----- Forwarded by Calvin R Thudium/CARZ/DCC/DCX on 04/26/2010 07:13 AM -----
| Alex Eliopoulos/CARZ/DCC/DCX 04/26/2010 07:09 AM |
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Thanks,
Alex Eliopoulos
Red Deer Parts Distribution Center
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Chrysler Early Clips Headlines (16)
-- Fiat-Chrysler's bold U.S. vision, Stores will be a ‘World's Fair of auto brands' (Automotive News)
-- Chrysler pits dealer against dealer, At automaker's request, some retailers testify at arbitration hearings (Automotive News)
-- Chrysler: April sales up (Automotive News)
-- Chrysler sees payoff from holding cash (Automotive News)
-- Chrysler has key role in Alfa’s 2012 plan for U.S. (Automotive News)
-- Marchionne marches on (Automotive News)
-- GM's Canada sales tumble in March (Automotive News)
-- Trouble ahead for Chrysler and Fiat (Automotive News)
-- This is how Fiat repays taxpayers? (Automotive News)
-- 2010 Ram 2500 Crew Cab 4x4 Test Drive, We Get Some Seat Time In Mopar's Ram HD (Four Wheeler)
-- Moparized Wrangler Rubicon showcases dealer-installed parts (San Diego Union Tribune)
-- Two Cheers for General Motors (The Wall Street Journal)
-- GM misleading with debt claim (The Denver Post)
-- General Motors (Financial Times)
-- Ford May Report $1 Billion Profit on Higher Volumes, Prices (Bloomberg)
-- Toyota Rises Most in 7 Weeks After Report on Profit (Update3) (Bloomberg)
*Refer to © Notice Below
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Automotive News ( 04/26/2010 )
by Brad Wernle and Luca Ciferri
Fiat-Chrysler's bold U.S. vision, Stores will be a ‘World's Fair of auto brands'
Travel by time machine to a large Chrysler Group dealership in 2014, and you'll find radical changes.
In one corner is an Alfa Romeo boutique where two U.S.-built crossovers sit next to a sleek new Giulia sedan assembled in Turin, Italy.
Nearby, a Chrysler 300C built in Canada shares space with a midsized Chrysler brand sedan designed in Auburn Hills, Mich., but built on the same Turin line as the Giulia.
In the Dodge brand space, customers browse American rear-drive muscle cars, such as the Hemi-powered Challenger, and a front-drive compact sedan built in Italy.
In the Ram area, a massive 3500 Ram pickup built in Mexico sits alongside a small European-style commercial van developed by Fiat and built in Turkey.
A salesperson shows a Mexico-built Fiat 500 minicar that gets 40 mpg, powered by an engine with advanced breathing technology from Fiat.
If the vision that Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat and Chrysler, laid out last week in Turin comes to pass, the multinational offerings will all be sold under one roof at select Chrysler Group dealerships.
As Chrysler marks the one-year anniversary of its bankruptcy filing, Marchionne is guiding the two carmakers into a far-reaching trans-Atlantic interdependence that Daimler, Chrysler's previous owner, never dreamed of.
“It's going to be kind of a World's Fair of auto brands,” says John Wolkonowicz, analyst for IHS Global Insight.
The plan faces steep challenges:
-- Chrysler must attract young customers who appreciate small cars and imports. Most shoppers consider Chrysler a seller of pickups, minivans, big cars and SUVs.
-- Fiat and Chrysler must overcome cultural differences to combine purchasing, product development and manufacturing.
-- And Marchionne wants to launch more than 40 new and redesigned models from 2011 to 2014, increasing global volumes to 6 million vehicles for the Chrysler and Fiat groups. Last year they sold 3.5 million.
That's a tall order in a brutally competitive industry -- even if Marchionne creates the “inextricably intertwined” Fiat-Chrysler organization that he envisions.
Last week Chrysler posted an operating profit of $143 million in the first quarter, despite lower sales. And Chrysler boosted its cash position by $1.5 billion, to $7.4 billion, by the end of March, giving it more financial leeway to survive until the integration starts to pay off in two years.
Operating factories at full capacity is a key part of Marchionne's plan. Fiat Auto and Chrysler Group vehicles will be made in each other's factories and shipped both ways across the Atlantic.
For instance, a large Alfa Romeo SUV will be built in the United States on the same platform as the Jeep Liberty starting in 2014 for sale in the United States and Europe. Chrysler also will build a compact Alfa SUV starting in 2012.
Fiat now plans to sell four vehicles in North America, all variants on the 500: the hatchback, convertible, sporty Abarth and a four-door hatchback with a high roof.
Marchionne's plan calls for consolidating Chrysler's and Fiat's smaller and mid-sized vehicles onto three main platforms: small, medium and compact. Each platform will account for a million units by 2014. For comparison, Fiat's mini- and small platforms each generated about 500,000 units in 2009.
Other platforms will be used for pickups, minivans, large cars, large SUVs and commercial vans.
The often-delayed revival of Alfa, in which Chrysler would play a significant role, would also help Marchionne fill factories and showroom floors.
Cutting costs is another key to Marchionne's plan. The companies are even saving on executive salaries. Olivier Francois, a native of France, is CEO of both Lancia and Chrysler and runs marketing globally for all Fiat and Chrysler brands. Under his leadership, the two brands will share their entire lineup. Francois' salary, like Marchionne's, is paid entirely by Fiat.
Meanwhile, by combining purchasing, Fiat and Chrysler expect to save about $1.0 billion between now and 2014, according to Marchionne.
