That conventional wisdom had been the generation raised on technology loved their iPods more than their cars. It turns out they want both. It’s just they can afford an iPod.

This hit near panic levels in the past week, when the Public Interest Research Group put out the following press release.

LINK: Public Interest Research Group Press Release

Many stories were written on this, with wild speculation about everything from how it could hurt car sales to how it may herald the era of self driving cars. That way this generation could have their connectivity without being bothered by having to deal with all of those dirty little driving issues.

There’s one telling point in this research that causes everything to collapse like a house of cards.

The decline in youth driving is from 2001 to 2009. 2009 was the trough of the recession, and young people were more deeply affected. They couldn’t afford a car, and—even if they could—they didn’t have a job to drive it to

As Edmunds.com chief economist Lacy Plache points out, 2012 saw a big jump in the number of young car buyers. It turns out they like cars and driving after all.

LINK: Edmunds Research On Young Drivers.

As the father of a 17 year old, I can tell you my son has wanted to drive for some time, as have his friends of both genders. They are also a far more diverse generation than the baby boomers that I grew up with.

Street Survival National Program Manager Bill Wade said most of these fatal accidents are caused due to lack of experience in specific scenarios. “They’re not getting the skills that they need through the regular types of driver education whether it’s in their high schools or a commercial type venture,” he explained.

Wade summarized the program saying, ”What Street Survival does is uses real-world-type conditions on exercises working on a skidpad working in accident avoidance maneuvers doing a lot of emergency braking exercises to let the student know exactly what their car is going to do.”

Underscoring the importance of the specialized training Wade said, “It takes about five years of average driving to become an average driver and what we’re trying to do is to shorten that time period to give the new drivers the skills they need because you can’t wait five years to learn how to control a skid if you happen to get into one your first winter especially in Michigan.”

Their group will be in Melvindale on Saturday May, 18 from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. at Faith Christian Assembly Church on Outer Drive. The cost of the program is $75.

Learn more at streetsurvival.org 

“This is a great year for family cars,” said Jack Nerad, Kelly Blue Book’s executive market analyst. “There are some new entries in the marketplace that are terrific. Some of the old standbys are also terrific.”

At the top of the list, the Nissan Pathfinder.

“It’s new this year, and we were really taken by the Pathfinder,” said Nerad.

The largest category on the list, mid-size cars. There were four of these vehicles, including, says Nerad, the all-new Ford Fusion.

“It’s a very, high tech vehicle, and offers good looks on the outside and creature comforts on the inside.”
hau
There was only one other American brand vehicle on the list, and it was an interesting choice. Nerad says they included the Chevy Suburban because big families need big vehicles.

“There are a lot of people, my family among them that like a large vehicle like that, that has great hauling power, great passenger capacity.”

Kelly Blue Book’s Ten Best Family Cars
1.) Nissan Pathfinder
2.) Honda Accord
3.) Toyota Prius V
4.) Volkswagen Passat
5.) Honda Odyssey
6.) Toyota Avalon
7.) Ford Fusion
8.) Honda CRV
9.) Nissan Altima
10.)Chevrolet Suburban

The institute has been running vehicles through a small vehicle frontal overlap crash test, simulating what happens when about 25 percent of the vehicle’s front hits an object.

LINK — IIHS Small SUV Crash Tests

The latest test crashed 13 small SUV’s.

“The bad news is 11 of the 13 did pretty poorly,” said Insurance Institute research Vice President Joe Nolan. “We only have one good performer, and one acceptable performer.”

The Mitsubishi Outlander Sport received the “Acceptable” rating. The “Good” rating went to another vehicle made by a smaller Japanese car company.

“The Subaru Forester aced this test,” said Nolan. “It’s the first vehicle to do so in this new crash configuration. In every evaluation of the structural performance, the way the dummy interacts with the restraint system, and all of the injury measures, it scored perfect scores.”

That gives the Subaru Forester the designation of “top safety pick+.” There are now 20 vehicles with that “plus” by their designation. Vehicles that score well in other crash tests, but not the new one, get a designation of “top safety pick.”

Many of the small SUV’s in this test remain top safety picks including the new Buick Encore and the totally redone Honda CRV and Ford Escape.

But, Nolan says all could be made safer, if strengthened for this new collision. The Ford Escape, for example, showed some issues that could lead to serious injuries.

“We recorded over three thousand pounds of force going through the drivers left leg into his hip,” said Nolan. “That’s a poor rating for the protection of the knee, thigh, hip complex. That’s a potentially very debilitating injury.”

The Escape has set new sales records for Ford, which says it believes the vehicle is safe.

“Ford takes seriously every industry development related to vehicle crash performance,” read a statement from the company. “This is the first time IIHS has conducted this type of test on small SUVs. We are reviewing its findings in the context of our current design evaluations. The Escape was rated “Good” for head/neck and chest dummy injury measures and “Acceptable” for lower-leg/foot in this new test.”

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says the purpose of the new test is to make vehicles safer. Institute officials say they believe carmakers will work to build vehicles that can pass the test.
Nolan says that will save lives, and prevent injuries.

“Our analysis shows that about a quarter of all crashes that result in serious injury or fatality are what we call small overlap frontal crashes.”

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DETROIT (AP) - Three Ohio drivers are suing Ford Motor Co., claiming the company’s six-cylinder EcoBoost engine is defective.

The lawsuit says the 3.5-liter V6 EcoBoost engine can shudder, shake and then rapidly lose power while drivers are accelerating. Two of the plaintiffs, a married couple, say their 2010 Ford Taurus SHO has lost power and stalled on multiple occasions. The third says he has lost power when he was accelerating in his F-150 pickup.

The lawsuit says more than 100 drivers have complained to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the V6 EcoBoost rattling or losing power. Ford hasn’t recalled any vehicles for the alleged defect, and NHTSA hasn’t opened an investigation, which is often the first step in the recall process.

The lawsuit claims Ford has acknowledged the problem in messages to dealers, but hasn’t informed owners.

Ford declined to comment Tuesday, saying it hasn’t seen the lawsuit. The company wouldn’t say how many vehicles it has sold with the V6 EcoBoost engine.

Ford has been selling vehicles equipped with the V6 EcoBoost since late 2009. It’s an option on the Ford Flex, Taurus SHO, Lincoln MKT and Lincoln MKS sedans from the 2010-2013 model years; the F-150 pickup from the 2011-2013 model years; and the Ford Explorer Sport from the 2013 model year.

Ford also makes four-cylinder and three-cylinder EcoBoost engines, but those aren’t cited in the lawsuit. All three engines use turbocharging and direct injection to give them the power of a larger engine with the fuel economy of a smaller one.

The lawsuit was filed late last week in U.S. District Court in Columbus. A similar lawsuit involving different drivers was filed last month in U.S. District Court in Louisiana.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

“We know it’s going to save lives,” said LaHood, following a speech to open the University of Michigan’s Symposium on Connected Cars. “We know this technology is going to help people avoid accidents. We know this technology is going to save injuries. It will be up to the carmakers to help us figure out what the cost is going to be.”

One of the nation’s biggest connected car experiments is being conducted on the streets around Ann Arbor. Sensors have been put into vehicles, allowing them to send information to each other on road and weather conditions.

In theory, vehicle-to-vehicle communications could prevent cars from crashing into each other.

But, LaHood says, things often change when you move a technology from the experimental realm into the read world.

“Cost hasn’t really been a factor at this point,” LaHood told reporters. “But, ultimately, it will be. We know people make a judgment on what car to buy based on cost.”

LaHood also saying it’s too early to tell the impact of self-driving cars.

The Transportation Secretary has also been in contact with auto industry leaders on vehicle distraction. It’s too early, he says, to tell if current connectivity systems in cars are a help or a distraction.

Another area where LaHood raised concerns has to do with the definition of drunken driving. States now define that as having a blood alcohol level over .05. The National Transportation Safety Board wants to lower that to .05.

“I think everybody knows that .08 is the standard”,” LaHood said. “I think there will be a big debate over whether to go to a different standard or not.”

The Symposium on connected cars takes a look at new technology. Steven Forrest, University of Michigan vice president for research began the conference announcing that the launch of a new Center to Transform Mobility.

The center, Forrest says, will work with government and private industry to speed up research into connected cars and–long term–self-driving cars.

“It is the nucleus from which the next Silicon Valley will emerge. Right here, in South East Michigan, the birthplace of the modern mass-produced automobile.”

