June 27, 2008
The Detroit auto industry appeared to be imploding Thursday, according to USA Today.
Shares of General Motors (GM) stock hadn't traded so cheaply since the 1950s. Ford Motor (F) stock was at a 52-week low. Privately held Chrysler doesn't trade but still felt compelled to deny a rumor that it will file for bankruptcy protection.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth 
at 9:53 AM | Permalink
May 28, 2008
DETROIT -- Luxury brands once again dominated an annual U.S. automobile quality survey by a California research company, but total quality dropped for the first time in four years, the company said, according to the Associated Press.
BMW led all brands in the results released Wednesday by San Diego-based Strategic Vision Inc., followed closely by Hummer, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Infiniti, Lexus, Land Rover, Cadillac, Lincoln and Volkswagen.
Volkswagen AG, which includes Audi, led all corporations with a total quality index score of 892 out of 1,000 possible points. General Motors Corp. finished second as a corporation at 867, followed by Ford Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co., which tied for third at 862. Toyota Motor Corp. finished fifth, at the industry average of 860.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:38 AM | Permalink
May 9, 2008
High fuel prices are causing the value of used SUVs to plummet, often below what's listed in the buying guides many shoppers use to negotiate with dealers, according to USA Today.
As a result, some new-car buyers think they're getting cheated by dealers who are offering them little for their SUV trade-ins.
"The dealer is going to offer a price, and the customer is going to be ticked off," says Tom Webb, chief economist for Manheim, operators of auctions where car dealers buy their used-vehicle inventories. "The guidebooks have not caught up to the market," he says.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:39 AM | Permalink
May 2, 2008
DETROIT -- Small cars were the big winners in April, as high gas prices accelerated U.S. consumers' rush away from trucks and sport utility vehicles and makers of fuel-efficient models scored gains despite the weak economy, according to the Associated Press.
General Motors, Ford and Chrysler all saw double-digit U.S. sales declines compared to last April. But Nissan's sales were up 7 percent on the strength of its car sales, while Toyota's sales edged up 3 percent. Honda's sales figures were delayed because of a technical problem, but the automaker said April sales were likely to be up at least 6 percent.
Pickup sales have been falling for months because of the slowdown in housing construction, and the trend away from SUVs began several years ago as Baby Boomers aged and roomy but more fuel-efficient crossover vehicles gave consumers more choice. But automakers and industry watchers said gas prices are speeding the trend.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:03 AM | Permalink
April 14, 2008
At a time of record pump prices for regular gas, automakers are introducing more cars that use even costlier premium, according to USA Today.
The number of new vehicle models that need — or at least run better on — the priciest gasoline has steadily risen from 166 in the 2002 model year to 282 this year, shows an analysis by Kelley Blue Book at the request of USA TODAY.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:40 AM | Permalink
April 1, 2008
NEW YORK -- Gas prices may be sitting near record levels, but the owner of your local gas station quite likely is struggling, according to the Associated Press.
Profit margins on gasoline sales are razor thin. Indeed, some gas stations are losing money on credit card sales, once the fees are factored in.
How do they stay in business? More and more a gas station's bread and butter is, well, bread and butter - and the coffee and candy bars it sells in its convenience store. Most of these items generate much higher profits than gas.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 2:31 PM | Permalink
March 19, 2008
In a photo provided by the Ford Motor Co., a Transit Connect Taxi concept is shown. The automaker is expected to unveal the vehicle at the New York Auto Show today.
Projocars staff writer Peter C.T. Elsworth and photographer Steve Szydlowski are among a contingent of Rhode Islanders attending this weekend's New York International Auto Show in Manhattan.
Expect live blogs, and both in-paper and online stories and photos in the coming days.
Press previews are set today and tomorrow, and the show is open to the public Friday March 21 through Sunday March 30 from 11am to 10:30 pm (Sundays: 10am - 7pm).
Posted by Pam Cotter at 12:19 PM | Permalink
March 13, 2008
Chrysler LLC is telling employees worldwide to take a mandatory two-week vacation in July.
Chrysler informed employees of the plan in an e-mail sent to employees that was obtained by the Associated Press. Chrysler spokeswoman Mary Beth Heilprin confirms the e-mail was sent.
Chrysler plans a corporate-wide shutdown the weeks of July 7 and July 14. Heilprin says some employees may be asked to stay on to work on special projects.
It's common for automakers to shut down plants in July, but this also would affect salaried workers.
Chrysler says the shutdown should help it boost productivity and efficiency. Heilprin didn't have any details about why the decision was made.
Watch the AP video report
-- The Associated Press
Posted by Pam Cotter at 3:19 PM | Permalink
February 22, 2008
SEOUL, South Korea -- The head of Nissan said even if the United States is not in recession, its auto industry is, according to the Associated Press.
