DETROIT — General Motors has spoken out via newspaper advertisements about a bill in the Kentucky legislature that it believes would be detrimental to the state's economy and the automaker. GM's $50,000 campaign includes ad spots that were slated to run Sunday in the Louisville Courier-Journal, Lexington Herald-Leader, Ashland Daily Independent, Paducah Sun, Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer and […] [Read More]

BEDFORD, Mass. — Volkswagen's iconic Beetle is slated to be completely redesigned and overhauled and might not even carry the same name, Auto Remarketing learned Friday. The new model will not start arriving at stores for about 18 months or so, Katie Shea, the business development coordinator for Minuteman Volkswagen in Bedford, Mass., told Auto Remarketing […] [Read More]

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — With still more than a week left in the month, Edmunds.com analysts projected that March new-vehicle sales are currently pacing at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 13.2 million. The site came to this figure because of the hefty incentives offered by Toyota and other automakers that came as the Japanese OEM […] [Read More]

McLEAN, Va. —  NADA University is kicking off a series of four on-site management seminars for dealers early next month that focus on fixed operations and financial management. These week-long sessions — which are part of NADA University's NADA-ATD Learning Hub component — will be held at the headquarters of the National Automobile Dealers Association at 8400 Westpark Drive […] [Read More]

PASADENA, Calif. — A murky sales climate didn't prevent one of the stores in the Rusnak Auto Group from again winning a top award from one of the luxury brands it sells. Rusnak Arcadia Mercedes-Benz was presented with the 2009 "Best of the Best" Dealer Recognition Award, an honor group executives said was reserved for the […] [Read More]

DETROIT — U.S. automakers have used the recession to shed excess capacity, a move that puts them in a positive position for future profitability, according to Sudarshan Mhatre, senior analyst with PricewaterhouseCoopers' Autofacts and a featured presenter at the Automotive Economic Forecast and Financial Forum, which will be held May 10-11 in Chicago.  "As a […] [Read More]

CHERRY HILL, N.J. — In what appears to be another strong sign for the automaker, February sales for Subaru of America's Dallas region climbed 81 percent year-over-year, as the region posted its eighth straight record-breaking month. The Dallas region was tops in the country for Subaru and has improved its sales on a year-over-year basis for 10 straight months. […] [Read More]

DEARBORN, Mich. — After the success of the first initiative that generated a great deal of exposure and buzz for the new model, Ford has rolled out a second wave of its Fiesta Movement. During Fiesta Movement Chapter 2, there will be 20 teams of two agents that will embark on "missions" within their own communities. […] [Read More]

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Chrysler Group announced this week that it will stop adding dealers in markets where there are arbitrating dealers as a "good faith" measure until the arbitrator makes a ruling.  In a statement Chrysler said, "While Chrysler Group has acted within its legal rights to grant sales points to qualified dealers — rights that […] [Read More]

DETROIT — Saab Automobile announced its new executive director of sales earlier this week, and filling the position is Adrian Hallmark, who comes to the automaker from Volkswagen. His most recent post at VW was executive director of Asia, where he headed up operations in 50 markets, including China and Japan. In Hallmark's new role — which […] [Read More]