Dan scrubbed toilets through slump; his store benefits today

Posted 10:25 am U.S. ET, Sept. 2

Amy Wilson covers auto dealer issues for Automotive News

Dealer Dan Roseland's Sonoma Chevrolet made it through the storm of the last two years. But Roseland says he's been "permanently reprogrammed" by the ordeal.
For those dealerships that survived, "we're all stronger for it, and it will definitely pay off," said Roseland, who saw revenue at his northern California store drop by almost 40 percent.
Roseland says his expense management will be ...
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Fuel pricing not ideal for some new models

Posted 1:28 pm U.S. ET, Sept. 2

Philip Nussel is managing editor of autonews.com.

Here’s some great news for this weekend’s travelers:
Gasoline prices will stay relatively cheap for the entire Labor Day weekend, according to U.S. Energy Department figures released yesterday. For pump-price watchers, that means $2.68 a gallon on average, up 9 cents from last year but still lower than $3.68 in 2008, $2.80 in 2007 and $2.73 in 2006, according to Reuters.
And the ...
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Credit approvals ease … just a touch

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, Sept. 1

Jim Henry is a special correspondent for Automotive News

Happy days aren’t here again yet. But tough auto lending standards eased a bit in the second quarter, according to Experian Automotive.
That’s welcome news for finance managers who have faced tougher loan approvals since the credit crunch began in late 2008.
The average credit score on new-vehicle loans fell a couple of points to 772. That’s down ever so slightly from 774 i ...
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Dealers still want more credit availability

Posted 10:34 am U.S. ET, Sept. 1

Amy Wilson covers auto dealer issues for Automotive News

Difficulty finding good used-vehicle stocks has been a problem all dealerships have faced for many months. Another continuing challenge with the used-car business, according to AutoNation COO Michael Maroone: Credit is still not back to normal.
"One of the big drivers of used-car success is the restoration of credit," Maroone told me on Tuesday.
Yes, it's improving. And credit for prime an ...
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Ohh, that pesky SAAR figure

Posted 6:31 pm U.S. ET, Sept. 1

Jesse Snyder is senior writer for Automotive News

In August, 997,574 autos were sold in the United States. That's a fact.
But what does it mean? How does it compare? Who won? Who lost? Why?
That's analysis. And that's where the fun comes in.
And of all the tools used to analyze sales data, the seasonally adjusted annualized sales rate (SAAR) is potentially the most confusing. It's designed to level out the differences in demand over the ...
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Hyundai-Kia's U.S. cooperation and competition: It's all in the family

Posted 3:13 pm U.S. ET, Sept. 1

Ryan Beene is a Los Angeles-based reporter for Automotive News

ATLANTA -- The Hyundai-Kia group's decision to build the Hyundai Santa Fe crossover at Kia's plant in Georgia is one that highlights the unique nature of how the Korean corporate cousins compete in the U.S.
No official joint venture was announced. And both Kia and Hyundai were unwilling to share details -- including about financial arrangements and production volume -- when I visited the plant ...
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Used-car business rises, but dealer groups want more credit restored

Posted 11:21 am U.S. ET, Sept. 1

Amy Wilson covers auto dealer issues for Automotive News

Some of the industry's largest dealership groups reported gains in their used-car businesses during the second quarter. AutoNation, Group 1 and Asbury Automotive all saw increases in revenue and total gross profits from used vehicles.
Difficulty finding good used-vehicle stocks has been a problem all dealerships have faced for many months. Another continuing challenge with the used-car busines ...
     Continue reading "Used-car business rises, but dealer groups want more credit restored" » Sep 1 11:21 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Note to Mahindra: It doesn’t work that way

Posted 12:13 pm U.S. ET, Sept. 1

Lindsay Chappell is the Mid-South bureau chief for Automotive News in Nashville Tenn.

Just as John Perez was about to celebrate finally getting EPA approval to sell Mahindra & Mahindra’s clean-burning diesel pickups in America, he discovered this month that his Indian manufacturing partner had issued a statement -- buried quietly among other press releases on its corporate Web site -- saying it had terminated Perez as its U.S. distributor.
Uhhh … I don’t think ...
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The ‘Big If' factor

Posted 4:20 pm U.S. ET, Aug. 31

James B. Treece is the industry editor for Automotive News.