Fiat and Chrysler will save another combined $1.1 billion over the period, mainly in the engineering and powertrain areas, Marchionne said.
Chrysler and Fiat want to speed products to market by standardizing more components and subsystems in Chrysler and Fiat vehicles.
Harald Wester, Fiat head of engineering and design, said it took Fiat 26 months to take the Fiat Stilo from design freeze to production in 2001. That time had been slashed to 15 months with the recent introduction of the Alfa Romeo MiTo, a sporty subcompact sold in Europe.
The MiTo shares 65 percent of its parts with other Fiat models, a much higher percent than earlier models.
A lot of things must go right for Marchionne's bold plan to become a reality in Chrysler dealerships by 2014. But he has already shown he can motivate the Chrysler work force. And he's under no illusions the job will get any easier.
As he said during a Detroit auto show interview: “The to-do list for us -- it's enough to choke a horse."
It's all about sharing
Efficiency efforts planned by Fiat and Chrysler
- Chrysler Sebring replacement will be assembled in Turin alongside Alfa Romeo Giulia.
- Factory in Dundee, Mich., will build Fiat's 1.4-liter engine for Fiat 500 and Chrysler vehicles.
- Savings of about $1.0 billion are expected between now and 2014 from joint purchasing.
Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100426/RETAIL03/100429899/1193#ixzz0mCaTs9EL
Copyright (C) 2007 Crain Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
© 2007 Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive LLC (trading as Factiva). All rights reserved.
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Automotive News ( 04/26/2010 )
by Neil Roland
Chrysler pits dealer against dealer, At automaker's request, some retailers testify at arbitration hearings
Chrysler Group is asking a number of dealers to be arbitration witnesses against rejected dealerships that were in their backyards and are now seeking reinstatement.
The company's request pitted dealer against dealer in three Florida hearings last week that were among the first of hundreds of arbitrations due to take place by July.
Chrysler invitations also have been extended in states including Illinois and Michigan to dealers who survived the bankruptcy cuts and were awarded franchises in the markets of rejected dealerships.
The requests have created dilemmas for retailers eager to protect their businesses and please the manufacturer but loath to cross a fellow dealer, especially one who is down.
"It made sense for me to go along because this town is not big enough for the two of us," said Brendan Hurley, owner of Hurley Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge in Deland, Fla. "It would blow my whole deal to have a competitor across the street selling the same models.
"But I feel terrible for the dealers that lost out."
On Wednesday, April 21, Hurley testified in Orlando at the arbitration filed by the former Deland Dodge, which was about 200 yards from his store.
Hurley, 54, a Chrysler dealer since 1982, was awarded a Dodge franchise shortly after Deland Dodge was shuttered last spring as part of the automaker's bankruptcy. His dealership now has all four Chrysler lines, including the Ram truck brand.
Under his agreement with Chrysler, Hurley said, he is spending about $4 million to renovate the site and quadruple its capacity by early 2011.
Hurley's half-hour testimony, which was unpaid, focused on his expansion plans under questioning by Chrysler lawyers, he said.
A leader of a rejected-dealer group, who sat in an adjoining room during the Orlando hearings to support Deland Dodge, was not sympathetic.
"Today is a very sad day for all dealers all across America," Tammy Darvish, co-head of the Committee to Restore Dealer Rights, said in an e-mail to members last week. "It is disgraceful and shameful that there are now three NEW dealers sitting in a holding pen waiting to be called in to testify on behalf of Chrysler and AGAINST their peers (the original Dealers) who are fighting for their futures here in arbitration."
Chrysler declined to comment, saying it "will not arbitrate these cases in the media."
In a letter to a go-forward dealer in the Chicago area, Chrysler appealed to the businessman's self-interest in asking him to testify.
"If the dealer prevails in its arbitration, the Federal Arbitration Bill may require Chrysler Group to offer that dealer a letter of intent to enter into a standard sales and service agreement," said the April 15 letter, a copy of which was obtained by Automotive News.
Thanks -- but no, thanks
The Illinois dealer intends to turn down Chrysler's invitation, said Mark Lyman, a Chicago lawyer who represents the invited dealer. "He doesn't agree with testifying against terminated dealers," Lyman said.
Eric Bowden, a dealer lawyer in suburban Detroit, said Chrysler had invited several Michigan clients to testify. But his clients have qualms, Bowden said, and he has asked Chrysler to explain its purpose in asking them to appear. The company hasn't responded.
"We're trying to figure out: What's Chrysler's angle?" Bowden said.
A spokesman for the National Automobile Dealers Association did not respond to questions asking whether the group has a rule or standard that applies to dealers testifying against other dealers.
Also, the spokesman declined an Automotive News request to interview NADA Chairman Ed Tonkin, saying he was traveling for two days.
"It's tragic that some dealers find themselves in a situation where they are pitted against other dealers," the NADA spokesman said. "This is another reminder of the unprecedented circumstances and difficulties that dealers are still facing."
Tote board
Of the 1,573 arbitration filings by GM and Chrysler dealers
- 647 cases withdrawn or closed
- 196 cases on hold
- 13 hearings scheduled in April
- 299 hearings scheduled in May
- 360 hearings scheduled in June
- 20 hearings scheduled July 1-14
- 49 hearings not yet scheduled
Note: Total exceeds 1,573 because of double counting of multiday hearings scheduled at end of one month and beginning of another.
Source: American Arbitration Association
Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20100426/RETAIL07/304269959#ixzz0mCWzTWYF
Copyright (C) 2007 Crain Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
© 2007 Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive LLC (trading as Factiva). All rights reserved.
