Headlines for Monday, February 4, 2013
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3 to contend for '13 global sales title
Toyota Motor Corp. rebounded sharply in 2012 to pass General Motors and Volkswagen AG and reclaim the global sales crown. But in 2013, all three automakers have a shot at taking the top spot and cracking the 10 million unit barrier. Read More »
John F. Bergstrom's profit-sharing plan
John F. Bergstrom – CEO of Bergstrom Automotive Group in Neenah, Wis. – donates 25 percent of dealership profits to local charities and raises funds for parks, hospitals and the arts. Read More »
Jack Kain's lifesaving mission
Jack Kain who owns a Ford dealership bearing his name in Versailles, Ky., is committed to bucking up the local organ-donor registry one dollar at a time. And for Kain, this cause is personal. Read More »
Dick Olson visits prisoners
Dealer Dick Olson and his wife, Debbie, are active in prison-ministry outreach through their church. Olson, who is president of Bison Ford in Great Falls, Mont., hands out books and Bibles to inmates weekly. Read More »
Sports lover's gift helps school, honors family
At age 11, Alan Helfman started doing odd jobs at his dad's store, Helfman River Oaks Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram in Houston. Read More »
Son's illness made giving personal
For Atlanta dealer Jim Ellis, a longtime contributor to mental illness causes, the connection is personal. Ellis and his wife of nearly 60 years, Billie, experienced the devastation that mental illness can cause when their son, Greg Ellis, was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Read More »
Techs' checks ensure children travel safely
In April, parents flocked to Smith South Plains Ford-Lincoln-Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram in Levelland, Texas, to have qualified technicians check their vehicles' child safety seats for proper sizing and installation. Read More »
Sharing values, ideas
Working with kids and young adults has been a longtime passion for Paul Moak Jr. The second-generation dealer, with stores housing Honda, Subaru and Volvo cars in Jackson, Miss., grew up in Scouting and has been active in it as an adult. Read More »
Sharing time and wisdom is part of dealer's routine
When Tari Cash was trying to break into the auto business in 2008, her father, a Harvard University business professor, suggested she contact a former student and car dealer, Marcy Maguire, who might make time for a phone call or a job lead. Read More »
Penske is a go-to guy for Detroit projects
The name Roger Penske is synonymous with Detroit cleanup and security. Penske, chairman of Penske Automotive Group Inc., is the go-to guy for many tangible downtown improvements. Read More »
Megadealer Wilson, aka layaway angel
California megadealer David Wilson estimates that he and his dealerships have given away about $10 million over the years. But it's one of his smaller outlays that has commanded attention the past two years. Read More »
Lather up! Hosting car washes is a tradition in Long Beach
Most Sundays, a line of dirty cars waits to visit Glenn E. Thomas Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram. Almost every weekend for the past two decades, the dealership has hosted a charity car wash for local school and college groups from the Long Beach, Calif., area. Read More »
Ga. dealer rewards great teaching
The most fun Valery Voyles has all year is when she hands over car keys to four dedicated teachers in her community each fall. Those teachers are all winners of local Teacher of the Year programs in suburban Atlanta, where Voyles, 56, runs her family's six dealerships. Read More »
Family illness made dealer an activist
Jay Cimino's childhood town, Trinidad, Colo., needed better health care. So in 2005 Cimino founded the Trinidad Community Foundation to raise money for health care and education. But he needed a place for Trinidad residents to go to get that health care. Read More »
Dealer's cause: Organ donation awareness
Every day the clock ticks and Jack Kain, owner of Jack Kain Ford in Versailles, Ky., and former chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association, prays it will be the day the phone rings. Read More »
Dealer takes time to visit prisoners
Most Tuesday evenings Dick Olson is in prison. But not as an inmate. Dick and his wife, Debbie, distribute books and Bibles to more than 400 inmates at the Cascade County Regional Detention Facility in Great Falls, Mont. Read More »
Dealer shares profits, gets his community involved
Bergstrom Automotive Group has a company policy of giving 25 percent of its profits to local causes every year, and also regularly gathers donations from the community. Read More »
Dealer Fitzgerald is a teacher, not just an auto seller
Jack Fitzgerald, owner of 15 dealerships in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Florida, has reams of government spreadsheets and documents on his Web site, together with his own tip sheets for buying a car. Read More »
Colorado dealer thanks the troops
Ask Colorado and Texas dealer Mike Shaw why he devotes so much time and passion to honoring the military personnel in his region, and he enthusiastically describes the dangerous and demanding job that the U.S. armed forces face every day. Read More »
Texas dealer works to leave a legacy of aiding education
Each November, international students attending Texas A&M University get to experience life on a Texas ranch, including riding horses, watching a blacksmith and eating barbecue. Read More »
Fiat mulls low-cost brand, Marchionne says
Fiat is considering launching a low-cost sub-brand to rival Dacia, CEO Sergio Marchionne said. If approved, cars for the brand would be built outside of Europe to reduce manufacturing costs. Read More »
