csua.org/u/c3v -> www.thecarconnection.com/Industry/Daily_Edition/Daily_Edition_May_17_2005.S173.A8626.html
Pickup Drivers Buckle Up Less, Says NHTSA A study of data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ( NHTSA) has found that pickup-truck passengers are less likely to buckle their seat belts than people riding in passenger cars. The study coincid es with the agency's "Click It or Ticket" $26 million publicity campaign , which runs from May 23 to June 5 The NHTSA says while 80 percent of p assengers in cars buckled up in the year 2003, only about 70 percent of those in pickups did so. The agency also found that 70 percent of the pe ople killed in accidents in pickup trucks were not belted in, while only 50 percent of those killed in car accidents were unbelted.
Ford may be preparing to sell or go public with its Hertz rental-car agen cy, according to a report in theNew York Post. The paper says Ford has f iled the paperwork necessary for an initial public offering of the compa ny, and that JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs Group and Citigroup have been chosen as the underwriters of the offering. The company may also be stu dying offers to purchase the rental unit directly, the Post adds. The second-largest US automa ker recently saw its credit rating demoted by S&P to junk status and by Moody's, to one level above junk.
The DaimlerChrysler unit sa ys that the engine plant will build two new engines: a 38-liter V-6 and a 40-liter V-6. The plant will be renovated in time to produce engines by the summer of 2006; the engines will be destined for a variety of ve hicles, including the company's minivans.
Future Cars: DaimlerChrysler (5/16/2005) Bricklin Wants Chery Trademark in US Despite advance legal warnings from General Motors, Malcolm Bricklin's Vi sionary Vehicles LLC says it will pursue a trademark for the Chery brand of Chinese-made vehicles for the US market. Bricklin is launching an effort - including a potential reality TV series - to bring Chery vehicl es to the US starting in 2007. General Motors says it will work agains t Chery's petition because of its closeness to Chevy and the Chevrolet b rand. Bricklin has said he already has signed more than a dozen dealers to his latest car effort; his past business dealings have brought Subaru and Yugo to America, to mixed results.
Click Here Chrysler 7/70 Warranty Going Away Automotive News reports that Chrysler will end its seven-year/70,000-mile warranty with the 2006 model year. The industry weekly quotes a Chrysle r-Jeep dealer, John Schenden of Denver, as saying Chrysler will use the money that propped up the warranty coverage on other marketing initiativ es. Schenden is also the chairman of the Chrysler-Jeep national dealer c ouncil.
Audi of America is in the midst of a most unusual ma rketing campaign for the launch of its A3 model that bends the standards of so-called viral marketing and carries the hope of company executives that the car will generate so much demand that sales incentives won't b e needed. Here is how the Audi A3 campaign, themed "The Art of the Heist" began. On March 31, an actor hired by Audi to play the role of Ian Yarbrough, a c omputer hacker and partner in a company that recovers lost and stolen ar t, sees that a notorious art thief stole an A3 from a Manhattan Audi sho wroom. Yarbrough was seeking computer files hidden in the stolen A3, whi ch he tracked to a New Jersey warehouse where thieves took the car. Unab le to take the files from the car while the thieves were on the scene, h e was forced to steal the car from the original thieves. The midtown Man hattan showroom where the car was stolen became a real crime scene compl ete with police barriers around the showroom, a broken glass door, and s ecurity guards. Ian is on the run, with police believing he is the original car thief.
com, Ian and his partner Nisha's company, ran in the back of May issues of Wired, Esquire, The Robb Repo rt and USA Today, appearing to be real ads for real companies specializi ng in art recovery. Spokesperson for Audi's ad agency that conceived the campaign, McKinney & Silver, Janet Northen says the ads were so much of a head-fake that a journalist from a major magazine sent an e-mail to t hrough the site hoping to speak to Ian or partner Nisha as a source in a story. The agency e-mailed the reporter back and simply said the execut ives were out of the country. But the ads helped generate traffic to the Web sites tracking the story and leading those who want to play along t o all the elements - blogs, online videos, e-mails between characters wi th streaming audio of the characters talking to one another on the phone . But Audi advertisi ng chief Stephen Berkov says that it's this type of campaign that a comp any like Audi must employ to generate buzz around the launch of a new mo del. "I don't want to compete merely on share of voice in traditional ad vertising," says Berkov. About 125,000 people were following "The Art of the Heist" online as of e arly May, and that number is expected to climb as more TV and print ads run helping people find the game. Audi only need to sell about 6000 A3s this year, but expects to sell about 12,000 per year for the next few ye ars. The vehicle is aimed at 25-34 year olds who make over $125,000 per year. That is an audience that watches less and less TV, which is why Au di and McKinney have created "The Art of the Heist." Even if would-be Au di buyers don't see the ad, or even play, it's important, says Berkov, t hat they will hear about it because Audi can't be seen just doing the sa me old ad campaigns to a target that is for the most part tuning out suc h advertising.
WORLD REPORT: BRAZIL GM of Brazil is the first automaker to witness the effects of the Brazili an currency's 15-percent increase against the dollar since the beginning of the year. It has cut Corsa export production - mostly for Mexico - b y ten percent for export, mostly for Mexico. In 2004 GM led the Brazilia n market, when it soared to an all-time record level of exports and anno unced an investment of $200 million with the purpose of launching a new, locally-designed Vectra next September. Now, GM has slipped to third pl ace in sales and faces export troubles at a faster pace than competition . Ford and Volkswagen, for example, have left untouched their plans for overseas expansion and Fiat has just cooled its Brazilian presence. Braz il is the sixth-biggest world market for GM (after the US, China, Cana da, Great Britain, and Germany) In spite of the unfavorable exchange rat es, Brazil should set another new export record this year of more than 7 00,000 vehicles and $9 billion in sales... It is not just in the US th at the Japanese makers show growth in the pickup market. The new Toyota Hilux, just in the first month of sales, has taken the lead among the me dium size pickups. It is the first time the Chevrolet S10 has given up the throne since it inaugurated the segment in 1995. The new Hilux is pa rt of project IMV (Innovative International Multi-Purpose Vehicles) and it establishes a new era in the Brazilian market for its style and featu res. A pickup variant and an SUV (due to arrive in October) are part of the Japanese strategy of less sophisticated trucks for emerging countrie s, yet advanced for the local market. The two models are currently produ ced in Argentina with both Brazilian parts and Japanese powertrains.
Available in regular and Quad Cab(TM) models and pack aged with full-size Ram capability, Dodge Ram 3500 Box-Off 4x2 Dually of fers commercial work-truck customers easy upfit capability thanks to fra me rail rear spacing of 42 inches, along with "Ram Tough" performance an d versatility found only on the market's most powerful heavy-duty pickup trucks.
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