Manufacturing
GM's new head of N.A. manufacturing takes up busy launch schedule
1:28 pm U.S. ET | June 17, 2013
GM has named a longtime labor relations and manufacturing executive to run its North American factories during one of its busiest-ever vehicle launch periods. Gerald Johnson, now executive director of global program quality and launch, will become GM's new vice president of North America manufacturing, effective July 1. Johnson, 51, will oversee 74,000 employees across 56 plants.... Read More » Comments [0] | Recommendations [0]
Output soars to 16M, with high-profit twist
12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013
Vehicle production in North America is back near record levels, with output forecast to surpass 16 million units this year for the first time in more than a decade. But even though the numbers look similar to the days when Detroit used sky-high incentives to grapple with bloated inventories, the industry is in a much different place this time around.... Read More »| Related topics: | Automakers and Suppliers | Suppliers | Cutaways | Final Assembly | Green Car | Executives | Future Product | Vehicle Design | Management Briefing Seminars | Vehicle Technology | Europe Manufacturing | Americas | Asia | Global News | China | Europe | Eastern Europe | Western Europe | PACE Awards | Talk from the Top | World Congress |
Ford adding knobs, buttons to MyFord Touch
12:07 pm U.S. ET | June 17, 2013
Ford plans to revert to more traditional knobs and buttons in its MyFord Touch infotainment and control system. The system has hurt Ford's ratings in several quality surveys. Customers have complained the system is bulky, distracting and overly complicated to use. Ford has issued several software upgrades.... Read More »JCI turns to private equity to sell auto electronics unit, report says
6:40 pm U.S. ET | June 17, 2013
Johnson Controls is speaking to private equity firms about selling its roughly $1 billion automotive electronics unit, after buyout interest from several rival auto parts suppliers faltered, according to several people familiar with the matter.... Read More »Apple's bid to crack the center stack
12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013
Last week Apple executive Eddy Cue said 12 car brands will let motorists link iPhones to center consoles to make calls, send text messages, use maps and issue voice commands. So Apple is poised to invade the cockpit and take over the center stack, right?... Read More »GM goes dark on output stats, causes stir
12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013
General Motors' decision to stop publicly disclosing monthly production numbers has touched off concern among industry analysts and economists, as well as suppliers that rely on the data for their production plans.... Read More »Toyota's U.S. aces now run the Americas
12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013
North America and South America are radically different markets. But Toyota Motor Corp. has installed two familiar names from the United States to lead them.... Read More »With Polk deal, IHS expands auto data empire
12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013
One of the best-known and longstanding names in automotive data, R.L. Polk, is being absorbed into one of the fastest-growing research firms, IHS Automotive.... Read More »Voice controls: Just another distraction?
12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013
Car companies are moving full steam ahead on voice controls and are unlikely to be slowed by the note of caution AAA sounded last week, automakers and suppliers say. The influential consumer group, which has more than 53 million members in North America, released research last week that showed voice-to-text systems can cause as much mental distraction as talking on a hand-held cellphone.... Read More »Lieblein leads GM's bid to cut costs while rolling out new products
12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013
How can an auto company save money while introducing 18 new or refreshed vehicles in 12 months? General Motors must answer that question if the company is to achieve CEO Dan Akerson's goal of increasing profits and widening profit margins this year and next. And the executive who must provide a lot of the answers is Grace Lieblein, 52, GM's purchasing boss.... Read More »Q&A: JEAN-MARC GALES, CLEPA
Global footprint, tech prowess buoy European suppliers
12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013
Europe is in a deep slump, but many suppliers in the region are adding business because of their global footprints. The key for Europe's parts makers is technology, says Jean-Marc Gales, CEO of CLEPA, a European supplier trade association.... Read More »Battery maker Exide files for bankruptcy
12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013
Time ran out last week for Exide Technologies, the 125-year-old battery maker once led by longtime auto industry executive Bob Lutz. With its Vernon, Calif., lead-recycling plant shut down since April by California environmental regulators and unable to restructure quickly enough, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.... Read More »Production Data
Inventories
Automakers spread more glue to eliminate weight, rattles
12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013
Carmakers including Audi and Mercedes-Benz are turning to high-tech adhesives as they seek ways to make vehicles lighter and tougher. Automakers are using more aluminum and exotic composites, which cannot be welded together but have to be glued with adhesives that will not lose their strength and can hold together parts even at top speeds and high pressure.... Read More »Q&A: PETER GUTZMER, SCHAEFFLER AG
Schaeffler exec: Suppliers will play bigger role in engines
12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013
Soon, waving a finger will switch radio stations
12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013
Gesture control, the use of hand gestures to control a vehicle's infotainment system, is gaining momentum. Suppliers are developing technologies that allow motorists and passengers to adjust a vehicle's audio, climate control or navigation system through motion sensors. The technology works like Microsoft's Kinect game system.... Read More »Quick-swipe plan removes pain from pairing a phone
12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013
Tired of plowing through a 300-page owner's manual to pair your smartphone with the infotainment system in the rental car you just picked up? There may be a solution. A Finnish software designer is adapting a technology called NFC to allow motorists to pair smartphones simply by swiping the phones against the instrument panel.... Read More »SiriusXM offers trial to service customers
12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013
SiriusXM Radio is launching a program this summer that allows dealers to offer a complimentary two-month SiriusXM subscription to qualifying service customers.... Read More »Pop the clutch? Not with Bosch system
12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013
Any parent who has taught a kid to drive a stick knows the problem: When the clutch comes up too slowly, the engine stalls; too fast and there's lurching, angst and potential whiplash. Bosch thinks it has a solution.... Read More »Robots take the wheel for Ford road tests
12:01 am U.S. ET | June 15, 2013
Making sure vehicles are "built Ford tough" has become too tough on the test drivers whose job involves putting thousands of bone-jarring, teeth-rattling, mind-numbing miles on new models. So Ford has started giving some of that work to replacements who don't need breaks: robots.... Read More »
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Special Report
 Dealer O.C. Welch's big-truck turnaroundAfter Mercury's demise, South Carolina Ford-Lincoln dealer O.C. Welch had to find a way to replace lost revenue. He decided to load up on Super Duty pickups – and sell them online. Mon., June 17» Watch the Video |
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