Ford Techs Get Voice on Repairs
Ford Motor Co., criticized by dealers for reducing warranty repair times
and compensation, will establish a panel of technicians to review repair
procedures. Dealers and technicians still are smarting over guidelines
enacted in 1998, 1999 and 2000. Many technicians say some standards are
impossible to meet. Some technicians are so upset that they are trying
to unionize dealership shops. Ford now is scheduled to implement another
round of changes in the repair procedures in November, a delay from its
intended October timing. The delay will give the new 40-person committee
of technicians the time to review those changes, says Francisco Codina,
Ford's new vice president of customer service. The technicians "have
over time proven that they are very resourceful in the way they do
repairs, and we want to learn from them," Codina says. The panel, which
will cover Ford, Lincoln and Mercury dealerships, will include at least
two technicians from each of the automaker's 17 regions, plus two
representing small, or select, dealers. Another four will be chosen on
an at-large basis. Dealers are enthused about Codina's cooperative
attitude. Warranty work represents about 20 percent of the average
dealership's parts and service revenue and 2.4 percent of total revenue,
according to the National Automobile Dealers Association. "This was
huge. We've been asking for this for many years," says Michael Kennedy
of John Kennedy Ford in Feasterville, Pa., chairman of the Ford Division
National Dealer Council.
(Source: Automotive News)


Toyota Poised to Become Top Car Seller in U.S.
To understand the ongoing assault by foreign automakers in the United
States, look no further than the traditional car market. If sales trends
don't change dramatically, Toyota will sell more cars in the United
States this year than each of the two brands that have dominated for a
century: Chevrolet and Ford. It would mark the first time a foreign
automaker has held that mantle and illustrates the growing impact of
Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. Nissan Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor
Co., all of which continue to expand their domestic lineups and
manufacturing capacity. "What you're seeing from Toyota is an expansion
into new segments, both on the production and sales side, and a further
entrenchment of their strong sales position in current vehicles like the
Camry and Corolla," said Michael Robinet, vice president of global
forecasting for CSM Worldwide, which provides market information and
forecasts to more than 350 automotive suppliers. On the passenger car
side, Toyota, excluding its Lexus luxury brand, sold 520,991 cars in the
United States through July, about 20,000 more than Ford and nearly
47,000 more than Chevy, General Motors Corp.'s top-selling brand.
(Source: Dow Jones Newswires)


Mitsubishi Motors Appoints Finbarr O’Neill Head of North American
Operations
Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) announced today that
Finbarr O'Neill will become the company's new chief executive officer
and co-chairman, effective September 2. "Mitsubishi Motors has built a
solid base in North America by improving our brand, consolidating our
business operations and expanding our product line. Fin is the perfect
choice to move us to the next level in North America in this highly
competitive market," said Steven Torok, MMNA's co-chairman and
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation's (MMC) executive vice president of
international sales and marketing. O'Neill joins Mitsubishi Motors
following 18 years at Hyundai Motor America, where he is widely credited
with orchestrating a dramatic corporate turnaround following his
promotion to president and CEO in 1998. Known as a disciplined and
effective manager, O'Neill's relentless focus on product, brand and the
dealer network pushed Hyundai into the top five ranking on the National
Automobile Dealers Association's dealer attitude survey. O'Neill, 51,
currently serves as the chairman of the board of the Association of
International Automobile Manufacturers. Mitsubishi also announced the
departure of Pierre Gagnon, who is resigning from the company to pursue
other opportunities.
(Source: PR Newswire)

Dealerships Seek to Soften No-Fax Rule
Despite a temporary reprieve, car dealerships and other businesses will
face much tougher restrictions on their ability to fax potential
customers. Starting Jan. 1, 2005, a business must have advance written
consent from each person or business it plans to fax. Individuals must
say that they are willing to accept the messages. A Federal
Communications Commission rule requiring the consent had been scheduled
to take effect last week as part of broad revisions in telephone-related
regulations. The FCC agreed to the time extension for several provisions
after a deluge of complaints from businesses. "It's too much regulation.
It's too much government," Kent Newbold, president of Newbold Toyota-BMW
of O’Fallon, Ill. says. "It's confusing." The National Automobile
Dealers Association agrees and has been preparing a comprehensive guide
to government restrictions on telemarketing. It will go out to the
nearly 20,000 NADA members soon. NADA was among the groups that sought
to change provisions of the new fax rule during its preparation by the
FCC. It also was among those who requested a delay in the
written-consent provision. Paul Metrey, NADA director of regulatory
affairs, believes many dealers use faxes to communicate only with other
businesses and not individual customers. But he says consent will be
needed in all cases. "It is a very broad approach that the commission
has taken, and we think an unfortunate one," he says.
(Source: Automotive News)


Cries of Activism and Terrorism in S.U.V. Torching
A week ago, in the middle of the night, 20 new Hummer H2's worth about
$50,000 apiece were set aflame and destroyed at a car dealership in West
Corvina, Calif., part of a wave of vandalism in which 50 other vehicles
had been damaged at the same dealership and others in the suburbs east
of Los Angeles. The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) a militant
environmentalist group, later claimed responsibility. The group, founded
in England a decade ago and shunned by mainstream environmentalist
groups, also claimed responsibility for a $50 million fire on Aug. 1
that destroyed a construction site for 1,500 apartments near the campus
of the University of California at San Diego. A banner left at the site,
signed ELF, said, "You build it -- we burn it." At the Federal Bureau of
Investigation office in Los Angeles, technicians were working late this
week to enhance images on a surveillance videotape that shows two men
spray-painting graffiti on vehicles -- also on the night of Aug. 22 --
at an auto dealership in Duarte, another suburb in the San Gabriel
Valley. "We feel confident we'll have a successful conclusion," Laura
Bosley, an F.B.I. spokeswoman, said on Friday. Norman Hoffman, a lawyer
who represents the Clippinger dealership's owner, Ziad Alhassen, said
there was no valid reason to single out the Hummer. Mr. Alhassen, who
owns five auto dealerships and began selling Hummers only a year ago,
said he was "surprised and shocked" at the vandalism. "I'm determined
that violent acts, terrorist acts, will not deter me," he said in an
interview. Mr. Alhassen -- whose lawyer said his losses in the fire were
covered by insurance -- was back in business almost immediately. The day
after the fire, he said, his first two sales were Hummers.
(Source: The New York Times)