Not only did Ford vehicle sales rise by 3.4 percent in September, but the automaker sold more Explorer sport-utility vehicles this year than last amid the recall of 6.5 million Firestone tires, many of them on Explorers.
Ford said its Motorcraft parts division is returning to the NASCAR circuit next year by teaming up with Wood Brothers Racing. The No. 21 Motorcraft Taurus will be driven by Elliott Salder. Ford Motor Credit now sponsors a Ford entry. No word on whether it will continue to do so.
DaimlerChrysler said it will create a new engineering division to develop vehicles powered by a combination of gasoline and electricity, following similar steps by other automakers. D/C said it intends to introduce these hybrid vehicles “as rapidly as possible,” though it didn’t specify a date.
DaimlerChrysler said it is consolidating its e-business into a new unit called DCX NET. With start-up capital of $500 million, the new unit will take the lead in forming alliances, entering into joint ventures and making investments to promote the company’s e-business. The initiative will cover business-to-consumer, business-to-business and business-to-employee activities, as well as in-vehicle telematics programs.
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General Motors plans to move forward on a joint venture with its U.S. dealers to sell all of its car and truck models over the Internet. “We are proceeding with the next steps required to make the joint venture a reality,” said Bill Lovejoy, head of vehicle sales, service and marketing. GM and the dealers are negotiating the details of the venture, including pricing and referral fees, and hope to have it operational by the first quarter of next year, a GM spokesman said. The proposed Web site–which will be separate from GM–would capitalize on consumers’ preference to shop for new vehicles on sites that are unaffiliated with any automaker.
For the first time, parts from the Mercedes-Benz division of DaimlerChrysler will be used in Chrysler Group cars. DaimlerChrysler is spending $455 million to expand its Kokomo, Ind., transmission factory that makes 400,000 transmissions a year for Jeep SUVs and Dodge trucks. An earlier plan will double output to 800,000 units next year, and the new expansion will add capacity for 400,000 more starting in 2004. The extra 400,000 transmissions, the same as those currently used in the Mercedes M-Class SUV, and E-, S- and C-Class cars, will be used in unidentified Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles. D/C hopes to assemble the transmissions for less than half of the $1 billion it would typically spend to develop a new transmission.
And starting next year, Mercedes will build more than 40,000 four- and five-cylinder diesel engines a year for the Grand Cherokees and Chrysler PT Cruisers sold in Europe, marking the first use of a Mercedes engine in a vehicle other than a Mercedes. D/C officials have said Mercedes and Chrysler cars will not share platforms.
Bridgestone/Firestone has set up a hot line, 800-465-1904, to answer questions about its tire recall and help consumers locate nearby dealers. The company is recalling 3.8 million Firestone p235/75R15 radial ATX and radial ATXII tires and 2.7 million p235/75R15 Wilderness AT tires, mostly on Ford Motor Co. vehicles. Ford also has a hot line, 800-660-4719.
