DETROIT - Ford Motor Co.’s market momentum got a lift Monday by winning both the 2010 North American Car and Truck of the Year awards.

Ford’s Fusion Hybrid midsize sedan took top car honors and its versatile Transit Connect compact van snagged truck of the year at the Detroit auto show.

It was only the third time in 17 years that an automaker has won both awards, selected by 49 auto journalists and given annually since 1994. Finalists for the car award included the Buick LaCrosse and Volkswagen Golf GTI and TDI diesel. The Chevrolet Equinox, Ford Transit Connect and Subaru Outback were finalists for the truck award.

“It’s such a huge motivator for our team,” Mark Fields, Ford’s president of the Americas, told reporters after the announcements on the first day of media previews for the show. “It’s a reaffirmation of all the hard work over the past couple of years.”

The awards, given annually by journalists who test cars throughout the year, are often used by automakers in advertising. Vehicles are judged on innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value.

Ford, the only U.S.-based automaker to avoid bankruptcy protection, has fared better than its two Detroit rivals, with overall sales down 15 percent last year compared with a 36 percent drop for Chrysler and a 30 percent decline for GM.

Ford’s final month of 2009 was strong, with a 33 percent increase in sales thanks to strong demand for midsize cars. Last year, it gained U.S. market share for the first time since 1995, helped by critical raves for its fuel-efficient cars, like the midsize Fusion. Its compact Focus and popular Escape crossover also boosted sales.

“We still have a long way to go … getting the business back to healthy profitability,” Fields said. “We have to channel that good feeling into our efforts for 2010.”

To be considered for the car and truck of the year honors, vehicles must be new or substantially changed from the previous model.

Last year’s winners were the Hyundai Genesis luxury sedan and the Ford F-150 pickup. The Transit Connect, a small, European van, is the sixth Ford truck to win the award. Fields said the automaker thinks of it as a “white space vehicle” — one unlike anything else on the road.

“When you see this on the road, your first reaction is, ‘What is that?’” he said. “The second reaction for a lot of customers, particularly small fleets and small business owners is, ‘Hey, I want to get into that and check it out.’”

Source (article): MSNBC

Source (picture): NEWCARSCOOP

DETROIT — General Motors Corp., staying afloat with $13.4 billion in federal rescue loans, announced Tuesday that it is cutting its worldwide salaried work force by 10,000, or 14 percent, this year and temporarily reducing the pay for a majority of its U.S. white-collar work force.

In the U.S., GM’s salaried work force of 29,500 will be cut about 3,400, or 12 percent, by May 1. The cuts will leave GM with 63,000 white-collar workers worldwide.

The company also said executive employees in the U.S. will have their base pay cut 10 percent and many other salaried employees will see pay reductions ranging from 3 percent to 7 percent. The U.S. pay reductions will also go into effect May 1 and will be in effect through the end of the year.

The Detroit automaker is racing to put together a long-term viability plan to present to the government Feb. 17. It has said it needs to cut its U.S. salaried and hourly work force by as much as 31,500 people through 2012.

GM’s shares slipped 13 cents, or 4.59 percent, to $2.70 Tuesday.

SOURCE: clarionledger.com

The Detroit auto show has dodged a bullet. For now.

Executives from BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen — German automakers that take up large swaths of the Cobo Center floor at the event — considered shifting the companies’ emphasis to the Los Angeles show in a meeting in Detroit on Jan. 11, just as the news media preview for the North American International Auto Show began.

They decided to keep Detroit as their main venue for at least the next year, though they expressed dissatisfaction with the costs, size and quality of Cobo Center, which is smaller, older and dumpier than the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

“We were delighted by the interest shown in BMW and the German auto industry collectively at media days” during the NAIAS, said Tom Kowaleski, BMW North America vice president for communications.

The German automakers are among the Detroit show’s big spenders. In addition to building elaborate displays in Cobo Center, they bring large numbers of executives and journalists to the city for several days. They and other automakers fill local hotels and stage events at venues ranging from the new Westin Book Cadillac hotel to the venerable Detroit Institute of Arts.

In addition, building displays for the show employs hundreds of construction workers for weeks before the show. A single two-level stand of the type many automakers have can require 40 skilled workers — often on two shifts — for six or seven weeks, said Larry Vallee, president of George P. Johnson, an Auburn Hills company that designs and builds displays.

“These events are critical for the city and for our business,” said John Forte, president of Forte Belanger, a Troy catering company that provided white-truffle popcorn, local beers and high-end snacks for a movie premiere Audi held at the Music Hall Center in Detroit. Forte Belanger’s auto show business was down about 60% from 2008, and most of its work this year was with foreign automakers as GM, Ford and Chrysler scaled back, Forte said. Forte Belanger also catered an event Toyota held at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit.

“The show is a great benefit to Detroit,” cochairman Joe Serra said. “The economic impact is huge, and Detroit is the focal point of news around the world in a positive way.”

While BMW, Daimler and VW’s decision is good news for Detroit for now, all automakers are rethinking their auto show strategies in the light of financial pressure and the emergence of new markets.

The rising importance of sales in growing markets like India, Russia and Brazil means the auto companies may increase their presence in auto shows in those countries, giving new competition for the existing A-level shows in places like Detroit; Geneva, Switzerland; Frankfurt, Germany; Paris; Shanghai, China, and Beijing.

Tokyo’s auto show was a must-see for years, but it has declined as foreign automakers gave up on selling many vehicles in Japan and focused their Asian efforts on China’s booming market. Japanese reports say this year’s Tokyo auto show may be canceled. Detroit’s three automakers have decided to drop out of the Tokyo show to cut costs.

In addition, all automakers could seriously cut back on auto show expenses because of the worldwide recession.

Automakers generally agree that the big shows remain their most cost-effective tool for marketing and unveiling vehicles, however.

While automakers hope to sell vehicles to customers at all shows, major international events like the NAIAS are driven by the number of journalists who attend and the amount of news media coverage automakers’ receive. Journalists, in turn, decide which shows to attend based on where automakers will show new vehicles and make news.

The Detroit and Frankfurt auto shows dominate news reporting in comparisons of international auto shows. News media reports from the Detroit auto show traditionally have outstripped Los Angeles by a wide margin.

This month’s Detroit show generated more than twice the news media coverage of November’s L.A. show, according to an independent analysis.

The German automakers meet to assess their plans at each of the major shows. The next meeting will take place at the Geneva auto show in March.

In addition to lower costs and a more attractive venue, the Los Angeles auto show benefits from the city’s climate, which offers more options for event-planning than January in Detroit.

The organizers of the Detroit auto show are working to reduce costs. “There will be changes next year,” to make it more affordable, executive director Rod Alberts said without specifying them.

The organizers also hope long-delayed improvements to Cobo Center will strengthen their competitive position versus other auto shows.

The initial suggestion to make L.A. the German’s primary North American auto show came several years ago from former Chrysler Chief Operating Officer Wolfgang Bernhard, sources familiar with the matter said. Bernhard was then a top executive at the Volkswagen Group. He has since left VW. He worked with Cerberus during its acquisition of Chrysler and recently became an adviser to Canadian supplier Magna.

The German automakers have an arrangement that they will agree on which show they concentrate on in each region, sources said. Once they choose a show, it takes a unanimous decision by BMW, Daimler and VW to make a change.

SOURCE: FREEP.COM