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The probe covers more than 192,000 Chrysler 300C luxury cars, Dodge Charger muscle cars and Dodge Magnum wagons from the 2006 model year. The cars have 5.7-liter or 6.1-liter V-8 engines.

The agency says it has 54 complaints from owners that engines stalled while the cars were being driven. In all cases the stalling happened after the cars were refueled. Forty-eight of the owners said they had several stalling incidents, and seven said they had trouble restarting the cars, according to documents posted on the NHTSA website.

Chrysler spokesman Eric Mayne said Tuesday that the company is cooperating in the investigation, and that it has no reports of any crashes or injuries. If customers suspect a problem, they should contact a Chrysler dealer, he said.

Investigators are checking the fuel vapor recovery system for possible failure, according to documents posted Tuesday on the agency’s website.

NHTSA said the number of complaints is increasing, with more than half coming in the past eight months.

In one complaint, a driver told NHTSA that on April 3, a 2006 Charger stalled while the car was in the center lane of a freeway during peak traffic hours. The driver put the Charger in neutral and tried to restart it, moving to the slow lane to get off the highway. “Car died two more times until I was off the freeway. I will not drive on the freeway with this car until it’s fixed,” the driver wrote.

Investigators will check how often the problem happens and determine if a recall is needed.

Mayne said the investigation is in its early stages and no defect has been identified.

© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The data centers are part of current GM management’s belief that world-class companies own and operate their own IT — they don’t outsource it.

GM held a tour of both its new in-house development center and its data center in Warren Monday.

At a press conference during the tour, GM CEO Dan Akerson said that when GM outsourced its IT to Electronic Data Systems in the 1980s, it was an era of clay modeling, slide rules and typing pools. Now, every facet of the car business is wired and involves IT. And that means to be a top company, “you have to have a core competency in IT. You have to own it, and you have to control it.”

Added Akerson: “It’s the end of the outsourced model. We’re creating a team that is concentrating on driving our business 100 percent of the time.”

GM is in the process of hiring 10,000 in-house IT employees, taking jobs back from outsourcers. About 1,400 of them will work in the Warren center. About 35 percent of those 10,000 hires will be recent college graduates. Another 2,500 are former staff of Hewlett-Packard (which bought EDS), mostly in Michigan.

Besides Warren, GM is also building development centers in Austin, Texas, Roswell, Ga. (a suburb of Atlanta) and Chandler, Ariz. (a suburb of Phoenix).

Akerson and GM CIO Randy Mott said the in-house data centers and app development staff will make GM a faster, smarter, nimbler car company.

“Having a single nerve center for our global operations will get newer vehicle designs and technologies into our customers’ hands quicker and improve the bottom line,” said GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson. “IT is back home where it should be, and it further drives unnecessary complexity from our businesses while improving our operational efficiency and better supporting our business strategy.”

And Akerson predicted that “if people think they have seen a new GM in the past three years, they ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

Mott said bringing the operations in-house replaces 35 different outsourcing agreement that meant “35 processes, 35 sets of tools, 35 handoffs,” and much more chance for misunderstanding or error.

And Mott said GM’s recruitment effort involves convincing young people that GM is building cool products and that they have a chance to get in on the ground floor of the complete transformation of a major American company.

“My experience is that most IT pros get excited about delivering value and having a sense of accomplishment,” Mott said. “Folks want to create something, to build something, to be part of something that matter. To be able to design, build and sell great cars is pretty cool, and it’s something most people can get their heads around. They also have the chance to be in on the ground floor of changing something in a total transformation.”

Gov. Rick Snyder, on hand for the grand opening, praised the opening as another example that there’s no “new economy” any more — there’s one economy, that revolves around high tech.

The development teams in Warren work on software to help manufacturing processes and communication between GM and its suppliers and among GM divisions internally. (Software inside the vehicle remains the purview of GM engineering.) During the tour, reporters saw IT development teams working on software analyzing parts that broke down during warranty to improve manufacturing processes among GM and its suppliers.

GM touted its agile development skills, saying quality asurance and testing of applications was built in to the development process.

The beautiful developer offices in Warren, formerly used by GM’s Cadillac office operations, feature work spaces that look like a coffee shop with booths — booths that have a 42-inch TV on the wall so workers can hook up their laptops and share their work with development teams.

GM is also beefing up its in-house training for all these new IT workers. Training manager Dennis Popeil said new hires from major tech universities around the country start their GM careers with a five-week boot camp. They get an overview of GM’s IT needs and philosophies the first two weeks, then move on to one of three tracks for the final three weeks — Java development, c# or .Net development, or enterprise data warehouse development.

GM offers its IT workers 1,200 Web-based courses in IT certifications, Web design, network and security concerns, project effectiveness, software development, operating system and server technologies, enterprise resource planning, enterprise database systems and more.

Other projects handled by the teams included:
* Crash test simulations enabled by super-computing generate data that is analyzed and applied in vehicle design and development or refinement of safety technologies, saving $350,000 for each physical crash test avoided.
* An application that enables Global Product Development teams to make tooling payments to suppliers at key points throughout the development cycle helps suppliers prioritize the timing of critical parts and reduce overall engineering expenses by millions.
* Chevrolet tracked sales data of last year’s Impala in markets where car buyers traded in non-GM models, enabling a jump-start to sales of the new 2014 Impala in markets where it previously underperformed.

After the press conference, GM offered a tour of its huge new data center, controlled by a 5,040-square-foot IT Operations and Command Center that has 48 work stations and a 955-square-foot video wall composed of 28 configurable screens that monitor data use across operations around the clock.

The command center can monitor and control IT functions at all 121 GM plants around the globe as well as its four major engineering centers — not to mention IT products and services supplied to 17,000-plus GM dealers.

The data center offers four levels of redundancy on its electric power and three levels of redundancy on its data connectivity. Backup power between the grid and redundant huge diesel generators is provided by huge, 15,000-pound flywheels rather than batteries.

The overall data center is 93,400 square feet in size, including four “data halls” of 10,000 square feet each. One of the four halls is up and operating; a second is under construction, and the other two are reserved for future expansion. Its modular layout lets GM more than 140 servers in a day.

GM already has three petabytes of data storage at the site — that’s 3,000 gigabytes.

When it’s fully built out, the data center will be home to 36,800 servers. And it’ll have an eight-terabyte fiber optic data connection to the other major data center in Milford.

As for that Milford data center, GM said it would spend $100 million to build it and another $158 mllion to equip it.

GM said the Milford location was chosen because it is more than 25 and less than 50 miles from Warren, allowing “mirrored” data, so if one facility is off line for any reason, the other will have the same data available without interruption.

“It’s all about reducing risk and making sure no one event would affect both centers at the same time,” said Curt Loehr, GM Information Technology project manager. “Each Center has its own utility feed using separate paths to provide uninterrupted power.  We even checked weather data going back a half century and Warren and Milford are affected by separate weather patterns.”

GM is saving money by having the data centers on existing campuses, which have negotiated bulk utility rates, existing infrastructure and security.

At the peak of the project there will be 350 skilled trades’ workers on site. More than 95 percent of the construction jobs will come from southeast and central Michigan.

“The basic theme this year, particularly as it related to the domestics, is ‘They’ve forgotten what we did with them in the 2008-2010 time period, when they needed our help, and they are reverting back to their old tricks,” says John Henke, President of Planning Perspectives and an Oakland University Business Professor.

Every year Planning Perspectives surveys suppliers about the relationship with the three domestic car companies, and the three Japanese carmakers that have factories in the U.S.

The overall study is pretty stable this year, and there’s not much difference in the scores of the major auto companies. But, Henke says, suppliers are reporting more pressure for price concessions, and more pressure to make rapid changes in products.

Henke says what’s different now is this type of pressure is coming from all major automakers, not just the domestics, as had been the case several years ago. He says Japanese carmakers have started using the same pressure techniques on suppliers that domestic companies have historically used.

While the leaders of major auto companies have made it a goal to improve relations with suppliers, Henke says often that goal doesn’t reach those who are in direct contact with suppliers.

Car companies have made progress setting the agenda for better supplier relations, Henke says, but now have to hone in on the follow through.
“They’ve got to step back and decide what they really want to do, start implementing a plan, and start sticking to it.”

Toyota remains the company that suppliers most want to do business with, and Ford tops the domestics. But, Henke says there’s no longer a wide range of difference between Toyota on the top and Chrysler on the bottom.