"We are very lucid on the situation of the industry that there is a recession in the United States, at least in the car market," CEO Carlos Ghosn told reporters, saying automakers face rising costs for iron ore, precious metals, aluminum and other materials.
Ghosn, who is also president and CEO of Renault SA of France, expressed optimism that the market will improve. Renault owns 44 percent of Nissan.
The American auto market "will not stay in recession for a long time," he said.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:31 AM | Permalink
February 12, 2008
No doubt about it, these are very tough times for the auto industry.
Especially the domestics.
Take General Motors which today announced a loss of $722 million for the fourth quarter – but that was peanuts compared to the $39 billion loss it reported in the third quarter for unused tax credits. It also announced a buyout program to all its 74,000 workers.
For the year, the company reported a loss of $38.7 billion and does not see making any serious money until 2010.
Meanwhile, newly private Chrysler is in the midst of a massive restructuring that includes buying out workers, consolidating its dealerships and cutting the number of its models.
Ford is also buying out workers and consolidating the number of its dealerships as well as negotiating the sale of its Jaguar and Land Rover brands to Tata Motors of India. And it is reported to be interested in selling its Volvo brand.
All this against a backdrop of January sales that stunk – 15.8 million vehicles versus 16.3 million last January. Indeed, out of the six largest auto makers, only GM had higher sales (up 2.6 percent), according to Automotive News.
All the rest were down; Chrysler -12.1 percent, Ford -3.9 percent, Honda -2.3 percent, Nissan -7.3 percent and Toyota – 2.3 percent.
Automakers are hoping the recent cuts in interest rates and the tax rebates from the economic stimulus package will come to the rescue. Let’s hope they do.
- Peter C. T. Elsworth
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 6:05 PM | Permalink
February 6, 2008
Clutch problems on 2007 Nissan 350Zs and moaning Acuras are among this month’s roundup of technical service bulletins, according to The New York Times.
The bulletins, known as T.S.B.’s, from alldatapro.com offer automakers’ solutions to some recurring problems with various models.
The bulletins are not recalls; they are information provided by manufacturers to dealers’ service departments and other mechanics. Unless otherwise noted, the manufacturers do not offer payment assistance for these repairs beyond the normal warranty.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:35 AM | Permalink
January 18, 2008
DETROIT — In a year when much seems uncertain, including whether the USA will have a recession, there's no question that 2008 is going to be tough for the auto industry, according to USA Today.
It's going to be tough on sales, which could hit a decade low. It'll be tough on production, which hasn't been this weak since the recession of 1992.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:49 AM | Permalink
January 8, 2008
The global automotive industry is nearing the end of a massive restructuring period and now will become more focused on growth, profits and environmentally friendly vehicles, according to the annual Auto Executive Survey by KPMG LLC, to be released today, according to the Detroit Free Press.
This year's survey, based on interviews late last year with 113 senior executives at vehicle manufacturers and suppliers worldwide, found executives much more confident than in the recent past about the outlook for the near term.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 1:17 PM | Permalink
December 12, 2007
DETROIT — The dollar’s falling value is making European automakers eager to build more vehicles in the United States, even as American car companies continue to shift production to other, lower-cost countries, according to the New York Times.
Fiat, the Italian carmaker, is the latest company to suggest that it may build a plant in the United States. Its chief executive, Sergio Marchionne, told Automotive News Europe for an article published Monday that its sports car brand, Alfa Romeo, needs a North American plant to be profitable. Alfa Romeo is returning to the United States next year after a 13-year absence.
Meanwhile, Volkswagen of Germany is scouting locations for a plant in the eastern United States. It was the first foreign carmaker to open an American factory, in New Stanton, Pa., but closed the factory in 1988.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 4:40 PM | Permalink
December 5, 2007
DETROIT — After seven years leading the pack, silver has given up its title as the most popular vehicle color in North America, losing out by a small margin to white and pearl white, according to a study done by DuPont Automotive Systems reported by USA Today.
White's rise in popularity is a sign that some new color, possibly red, blue or black, will emerge as North America's favorite hue in the next year or so, DuPont says. In the 55 years that DuPont, which manufactures vehicle paints, has released the study, white usually emerges as a favorite for a year or two in between changing trends.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:57 AM | Permalink
December 3, 2007
A new study from J.D. Power & Associates offers some new insight into the steep cost American carmakers are paying for what is seen a sluggish response to rising fuel prices. The new Power study also underscored the importance of perception in consumer attitudes toward various vehicles and brands, according to thecarconnection.com.
While older buyers who purchase domestic vehicles are more likely to avoid certain models because they are imports, younger consumers who purchase import vehicles are more likely to avoid models because they are of domestic origin, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Avoider Study.
Among import buyers for example, the younger the person is, the more likely they are to avoid models because they are of domestic origin, the study found.
