WASHINGTON, D.C. — In remarks prepared for his appearance before the House Oversight Committee, Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota Motor Corp., said he fears the automaker has grown too quickly and that this has impacted quality. "Toyota has, for the past few years, been expanding its business rapidly. Quite frankly, I fear the pace at which […] [Read More]

COSTA MESA, Calif. — NADAguides.com released its Best Car Buys for 2010 earlier this week, recognizing models across eight vehicle categories that meet the specific criteria that shoppers consider to be the most important. In their annual in-depth study, the site's Market/Data Analysts sought to find the vehicle attributes on which consumers place the most emphasis when shopping […] [Read More]

DETROIT and TROLLHATTAN, Sweden — The Spyker Cars NV purchase of Saab Automobile AB from General Motors has been finalized, the companies announced Tuesday. The ownership shift has been completed, and now Saab and Spyker will operate under the Spyker umbrella as sister companies. Spyker is taking over the operations of Saab, whose previously announced wind-down has […] [Read More]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sonic Automotive's used-vehicle operations ended 2009 on quite a high note as executives highlighted volume and gross profit gains during the fourth quarter. Sonic revealed overall used-vehicle unit volume climbed 18 percent and total used-vehicle revenue jumped almost 23 percent for the fourth quarter of last year as compared to the same quarter […] [Read More]

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. — Mercedes-Benz Financial has upgraded its First Class Finish lease vehicle turn-in process by providing the automaker's dealers with new software on their hand-held Dynamic PDA devices. The goal quite simply is to make the turn in process run quicker and more efficiently. These PDA devices were provided to Mercedes-Benz dealers by the OEM […] [Read More]

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. — Penske Automotive Group noted strong gains during the fourth quarter in several areas, including income, total revenue and total retail units sold, when executives shared their most recent financials late last week. Penske revealed that its 2009 fourth quarter income from continuing operations was $19.3 million, which compares to an adjusted loss […] [Read More]

HOUSTON — Group 1 Automotive said it got back to "growth mode" in the final quarter of 2009, as the company reported a significant upswing in adjusted net income from continuing operations. Specifically, the company's adjusted net income from continuing operations was $10.3 million in the fourth quarter, versus the adjusted $500,000 in the year-ago period. […] [Read More]

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — J.D. Power and Associates recently shared some details stemming from their Franchise Assessment which summarizes all the information they collect from consumers, PIN and its forecasting group. Brands such as Chevrolet, Ford, Hyundai and Lexus all received ratings that fell into J.D. Power's "excellent" category. Meanwhile brands such as Chrysler and Infiniti struggled […] [Read More]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a new development in what seems to be an ever growing saga surrounding Toyota, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration came out Tuesday saying that it is launching a probe to discover if the automaker launched three of its recent recalls in a timely fashion. The NHTSA said it is calling upon […] [Read More]

ORLANDO, Fla. — The American International Automobile Dealers Association named its new chairman while honoring a former holder of the post with the organization's lifetime achievement award. Receiving the honor as the David F. Mungenast Sr. Lifetime Achievement Award winner was Tim Smith of Calabasas, Calif., a longtime AIADA member and past chairman. Smith was bestowed […] [Read More]