These finding are important, Henke says, because suppliers often save their best products for the companies that they have the best relationship with.

That, he says, is the main reason why companies can’t let up in efforts to improve and sustain good supplier relations.

“Everybody’s making lots of money, ‘Why do we have to worry about it, we’re making lots of money?’ Well, because you saw just a few years ago, what happens when you don’t make a lot of money.”

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“A mom doesn’t necessarily turn in her cool card when she becomes a mom,” said Caroll Lachnit, features editor at Edmunds.com.

In honor of mom’s everywhere, Lachnit has authored a piece entitled “Top 10 Vehicles for Mom’s Who Don’t Like Minivans.”

The list includes sporty crossovers, like BMW’s X-3, funky cars, like the Kia Soul…and several mass market large crossovers, including the GMC Acadia, and the Ford Flex.

“It’s got a cabin that will seat up to seven, and a lot of optional features,” says Lachnit, who also gives the Flex points for its cool looks.

While many people think a parent needs to have a minivan, to haul lots of kids and lots of stuff, Lachnit says that’s not always the case. She says buyers have more choices than ever before.

“What should guide people’s choices is, ‘What are you going to do with your car,” she said. “What’s your family profile? What are the features that you’re looking for?”

If those features tend more to the sporty, you may find a crossover more to your liking.

However, Lachnit say there are some attributes–like sliding doors, and a low profile–that still make minivans appealing to parents.

“You may have to just make your peace with that, and know that in a couple of years as the kids grow up, you might be able to have more of the mom car of your dreams.”

The minivan has evolved a lot since the original Chrysler models were introduced in the early 80′s. Those vehicles were smaller, had only one sliding door, and were very boxy.

Today’s minivan can come with entertainment systems for back seat passengers, seats that fold flat easily, and high end audio systems for the driver. The next generation Honda Odyssey will even come with a vacuum cleaner.

Chrysler–which now has a Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Caravan–is planning to introduce a new generation of minivans. One will be a traditional minivan, but the other will become a “lifestyle vehicle.”

Despite the changes, Lachnit says there are some people who just “react viscerally” to the idea of a minivan, and that’s why she came up with here list of alternatives.

“That’s what this list is about, to say ‘We get it. You had minivans. But, there are still vehicles that have features you need, if you’re a mom with a family.”

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The recall affects 2005 to 2010 Grand Cherokees and 2006 to 2010 Commanders.

U.S. safety regulators say cracks in a circuit board can cause a faulty signal as the SUVs are being started. If the vehicles shift into neutral they can roll away.

Chrysler said the problem has caused 26 crashes and two injuries.

Chrysler will begin notifying owners and dealers in June, and will update software to take care of the problem. Repairs will be made at no cost.

The recall covers 295,000 vehicles in the U.S., 28,500 in Canada, and 4,200 in Mexico. The remaining 141,000 are outside North America.

For more information, owners can contact Chrysler at 1-800-247-9753.

TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

I just returned from an Automotive Press Association lunch on the subject. That gave clarity to those questions, and added some new ones.

Chris Barroni-Bird, a long time auto industry researcher, now at Qualcomm, echoed my biggest concern about self-driving cars. Will they become conveyances for people who are too tired—or too drunk to drive?

If we could make the technology absolutely foolproof, it’s not a problem. I’ve yet to drive a foolproof car, and the technology I love (smart phones, tablets, laptops) fails me on a daily basis.

That means you still need to be able to take over any self-driving car from time to time, and it could be at a moment’s notice when a sensor fails, or there is some incident that the car can’t quite deal with. So, even when the car is driving itself, you still need to pay attention.

That’s not always easy to do. Imagine yourself on a dark lonely highway, comfortable seat in a warm car that’s driving itself. I’m dozing off writing this.

But, won’t the law require you to stay awake and pay attention? The law requires you to obey the speed limit today. Take a drive along I-696 sometimes.

Even assuming you want to stay awake, it could be tough. I want to stay awake at church. I’ll leave it right there.

At the Automotive Press Association Panel, there was suggestion of technology to monitor driver’s eyes, set off an alarm to keep the driver awake, or safely stop the car on the side of the road, if there’s nobody to take control in an emergency.

This adds more expense to an expensive system. Lots of people are priced out of new cars now. This could raise the bar even more.

And what if part of your system needed repair. One of the people at our lunch table admitted that they had been driving with a faulty tire pressure monitor for a year. Could we see people with autonomous cars driving with a sensor that’s not working properly? Hey, its only job is to detect pedestrians, and I can watch out for them…zzzzzzz.

Just bringing up some things to think about.

Airplanes have auto pilots. But, backing up those auto pilot systems is a real pilot with years of real world experience, and trained maintenance crews that keep the systems running.

It was brought up at our meeting that it will be the younger generation that creates the market for self-driving cars. That’s because they would rather tweet, text and post Facebook messages behind the wheel.

Ponder this for a second. Will young people who are used to leaving the driving to their cars be able to deal with it when the system tells them to take control, now? Yes, they’ve had driver training. But, I just told my son that driver training equips you to handle the car. It’s after driver training that you learn how to deal with the rare, but important emergencies, which can mean life or death on the road.

Then there’s how this may affect design. We heard of interesting ways to hide technology that’s now on the outside of test vehicles. That could change looks.

Then, long-term, do cars that drive themselves need windows? If they don’t crash, do they need airbags, seat belts or high strength steel? A lot of this is too far out in the future to even ponder, and may be a bit too utopian, even then. When I’m hurling down the freeway at 70 miles per hour, I like to be protected.

And here’s something I never thought of. Will you give up your privacy and independence in exchange for a safer and easier to use form of transportation? After all, the sensors on a self-driving car can also be used to tell authorities were you are. Lots of people saw this as a fair trade. Look at some of today’s political debate, and you could see this as a big hot potato.

And, we save the 800 pound gorilla for last: The legal system. We can add my business, the news media, into the mix.
You will see lawsuits. You will see investigative reports on “highway killers.”

Toyota just settled more than a billion dollars worth of lawsuits from its sudden acceleration recalls. And even though NASA cleared the electronics systems in Toyota’s vehicles, some critics continued to raise concerns.

Will NASA have to give its blessing to self-driving cars?

There are a lot of questions to be pondered. If history is any guide, there will be surprises along the way.

We had a great discussion on this subject at our first business breakfast on this subject last fall. I invite you to join us June 5 for part two.

Details to come soon.

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The Model S, which starts at $62,400, scored 99 points on a scale of 100 in the magazine’s battery of tests.

The Model S, though, didn’t get Consumer Reports’ coveted “Recommended Buy” rating. The magazine says it doesn’t have sufficient data to judge reliability of the car, which went on sale last year.

Consumer Reports said the car’s drawbacks include limited range, long charging times and coupe-like styling that hinders rear visibility and crimps passenger access.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Toyota posted a $13.3 billion profit (314 billion yen) for the fiscal year that ends in March. That’s roughly the same amount as the combined 2012 earnings of GM and Ford.

President Akio Toyoda said the improved earnings were the result of improved sales in North America and Asia.

“We have faced many challenges since 2009 but have learned valuable lessons, including the need for Toyota to maintain sustainable  growth. We believe that the driver for sustainable growth is ultimately ever-better cars, and we are launching cars developed with this mindset.”

Toyota’s also been helped by an exchange rate that has become more favorable to Japanese carmakers.

The last several years had been rough for Toyota. The global recession was followed by recalls in the United States. Then as Toyota was dealing with the earthquake and Tsunami in Japan, it also saw production and sales curtailed by flooding in Thailand.

2013 saw the company rebound from all of those issues, and regain the global sales crown, selling 8.9 million cars and trucks. Toyota expects to top 9.1 million sales in the coming year.

“Toyota has recovered much of the market share lost due to the recalls and natural disaster,” said Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book. “Although Toyota has seen solid growth in market share and sales since 2012, sales declined in April.

“Toyota now finds themselves in one of the most competitive environments the industry has seen in decades, facing strong entrants from familiar competitors Honda and Nissan, as well as reinvigorated competition from U.S. and Korean automakers. Although Toyota will find that gaining market share will be difficult moving forward, the new Corolla launching later this year could inject new blood into the brand while a declining Yen could help shore up the bottom line,” he said.

Toyota faces a number of challenges. Recent strains between Japan and China have hurt its sales in the world largest car market. Here in the U.S., domestic carmakers have started improving their market share, and studies show that buyers who were once very loyal to Toyota, are again willing to check out a “Detroit Three” product.

