DAILY EDITION: Jan. 8, 2003

TCC'S DAILY EDITION: Jan. 8, 2004

Detroit Show: When Paparazzi Attack!

Downtown Detroit came alive this week when automotive media and industry executives flooded in from all over the world for the 2004 North American International Auto Show. And despite a brief snowstorm and punishingly low temperatures, it was impossible to cool things down inside Cobo Hall, which barely could contain more than 60 new production vehicles and concept cars and trucks. Here’s what TCC saw in between the intros:

2004 Detroit Auto Show Coverage by TCC Team (1/5/2004)

Benz Reveals New SLK

Afore its 2005 model-year introduction, Mercedes-Benz has issued the first pictures of its next SLK roadster. The new shape owes much to the SLR supercar just introduced last fall. The new engine is a 3.5-liter six-cylinder, four-valve engine; a new suspension and braking system, Benz claims, “deliver a new level of driving performance.” The retractable hardtop has been re-engineered to open and close faster than ever before, and incorporates a pivoting rear window for increased trunk space. The new SLK debuts for North America at the New York Auto Show in April.

2005 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren by TCC Team (11/24/2003)
Two seats, eight cylinders, 617 horsepower, and $400,000 – but does it add up?

Lampe Retiring from Bridgestone

John Lampe, CEO of Bridgestone Americas and the man who helped revive Bridgestone in the U.S. after the Firestone tire recall of 2000, will retire in March. Lampe, 56, became the CEO of the tire company’s U.S operations just two months after the recall of 6.5 million tires damaged the company’s public image and led to a historic severance of its ties with Ford Motor Company. Lampe will be succeeded by Mark Emkes, 50, the current CEO of the company’s North American operations.

Ford Replacing 13 Million Tires by TCC Team (5/28/2001)
A nasty divorce gets even costlier.

Ford, Suzuki Cutting Rental Sales

In the history of the world, no one has ever washed a rental car, according to one bit of recycled wisdom from the management consulting crowd. But apparently no one is going to build them either. Steve Lyons, president of the Ford Division, which has been a regular supplier of rental car fleets, said during an interview at the North American International Auto Show that Ford scaled back on rental car sales in 2003 and plans to scale back some more in 2004. James Padilla, Ford executive vice president, said Ford halted production of more than 50,000 Ford Tauruses destined for rental fleets and wound up improving its bottom line. "It's a triple whammy," he suggested. The manufacturer discounts the car initially when it’s sold to the rental company; the return of the rental cars units undercuts residual values and then the manufacturer winds up offering larger incentives because the returned rental units compete with new models at the dealership, Lyons noted. Cutting back on sales to rental car fleets also should help clear the way for introduction of new passenger cars such as Ford Five Hundred and Ford Freestyle, Lyons added. Koichi Suzuki, the president of automotive operations at American Suzuki Motor Corp., also said Suzuki has decided to reduce sales to rental car companies. Suzuki sales plunged more than 40 percent in the December in part because of the company's decision to reduce sales to the rental companies, he added. Nevertheless, Suzuki still expects its sales to grow to 100,000 units by next year, he said. —Joe Szczesny

Sirius to Offer Video by ‘05

Satellite radio company Sirius says it will offer up to four channels of video programming by the middle of 2005. The company told crowds at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that it doesn’t know how much it will charge yet for the service, but at the same trade show Delphi Corp. is displaying a video screen that can receive the Sirius broadcasts. Sirius says it will focus on kids’ programming at first; the company also expects a big boost in its subscriber base this year, which has lagged behind rival XM because of Sirius’ later market launch. XM recently reported that it had passed the million-subscriber mark.

FROM THE SOURCE headlines from the latest press releases

PRNewswire

iBiquity Digital Corporation announced today that an Iowa buyer became "first in the nation" to purchase an HD Radio tuner. Nathan Franzen purchased a Kenwood KTC-HR100 HD Radio tuner from the Ultimate Electronics store in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Monday, January 5, 2004. Following installation in his 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix, Franzen tuned to KZIA-FM Z102.9, Cedar Rapids' home for today's hit music, becoming the first consumer nationwide to personally experience the CD-quality sound of HD Radio receiver, the biggest revolution in radio since the advent of FM broadcasting more than fifty years ago.

THE TICKER

Name	Symbol	Last	Chg
AUTOLIV	ALV	39.45	+0.88
AUTONATION INC	AN	18.06	+0.09
ARVINMERITOR	ARM	25.37	+0.40
AMER AXLE & MANU	AXL	41.98	+0.91
BALLARD PWR SYS	BLDP	12.37	-0.02
BORG WARNER	BWA	88.07	+0.14
COLLINS AIKMAN	CKC	6.44	+1.38
CUMMINS INC	CMI	53.22	+0.74
DANA CORP	DCN	19.19	+0.22
DAIMLERCHRYSLER	DCX	47.12	-0.27
DELPHI CORP	DPH	11.05	+0.36
EATON CORP	ETN	112.60	+2.38
FORD MOTOR CO	F	16.99	+0.45
GENERAL MOTORS	GM	55.00	+0.74
GENTEX CORP	GNTX	43.35	-0.65
GOODYEAR TIRE	GT	7.95	+0.01
HONDA MOTOR CO	HMC	22.04	-0.53
JOHNSON CONTROLS	JCI	59.44	+0.49
LEAR CORP	LEA	63.40	+0.22
MAGNA INTNL	MGA	79.28	-2.04
MOTOROLA INC	MOT	15.06	+0.04
NISSAN MOTORS	NSANY	23.41	-0.27
SONIC AUTOMOTIVE	SAH	22.48	+0.03
TOWER AUTO	TWR	7.20	+0.04
TOYOTA MOTOR	TM	69.65	-1.13
UNIT AUTO GRP	UAG	30.49	+0.13
VISTEON CORP	VC	11.30	+0.39

Brought to you by TheCarConnection.com and WJR-AM 760