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Automotive News ( 04/26/2010 )
by Shawn Wright
Chrysler: April sales up
DETROIT -- Chrysler Group is projecting an April U.S. sales increase of about 20 percent compared with last year.
The projection was released last week by Fred Diaz, Chrysler's chief sales executive, during a dealer-only conference call. March sales were off 8 percent.
The one-year anniversary of Chrysler's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing is Friday, April 30. Chrysler emerged from a U.S.-sponsored reorganization under the control of Italy's Fiat S.p.A. on June 10, 2009.
Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20100426/RETAIL01/304269958#ixzz0mCXXKc5C
Copyright (C) 2007 Crain Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
© 2007 Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive LLC (trading as Factiva). All rights reserved.
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Automotive News ( 04/26/2010 )
by Brad Wernle
Chrysler sees payoff from holding cash
DETROIT -- Chrysler Group got welcome news last week that CEO Sergio Marchionne's strategy of conserving cash as he rebuilds the product pipeline is paying off.
The automaker posted an operating profit of $143 million for the first quarter and boosted cash to $7.4 billion, from $5.9 billion at the end of 2009, the company reported Wednesday, April 21.
Operating profit excludes taxes, interest, amortization and other expenses.
This "is a concrete indication that the 2010 targets we have set for ourselves are achievable," Marchionne said. "We are also generating cash to finance the investments being made in our product portfolio and brand positioning."
Chrysler reported a net loss of $197 million for the quarter. The company said total available liquidity is $9.8 billion, counting available credit from the U.S. Department of Treasury and Export Development Canada.
U.S. sales of Chrysler Group vehicles fell 5.3 percent in the first quarter -- while industry deliveries rose 16 percent -- as Marchionne slashed discounts to consumers, according to researcher Autodata Corp.
Marchionne has said he opposes incentives to prop up market share at the expense of profits. He pared average discounts for Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brand vehicles by $1,122 in the first quarter, says Autodata.
Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20100426/RETAIL02/304269966/1179#ixzz0mCZEbb00
Copyright (C) 2007 Crain Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
© 2007 Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive LLC (trading as Factiva). All rights reserved.
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Automotive News ( 04/26/2010 )
by Luca Ciferri
Chrysler has key role in Alfa’s 2012 plan for U.S.
TURIN, Italy -- A plan to revive Alfa Romeo as it nears its 100th birthday is shaping up, and Chrysler Group has an important role.
Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Chrysler and Fiat, made a strong commitment to Fiat’s money-losing sporty brand during a presentation last week of Fiat’s five-year strategy.
Here are highlights of the plan:
-- Sales of Alfa vehicles at Chrysler Group dealerships in the United States start in the second half of 2012.
-- In 2014, North America will account for 85,000 of Alfa’s 500,000 global sales.
-- Fiat wants to transform the brand into a “full-line premium carmaker” with help from seven new or redesigned Alfa models from 2010 to 2014.
-- The U.S. automaker will build two new Alfa crossover models for sale in North America and Europe.
The Chrysler-built vehicles for Alfa will be:
-- A compact SUV based on the Fiat compact architecture that underpins the Giulietta hatchback in Europe. Production will begin in 2012
-- A large SUV, similar in size to the next Jeep Liberty crossover. Production will start in 2014.
The crossovers will be built in two of the three U.S. plants Chrysler Group plans to retool for new Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep models based on Fiat- Chrysler’s Compact Wide architecture.
Alfa, which will be 100 years old in June, also will sell a mid-sized sedan and station wagon in the United States starting in late 2012. These two vehicles will have the name Giulia. In Europe, they will replace the 159 range and will be built in Italy.
In the United States, Alfa will sell a five-door version of its MiTo minicar, sold in Europe as a threedoor. The five-door MiTo will be sold in Europe and North America starting in 2013.
Alfa will launch the Giulietta in North America after the car gets a face-lift in 2014. The Giulietta makes its European debut in May.
Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20100426/RETAIL03/100429885/1193#ixzz0mCZUUtPC
Copyright (C) 2007 Crain Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
© 2007 Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive LLC (trading as Factiva). All rights reserved.
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Automotive News ( 04/26/2010 )
by Edward Lapham
Marchionne marches on
It was a mild but pleasant surprise that Chrysler eked out a small operating profit in the first quarter and actually added $2 billion to its cash puddle.
The results weren't a shocker like the ending of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, when abductees are returned to Earth and Earthlings -- including the character Roy Neary, played by Richard Dreyfuss -- fly off with the aliens to galaxies unknown.
But the results were as intriguing as the climax of The Bridge on the River Kwai, when Col. Nicholson, played by Alec Guinness, tries to stop the bridge from being blown up by Allied commandos -- including the character played by William Holden.
I should have seen it coming.
After all, that's exactly what Sergio Marchionne told us he was going to do, back in November at the all-day meeting on Chrysler's business plan. And since then he has stayed on message.
Still, there have been signs that things might not be going so well in Auburn Hills.
Insiders talk about the growing sense of purpose and a huge boost in morale. But even with a tail wind from a slight overall market upturn, Chrysler sales have been stinky.
It's no secret that most of Chrysler's product lineup is tired and needs replacing.
That's why some dealers have grumbled about Marchionne's unwillingness to add meaningful incentives to help them move the iron.
But Chrysler has been conserving cash so it can afford to bring new products to market.
