“kbb.com Study: Domestic Trucks Remain Cornerstone of Strength; Import ... - PR Newswire” plus 4 more

kbb.com Study: Domestic Trucks Remain Cornerstone of Strength; Import ... - PR Newswire
Auto inventories tight, U.S. "clunker" interest slips - Reuters
Pontiac Truck Plant workers join to raise funds once more, before the ... - Oakland Press
GM floats auto concepts on virtual design studio - CNET News
Mercedes-Benz Professional Instructors Are Equipped to Provide ... - The Auto Chanel

kbb.com Study: Domestic Trucks Remain Cornerstone of Strength; Import ... - PR Newswire

Posted: 12 Aug 2009 07:05 AM PDT

IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Kelley Blue Book, www.kbb.com, the leading provider of new car and used car information, today announces the results of the second-quarter 2009 Brand Watch study by Kelley Blue Book Market Intelligence, detailing consumers' perceptions of truck brands and factors of importance when new-truck shopping. The study found that in the past year, domestic truck consideration has increased or held steady, while import truck consideration has decreased.

Currently, Ford is the most-considered truck brand at 58 percent, Chevrolet is second with 51 percent consideration, Dodge ranks third at 37 percent and GMC is fourth at 33 percent. Ford consideration is up significantly in the current results, increasing 12 points from the previous year and overtaking Chevrolet as the most-considered truck brand. Chevrolet and GMC consideration has remained constant in the second-quarter of 2009 when compared to the previous year.

"Even with the troubles experienced by the automotive industry in the past year, trucks remain a center of power for the domestic manufacturers. With a recent round of impressive redesigns and creative marketing to support their new launches, the latest Brand Watch study from Kelley Blue Book Market Intelligence shows that consumers still appreciate trucks from American companies," said Rick Wainschel, senior vice president, market intelligence and brand strategy for Kelley Blue Book and kbb.com. "While import manufacturers tend to dominate perception - and frequently sales - in the small-car genre, the foundation underneath the domestic manufacturers does not show signs of cracking."

In contrast to the strength demonstrated by Ford, GM brands and Dodge, Toyota truck consideration fell from 34 percent to 31 percent, Nissan truck consideration fell from 17 percent to 13 percent, and Honda truck consideration fell from seven percent to four percent in second quarter 2009 compared to the previous year. Toyota was the third-most-considered brand in second-quarter 2008, and now is the fifth-most considered brand in second-quarter 2009.

Additionally, new-truck shoppers indicate an increased importance in more 'traditional' truck factors in the last year, with durability/reliability, ruggedness/toughness, towing/hauling capacity, driving performance and driving comfort ranking among the top. While still a primary consideration at 55 percent, fuel efficiency has decreased in importance among new-truck shoppers. The decrease is in-part due to more stable gas prices compared to the spike of 2008, when survey respondents citing fuel efficiency as an important factor in truck purchase decisions was a full 10 points higher at 65 percent.

When looking at how individual truck brands fared on important decision factors, Ford takes the most No. 1 spots, including ruggedness/toughness, towing/hauling capacity, exterior styling, interior design/layout, versatility/flexibility, safety and cool factor/vehicle image. Chevrolet ranks first on fuel efficiency, driving comfort, economical factors and seating capacity. GMC ranks first in durability/reliability, driving performance, family friendliness and available options.

This Kelley Blue Book Market Intelligence Brand Watch study was fielded to 3,164 in-market car shoppers on Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com from April - June, 2009. For Brand Watch sales inquiries on any vehicle segment or brand, please contact Kelly Kim, director of marketing research services for Kelley Blue Book and kbb.com, at 949-268-2756 or kkim@kbb.com.

About Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com)

Since 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource(R), has provided vehicle buyers and sellers with the new and used vehicle information they need to accomplish their goals with confidence. The company's top-rated Web site, www.kbb.com, provides the most up-to-date pricing and values, including the New Car Blue Book(R) Value, which reveals what people actually are paying for new cars. The company also reports vehicle pricing and values via products and services, including software products and the famous Blue Book(R) Official Guide. According to the C.A. Walker Research Solutions, Inc. - 2008 Spring Automotive Web Site Usefulness Study, kbb.com is the most useful automotive information Web site among new and used vehicle shoppers, and half of online vehicle shoppers visit kbb.com. Kbb.com is a leading provider of new car prices, car reviews and news, used car blue book values, auto classifieds and car dealer locations. No other medium reaches more in-market vehicle shoppers than kbb.com.