The response from Toyota has been to shift more production to the United States, and to give more authority to executives here, adding more Americans to Toyota’s board of directors, and appointing long time American executive Jim Lentz to become Toyota’s first-ever CEO of North America.

Akio Toyoda says the company expects to earn around $14 billion in the coming year.

“I am convinced that the positive cycle defined for our business in the Toyota Global Vision is now gradually but steadily taking shape.”

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These are 2002 and ’03 models. No reports of injuries. BMW will replace the air bags free of charge.

BMW owners with any questions or concerns may contact BMW at 1-800-525-7417.

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Vehicles from the 2012 and 2013 model years equipped with GM’s eAssist hybrid system are affected. Vehicles built after December 2012 are not part of the recall.

GM says some vehicles may have a malfunctioning generator control module that causes a gradual loss of battery power and stalls the engine. If the module overheats, it could cause smoke or fire in the trunk.

GM will notify owners and repair the module for free.

The company knows of two trunk fires related to the issue, which happened in the first 1,000 miles of operation.

No injuries have been reported.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

No, that won’t work. How about: Dear Chrysler public relations people: Aliens abducted your truck. Sorry.

Even less plausible. Maybe: Dear Chrysler public relations people: I’m still not sure just exactly how much I love the Ram 1500, North America’s Truck of the Year. I’ve only driven it 1,800 miles over the past 10 days. Can’t I keep it a little longer? Six or eight years ought to do. Sincerely, your pal, Matt.

No? Well, drat. I’m pretty sure the people from Chrysler are coming Monday to take back their truck, and that’s a damn shame. Because I love this thing.

Americans want the impossible so often, and vehicles are no exception. They want a truck that acts like a car when they’d really rather have a car, but acts like a truck when they really need a truck. Oh, and can it please get better mileage than many five-passenger sedans? Thanks ever so.

The Ram 1500 comes closer to delivering all these conflicting wishes than any truck I’ve found so far.

Thanks to a combination of air suspension, electric power steering and amazing sound dampening technology, the Ram 1500 rides a lot like a car. It’s only bouncy on the roughest of roads, and that’s when it’s practically empty.

But raise the air suspension and it’s an able off-road (or at least pretty-bad-road) performer. And it’ll still tow 5,000 pounds, which is a lot of trailer or boat.

And the V-6, coupled with the same eight-speed auto transmission you’ll find on a $470,000 Rolls Royce, provides mind-boggling fuel economy on the highway when the truck is lightly loaded. Burning gasoline and keeping my speeds reasonable, I was actually getting 21.7 mpg on the highway. (Burn E-85, drive fast or carry a load, and your mileage quickly deteriorates, but only as far as 17 or so, which still isn’t that bad for a vehicle this huge.)

In short — it’s a winner. Of course, all this wonderfulness doesn’t come cheap — I tried to build and price one online identical to mine, and amid the ramtrucks.com Web site’s bewildering array of choices and if-you-order-this-then-you-have-to-buy-that restrictions, it came in at about $39,000.

Then, we welcome Carol Kirkland, President of NAWBO Greater Detroit, and Elinor Ho, President-Elect of NAWBO Greater Detroit, to discuss how they are  assisting women to become business owners.

After that, of Oakland County Commissioner L. Brooks Patterson, Businesswoman Denise Ilitch and Chris Holman, from MichiganBusinessNetwork.com,  is here to talk about a number of issues.

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The company cut its losses a bit in Europe, losing $200 million, compared to $300 million at the same time last year. But earnings in North America fell by about $200 million to $1.4 billion.

GM revenues were down slightly, to $36.9 billion. GM says it was also impacted by $1 billion in restructuring costs.

This is General Motors 13th consecutive quarterly profit. Overall, CEO Dan Akerson says it was a solid quarter.

“The year is off to a solid start as we increased our global share with strong new products that are attracting customers around the world,” he said. “In addition, we saw progress in Europe thanks to strong cost actions and great vehicles like the Opel Adam and Mokka.”

General Motors expects earnings to rise as the year goes on, and they begin a series of new product launches. The company’s new Impala big car is just hitting the market, and its new Silverado and Sierra pickups will launch this summer.

Chevy dealers will see the new Corvette Convertible in the fall.

GM Chief Financial Officer Dan Amman says that globally, the company will launch 40 new vehicles this year.

“In the automotive business, outstanding product is what wins.”

Connect with Jeff Gilbert
Email: jdgilbert@cbs.com
Facebook: facebook.com/carchronicles
Twitter: @jefferygilbert

Shanshan Du’s right arm and right leg shook as she tearfully expressed remorse. U.S. District Judge Marianne Battani said economic espionage is a serious crime, but she also noted Du’s health problems and the seven years from FBI raid to trial and sentence.

“I don’t think the public needs to be protected from you, but it needs to be protected from others like you,” the judge told Du.

Federal guidelines called for a minimum sentence of 6½ years for Du and husband Yu Qin, but those guidelines aren’t mandatory. Qin, also an engineer, was sentenced to three years in prison. They will remain free until late summer.

“This is all my fault, and I want to take full responsibility. I’m sorry this all happened. … I’m ashamed,” Qin told the judge.

Du, 54, was convicted last fall of conspiracy and possessing trade secrets without approval. Qin, 52, was found guilty of the same crimes, along with fraud and obstruction of justice.

The government accused Du of seeking a transfer within GM to get access to hybrid technology and said she began copying documents by the end of 2003. She copied thousands of records in 2005, five days after getting a severance offer from the automaker.

By that summer, Qin was telling people he had a deal to provide hybrid technology to a GM competitor in China and had set up his own company, Millennium Technology International, the government said. The information, however, didn’t make it overseas.

“Sorry. Again, I made wrong decisions. That caused me this suffering,” Du said in court.

Du’s health problems in the last few years have included cancer, shingles, depression and anxiety. She told a mental health expert that the FBI search at her suburban Detroit home in 2006 had rekindled awful memories of oppression by the Chinese government during her childhood.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cathleen Corken asked for at least 6 ½ years in prison for the pair. She told the judge that Du didn’t deserve a “slap on the wrist” for her “vital” and “central” role in stealing GM documents. The prosecutor also tried to counter pleas for sympathy by defense lawyers.

“This is not outdated technology,” Corken said. “GM continues to use this technology in hybrid vehicles.”

A 366-day sentence allows Du to shave months off for good behavior, meaning her actual time in prison could be only nine or 10 months.

In a letter to Battani last week, GM wanted the maximum punishment, eight years under the guidelines. U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade didn’t specifically comment on whether the sentences were too light.

“We will continue to advocate for sentences necessary to deter the theft of trade secrets because of the very significant harm the crime has on our auto industry,” she said in a statement.

Du and Qin entered the United States in 1984. They have master’s degrees and have nearly completed the requirements for doctorate degrees.

The judge said Qin is a “brilliant” engineer who wanted to cut corners by getting his hands on GM technology.

“You had to know this was proprietary,” Battani said.

She agreed with defense attorney Robert Morgan that Du likely was “subservient” to her husband.

“But you knew right from wrong,” the judge told Du.

MORE: GM Wants Tough Punishment In Hybrid Secrets Theft

Two Convicted In Conspiracy To Steal GM Trade Secrets

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“We are working harder than ever to keep pace with record demand for our all-new, fuel-efficient Fusion and Escape – with sales growth particularly strong on the coasts,” said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service. “F-Series pickups also continue to build on their momentum as the housing and construction industries rebound.”

Fusion sales were up 24 percent, on the strength of an all new model.  The Escape is also helped by a new model, along with a lot of interest in small SUV’s.  Escape sales were up 52 percent.  The F-series saw a 24 percent sales increase…as a rebounding housing industry is helping pickup truck sales.

The new Lincoln MKZ was finally available in good numbers, pushing Lincoln brand sales up 21 percent.

“It’s no secret that the new MKZ got off to a rough start, but it is finally getting some traction” said Edmunds.com analyst Michelle Krebs.  ”More importantly, the car is catching on with a younger and more affluent buyer. It’s also doing well in markets in which Lincoln has not been a player — particularly in California, where its market share has gone up 10 percent.”

The same factors lead to a good month at Chrysler.

“Chrysler Group’s best April sales in six years helped to maintain our sales momentum and drove us to our 37th-consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains,” said Reid Bigland, Head of U.S. Sales. “Our sales last month were solid across the board with seven Chrysler Group vehicles recording their best April sales ever.”

