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Land Rover dealers want more Evoques

Posted 9:25 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 5
blogs 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
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Dealers scour Craigslist, roadsides to feed used-car hunger

Posted 7:44 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 5
blogs 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
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What about low interest rates for high mpg?

Posted 5:47 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 5
blogs 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
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Wanna win stuff? Check out the exhibit floor at NADA

Posted 3:28 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 5
blogs 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
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Dealers get creative in building used-car inventories

Posted 8:45 am U.S. ET, Feb. 5
blogs 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
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How BMW jumped into the Super Bowl

Posted 8:31 am U.S. ET, Feb. 5
blogs 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
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Is GM’s image program fair? Depends who you ask

Posted 8:23 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 4
blogs 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
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Cuba still lives in Florida Ford dealer's heart

Posted 6:33 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 4
blogs 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
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Dealers on facilities: It's about the money

Posted 4:42 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 4
blogs 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
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GM’s tone-deaf jargon

Posted 12:25 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 4
blogs 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
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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
blogs 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
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At Chicago Auto Show, you can ride, drive, not just look

Posted 3:01 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 3
blogs
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
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Import brands should chill out over Obama snub

Posted 1:36 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 3
blogs 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
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Staffing to meet expected sales is pure speculation

Posted 12:22 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 3
blogs 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
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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
blogs 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
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B-Max: Cute and innovative, but not for U.S.

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

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
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Will parts scandal prompt Toyota, Honda to sue suppliers?

Posted 2:06 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 2
blogs 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
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Marchionne reveals a Fiat secret

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, Feb. 2
blogs 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
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Kia Soul performance model? Meet the Track'ster concept

Posted 9:00 am U.S. ET, Feb. 2
blogs
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
blogs 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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You knew the auto price-fixing probe was huge -- but not like this

Posted 1:43 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 1
blogs Chad Halcom is the legal beat reporter for Crain's Detroit Business, an affiliate of Automotive News.
 
DETROIT -- It was more than a casual comment this week when, outgoing Acting Assistant Attorney General Sharis Pozen, in charge of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, let it drop to reporters that the "auto parts investigation is the largest antitrust investigation the (department) has ever pursued."
It's already bucking for that top ...
     Continue reading "You knew the auto price-fixing probe was huge -- but not like this" » Feb 1, 2012 1:43 pm U.S. ET
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Mexico’s auto boom is about wages

Posted 1:15 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 1
blogs Lindsay Chappell is the Mid-South bureau chief for Automotive News.
 
Mexico’s star is ascending these days. Nissan just revealed plans to spend $2 billion on a new factory there, which is twice as much as an automaker typically spends on a big new factory. It signals that Nissan is laying the groundwork for what is sure to expand into a massive assembly plant in a few years.
Honda is also investing in Mexico, ...
     Continue reading "Mexico’s auto boom is about wages" » Feb 1, 2012 1:15 pm U.S. ET
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New regs a 2012 wild card

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, Feb. 1
blogs Jim Henry is a special correspondent for Automotive News
 
Auto lenders are cautiously optimistic about 2012. But they're worried about the potential for new government regulations -- which could affect auto dealers.
"The one big potential cloud is the regulatory environment," said Marguerite Watanabe, president of consulting firm Connections Insights. She was scheduled to moderate a panel discussion today ...
     Continue reading "New regs a 2012 wild card" » Feb 1, 2012 12:01 am U.S. ET
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Could GM resurrect the Saab 9-4X under a different badge?

Posted 4:02 pm U.S. ET, Jan. 31
blogs

RICK KRANZ:  DETROIT -- General Motors has a perfectly good crossover that's waiting to be produced.
Actually it was produced -- several hundred were assembled before production was halted. I'm talking about the Saab 9-4X.
I wonder if there's a market for this crossover?
The 9- ...
     Continue reading "Could GM resurrect the Saab 9-4X under a different badge? " » Jan 31, 2012 4:02 pm U.S. ET
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When 1 million Pentastar engines aren’t enough

Posted 10:42 am U.S. ET, Jan. 31
blogs Larry P. Vellequette covers Chrysler Group for Automotive News.
 
DETROIT -- It took just 18 months for Chrysler Group to build its 1 millionth 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 engine.
But at the Detroit auto show, Chrysler-Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said Chrysler Group now needs to hit that million mark -- plus another 15 to 20 percent -- every 12 months, and is investing heavily in its engine plants to do so.
Continue reading "When 1 million Pentastar engines aren’t enough" » Jan 31, 2012 10:42 am U.S. ET
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