Some engineers from Magna came by today, showing off a new automatic decklid opener.
Magna predicts the global market for power decklids will quadruple from about 300,000 in 2009 to more than 1.2 million by 2013. If consumers downsize from their SUVs to cars, they're going to want the same features they've gotten used to, such as power liftgates, Magna says.
Magna's device is a nifty gizmo, ...
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Fastest growers in auto world? Look to dot-com dealer vendors

Posted 4:17 pm U.S. ET, Aug. 31

Arlena Sawyers covers remarketing for Automotive News

Many of the automotive companies that made the Inc. magazine 500/5000 list of the nation's fastest-growing privately owned companies are neither suppliers nor retailers.
They're automotive tech companies that specialize in dealership management tools.
VAuto.com, which specializes in used-vehicle inventory management systems, ranked No. 125 on the overall list and No. 10 on the list of ...
     Continue reading "Fastest growers in auto world? Look to dot-com dealer vendors" » Aug 31 4:17 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Is service at the dealership 34% better than the local garage?

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, Aug. 31

Donna Harris covers automotive retailing for Automotive News

New-car dealers’ share of the retail service and parts business has been steadily declining for the last decade.
In 2000, it was 33.0 percent; last year it was 28.8 percent and falling, reports the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association. When asked what caused the erosion, research director Ron Rossi told me without hesitation it’s the dealers’ high-priced repairs.
Ro ...
     Continue reading "Is service at the dealership 34% better than the local garage?" » Aug 31 12:01 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Stan's no-regret life -- and my big regret

Posted 2:09 pm U.S. ET, Aug. 30

Dave Versical is online editor for Automotive News

Not many people can claim they were envied by Henry Ford. Stan Drall could.
As a young typist at Ford's headquarters in the early 1940s, he witnessed a visit by Charles Lindbergh, who was congratulating the founder for his help with the U.S. war effort.
“Henry Ford touches me on the shoulder and says to Lindbergh, ‘I'd trade it all for what he's got,' Drall recounted in a 2003 ...
     Continue reading "Stan's no-regret life -- and my big regret" » Aug 30 2:09 pm U.S. ET

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Automakers should consider Fido

Posted 12:35 pm U.S. ET, Aug. 30

Jamie LaReau covers Ford Motor Co. for Automotive News

My 100-pound black Labrador retriever loves a car ride.
But I didn't realize how dangerous it was for both of us until a safety engineer lectured me about G-forces.
In a 35-mph accident, he said, a 100-pound dog becomes 3,000 lbs. of force flying around a car's cabin. A 20-pound animal? It's like a couple of NFL linebackers slamming into you.
A recent newsletter by University of Detroit ...
     Continue reading "Automakers should consider Fido" » Aug 30 12:35 pm U.S. ET

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Once hot, Smart's price, seating and fuel economy losing some appeal

Posted 12:53 pm U.S. ET, Aug. 30

Dave Guilford is enterprise editor of Automotive News

Automotive News Europe's e-newsletter today leads with a story on the Smart ForTwo's precipitous sales falloff in the United States. Rarely has a brand found it so hard to answer the question: After the buzz wears off, then what?
Smart plans to refresh the car and to increase customization options with color sheeting. Unfortunately, I doubt that American consumers are rejecting Smart for ...
     Continue reading "Once hot, Smart's price, seating and fuel economy losing some appeal " » Aug 30 12:53 pm U.S. ET

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Tweak in the sales process pays off for AutoNation

Posted 9:17 am U.S. ET, Aug. 30

Donna Harris covers automotive retailing for Automotive News

We've recently written about dealers taking the no-haggle approach to new-vehicle sales. It's part of a general movement toward more market-based pricing.
AutoNation Inc., the nation's largest auto retailer, hasn't dropped haggling completely, but it's tweaked the process to reduce price negotiations. For example, when AutoNation dealerships appraise a trade-in, they don't just tell the custome ...
     Continue reading "Tweak in the sales process pays off for AutoNation" » Aug 30 9:17 am U.S. ET

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Is 'enhance' a good enough strategy for Lincoln?

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, Aug. 30

Rick Kranz is product editor for Automotive News

Now that Mercury is out of the way, Ford can concentrate on Lincoln, a brand that is struggling to keep its head above water.
What caught my eye was a Ford announcement in June.
The press release said the automaker “will expand and enhance its Lincoln brand lineup with seven all-new or significantly refreshed vehicles in the next four years.”
Lincoln currently offers six vehic ...
     Continue reading "Is 'enhance' a good enough strategy for Lincoln?" » Aug 30 12:01 am U.S. ET

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Whom would you trust: Your dealer or your congressman?

Posted 1:00 am U.S. ET, Aug. 27

Donna Harris covers automotive retailing Automotive News

In my last blog, I noted that the federal government was investigating one-tenth of a percent of the dealers participating in last year's cash for clunkers program for possible violations. A reader responded that in this instance the dealers had a much better record than that of Congress.
I thought you might find it interesting that there was a House congressional ethics committee report leaked ...
     Continue reading "Whom would you trust: Your dealer or your congressman?" » Aug 27 1:00 am U.S. ET

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Does Alfa make the Fiat investment work?