The Dodge Durango was Chrysler’s sales leader, with a 65 percent increase. It comes as the current model is about to be replaced by a new version.

A mix of old and new Grand Cherokee’s helped that model’s sales, and meant a two percent increase for the Jeep Brand. That comes at a time when Liberty production has been halted, and Jeep has not yet begun selling the new Cherokee.

GM sales operations manager Kurt McNeil says their small vehicles saw gains of 31 percent.  But it was also a great month for pickups and crossovers.

“Y’know, with the positive news on housing, we feel that’s helping both the economy and our truck business.”

Import brands reported a mixed bag of results.  Nissan had a 23 percent increase, with Volkswagen falling 10 percent.  Toyota was off one percent.  Honda sales rose 7 percent.

Chrysler says it expects the entire industry to post a 10 percent sales increase from April of 2012.

WWJ AutoBeat Reporter Jeff Gilbert will be following car sales reports as they are released today. For instant updates, you can follow his Twitter (@jefferygilbert) feed here.

Detroit federal Judge Marianne Battani heard arguments for 90 minutes on many issues Tuesday. But after the clock struck 5 p.m., she said the hearing would resume Wednesday.

Ex-GM engineer Shanshan Du and her husband, Yu Qin (chin), were convicted last fall of conspiracy and possessing trade secrets without approval. The government says they were trying to strike a deal with a competitor in China before the FBI intervened.

Du was accused of copying GM hybrid documents, especially in 2005 when she got a severance offer from the automaker. Defense attorney Frank Eaman says the couple had just a “small slice” of the technology.

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The company blamed the cost of launching important new products from Jeep and Ram, and said the investment in those new products will mean stronger profits going forward.

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said they were bracing themselves for a quarter that was going to be less than spectacular.

“It isn’t until you see the numbers as we presented them today, that you realize they really were not spectacular,” he said. “They were expected because we knew the production launches would cause a substantial drop in shipments for the quarter. We were hoping, to be honest that we’d be able to do somewhat better than this.”

While Chrysler sales were up 7 percent in the quarter, that reflects sales from dealers to customers. The company’s actual deliveries to dealerships were down in the quarter, leading to a six percent reduction in revenue to 16.4 billion dollars.

For now, analysts are seeing this as mostly a “bump in the road.”

“This is not necessarily something to worry about at this point,” said Jeff Schuster with LMC Automotive.

Schuster says you need to spend money to make money.

“You have to launch new vehicles,” he said. “You have to bring out new product, and that costs money.”

Chrysler shipped 574 thousand vehicles in the first quarter, down from 607 thousand a year ago. The company says most of that reduction came from the elimination of the Jeep Liberty. The Liberty’s replacement, the Jeep Cherokee, will start shipping next month.

Schuster says there is a lot riding on the Cherokee.

“The Cherokee launch is critical, I think to the group, and it’s further transformation.”

Stronger earnings from the new products, Chrysler says, will begin to be felt in the second half of the year. Which is why Chrysler is sticking with its guidance of a $3.8 billion profit for the full year.

“We remain focused on achieving the 3.8 billion number that we set for ourselves as a profit objective, and making the number,” said CEO Sergio Marchionne. “There’s not a guy in this house that feels it’s going to be a walk in the park.”

Marchionne says he sent an email to workers telling them to put the rough quarter behind them.

“Just close your eyes, hold your nose and move on from here.”

Connect with Jeff Gilbert
Email: jdgilbert@cbs.com
Facebook: facebook.com/carchronicles
Twitter: @jefferygilbert

The problem was discovered in cars arriving at a port in Vancouver, Washington. Subaru traced the problem to improperly manufactured backing on the mats. Dealers will replace all four floor mats free of charge. Subaru will begin notifying owners before the end of April.

DETROIT (AP) - General Motors Co. wants a long prison sentence next week for a former employee and her husband who were convicted of stealing hybrid vehicle technology for potential use by competitors in China.

Trade secrets were found on at least seven computers owned by ex-GM engineer Shanshan Du and Yu Qin, according to prosecutors. The government doesn’t believe the information made it to China, although Qin had claimed to have made contact with GM competitors overseas.

“There is a clear and well-recognized need for the United States government, including its courts, to take aggressive steps to deter others from stealing the type of vital technology at issue in this matter,” said John Calabrese, GM vice president for global vehicle engineering.

Du and Qin face eight to 10 years in prison under sentencing guidelines, and Calabrese asked U.S. District Judge Marianne Battani in a letter this week to “impose the maximum allowable sentence.” But Battani has flexibility when the suburban Detroit couple returns to court Tuesday.

Du, 54, was convicted Nov. 30 of conspiracy and possessing trade secrets without approval. Her 52-year-old husband was found guilty of the same crimes, along with fraud and obstruction of justice.

The government accused Du of seeking a transfer within GM to get access to hybrid technology and said she began copying documents by the end of 2003. She copied thousands of documents in 2005, five days after getting a severance offer from the automaker, according to the indictment.

By that summer, Qin was telling people he had a deal to provide hybrid technology to a GM competitor in China and had set up his own company, Millennium Technology International, the government said.

Prosecutors Cathleen Corken and Michael Martin are recommending a prison sentence within the guidelines.

Du’s sentencing memo hasn’t been filed yet. But Qin’s attorney, Frank Eamen, is seeking probation with home confinement, saying GM never suffered an actual loss.

“The GM technology possessed by the defendants was never sold or offered for sale to any other entity. Therefore, no other entity ever made use of the technology to the detriment of GM,” Eaman said in a court filing.

MORE: Two Convicted In Conspiracy To Steal GM Trade Secrets

Troy Couple Accused Of Stealing GM Secrets

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That means the 2014 Corvette Stingray will cost about $1400 more than the current model.

“This will be and continue to be the best value and performance in the industry,” said GM North America President Mark Reuss, at a breakfast last week, prior to the pricing announcement. “We won’t walk away from that for Corvette.”

The Corvette Stingray attracted large crowds at January’s North American International Auto Show, where it made its world debut. It was also a big attraction at other auto shows, including New York, where we saw the North American debut of the convertible version.

The Corvette Stingray Convertible will start at $56,995.

Dealers say customers already are putting down deposits.

“Every day you have someone coming in wanting to know about the new Corvette,” says Bill Perkins, owner of two Chevrolet dealerships in the Detroit suburbs. “You have a lot of enthusiasts out there. You have a lot of people that have purchased Corvettes before. A lot of people come in wanting to know the price, how soon they can get one.”

A GM press release detailed standard features on the all-new 2014 Corvette Stingray:

■Seating with lightweight magnesium frames for exceptional support, and eight-way power adjustment
■Five-position Drive Mode Selector that tailors up to 12 vehicle attributes
■New seven-speed manual transmission with Active Rev Matching
■6.2L LT1 V-8 engine with direct injection, Active Fuel Management, continuously variable valve timing and an advanced combustion system
■Carbon fiber hood on all models, and a carbon fiber removable roof panel on coupes
■Aluminum frame that is 99 pounds lighter (45 kg) and 57-percent stiffer than the previous model’s structure
■Advanced, high-intensity discharge (HID) and light-emitting diode (LED) lighting
■Dual, eight-inch configurable driver/infotainment screens, with next-generation Chevrolet MyLink infotainment system and rear vision camera
■Bose nine-speaker audio system with SiriusXM Satellite radio, Bluetooth connectivity, USB and SD card and auxiliary input jack
■Keyless access with push-button start
■Power tilt/telescope steering wheel
■An all-new, fully electronic top on the convertible that can be lowered remotely using the key fob

As shown at the North American International Auto Show, the Stingray coupe fitted with the major available options would be $73,360, including:

■3LT interior package, with leather-wrapped interior ($8,005)
■Z51 Performance Package ($2,800)
■Competition sports seats ($2,495)
■Exposed-carbon-fiber roof panel ($1,995)
■Magnetic Ride Control with Performance Traction Management ($1,795)
■Dual-mode exhaust system ($1,195)
■Carbon fiber interior trim ($995)
■Sueded, microfiber-wrapped upper interior trim ($995)
■Red-painted calipers ($595)
■Black-painted wheels ($495)

A $1,400 increase is “not that much of a change when you look at everything that’s happened to the car,” said John Fitzpatrick, marketing manager for Chevrolet performance cars.

The car performs similar to a Porsche 911, yet a comparably equipped 911 would cost $100,000, Fitzpatrick said.

