Automotive News - June 9, 2008 - (Page 16)

16 • JUNE 9, 2008 ADVERTISING STAFF Nielsen likes to step off the beaten path I n 1999, Chris Nielsen became the first U.S. manager at Toyota to rotate through the company’s operations in Japan. Before then, foreign assignments within the company were restricted mainly to Japanese executives. When Nielsen moved his family to Nagoya, he was assistant general manager of purchasing at the U.S. manufacturing headquarters in Erlanger, Ky. He spent a year in Toyota City working in purchasing planning. “I was kind of a guinea pig to see Person to person how an American family with kids can live over there,” Nielsen says. “The real challenge in the office was language, but the personal life was very easy.” Today, Nielsen heads Toyota’s North American purchasing operations, which spend $30 billion a year with about 500 suppliers. Yes, it’s a challenge, but so is raising three boys under age 10. Name: Chris Nielsen Title: Vice president, purchasing, vehicle parts and materials, Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Inc. Age: 44 Family: Married, three sons: 9, 6 and 2 Lives: Cincinnati Education: Bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, GMI Engineering & Management Institute, Flint, Mich., 1987 Big break: “Making the leap of faith to come to work for Toyota before the Georgetown (Ky.) plant was built.” The Monday after Nielsen graduated from GMI he reported to work at Toyota’s fledgling U.S. purchasing office in temporary digs near Detroit. You’ve got three young boys. What’s a Saturday afternoon like for you? Football, baseball. We try to do something outside every weekend. They’re into Cub Scouts. We camp. My oldest is really into the outdoors. Last night he showed me a bunch of tadpoles he plans to raise. Toyota’s Chris Nielsen: “I always want to detour off and explore something I’ve never seen before.” This looks like a great summer for action movies. Will you take the boys to see Iron Man? I was a big superhero fan growing up. So I will OK them seeing Iron Man so that I can go see it. Are you a Harry Potter family? Yes, with the exception of me. My wife has read every one of the books the hour they came out. My job was to wait at the store until midnight to buy the books for her as soon as they were available. Will you get a summer vacation this year? Absolutely. We have a tradition of going to the Outer Banks (of North Carolina) every year for a week. We rent a place on the beach and do absolutely nothing. Just play in the water. Can you really disconnect from the office? When I’m on vacation, I peek at the BlackBerry every day just to make sure there’s no crisis. But I don’t take it to the beach with me. I have an onoff switch. I have a 25-minute drive into work every morning, and I flick the switch on during my drive to the office. If I didn’t have the ability to turn the switch off, it wouldn’t be fair to my family. Especially with young children. You’re a Rolling Stones fan. I’m not into the oldies, with the exception of the Rolling Stones. I like music that’s new and different. I’m listening to a band called Sun Volt, which is a new take on country music. There’s a band called the Raconteurs. Wilco is good. I like The Wreckers. I like to discover music. These are bands that are a little bit off the beaten path. Do you venture off the beaten path when you travel? I always want to detour off and explore something I’ve never seen before. I mix a lot of things in with my business traveling. I like to see the sights. When we go somewhere new, I’ll read the Zagat reviews before I get there to see if there are any unique places away from the hotel. I’ll hear that someplace has great local cuisine and I’ll go check it out. In San Francisco, I recently discovered a little hard-to-find Spanish restaurant. The waiter found out I was from Cincinnati and asked, “How in the world did you find out about us?” So you know food? I’ve actually submitted restaurant comments to Zagat that they picked up and included in their review. So what’s a great restaurant in Cincinnati? My wife and I like places with good food that aren’t stuffy or pretentious. Our favorite place is in the suburbs. It’s a chef-owned restaurant called Nectar, and we know the chef. She does a lot of unique takes on local food, using ingredients from local farms. How do you envision retirement life? I want to travel. I’ve wanted to go to Africa since I was a kid, but that’s a long way off. The first question is how to fund all the things I want to do in retirement. — Lindsay Chappell Circulation 313-446-0450 Advertising 313-446-6050 Classified Advertising 313-446-6065, 800-388-1800 E-mail rgreer@crain.com Web site www.autonews.com ADVERTISING AND SALES DETROIT 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, MI 48207-2997 313-446-6790 Fax: 313-446-8030 Rick Greer Director of Sales and Marketing rgreer@crain.com 313-446-6050 Kathleen C. 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Reprints Mike Shober, The YGS Group, 800-494-9051, Ext. 100 automotivenews@theygsgroup.com Microfilm ProQuest Information and Learning Co. 800-521-0600 Lithia Motors Inc. plans to shed as many as 15 dealerships and defer investment in its used-vehicle stores as part of its new restructuring plan. The public dealership group aims to save $18 million a year from its restructuring efforts, Lithia executives say. The Medford, Ore., company says it also plans to reduce costs by cutting jobs, combining regional offices and selling real estate. Lithia is No. 8 on this year’s Automotive News list of the top 125 U.S. dealership groups, ranked by the number of new units sold at retail in 2007. The company operates 110 new-vehicle dealerships in 15 states, mostly in the West. Lithia reported nearly $3.23 billion in group revenue in 2007. Lithia had planned to become a national group with at least 350 dealerships by 2014. But now the company says it will divest 10 to 15 underperforming dealerships. Last year Lithia launched a standalone used-vehicle group called L2 Auto, predicting big growth potential. But the company now says it will suspend plans to open new L2 stores. For the first time since it went public in 1996, Lithia is losing money. In the first quarter, Lithia lost $1.9 million on $699.3 million in sales, compared with a profit of $7.2 million in the year-ago quarter. Lithia also posted a loss in the fourth quarter of 2007. “As the economic environment has worsened, we have taken a comprehensive look at our business and determined how it can be right-sized to achieve our profit margin and growth objectives for the long term,” Lithia CEO Sid DeBoer said in a statement last week. Lithia says it expects to complete its restructuring plan in 90 days. The company says it will provide more details when it announces secondquarter earnings next month. In 2007, Lithia sold 63,607 new vehicles at retail. c PRODUCTION Terry Driscoll, Production Manager tdriscoll@crain.com, 313-446-6062 Larry Williams, Production Supervisor AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE www.autonewseurope.com Jason Stein, Publisher jstein@craincom.de/+49-8153-907522 Nina Sauer, Sales and Marketing Director nsauer@craincom.de/+49-6992-884646 AUTOMOBILWOCHE www.automobilwoche.de Helmut Kluger, Publisher hkluger@craincom.de/+49-8153-907402 Thomas Heringer Sales and Marketing Director theringer@craincom.de/+49-8153-907404 http://www.autonews.com http://www.hiousa.com http://www.hiousa.com http://WWW.AUTONEWS.COM http://www.autonews.com/subscribe.htm http://www.autonewseurope.com http://www.actionIM.com http://www.actionIM.com http://www.automobilwoche.de