And the flow starts soon with the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
If Marchionne keeps Chrysler marching along at the same pace, he'll be on his way to achieving the five-year plan, just as he said last November.
And Marchionne shouldn't need to fly off with aliens or blow up a bridge to do it..
Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20100426/OEM02/304269956/1193#ixzz0mCa0vPL5
Copyright (C) 2007 Crain Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
© 2007 Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive LLC (trading as Factiva). All rights reserved.
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Automotive News ( 04/26/2010 )
by James B. Treece
GM's Canada sales tumble in March
Hurt by discontinued brands, General Motors Co.'s sales tumbled in Canada in March.
That dropped GM from No. 1 among automakers there in March 2009 to No. 4.
Toyota Motor Corp. jumped from No. 4 to No. 2, while Hyundai-Kia Automotive passed Honda Motor Co. to take the No. 5 spot.
By comparison, for all of 2009, GM was the top-selling automaker in Canada, followed by Ford Motor Co., Toyota, Chrysler Group, Hyundai-Kia and Honda.
In March, Canada's light-vehicle sales rose 14 percent to 145,531 cars and trucks.
It was the fourth-straight month of year-on-year gains and brought sales for the first quarter to 327,568, up 15 percent.
But GM's sales slid 22 percent in March to 19,383.
Chevrolet sales slipped 6 percent to 11,344, dragged down by an 18 percent drop in Chevy truck sales to 6,405.
In contrast, GMC truck sales jumped 29 percent to 5,626.
GM's third-best-selling brand in March was discontinued Pontiac, which collapsed 85 percent to 906. Buick sales rose 28 percent to 805, but that gain was offset by Saturn sales going from 1,128 a year earlier to zero.
Ford moved up from No. 2 among automakers in Canada a year earlier to No. 1, up 29 percent to 22,600. Ford division sales rose 28 percent to 21,285, while Lincoln Mercury sales more than doubled to 711 from 340.
Toyota sales gained 24 percent to 19,792.
Toyota Division sales jumped 27 percent to 18,489, and Lexus sales slipped 4 percent to 1,303.
Chrysler Group held steady at No. 3, with sales rising 22 percent to 19,470.
The gain was led by a 65 percent sales surge in Ram brand trucks, to 5,082. Dodge sales rose 19 percent to 9,683, and Jeep gained 7 percent to 3,215. But Chrysler brand sales fell 13 percent to 1,490.
Hyundai-Kia sales rose 25 percent to 15,449. Both Hyundai and Kia jumped 25 percent, with Kia totaling 4,437 and Hyundai 11,012.
Honda sales rose 14 percent in March to 14,389.
Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20100426/RETAIL01/304269995#ixzz0mCYxd5YI
Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20100426/RETAIL01/304269995#ixzz0mCYxjev0
Copyright (C) 2007 Crain Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
© 2007 Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive LLC (trading as Factiva). All rights reserved.
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Automotive News ( 04/26/2010 )
Trouble ahead for Chrysler and Fiat
To the Editor:
I wish CEO Sergio Marchionne and all the employees of Chrysler all the success in the world with the merger of Chrysler and Fiat. I foresee disaster ahead, though.
Chrysler is American pie like General Motors and Ford.
I see little synergy and little appetite for Fiat products in the United States, just as I see little demand for Chrysler products in Europe.
Fiat and Alfa Romeo are not household names in this country like BMW, VW, Mercedes, Toyota, Nissan, etc. That's why Renault, Peugeot and some others have not been successful in this market, either.
Marchionne is counting on the Chrysler dealer network to promote his products, but he has neither an informed public nor a trained staff throughout this country to service those vehicles.
I see serious problems ahead for this merger, but I wish him all the best.
MICHAEL A. KAUPPI, Lexington, Ky. The writer is retired. He worked for Modine, a supplier of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning products.
Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20100426/RETAIL03/100429948/1193#ixzz0mCXxcjBp
Copyright (C) 2007 Crain Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
© 2007 Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive LLC (trading as Factiva). All rights reserved.
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Automotive News ( 04/26/2010 )
This is how Fiat repays taxpayers?
To the Editor:
I read that Fiat-Chrysler will repay billions in U.S. taxpayer generosity by manufacturing the new four-door Fiat 500 for the North American market in Italy and the two-door version in Mexico ("4-door Fiat coming here," April 19).
I'm struck by the silence of Michigan Reps. John Dingell, Bart Stupak and John Conyers on the subject.
Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow did talk, though, in a Jan. 12 BusinessWeek report. In an interview, she said, "I really do think we are going to see a repayment" from Chrysler and General Motors. "It really creates a win-win for all taxpayers."
Can someone explain to me how taxpayers and American workers are winning?
Maybe the silence will finally be broken when Fiat-Chrysler brings a subcompact under consideration as a Chrysler to North America from the city in Serbia that made the Yugo.
Now that's quality assurance.
GREG WATHEN, President and CEO, Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana, Evansville, Ind.
Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20100426/RETAIL03/304269972/1193#ixzz0mCXktWYw
Copyright (C) 2007 Crain Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
© 2007 Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive LLC (trading as Factiva). All rights reserved.
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Four Wheeler ( 04/23/2010 )
by Sean P. Holman
2010 Ram 2500 Crew Cab 4x4 Test Drive, We Get Some Seat Time In Mopar's Ram HD
In the Chrysler booth at SEMA last November sat an unassuming Deep Water Blue Ram 2500 Quad Cab, one that we thought would make for one heck of a nice daily driver. After perusing the spec sheet, we found out that this Ram was built as an exercise to show off Mopar accessories that are available from the very dealership where you would purchase your new Ram. These products are reasonably priced and are developed to last the life of the vehicle.