When pricing the Corvette, GM knew it had to avoid giving sticker shock to younger buyers, who should like all the new features. The average Corvette buyer is a male around 50 years old, Fitzpatrick said.

“We want to retain that loyal Corvette customer. We also realize that we do have to attract a younger buyer and do things that make the car aspirational to them.”

Some analysts have said that the Corvette is a “baby boomer’s” car. But GM North America President Mark Reuss, who’s part of that generation, feels the new styling can change perceptions.

“We’re going to appeal for a whole new demographic of buyer for this,” he said. “No longer is it guys like me that can afford one and saved up their whole life for one. A younger demographic will get back into Chevrolet as an aspirational sports car.”

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Bob Light, a spokesman for Complete Automation, said the employee was killed when a large electrical panel fell while it was being moved.

Light said the company makes paint systems for Nissan and the employee, who was not identified, lived in Michigan. He said the company’s thoughts and prayers were with the employee’s wife and children.

Nissan said in a statement that they are cooperating with authorities as they investigate the accident.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

“We’re finding that these features actually resonate quite strongly with customers,” said Mike VanNiewkuyk, executive director of global automotive at J.D. Power and Associates. “There’s a high degree of interest in managing our fuel spend.”

These findings, as part of J.D. Power’s annual Emerging Technologies Study, also show that buyers are interested in systems that allow them to connect their smart phones with cars.

But most of those devices finish behind systems that save fuel.

And, Van Niewkuyk says it’s not as much about saving the world as it is about saving money.

“The dealers and the auto manufacturers really need to do some work here to show consumers that if you make investments in certain types of features that will save you at the gas pump that over a certain period of time you’ll recoup your investment.”

The J.D. Power study shows that customers will easily pay for a feature that saves them money in the long term, and will pay for features—like connectivity—that allow them to take their lives into their cars.

They are less likely to pay for technologies that less proven, like voice activation.

And when it comes to safety devices. Van Niewkuyk says people want them, but don’t want to pay for them.

“Consumers expect safety features to be in the vehicle. “

Car buyers are also thinking more about vehicles that drive themselves. Just like last year, about 20 percent of buyers say they’d consider paying $5000 extra for a self-driving car. But, now they are less likely to think of those vehicles as fantasy cars and trucks, and are thinking more about technologies that take control off vehicle briefly to prevent accidents.

“They are becoming more educated,” said VanNiewkuyk. “Now they are starting to ask the questions, does it work, how does it work, can I trust it.”

Connect with Jeff Gilbert
Email: jdgilbert@cbs.com
Facebook: facebook.com/carchronicles
Twitter: @jefferygilbert

DETROIT (AP) - The government is asking automakers to put stronger limits on drivers’ interaction with in-car touch screens in an effort to curb distracted driving.

U.S. traffic safety regulators unveiled guidelines Tuesday that would restrict the amount of time it takes to perform both simple and complex functions on a car’s entertainment and navigation systems.

Regulators also want to ban manual text entry and display of websites, social media, books and other text distractions while the car is moving.

“Distracted driving is unsafe, irresponsible. It can have devastating consequences,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who announced the guidelines along with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Administrator David Strickland.

LaHood and Strickland told reporters on a conference call that NHTSA has determined that over 3,000 people were killed in crashes that involved distracted driving in 2011 and more than 387,000 were hurt.

The guidelines are voluntary for automakers and will be phased in over three years.

Strickland said NHTSA has had success with voluntary guidelines and would consider giving automakers incentives to comply.

But Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a frequent NHTSA and auto industry critic, said the guidelines will do little to halt distracted driving.

“We’ve tried voluntary. Voluntary doesn’t work,” he said.

NHTSA based the new guidelines on a study it conducted on distracted driving. The results showed that tasks requiring drivers to look at touch screens or hand-held devices increase the risk of getting into a crash by three times. Texting, web browsing and dialing a phone were the tasks that kept drivers’ eyes off the road the longest.

However, the study did not find an increased risk of a crash from just talking on a cellphone.

The new guidelines limit simple tasks to two seconds. They also restrict the time allowed for complex tasks to 12 seconds, but do not limit the number of times a driver can touch a screen. The decision on whether a screen would freeze or shut down after 12 seconds would be left to automakers based on their own research, NHTSA said.

The auto industry’s current guidelines, which are a decade old, allow drivers to read text and perform other more complex tasks while cars are moving at less than 5 mph, Strickland said. Systems now are designed so multiple-step tasks take 10 or fewer screen touches for a total of 20 seconds with a driver’s eyes off the road. But the devices won’t turn off or stop a driver from doing something that takes longer than 20 seconds.

The new guidelines “will help us put an end to the dangerous practice of distracted driving by limiting the amount of time drivers take their eyes off the road,” Strickland said.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a group representing 12 large car makers, is worried that drivers will simply turn their eyes to something else: their mobile devices.

Gloria Bergquist, spokeswoman for the alliance, said a mobile device, with its smaller buttons and screens, “wasn’t designed for use while driving a vehicle.” She said guidelines for mobile devices should be proposed at the same time as those for in-car equipment, which is designed to be used while driving.

NHTSA said it will address mobile devices and voice-activation technology in the next phases of guidelines. But it encouraged mobile device makers to adopt recommendations from Tuesday’s guidelines “that they believe are feasible and appropriate for their devices.”

The guidelines cover any manufacturer-installed device that a driver can see or reach, but they do not affect video screens located behind the front seats.

Navigation maps that show movement as cars travel would still be allowed, as would the input of preset destinations, Strickland said. But a car would likely have to be stopped for a driver to manually type in an address.

NHTSA said more research is needed to decide if the guidelines should cover heavy trucks and buses.

© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Gov. Rick Snyder called the move “a vote of confidence in the future of Detroit and our state … Michigan is the comeback state and the hundreds of new jobs resulting from ADP’s expansion will keep us moving in the right direction.”

ADP Dealer Services provides integrated computing services to truck, auto, motorcycle, marine, recreational vehicle and heavy equipment dealers worldwide and is represented in nearly 100 countries. ADP’s new center, to be built in the Renaissance Center, will provide advanced marketing insights and client services for its clients in the automotive industry.

The company plans to invest more than $3 million and add 150 jobs in digital marketing technology and services, including data sciences, digital advertising and digital marketing account services.

As a result of the expansion, the Michigan Strategic Fund has awarded ADP a $1.5 million Michigan Business Development performance-based grant. Michigan was chosen after a nationwide site selection process. The city of Detroit plans to offer support in the form of personal property tax abatement.

“Innovation comes from great talent with a passion for their work collaborating intimately with clients. We located our Innovation Center in Detroit because these elements come together in a powerful brew to help us extend our technology leadership and deepen client relationships,” said ADP digital marketing senior vice president John Holt.

ADP’s Digital Marketing Innovation Center will open in May. Hiring has started and applicants are encouraged to visit the Careers and Culture section of Cobalt.com — www.cobalt.com/careers-culture/ — to learn about the company and job opportunities.

The ADP project leads a list of MSF actions that in total will mean more than $7 million in private investment and 230 new, direct jobs in Michigan. The MSF also announced approval of a $200,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance-based incentive for Grand Rapids Chair Co. to expand in Byron Township.

Also approved were nearly $5.8 million in Community Development Block Grants for improvements in 12 communities around Michigan.

The details:

* The City of Albion has been awarded $342,000 in CDBG funds for the Friends of the Bohm Theatre project in downtown Albion. The project includes the full interior, historic renovation of the 1929 Bohm Theatre and will act as a catalyst in the revitalization of downtown Albion. The project has received matching funds of $1.3 million including bank financing from Comerica Bank, a grant from the Jeffris Family Foundation and a grant from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.

* The City of Houghton has received a $110,000 CDBG grant for the acquisition and renovation of a vacant, blighted building within the downtown district that will house Roy’s Pasties and Bakery. The project will include extensive rehabilitation of the building and create eight full time positions over the next two years. The company has agreed that at least five of the positions will be held by low and moderate income individuals.

* The City of Manistee has been awarded a $330,000 in CDBG funds for the acquisition of a signature building within its downtown core. The property will be acquired by Blue Fish Kitchen, LLC for the purpose of opening a full service farm-to-table restaurant. The project will include extensive rehabilitation of the building and create 22 full time positions over the next two years. The company has agreed that at least 12 of the positions will be held by low and moderate income individuals.

