Automotive News back issues from March 1998:
GM pony cars face extinction: slumping sales imperil coupes. (General Motors Corp. considering the elimination of the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird coupes because of declining sales in sport cars)
Mar 09, 1998; ... Slumping sales imperil coupesDETROIT - The futures of the Chevrolet Camaro and the Pontiac Firebird are in doubt.Sports coupe sales are sinking. But dropping the pony cars. the subject of an intense debate at General Motors. would leave the sporty segment almost ...
Ford unveils Escort successor, puts Focus on global platform. (Ford Motor Co's displayed Focus at 1998 Geneva auto show, Focus will replace Escort in North America and Europe)
Mar 09, 1998; ... GENEVA - The industry got a good look at global platforms last week when Ford Motor Co. unveiled its Escort replacement, the Focus.Ford boasted that the Focus has a cost advantage of $1,000 per car over the Escort. But the Focus is more than just a replacement for the Escort. It is ...
Samsung asks: what crisis? Nation's financial turmoil doesn't faze Korea's newest automaker; it's full steam ahead for '98.
Mar 09, 1998; ... Nation's financial turmoil doesn't raze Korea's newest automaker; it's full steam ahead for '98PUSAN, South Korea - Samsung Motors Inc., Korea's newest carmaker, originally planned to build 83,000 cars this year.But that was before the Korean economy ran into a brick ...
GM's '96 'viability' letter may fuel dealer lawsuits. (General Motors Corp)
Mar 09, 1998; ... The letters went out two years ago. Now they are starting to haunt some General Motors dealers.In 1996, the company sent letters to dealers that assessed the viability of their stores. For some dealers. the news was bad; the letters implied the future of their dealerships was ...
CarMax same-store sales slip again. (CarMax Group's same-store sales dropped 2% in February 1998)
Mar 09, 1998; ... CarMax Group has been on a roller coaster ride in same-store sales, a measure some retail analysts regard as critical.CarMax, the Richmond, Va.-based chain of 18 used-car superstores, in February sustained its second same-store sales loss in three months. Same-store sales. measured ...
New Chrysler outlet is designed for customers. (Chrysler Corp's Raynham, Massachusetts center built upon Chrysler's Facility 2000 concept)
Mar 09, 1998; ... Chrysler Corp.'s vision of a customer-friendly dealership is taking shape in the tiny (population 9,867) town of Raynham, Mass.Eddie Albert, owner of Classic Chrysler Center in Raynham, will be the first Chrysler dealer to sell new vehicles in a dealership built upon Chrysler's ...
Steelmakers tout superlight body-in-white. (Ultralight Steel Auto Body developed a high-strength and lightweight steel body-in-white car structure)
Mar 09, 1998; ... DETROIT - A group of steel companies spent $22 million to design a car body for the future - even though steel already dominates the world market.That is a lot like tire companies joining forces to promote the benefits of rubber.But by building what it calls the ...
Toyota shifts line; Paseo, 4-door Tercel are gone. (Toyota 1998 models)
Mar 09, 1998; ... LOS ANGELES - Midway through the 1998 model year, Toyota Division has made some changes to its product line.The Paseo has been deleted to make to make room for other models imported from Japan. Also gone is the fourdoor Tercel, which doesn't bring the same profit as an imported ...
No boom, no doom, just cycling back to normal. (declining used-car prices)
Mar 09, 1998; ... You can almost hear a sigh of relief in the used-car community. Used-car prices rose slightly in January over the previous month. Auto auctions have reported brisk activity this year.Perhaps the used-car market is not going to crash after all."There's been so much doom ...
Dealers told: act now to avoid the 2000 computer meltdown. (how automobile dealers could cope with Millenium bug)
Mar 09, 1998; ... Vendors, automakers, NADA offer adviceThe clock strikes 12:01 a.m., Jan. 1, 2000. Is your computer system running?Dealers had better find out now. Like many other businesses, automobile dealerships face a computer crash if they are unprepared to meet 2000. In many cases, ...
