Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - (Page 34) 34 • AUGUST 18, 2008 final assembly comment A good day at work: $22 million Y eah, sales are in the tank. But there’s more than one way to make money at an auto dealership. Lottery tickets, for example. At Bray Motors, 170 miles north of Toronto in tiny (population: 1,000) Sundridge, Ontario, staffers scored the second-largest lottery win in Canadian history this month. The jackpot of $22.5 million Canadian (about $21.1 million U.S.), won after 14 years of trying, will be split among 25 dealership employees. That’s $900,000 each. Pete Bray, 54, took over ownership of the Chevrolet-Buick-PontiacGMC store from his father, Pete Bray Sr., 86, who founded it in 1954. His dad was one of the 25 people in on the win. The dealership retails about 250 new and 300 used vehicles a month. Most of the winners plan on sticking around, the younger Bray said. And he joked that with the recent fortunes his staff has made, and with everyone in a pretty good mood, it’s a great time to get a deal on a new car. What cars will be the cruisers of tomorrow? W hile we were up in Traverse City last week trying to sort out the future of the auto industry, some of our friends and colleagues were living happily in the past. Some were en route to Monterey, Calif., for the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Others were polishing their 1960s muscle cars for the annual EDWARD LAPHAM Woodward IS EXECUTIVE Dream Cruise in EDITOR OF a Detroit suburb. AUTOMOTIVE Maybe you NEWS. joined them. Whether it’s something as highbrow as a concours or something as basic as an afterwork get-together with buddies who bring their hot rods and muscle cars to the local speed shop to share hot dogs and soda pop, there is something that’s just plain fun about old cars. Over dinner the other night, a friend and I discussed which of today’s cars would turn up in dream cruises 20 or 30 years from now. We started out talking about Audi R8s, Porsche Boxsters, Dodge Vipers, Chevy Corvettes, new Dodge Challengers and Ford GT40s. Then it hit us: None of them would be on the list. Those are cars we like today, not cars we would have driven back in the day. And they’re certainly not the cars of today’s young people, who will decide tomorrow’s cruisers. So we listed the common denominators of today’s classic cruisers. Mostly they were relatively inexpensive, impractical two-door coupes with big engines. And they were immortalized on Top 40 radio. But most important, we bonded with our cars because we busted our knuckles working on them. Because of new technology — including the kind discussed in Traverse City — most of today’s young people couldn’t do that anymore, even if they wanted to. So which cars will be tomorrow’s cruisers? I don’t know. The list seemed so short that we changed the subject. GM sets ’em up for Dems, GOP the A lcohol will flowofatthosenational political conventions, of course. But many gallons will go into the tanks of vehicles General Motors is providing to the Democrats and Republicans. Most vehicles in the convention fleets will be GM gasoline-electric hybrids. Others are flex-fuel vehicles that will run on E85, which is 85 percent ethanol. In an added twist, ethanol for the Democratic convention will be made from byproducts of beer brewing. The convention will be held Aug. 25-28 in Denver, home of Molson Coors Brewing Co. The company says it makes about 3 million gallons of ethanol a year from beer waste. Overall, GM is providing 450 cars and trucks for the Democratic convention and 285 for Republicans, who gather Sept. 1-4 in Minneapolis. For a while, the party’s over at Toyota T oyota’s North American profits evaporated last quarter in the face of a steep drop in pickup and SUV sales. That means no merrygo-round for the kiddies. Toyota’s Georgetown, Ky., complex is tightening its belt and canceling its annual employee picnic at King’s Island amusement park near Cincinnati. “It was really, really hard for me to do, believe me,” said Steve St. Angelo, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky Inc. “Our members and our families really love that picnic, but it didn’t make sense to have that picnic this year and have a celebration” when some assembly lines have ground to a halt and workers are spending their days in training and other activities rather than building trucks (see story, Page 1). Starting Aug. 8, Toyota halted production at its San Antonio and Princeton, Ind., plants to cope with excess inventories of pickups. Selling a truck, a dime at a time J ames Jones and his wife, Betty, standing, needed a new truck. And they had those 16 coffee cans filled with coins just sitting around . . . so Dave Criswell, a salesman at Jake Sweeney Chevrolet in Cincinnati, lugged the cans to his desk and started counting. An hour and a half later, Jones wrote an $8,000 check to pay for the rest of the bright-red $16,000 Chevy Silverado. “I tried to get some help counting it, but everyone here started ducking and running,” Criswell said. “Usually, the heaviest lifting I have to do on a deal is with a pen.” The Hummer H3T Chung sprung C hung Mong-koo is off the hook — one of 340,000 people who got presidential pardons last week on the 60th anniversary of South Korea’s founding. The Hyundai-Kia chairman, who was incarcerated in 2006 for embezzling $100 million from Hyundai and its subsidiaries for a political slush fund, got a suspended three-year sentence in September 2007. Under the probation agreement, Chung agreed to give $813 million to charity and perform 300 hours of community service — most recently at an orphanage near Seoul, feeding and cleaning up ISTOCKPHOTO babies. Chung says he will follow through on both of those commitments. Buy Hummer? Nyet, says Russian automaker Edward Lapham writes commentaries each week for autonews.com. Read them at autonews.com/edwardlapham. S A 1961 Ferrari 250 GT Spyder: Now there’s a classic cruiser! ure, a Hummer might be perfect for banging through the frozen tundra or soaking up some excess petrodollars. But a Russian auto company says the brand isn’t going to that country. Vedomosti, a Moscow business publication, reports that Oleg Deripaska, the billionaire owner of Russian Machines, is angling to buy Hummer from General Motors. Nyet, says spokesman Igor Vagan. “On the situation with Hummer brand, we can say the following: Russian Machines neither received any proposals to consider acquisition of the Hummer assets nor is strategically interested in such a deal,” Vagan said in an e-mail last week to Automotive News. Russian Machines is the parent company of GAZ, one of Russia’s oldest automakers. GM CEO Rick Wagoner said recently that the company is getting plenty of inquiries about Hummer. GM wants to sell or rethink Hummer, whose sales have collapsed because of high fuel costs. http://autonews.com http://autonews.com/edwardlapham
