plus 4, Lansing-made crossover unveiled at Detroit auto show - Lansing State Journal

Lansing-made crossover unveiled at Detroit auto show - Lansing State Journal
Ford's Transit Connect, Fusion Hybrid earn top honors - Dubuque Telegraph Herald
Big Three's Tough Sell: We've Turned Things Around - NPR News
Rheinmetall and MAN form new company - Syracuse Post-Standard
Ford Chief Sees "Gradual" Auto Industry Recovery - RTT News

Lansing-made crossover unveiled at Detroit auto show - Lansing State Journal

Posted: 12 Jan 2010 08:40 AM PST

DETROIT — Later this year, workers at the General Motors Co. Lansing Delta Township will start making a new luxury GMC vehicle aimed at women and younger buyers.

GM said Monday it will begin making the GMC Acadia Denali during the third quarter.

Denali is the name GMC gives luxury versions of its pickups and sport utility vehicles. It debuted in 1999 with a Denali version of the Yukon truck.

The Acadia will be the first crossover in the Denali lineup. It will be made alongside standard Acadias, the Buick Enclave and the Chevrolet Traverse.

"Very soon, customers will get Denali style in a smaller package," Dave Lyon, executive director of Buick GMC design, said moments before the vehicle rolled onto a stage at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

GM had shown off the Acadia Denali last month in a lower-profile event.

The Acadia Denali isn't expected to bring more jobs to the Delta plant, but it could turn into a significant part of the lineup. The GMC Yukon attributes 45 percent of its sales to its Denali version, said Lisa Hutchinson, product marketing director for GMC. The Acadia could see 20 percent to 25 percent of its sales coming from Denali buyers, or 18,000 to 20,000 units a year.

The Denali version of the Acadia differs from the standard model in styling and content. On the outside, the Acadia Denali has a unique grille and 20-inch wheels with two-tone chrome. The standard Acadia comes with 18-inch wheels, though 19- and 20-inch versions are optional.

The interior features such amenities as perforated leather seats that can be heated and cooled — something not available on some of the standard Acadias.

The Acadia Denali will come with a 288-horsepower, 3.6-liter direct-inject V6 engine that combines increased performance with better fuel economy. The vehicle will get 17 miles per gallon in city driving and 24 mpg on the highway in front-wheel drive, while an all-wheel drive model will get 16 mpg on the highway and 23 mpg in the city.

Pricing for the Acadia Denali hasn't yet been announced.

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Ford's Transit Connect, Fusion Hybrid earn top honors - Dubuque Telegraph Herald

Posted: 12 Jan 2010 07:57 AM PST

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Big Three's Tough Sell: We've Turned Things Around - NPR News

Posted: 12 Jan 2010 07:36 AM PST

Enlarge Carlos Osorio/AP

Ford Motor Co. President of the Americas Mark Fields holds up the 2010 North American Truck of the Year award and Car of the Year award at the North American International Auto Show on Monday in Detroit.

Carlos Osorio/AP

The nation's auto companies are working hard to put their best faces forward at this week's Detroit auto show, but it's not an easy task.

Last year was one of the worst in Detroit's history, between two bankruptcies, three CEOs and a massive infusion of $60 billion in taxpayer money.

Auto executives are spending a lot of time trying to make the case that a turnaround is well under way.

"Going through the crucible for Chapter 11, it really did permit us to fundamentally fix the company," General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz tells NPR's Morning Edition. "We were able to get rid of a lot of our legacy costs; we were able to improve the balance sheet. We got rid of a lot of debt."

GM and Chrysler took federal bailout money last year, but the company that's now widely seen as the strongest of the Detroit Three is the one that didn't: Ford.

Ford has been the big winner in the auto show so far, collecting awards for North American truck of the year for the Ford Transit Connect and car of the year for the Ford Fusion Hybrid. It's only the third time that one company won both truck and car of the year at the competition.

Ford also launched the new Focus, a sleek, compact car. It is designed to steal customers from Toyota and Honda, companies that have traditionally stomped Detroit's small cars.

Auto analysts are giving the Focus strong marks, noting that Ford is much further along in revamping its products lines than the other carmakers.

"Ford, I'd say, is a year, or even two years, ahead of the curve," says Jessica Caldwell, an analyst at Edmunds.com, the car consumer Web site. "Even when you look at their sales, they are going to challenge Toyota for the No. 2 spot."

That's in the United States, where GM retains the top spot in car sales. It's also launching a new compact model called the Chevrolet Cruze. The car is aimed at reversing GM's reputation of building small cars that are too cramped and cheap.

Margaret Brooks, head of marketing for small vehicles at Chevrolet, says the Cruze is the exact opposite of that stereotype.

