Automotive News
July 2, 2007 - 12:01 am
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. - Chrysler group dealers can connect to Chrysler's parts inventory management system through a computer system operated by Auto/Mate Dealership Systems.
Auto/Mate, of Clifton Park, says Chrysler has certified its Automotive Management Productivity Suite dealer management system to link with the parts inventory system, called ARO.
Auto/Mate says more than 400 dealerships use its system.
ARO connects dealership inventories of spare parts to a daily order process controlled by Chrysler. ARO automatically replenishes parts as needed, based on a dealership's record of parts sales.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Chrysler certifies Auto/Mate for parts orders
After building DaimlerChrysler Financial, it's time to blow it up
Exec must undo combo he spent years creating
Brent Snavely
Automotive News
July 2, 2007 - 12:01 am
DETROIT -- After spending the better part of a decade combining the financial service arms of Mercedes, Freightliner and Chrysler into one company, Klaus Entenmann now must pull the companies apart. It won't be easy. Entenmann, CEO of DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Americas LLC, says Mercedes-Benz Financial and Chrysler Financial are especially interwoven. In the United States, Mercedes serves about 340 dealerships and Chrysler serves about 4,000. Globally, the purchase of about one in three DaimlerChrysler vehicles, including commercial trucks, has been conducted through the financial arm, says spokesman Jack Ferry. Entenmann says the biggest challenge is to separate the two captives' information technology functions, which had been merged. "It's possible, but it takes a lot of effort to really make the separation happen and to make two companies stand alone again," he says. Moving workers In August, DaimlerChrysler Financial Services plans to begin moving about 400 people out of its current headquarters in suburban Detroit to another office nearby. About 800 people who work for Chrysler Financial will stay in the current location. The split became inevitable in May when DaimlerChrysler agreed to sell a majority interest in Chrysler and Chrysler Financial for $7.4 billion to Cerberus Capital Management LP. That transaction is expected to close during the third quarter. During the negotiations, Chrysler Financial was widely viewed as Chrysler's best asset. It was valued at $6 billion by Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas in a research report in April. "I think that Chrysler Financial was the reason Cerberus bought this company," says a person familiar with the negotiations. DaimlerChrysler Financial declined to comment on speculation that Cerberus, which also owns 51 percent of GMAC Financial Services, would combine the two entities. But Paul Knauss, who has been selected to become CEO of Chrysler Financial, told Automotive News in May that a merger with GMAC is unlikely. |
| Splitting up DaimlerChrysler Financial Services and Chrysler Financial are splitting up because of the pending acquisition of Chrysler by Cerberus. The company boasts a combined global loan and financing portfolio of about $150 billion. In North and South America, the portfolio breaks out like this:
Source: DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Americas |
|
DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Americas provides inventory financing to dealers as well as loans and lease financing to retail customers.
In North and South America, the company manages a portfolio of $102.7 billion and consists of Chrysler Financial, Mercedes-Benz Financial and DaimlerChrysler Truck Financial. The truck financial arm supports Freightliner LLC, DaimlerChrysler's commercial truck division.
Chrysler Financial, with a $73.5 billion loan portfolio, is the largest division.
Entenmann says DaimlerChrysler Financial Services decided to stay in suburban Detroit to prevent a loss of employees.
"It was crucial for us that we do not lose any talent. And if we would move outside of the state we would lose a lot of the talent," Entenmann says. "Also, we need to hire people. And based on the economic situation you can find talent, I would say, as easy or easier than in other states."
Entenmann says separating the companies' information technology systems will be the most daunting part of the split.
"It will take a few months to make this happen," he says.
"I would say it's an emotional challenge because we put something together which was very successful," Entenmann added. "You have a lot of business friends in the company and you are going now in two directions that are also impacting some of work relationships and friendships."
 | ||
 |
| |
 | Source: Automobile History Day By Day, by Douglas A. Wick |
Detroit's big chill
New fuel economy regulations could doom U.S. automakers, says Fortune's Alex Taylor.
NEW YORK (Fortune) -- If turned-off consumers, teed-off union workers and fired-up competitors don't kill off what's left of the U.S. auto industry, then proposed new fuel economy standards may finish the job.
Chrysler officially puts the cost of meeting the proposed rules at $6,700 per vehicle. Unofficially, the moneymen from Cerberus behind the private equity buyout for Chrysler are said to be threatening to walk away from the deal if the new requirements go through. That would probably doom the company.
