Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America recently announced two shifts in senior management. The internal changes are effective immediately. Shigeki Terashi, former executive vice president of TEMA as well as president of Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., will assume the position of president of TEMA and will also retain his role at […] [Read More]

With a big push from its perennially best-selling Sorento model, Kia Motors America notched its best-ever month for the second straight time. The automaker moved 47,074 units in April, up 6.6 percent over March when Kia hit its previous best-ever mark. April’s sales also represent a 56.7-percent year-over-year hike. Kia moved more than 12,000 Sorento […] [Read More]

Along with revealing that a few models will get a delayed fall launch, Honda’s latest production update shared on Monday gave a glimpse as to which specific units will be in the shortest supply as the automaker attempts to ramp up production again, following the Japan earthquake and tsunami. Honda stressed it will bring in only […] [Read More]

In financial moves aimed at restarting production, Spyker Cars N.V. announced Monday it secured short-term funding for Saab Automobile AB by entering into a 30-million Euro convertible loan agreement with Gemini Investment Fund Limited. Executives explained Spyker’s 30-million Euro convertible loan agreement with Gemini contains a six-month maturity at a 7-percent annual interest rate and […] [Read More]

As franchise dealers brace for dwindling supplies, Edmunds.com’s April new-vehicle sales forecast reflected the softening figures stemming from the Japanese disasters. The site thinks April new-unit sales, including fleet sales, are expected to be approximately 1,171,000 units, a 19.3-percent increase from April of last year, but a 6.0-percent dip from March. Analysts believe retail sales […] [Read More]

Mazda North American Operations announced last week it has gone in-house to find a senior vice president for the U.S. operations group, a newly created entity within MNAO focused on the U.S. market. Robert Davis, MNAO’s former senior vice president of research and development, customer service operations and quality, was chosen for the newly created position designed to […] [Read More]

The National Automobile Dealers Association recently revealed the first OEM to work in partnership with NADA University on an exclusive training program. By subscribing to NADA University online, association officials last week said Mercedes-Benz USA will equip its dealer contact team with 24/7 online access to a vast collection of interactive training courses, Webinars, data, […] [Read More]

Nissan North America switched around some sales roles, as well as positions in business planning, parts and service in moves that became effective this past weekend. The automaker tapped Richard Latek as regional vice president for Midwest region of the Nissan sales division. The OEM also appointed Walter Burchfield as director of business planning, parts […] [Read More]

As the automaker continues to keep tabs on recovering production in its native Japan, Toyota Motor Corp. also had to monitor its interests in the Southeast, where deadly tornadoes carved destructive swaths, especially in Alabama. The storms forced officials at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama located in Huntsville, Ala., to idle their second shift as tornadoes […] [Read More]

Not only did the recent disasters in Japan have a significant downward impact on Honda’s most recent financial results, but it is keeping the Japanese automaker from being able to offer guidance for its next six-month and full-year fiscal periods. Honda’s consolidated net income swooned 38.3 percent for the January through March period (which is […] [Read More]