Chrysler, Dirty Harry draw heated blitz from the right

Posted 6:38 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 6

Christina Rogers covers the Volkswagen Group, and regulatory and legislative issues for Automotive News

Talk about political football.
Chrysler Group's two-minute Super Bowl ad is taking the heat from conservative commentators who claim the commercial is a veiled endorsement for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign.
The spot aired during halftime and features Dirty Harry himself talking up the Motor City ...
     Continue reading "Chrysler, Dirty Harry draw heated blitz from the right" » Feb 6, 2012 6:38 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Clint and Sergio: Can-do Chrysler's brand builders

Posted 3:08 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 6

Peter Brown is publisher and editorial director of Automotive News.

Clint Eastwood and Sergio Marchionne. Not, at first glance, an obvious pairing. But the two gentlemen combined for an unlikely branding value over the weekend.
Eastwood's evocative "Halftime in America" spot on the Super Bowl lit up the Internet just a day after Chrysler CEO Marchionne told America's car dealers that Chrysler and the industry would ...
     Continue reading "Clint and Sergio: Can-do Chrysler's brand builders" » Feb 6, 2012 3:08 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Mercedes likely to steer clear of U.S. compact van market

Posted 2:14 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 6
The name Citan is a combination of the words “city” and “titan,” Mercedes says.
RICK KRANZ:  While the U.S. compact van market is in its infancy, the European market has grown to 700,000 annual sales.
Mercedes-Benz plans to target the European market with the Citan, a new front-wheel-drive commercial van based on the successor to the compact Renault Kangoo.
Mercedes-Benz USA says there are no plans to ...
     Continue reading "Mercedes likely to steer clear of U.S. compact van market" » Feb 6, 2012 2:14 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Lithia's DeBoer to Republicans: Give Obama some credit

Posted 1:20 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 6

Bradford Wernle covers Ford Motor Co. for Automotive News.

LAS VEGAS -- Sid DeBoer recently stood up in front of a Rotary Club meeting in Medford, Ore., and thanked the man he believes should get a big share of the credit for the current prosperity of his Lithia Motors Inc.
His audience wasn’t fully prepared for the name of the person DeBoer wanted to thank -- a controversial figure in the auto deale ...
     Continue reading "Lithia's DeBoer to Republicans: Give Obama some credit " » Feb 6, 2012 1:20 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Why the pool of repos is skimpy, too

Posted 1:08 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 6

Arlena Sawyers covers remarketing for Automotive News.

LAS VEGAS -- Just about anybody who cares about used vehicles knows that off-lease volume will be tight again this year as a result of fewer vehicles being leased during the recession.
What you may not know is that the pool of repossessed vehicles, another source of used-car inventory, will be skimpy, too, at least for now.
...
     Continue reading "Why the pool of repos is skimpy, too" » Feb 6, 2012 1:08 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Land Rover dealers want more Evoques

Posted 9:25 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 5

Diana T. Kurylko covers various U.S. import brands for Automotive News.

LAS VEGAS -- It has been years since Land Rover North America had a hot, pricey product in short supply.
That's why dealers are pleading for more of the new compact Evoque three- and five-door SUV, which has an entry price with transportation of $43,995 for the five-door model and $44,995 for the three-door.
W ...
     Continue reading "Land Rover dealers want more Evoques" » Feb 5, 2012 9:25 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Dealers scour Craigslist, roadsides to feed used-car hunger

Posted 7:44 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 5

Amy Wilson covers auto dealer issues for Automotive News.

LAS VEGAS -- On Friday morning, an employee at Vince Whibbs Automotive Group in Pensacola, Fla., headed out to pick up the retailer’s latest used-car acquisition -- in Atlanta, a six-hour drive away.
How did the dealership group find the car? Craigslist. The online classified service has been a growing source of used cars for the last six mon ...
     Continue reading "Dealers scour Craigslist, roadsides to feed used-car hunger" » Feb 5, 2012 7:44 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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What about low interest rates for high mpg?

Posted 5:47 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 5

Jamie LaReau covers auto dealers for Automotive News.

LAS VEGAS -- Imagine if buying a vehicle that gets extremely good fuel economy meant getting a lower interest rate on a loan.
Lenders consider a lot of factors when granting consumers retail vehicle loans. But might lenders smile on buyers of highly fuel efficient vehicles, such as the Chevrolet Volt or Toyota Prius sedans?
...
     Continue reading "What about low interest rates for high mpg?" » Feb 5, 2012 5:47 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Wanna win stuff? Check out the exhibit floor at NADA

Posted 3:28 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 5

Arlena Sawyers covers remarketing for Automotive News.