Chevy turns to supplier to take Xtreme measures. (General Motor Corp's Chevrolet Motors Div works with Tecstar Inc for faster market delivery of 1999 S10 Xtreme sporty niche vehicle)
Mar 09, 1998; ... Call it the lowrider option without the tears.Chevrolet has turned to an outside supplier to add ground effects, wheels and badging for the 1999 S10 Xtreme, a sporty niche vehicle that carrys a factory warranty and will be sold through factory distribution channels.For ...
Smart-airbag software poses challenging riddles.
Mar 09, 1998; ... A traveler is sitting in the front passenger seat of a car that is about to collide with an oncoming pickup. The ear is carrying a "smart" airbag.Will the airbag's computer brain figure out whether the traveler is a 50-pound child or a 110-pound woman?Can it tell the ...
GM, U. of Mich. join to create on-campus research lab. (General Motors Corp; University of Michigan)
Mar 09, 1998; ... ANN ARBOR, Mich. - General Motors is creating its first on-campus satellite research lab, at the University of Michigan.The five-year, $5 million joint venture initially will concentrate on three areas: advanced body design, systems engineering and advanced engine design. ...
Hyundai chief: financial muscle, better quality, new products lift hopes. (Hyundai Motor Chmn Chung Mong-Gyu)(Interview)
Mar 09, 1998 ... A whirlwind of change is battering the Korean auto industry, threatening to rip it from its foundations. January domestic sales slid 40 percent after an 8 percent decline for all of 1997, interest rates are hovering at 25 percent and the won has gone into a nosedive, losing some 70 percent ...
Marketing exec: Hyundai won't force cars on Europe. (Hyundai Motor Co's director of international marketing support Lee Hyoung-Keoun)
Mar 09, 1998 ... Hyundai Motor Co. plans to boost its European sales 10 percent this year to about 180,000 units, from 163,000 last year. Much of that gain will be accounted for by the new Atos, the 1.0-liter minicar now being rolled out in Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom.But ...
Sales steady in Feb., but small cars are dismal. (light vehicle sales for Feb 1998)
Mar 09, 1998; ... Stop worrying about the consequences of big sport-utilities crashing into small cars. It the present sales trend continues, small cars will become as rare as dinosaurs anyway.Sales of light vehicles were down only 0.7 percent in February, steady at about 1.15 million. But within ...
Stempel-Iacocca bicycles may plug into Europe, Asia. (EV Global Motors Chmn Lee Iacocca's and Energy Conversion Devices Chmn Robert Stempel's joint venture to develop light electric bicycles)
Mar 09, 1998; ... Asia and Europe might be additional markets for the light electric bicycle being developed by former General Motors Chairman Robert Stempel and former Chrysler Corp. Chairman Lee Iacocca, if the price is right."You've got to create a whole new product category, and I don't want to ...
Geneva show offers early glance at key turf struggles. (1998 Geneva auto show)
Mar 09, 1998; ... GENEVA - It was not a display of breathtaking beauties or surprises, but the Geneva auto show last week was a preview of coming battles in key segments.The long-awaited launch of RollsRoyce's first new car in nearly two decades was eclipsed not only by possible competitive models ...
Jury says GM crushed company, awards $21.5 million. (R.M. Taylor Co won a $21.5 billion verdict from General Motors Corp on latter's refusal to pay for installing assembly lines)
Mar 09, 1998; ... KANSAS CITY, Mo. - An auto supplier won a $21.5 million jury verdict last week against General Motors after the automaker declined to pay the company for installing assembly lines at various plants.R.M. Taylor Co. sued GM in federal court in Kansas City, contending GM's refusal to ...
Mitsubishi throttles back; profit, not growth, is Kawasoe's goal. (Mitsubishi Motors Pres. Katsuhiko Kawasoe)
Mar 16, 1998; ... TOKYO - Facing Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s first group loss in 24 years, President Katsuhiko Kawasoe last week rolled out a dramatic restructuring plan that repudiates the growth-oriented strategies of his predecessors."To date, our company has sought to secure profits chiefly by ...
