Retail

ATLANTA — Porsche Cars North America has a new executive vice president and chief financial officer, the automaker revealed Tuesday. Taking the post is Thierry Kartochian, who takes over for Frank Hoffmann as he leaves the company to pursue other opportunities. Kartochian had been serving in concurrent roles as executive vice president of Porsche Business Services and […] [Read More]

MEDFORD, Ore. — Lithia Motors added a new store to its network that gives the automotive group a bolstered presence in Montana and the chance to reach more consumers through a regional hub. Lithia revealed this week that it has bought Prestige Toyota, a Billings, Mont., dealership that brings about $33 million in annual revenues into […] [Read More]

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — The General Motors of today is a faster-moving organization that doesn't waste time in making prudent decisions, the company's chairman and chief executive officer claims. In fact, the automaker puts forth the effort to make decisions that are smart for business, but is being quick about it, Edward Whitacre said last week during a speech at the CAR […] [Read More]

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Chrysler Group's effort to join its domestic manufacturing brethren with encouraging progress during the ongoing industry turnaround took another positive step Monday. The automaker released its second-quarter results, which included gains in net revenue, operating profit and available cash. Executives indicated net revenue in the second quarter came in at $10.5 billion, […] [Read More]

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Defense attorneys convinced a Minnesota judge recently that a cruise control defect associated with a Toyota Camry, which was believed to make the vehicle accelerate uncontrollably, was enough evidence to set an imprisoned man free. In October 2007, Minnesotan Koua Fong Lee was convicted of criminal vehicular homicide and sentenced to eight years in prison. […] [Read More]

DEARBORN, Mich. — The new advertising campaign that Ford is rolling out aims to reach out to the African-American community and share not only the story of the company's turnaround, but recognize some of the African-American executives at Ford who have played a big role in the automaker's success. Through print, radio and digital ads targeted toward the […] [Read More]

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — GE Capital Fleet Services is offering a free online seminar this week that will delve into how companies have utilized benchmarking to keep track of fleet performance and the benefits of doing so. The Webinar — which falls under GE's Spotlight Series — is slated to begin at 1 p.m. EST on Tuesday and will run until […] [Read More]

DETROIT — In June, General Motors had 6,049 dealerships selling eight brands, with 87 brand combinations. After the arbitration process and Letters of Intent were sent out, the automaker says the new, smaller dealer network will be much simpler with about 4,500 dealerships, selling 15 brand combinations and four brands. While the new network is about […] [Read More]

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — After what has been a very busy period for Avis Budget Group as new developments continue to emerge in its efforts to acquire Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, the company's top executive said this week that in the second quarter Avis moved closer to achieving its margin and profitability targets. Avis' net income came in a $26 […] [Read More]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Leadership from the American International Automobile Dealers Association touted the higher sales performance member dealers posted in July. AIADA indicated international nameplate franchises accounted for 56.3 percent of all vehicles sold in the United States in July. The figure moved higher than the June mark, which was 53.4 percent. Looking at the specific […] [Read More]