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Automotive News - June 9, 2008

Automotive News - June 9, 2008 Hummer Bummer: A death sentence? New F-150, Ram in peril as big pickups collapse Japanese can add small cars faster than Detroit 3 Battery shortage hurts hybrid sales 2 key overseas staffers move to Automotive News in the U.S. Toyota may add Camry to Indiana truck plant Mazda extends warranty on RX-8 rotary engine CAW to consider strike against GM Porsche's new 911 GM plans big ad push for its big hybrid SUVs Chrysler cuts fees to outside service firms 5% Toyota considering 'Made in U.S.A.' Prius Congress, Bush square off over rollover suits GM finance whiz changed the industry GM's big SUVs may get lighter Harbour Report: Chrysler, Toyota most efficient Spring intros can be dicey Ford spends big on MKS ad launch Media buyer for GM cuts 25 jobs Sources: GM poised to buy Cobasys GM dealer program rebounds Mazda updates the RX-8 New Maxima is a tad smaller — but more buff Congress must balance safety, mpg concerns Is the gas crisis real or just temporary? What about poor driving? There's no substitute for safe driving Lack of regulation foils safety laws Sticker law cleaned up a pricing mess Lithia to sell outlets, delay used-car stores Nielsen likes to step off the beaten path GM union local strives to pull parts jobs in-house JCI will open Ga. plant to supply Kia Dealers: Be open about credit problems Finance venture has $1 billion Picture this Personnel Dealers BMW purchasing chief 'looking for waste' Nissan Mexicana gets new chief Ford Flex output begins Hyundai Genesis: $33,000 Ford buys more from minorities Audi's U.S. chief: Brand can handle high gas prices May in Detroit: Scary, not merry Infiniti FX starts at $41,765 Lincoln: 8,600 MKS orders Plastics supplier sees growth Jenkins gets Aston Martin post Smith is CEO of Jaguar, Land Rover Kremlin watching, Chrysler style Toyota breathing down GM's neck on monthly U.S. sales PR chief Steve Harris: At GM through '08 Small-car surge is a replay of 1979 Auto execs would benefit from some store experience Mini's mixed results: Sales soar, quality stumbles Nice car — so what's the ppmpg? Volt's good PR got struck by lightning

Automotive News - June 9, 2008

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