Saturn looks ahead after UAW contest. (United Automobile Workers)
Mar 16, 1998; ... SPRING HILL, Tenn. - Now that Saturn's workers have voted to keep their independent UAW contract, President Don Hudler pledges the company will get back to remaking itself.That effort includes new products, new dealerships and a "re-visioning, of the company.And the ...
Toyota frets over its uncool, 'ojisan' image; new unit courts Japan's Gen X.
Mar 16, 1998; ... TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp. sold 2,006,279 cars and trucks in Japan last year, but Takahiro Saito added nothing to the total. The 21-year-old university student thinks Toyota vehicles are about as hip as a blue-serge suit."There is not a vehicle in Toyota's lineup I would like to ...
Dealer's 300-mile Web delivery plan has rivals howling. (Jeep-Eagle dealer Joe Dawson)
Mar 16, 1998; ... Joe Dawson, a Jeep-Eagle dealer in Muncie, Ind., is trying to take Internet selling to a new level.Customers on his Web site can choose options and price any vehicle without help from a salesperson. And Dawson will deliver a vehicle free to any buyer within 300 miles.His ...
Delphi lighting's new owners: we'll add technology, cut costs.
Mar 16, 1998; ... The man who will head General Motors' soon-to-be-sold lighting business says he hopes to bring about a turnaround in two or three years.Michael Hammes, CEO of the newly formed Guide Corp., says he will seek new technology and launch a cost-cutting campaign."We have to ...
Who you gonna call? (Air)bag busters. (AirBag Options Inc.)
Mar 16, 1998; ... For $279, they'll make house callJay Malone will go just about anywhere to get the job done.For a price - $279, to be exact - Malone, 41, travels around the country to put the kibosh on vehicle airbags.Malone owns AirBag Options Inc., an Arlington, Texas, ...
Ford's familiar wring: supplier costs. (interview with Ford Automotive Operations Pres Jac Nasser)(Interview)
Mar 16, 1998; ... Ford Motor Co. reduced total automotive costs last year by $3 billion, and suppliers were a big part of that effort. Jac Nasser, president of Ford Automotive Operations, wants this year's cuts to reach $1 billion - or more. He spoke last month with Staff Reporter John Couretas. Edited ...
America - the auto world's nonconformist.
Mar 16, 1998; ... The drive through the Alps from Geneva to Turin and later to Milan provided the answers to two of today's big automotive questions. Those answers: no and yes.NO, the "world car" isn't really going to happen, except in the luxury-car segments where it has been happening for years. ...
Personal touch fosters the retail relationship.
Mar 16, 1998; ... The Thompson Organization, a dealer group in suburban Philadelphia, has developed a corporate relationship marketing campaign that accounts for more than 10 percent of new-car retail sales. It combines employee discounts and an annual ride-and-drive for corporate executives.The ...
All-in-one electric system gives silent starts. (ISAD Electronic Systems' starter)
Mar 16, 1998; ... DETROIT - The familiar throb and shriek of car-starter motors could be a thing of the past if a German supplier's powerful new all-in-one electric starter finds favor. The technology combines functions of the starter motor, alternator and flywheel.It is called an integrated starter ...
Software not so hard anymore. (automotive engineering software)
Mar 16, 1998; ... DETROIT - Once, only computer specialists dealt with automotive engineering software. Engineers would design products, hand the data over to "data processing" and wait for arcane computer reports to come back.Not so today Software vendors are making easy-to-use programs, with ...
Suppliers facing maze of complex issues. (excerpt from a panel discussion at the 1998 Automotive News World Congress)(Panel Discussion)
Mar 16, 1998; ... Despite steady-as-she-goes projections for U.S. vehicle sales, automotive suppliers might be forgiven if they look at the market as a mine field.Price deflation is gripping the industry, so automakers' parts purchasers have turned cost cutting into a crusade. Needless to say, that ...