* The MSF also approved $4,472,531 in Downtown Infrastructure Grant (DIG) program funds to nine Michigan communities for public infrastructure improvements. Details of the grants will be announced on Friday, April 26.

Signed into law by Snyder in December of 2011, the Michigan Business Development Program provides grants, loans and other economic assistance to qualified businesses that make investments or create jobs in Michigan, with preference given to businesses that need additional assistance for deal-closing and for second stage gap financing.

The MSF will consider a number of factors in making these awards, including: out-of-state competition, private investment in the project, business diversification opportunities, near-term job creation, wage and benefit levels of the new jobs, and net-positive return to the state. Business retention and retail projects are not eligible for consideration of these incentives.

“We are off to a very good start to the year,” said Ford Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks.

Ford had a record performance in North America, with pre-tax earnings of 2.4 billion dollars.

“We had very good growth in the business, both in terms of volume and revenue for the quarter, up about ten per cent on a year over year basis,” said Shanks.

Ford’s operating margin in North America hitting 11 percent in the first quarter. Shanks says the company kept a line on expenses, with new products doing well in the marketplace.

“The new products that we’ve introduced over the last several months doing extremely well and driving these results,” he said. “C-Max, Fusion, Escape. But, Explorer, way way up, F-Series doing well.”

Ford’s first quarter sales in the U.S. were up by more than ten percent.

“They saw the F-series increase 17 percent year-over-year,” said Alec Gutierrez, who’s a senior analyst with Kelly Blue Book. “Both the Fusion and Escape saw a sales increase of more than 20 percent.”

These are all products that are being sold with fairly low incentives. Edmunds.com estimates that Ford’s incentive spending is down 2.2 percent from last year.

Ford, meanwhile, is struggling to turn around its European operations. They lost $462 million in the first quarter. The company still estimates a $2 billion loss in Europe for the full year.

But, Shanks says they have begun the turnaround that will get Europe back to break even by mid-decade.

“Tremendous performance by the team in Europe in getting us off to a very good start in terms of our transformation plan. We’ve launched 7 of the 15 products that we announced in Amsterdam about a year or so ago.”

Ford’s pre-tax profit of $2.1 billion was less than some analysts were expecting. The company’s stock, in early trading, remained fairly even.

Ford maintained its guidance for the rest of the year, with North America remaining the main profit generator.

Connect with Jeff Gilbert
Email: jdgilbert@cbs.com
Facebook: facebook.com/carchronicles
Twitter: @jefferygilbert

With Fisker’s growing financial problems, it was widely expected that the company wouldn’t be able to make Monday’s scheduled payment. The funds seized came from an account set up as collateral, when Fisker was granted the loan.

This comes amid increasing speculation that a Fisker bankruptcy filing could be imminent.

“The electric vehicle market is very limited, less than one percent of the market, well less than one percent,” says auto analyst Rebecca Lindland, now a consultant with Rebel 3 Media. “The market for vehicles that are over 100 thousand dollars–and Fiskers are 103 thousand dollars–is also very limited.”

So, Lindland says high expenses and low volumes have caught up to create problems for Fisker.

“It can be a recipe for disaster, and–unfortunately–that’s what Fisker has run into.”

Fisker was launched amid much fanfare at the 2008 North American International Auto Show. Founder Henrik Fisker was a well known car designer, with a dream of making sporty, luxury cars, with extended range electric drive systems. When his original vehicle, the Fisker Karma, hit the market, it was scooped up by many Hollywood celebrities.

However, costs ran higher than expected, and a plan to build a second electric vehicle at a former Chrysler plant in Delaware never got off the ground. Fisker has gone through several CEO’s, and founder Henrik Fisker recently left the company.

The federal loan money received by Fisker was part of a government program to loan car companies money to help them build more fuel efficient products. Fisker executives have been called to Washington for a Thursday hearing, where they will be grilled on how they used that loan money.

“Research and development certainly needs to happen in these circumstances,” said Lindland. “But, I think, also, when we look at the demands we are putting on the consumer tax dollar, there may be better uses of those funds.”

Recent attempts by Fisker to raise new funds have not been successful. The company hasn’t built a car since last summer, and recently laid off most of its work force.

To Lindland, this harkens back memories of another company started by a high profile auto executive back in the 1980′s that made conventionally powered luxury sports cars. The DeLorean became one of the industry’s best known failures.

“It’s the same kind of approach. It’s the same kind of investment that’s needed. And, unfortunately, I fear it’s going to be the same type of outcome.”

“Everybody is running flat-out to make cars, and particularly pickup trucks,” says Bill Visnic, an analyst with Edmunds.com.

Visnic says not only are industry sales up in the first quarter, but car companies are selling a lot more trucks—pickups and SUV’s—which tend to have higher profit margins.

“The market has rebounded in a remarkable way for pickups, and really all three of the car companies can’t make enough pickups,” said Visnic.

Ford will be the first of the “Detroit three” to report, on Wednesday. It earned $1.4 billion, or 35 cents a share in the first quarter of 2013. The analyst consensus for this year is 38 cents a share, which would mean profits of over $2 billion.

Chrysler and GM report their earnings next week. Chrysler on Monday, GM on Thursday.

While Chrysler’s recovery is behind the other two companies, it is now back to profitability, and is expected to improve on the $473 million it earned in the first three months of 2012.

General Motors earned a $1 billion profit in the first quarter last year. Those earnings were heavily dragged down by problems in Europe.

For this year’s earnings, analysts have some concern about a slowdown in GM production here in North America, as it gears up for a number of new products.

All three companies are dealing with heavy losses in Europe, as well as the costs of adding new models to their European portfolios as they attempt to reach break-even status by mid decade.

Asia remains a bright point, but is slowing.

The one area of the world that is driving the profitability, North America. Visnic points out that this is a part of the world where the companies were awash in red ink just a few years ago.

“The North American business lagged the other regions of the world. Now, the engine, really for the recovery for all three of the Detroit carmakers has been North America, and particularly the United States.”

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The recent flak involves the ”run-flat tires”.

A recent survey says, if consumers had a choice, they would most likely choose not to have those run-flat tires.

WWJ Newsradio 950′s Gary Lundy reports that drivers say they don’t always give a smooth ride, the tires wear unevenly, and their replacement costs are generally higher than a conventional tire.

They also tend to wear out earlier than a regular tire.  They’re okay if you pick up a nail in the tread, but if there’s a sidewall puncture, you’re out of luck, and will probably have to get the tire replaced. Many car owners say they would rather have a standard size spare tire.

And if you’re in the market for either a new or used car, you might want to find out first if the run-flat tires are on the car you’re interested in.

Find out more information, HERE.

The nearly five-million dollar project includes resurfacing of the eight-lane road. The project will last until November.

 The Michigan Department of Transportation plans to hold two meetings on Monday, for residents and business owners to get details of the project.

The meetings take place from 3-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at the Royal Oak Public Library on East 11 Mile Road.

LMC Automotive now expects companies to sell 15.4 million cars and trucks in the United States this year. This is the second time the forecasting firm has increased its forecast by 100,000 sales.

The latest increase comes as car buyers have faced a number of challenges, ranging from a snowy winter, to budget issues in Washington.

“All of that has really not stopped the consumer from purchasing vehicles,” says LMC analyst Jeff Schuster. “That’s a major driver of what we’re seeing.”

There are a number of positive underlying trends, including higher prices for used vehicles, and more vehicles coming off of leases.

“The strong used-vehicle prices we’re seeing are supporting new-vehicle demand and are reflective of the general pricing discipline being exhibited by new-vehicle manufacturers,” said John Humphrey, senior vice president of the global automotive practice at J.D. Power and Associates.

“Industry sales are also benefiting from an increase in the number of maturing vehicle leases, a trend that will continue throughout 2013.”

J.D. Power forecasts that we’ll see a 35 percent increase in the number of vehicles that will come off of lease this year. Most of those 1.7 million cars and trucks will need to be replaced.

April sales are expected to remain strong. LMC estimates that sales will be up 7 percent over last year.

Analyst Jeff Schuster said LMC has kept its forecast conservative. He says they could raise it to 15.5 million sales if current trends continue.

“We’re now hitting, I think, some momentum, as we’re now looking at the economy starting to come along, the housing market starting to rebound.”

“I’m pleased to announce one of our worst kept secrets,” said company President Akio Toyoda. “Starting in 2015, we’ll build the popular Lexus ES 350 sedan in the United States on a new dedicated assembly line at the plant in Georgetown, Kentucky.”

