June 2007
Wiper Inventorâs Story Hits the Silver Screen
By Michelle Krebs June 29, 2007Don’t expect the automakers to fight for a product placement in this film! The story of Robert W. Kearns, inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper systems used on most vehicles for decades, will hit the silver screen. Detroitâs Big Three automakers will play a starring role â- as the bad guys â- who lost after long court battles that ultimately reached the Supreme Court. Actor Greg Kinnear, most recently appearing in the Oscar-winning Little Miss Sunshine, plays Kearns in Flash of Genius. more
Edmunds.com: June Puts Industry on Track for 16.4 Million Annual Sales
By Michelle Krebs June 28, 2007New vehicles sales for June (retail and fleet) are expected to be 1.55 million units, a 3.4 percent increase from June 2006, according to Edmunds.com. Automakers will announce sales on Tuesday. âIn order to understand the year-over-year comparisons of sales for each automaker this month, one must remember that last June was one of the best sales months of the year for some automakers, and was particularly disappointing for others,â observed Jesse Toprak, Edmunds.comâs executive director of Industry Analysis. âThis month, automakers seem to have achieved sales at more typical and sustainable levels rather than the dramatic highs and lows more
GM To Sell Allison Transmission
By Michelle Krebs June 28, 2007General Motors, as has been speculated, has agreed to sell its Allison Transmission unit for $5.6 billion to private-equity firms to raise funds for its auto operations. GMâs has a preliminary agreement with Carlyle Group LP and Onex Corp. to buy Allison, which builds transmissions for GM vehicles, including its large trucks. Canadaâs Onex Corp. had been helping Canadian auto supplier Magna Corp. in its failed bid to buy Chrysler Group. more
Alternative-Fuel Vehicles Gain Momentum
By Michelle Krebs June 28, 2007The number of alternative fuel automobiles on the roads has hit 11 million vehicles, according to a survey by R. L. Polk & Co., which tracks vehicle registrations In the first quarter this year, 434,000 were sold, 27 percent increase over last year's count for the same period:· E85-capable vehicles jumped 40 percent from 159,882 to 266,859 vehicles;· Hybrid vehicles climbed 31 percent from 51,285 to 74,056 vehicles;· Clean diesel technology saw sales decline slightly from 108,100 to 93,012 vehicles. more
GM Launches Green Films on the Web
By Michelle Krebs June 28, 2007General Motors want to convince the world it is green. To that end, the automaker has produced four videos for its âGM Going Greenâ channel. The nearly 3-minute videos cover the topics of green buildings, the reemergence of solar power, GM large fleet of hybrid buses and the Challenge X competition in which engineering students competed to come up with the most innovative way to positively alter the automotive world. more
J.D. Power Report Card Sees Honda Heading the Class
By Michelle Krebs June 28, 2007Honda captured four model segment awards -- more than any other vehicle nameplate this year â- in the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study released this morning. The study measures owner delight with the design, content, layout and performance of their new vehicles. Honda’s four segment-leading models were the Fit (in a tie), CR-V, Ridgeline and Odyssey. more
Hyundai Exec Considers How Gas Engines Can Deliver More Bang for the Buck
By Michelle Krebs June 27, 2007John Krafcik, Hyundaiâs vice president of product planning and strategy in the U.S., pondered aloud over dinner last night which option would deliver more bang for the buck: investing in pricey hybrids and diesels to meet inevitably stricter fuel economy and carbon-dioxide standards or pumping smaller bucks into refining current gasoline engines. “I think there’s more to wring out of gasoline internal combustion engines for a lower investment,†he said of the engines that have been around for well over a century. more
Dodge: Will the Japanese Grab Life by the Horns?
By Michelle Krebs June 27, 2007By Peter Nunn Japanese buyers love American muscle cars, Levis, Starbucks and Coke. But what about Dodge? This month marks the start of a major new Chrysler product offensive to woo Japanese buyers and to introduce them to the Dodge brand, which, in the U.S., bills itself as bold, all-American and for people who grab life by the horns. The product offensive comes at a time when Chrysler is being sold and the Japanese market in contracting. Japan has long viewed American cars as unsuitable for the country’s market conditions. more
Elena Ford Shifts Gears
By Michelle Krebs June 25, 2007Ford executive Elena Ford has changed jobs. She’s moving from the car side of the business to financial services. Effective August 1, Elena Ford will become executive vice president in charge of global brand and marketing at Ford Credit. She had served as Ford’s director of product marketing, planning and strategy for North America. However, many inside –- and outside –- of the company questioned Elena Ford’s expertise in such a key role during Ford's critical turnaround effort. more
GM Unveils European Environmental Plan
By Michelle Krebs June 29, 2007GM announced today it will introduce a dramatic Opel concept at Septemberâs Frankfurt show featuring its E-Flex propulsion system, first shown on the Chevrolet Volt at the Detroit auto show in January. E-Flex is an electric-drive system that extends the vehicleâs range by using a secondary supplemental fuel system. In the case of the Opel concept to be unveiled this fall, it will be a diesel engine. The Volt had a small gas engine. GM unveiled at the Shanghai show this spring an E-Flex system supplemented by hydrogen-powered fuel cells. GMâs announcement came as part of a larger presentation of more