Chrysler's 'crazy' car cuts cost, complexity. (Composite Concept Vehicle)
Mar 16, 1998; ... When Chrysler Corp. says "CCV," it means Composite Concept Vehicle, the company's latest vision of an affordable car for developing countries.But during the car's gestation. some people at Chrysler thought the term just as easily could have stood for Crazy Concept Vehicle. ...
Hanawa tries to stir the stew at Nissan. (Nissan Motor Pres Yoshikazu Hanawa)
Mar 16, 1998; ... TOKYO - Several weeks after the 1996 Paris auto show. Nissan Motor Co. President Yoshikazu Hanawa summoned his top executives to the company's technical center in Atsugi, Japan.Hanawa had assembled about 20 new European cars for what came to be known within Nissan as the ...
Retail revolution's Paul Revere says alarm was undue. (Republic Industries Inc.'s Robert Thomas)
Mar 16, 1998; ... NEW ORLEANS - Since going to Republic Industries Inc. from Nissan last fall, Robert Thomas has changed his tune on the retail revolution he once warned the industry about.In January 1997, Thomas, then president of Nissan Motor Corp. U.S.A, delivered a stirring speech to the ...
Ford's SHO nears final curtain. (discontinuation of Ford Motor Co's Taurus SHO)
Mar 23, 1998; ... Critics cite cost, lackluster imageDETROIT - Ford Motor Co is close to eliminating the Ford Taurus SHO, possibly as early as the end of the 1998 model year.The SHO's sporty styling cues could survive on a production Taurus model in the 1999 model year or later. But the ...
Volvo adds spice to image of safety.
Mar 23, 1998; ... DETROIT - Believing its safety-laden reputation may be too square for today's buyers, Volvo Car Corp. is moving to spice up its brand image as it prepares two new platforms for sale in North America."We don't want to continue to have safe, boxy and boring cars," said Helge Alten, ...
ABS price war sparks ITT to consider sale. (antilock brake systems; ITT Industries Inc's ITT Automotive Div)
Mar 23, 1998; ... ITT Industries Inc. finally grew tired of the price wars.The White Plains, N.Y., conglomerate has announced it may sell the brake and electrical businesses of its automotive division operations that account for nearly $4 billion in sales.At a time when automakers are ...
Dealer total slips 76; import brands add exclusives. (car dealerships)
Mar 23, 1998; ... When it comes to dealership numbers, the Big 3's loss is the imports' gain.With their eyes on the millennium, General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp. slashed 292 dealerships from their retail networks in 1997.But foreign-badge brands added 216 outlets, so the ...
Subprime tightrope. (subprime automobile lenders)(Industry Overview)
Mar 23, 1998; ... Casualties continue after a shaky '97, but the segment still attracts entriesMost subprime auto lenders got badly burned in 1997, but that has not stopped more, and bigger, companies from entering the business."From a timing perspective, you're right to say this is ...
Ford scrambles for V-8s for its hot models.
Mar 23, 1998; ... Trucks, utes, rwd sedans feel pinchFord Motor Co. is scrambling to boost its supply of V-8 engines.A shortage of 4.6-liter V-8s is costing Ford sales as the company juggles allocation of the engine among the Ford Expedition and F series, the Mercury Grand Marquis, the ...
Who will pay for cleaner air? Autos and oil say, 'He will.'
Mar 23, 1998; ... The auto industry and the oil industry are squaring off over who will pay for cleaner air. The stakes are tailpipe emissions from about 190 million vehicles with catalytic converters currently on the road, and millions of vehicles yet to be built.At the center of the controversy is ...
Long, strange trip ends at Dave's door. (Hyundai dealer's visit to David Letterman's show)
Mar 23, 1998; ... Hyundai salesman calls on LettermanI get up at 4 a.m. on Wednesday and travel from Detroit to Newark in steady rain just to meet Connor Ryan.So when he roars into the parking lot of Brad Benson Hyundai in South Brunswick, N.J., like a teenage girl drawn to Titanic star ...
