– General Motors’ strength in the ’03 model year is trucks, says Gary Cowger, president of GM’s North American automotive operations. “We finished 500,000 units ahead of our next nearest rival in trucks for ’02, and the challenge for ’03 is to defend and hold our gains in trucks while making gains in the midsize car market.”
– Ford Motor Co. properties Jaguar/Land Rover/Aston Martin and Volvo will open new regional sales offices in Downers Grove April 1.
– Kruse International, the Auburn, Ind., auction house, will auction off the 2002 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy FI, or NASCAR Harley, at 5 p.m. May 3, at the Auburn Spring Motorfair and Cyclefest. The bike, with a fire-engine red custom paint job, American flags, eagle and New York fire helmet, commemorates the 343 New York firefighters who died Sept. 11, 2001. It also has signatures of 48 current and retired NASCAR drivers, Harley-Davidson President Willie G. Davidson and NBC broadcasters Bill Weber and Allen Bestwick. The bike features an additional $5,000 of chrome accessories, a custom seat and a Wells Fargo trailer. Visit www.nascarharley.com or Kruse International at www.kruse.com.
– General Motors will invest $300 million in its Willow Run transmission plant, which originally produced World War II bombers and now will make a new 6-speed transmission. The plant, west of Detroit, employs 4,400 workers and builds four-speed transmissions for front- and rear-wheel-drive vehicles. The plant will be upgraded to produce a six-speed transmission for rear-wheel-drive vehicles beginning in 2006.
