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North American Auto News, 6/19/95



* ---> 06/16/95 15:47 June 19 Edition              

      There are 27 items in this edition.

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1  US and Japan remain in standoff in auto dispute.
   Wall Street Journal | p A14 | 95:06:13

American and Japanese trade officials recently acknowledged their
continuing disagreement during discussions at the headquarters of the World
Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.  The two sides had hoped to
avert a trade war on automobiles.  In just over 2 weeks, the US will impose
tariffs of 100% on 13 Japanese luxury cars whose imports into the US add up
to almost US$6 billion per year.  Andrew Stoler, deputy head of the US
trade mission in Geneva, said that US officials "expressed regret that
Japan's unwillingness to open its market in this sector had led the US
Trade Representative (Mickey Kantor) to announce these possible measures."
He added that the US was "in full compliance" of WTO regulations, despite
charges from the Japanese that the US action would violate the rules.
According to Kazuo Asakai, a Foreign Ministry official, if the US withdrew
its threat of punitive tariffs and stopped requesting numerical targets on
the number of Japanese dealers handling foreign vehicles and Japanese
imports of auto parts, Japan would resume discussions concerning the US
claim that Japan unfairly bars US car and auto parts exports.  If the case
is presented to the WTO by Japan, settlement procedures could take up to 18
months.

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2  California may bend ZEV rule.
   Automotive News | n 5609 p 1, 8 | 95:06:12

California Governor Pete Wilson is ordering an independent audit of battery
technology due to the slow progress toward a marketable electric vehicle.
This is the second recent sign that the state is moving to a more flexible
attitude concerning a mandate that 2% of the model year 1998 vehicles sold
in California be zero emissions vehicles (ZEV).  A California Air Resources
Board (CARB) workshop proposed in May 1995 that some hybrid EVs could
qualify as half of a ZEV.  The CARB proposal would change the guidelines of
the ZEV mandate.  The hybrid would have to exhibit the same emissions as
those needed for recharging by the powerplant to receive up to 50% of a ZEV
credit.  This means the hybrid would need to be 40 to 150 times less
polluting than an ultra low emissions vehicle and could only use the
electric motor in polluted urban areas.

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3  GM tests new van for Europe.
   Automotive News | n 5609 p 2 | 95:06:12

General Motors Corp will replace the Oldsmobile Silhouette, Pontiac Trans
Sport, and Chevrolet Lumina minivans with a new front wheel drive minivan
for the 1997 model year.  The minivan will be sold in Europe with Vauxhall
and Opel badges.  Includes an unauthorized side photograph.

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4  GM picks GMC over Cadillac for utility vehicle.
   Wall Street Journal | p A2 | 95:06:13

General Motors Corp has designated GMC as a "premium" truck seller, which
means that it intends to market a luxury sports utility vehicle through GMC
instead of Cadillac.  GM now has to decide how upscale a GMC SUV should be.
A GMC spokesman said, "We're delving into how to define the word 'premium,'
and how high is premium when we talk price category.  We're terming it a
work in progress."

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5  Buick V6 offers textbook horse case.
   Automotive News | n 5609 p 56 | 95:06:12

Power for General Motors Corp's 3.8L V6 Series II 3800 engine increased
from 125 hp to 205 hp from 1985 to 1994 while composite fuel economy
improved from 23.1 mpg to 26.4 mpg due to the fine tuning of a lighter,
more compact powerplant compared to European and Asian engines.  The Series
II 3800 engine also employs fewer parts to produce a great amount of power
and torque.  GM modified the pistons, cylinder heads, cylinder block,
connecting rods, intake manifold, compression ratio and valvetrain to
increase the amount of air going in and out of a V6 cut from a V8 block.
The Series II 3800 engine is said to make more horsepower than many V8
engines from GM.