SOURCE Kelley Blue Book

Website: http://www.kbb.com

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Auto inventories tight, U.S. "clunker" interest slips - Reuters

Posted: 12 Aug 2009 04:28 AM PDT

By John Crawley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Red hot auto sales under the U.S. government's "cash for clunkers" incentive began to cool as dealer inventories tightened and showroom traffic showed signs of leveling off from its frantic pace of a week ago.

One industry analysis released on Tuesday forecast a steady decline in "clunker" related business even though the Obama administration and Congress added $2 billion to the program in recent days with hopes of matching the success of its first weeks. Sales during that period topped 250,000 and rebates exceeded $1 billion at least, according to government and industry figures.

"We see that interest dying down," Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Michelle Krebs said in an interview on the consumer auto industry resource group's analysis of buyer intentions. "It's still high. It's better than pre-clunker levels, but it's off its peak."

Krebs said the original $1 billion funding for the program was "very low in relation to the size of the auto market." This, she said, created a "Gold Rush" mentality where consumers stormed dealers at the end of July and in the first days of August to cement discounts with rebate funding running low.

The "clunker" initiative offers rebates of up to $4,500 when consumers trade in older cars for more fuel efficient new ones. Dealers say buyers are trading in mainly sport utilities, pickups and other U.S.-made vehicles for fuel stingy foreign-made passenger cars.

Automakers credited "clunker" trade-ins for boosting July sales to the best annualized rate for 2009, a year in which carmakers have contended with a devastating decline in business. The horrid, recession-driven sales environment contributed to bankruptcies at General Motors Co and Chrysler this spring.

Both have since emerged from Chapter 11 to an uncertain place in the market with the healthier Ford Motor Co rebounding nicely in July from the brutal sales decline and Japanese powerhouses Toyota Motor Co and Honda Motor Co capitalizing strongly on the "clunker" fueled consumer shift to passenger cars.

Tammy Darvish of Darcars Automotive Group said showroom traffic has eased for domestic models since the first week of the month, with inventory running low.

Chrysler shut down production during its bankruptcy in April, and GM slowed output significantly for over two months during its restructuring.

Foreign makers, especially Toyota, are still attracting buyers for historic discounts but traffic has eased slightly for those dealers, too, Darvish said.

"We don't have as great an inventory as we're used to, but we have enough," Darvish said of hot-selling Toyota Corollas, Camrys and Tacoma pickups.

The Corolla ended July with an average supply of 34 days while the Camry supply averaged 38 days, Toyota spokeswoman Martha Voss said.

Domestic and foreign auto manufacturers remained cautious about boosting production. Memories remain fresh, especially among U.S. manufacturers, of unsold vehicles rushed to market in recent years in response to soaring gasoline prices.

Toyota is increasing production of key models by 65,000 vehicles, which are being shipped to dealers through September, Voss said. Ford's production is running ahead of last year and has said it will disclose plans in September about third quarter production.

GM already plans to increase third-quarter production across its vehicle lineup by 35 percent over the previous three months, officials said. Senior executives said on Tuesday production would go up even more later in the year, with plans to be announced by the end of the month.

U.S. Representatives Candice Miller and Fred Upton, both of Michigan where domestic manufacturers are based, are so concerned about shrinking inventories that they asked the Obama administration to intervene.

"The inventories of some automakers and dealers have been so depleted that the program's extension may be limited in its effectiveness," they wrote in a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

They asked that "clunker" rules be modified to allow consumers to reserve a rebate from the manufacturer for a newly ordered car or truck.

"This will allow consumers to purchase the vehicle they want even if it is not presently on the dealer's lot," they wrote.

(Reporting by John Crawley; Editing by Richard Chang)

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Pontiac Truck Plant workers join to raise funds once more, before the ... - Oakland Press

Posted: 12 Aug 2009 03:02 AM PDT

By JOSEPH SZCZESNY
Of The Oakland Press

Click to enlarge

The Oakland Press/JOSEPH SZCZESNY Workers coming together were (from left) Lisa Vowell of General Motors Corp.; Jim Hall of UAW Local 594; Ty McCullough of GM; Brian Larkin and Doug Bowman of UAW Local 594; Kedrin Gall of Make-A-Wish Foundation; Bob Holderman of Local 594; Joya Shepard, GM personnel director at the Pontiac Truck plant; Larry Glaza of Local 594; Byron Carter of GM; Dan Slone, Katrina Smith and Pam Clay of Local 594. They posed with the $7,000 check representing money collected for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

For one last time, employees, union members and management from General Motors Corp.'s Pontiac Truck Plant have joined together to raise money for a worthy cause.

In all, the employees raised a total of $7,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, according to event organizers, which was supported by both the Pontiac plant's Human Resources Department and United Auto Workers Local 594.