Featuring a much stronger stance than stock, this Ram has been upgraded with Toyo Open Country M/T 35x12.50R17 rolling stock, mounted on factory chrome wheels, made possible by Mopar's 2-inch spacer-style leveling kit. This extra altitude is enough to necessitate the addition of Mopar's 5-inch chromed oval sidesteps to make for easier entry into the cab. The bed is protected by a color-matched tonneau cover, which features an easy-opening hinge system and tailgate lock for weather resistant security.
The Mopar/Katzkin leather seats are made from creamy leather with exterior color-matched suede-like inserts.Inside the new-to-Ram HD Crew Cab are a bevy of upscale touches, most notably the Mopar-developed Katzkin leather seat covers. These covers are beautifully crafted in dark slate with blue inserts that match the exterior paint color. Mopar offers a variety of color combinations with your choice of accent stitching and piping colors. Mounted in the front headrests, rear passengers can enjoy their own 7-inch DVD player that includes a remote control and headsets for those long drives.
Other Mopar chrome styling touches include door sill guards, tailgate bezel, fuel door, B-pillar appliqués, and an exhaust tip to add a little more upscale flair to the already luxurious pickup.
Rear seat passengers can enjoy DVD entertainment systems mounted in the front seat headrests.We spent two weeks living with "Big Blue," including a family trip to San Diego. In our travels, we noticed more than a few turned heads from our fellow motorists. On the highway, ride quality did not suffer, and the gentle hum from the Toyo tires was no louder than the Cummins at work. Even with all of the upgrades, the cab remained peaceful, and with our two-year-old tester in the back watching her DVDs, everyone enjoyed the drive.
Doing exactly what Mopar is aiming for, all of these genuine accessories worked well together and added style and function to an already great-looking package. Although we did take it on some fire roads, obviously the intention of this truck is not for trail duty, but it does make for one helluva nice family tow rig. Hey Mopar, think you can spare the keys again?
Total Package Cost (MSRP)
35x12.5R17 Toyo M/T tires (street price per tire) $350.00
Katzkin Leather seat covers $1,199.00
Rear Seat Entertainment DVD system $1,625.00
Bright B-pillar trim kit $119.00
Chromed door sill guards (set of four) $178.00
Chromed tailgate bezel $39.00
Chrome fuel door $132.00
Chrome exhaust tip $99.30
Chromed 5-inch Side Steps $614.00
Color-matched hard tonneau cover $1,290.00
Total $6,695.30
Copyright © PRIMEDIA Magazines, Inc. All rights reserved.
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San Diego Union Tribune ( 04/20/2010 )
by Mark Maynard
Moparized Wrangler Rubicon showcases dealer-installed parts
Jeep sent down a heavily Mopar-equipped Jeep Wrangler Rubicon for me to muddy up off road.
The Flame Red test Jeep had the factory powertrain of 202-horsepower, 3.8-liter V-6 and optional four-speed automatic transmission (and it is time that box was updated with a couple more gears).
The test Jeep was a showcase of available factory-backed upgrades, which added about $13,000 to the MSRP of $29,525.
The point was to show the changes in Mopar. The Motor Parts division of Chrysler Group was once known just for factory parts and accessories. It is now moving to offer more true performance parts and upgrades. And instead of accepting bids from the lowest aftermarket provider, Mopar is working with the best, said Chrysler LLC spokesman Scott Brown.
“We are partnering such groups as Hella, Warn and Hutchinson,” he said. “We have learned that our buyers want the best.” The bead-lock wheels on the test Jeep ($3,450 for five) are from military supplier Hutchinson. “They are some of the best you can get,” Brown said.
As-equipped, the test Jeep was instant gratification. A dedicated Jeeper is likely to add thousands in extras, but usually it takes years of saving and justifying the expense. For someone buying a new Jeep, the cost of the dealer-installed parts can be rolled into the financing.
And the addition of Mopar performance parts will not affect the vehicle’s factory warranty and some of the parts have their own coverage. The 2-inch lift kit, for example, has a lifetime warranty. “(The kit) is better than the parts that are around it,” Brown said.
The upgrades on the test Jeep began with a 2-inch lift kit ($1,510, which includes Bilstein shock absorbers) and 34-inch Goodyear MT/R mud and sand tires. Despite the height, the handling at highway speeds was stable and planted. Part of the control can be credited to the Goodyears and part to the Bilsteins. Weight transfer in cornering – off-road and on—was fluid. The shocks have good rebound ability to keep the ride steady over rough terrain, but they could use more compression to ease the bump when bottoming out.
For those off-roaders headed to Moab, Utah, next week, Jeep will show a truck-load of Moparized vehicles at the 44th annual Easter Jeep Safari, March 27 through April 4.
Functional upgrades on the test Jeep included:
- Cold-air intake kit, $359. Adds about 3 horsepower and meets emission standards in all states.
- Heavy-duty, off-road front bumper, $610, with integral winch mount. Designed low enough to minimize airflow blockage to the engine.
- Warn winch, Model 9.5XP, $1,399, features fast line speed.
- Off-road rear bumper, $525, with tow eyes.
- Rock rails, $572. Sturdy rub bars run the length of the rocker panels.
- Steel front skid plate, $265, protects the steering gear.
- Front and rear differential cover skid plates, $79 each.
- Hella off-road lights, $300, mount to the windshield pillars.