The study was based on responses from more than 35,000 owners who registered a new vehicle in May 2007, and it examines the reasons consumers fail to consider particular models when shopping for a new vehicle.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:16 AM | Permalink
With the 11th month of 2007 U.S. auto sales results set to be released, a clearer picture will emerge as to how the year will end up for each auto company, brand and model, according to the Detroit Free Press's Tim Higgins.
Industry sales this year are expected to be the lowest in a decade. Earlier estimates for how November will look don't appear upbeat. Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis at the Power Information Network, a subsidiary of J.D. Power and Associates, said that through Nov. 25, retail sales industrywide were down 7%. But Libby cautions that the auto companies can make interesting moves in the final month of the year in attempts to boost sales.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:13 AM | Permalink
November 28, 2007
LOS ANGELES — After big cuts in how many vehicles they're building, the three Detroit automakers are starting to see increases in estimates of how much their new models will be worth as used cars, according to USA Today.
Those increases are important to buyers. Buyers are willing to pay more for a new car if they believe it will have retained more of its value when it comes time to trade it in or resell it in three or five years.
Strong resale values also help lower the cost of auto leases. If an automaker knows a car will be worth more when it's traded in after the lease expires, it can offer a lower monthly rate.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:35 AM | Permalink
November 16, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 15 — A federal appeals court here rejected the Bush administration’s year-old fuel-economy standards for light trucks and sport utility vehicles on Thursday, saying that they were not tough enough because regulators had failed to thoroughly assess the economic impact of tailpipe emissions that contribute to climate change, according to the New York Times.
A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in San Francisco, voided the new regulations for 2008-2011 model year vehicles and told the Transportation Department to produce new rules taking into account the value of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The court, siding with 4 environmental groups and 13 states and cities, also asked the government to explain why it still treated light trucks — which include pickups, sport utility vehicles and minivans — more mildly than passenger cars.
Under the rejected rule, the average fuel economy of light trucks was to rise to 23.5 miles a gallon in 2010, up from the current standard of 22.5 m.p.g., but still well below the current standard for passenger cars of 27.5 m.p.g.
The ruling, which is likely to be appealed to the United States Supreme Court, represents a major setback for both the auto industry and the White House at a time of growing public concern over the rising price of gasoline and the issue of climate change.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 1:24 PM | Permalink
November 14, 2007
DETROIT — Auto dealers nationwide are getting better at serving their customers, collectively scoring at a record level this year in a survey of new car buyers by the J.D. Power and Associates research firm, according to USA Today.
The survey also found that Toyota's Lexus luxury unit led all brands in consumers' satisfaction with their car-buying experience.
Satisfaction with dealers overall was the highest in the 21 years the company has taken the survey. The industry average score was 852 out of a possible 1,000 points, up from last year's 847, showing that dealers are improving the sales process, J.D. Power said.
The survey measures consumer satisfaction with the dealership facility, sales representative, paperwork and finance process, delivery process and vehicle price.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:38 AM | Permalink
October 29, 2007
Honda CR-Z hybrid concept.
Chiba, Japan - The Tokyo Motor Show, which opened to the public in this suburban city on Saturday and runs through Nov. 11, is a showcase of the automobile industry’s split personality, according to the New York Times.
The industry indeed seems increasingly to be of two minds, and the split between them is becoming more like a fracture.
On the one hand, the Tokyo show offers the requisite number of socially responsible hybrid concept cars, alternative-fuel propulsion systems and traffic-congestion-relieving technologies.
On the other, there is a bigger collection of the newest engine-revving, pollutant-belching, tire-smoking supercars. Can this house, so divided, continue to stand?
For the time being, the NYT writes, the supercars seem to be taking the fast lane to dealer showrooms.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:09 AM | Permalink
October 15, 2007
Chalk up this past week as a big win for the home team, Detroit's three automakers, writes Tom Walsh of the Detroit Free Press.
General Motors workers ratified a new labor contract by a ratio of nearly 2-1.
Chrysler and the UAW forged a new tentative pact with only a hiccup of a 6-hour work stoppage.
Ford Motor Co. lured marketing hotshot Jim Farley away from Toyota Motor.
GM stock surged past $40 a share for the first time in more than two years, closing at $42.64, up 11.6% on the week. Ford shares rose 10% to $9.20.
If it's too early for Detroit to declare victory over automotive competitors from Japan, Korea and Europe -- and yes, it is too early -- we can at least enjoy this spate of good fortune for our much-maligned home team.
Still skeptical? OK, but have a listen to Maryann Keller, a relentless critic of Detroit's auto industry for the past three decades as a Wall Street analyst, author, consultant and now a director of two auto-related companies, Lithia Motors and Dollar Thrifty Automotive.