Posted 10:07 am U.S. ET, Aug. 26

Amy Wilson covers auto dealer issues for Automotive News

Chrysler dealers will gather in Detroit next week to hear Chrysler detail its plans for the Fiat brand in the United States. Some dealers have been lukewarm on the idea of investing for Fiat, but those prospective franchise holders now have a new incentive to consider.
Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne said on Monday that Alfa Romeo vehicles would likely be sold at Fiat dealerships also. Al ...
     Continue reading "Does Alfa make the Fiat investment work? " » Aug 26 10:07 am U.S. ET

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Fiesta Movement flawless, but moving Fiesta to stores no fun

Posted 4:33 pm U.S. ET, Aug. 26

Jamie LaReau covers Ford Motor Co. for Automotive News

Ford Motor co. started building the new Fiesta subcompact in mid-May, and almost from the start it has hit a few speed bumps on the road to delivery.
First, there's the long commute and complicated logistics. It takes nearly two weeks to transport the Fiesta from Ford's plant in Mexico, where the car is built, to the United States. A transport from a U.S. plant to a U.S. dealership typically t ...
     Continue reading "Fiesta Movement flawless, but moving Fiesta to stores no fun" » Aug 26 4:33 pm U.S. ET

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3½ have at it in cop car sales chase

Posted 1:44 pm U.S. ET, Aug. 26

Rick Kranz is product editor for Automotive News

At last count, 3½ car companies are preparing to duke it out.
The Detroit 3 and Indy ½ each wants a big slice of the police car business.
Next year’s demise of the Ford Crown Victoria -- the top choice of law enforcement for decades -- opens up an opportunity for new players, meaning new models. At times, Ford captured about three-fourths of the market.
That being said, i ...
     Continue reading "3½ have at it in cop car sales chase" » Aug 26 1:44 pm U.S. ET

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A circular argument

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, Aug. 25

Jim Henry is a special correspondent for Automotive News

Does GM need a real captive finance company? It boils down to objectives.
If the goal is selling more cars and trucks, it needs a captive willing to do things a bank wouldn't.
For instance, a captive will offer interest-free loans or cut-rate leases on a model with low residual value, with the understanding that GM will pay it back.
A bank doesn't want to take that much risk, and a car c ...
     Continue reading "A circular argument" » Aug 25 12:01 am U.S. ET

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Why Opel matters

Posted 1:06 pm U.S. ET, Aug. 25

James B. Treece is the industry editor for Automotive News

DETROIT -- In general, auto-industry folks in North America have yawned at the problems of GM's Opel unit in Europe.
Americans and Canadians were slightly intrigued when it looked like GM might sell Opel, say, to Canadian supplier Magna, but then lost interest when the deal fell through and GM was left with a money-losing operation it had to turn around.
Kim Korth, president of consulting f ...
     Continue reading "Why Opel matters" » Aug 25 1:06 pm U.S. ET

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The perverse trend of noisy hybrids

Posted 12:15 pm U.S. ET, Aug. 25

Hans Greimel is Asia editor for Automotive News

TOKYO -- How’s this for a perverse trend? Modern technology has made cars so silent that automakers are now adding fake sounds to make them noisier.
The Nissan Leaf electric vehicle was the first to add a digital humming noise to warn people with hearing or vision impairments that the car was coming.
Now the Toyota Prius is following suit.
Toyota offered this week to hook up a spea ...
     Continue reading "The perverse trend of noisy hybrids" » Aug 25 12:15 pm U.S. ET

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Dealers deserve kudos for good behavior during C4C program

Posted 9:24 am U.S. ET, Aug. 25

Donna Harris covers automotive retailing Automotive News

Did you see that the feds are investigating 20 car dealerships it claims violated the rules of last year’s cash for clunkers program?
Do the math, and you’ll find that’s just one-tenth of a percent of the 18,915 dealerships that participated in the program.
Cash for clunkers -- rewarding consumers with hefty rebates for trading in old gas guzzlers for new, more fuel-effici ...
     Continue reading "Dealers deserve kudos for good behavior during C4C program" » Aug 25 9:24 am U.S. ET

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For some, C4C lease program was a clunker

Posted 1:00 am U.S. ET, Aug. 24

Donna Harris covers automotive retailing Automotive News

Last year's federal Cash for Clunkers program -- which paid consumers $3,500 or $4,500 rebates for trading in their old gas guzzlers for new, more fuel-efficient vehicle -- successfully stimulated new-vehicle sales.
Where it wasn't so successful was boosting the auto lease business. Few of the consumers who took advantage of the federal rebate plan opted to lease. But a year later, many of thos ...
     Continue reading "For some, C4C lease program was a clunker" » Aug 24 1:00 am U.S. ET

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