by Ken Zino | Apr 7, 2009
If you take a Maserati GranTurismo S, the road version with its electronically activated gearbox, and add the requisite roll cage and track suitable brakes, you have the makings of a race car. If you then allow the sanctioning body of GT racing in Europe, SRO, to test...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 6, 2009
Horns blaring, tempers flaring, it seems like gridlock could soon overwhelm our cities. But an unusual project, pairing the mainstream automaker, General Motors, and the edgy, high-tech personal mobility manufacturer, Segway, could offer up an alternative that...
by Ken Zino | Apr 6, 2009
Online automotive advertising dropped in January 2009 by 43% compared with the year earlier period. The latest backward-looking confirmation of the ongoing Great Recession came from data by “comScore Ad Metrix” service, which measures digital advertising....
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 6, 2009
They’re studies in contrast; the upscale Japanese marques Lexus and Infiniti launched the same day, at the Detroit Auto Show, 20 years ago, but while one has become a major success story, the other continues to struggle. But finally, after two decades as the...
by Detroit Bureau | Apr 6, 2009
A successful restructuring of debt by Ford Motor Co. is triggering a rally in the automaker’s stock. Ford announced moves, Monday morning, that will reduce its $25.8 billion in automotive debt by a hefty $9.9 billion. In turn, the company said, that should...
by Ken Zino | Apr 5, 2009
In orthodox marketing theory, companies are supposed to make fewer vehicles than demand warrants. That way profits are optimized. Since loss-making General Motors needs cash flow of any kind, adding a third full-size hybrid to the battered GMC truck bypasses that...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 5, 2009
Is General Motors breaking new ground or covering old territory with the launch of its new, 2010 GMC Terrain? The public will get a chance to find out at the upcoming New York Auto Show, but readers of TheDetroitBureau.com will get a sneak peek well before the...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 4, 2009
The minivan is dead. Or so goes conventional wisdom, and the steady decline in sales would suggest that’s probably true. Even king-of-the-hill Chrysler is struggling to fill a single factory, while the other domestic makers, Ford and General Motors, have...
by Ken Zino | Apr 3, 2009
Facing a Monday deadline for written comments to the Environmental Protection Agency regarding its proposal for the first national greenhouse gas reporting rule, lobbying efforts by special interest groups are intensifying. Tied up in this issue is whether EPA will...
by Marty Bernstein | Apr 3, 2009
Exclusive New Consumer Research Predicts Monthly Automotive Brands Marketshare Points Gain or Loss More than 300 different models of new cars are for sale in dealer showrooms right now. The important question is what are consumers with good credit scores going to buy...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 3, 2009
Talk of bankruptcy could prove a self-fulfilling prophecy for General Motors and Chrysler, warns a new study of consumer attitudes toward the troubled Detroit manufacturers. Senior GM officials have oft claimed there’s a “wellspring of support” for...
by Joseph Szczesny | Apr 3, 2009
General Motors has lost another top designer to a Korean competitor. Hyundai America Technical Center has announced that Phillip Zak has been named chief designer of the Hyundai Design Center in Irvine, California. Zak will be responsible for new vehicle and concept...