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Automotive News - August 18, 2008 Automotive News - August 18, 2008 Smart answer: A tiny Hyundai from India Toyota idles factories — but can't lay anybody off Sharing the pain N. America: Brembo's big break? Ford adds 7 preferred suppliers; total rises to 65 Suit: Report of store's death is premature Lincoln crossover will get MKT nameplate Ligocki will head Mexican/Chinese car deal Industry tries lean lobbying at conventions Ford reins in F-150 order combinations Nissan will buy more in Mexico Leland, master of precision and luxury cars Honda will launch Prius fighter in April Porsche bolsters warranty on pre-owned vehicles CTS wagon arrives in spring GM: Aerodynamic design boosts Volt's range Denso is Chrysler 'Supplier of Choice' Kudos to Ford for improving supplier relations How do we define 'automaker'? Concept of leasing had been polluted Totaled cars: We don't need a new law Hybrids too quiet? Sounds like trouble Marketing tips for the 21st century Scion tries to get leg up when flexing its hip Scion ads show community of cool — but no owners July trucks sales fall; rate of decline slows Hargrove forecast: Good for now, bad for long term Mitsubishi plans plant to meet battery demand Mini Cooper D(iesel) delivers, but not here yet Logistics company's goal: Cut fuel use even more Transporter joins the cars it delivers in going green Saturn, Scion lost that special feeling Expert: CAFE debate irrelevant Chrysler plans unibody, fuel-efficient Grand Cherokee Panel: CAFE will change U.S. car mix Toyota revs up its aftermarket parts business Dealers Who's that sporting Brembos now? Moody's cuts GM rating Analyst Merkle moves Ford will sell stock BMW recalls 320,000 vehicles Intermet in Chapter 11 again GM adds 4 XFE models Delphi ends battery venture Chamco cases bounce around court system Mercedes sues Cobasys over batteries For a while, the party's over at Toyota Buy Hummer? Nyet, says Russian automaker What cars will be the cruisers of tomorrow? GM sets 'em up for Dems, GOP Chung sprung A good day at work: $22 million Automotive News - August 18, 2008 Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - (Page Intro) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Sharing the pain (Page 1) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Sharing the pain (Page 2) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Ligocki will head Mexican/Chinese car deal (Page 3) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Nissan will buy more in Mexico (Page 4) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Nissan will buy more in Mexico (Page 5) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - CTS wagon arrives in spring (Page 6) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - CTS wagon arrives in spring (Page 7) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Denso is Chrysler 'Supplier of Choice' (Page 8) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Denso is Chrysler 'Supplier of Choice' (Page 9) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Denso is Chrysler 'Supplier of Choice' (Page 10) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Denso is Chrysler 'Supplier of Choice' (Page 11) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Totaled cars: We don't need a new law (Page 12) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Totaled cars: We don't need a new law (Page 13) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Marketing tips for the 21st century (Page 14) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Marketing tips for the 21st century (Page 14a) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Marketing tips for the 21st century (Page 14b) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - July trucks sales fall; rate of decline slows (Page 15) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Mitsubishi plans plant to meet battery demand (Page 16) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Mitsubishi plans plant to meet battery demand (Page 17) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Saturn, Scion lost that special feeling (Page 18) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Saturn, Scion lost that special feeling (Page 19) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Saturn, Scion lost that special feeling (Page 20) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Saturn, Scion lost that special feeling (Page 21) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Chrysler plans unibody, fuel-efficient Grand Cherokee (Page 22) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Panel: CAFE will change U.S. car mix (Page 23) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Panel: CAFE will change U.S. car mix (Page 24) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Panel: CAFE will change U.S. car mix (Page 25) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Panel: CAFE will change U.S. car mix (Page 26) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Panel: CAFE will change U.S. car mix (Page 27) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Dealers (Page 28) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Who's that sporting Brembos now? (Page 29) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Delphi ends battery venture (Page 30) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Delphi ends battery venture (Page 31) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Mercedes sues Cobasys over batteries (Page 32) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - Mercedes sues Cobasys over batteries (Page 33) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - A good day at work: $22 million (Page 34) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - A good day at work: $22 million (Page 35) Automotive News - August 18, 2008 - A good day at work: $22 million (Page 36)
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