"For the first time in 30 years I think that Detroit is going to finally turn around," Walsh said Keller told him Friday.
"The cars are better, the management is smarter and the costs are down with these new contracts. The UAW and Big 3 have finally figured out how to save each other and create a headache for the Japanese."
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:51 AM | Permalink
October 4, 2007
Dearborn, Mich. - Global Insight Chief Economist Nariman Behravesh this morning said the risks of a recession in the United States are real and potentially damaging to the automotive market going forward, according to the Detroit Free Press.
"Consumer spending will slow," he said, predicting a recovery in mid-2008 at the earliest.
Behravesh, making his comments at Global Insight's Global Automotive Conference in Dearborn today, said he expects the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates two more times to revive the economy and help prevent a recession.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:59 AM | Permalink
October 3, 2007
Now that the Big Three automakers are shrinking their labor costs — removing what they have so frequently described as the biggest obstacle to selling more cars in this country — they should be able to regain market share. Right?
Well, not exactly, according to the New York Times.
The game has changed. The foreign companies against whom the Big Three compete are selling more and more cars that are not made at their factories in the United States, making labor costs here less important. They are importing again — in fact, quietly importing almost as many cars as they did in the 1980’s when Japanese vehicles flooded the market, provoking an outcry, and also import quotas.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:30 AM | Permalink
Despite a difficult overall market, General Motors and Ford found a receptive audience for new and redesigned vehicles in September, giving hope that their evolving lineups could win back U.S. customers, according to the Detroit Free Press.
GM reported Tuesday U.S. sales in September of 334,974, up 0.3% from the same month last year. Sales of the redesigned Cadillac CTS were up 66.8% to 6,416.
Ford's U.S. sales, hurt by slumping truck figures, dropped 20.4% to 189,037. But a redesigned Escape was a bright spot with sales increasing 10.3% to 11,132.
GM and Ford were not the only automakers helped by new products. Sales for Honda Motor Co., which launched a redesigned Accord in September, were up 9.4% to 127,000.
Nissan was up 6.7% to 94,269 thanks largely to the Altima, redesigned in late 2006. A new coupe version was added this year.
Toyota's U.S. sales fell 4.4% in September to 213,043 vehicles, marking the third straight month of declines.
Chrysler LLC's sales were down 5.4% to 159,799. The Auburn Hills automaker emphasized that Jeep brand sales were down 10.6% to 37,460 in September because of a planned fleet reduction.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:17 AM | Permalink
September 28, 2007
UAW local leaders are expected to meet in Detroit this morning to learn the much-awaited official details of the tentative agreement reached early Wednesday between the union and General Motors Corp., as UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and other union officials work to get the deal ratified, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Today is the first time the union will broadly distribute the specifics of a landmark deal that restructures retiree health care, introduces a two-tier wage system and eliminates wage increases for the duration of the 4-year contract. And the union's more than 73,000 GM workers are anxious to see the hard facts.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:23 AM | Permalink
September 27, 2007
With a tentative agreement in hand with General Motors, the UAW expects to move quickly to lock in similar labor contracts with Chrysler and Ford, according to the Detroit Free Press.
"I think the pattern bargaining is still very much in play," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said shortly after announcing the GM deal. "We expect this will basically be the same agreement."
Gettelfinger suggested that the UAW may try to finish up talks with Chrysler and Ford simultaneously.
During the past two contract talks, it took the UAW between 20 and 40 days from the day the first tentative agreement was reached until deals with all three automakers were ratified. If that holds true, a deal with all three of Detroit's automakers could be wrapped up in a month.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:35 AM | Permalink
General Motors and the UAW bet their futures on a dramatic new labor agreement Wednesday that could ensure the survival of both -- making GM more competitive against its foreign rivals and helping the union stanch the loss of members, according to the Detroit Free Press.
More broadly, the proposed labor contract has the potential to shape a new Detroit auto industry that can compete on a more-level playing field with Toyota Motor Corp. and other foreign rivals not burdened by huge retiree legacy costs built up over the 20th Century. Also, the agreement has the potential to recast the UAW -- often dismissed as an industrial relic -- and give it more clout in the national health care debate.
The landmark feature of the UAW's tentative deal with GM is a controversial retiree health care trust that would shift tens of billions of dollars of retiree medical, hospital and prescription costs to the UAW and off GM's books.
The agreement, which ended the first national strike against GM in 37 years, will serve as the template for new agreements at Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Co.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:32 AM | Permalink
September 26, 2007
With a tentative agreement in hand with General Motors, the UAW expects to move quickly to lock in similar labor contracts with Chrysler and Ford, according to the Detroit Free Press.
“I think the pattern bargaining is still very much in play,” UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said this morning on WJR-AM radio. “We expect this will basically be the same agreement.” He said there could be some modifications for the individual automakers but “for the most part it will be a pattern agreement.”