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6  Olds rolls out navigation aid.
   Automotive News | n 5609 p 36 | 95:06:12

General Motors Corp Oldsmobile Division's Guidestar vehicle navigation
system is now on sale as a US$1,995 option in Florida, Georgia, California,
Illinois, Michigan and Indiana.  GM will offer the system, which guides
drivers turn by turn to an address, nationwide in 1996.

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7  Saturn eyes 2% price increase.
   Automotive News | n 5609 p 4 | 95:06:12

Saturn Corp will raise the price of its restyled 1996 sedan due in late
July 1995 by about 2%.  The small price increase is said to imply a feeling
of affordability and value compared to Japanese vehicles undergoing price
increases.  The new model will feature only "evolutionary" changes,
according to Saturn President Skip LeFauve.  The 2% increase equals about a
US$200 increase on the US$9,995 base sedan or a US$240 increase on the
US$11,999 uplevel sedan.  A front three quarter spy photograph shows an all
new exterior and a new roof.

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8  GM offers retrofit running lights kits.
   Orlando Sentinel | p F9 | 95:06:08

General Motors Corp's retrofit kits for daytime running lights (DRL) will
allow the light to turn on automatically when the vehicle is started.  DRLs
are used in other countries such as Canada and Sweden and are said to
decrease accidents by making the cars more visible.  When normal headlights
are turned on, the DRL system is overridden.  During model year 1995, DRLs
became standard on the Geo Metro and a few other GM cars.  The carmaker
will offer the lights as standard on its entire line of cars and light
trucks in model year 1997.

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9  Hertz adds Ranger to South and West fleets.
   Automotive News | n 5609 p 36 | 95:06:12

Hertz Corp, which is owned by Ford Motor Co, is adding pickup trucks to its
rental fleet for the first time in about 10 years.  The Ford Ranger pickup
truck will be added to fleets in the South and West US.  Pickups are being
test marketed by the Park Ridge, New Jersey, rental car company to
determine whether they should expand the Ranger to other areas.  Hertz uses
450,000 vehicles in 5,400 locations globally.  The move to pickup trucks is
in relation to consumer demand for pickups and sport utility vehicles
(SUV).  The trucks are currently available for rent in Denver and Colorado
Springs, Colorado; Atlanta, Georgia; Omaha, Nebraska; San Antonio, Midland,
Dallas, and Houston, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; Portland, Oregon;
Nashville, Tennessee; and Charlotte, North Carolina.  They will also be
added to fleets in Orange County and Santa Barbara, California in the near
future.

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10  Electric Ranger's price shocking.  Ford to offer Rangers powered by
    batteries to meet emission rule.
    Detroit News | p 2E | Wall Street Journal | p C13 | 95:06:13 | 95:06:14

Ford Motor Co will offer a US$30,000 electric Ranger pickup truck beginning
in 1998 in California to meet that state's mandate that 2% of all new cars
and trucks be electric in 1998.  Ford would have to sell about 3,600 EVs
under the mandate.  The Ranger EV will be sold to fleet customers, mainly
utilities, and will use 2,000 lbs of lead acid batteries.  Range between
charges will be 50 miles.  General Motors Corp may sell its Impact 2 seat
EV and Chrysler Corp plans to offer a minivan EV.

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11  Chrysler keeps A3 rating.
    Automotive News | n 5609 p 10 | 95:06:12

Moody's Investors Service is keeping Chrysler Corp's credit rating
unchanged at A3, after placing the automaker on a credit watch during a
hostile takeover bid by Kirk Kerkorian.  According to Moody's, the rating
"reflects management's persistent pursuit of longer term conservative
financial goals, including maintenance of strong balance sheet liquidity,
despite very direct pressure from certain shareholders."

