Mazda is replacing far and away its biggest-selling model, the Mazda3, at a difficult time for the U.S. auto industry and for the Mazda brand. “Right now it’s a game of survival, and we are in a survival mode,” said Robert Davis, senior vice president research, development and quality for Mazda North American Operations, at a press introduction in Laguna Beach, Calif. for the...
Auto Industry Archive
April 2009
Steven Rattner makes a virtue out of necessity. Let’s face it, the uncrowned king of President Barack Obama’s automotive task force is not an expert on the auto industry. If a tire went flat on his ’08 Lexus LS 460 (he also owns an ’07 Audi S4 convertible, an ‘06 Mercedes-Benz R350 SUV and an ’05 Lincoln Town Car) he’d undoubtedly call Triple-A. Those “foreign cars”...
Times sure have changed, for the Swedish government to withhold its financial support from Saab. “Swedish government support is not expected in the near term,” parent company GM said in an April 2 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Government support might be possible if GM can find a “suitable investor” to take all or part of Saab off its hands,...
Dumping on General Motors is a popular spectator sport, but if we’re going to kick the once-mighty industrial giant while it’s down low, let’s at least get our stories straight. I have long had problems with the popular documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? GM didn’t just “kill” its EV-1 battery car—the public in California and Arizona chose not to lease them. Only 600 found...
The wiring wars are getting serious. Better Place, headed by the charismatic Shai Agassi, has been making headlines around the world for signing deals to install electric vehicle (EV) recharging for, among others, Canada, Denmark, Australia, California and Hawaii. It looked for a while that Better Place would monopolize world recharging networks, but other equally aggressive players have...
As much as automakers complain about their press coverage, car company spinmeisters should be high-fiving each other over today’s optimistic headlines, despite yet another dreadful month of sales. “Auto Sales for March Offer Hope,” said The New York Times. “Auto Makers See a Ray of Hope,” said The Wall Street Journal. Based on those headlines, you might be...
This week’s auto industry task force report from the Obama Administration was especially scathing about Chrysler. Chrysler is too small to compete globally, too thinly capitalized to invest in new products and flexible manufacturing plants, too heavily dependent on trucks, and too concentrated in North America, the report said. Other news has overshadowed this top-to-bottom criticism of...
The bill from two House Democrats, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Henry Waxman of California, is more like a rough outline for an climate and energy plan than a final draft. But if enacted it will be sweeping indeed in its implications, not only the auto industry (which would be required to build more electric cars), but for our entire energy grid (which would get “smarter”). Predictably,...
- BMW Says Flexible, Not Lean, Is The Next Big Thing in Autos
- GM May Close Saab After Buyer Backs Out
- VW's Sports Marketing: Targeted, Focused and Relentless
- Ford Set to Regain U.S. Market Share First Time Since 1995
- Air Cars Have Major Range and Emission Challenges, Says Two New Studies
- GM Chairman Whitacre Has Angel in One Ear, Devil in the Other
- Aptera EV Shakeup and Delays Linked to Financial Problems
- Indian EV Maker Reva Makes Bid for World Dominance (Starting With Iceland)
- Troubled GMAC Is Making It Look Easy For Rival Ford Credit
- Ford Bets Small-Vehicle Trend Is Here to Stay
- Nissan's Carlos Tavares on Launching the Leaf and Electrifying the World
- Daimler's Dieter Zetsche: For Us, Small Cars; For Chrysler, More SUVs
- GM Repays U.S. Early, In Part By Charging Us More
- Nissan Introduces the Leaf EV in Los Angeles
- Ford Has Volvo On the Block, But the Safety Hits Keep Coming
- Batteries vs. Fuel Cells: A Tale of Unequal Federal Funding
- Ultracapacitors: Maybe Not Miracle Workers, but Great EV Power Potential
- Fiat Plan for Chrysler is One Letter Away from
- A Business Case for Battery Cars? Look at Tesla
- It's Getting Hot in Here: The High-Stakes Debate Over Fuel Economy and Climate Standards
- Consumer Reports Gives Nod to Ford Reliability
- Speed Bumps Generate Electricity--and Cash
- VW's Sports Marketing: Targeted, Focused and Relentless
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- Siemens Builds Electric Bike for American Chopper TV Show
- General Motors CEO Front and Center in New PR Campaign
- Lithium-Ion Batteries Could be Too Expensive, MIT Team Says
- Ford Bandwagon Rolling But It's Too Soon to Hop On
- Ford Taurus Comeback Is Off to a Modest Start
- Women Car Buyers Still Met With Dealer Disrespect
- Ford Readies EV Fleets, Prepares to Connect to the Smart Grid
- Indian EV Maker Reva Makes Bid for World Dominance (Starting With Iceland)
Industry Transcripts by Seeking Alpha
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Everyone has their eyes on the automotive industry lately. BNET Automotive gathers and supplies daily industry trends and news coverage with specific insights for managers and executives, focusing on the major auto companies and parts manufacturers. In addition to detailed auto company trends and profiles, we report on new alliances and partnerships, new models, mergers and acquisitions, labor management, auto unions, investments, and other key issues related to this sector of business.