- Custom-fit seat covers (front, $211; rear $154)
- Heavy-duty grab handles with rubber grips and leather webbing, $33 each; connect to the overhead sport bar.
- Slush mats, heavy-duty rubber mats with a tire-tread pattern, $48 for the set
CAPTION
The Flame Red Wrangler Rubicon was a showcase of Mopar upgrades. When buying a new Jeep, the cost of the dealer-installed parts can be rolled into the financing.
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The Wall Street Journal ( 04/26/2010 )
by PAUL INGRASSIA
Two Cheers for General Motors
Is General Motors no longer Government Motors? That's the impression left by the company's announcement this week that is has fully repaid the $6.7 billion in loans it got last year from the U.S. and Canadian governments.
The company is "paying back—in full, with interest, years ahead of schedule—loans made to help fund the new GM," declared chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre. That certainly is the truth, but not the whole truth.
GM is making progress. But its early loan repayment represents a little more than 10% of the money it got from both governments. Understanding why means peering under the hood of last year's government-sponsored bailout and bankruptcy.
A year ago at this time President Barack Obama's automotive task force decided against letting the company be liquidated, but it wrestled with the issue of how to usher GM through bankruptcy quickly and give it the best chance for survival.
The old GM was being crushed under a mountain of debt, much of it incurred so the company could pay pensions to its retirees. So the new GM, the task force decided, would be restructured with a pristine balance sheet.
It was both a financial and a political decision. Financially, saddling the new GM with lots of debt might doom the company to Failure 2.0. If the new GM collapsed after the government pumped in tens of billions of dollars, the political fallout for the Obama administration would be enormous. (Being tarred with bailout was bad enough.)
So the U.S. and Canadian governments decided, more or less arbitrarily, to classify some $6.7 billion of its aid as debt and a ballpark estimate of $52 billion in equity. That $52 billion represents nearly 90% of the government money given to General Motors. None of that has been repaid.
Mr. Whitacre should have acknowledged that directly. He would have enhanced the company's credibility compared with the old GM, which seemed to declare victory every other week even in the face of disaster.
Nor would this acknowledgment diminish the achievement of repaying the loans four years early. A year ago, with GM heading for a June 1 bankruptcy filing, nobody believed any aid would be repaid so quickly. Nor did anyone predict Chrysler, the other car company to get bailed out, would basically break even in this year's first quarter, as the company announced this week.
Getting the remaining $52 billion back from GM will require an initial public offering, which means convincing the investing public to buy the 73% of the company's stock owned by the U.S. and Canadian governments. (The other 27% is owned by the United Auto Workers union and by bondholders in the old company.)
It won't be easy for an IPO to raise $52 billion for the government shares. That's more than Ford Motor's current market capitalization, some $48 billion. And Ford, the only U.S. car company to avoid bankruptcy, already is profitable, which GM isn't. For GM to show sustained profits means doing business in a new way and breathing new life into long-moribund brands.
On the first score, one new GM executive hired from the outside asked his underlings to stop producing most of their regular management reports and see if anybody noticed. Nobody did. The company also is curtailing its habit of producing too many cars and selling them with discounts that sapped all the profits. Sales discounts remain high, but they're down more than 25% from a year ago.
Reviving brands is another matter. The new compact Chevrolet Cruze is attractive and well-received, but it's competing against cars with decades of name-brand recognition, the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla among them.
Certainly the Chevy revival lags behind that of the Ford brand, which is getting a cool image from putting nifty electronic features—voice-activated audio controls, radar that adjusts your speed relative to the car ahead of you—in its cars. It's been decades since anybody thought of a Chevy (except for the Corvette) as cool. The best role model for Chevrolet might be one of the smaller Japanese car companies, Mazda.
Mazda makes interesting, fun-to-drive cars, including the Miata roadster and the sporty Mazda 3 compact. But the company lacks marketing clout and a strong dealer network, so its U.S. market share has been stuck between 2% and 3% forever.
If Chevrolet can combine snazzier, Mazda-like cars—not dowdy-mobiles geared for rental-car fleets—with its extensive distribution system, the brand's image and GM's overall fortunes will rebound smartly. It won't happen overnight, but it has to happen for GM to succeed.
Meanwhile, the new General Motors should trumpet its triumphs. But it should be more careful to present them in proper perspective.
Mr. Ingrassia, this newspaper's former Detroit bureau chief, is the author of "Crash Course: The American Automobile Industry's Road from Glory to Disaster," published recently by Random House.
(Copyright (c) 2007, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
© 2007 Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive LLC (trading as Factiva). All rights reserved.
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The Denver Post ( 04/26/2010 )
GM misleading with debt claim
Exhibiting quite a lot of gall, General Motors is trying to spin the public with an ad campaign launched last week based on breathtakingly misleading information.
As partial owners of the company, the American taxpayers who saved it from economic ruin deserve better.
Shown strolling down an assembly line, GM's new chief executive brags that the company has repaid its government loans "in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule."
The executive, Ed Whitacre, repeated the claim in an op-ed headlined "The GM Bailout: Paid Back In Full" in The Wall Street Journal.
The assertion is based on the fact that GM used funds from a line of credit offered to it under TARP to pay off a $5.8 billion loan from the U.S. and Canadian governments. In other words, GM paid off a fraction of the tens of billions of dollars taxpayers have invested in the company from another taxpayer-funded account.
Meanwhile, the company continues to lose money, though it has shown promising signs of late in increased sales.