"It offers the roominess of, and amenities of, a midsize car, with the fuel economy and price of a compact," Brooks says, adding that it gets up to 40 miles a gallon on the highway.

But many analysts find the exterior of the Cruze — which has a honeycomb grill — a bit dull.

"I think the Cruze played it a little bit safe from a design standpoint," says Rebecca Lindland with IHS Global Insight, a financial analysis firm.

Chevrolet still has a "perception issue," Lindland says. "A lot of people feel like they have to explain themselves when they buy a Chevy."

GM's cars have improved in quality, but many consumers still won't even take a look at them. In taking huge sums of money from the government last year, the company only reinforced those old resentments.

But if GM still faces perception issues, Chrysler has become opaque. The company used to stage all kinds of stunts at the auto show, including once herding steers outside Detroit's convention center.

But this year, the company — now run by Fiat, the Italian carmaker — had almost no new products to show.

"There is definitely a bit of a dip in the pipeline for Chrysler, which is a huge concern," says Lindland. "I think the industry consensus is we have to get them through 2010 and 2011and then we'll start to see some better and more improved product in 2012 and 2013, but the next 24 months are going to be really tough for this company."

The auto show also had some newly prominent visitors this year: lawmakers from Washington, who served as a visible reminder of Detroit's troubles. Members of Congress toured exhibits and tried to sound upbeat about the car companies they recently helped to bail out.

"We've been impressed. We're optimistic as we go back," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. "We have confidence in what has been accomplished, and we'll be back next year again."

NPR correspondent Kevin Whitelaw contributed to this report.

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Rheinmetall and MAN form new company - Syracuse Post-Standard

Posted: 12 Jan 2010 08:05 AM PST

(AP) — BERLIN - German auto parts and weapons maker Rheinmetall AG and truck manufacturer MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG said Tuesday they were teaming up to produce wheeled military vehicles.

The joint company, Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles GmbH, will provide "complete solutions in the market for military wheeled vehicles, covering the entire range of armored and unarmored transport, command and role-specific vehicles for the international armed forces," the two companies said.

Under the contract signed by the two companies, Rheinmetall will have a stake of 51 percent and MAN 49 percent in the new company, which will be headquartered in Munich.

The plan is subject to approval by German regulatory authorities.

"With this new company we are combining the strong MAN and Rheinmetall brands and the complementary technological core competencies of the two partners to form a globally operating system provider, which will present one face to the military customer with the goal of improving its position in the world market," MAN chief executive Georg Pachta-Reyhofen in a statement.

In the first phase, the two companies will merge their respective development and sales activities in the military wheeled vehicle sector. Under the second phase, the two companies said they integrate their production capacities at plants in Kassel and Vienna into the joint company by the end of 2011.

It is envisioned that the new company will initially have 370 employees, but will grow to some 1,300 with an annual turnover of more than ?1 billion by the time the second phase is complete, the companies said.

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Ford Chief Sees "Gradual" Auto Industry Recovery - RTT News

Posted: 12 Jan 2010 08:19 AM PST

(RTTNews) - Bill Ford, Executive Chairman at the automaker that bears his name, sees improvement in the auto industry heading into 2010, but does not expect a fast recovery.

In an exclusive interview with RTT News at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Ford said he sees signs that the auto industry is regaining its status.

"We saw some signs in December that the industry is starting to firm and come back," said Mr. Ford, who spoke shortly after the introduction of his company's new Lincoln MKX.

Ford, who saw his company's Fusion Hybrid and Transit Connect named Car of the Year and Truck of the Year respectively on the show's opening day, said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the industry's outlook for 2010, but added a word of caution.

"There is no great pick up in sight. If there is a pick up, it will be a slow gradual one."

Mr. Ford was more enthusiastic about the "My Lincoln Touch" technology unveiled in the MKX introduction,featuring an all-touch screen driver control panel.

"It brings people's personal lives, their phones, their music...even their computer...into their car," said Ford.

The comments from Ford come on Day Two of the annual auto expo, a day where the focus has shifted to electric cars and battery technology.

Among the leaders was introduction of the Nissan Leaf, a totally electric auto featuring simple home "plug-in" technology for recharging.

Company spokesman Mark Perry told RTT News that electic vehicles hold the future of the industry.

"Electrification is here to stay," said Perry. "Our kids, and our kids' kids are going to be driving electric vehicles."

Besides the Leaf, electric cars on display include Toyota's FT-CH electric Prius concept car, Honda's CR-Z coupe and the 39-inch wide Tango from Commuter Cars.

A 37,000 square foot section of the massive exposition
floor has been devoted exclusively to electric technology. The "Electric Avenue" section is designed to be largely educational, bringing prospective car buyers up to speed on the process and requirements of recharging their auto's batteries, rather than refilling their tanks at the gas station.

by RTT Staff Writer

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

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