Automotive News - February 11, 2008 - (Page 6) 6 • FEBRUARY 11, 2008 Steve Lyons’ Ford dealership in Arizona delayed Amy Wilson awilson@crain.com DETROIT — Becoming a Ford dealer is taking longer than Steve Lyons thought. The former Ford Motor Co. sales executive left the automaker in early 2006 in a retirement deal that included a new dealership in Surprise, Ariz., a fast-growing Phoenix suburb. At the time, Lyons projected that his dealership could open as soon as the end of 2007 or in 2008. Former Ford Motor Co. executive Steve Lyons now expects to break ground on his dealership in 2009. But two years later, the estimated opening date is still about two years down the road, Lyons told Automotive News. “It’s just slow,” said Lyons. “We closed on the property in December, which was way behind schedule.” The U.S. economic slowdown and subprime lending problem has delayed his project along with other retail development in Surprise, Lyons said. Some big-box stores are putting off their openings, which in turn delays the expansion of roads and other necessary infrastructure. Lyons is calling 2008 a “wait and see” year. He now anticipates breaking ground on the dealership in 2009 and opening in 2010. The Ford store is part of a large planned auto mall. The new projected opening date might work out better, Lyons said, because Ford will have more new product ready for sale by 2010. Though it’s frustrating to feel like “a horse in the gate,” the former factory executive said he knows it’s better to be cautious. Said Lyons: “The worst thing you can do is jump in and find out the market is not ready.” c Ford adds tracking service to find stolen vehicles Leslie J. Allen lallen@crain.com After displaying two versions of the Genesis last month at the Detroit auto show, Hyundai will go with the top grille — without the logo — when the car goes on sale this summer. Ford Motor Co. is offering a wireless tracking service that helps police recover stolen vehicles. The dealer-installed option gives Ford another way to chip away at rival General Motors’ OnStar telematics service. It comes just over a year after Ford introduced its factory-installed Sync infotainment service. Ford and Lincoln-Mercury dealerships will offer the SmartAlert service from SkyWay Systems Inc., of Westminster, Colo. SmartAlert uses global positioning system technology to find vehicles and sends the location to the Internet through cellular networks. Buyers who want OnStar but are shopping for a Ford vehicle will now have more options, said Robert Yandrofski, CEO of SkyWay. “We think that we are a perfect complement to Sync as an aftermarket safety and security product,” he said. SmartAlert also allows owners to unlock their doors remotely, either through a call center or by going online and entering an access code. Yandrofski said the technology eventually will enable vehicle owners to unlock their doors by cell phone. Parents of teen drivers can set up alerts by cell phone, e-mail or text message that are triggered by excessive speed. Ford and SkyWay were expected to introduce their tie-up last week before the start of the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in San Francisco. Installation, hardware and the first year of service will cost $700 to $1,200. Thereafter, customers will pay a subscription fee to keep the service. c Hyundai picks a face for Genesis Richard Truett rtruett@crain.com Volkswagen execs see a market among U.S. consumers for vehicles such as the space up! blue concept. VW looks at small fuel-sippers Rick Kranz rkranz@crain.com CHICAGO — A range of small Volkswagen models with turbocharged 1.4liter engines and prices that start around $13,000 are being considered for North America. “Small cars like the Polo could be very, very interesting,” said Stefan Jacoby, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America. He’s also looking at a production version of the rear-drive space up! concept that debuted at the Los Angeles auto show in November. Other possible models “are attractive lifestyle cars that are a little bit SUV-looking and a little van,” he said. Jacoby said VW research indicates growing demand in the United States for small, fuel-efficient cars. “I think it is very attractive for VW to go into that segment,” he said last week at the Chicago Auto Show. No VW’s Stefan Jacoby: “Small cars like the Polo could be very, very interesting.” timetable was given. “I think an entry could be $13,000, $14,000,” Jacoby said. Besides the Polo, “I am counting on lifestyle” vehicles, he said. “Look at Mini, what they are doing in terms of pricing. Smart also is not a cheap buy. If you really equip them properly, you are not at $13,000. “We are not a cheap make in this market,” Jacoby said, adding that the vehicles will have “value and some emotion,” so they “will not start at $9,000 or $10,000.” VW’s least expensive U.S. model is the Rabbit, which starts at $16,130 including shipping. Its inline five-cylinder engine gets 30 mpg on the highway and 22 mpg in the city. Jacoby said VW likely will face some resistance from U.S. buyers to turbocharged engines. “Turbocharging is not easy to market. The U.S. customer thinks it is expensive; it is not reliable,” he said. “But the future is downsized turbocharged engines” with 1.4-liter displacement. “When the new CAFE law comes to life in 2011, that will be the industry trend,” Jacoby said. He expects the turbocharged engines will get 10 to 20 percent better fuel economy than equivalent engines with no turbochargers. Jacoby said the turbocharged engines’ high torque and strong acceleration will make the vehicles fun to drive. “It is the future.” c CHICAGO — The final piece of the styling puzzle is in place for Hyundai’s Genesis luxury sedan. The car, scheduled to go on sale this summer, will have a plain grille without the Hyundai logo, said John Krafcik, Hyundai Motor America’s vice president for product development. Hyundai showed two versions of the Genesis last month at the Detroit auto show. One car had a grille with a large stylized Hyundai logo in the center. The other sported a grille with four horizontal bars with a divider down the middle. Krafcik said the decision on which grille to use was made after studying reactions to both cars. Krafcik also said Hyundai expects about 20 percent of buyers to choose the automaker’s first V-8 engine. The 4.6-liter, double overhead cam, 32valve aluminum engine was designed in-house. The 368-hp V-8 won’t have cylinder deactivation technology or gasoline direct injection at launch, but those features could be added, Krafcik said. Hyundai designed the engine to accept those fuel-saving technologies as well as a supercharger. Krafcik said he expects the Genesis to elevate Hyundai’s engineering image and status. He said: “The benchmark cars were the BMW 5 series, Mercedes-Benz E class and Lexus GS.” c Cadillac chief shoots for retail sales boost in ’08 Jamie LaReau jlareau@crain.com © GM CORP. GM had a 22-day supply of the new Cadillac CTS as of Feb. 1. DETROIT — Cadillac’s general manager is issuing a challenge to auto dealers this year to get the brand’s retail sales back up to the 2005 level. Cadillac retail sales came in around 187,000 in 2007. In 2005, they totaled 192,000, Jim Taylor, Cadillac’s general manager, said in an interview with Automotive News. “My challenge to these guys is to get it back up past 190,000,” Taylor said. “That’s a reasonable challenge.” The new CTS sedan was launched around Aug. 20 last year. As of Feb. 1, Cadillac’s Jim Taylor: “My challenge to these guys is to get it back up past 190,000” retail sales in 2008. GM had a 22-day supply of the car. From Aug. 20 through Jan. 27, CTS racked up 23,874 retail sales, a Cadillac spokesman says. Cadillac will launch the Escalade Hybrid SUV in August, followed in September by the performance CTS-V series, which Taylor said should boost retail sales. In setting the 190,000-unit retail sales goal, he said, “I am being conservative because we are going into an uncertain economic state.” Cadillac dealers ended 2007 with their profitability flat, Taylor said. He blames sluggish car sales for that and said the strong-selling Escalade kept profits from falling. But, he added: “We’d like it to be higher and be more like BMW and Mercedes dealers — where they have a higher gross and higher throughput.” c
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