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Wed Mar 3 2010
Page: B1
Section:
Report On Business: International
Byline: Greg Keenan
Source: With files
from Associated Press
As Ford Motor Co. roared into first place
in the auto sales race in North America, General Motors Co. overhauled its sales
and marketing operations in an effort to speed up its transformation into a
leaner, more nimble competitor.
Ford rode to the front in both Canada and
the U.S. in February with gains of 51 per cent and 43 per cent respectively in
each country (year-over-year), while GM posted an 11-per-cent U.S. increase that
had its North American president demanding the company shift into a higher gear.
"I don't think we're moving far enough,
fast enough," GM president Mark Reuss said on a conference call about the
marketing and sales shakeup. "We've got good product here and we've got to start
selling them."
The marketing and sales shuffle included
the appointment of a new president of General Motors of Canada Ltd. Kevin
Williams, who had been heading GM's parts and service operations, will replace
Arturo Elias, president of GM Canada since August, 2006.
The February sales results show that even
as the industry is slowly recovering from the crisis that sent two of the
largest
Last month, those shocks were both hot and
cold: The firestorm of negative publicity raging around Toyota Motor Corp. hurt
overall sales and so did the fierce snowstorms that battered the U.S. Northeast.
"We're at the beginning of a recovery,"
said George Magliano, director of North American automotive research for HIS
Global Insight in
"It's a slow recovery, but it is a
recovery."
The ability of both of those auto makers
to pay off more than $75-billion (U. S.) worth of taxpayer loans from the
Canadian and U.S. governments that bailed them out, and when they're able to do
so, depends on the pace of the recovery.
Ford grabbed the top spot in the
In
Chrysler Canada Inc., also surpassed GM in
February to stand second.
The gains of 51 per cent at Ford, 17 per
cent at Chrysler and 22 per cent at GM in
The Canadian new-vehicle market
outperformed its
Toyota Canada Inc. matched the overall
Canadian market with a 25-per-cent bounce, an indication that it may have
sustained less damage from the recall crisis than its
"I'm surprised that we sold as many
vehicles as we did," said Bob Carter, vice-president of Toyota Motor Sales USA.
Other auto makers reported positive and
negative effects in February from the
Sales in the
"Three-and-a-half feet of snow on these
cars, it took our dealers a bit of time here to get that snow off there and to
get customers back into the showroom," added Susan Docherty, who was GM's
vice-president of sales and marketing during a morning conference call, but
vice-president of marketing only when the management shuffle was announced
yesterday afternoon.
© 2010 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved. Length: 694 words
KEEPING IT REAL
Section:
Driving
Source: National Post
Even the luxury makes are curbing their
thirst for precious fuel, if not horsepower numbers. Case in point: Bentley's
Mulsanne has lowered its fuel consumption and boasts 15% fewer emissions.
Asian automakers are known for their green
machines and this year is no exception.
The Big Three automakers are going small,
not just in fuel economy but in size, with compacts such as the Ford Focus and
GMC Granite making the biggest splashes here this
year.
Even the normally wild vehicle previews,
the concepts, have toned it down and are geared more toward reality than science
fiction, with an unprecedented number of electric cars, hybrids and alternative
fuel vehicles.
Illustration: Bryan Mitchell, Getty
Images / The Ford Focus emerges from the depths of the stage in