Gettelfinger suggested that the UAW may try to finish up talks with Chrysler and Ford simultaneously.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 7:40 AM | Permalink
According to the Detroit Free Press, the tentative agreement between the UAW and General Motors Corp., a person briefed on the deal said, is expected to include:
• A retiree health-care trust, known as a voluntary employee beneficiary trust, or VEBA. While neither party would officially comment on the amount GM will pay into the VEBA, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said financial analysis of the plan indicates it should be solvent for 80 years. GM has pushed for the trust to relieve itself of the responsibility for more than $50 billion in retiree health care cost liability. People familiar with GM’s position have said they believe the automaker will pay less than $35 billion into the trust.
A two-tier wage and benefits scale under which new hires will make a lower hourly wage and receive a different package of benefits than current workers.
• A second tier of compensation for jobs that GM and the UAW have agreed are “non-core” production jobs. This is expected to include many positions in which workers do not have their hands on a vehicle in the assembly process.
• To relieve the pain of the wage reductions for the workers currently assigned to jobs defined as “non-core” in the tentative deal, the automaker is expected to offer a targeted special attrition program.
• No wage increases.
• A $3,000 signing bonus.
• A lump-sum bonus in the last three years of the four-year contract.
• The possibility of the automaker maintaining the same level of its U.S. manufacturing workforce.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 7:38 AM | Permalink
DETROIT — The United Automobile Workers union and General Motors reached a landmark agreement early today, ending a two-day strike, according to the New York Times.
The key provision of the historic new contract is a health care trust that would get G.M.’s massive liability off its books.
The deal was announced by the company and the union in separate statements. The U.A.W. had walked out on G.M. on Monday morning, but production will resume this afternoon.
G.M. said the tentative agreement was reached at 3:05 a.m. Eastern. The U.A.W. recessed the strike and said if the contract was not ratified, workers could return to picket lines. The agreement included a memorandum of understanding to establish an independent health care trust, as well as other changes to the national agreement.
G.M. said implementation of the trust would be subject to court approval, as well as a review by G.M.’s accounting for the trust by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The memorandum apparently establishes the principle of the trust, and allows the two sides to complete its details later. Analysts had predicted the union and the company might have to take that step, because of the complexity of such a trust.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 7:31 AM | Permalink
September 24, 2007
In the first national UAW strike since the 1970s, General Motors Corp. workers across the nation walked off the job this morning after negotiations over a new labor contract reached an impasse, according to an update by the Detroit Free Press.
Thousands of UAW members who work for GM walked off the job at 11 a.m. today — 9 days after a 4-year contract was set to expire. The contract had been extended hour by hour, until late last night when the UAW issued the strike deadline.
UAW Ron Gettelfinger said during a noontime press conference that the union will continue to negotiate with GM while workers picket.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 4:32 PM | Permalink
The UAW striking General Motors, especially if the walkout lasts more than a few hours, is a dangerous move with all sorts of awful implications for the company and the future of the UAW to say nothing of Michigan's economy, according to the Detroit Free Press' Tom Walsh.
General Motors, while making good progress on its turnaround the past two years, is still losing money in North America and could still suffer enormous damage from a walkout of any length.
And what of the UAW itself, which has been touting its efforts to organize the nonunion U.S. plants of Toyota Motor Corp., other Asian automakers and growing suppliers such as Denso. By striking GM, the union provides fodder to the anti-union campaigns at all those companies, which play upon workers' fears that strike-happy U.S. labor unions will scare companies into closing U.S. plants and cutting jobs en masse.
Meanwhile, Michigan's economy labors under the dual burden of its reliance on the Detroit Three auto companies and their declining market share, exacerbated by the longstanding reputation of Detroit and Michigan as a stronghold of truculent, overpaid and inflexible labor unions.
Forget about all gains in productivity and recent cooperative deals between labor and management to cut health care costs and simplify work rules. The old anti-business, pro-labor image is a hard one to shake. Any nationwide automotive strike, no matter how brief, sends the wrong message to growing companies looking for the best place to invest.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 4:28 PM | Permalink
DETROIT — Members of the United Automobile Workers union walked off the job today at General Motors plants across the country after union leaders and company officials failed to reach an agreement in contentious talks on a new contract, according to the New York Times.
It is the first national strike by the union since 1970. That strike, also against G.M., lasted for two months. The U.A.W. last struck G.M. at two plants in Flint, Mich., in 1998, in a strike that went on for seven weeks.
The union’s president, Ron Gettelfinger, said the union would go back to the bargaining table today. “This is nothing we wanted,” he said. “Nobody wins in a strike.”
