Inside the Industry

Mopar launches new line of greasable U-joints for Jeep vehicles

(March 10, 2013) AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Mopar has announced the launch of a new line of Greasable U-Joints for Jeep vehicles and Ram trucks. The competitively priced Mopar Greasable U-Joints are the most recent addition to a long line of Authentic Mopar Parts introduced by Chrysler Group's service, parts and customer-care brand.

Nissan, Mitsubishi show jointly developed minicar for Japanese market

(March 10, 2013) Nissan and Mitsubishi have announced the model names and displayed the exterior designs of their jointly-developed new minicars for the Japanese market. Sales of the new minicars will begin in June under the Nissan DAYZ and DAYZ Highway STAR, and the Mitsubishi eK Wagon and eK Custom, model names.

GM Canada to Invest $250 million in assembly plant

(March 10, 2013) TORONTO — General Motors will invest $250 million in the CAMI Assembly Plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, to install flexible body shop equipment and tooling for future vehicle production. “Conversion of the CAMI Assembly Plant to a flexible manufacturing facility will provide CAMI with the ability to produce multiple global architectures and body styles,” said Kevin Williams, president and managing director, General Motors of Canada.

Growing the Grid: Nissan looks back at the developing infrastructure

(March 9, 2013) Nissan looks at automobile infrastructure in a series of video reports under the heading of "Growing the Grid." It examines what is happening today with the U.S. plug-in charging infrastructure that will lead to mass market acceptance of EV technology.

Here is the first of the series discussing what it was like in the early days through the eyes of a 97-year-old driver.

Chevrolet grows GM infotainment team

(March 9, 2013) AUSTIN, Texas — Chevrolet is doubling its investment in the General Motors Connected Customer Specialists team by adding 25 young, tech savvy technology experts, bringing to 50 the number of individuals working with dealers and customers across the United States. The team helps train and certify dealership employees, who demonstrate infotainment and OnStar to customers before, during and after their purchase of a GM vehicle.

Special exhibition opens at Ferrari Museum

(March 9, 2013) MARANELLO, Italy — The official inauguration at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello of the "Ferrari Supercar was held March 8 with the "Ferrari Supercar. Technology. Design. Myth" exhibition. It includes the new LaFerrari, unveiled just a couple of days ago at the Geneva Motor Show, as well as all of the other limited edition special series cars that helped establish the Prancing Horse legend.

2014 Infiniti QX60 Hybrid set for world debut at New York Auto Show

(March 9, 2012) FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Infiniti has announced that a new gasoline electric hybrid model will join the 2014 Infiniti QX60  — now known as the JX35 — lineup in the United States this summer, following its world debut at the upcoming New York International Auto Show.

Mini Plant leads celebration of a century of car making in Oxford

(March 8, 2013) OXFORD, England — The Mini Plant will lead the celebrations of a centenary of car-making in Oxford, on March 28 — 100 years to the day when the first “Bullnose” Morris Oxford was built by William Morris, a few hundred yards from where the modern plant stands today. Twenty cars were built each week at the start, but the business grew rapidly and over the century —11.65 million cars have been produced.

BMW Group has record sales month in February

(March 8, 2013) MUNICH, Germany — With 133,630 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand automobiles delivered worldwide, the BMW Group achieved its best-ever February sales result. A record number of 256,929 vehicles have been delivered to customers since the start of the year – an increase of +7.1% compared with the same period last year when 239,802 were sold.

Cadillac ATS applies latest advances in driver visibility

(March 8, 2013) DETROIT — The 2013 Cadillac ATS luxury sport sedan offers visibility from the driver’s seat that inspires the same confidence as the North American Car of the Year’s acclaimed road-hugging performance. Engineers worked to identify the vehicle attributes needed to maximize ATS’s driving character by making the most of sight lines.