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12  Chrysler cars are subject of probe after complaints.
    Wall Street Journal | p B4 | 95:06:13

NHTSA is investigating 68,000 Chrysler Corp passenger cars built between
1990 and 1991 due to complaints of faulty antilock brake systems (ABS).
This probe is similar to the one opened in 1994 concerning faulty ABS in
250,000 Chrysler minivans.  The 38 passenger car complaints included one
injury causing accident while the 837 minivan complaints include 26
accidents and 3 injuries.  Chrysler says it no longer uses the AlliedSignal
ABS system under investigation.  The AlliedSignal system was the cause of
two recalls Chrysler enacted in 1992 concerning 82,000 model year 1991
passenger cars and minivans.  In other news, NHTSA is investigating ABS in
about 140,000 Chevrolet Suburban sports utility vehicles produced in model
years 1992-1995 due to 141 complaints including 53 accidents and 15
injuries.

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13  Plymouth Breeze debuts in January.
    Automotive News | n 5609 p 3 | 95:06:12

Chrysler Corp Plymouth Division will launch the Breeze JA car in January
1996; dealers had wanted the car by fall 1995.  The Breeze will replace the
Plymouth Acclaim (no longer built) and is the sister to the Chrysler Cirrus
/ Dodge Stratus.  The Breeze will offer a price advantage over the Stratus,
which has a base price of US$13,965.  The company is offer a 6 month money
back guarantee on leases.

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14  Chrysler's shift option autostick transforms Eagle into hot rod.
    USA Today | p 4B | 95:06:13

Chrysler Corp will offer a "shift it yourself" automatic transmission
called Autostick as standard equipment on the premium 1996 US$24,000 Eagle
Vision TSi in fall 1995.  If the technology gains popularity, Chrysler
could quickly offer it on other models.  Autostick can be used as a
conventional automatic transmission or can be used as more of a manual
transmission by pushing the lever to the right to shift up one gear or to
the left to shift down one gear.  According to Chrysler engineer Art
Anderson, "It's a win-win for dual driver households.  If there's one
driver who prefers an automatic transmission vehicle, that person doesn't
give up anything.  And if the other driver prefers more of a manual
transmission driving experience, that driver can have it."  Similar systems
are used in the US on Jaguar and Porsche models as well as the Acura NSX.
However, the Eagle Vision TSi will be the only car priced under US$50,000,
to use the transmission.

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15  EU probes Spanish aid to VW unit.
    Wall Street Journal | p A8 | 95:06:14

The European Union is conducting a formal investigation of Spain's 46
billion pesetas (US$377 million) in subsidies to troubled Volkswagen AG
subsidiary SEAT SA.  Spain previously was given one week to justify its aid
for restructuring the unprofitable carmaker but the two sides could not
resolve their disagreement.  The EU could order SEAT to replay the aid
because it distorts competition.  Spain has already paid SEAT 36 billion
pesetas of the subsidies.

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16  New life for Jaguar.  Ford spends US$4.2 billion to revive luxury maker.
    Automotive News | n 5609 p 1, 53 | 95:06:12

Jaguar Cars, under ownership of Ford Motor Co, launched the redesigned 1995
XJ sedan on time and under budget.  Development took only 28 months.  Clive
Ennos, a Ford veteran who is now director of product engineering for
Jaguar, organized the company into vehicle teams shortly after he arrived
at Jaguar 4 years ago.  Ford has invested over US$4.2 billion in Jaguar,
and has given it a modernized assembly line and a three vehicle product
cycle plan.  Besides the XJ sedan, the company will debut an all new 2+2
sport coupe and convertible in fall 1996 and a new small sport sedan in
1998, all engineered under Ford 2000's restructuring program.  The new cars
will increase Jaguar production to over 100,000 units per year, almost
double its peak production of 51,939 units in 1988.  The company will need
to hire 1,000 more workers to deal with the increased production.  In 5 or
6 years, Jaguar may even offer a luxury sports utility vehicle based on the
Ford Explorer.  Article offers a front three quarter spy photograph of a
disguised prototype of the new Jaguar sports car, codenamed X100, that will
debut in 1996.