James M. Amend

James

M. Amend

Associate Editor

WardsAuto

Email: jamend@wardsauto.com

James covers General Motors and environmental and safety issues.

Expect a future Cadillac showroom not dissimilar to BMW or Mercedes, where bread-and-butter products make sexier smaller-volume plays possible.

The new attitude marks a sharp change in direction for Toyota, whose lean manufacturing principles and bulletproof quality made it an industry leader over the last two decades and the envy of rivals.

To meet demands of India’s hot climate and still keep with the country’s thrifty approach to car-buying, Visteon re-thought the traditional HVAC system.

Fleet customers can boost market share and sales, areas where Nissan has bold expectations for the new ’13 Altima. But fleet transactions tend to be less profitable and, if overdone, risk damaging consumer perception of a nameplate.

The fifth-generation Altima might have its best shot at the Camry in years, given Nissan’s expectation for a segment-leading 38 mpg highway.

The parts supplier considers IST the most natural form of interaction between human and machine. Imagine, for example, starting the vehicle with the swipe of a finger.

Dare to take technology out to lighten a vehicle and meet government safety and fuel-economy rules. Customers will walk away, auto designers say.

Elsewhere in the world, the auto maker’s remarkable comeback from its bankruptcy steamed ahead. GM’s North American operations contributed pre-tax income of $1.7 billion.

OnStar FMV, or For My Vehicle, has posted about 30,000 sales since GM started offering it last year. OnStar says Toyota owners comprise 15.6% of FMV buyers, with Ford buyers second at 12.3%.

The auto maker raises its industry sales forecast today to a SAAR of 14 million to 14.5 million units, up from 13.5 million to 14 million previously.

The strike by Dakkota Integrated Systems led to production losses at Windsor Assembly, home to the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Caravan.

The all-new Chevy Sonic represents a great example of the upscale small-car trend now gripping the entry-point of the market.

GM filed regulatory papers today nominating James J. Mulva, chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips, and Theodore M. “Tim” Solso, former chairman and CEO of Cummins, to its board of directors.

Magna unquestionably has the technical talent necessary to engineer its own EV. It already supplies the entire propulsion system to the electric Ford Focus launching this year.

The auto maker will shift sales away from rental-car firms and toward commercial and government customers, likely pushing up deliveries in the segment by as much as 25% from 2011 levels.

Auto companies sold 6.56 million vehicles worldwide in April, a 3.4% increase over same-month year-ago, raising total deliveries for the first four months of 2012 to 27.2 million units.

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James M. Amend

Articles by James M. Amend

Navigation-system maker TomTom is offering downloads of celebrity voices (including some of these) to guide you on your route. Who would you like to have tell you where to go?

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