Yes, Whitacre acknowledges in his op-ed that GM still needs to pay back the money invested in it by the U.S. and Canadian governments to help the company emerge from bankruptcy. But he fails to remind readers of the delicate fact that that investment is worth $50 billion.
And there was more taxpayer support still.
As the Houston Chronicle's Loren Steffy reported, the fuller picture of GM's bailout includes a bailout of GMAC. GM was a partial owner of its financing arm, which got into trouble selling subprime loans. When the bottom fell out, the government helped save GMAC, and GM's share of that bailout is estimated at $6 billion.
Though it may be technically correct to say GM settled its "debt" by retiring the loans, it strikes us as disingenuous that the company would suggest it had done so based upon the still-debatable success of its reorganization.
A congressional panel soon discovered the TARP angle, and lawmakers were none too pleased.
Meanwhile, in an interview, GM's vice chairman, Stephen Girsky, was asked: "Are you just paying the government back with government money?"
His answer? "Well, listen, that is in effect true, but a year ago nobody thought we'd be able to pay this back."
Meanwhile, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has suggested the early payback with government money was an attempt to dodge a proposed tax.
GM should be more respectful to taxpayers and speak more transparently about its economic strengths and weaknesses. Risking the public's trust now could prove disastrous for the company if it falls once more into bad times at a later date.
We did not support the government bailout and takeover of GM and Chrysler, but we certainly wish the companies well in returning to profitability.
Whitacre outlined a string of accomplishments at the new GM that he argues should make the company competitive once again.
Let's hope we can believe him.
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Financial Times ( 04/26/2010 )
General Motors
Anyone looking to model himself on an American corporate hero could do far worse than channeling Lee Iacocca, the man once credited with saving Chrysler. General Motors’ new chief Ed Whitacre has spent the past several days none too subtly recreating Mr Iacocca’s finest moment by touting GM’s repayment of government loans five years ahead of schedule and hinting that an upcoming earnings report will be impressive. In 1983, Mr Iacocca announced repayment of a controversial 1979 rescue loan seven years early after releasing record profits. Mr Whitacre’s bold style and role as commercial pitchman also are reminiscent of Mr Iacocca in his prime. But that is where the similarities end.
In television advertisements and a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed titled “The GM Bail-out: Paid Back in Full”, Mr Whitacre suggests taxpayers have been made whole. Unlike 1983’s Chrysler, though, 2010’s GM remains far from a win-win, much less the profitable bet for Uncle Sam Mr Whitacre also once suggested. Its repayment only covers the $6.7bn in direct loans, not the additional $45bn converted to a 61 per cent US equity stake and preferred shares. Even after wiping out shareholders, decimating creditors and dumping brands and dealers, the new GM could not have sustained $50bn in fresh borrowing. Repaying the entire investment seems a long shot as GM would have to fetch more than $70bn in an initial public offering. More profitable Ford is worth less than $50bn. And GM received plenty of indirect help that Mr Iacocca never enjoyed through the cash-for-clunkers scheme and aid to suppliers and a former financing arm.
GM is making impressive strides in efficiency, quality and product line-up, but all that began well before Mr Whitacre took the helm. By contrast Mr Iacocca championed several game-changing vehicles and ideas over his long career. Let us hope Mr Whitacre can, in time, match these feats and walk the walk, not just talk the talk.
(C) The Financial Times Limited 2007.
© 2007 Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive LLC (trading as Factiva). All rights reserved.
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Bloomberg ( 04/26/2010 )
by Keith Naughton
Ford May Report $1 Billion Profit on Higher Volumes, Prices
Ford Motor Co.’s earnings probably topped $1 billion, the first time since 2005 the automaker will have posted a net profit for four straight quarters, after Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally cut back on discounting.
Ford may earn $1.08 billion in the first quarter, the average of five analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. U.S. deliveries surged 37 percent, more than twice the industrywide increase, and it had the smallest discounts among domestic automakers, according to researcher Autodata Corp. Buyers also chose costlier options, helping generate more revenue per car.
“There’s a lot of momentum at Ford right now in terms of customers’ perception of their products,” said Efraim Levy, a Standard & Poor’s equity analyst in New York who advises holding the shares. “We’re hitting the point where it’s time to give them the benefit of the doubt, rather than view them with skepticism.”
Mulally, 64, put rebuilding Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford’s namesake brand at the center of his strategy for overhauling the second-biggest U.S. automaker after he arrived from Boeing Co. in 2006. First-quarter revenue probably rose 13 percent to $28 billion, the average estimate of 7 analysts.
Redesigned models such as the Taurus sedan helped boost U.S. market share to 17.4 percent through March from 14.7 percent a year earlier, the biggest jump since 1977, according to Ford. This year, dealers will get the new Fiesta and Focus small cars after Ford’s reliance on trucks led to $30 billion in losses from 2006 through 2008 as fuel prices surged.
Year of Gains
“Ford has done a very good job of responding to changes in the market with the products they’ve come up with,” said Brian Johnson, a Barclays Capital analyst in Chicago who has an “equal weight” rating on the shares. “We’re expecting a strong first quarter from Ford.”
The automaker has been profitable each quarter since last year’s April-to-June period that included the bankruptcies of its two domestic rivals. That quarter’s $2.26 billion profit was the product of gains related to debt-reduction that exceeded operating losses.
A net profit of $1.08 billion would contrast with a loss on that basis of $1.43 billion for the same period last year. The automaker last posted four straight quarterly profits from the third quarter of 2004 to the second quarter of 2005.
John Stoll, a spokesman, said Ford had no comment before tomorrow’s announcement.