Consumers won't get off scot-free either. Small cars will have to become more costly to pay for new technology, and large cars - and trucks - will have to be priced higher so that consumers will be encouraged to buy the small ones.
All in all, domestic automakers figure that it will cost them $83 billion to meet the new regulations, which call for a hike in the corporate average fuel economy to 35 miles per gallon by 2020. That would be a lot of money for prosperous Google or Berkshire Hathaway, much less an industry that is already losing billions of dollars.
The new bill hasn't become law yet. A vote in the House won't come until fall. And the lobbying between now and then should be furious, assuming summer vacations don't intrude.
But popular opinion isn't running in Detroit's favor. On the heels of higher gas prices, energy security concerns, global warming and Hurricane Katrina, there has been a sea change in public opinion about oil consumption and greenhouse gasses. Consumers are voting with their feet by running out to purchase small cars.
You can blame some of this on the domestic auto industry. Its credibility in Washington has been rock-bottom ever since General Motors was caught tailing Ralph Nader in the 1960s. It doesn't help that, like the NRA, Detroit has been reflexively opposing every attempt to tighten up safety, fuel economy and emission standards for years. It has cried wolf once too often.
Indeed, the Detroit Three have been getting a free pass on fuel economy for more than two decades. Instead of devoting its considerable technical resources to improving gas mileage, it has been cranking up the horsepower of its engines and selling modified trucks as SUVs.
As a result, Bank of America figures Toyota has a five-year lead in the development of hybrid gas-electric vehicles, a technology that Detroit soft-pedaled until recently. Although GM is promising a breakthrough in fuel cells by 2010 and developments in plug-in hybrids even sooner, production of fully-functional gasoline-free vehicles still seems years off.
Still, there is no point in kicking them while they're down. GM (Charts, Fortune 500), Ford (Charts, Fortune 500) and Chrysler are on the brink of collapse. All three companies start the miles-per-gallon race far behind Japan's Big Three.
According to data compiled by Lehman Brothers, GM - the domestic leader in car mileage with 29.3 average miles per gallon - can't touch Toyota, which notches an average of 34.7 miles per gallon. And Chrysler - the American leader in truck corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards with 21.9 mpg - is light years behind Honda's 24.5 mpg.
The Detroit Three can hardly afford to cut prices to stimulate sales of high mileage vehicles because they are already at a huge cost disadvantage. Lehman's Brian A. Johnson figures that a Nissan Altima costs slightly more to operate than a Chevy Malibu, but the owner makes it up at trade-in time. The Malibu holds only 38 percent of its original purchase price after four years of use vs. 52 percent for the Altima - a difference of more than $4,000.
That kind of value spread explains why Detroit has to dump so many of its cars in rental car fleets while Japanese vehicles sell mostly at retail. According to data published in Automotive News, more than a third of Ford's and Chrysler's are going into fleets this year, vs. 15 percent for Nissan (Charts) and even less for Toyota (Charts) and Honda (Charts).
As argued here before, the simple solution to using less gas is to start gradually raising the gas tax. That way, people who really wanted large-displacement, low-mileage cars could pay for them directly - at the pump. For low-income consumers and high-mileage commuters, a rebate could be created. Detroit would still be forced to come up with better ideas for fuel economy but at least it wouldn't have to do so with a gun pointed at its head.
Dodge Viper Accident, Lunch Anybody?
By Ben | June 29, 2007
Accidents are very serious and this one cost a lot of serious money. I don’t know if the bag was added afterward, but it looks like the contents could have been the culprit. Either way please don’t eat and drive. Burgers don’t come with an auto insurance clause on the wrapper.
Magnitude 5.4 - GREECE
Earthquake Details
| Magnitude | 5.4 |
|---|---|
| Date-Time | = Coordinated Universal Time = local time at epicenter |
| Location | 39.334°N, 20.381°E |
| Depth | 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program |
| Region | GREECE |
| Distances | 55 km (35 miles) SW of Ioannina, Greece 145 km (90 miles) SSW of Korce, Albania 145 km (90 miles) SSE of Vlore, Albania 325 km (205 miles) WNW of ATHENS, Greece |
| Location Uncertainty | horizontal +/- 4.6 km (2.9 miles); depth fixed by location program |
| Parameters | Nst=181, Nph=181, Dmin=313.6 km, Rmss=0.96 sec, Gp= 47°, M-type=body magnitude (Mb), Version=T |
| Source |
|
| Event ID | us2007eea6 |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)