LAS VEGAS -- Who doesn’t like winning stuff? Or getting it free when you buy a product or service that you need or were going to purchase anyway?
Electronic gadgets, gift cards, a giant toolbox, even a motorcycle are among the cool prizes up for grabs if you’re a dealer walking the exhibit floor at the NADA convention.
Continue reading "Wanna win stuff? Check out the exhibit floor at NADA" » Feb 5, 2012 3:28 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Dealers get creative in building used-car inventories

Posted 8:45 am U.S. ET, Feb. 5

Christina Rogers covers VW and regulatory/legislative issues for Automotive News.

LAS VEGAS -- Dealers, strapped for used cars, are getting more creative in how they go about finding them.
Jonathan Banks, an industry analyst with the NADA Used Car Guide, said some dealers have gotten so desperate they’ve left checks under the windshield wiper blades of vehicles brought in for service. Dealers were hoping to show owners how ...
     Continue reading "Dealers get creative in building used-car inventories" » Feb 5, 2012 8:45 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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How BMW jumped into the Super Bowl

Posted 8:31 am U.S. ET, Feb. 5

Diana T. Kurylko covers various U.S. import brands for Automotive News.

LAS VEGAS -- BMW of North America’s commercials during the Super Bowl weren’t planned. It happened quickly and it wasn’t a corporate decision.
Dan Creed, vice president of marketing, said BMW created six digital spots to run on the Internet as part of its major advertising campaign for the new generation 3-series sedan. The car go ...
     Continue reading "How BMW jumped into the Super Bowl" » Feb 5, 2012 8:31 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Is GM’s image program fair? Depends who you ask

Posted 8:23 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 4

Mike Colias covers General Motors for Automotive News.

LAS VEGAS -- In the battle between dealers and automakers over facility image programs, General Motors has taken the most shrapnel.
That’s mainly because GM has the most dealers -- about 4,500 -- and its image program is perhaps the industry’s most far-reaching.
Because I cover GM, I’ve talked ...
     Continue reading "Is GM’s image program fair? Depends who you ask" » Feb 4, 2012 8:23 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Cuba still lives in Florida Ford dealer's heart

Posted 6:33 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 4

Bradford Wernle covers Ford Motor Co. for Automotive News.

LAS VEGAS -- Florida Ford dealer Gus Machado hasn't set foot in his native Cuba since January 1960.
Machado, who had first moved to the United States in 1949 to go to military school in North Carolina, had returned often to the country during the 1950s to visit his family and to sell a few used cars he took over by ferry from Key West. But the youn ...
     Continue reading "Cuba still lives in Florida Ford dealer's heart" » Feb 4, 2012 6:33 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Dealers on facilities: It's about the money

Posted 4:42 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 4

Amy Wilson covers auto dealer issues for Automotive News.

LAS VEGAS -- Describing the retail community's interest in the outcome of NADA's dealership facility study as intense might not do it justice.
In a strange turn for journalists, lots of dealers and dealer advisers -- I spotted at least one building contractor and a lawyer, for instance -- showed up this morning at NADA's press conference releasing ...
     Continue reading "Dealers on facilities: It's about the money " » Feb 4, 2012 4:42 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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GM’s tone-deaf jargon

Posted 12:25 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 4

Mark Rechtin is West Coast editor of Automotive News..

LAS VEGAS -- General Motors needs to put its marketing jargon in the 1990s parking lot where it belongs.
I refer to the descriptive used by GM execs in discussing how the automaker’s brands need to stay in their respective “swim lanes.”
The phrase was first used by newly installed chief market ...
     Continue reading "GM’s tone-deaf jargon" » Feb 4, 2012 12:25 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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A digital sales process might be the answer to shorter sales times

Posted 11:38 am U.S. ET, Feb. 4

Jamie LaReau covers auto dealers for Automotive News.

LAS VEGAS -- Do you believe the auto industry can get the vehicle sales process completed within two hours?
That was the provocative question posed to a room full of lenders and dealers at the American Financial Services Association conference held in conjunction with the NADA convention in Las Vegas.
The room ...
     Continue reading "A digital sales process might be the answer to shorter sales times" » Feb 4, 2012 11:38 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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In GM's world, the Silverado, Manilow and Twinkies survive an apocalypse -- not the blue oval

Posted 10:41 am U.S. ET, Feb. 3

David Phillips is deputy managing editor of autonews.com.