Ford rose 1 cent to $14.21, a five-year high, on April 23 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have almost tripled in the past year.
Avoiding Bailout
Executive Chairman Bill Ford, 52, said shoppers are considering Ford models in part because the automaker avoided the government-backed bankruptcies that befell the predecessors of General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC.
“But if they don’t like what they see, they’ll go elsewhere,” he said after a speech in Detroit April 15.
Also buoying Ford’s share is a shift in some consumers’ impressions after Toyota Motor Corp.’s recalls of more than 8 million vehicles worldwide, said Bernie McGinn, president of McGinn Investment Management of Alexandria, Virginia, which owns 320,000 Ford shares. Toyota’s first quarter U.S. vehicle sales rose 7.2 percent, half the industry’s 16 percent.
“Toyota has taken a hit to their image for automotive excellence, and the chief beneficiary is Ford,” McGinn said. “This is the first time in a generation that people are looking at Ford in a really positive way.”
Pricing Gains
Pricing gains may have helped, too. Revenue from each vehicle sold rose $2,041 in 2009 on new models such as the Fusion hybrid and purchases of more-expensive features, according to Mulally. Ford expects to see “positive net pricing” again this year, Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth said in a Jan. 28 interview.
Mulally’s brand-repair strategy was financed by $23 billion in borrowing after he joined the company. While those loans enabled Ford to avert a Chapter 11 filing, they also added to automotive debt that reached $34.3 billion at the end of 2009, up from $24.2 billion a year earlier.
“Ford has got to pay down its debt,” said Jim Hall, principal of consultant 2953 Analytics in Birmingham, Michigan. “And they have to weigh paying down the debt against investing in new products.”
GM and Chrysler were cleansed of obligations in bankruptcy. GM reported paying off the last $4.7 billion in U.S. loans April 21, the same day Chrysler posted a first-quarter operating profit of $143 million.
‘Seen This Movie’
Ford can’t risk complacency and arrogance as it tries to complete a turnaround, according to Bill Ford. Ten years ago today, Ford shares closed at $52.84. First-quarter U.S. sales totaled 1.08 million in 2000. This year’s tally was 441,708.
“I’ve seen this movie before,” Bill Ford said in Detroit on April 22. “I know how quickly self-satisfaction can turn into self-destruction.”
For now, Ford reaps rewards for going it alone and not taking a government rescue, McGinn said. Of 16 analysts covering the shares, 8 say buy, 6 advise holding and 2 recommend selling, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In January 2009, 1 analyst had a buy rating while 8 said hold and 3 said sell.
“Ford just seems like it can do no wrong,” said John Wolkonowicz, an analyst at consultant IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. “The company is doing very well, and the stock is doing very well.”
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-26/ford-may-report-1-billion-profit-on-higher-volumes-prices.html
©2007 Bloomberg L.P.
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Bloomberg ( 04/26/2010 )
by Yuki Hagiwara
Toyota Rises Most in 7 Weeks After Report on Profit (Update3)
Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest carmaker, rose the most in seven weeks in Tokyo after a report that the company will post a full-year operating profit.
The automaker climbed 3.4 percent, the most since March 8, to close at 3,690 yen. Toyota will probably post operating profit of as much as 50 billion yen ($530 million) for the year ended March 31, Nikkei English News reported on April 24, without saying where it got the information.
Toyota, which forecast a 20 billion yen full-year operating loss on Feb. 4, may have turned to a profit after it cut costs and a weaker yen raised revenue from overseas, the report said. Stock market gains in the U.S. and Europe on April 23 also boosted the carmaker, said Hiroichi Nishi, a Tokyo-based equities manager at Nikko Cordial Securities Inc.
“The yen cheapened against the euro and dollar,” Nishi said. “Shares in Europe and the U.S. also bounced back. For these reasons, investors are positive about Toyota’s shares.”
The maker of Corolla cars may post 44.4 billion yen in operating profit for the year, according to the average of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg this month.
Ririko Takeuchi, a spokeswoman for the Toyota City, Japan- based carmaker, declined to comment on the report. Toyota will announce earnings on May 11.
Yen’s Decline
The yen fell to 126.22 per euro as of 11:04 a.m. in Tokyo from 125.73 in New York on April 23. The Japanese currency dropped to 94.31 yen per dollar, from 93.97 in New York.
Toyota’s earnings for the year started April 1 may be eroded as the automaker deals with as much as $2 billion in lost sales and warranty repairs after recalling more than 8 million vehicles globally for defects related to braking and unintended acceleration.
Last week, the carmaker recalled its Lexus GX 460 SUV and agreed to pay a record $16.4 million U.S. fine, further damaging its reputation for safety under President Akio Toyoda.
The automaker’s credit rating was cut by Moody’s Investors Service last week, and Fitch Ratings said it may also downgrade Toyota as the recalls devastate profit. Toyota faces a “material risk” that its operating profit margin will remain well below what is appropriate for its rating “until 2012 at the earliest and possibly beyond,” Moody’s analyst Tadashi Usui wrote.
Sluggish demand, overcapacity, the need to provide incentives beyond normal levels to boost sales and “a real risk that its product quality problems have eroded significantly and permanently its historical advantages in pricing power,” could all negatively affect Toyota’s profitability, Moody’s Usui wrote.
The carmaker in March started offering no-interest loans, discount leases and free maintenance for U.S. customers.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-26/toyota-rises-most-in-7-weeks-after-report-on-profit-update3-.html
©2007 Bloomberg L.P.
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