Doug Bowman, president of UAW Local 594, said the shutdown of the Truck plant, which faces Opdyke Road in the far southeast corner of the City of Pontiac, represents not only jobs and income, but also involvement in the community.

For example, the employees at the truck plant have always been very generous in supporting various local charities, he said.

"This is the third time we've raised money in our plant for Make-A-Wish in the past couple of years," Bowman said.

"We also have all our annual bike drives, where the Local raises money at Christmas to buy dozens of bikes for local children.

"I don't know who is going to do that when we're gone."

Jim Hall, UAW Local 594 Chairman said, "People kept giving even when we went from three shifts to two and from two shifts to one and then from one shift to a half shift."

"They've been very generous despite all we've been through," Hall said.

Lisa Vowell of GM said several employees volunteered to help raise money for Make A Wish.

The bowling tournament that was part of the fundraising effort was oversubscribed, said Ty McCullough, who works on GM's labor relations staff.

In addition, the fundraising also was always a joint effort by the company and the union, McCullough said.

The truck plant is now scheduled to close by Sept. 30 as GM continues to downsize in the wake of its bankruptcy and the deep recession.

The official notice on the closing went out earlier this month, Hall said.

The shutdown will also mark the end of an era in Pontiac, where GM has built trucks continuously for more than a century.

Of the 900 hourly workers left in the plant, about 360 have applied for retirement or early retirement and approximately 130 production workers and 35 skilled trades employees are expected to transfer to the GM Truck plant in Flint, Bowman said.

"It's been tough," said Hall. "They're cutting back everywhere and Orion is going to be down for a full year," he said.

GM's passenger car assembly plant in Orion Township is scheduled to build the last of the current models made at the plant in early September.

After that, the plant will be converted to building new subcompact passenger cars as part of GM's ongoing effort to build more efficient vehicles.

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GM floats auto concepts on virtual design studio - CNET News

Posted: 12 Aug 2009 03:59 AM PDT

WARREN, Mich.--Got an opinion about how General Motors designs its cars and trucks? Let them know.

GM on Tuesday unveiled a blog Web site called The Lab that it hopes will give the struggling auto giant a bead on customer preferences. It's part social-marketing campaign and part product research, company executives said here on Tuesday.

"We want to use this to show where the company is headed, but there are limitations--we're not going to show concepts of cars that will come out next year," said Dave Rand, the director of design at GM's Tech Center, one of its main research centers. "The ideas we'll show will tend to be further out and not be as rigid."

Instead of giving away secrets of planned products, the idea is to get feedback on concepts, such as whether a new type of car will fly with customers, using images and videos to illustrate the company's ideas.

Work for you? A digital model of a bare-bones car shown on GM's new site for communicating design ideas with customers.

(Credit: GM)

The first three projects hosted on The Lab are for a bare necessities compact car, a bare necessity truck, and an Eco Initiative to better understand the interests of "green" buyers.

The Lab is set up to be like a social-networking site where people have a profile and log in. People can rate designs and provide comments. There will also be a way to opt in and provide demographic information in exchange for access to new designs, company executives said.

Rand said that providing an inside look of GM designers' work is not meant to replace auto shows or building models of concept cars. But getting feedback from fans and foes will allow designers to cycle through concepts more quickly.

"The way we used to do research through (customer) clinics is cumbersome and expensive," he said.

Currying favor with customers
GM discussed The Lab with a handful of journalists at a media and analyst day hosted by the company's top management where the company gave a glimpse of its lineup over the next two years.

The emphasis of the discussions was intentionally on product and designs that company executives hope will drive revenue now that GM has slashed costs and restructured through bankruptcy.

GM is also seeking to spiff up its corporate image with consumers, using social media of all sorts to get out its message. The media event, for example, was Webcast and open to questions from the public, while communications specialists used Twitter to answer questions online during the day.

In another sign of GM trying to better understand American consumers, GM's top executives, including CEO Fritz Henderson and his staff, met for a full day with consumers on Monday, many of whom do not own GM vehicles.

GM's Rand said that The Lab site will allow GM to share designs that it doesn't now. But, it clearly needs to temper some of that openness so as not to give away trade secrets. During media tours of GM's design studios on Tuesday, journalists were barred from carrying cameras.

"We're going to be walking the line, quite frankly. We're trying to be more transparent, but at the same time we're somewhat protective because it's intellectual property," Rand said.