For at least one automaker, the gloves will come off early during Sunday's telecast of the Super Bowl.
GM's Chevrolet division plans to get more than a little dig in at long-time rival Ford with a 60-second apocalyptic-themed Super Bowl spot scheduled to air in the first quarter.
Its the latest in a string of c ...
     Continue reading "In GM's world, the Silverado, Manilow and Twinkies survive an apocalypse -- not the blue oval" » Feb 3, 2012 10:41 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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At Chicago Auto Show, you can ride, drive, not just look

Posted 3:01 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 3
Jeep and Ram each have a track at the Chicago show, and Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat share a third. (Chrysler)
RICK KRANZ:  The Chicago Auto Show offers a crowd pleaser that attracts tens of thousands of people each year.
And this activity gives automakers an opportunity to establish a relationship with a potential customer.
I'm talking about the car, SUV and pickup rides offered to show-goers inside Chicago's McCormick Place. The s ...
     Continue reading "At Chicago Auto Show, you can ride, drive, not just look" » Feb 3, 2012 3:01 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Import brands should chill out over Obama snub

Posted 1:36 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 3

Mark Rechtin is West Coast editor of Automotive News.

Import-brand automakers should not take the apparent snub by President Barack Obama at the Washington D.C. auto show too seriously.
This is, after all, the leader of the free world. That he even has time to visit an auto show is incredible, given the fragile status of the economy and the tense, rapidly-changing situation in the Middle East.
...
     Continue reading "Import brands should chill out over Obama snub" » Feb 3, 2012 1:36 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Staffing to meet expected sales is pure speculation

Posted 12:22 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 3

Jamie LaReau covers auto dealers for Automotive News

When does a workload become so great, it's time to hire more people?
I posed that issue to a dealer I was chatting with about F&I business.
After a pause, dealer Ray Ciccolo explained that it's a hard question to answer.
The reason: sales are so unpredictable.
...
     Continue reading "Staffing to meet expected sales is pure speculation" » Feb 3, 2012 12:22 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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B-Max: Cute and innovative, but not for U.S.

Posted 2:24 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 2

RICK KRANZ:  DETROIT -- The Ford B-Max is cute and functional, but it won't be sold in the United States.
That has one reader looking for loopholes in the law.
The B-Max is Ford's newest subcompact developed off the global Fiesta platform. An unveiling is planned next month at the Geneva auto show.
...
     Continue reading "B-Max: Cute and innovative, but not for U.S." » Feb 2, 2012 2:24 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Will parts scandal prompt Toyota, Honda to sue suppliers?

Posted 2:06 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 2

Lindsay Chappell is the Mid-South bureau chief for Automotive News

The auto parts bid-rigging scandal being unearthed by the FBI in Detroit is a publicity mess for the big Japanese companies that are involved: Yazaki, Denso, Furukawa, Toyota and Honda.
But a bigger mess looms ahead. There is a matter to be addressed about how the injured automakers ought to respond.
Here's a s ...
     Continue reading "Will parts scandal prompt Toyota, Honda to sue suppliers?" » Feb 2, 2012 2:06 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Marchionne reveals a Fiat secret

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, Feb. 2

Luca Ciferri is Automotive News Europe's chief correspondent

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne on Wednesday revealed a long-kept company secret: how much Fiat's automotive unit lost in Europe in a particular year, which was 500 million euros in 2011. Why make the number public now? Probably to underline a point Marchionne has been making for years, which it that Europe's profit-killing overcapacity threatens the future of the automotive industry here.< ...
     Continue reading "Marchionne reveals a Fiat secret" » Feb 2, 2012 12:01 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Kia Soul performance model? Meet the Track'ster concept

Posted 9:00 am U.S. ET, Feb. 2
Next week Kia will unveil the Track'ster concept, a creation of the automaker's California design team.
RICK KRANZ:  DETROIT -- The Kia Soul is among this country's 25 hottest brands.
So it's no surprise that the Korean automaker wants to share its Soul with a wider range of buyers.
As it looks at ways to slice and dice the Soul nameplate, Kia is thinking about a potential performance model.
...
     Continue reading "Kia Soul performance model? Meet the Track'ster concept" » Feb 2, 2012 9:00 am U.S. ET

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Up early: Automakers find their inner rooster

Posted 5:00 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 1

Jesse Snyder is senior writer for Automotive News

A certain sign that U.S. auto sales are recovering: Automakers are releasing monthly results earlier in the day to catch better news headlines.
Exhibit A: Chrysler Group was up before dawn today for a double blast of good news -- its first post-bankruptcy annual profit about 7 a.m. and a half hour later a 44 percent U.S. sales increase in January.< ...
     Continue reading "Up early: Automakers find their inner rooster" » Feb 1, 2012 5:00 pm U.S. ET

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