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SALES COULD HIT 17
MILLION
TOP 20 SELLERS
BLUEOVALNEWS.COM BACK UP
PRICELINE.COM EXPANDS
UNWIRED
DEALERS RISK SALES
GM MANAGERS CHARGED WITH
RACKETEERING
FORD TO PAY RECORD ROUGE FINE
MBUSI TAKES ON THE UAW?
SMART SAGA
CONTINUES
SAAB MOVES DROPTOPS TO AUSTRIA
DC GOES POSTAL
USE YOUR CELL PHONE, GET A
TICKET
SALES COULD HIT 17 MILLION Sales of new cars, pickup trucks, minivans and sport-utility vehicles rumbled through August at full steam, forcing analyst to once again raise their estimates of the final sales total for 1999, which now could approach or exceed 17 million units. So far this year, automakers have delivered 10.2-percent more vehicles to American consumers than they did a year ago, analysts said. In all, automakers delivered a total of 1,485,204 light vehicles in August; meanwhile, the annual sales rate was running at about 17.8 million units, well ahead of the industry's annual record of 16.2 million units set back in 1986. Sales could top 13 million units by the end of the third quarter on Sept. 30.
For more on last month’s sizzling sales, click here
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1. Ford F-Series pickup | 584,741 |
2. Chevrolet Silverado pickup | 405,548 |
3. Toyota Camry | 310,984 |
4. Dodge Ram pickup | 292,413 |
5. Ford Explorer | 281,196 |
6. Honda Accord | 277,784 |
7. Ford Ranger pickup | 270,322 |
8. Ford Taurus | 254,539 |
9. Honda Civic | 223,477 |
10. Dodge Caravan | 213,715 |
11. Ford Escort | 210,066 |
12. Chevrolet Cavalier | 198,612 |
13. Jeep Grand Cherokee | 197,855 |
14. Toyota Corolla | 174,197 |
15. Chevrolet S-Series | 165,602 |
16. Pontiac Grand Am | 163,050 |
17. Ford Windstar | 159,494 |
18. Saturn S-Series | 155,227 |
19. Ford Expedition | 153,878 |
20. Chevrolet Malibu | 148,684 |
BLUEOVALNEWS.COM BACK UP It’s back online, but this week could determine whether BlueOvalNews.com keeps publishing internal Ford documents. By Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Edmunds is expected to decide whether Ford should be granted a preliminary injunction against Robert Lane, the operator of BlueOvalNews.com. A temporary order is in place now. Last week, the site was closed down by Lane’s Internet provider after Ford threatened legal action against both the site and the host. BlueOvalNews.com has been a site for Ford enthusiasts, but lately proprietor Lane has been posting internal Ford documents sent to him anonymously.
A recent set of documents indicates Ford is planning to raise the fuel economy of its trucks by 10 percent through diesel and CVT transmissions.
Need the full story on BlueOvalNews.com? Click here
PRICELINE.COM
EXPLANDS The Internet’s "name-your-own-price" specialists are expanding
their car-shopping service to five more regions, the company announced last
week. Priceline.com’s new-car service is now available in California, Florida,
Connecticut, New Jersey, and greater Philadelphia. The service had been offered
in New York City and Tampa. Stamford, Connecticut-based Priceline chose the new
markets because of high sales. The company plans to roll out its service across
the 48 contiguous states in the first quarter of next year.
UNWIRED DEALERS RISK
SALES Car dealers who ignore the Web risk losing sales, says an
Internet research and analysis firm. Lincoln, Massachusetts-based Gomez Advisors
estimates that by 2002, some 20 percent of all new- and used-car sales will be
initiated on the Internet, up from 3 percent this year. Gomez senior analyst
Adam Weiner says "consumers are now in the drivers' seat and can exert force on
dealers to meet or beat prices they have obtained online. …Those dealers capable
of integrating their physical and Internet presence stand to gain the most in
the future."
GM MANAGERS CHARGED WITH
RACKETEERING Three former GM supervisors have been charged with asking
for bribes worth more than $2 million from GM suppliers. The three suspects, who
no longer work for GM, told suppliers to raise prices on goods and services and
submit fake bills, Reuters reports. The suppliers were then paid by GM and
returned the favor to the three suspects. Also on the goodwill list: trips to
Las Vegas, motorcycles, and a tanning salon membership, investigators told the
Flint (Michigan) Journal. Charges against the men include commercial
bribery, racketeering, embezzlement, unauthorized use of a transaction device,
and extortion. A GM spokesman warned that companies engaging in the practice
risked losing business with GM.
FORD TO PAY RECORD ROUGE
FINE Ford Motor Co. will pay $7 million — but will not be held
criminally responsible — for the February boiler explosion that killed six
workers and injured 14. The Michigan Occupational Health and Safety
Administration says part of the payment includes a $1.5 million fine, the
largest ever levied by the department. The remaining money will finance new
safety programs, medical research into burn treatment and set up a scholarship
fund in memory of the victims. A seven-month investigation of the Feb. 1
explosion at Ford's Rouge complex in Dearborn revealed 15 workplace safety
violations, reports Reuters, along with human errors.
MBUSI TAKES ON THE
UAW? Mercedes-Benz International, the DaimlerChrysler unit producing
the M-Class SUV in Alabama, has joined 71 other companies in a nonprofit
foundation that will assist workers who oppose the United Auto Workers
organizing within the MBUSI plant, the Detroit News reports. The
companies are banding together to preserve their "right to work" environment —
one in which employees can’t be forced to join a union as a condition of
employment. MBUSI spokeswoman Linda Paulmeno says her company hadn’t been
notified that the nonprofit group, called the Economic Development Partnership
of Alabama, was setting up a foundation to assist anti-UAW
workers.
990906_smart
990906_viggen
DC GOES POSTAL
DaimlerChrysler will lease 12 electric vans to the Harbor City, California, post
office and create the nation's first fully electric postal fleet, the company
announced last week. The Epic minivans – electric versions of the company’s more
pedestrian Voyagers and Caravans — will join three other electric vans in use
already at the post office. The leases will cost about $15,000 per year per
vehicle.
USE YOUR CELL PHONE, GET
A TICKET Police have started ticketing drivers for chatting on cell
phones in the Cleveland suburb of Brooklyn, under a law believed to be the first
of its kind in the country, CNN reports. An ordinance banning cell-phone use
while driving was passed in March; on Wednesday, police started handing out
tickets. Fines for the misdemeanor begin at $3 for first-time offenders but can
shoot up to $100 for a second offense or if the driver is involved in an
accident. The law prohibits use of a cell phone while driving unless both hands
are on the steering wheel. Exceptions are made for emergency calls, using a
phone in a parked car, or using a speakerphone. According to National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration statistics, cell phones were a contributing factor
in 57 fatal crashes in 1997, the last year for which figures are available.
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