Subprime loan market is a different game.(Industry Overview)
Mar 23, 1998; ... Subprime finance is a distinctly different business from prime.By definition, there is a much higher risk that subprime customers will not repay their loans.Costs are higher than with prime, too. Fairlane Credit, the subprime subsidiary of Ford Motor Credit Co., needs ...
Value subtracted: average residual losses are up to $1,400 a leased vehicle. (automobile leasing business)(Industry Overview)
Mar 23, 1998; ... Average residual losses are up to $1,400 a leased vehicleChickens have come home to roost in leasing.For vehicles that end up back in their hands, lenders are now losing an average of $1,400 per vehicle, and the figure is rising, according to Lee & Mason of Maryland Inc., ...
Dealers blast Ohio franchise bill.
Mar 23, 1998; ... CLEVELAND - A host of Cleveland-area auto dealers are up in arms over pending state legislation they say will give automakers sweeping control over their dealerships.Dealers say the proposed changes in Ohio's dealer franchise law would make it easier for automakers to allow ...
Countdown of lessors' concerns. (automobile leasing companies)(Industry Overview)
Mar 23, 1998; ... Here are the Top 10 leasing concerns for 1998, according to William Jensen, senior vice president of Bank of America in Las Vegas:10. Will used-car leasing ever become popular?"I don't think it's popular yet," Jensen says. "Payments are in competition with new-car ...
Beetle ads: great but unneeded.
Mar 23, 1998; ... A few years back, a very smart guy named Randall Rothenberg wrote a very interesting book leading to a very ridiculous conclusion: Even the most venerated advertising is largely irrelevant, because sales are overwhelmingly determined by the convergence of product attributes and marketplace ...
Rx for a lender. (interview with Mercury Finance CEO Bill Brandt)(Interview)
Mar 23, 1998; ... Bill Brandt is helping ailing Mercury Finance get healthyChicago's Mercury Finance Co. suffered one of the worst blowouts in the troubled subprime industry when it disclosed in January 1997 it had grossly. overstated its earnings.At the time, Mercury stock fell from ...
Old Black Book becomes black box - with e-mail.
Mar 23, 1998; ... It's common to see dealers at auto auctions flipping through their Black Books at warp speed, looking up the recommended wholesale prices for each used ear coming down the lanes.Black Book, published in Gainesville, Ga., by the National Auto Research Division of Hearst Business ...
Policy change: traditional taboos may be tumbling against dealers offering property and casualty insurance. (automobile dealers)
Mar 23, 1998; ... Few car dealers these days offer property and casualty insurance on the vehicles they sell. But that could change soon, thanks to two developments - one market-related, one legal - that may help crumble the traditional taboo against the practice.Republic Industries Inc. is ...
Walbro says cutbacks are key to comeback. (Walbro Corp's losses)
Mar 23, 1998; ... Walbro Corp.'s high debt levels and slow startup of new fuel-tank factories have stock analysts and credit-rating agencies nervous.But the company says a corporate belt-tightening will straighten out its problems.Walbro, based in Cass City, Mich., posted a $37 million ...
Hyundai, U.S. partner to sell trucks in American market. (Hyundai Motor Co and Bering Trucks Corp)
Mar 23, 1998; ... LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Hyundai is preparing to export commercial trucks to the United States for the first time with the help of a partner in Virginia.This fall, Hyundai Motor Co. plans to export Class 5-7 trucks to the United States where they will be marketed by Bering Truck Corp. of ...
No retreat. (interview with Ford Motor Credit Chairman Ken Whipple)(Interview)
Mar 23, 1998; ... Ford forges strategy as leasing war continuesFord Motor Credit Co. has battled its way to dominance in retail leasing and has no plans to retreat despite bruising losses on vehicle depreciation in 1997.Moreover, the world's largest auto financing company has extended its ...