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Mercedes-Benz Professional Instructors Are Equipped to Provide ... - The Auto Chanel

Posted: 12 Aug 2009 06:58 AM PDT

STUTTGART/WORTH, GERMANY– August 12, 2009: Rising diesel prices, an environmental tax, a truck toll, and intense competition are forcing shipping companies in Germany to do all they can to keep costs down in order to succeed on the market. This principle has been the primary focus of Mercedes-Benz' driver training programs at the Wrth truck plant, which have been meeting customers' needs for 40 years. The plant itself produces state-of-the-art trucks, while professional trainers ensure that these vehicles can be operated as economically as possible. This is important because those who drive economically can conserve fuel and reduce vehicle wear and tear. In addition, economical driving enhances traffic safety, helps to protect the environment, and reduces driver stress, even at the same level of transport volume. Drivers of Mercedes-Benz trucks get the technical knowledge they need to efficiently operate their new vehicle from the Driver Information Service, one of the three standard components in the service package offered by the Mercedes-Benz Professional Driver Training program. The majority of customers who pick up their truck directly from the factory also take advantage of the opportunity to take part in the program. Recently, the new PLUS driver training feature began offering them the possibility of combining the vehicle pick-up with a seven-hour instruction module based on the requirements of Germany's new professional driver qualification law.

40 years of Mercedes-Benz professional driver training
The Professional Driver Training program, which originated in Wrth, is also offered locally in all the brand's key export markets. Last year, more than 65,000 drivers worldwide participated in the broad-based, practice-oriented training and instruction program. A total of 22,000 of the approximately 31,000 professional training customers in Germany took part in the Driver Information Service module at the Wrth plant in 2008, and nearly 9,000 attended Eco and Safety workshops, as well as other special classes.

Energy prices are not expected to stabilize in the near future, which is why more drivers than ever before are making use of the training and information opportunities available at the Wrth Customer Center. The large number of participants in the various seminars and courses demonstrate not only the great demand for knowledge, but also the high level of acceptance that the training facility in Wrth enjoys. "We want to show drivers that it's not just technological progress that contributes to higher transport volumes, maximum safety, and lower fuel consumption, but also that economical driving habits can play a very helpful role," says Frans Eikelboom, head of the Wrth Customer Center.

Mercedes-Benz has been providing its truck customers with services for safely and efficiently operating their vehicles for four decades. The Wrth Customer Center opened in 1969 at the Wrth plant, which is one of the largest truck manufacturing facilities in the world. From the very beginning, the service center provided training courses focused on technological advances that reduce the strain commercial vehicles place on the environment, and on driving techniques for improving traffic safety. It was also at that time that the Wrth Customer Center began putting together an information package for drivers who came to pick up their new truck at the Wrth plant.

30 years of Mercedes-Benz Eco training
Then, ten years later, the first training programs for achieving greater economy with truck operation were created. The second major service component of the Mercedes-Benz Professional Driver Training program is learning, understanding and actually implementing techniques for economical driving. The Driver Information Service offered to customers picking up their trucks can only touch upon these areas, which is why the Economy programs focus on economical and ecological vehicle operation. "Today's Eco workshops for reducing fleet costs, which run for one, two, or three days, can therefore fall back on three decades of experience," says Eikelboom.

Eco training seminars really pay off, as Eikelboom explains: "Our experience with the program over the last 30 years shows that participation in a Mercedes-Benz professional training Eco workshop nearly always results in long-term fuel savings as high as five percent."

Driving-safety training for nearly 20 years
Traffic jams, disabled vehicles, cargo spills, snow and hail — drivers have a lot to face day to day. Truck drivers are particularly challenged in this regard, as hardly a day goes by without some type of precarious situation occurring — situations that require drivers to react quickly and properly by braking, taking evasive action, counter-steering, and warning other road users.

Professional trainers at Mercedes-Benz therefore established safety training for truck drivers as the third service package component nearly 20 years ago. This training program, which is conducted by experienced instructors, makes use of an extensive fleet of commercial vehicles of all classes, including a tractor-trailer with stabilizers.

New professional driver qualification law
A new German law requires commercial drivers who transport cargo to receive additional training until September 2014. The legislation is designed to improve overall traffic safety, ensure better protection for drivers of vehicles over 3.5 tons GVW, and reduce environmental pollution. The new law requires commercial vehicle drivers to complete 35 hours of further training at a certified facility every five years. Participation is mandatory, and an entry is made in the participant's driver's license upon completion of the course. Those who fail to produce such confirmation can be fined up to €5,000 as a driver; the fine for employer companies in such instances can be up to €20,000.

"Our professional trainers at Mercedes-Benz have long been equipped to accommodate such a law," says Eikelboom. Since 2008, in fact, the world's leading manufacturer of commercial vehicles has been offering seminars that fully satisfy the new law's requirements, and the brand's training programs and seminars are all certified in accordance with the legislation.