AutoNews Now: Big game, big triumphs
Marchionne: Super Bowl standouts getting tougher; Ford gets Budweiser cameo; 'Vette for Ravens QB; Chicago show preview. Read More »
Nissan will build VW Golf rival in Spain
Nissan will build a compact car to rival the VW Golf at its plant in Spain, dashing hopes that the model would be made in one of alliance partner Renault's factories in France. Read More »
First Shift: Chrysler's 'Super' surprise
Patriotism rules the day in two-minute commercials for Jeep, Ram; January sales winners, losers; NADA's energy appeal. Read More »
German new-car sales down 8.6% in January
New-car registrations in Germany dropped 8.6 percent to 192,090 in January, the KBA federal transport agency said, continuing the sales slide in major European markets Read More »
Infiniti wants to go home -- but it's tricky
Launched as Nissan Motor Co.'s Japanese luxury brand in 1989, Infiniti has had the odd history of never being offered in its home market. Infiniti's worldwide president wants to change that and introduce the brand to the nation that created it. Read More »
How Twitter-verse viewed the auto industry’s Super Bowl spots
Automakers spent millions of dollars last night to be memorable. Automotive News’ 30,000-plus Twitter followers were eager to praise some commercials, while shredding others like wild dogs on fresh steak. Read More »
Toyota, Nissan to take another shot at Detroit 3 pickup dominance
Japanese automakers are about to make another run at challenging Detroit's dominance in trucks. When it comes to pickups, loyalty runs deep. There is no model more important or more zealously defended by Detroit. The $8,000 to $10,000 in gross profit each truck hauls in for U.S. Read More »
Fiat dealers welcome a surge of promised products
Fiat dealers in the United States, struggling to turn a profit selling versions of just one nameplate, got great news last week. Read More »
'AutoNation' now a brand; who's next?
AutoNation Inc.'s move to put its corporate name on most of its stores signals the next wave for a dealership business model that has moved from exclusively mom-and-pop stores in a short period of time. Some other large dealership groups -- Sonic Automotive Inc. Read More »
Big, boring but profitable
They are big and boring-looking, but light commercial vehicles are crucial to the financial health of many European volume brands. LCVs provide hefty profits -- as high as 9 percent -- and that cash has been invaluable to Renault, Fiat, Peugeot and Opel. Read More »
Fiat set to build Maserati, Alfa Romeo SUVs in Turin
Fiat will build Maserati's new Levante SUV at its flagship Mirafiori plant in Turin, union sources said. The automaker may also build an SUV for Alfa Romeo in the same factory, the sources said. Read More »
Fired up for fuel cells
A fresh wave of enthusiasm for fuel cell vehicles among automakers is running up against an old problem. It's a Catch-22. Carmakers are reluctant to build fuel cell vehicles in significant volume without stations to refuel them. Read More »
A lifetime of achievement
Edsel Ford II received the 2013 Keith Crain/Automotive News Lifetime Achievement Award during the Washington Auto Show. Read More »
Sedans and pickups strong in '13
Strong demand for mid-sized cars and pickups, two segments expected to propel the auto industry to a six-year high in 2013, helped U.S. auto sales increase 14 percent in January. Read More »
Does your store have what it takes?
In 2012, Automotive News set out to find the best dealerships to work for in North America. We want to hear from you again in 2013. Read More »
Honda near ad agency choices
American Honda has narrowed the list of advertising agencies competing for its $900 million account, and incumbent RPA is still in the hunt to retain both the creative and media-buying work. Read More »
Maybe the next franchise shouldn't be an auto brand
To fortify his Hyundai-Kia retail business, Florida dealer Scott Dance has turned to a nontraditional franchise for daily rental cars and used-vehicles sales, under the Payless brand. Read More »
Chrysler's new roadmap
Chrysler Group has dropped plans to pack five more small nameplates into its crowded Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep Ram showrooms. Instead, it's adding nameplates at its Fiat and upcoming Alfa Romeo dealerships. Read More »
Chrysler brand chief wants more nameplates
Chrysler brand head Saad Chehab says he would like more nameplates for the Chrysler brand, but for now he's concentrating on a redesigned Chrysler 200 sedan, due next year on a Fiat platform. Read More »
Nissan: Leaf sales to lag until U.S. plant restocks supply
Nissan expects sales of its Leaf electric vehicle to sag through March, until a new American assembly line can fill a near-empty dealer pipeline. The problem is purely logistical, Nissan says. Read More »
Lincoln to pay dealers for MKZ delays
Lincoln will offer its dealers cash assistance to help them keep customers who have been frustrated by delays in receiving their MKZ sedans. The payments will help dealers compensate customers who had to extend their leases while they waited or who rented cars after their leases expired. Read More »
Buy a GMC Sierra, get 2 years of maintenance
General Motors is including scheduled maintenance in the GMC Sierra's price this month in an effort to burnish the brand's premium image and stand out in the full-sized pickup market. Read More »
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 Toyota's Lentz: Camry in a 'three-horse race'Toyota's Jim Lentz says the Camry will fend off main rival Honda Accord and upstarts such as the Ford Fusion... Mon., May 20» Watch the Video |
