucks have taken a bath, down 7.4 percent for 10 months. In unit sales, that's 565,737 fewer units than in the first 10 months of 2005. Where did those truck...

Chery shows off sporty duo.(Chery Automobile Co.)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... China's Chery Automobile Co. plans to unveil two concept vehicles designed by Torino Design at Auto China 2006, the Beijing auto show. Torino Design is the new Turin, Italy, studio founded by former Stile Bertone boss Roberto Piatti. The Lei,...

Bigger XL7 puts Suzuki into a new segment.(Suzuki Motor Corp.)
November 13, 2006... Byline: Kathy Jackson Suzuki's redesigned XL7, which reached dealerships in late October, differs from its predecessor in just about every way. It is the largest vehicle Suzuki has ever built and will test the Japanese automaker's...

High inventories cut 2 public retailers' earnings.(UnitedAuto Group Inc. )(Asbury Automotive Group Inc. )(Sonic Automotive Inc.)(Group 1 Automotive Inc. )
November 13, 2006... Byline: Donna Harris Weak sales and bloated inventories of domestic-brand vehicles reduced net income for two of the six largest public auto dealership groups. AutoNation Inc. and Lithia Motors Inc. reported lower net income in the...

Letters to the Editor.(Letters)
November 13, 2006... Twin goals for Ford: Product and passion To the Editor: I read with sadness the Oct. 23 article by John K. Teahen Jr. ("A golden bull goes out to pasture'') and column by Peter Brown ("A lesson in how to mistreat an icon'') concerning...

Loan sweet loan; Home-equity borrowing drops as a source of auto finance.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Arlena Sawyers Home equity loans are decreasing in popularity as a way to finance vehicle purchases. Sagging home values, rising interest rates and more generous incentives from automakers' captive finance companies have made...