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 1:20 PM | Permalink
September 12, 2007
European automakers, stung by criticisms from environmentalists and government regulators that they are late to the green party, will be using the 2007 Frankfurt motor show to showcase everything in their alternative fuel and powertrain arsenals, according to the New York Times.
The biennial show, the 62nd Internationalen Automobil-Ausstellungen Cars, will be held at the mammoth CongressCenter Messe Frankfurt convention center from Thursday through Sept. 23.
Press preview days began Monday night and continue through Wednesday. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, will open the show to the public on Thursday.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:13 AM | Permalink
August 24, 2007
There's a little bit of Toyota inside the Chevrolet HHR, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The HHR's seat frame was designed by the General Motors Corp. rival and produced by one of Toyota Motor Corp.'s suppliers.
This kind of sharing takes to a new level a trend the auto industry has been moving toward for decades. More recently, the Detroit automakers have been picking up speed with it.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:41 AM | Permalink
August 14, 2007
In a major coup, Buick landed a spot at the top of the influential J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study, tying with Lexus, as reported by USA Today.
It was the first time in more than a dozen years that any brand other than Lexus had been at the top of the study.
General Motors, (GM) which owns Buick, has been targeting quality improvements as a way to win back customers who fled domestic car brands for their import rivals. GM's July market share was 23.9% in the USA, its most important market, down from 27% just a year ago. That makes winning new customers a more critical goal than ever before.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:55 AM | Permalink
July 16, 2007
Despite high gas prices, the auto industry believes consumers view bigger as better and cars and trucks have ballooned as a result, according to USA Today.
Models getting the XXL treatment range from Audi's previously tiny TT sports car to the venerable Ford Taurus sedan among next-generation models. Even BMW's Mini is going to offer a maxi version.
Posted by at 3:34 PM | Permalink
July 13, 2007
A debate over the survival of Detroit's automakers broke out during a congressional hearing Thursday on the future of plug-in hybrid vehicles, as advocates pressed for more action and a Detroit defender warned the industry was on the brink of collapse, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The hearing was a mix of sympathy, castigation and bluster that has become typical of any debate about the auto industry on Capitol Hill. While General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler are building prototype plug-in hybrid vehicles, none was invited to the hearing of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.
Posted by at 11:51 AM | Permalink
July 2, 2007
Ford and Chrysler have followed General Motors in joining the United States Climate Action Partnership, a coalition working to reduce greenhouse gases tied to global warming, according to USA Today.
The alliance of big business and environmental groups told President Bush in January that mandatory emissions caps are needed to reduce the flow of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere.
Ford and Chrysler on Wednesday announced their membership in the coalition.
Posted by at 11:18 AM | Permalink
June 29, 2007
United Auto Group Inc. said it will change its corporate name to Penske Automotive Group Inc. effective July 2, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The Bloomfield Hills-based owner and operator of 311 car dealerships said it will also change its ticker symbol to PAG on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.
Posted by at 9:34 AM | Permalink
June 28, 2007
The auto industry is naming paint colors after foods, according to a report in the New York Times. Brown is now about coffee and chocolate, said Chris Webb, exterior color trend designer at General Motors, which has the colors Dark Mocha and Cocoa. Other G.M. colors are Black Licorice, Cappuccino Frost and Salsa Red.
Other companies are also using the palate to name their palettes: Chrysler offers Cool Vanilla, Honda has Root Beer and Volvo once offered Saffron (a coppery yellow). Volkswagen has the unsubtle Lemon Yellow and Candy White. (Is that the white of the candy after you have licked off the red stripes from the candy cane?) Hyundai borrows a French menu word for the purple eggplant and calls it aubergine.
Posted by at 2:04 PM | Permalink
June 15, 2007
Ford says about 27,000 U.S. hourly workers have left the company under buyout or early retirement offers, according to USA Today.
Ford offered the packages last year to reduce its workforce to match lower demand for its cars and trucks.
Initially about 37,000 workers signed up for the offers, but not all have left the company, it said. Ford has until September to phase in the departures as it closes plants under a restructuring plan, and some of the workers could change their minds and stay with the company.
Posted by at 1:16 PM | Permalink
American automakers, who are lobbying against legislation that would increase fuel economy standards, have directed more than half of their contributions this year to Democrats after 12 years of giving heavily to Republicans, according to USA Today.
The political action committees of the three automakers have contributed $374,000 in the first five months of this year, with 54% going to Democratic candidates, leadership PACs and party committees, according to a USA TODAY analysis of campaign data collected by PoliticalMoneyLine, a non-partisan group that tracks money in politics.
Posted by at 1:14 PM | Permalink
June 13, 2007
Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corp. says it's reached a deal with Healey Automobile Consultants Ltd., to bring back the Healey and Austin Healey nameplates, according to thecarconnection.com
The Chinese company, the new owner of the MG Rover brands and their Longbridge, U.K., factory, and the Healey group, said "they were delighted to announce their intention to collaborate with each other on the future development of the Healey and Austin Healey brands and sports cars bearing their name," according to a news release.
