Archives: May 2008

Ford To Build Small Fiestas in Mexico: Hatchback Coming

Posted by: David Kiley on May 30

Ford will build its sub-compact Fiesta hitting the U.S. market in 2010 in Mexico. This wasn't a big surprise, because making a small car expected to be priced $15K and...

GM Just Keeps on Shrinking

Posted by: David Welch on May 29

You can’t accuse General Motors Corp. of sitting still. While the company is en route to losing money for the third straight year and its stock languishes at $17...

New Porsche U.S. CEO Must Hit the Ground Running

Posted by: Jim Henry on May 28

Detlev von Platen, the new president and CEO of Porsche Cars North America Inc., has his work cut out for him, after 10 years in the friendly confines of Porsche...

Wilhite Named President of Jumpstart Media

Posted by: David Kiley on May 28

When Steve Wilhite called to tell me he was headed to Jumpstart Automotive Media to be the firm's new president, I said, "Congrats...it's about time you got a real job."...

Ford To Resort To White Collar Layoffs

Posted by: David Kiley on May 28

Thousands of white collar, as well as blue collar, employees at Ford have taken buyout packages in the last year or so. But then the spigot got shut off. Now,...

Don't Look For Big, Smart Energy Ideas This Campaign Season

Posted by: David Kiley on May 28

We won’t hear much in the way of intentionally maintaining high gas prices from Barack Obama and John McCain this year. That sort of talk is toxic to voters, especially...

Talks of Brand Sales and Closures in Detroit Stirred By The Uninformed

Posted by: David Kiley on May 27

Talks of brand sales and closures is gathering steam with the downturn in auto sales. It’s not that easy. Tracinda Corp. adviser Jerry York mused recently that he would...

Detroit To Be Hammered Meeting CAFE

Posted by: David Kiley on May 23

International consulting firm Global Insight predicts that new fuel efficiency rules will cost Detroit's automakers nearly twice what Japanese companies will pay. That's because the fleets of Toyota, Honda and...

Astra Not Catching On Yet Amidst Small Car Wave

Posted by: David Kiley on May 22

I have taken some flack from pals of mine in the business for not endorsing the Saturn Astra. One pal from Finland, no less, e-mailed me to complain about...

Hybrid Honda Fit Is Sound Marketing Play

Posted by: David Kiley on May 22

Honda announced it will roll out a gas-electric hybrid version of its Fit sub-compact. The Fit already gets in excess of 30 miles per gallon for combined gas mileage. And...

Is the U.S. Toyota's new export hub?

Posted by: Ian Rowley on May 20

After years of building U.S. factories to build Toyotas for American customers, reports in Japan today say the giant automaker will soon export vehicles from the U.S. to the Middle...

Ford's "Small" Truck Plan Will All Be in the Execution

Posted by: David Kiley on May 19

Ford is planning to replace the Ranger small pickup with a stepped down version of the Ford F150 pickup truck, according to www.pickuptrucks.com. The small/mid-size truck mqarket has been drying...

Most Expensive Car Ever Sold--Can We Learn From It?

Posted by: David Kiley on May 19

This 1961 Ferrari 250 GT short-wheelbase SWB California Spyder fetched €7,040,000, or $10,976,000 at an auction. Sweet....

Fewer cars on Japan's roads

Posted by: Ian Rowley on May 16

Given that Japan's car market has been shrinking for years, reaching a 25-year low in 2007 million, execs at Japan's car makers must be reasonably pleased that sales in 2008...

Prius: Over 1 million sold

Posted by: David Welch on May 15

Most industry milestones make for pretty weak news events. Like when Toyota passes General Motors in global sales, or when trucks became more than half the U.S. car market,...

Generous Motors

Posted by: David Welch on May 08

General Motors is down with O.P.P. By that I mean, Other People’s Problems. The company is stepping in to help stop a two-month old strike at American Axle and...

Mercedes-Benz worldwide sales up 22% in April

Posted by: Jim Henry on May 07

Mercedes-Benz sold 119,000 passenger cars worldwide in April, including Mercedes-Benz, Smart and Maybach. That was 22% higher than the year-ago month, thanks in part to the redesigned C-Class, launched last...

Mercedes-Benz worldwide sales up 22% in April

Posted by: Jim Henry on May 07

Mercedes-Benz (DAI) sold 119,000 passenger cars worldwide in April, including Mercedes-Benz, Smart and Maybach. That was 22% higher than the year-ago month, thanks in part to the redesigned C-Class, launched...

Chrysler's Gas Card Promo Smells Like Bacon

Posted by: David Kiley on May 06

I like Jim Henry's and Dave Welch's analysis on this. Here's mine: Bacon here. Bacon. Get your free bacon here. Bacon right on the hood of this here Dodge...

Chrysler Clings to the Past

Posted by: David Welch on May 06

I’ll concede that Chrysler has hit on a smart marketing move with its “Let’s Refuel America Program.” As Jim Henry details in this blog, Chrysler will give buyers of...

Gas Gimmick from Chrysler

Posted by: Jim Henry on May 05

It remains to be seen whether Chrysler LLC's "Let's Refuel America" campaign will create an auto industry sensation like "Employee Prices for Everyone," or "Zero-Percent Financing," but the $2.99 per...

Exit Poll: Mercury is Dropping

Posted by: Jim Henry on May 05

Businessweek.com readers so far are voting Mercury off the island, which of course they have effectively been doing for years, when they bought something else. Accompanying the story, "Which Auto...

Th!nk Again: The Electric City Cars Return Without Ford's Help.

Posted by: David Kiley on May 05

The Norwegian electric car producer Think has reached across the Atlantic and established TH!NK North America in partnership with the leading clean-tech investors RockPort Capital Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caulfield...

Hillary Clinton’s GOP Strategy in Force on Gas Tax Farce

Posted by: David Kiley on May 02

Senator Hillary Clinton on Friday continued to press her support for a gas tax holiday this summer, which most economists say would be a mistake and would save drivers around...

The UAW's Connundrum

Posted by: David Welch on May 01

There’s little arguing that American Axle’s initial demand that its union workers take a 50% pay cut is harsh, maybe even excessive. That $14 an hour wage would be...

Trash-To-Fuel: GM Invests In Another Bio-Fuel Company

Posted by: David Kiley on May 01

GM says it is investing in a company that makes ethanol economically out of nonfood plant matter. The investment in Boston-based Mascoma comes at a time when the whole ethanol...

Nissan and Chrysler. Can't We Get These Two Kids Together?

Posted by: David Kiley on May 01

Sitting with Carlos Ghosn, CEO of both Renault and Nissan, this week at our offices, I became pretty sure I was looking at the future CEO of Chrysler. He told...