Surfing for credit: GMAC leads charge by captives to offer online financing to consumers. (General Motors Acceptance Corp)
Mar 23, 1998; ... With the click of a mouse button, Internet shoppers can apply for credit and be preapproved for a car loan in less than five minutes.That is the promise General Motors Acceptance Corp. makes at SmartTown, its Web site. The offer may sound inviting, but few Internet surfers are ...
Makers take many routes to upgrade dealer bodies. (carmakers)
Mar 23, 1998; ... The Big 3 are trimming their dealer organizations and/or consolidating individual points. The imports generally want more exclusives.And some manufacturers are not enthralled with their nonperforming retailers. The factory thinking is that those individuals should shape-up or ship ...
Sale of service contracts online starts small.
Mar 23, 1998; ... Car buyers increasingly can apply online for extended warranties and service contracts after they leave the dealership. But even the companies providing these aftermarket contracts in cyberspace say that there are structural limitations on the market that may limit the practice for a long ...
Clock watchers: finance companies are using several techniques to speed up credit approvals.
Mar 23, 1998; ... David Jones knows that car dealers and their customers care about only two things when it comes to credit applications: They want the right answer from the financing people, and they want it yesterday."Customer surveys will tell you that one of the most emotional times during the ...
Business-forms provider sues Reynolds. (Performance Business Forms Inc; Reynolds and Reynolds Co)
Mar 23, 1998; ... Reynolds and Reynolds Co. of Dayton, Ohio, is the target of a competitor's multimillion-dollar lawsuit that alleges breach of a distributorship contract, theft of trade secrets and violation of federal antitrust laws.Performance Business Forms Inc. of Nashville, Tenn., and its ...
Big 3: bring on the millennium. (how major carmakers are addressing Year 2000 software problem)
Mar 23, 1998; ... Computers updated to prevent 2000 glitchThe year 2000 glitch, which is expected to cause many computers to malfunction after Dec. 31, 1999, is a massive headache for the Big 3. The main problem: Most computers are programmed to recognize only two-digit dates, so they may read "00" ...
Citing product, Nissan shelves U.S. sales goal. (Nissan Motor Corporation USA)
Mar 30, 1998; ... Won't hit 900,000 by 2000, chief saysLOS ANGELES - Minoru Nakamura, the head of all Nissan Motor Corp. operations in North America, has shelved one of the automaker's most overriding goals: hitting 900,000 sales a year in the United States by 2000.In his first interview ...
Auto suppliers shape selves into modern mega makers. (automobile parts suppliers)
Mar 30, 1998; ... The North American auto industry is entering the era of the mega supplier.Last year, 17 automotive parts suppliers generated $2 billion or more each in North American sales. That is up from only six that reached that mark in 1992, according to Automotive News' annual list of top ...
Toyota wins race for sales per dealer.
Mar 30, 1998; ... For the second year in a row, Toyota won the sales-per-dealer race as former champ Saturn continued to stumble.Toyota dealers sold an average of 951 cars and light trucks in 1997, up 45 from 1996.Saturn also surrendered the cars-per-outlet title to Honda, which averaged ...
Toyota shakes up U.S. sales operation. (Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc.)
Mar 30, 1998; ... Despite record sales last year, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. is shaking itself up.The effort, to be announced this week, will free Toyota's top American, Executive Vice President Yale Gieszl, 56, to spend more time on strategic issues. One of his main challenges will be to plot ...
Mercury's new mission: make Cougar a phat cat. (marketing the Cougar to younger consumers)(includes related article on recruitment strategies)
Mar 30, 1998; ... ATLANTA - To sell the reborn Cougar, Brand Manager Mike Jennings must stretch Mercury and its dealers out of their collective comfort zones.So at a recent dealer meeting in Orlando, Fla., he organized a dealer field trip to a rock music club.Outside the club, a ...
Study shows transplants' big economic impact: 1.27 million U.S. jobs. (foreign automobile manufacturers in the US)
Mar 30, 1998; ... A new study for the first time puts a finger on the economic clout importers and transplant automakers bring to the United States.The figure: 1.27 million jobs.That's what University of Michigan researchers have concluded after spending a year applying a scientific ...