Posted by at 10:01 AM | Permalink
Detroit's auto industry was cast as an environmental villain Tuesday in an unusual blast of criticism by backers of tougher fuel-economy standards who contend the Senate must force the industry to build more efficient vehicles, according to the Detroit Free Press.
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., blistered Detroit automakers, saying the industry had "buffaloed" Congress with false claims of financial and technological hurdles to meeting a proposed standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2020.
Posted by at 9:49 AM | Permalink
French automaker Renault said vehicle sales slipped 4.2 percent in May from a year earlier to 214,358 amid competition from Asian brands and an older product lineup, according to the Associated Press.
Renault is hoping the launch of new and updated models in the second half of this year will arrest the slide and bolster prospects in 2008.
It is about to launch its latest version of the Twingo subcompact.
Posted by at 9:41 AM | Permalink
June 12, 2007
As with sport utilities, the popularity of pickups is in decline. Sales have dropped, rebates and other incentives are climbing, even for companies like G.M. and Toyota that have the newest models on the market, according to The New York Times.
Posted by at 10:28 AM | Permalink
Ford said it was reviewing its position on its Jaguar and Land Rover businesses, and union officials pressed for more information amid reports that the two brands were up for sale, according to the Associated Press.
John Gardiner, a spokesman for Ford's Premier Automotive Group, told Dow Jones Newswires that the company continued to review all of its global operations and all options were still on the table.
"I can confirm we're working with our financial advisers to determine the best way forward for Jaguar and Land Rover," Gardiner said.
Posted by at 9:53 AM | Permalink
June 8, 2007
China’s auto parts exports have increased more than sixfold in the last five years, nearly topping $1 billion in April and emerging as one of the fastest-growing categories of Chinese industrial products sold overseas, according to the New York Times.
More than half of these auto parts go to the United States; most of the rest to Europe and Japan.
The rise of Chinese auto parts exports is part of a much broader shift. China is moving up from basic goods like textiles, toys and shoes and toward higher-value industrial goods that pay better wages — but also compete more directly with products from countries like Mexico and even from advanced industrialized countries like the United States.
Posted by at 1:04 PM | Permalink
June 6, 2007
The heads of the domestic auto industry are pressing congressional leaders to revisit a plan to increase fuel efficiency standards that automakers say could hurt their industry, according to the Associated Press.
Leaders of General Motors, Ford and the Chrysler Group on Wednesday were to discuss the impact of health care, trade and energy policies on their companies, and urge congressional leaders in private meetings to consider an alternative to a proposed overhaul of Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for vehicles.
Posted by at 9:40 AM | Permalink
May 21, 2007
1957 was a Golden Era for automobile design, but a fleeting one that would end before the year was out, according to a fascinating feature in The New York Times.
“I think 1957 was a high-water mark for Ford design; Chrysler as well,” said Greg Wallace, manager of General Motors’ Heritage Center in Sterling Heights, Mich.
The enduring popularity, not to mention collectibility, of Chevrolet’s 1957 cars “speaks for itself,” he said, adding, “The ’57 Chevy was quite simply the best-looking car of the entire postwar era.”
Posted by at 10:11 AM | Permalink
May 8, 2007
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Monday faulted U.S. automakers for failing to do what foreign manufacturers have accomplished in producing fuel-efficient vehicles, according to the Associated Press.
Posted by at 10:30 AM | Permalink
May 4, 2007
Automakers would have until 2020 to raise the fuel efficiency of their cars and trucks to an average of 35 miles per gallon under a key U.S. Senate proposal, which includes several clauses Detroit automakers have pushed, giving federal regulators power over future rules, according to the Detroit Free Press
The amendment offered Friday by Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, will be the starting point when the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee meets Tuesday to consider passing a fuel economy increase to the full Senate.
Posted by at 11:45 AM | Permalink
May 2, 2007
Check out business writer Sarah Webster's analysis of the dip in car sales last month in the Detroit Free Press.
"U.S. consumers, whose confidence is being sapped by a sluggish housing market and rising fuel prices, purchased just 1.3 million new vehicles last month, she writes. "That's a decline of 7.6%, or 110,000, compared with sales a year ago -- the worst monthly sales drop this year....
"Automakers told the Free Press that when confidential fleet sales to rental car companies and other businesses are excluded, consumer purchases in dealer showrooms were even worse."
Posted by at 12:24 PM | Permalink
April 26, 2007
So GM has lost the top spot to Toyota, which sold 2.35 million cars and trucks worldwide in the first quarter; that was about 109,000 more than GM.
It was a long time coming, but was there any doubt it was coming?