This will be the first Lexus built in the United States. Toyota had kept most of its Lexus production close to home, with nearly all of the luxury vehicles made in Japan. The one exception was the Canadian built RX-SUV.

Toyoda says this decision was made by Toyota’s new North American management team.

Toyota North America CEO Jim Lentz says this will be a $360 million investment.

“We’ll add 750 new American jobs,” he said.

That’s why the state of Kentucky chipped in $146.5 million in state incentives.

“Quite honestly, as governor, I feel like the state has just won the Kentucky Derby,” said Kentucky Governor Steven Beshear, at a plant celebration.

More foreign carmakers are producing vehicles in the United States. It offers a number of advantages, especially with a fast-changing exchange rate.

“Producing the Lexus ES in Kentucky makes sense for Toyota,” said Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book. “While the tax incentives over the next ten years certainly didn’t hurt, the move will allow Toyota to further reduce the risk of a strong yen increasing production while ultimately reducing profits for those vehicles produced in Japan and sold in the US. Though the yen has declined in recent months, it remains historically strong, creating strong incentive for Japanese automakers to shift more and more production to the US.”

For Akio Toyoda, it’s about more than just the exchange rate. This also comes as Lexus, which had been the perennial U.S. luxury leader, is finishing behind BMW and Mercedes, and facing new challenges from Cadillac and Audi.

“It is fitting that the first country to build the ES outside of Japan is the United States,” said Toyoda. “This is home for Lexus. It’s where the brand was founded, and it is still the biggest market for the luxury brand.”

Kelly Blue Book’s Gutierrez says this should give the Lexus brand a boost.

“The move helps to bolster Toyota’s already strong image in the U.S. by adding 750 jobs at a time when sorely needed,” he said. “Shifting production to Kentucky signals that Toyota is willing to break tradition to gain a stronger foothold in the US and could hint that additional Lexus nameplates could be produced in the US later down the road.”

Toyota sales have bounced back this year, after a couple of difficult years marked by recalls and production disruptions, caused by natural disasters. All of that has prompted the company to increase its manufacturing presence in the United States.

They are in the midst of a two billion dollar expansion, says Toyota North America President Jim Lentz, adding a total of 4200 jobs.

“Today, Toyota operates 14 plants across North America to produce 7 out of every 10 vehicles that we sell here.”

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Premiums would drop at least $125 a year per vehicle in the first year under the plan unveiled by the Republican governor and GOP lawmakers in Lansing.

Michigan has some of the highest auto insurance rates in the U.S. It’s the only state where motorists pay $175 per car per year to a fund covering catastrophic injuries for life, and the assessment rises to $186 this summer.

Snyder proposed capping personal injury protection at a mandatory $1 million, which he said is still 20 times higher than in every other state. All current accident victims covered by the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Associated would continue to get unlimited lifetime benefits, while care for new seriously injured motorists would stop at $1 million.

Those whose care is above $1 million could be covered by Medicaid or their own health insurance, or they could sue, Snyder said. He argued that 99.5 percent of accident victims fall below $1 million in medical expenses.

“Michigan’s too expensive for auto insurance,” said Snyder, who is hoping a $250 yearly savings for the average two-car household will entice legislators and the public into his corner.

Drivers also would be charged $25 a year to help fund Medicaid because a 1 percent tax on health insurance claims – paid by insurers or HMOs – is not generating as much as anticipated.

The insurance lobby and other critics say Michigan’s unique requirement for unlimited medical coverage is too expensive and costs are skyrocketing as no one anticipated they would when the state no-fault law was approved 40 years ago. Hospitals, patient advocates and others say it should stay intact, and noted that the bill would not guarantee lower rates after year one.

“Without the protections in the current no-fault law, families will be left to handle the expenses for a lifetime of treatment for traumatic brain injuries and paralysis, the costs of which will far exceed the $1 million cap in benefits being proposed,” said House Minority Leader Tim Greimel, D-Auburn Hills.

Snyder also called for the creation of an insurance fraud-prevention fund and for no longer letting hospitals and health providers charge insurance companies more for auto-related injuries to make up for lower payments from Medicare, Medicaid and private plans. Details on how that would work were not released, and the bill is expected to be introduced in the House as early as next week.

While insurance agents were on hand in the governor’s Capitol office to throw their support behind his plan, representatives from the insurance companies notably were not in attendance. They want a specific fee schedule set in law so medical providers cannot charge them significantly more than other types of insurance payers.

Recent attempts to change Michigan’s auto insurance law have stalled in the Republican-controlled Legislature. Snyder made the issue a priority in his January State of the State address, giving hope to proponents of changing the system.

“Michigan, when it comes to benefits, we are No. 1 in the country. If this bill passes, we will drop all the way to No. 1. Going from unlimited to a $1 million in coverage is still 20 times higher than any other states in this country,” said House Insurance Chairman Pete Lund, a Republican from Macomb County’s Shelby Township.

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“Governments can help drive the best possible results by remaining technology neutral,” he said. “This will help bring about an optimal allocation of capital, as we evaluate every technological solution, in terms of the effectiveness of dollars spent.”

In a speech to the SAE World Congress, the Chrysler CEO said it makes more sense to look at all technologies, particularly improvements in current gasoline engines, along with electric vehicles.

“My fear, which I’ve uttered more than once is that regulators are rushing precipitously into embracing EV’s as the only technological solution.”

Marchionne says electric vehicles take up less than one half of one percent of all car sales, and will likely remain a niche product for some time. He says Chrysler can’t afford to sell too many EV’s.

“For every 500 Electric we produce, even after all subsidies, we will lose around ten thousand bucks a car. And doing that on a large scale would be masochism at its extreme.”

Other technological issues, Marchionne says include limits on range, and the time it takes to recharge.

“And, to be honest, there is still a great deal of controversy as to the actual contribution that electric vehicles make in terms of reducing noxious emissions, when you factor in the materials used in the production and the source of power to charge the batteries.”

The Chrysler CEO gave his thoughts at the SAE’s closing banquet. He also talked about the need of the auto industry to reinvent itself for the future. That includes a need to evolve business models as emerging markets grow in importance.

On April 29th, Chrysler will reveal its first quarter earnings.

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Retired GM Vice Chair Bob Lutz, who says he gets better than 200 miles per gallon with his Volt, says the vehicle was never meant to be mass market, but was often portrayed that way.

“There was exaggerated hype, and exaggerated expectations,” said Lutz, in a morning keynote address at the SAE World Congress. “The way the media made it sound is that everybody’s next vehicle was going to be electric.”

Lutz, who did not stop to talk to reporters after his speech, said nothing about GM’s aggressive public sales projections for the Volt, which the company had to back off on. GM now says it will build the Volt to market demand.

Electric Vehicles will become practical, Lutz says, when they have ranges of 400 miles, recharge in less than an hour, and cost the same as gasoline vehicles.

“I personally believe in the future of electric vehicles, because they are very efficient,” he said. “They’ve got far fewer moving parts.”
Lutz is far less bullish on diesel powered vehicles, at least in the U.S. market. He says American clean air rules make the technology cost more here than it does in Europe, where diesels make up more than half of passenger car sales. European government policy also makes diesel fuel far cheaper than gasoline.

“The American public by and large has figured it out,” he said. “Diesels from a cost of ownership point—in the United States, with present technology and present emissions—diesels do not make economic sense.”

These comments come just hours after Lutz former employer, General Motors, announced that its diesel Chevrolet Cruze will get the best fuel economy of any non-hybrid, 46 miles per gallon. GM says the diesel Cruze will have a starting price of $25,695.

BMW, Volkswagen, Audi and Mercedes all sell diesel powered passenger cars in the United States. Lutz admits they have a loyal following.

“That gives diesel a certain cache in the United States as the intelligent way to save fuel. But, it’s mostly psychological.”

Lutz returned to many of his familiar themes, saying that the best way to get Americans to buy fuel-efficient vehicles is to raise the gasoline tax….and saying that skeptics should be included in the debate over global warming.

But, Lutz admitted that neither of those ideas had much traction, given the current political climate.

He told the engineers in the audience that they were needed to solve a number of future problems, including meeting new fuel economy rules. Lutz joked that while he’s not an engineer, he’s never had a problem telling engineers what to do. His advice today, forget about also trying to get a business degree.

“I would say concentrate on being a hard-core, hands on, highly skilled, highly successful engineer.”

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