by Paul A. Eisenstein | Oct 16, 2009
For decades, the suburban Detroit showroom was a popular place, but when Chrysler decided to slash its dealer count as part of its bankruptcy reorganization, Mt. Clemens Dodge was one of the first to go. No problem, however, as almost overnight, a new banner popped...
by Ken Zino | Oct 15, 2009
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy today unveiled the 2010 Fuel Economy Guide, which gives consumers important information about estimated fuel costs and mileage standards for model year 2010 vehicles. “Every year, consumers use the...
by Ken Zino | Oct 15, 2009
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a just released report to the Congress claims its Diesel Emission Reduction Program, funded at $50 million by taxpayers last year, allowed EPA to purchase or retrofit 14,000 diesel-powered vehicles and pieces of equipment,...
by Ken Zino | Oct 15, 2009
Coskata Inc., a developer of biofuels, today announced the successful start-up of its semi-commercial flex-ethanol plant in Madison, Pennsylvania. The operation potentially represents a successful scale-up of company’s experimental technology. It could evolve...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Oct 15, 2009
Say the name, BMW, and you’re likely to have an image of a sleek German car come to mind, whether a compact 3-Series, luxurious 7-er, or perhaps a big X5 Sport Activity Vehicle. But there’s another side to the company, one tucked into the hills outside Los Angeles,...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Oct 14, 2009
The rich, it’s often said, are different from you and me. That goes for their cars, as well. How do you justify spending half a million dollars for an automobile? Is it the exclusivity? The unique features? The cavernous cabins, the horsepower…or something else...
by Ken Zino | Oct 14, 2009
Bob Lutz, General Motors Company’s vice chairman of marketing and communications, vows that the days of GM’s “formulaic and cautious” communications techniques are over. Speaking briefly at a pizza luncheon for media in Detroit, the silver-haired executive...
by Marty Bernstein | Oct 14, 2009
Second only to the famous John Wannamaker truism of “Half my advertising doesn’t work, I just don’t know which half” is the wise advertising adage, “An agency is only as good as the client let’s them be.” That is why last Friday, when the newest GM marketing news...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Oct 14, 2009
Eight years after the launch of its ultra-luxurious Maybach brand, can Daimler AG afford to keep the lesser-known competitor to Rolls-Royce and Bentley going? Sales of the super-premium brand have been steadily declining, since shortly after Maybach made its debut, in...
by Ken Zino | Oct 13, 2009
Production of the Toyota Highlander compact sport utility vehicle began this month at the company’s plant in Princeton, Indiana. The $450 million investment is part of the sweeping readjustments loss-making Toyota began last year in order to rationalize its...
by Ken Zino | Oct 13, 2009
The largest maker of automotive batteries in the world said today that without government subsidies, the batteries used in electric vehicles and hybrids will not allow for commercialization on a large scale. The analysis is significant since Johnson Controls launched...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Oct 13, 2009
American motorists have long had a love/hate relationship with Volkswagen, but which way will they swing when the 2010 Volkswagen Golf rolls into showrooms? The German carmaker was the first offshore brand to make a serious foray into the American market, its little...