Hell's bells, the late David Halberstam pretty much predicted it in his book 'The Reckoning,' which was published in 1986.
For decades, Detroit's Big Three - GM, Ford and Chrysler - have been blinded by short term sales and profits and have ignored the bigger forces at work. While the rest of the world pays astonomical prices for gasoline - $7 a gallon in Europe, for example - Americans pay next to nothing thanks in large part to the anti-gasoline tax lobby promulgated by the Big Three.
And while the Big Three kept on ignoring those signs, it opened the door for Asian manufacturers to start nibbling at the lower end of the food chain. Sure the small, fuel efficient cars were less profitable but once oil prices lost their moorings with the first OPEC crisis of 1973, Americans starting turning to the smaller cars and have never looked back.
I can think of another company that became incredibly successful by building market share while flying under the radar (excuse the pun): Southwest Airlines. Birthed in the shadow of American Airlines and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Southwest started operating as a puddle jumper from Dallas' Love Field Airport. Slowly it nibbled away until it is now one of the largest and most successful airlines in America.
How did it do it? Good management was one essential key, and the same applies to the Asian auto makers. If you're going to lead, know where you're going!
The management running the Big Three have proved themselves clueless time and time again. They tried every trick in the book including persuading Congress to implement import quotas against Japanese auto makers in 1981. They responded by moving up the food chain and building bigger and more expensive cars. And so it went on, with the Asian manufacturers gaining one segment after another and not giving it back.
Talk about being hoisted by your own petard.
In this sense, the recent introduction of Toyota's Tundra full-size pickup truck represents the final step to the top of the food chain just as its worldwide sales finally moved ahead of the heretofore iconic GM.
Posted by at 12:52 PM | Permalink
April 25, 2007
The Detroit Free Press's Tom Walsh reminds us that the late great David Halberstam predicted the decline of Detroit's auto industry and the rise of Japan's auto companies back in 1986.
He remembered a phone interview at that time in which Halberstam said Detroit's auto industry was "extraordinarily vulnerable." It "remains weaker and smaller than ever before. There's an illusory quality to the industry's comeback," he added.
It was Sept. 17, 1986, Walsh writes. The man speaking was David Halberstam, whose book "The Reckoning," on the stunning rise of Japan's auto industry and the decline of Detroit's, was new in stores.
Walsh goes on to argue that it should not matter that Toyota is now No.1, the focus in Detroit should be better autos
Posted by at 10:51 AM | Permalink
April 16, 2007
The Detroit Free Press reports that ashttp://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070416/BUSINESS01/704160362/1014/BUSINESS01 more than 35,000 engineers and executives gather in Detroit this week for the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress, one question will dominate the convention: What will power the car of the future?
The gas engine has dominated the U.S. auto market for decades, but gas-electric hybrids and diesel engines are gaining ground. Ethanol is being promoted as an alternative fuel, and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles are being tested in real-world conditions.
Posted by at 12:36 PM | Permalink
April 12, 2007
Former Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca tears into the Bush administration and the U.S. auto industry in a new book, saying America's political leaders have failed the nation and urging voters to pick more carefully in 2008, according the Detroit Free Press.
The 82-year-old Iacocca -- who was urged to run for president in the 1980s after turning around Chrysler -- also says in "Where Have All the Leaders Gone?" that he's for higher federal fuel-economy standards, warns that Chrysler could become a "shattered remnant" if sold and offers suggestions for Detroit's automakers to turn their businesses around, the paper says.
Posted by at 12:43 PM | Permalink
March 29, 2007
The contract talks between the United Automobile Workers union and Detroit’s automakers are months away but the union has already taken two issues off the bargaining table, according to the New York Times.
UAW president Ron Gettelfinger says he sees no reason to accept any deal that requires workers to pay more of their health care costs or that eliminates the jobs bank, which allows laid-off workers to continue collecting most of their pay and benefits.
Posted by at 11:41 AM | Permalink
March 28, 2007
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm urged UAW members at its bargaining convention today to support her efforts to prevent massive cuts in the state budget, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Granholm also commended UAW leadership for continuing to fight for worker rights, wages and benefits, the paper said. State and federal officials should be working to “level up” the playing field by requiring other nations to raise their standards, Granholm told more than 1,500 UAW delegates.
Posted by at 10:47 AM | Permalink
The head of the United Automobile Workers union says auto workers are done making sacrifices,according to the New York Times. Ron Gettelfinger opened the U.A.W.’s two-day bargaining convention yesterday by saying that he would take a hard line against more concessions, even if it meant calling a strike.
Gettelfinger has been criticized by some members for not taking a firm enough stance against wage and benefit cuts, made clear Tuesday that workers are done making sacrifices.
Posted by at 10:43 AM | Permalink
