The Auto Channel
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
Official Website of the New Car Buyer

July 2002

Select Another Month

Wednesday, July 31, 2002

Autobytel Number One in Dealer Business Generation, According to New J.D. Power and Associates' Dealer Satisfaction with Online Buying Services Study

Autobytel Number One in Dealer Business Generation, According to New J.D. Power and Associates' Dealer Satisfaction with Online Buying Services Study

IRVINE, Calif.--July 31, 2002--J.D. Power and Associates newly released Dealer Satisfaction with Online Buying Services (DSOBS) study finds that Autobytel is the leader in business generation, providing the most Internet customers to its dealer network. In fact, the study showed that the number of new and used vehicle ... Continue reading

CASCAR - Vancouver Wrap & Points

CASCAR - Vancouver Wrap & Points

CASCAR Super Series For more information contact CASCAR at (519) 641-1214 For immediate release / July 31, 2002 The points chase tightens following Vancouver Indy LONDON, ON - The CASCAR Super Series' second appearance at the Vancouver Molson Indy, this past Saturday, drastically tightened the point standings, with jus ... Continue reading

Avanlanche Offers New Safety, Comfort, Convenience and Performance Features

Avanlanche Offers New Safety, Comfort, Convenience and Performance Features

FOR RELEASE: July 31, 2002 New Safety, Comfort, Convenience and Performance Features Chevrolet Motor Division introduces an Avalanche for the first time in 2003 without body hardware, and has significantly improved all Avalanche models for the new model year. Expanding Avalanche Appeal The composite lower body panels - ... Continue reading

GM Will Offer Advanced Automatic Crash Notification in 2003

GM Will Offer Advanced Automatic Crash Notification in 2003

WASHINGTON, D.C. - When a vehicle crash occurs, a quick medical response often can mean the difference between life and death. In an effort to help 911 centers dispatch the appropriate life-saving staff and equipment to crash scenes faster, General Motors will begin adding an advanced automatic crash notification (AACN ... Continue reading

Chevrolet Adds Avalanche Without Body Hardware for 2003

Chevrolet Adds Avalanche Without Body Hardware for 2003

New Safety, Comfort, Convenience and Performance Features Chevrolet Motor Division introduces an Avalanche for the first time in 2003 without body hardware, and has significantly improved all Avalanche models for the new model year. Expanding Avalanche Appeal The composite lower body panels -- called "cladding" or "bod ... Continue reading

Chevrolet Adding V8 Engine Option to TrailBlazer EXT

Chevrolet Adding V8 Engine Option to TrailBlazer EXT

Extending Success That Made TrailBlazer a Midsize SUV Leader at Half Year Chevrolet is strengthening its successful TrailBlazer midsize sport utility vehicle lineup with an optional V8 engine for TrailBlazer EXT in 2003. All-aluminum V8 Engine An all-aluminum, Vortec 5300 V8 engine will be available on the TrailBlazer ... Continue reading

Sierra Club rates best US transportation projects

Sierra Club rates best US transportation projects

July 31, 2002 SAN FRANCISCO - Reuteurs reported that "hoping to step up the fight against sprawling communities that gobble up open space and fuel pollution, a leading environmental group Tuesday unveiled a report highlighting the best and worst transportation projects in the United States. The Sierra Club said the lis ... Continue reading

BASF Introduces Time Machine For Paint Shops-Antique Color Chip guide on CD-ROM

BASF Introduces Time Machine For Paint Shops-Antique Color Chip guide on CD-ROM

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., July 31 Matching the original color on a classic or vintage car -- for example, a 1942 Nash -- can be pretty tricky. Now restorers and collectors of older cars have a new resource available from BASF that takes the guesswork and waste out of choosing and mixing the color they need: The BASF Antique C ... Continue reading

NHRA Pre-Race: Hammonds Looks to End the Western Swing on a High Note

NHRA Pre-Race: Hammonds Looks to End the Western Swing on a High Note

(Note: The following is attached in text format for your convenience.) Contact: Jon G. Knapp TMG Sports Marketing Phone: (704) 662-3121 J2Racing@aol.com A DETERMINED HAMMONDS LOOKS TO END THE WESTERN SWING ON A HIGH NOTE Winnebago/GM Vehicle Care Cavalier crew maps out strategy for a successful Sonoma assault Crestview ... Continue reading

Midas Reports Second Quarter Earnings; Company Shops, Parts Warehouse Inc. Achieve Profitability

Midas Reports Second Quarter Earnings; Company Shops, Parts Warehouse Inc. Achieve Profitability

ITASCA, Ill.--July 31, 2002--Midas, Inc. today announced its results for the second quarter ended June 29, 2002. Net income in the second quarter was $4.1 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, compared with net income of $6.9 million, or $0.46 per share, in the second quarter of 2001. Overall sales and revenues for the ... Continue reading

Suzuki: Zero Down Payment, Zero Percent Finance Offer and 7-Year/100,000-Mile Powertrain Limited Warranty- Sounds Good

Suzuki: Zero Down Payment, Zero Percent Finance Offer and 7-Year/100,000-Mile Powertrain Limited Warranty- Sounds Good

BREA, Calif.--July 31, 2002-- American Suzuki Provides Smart Buy for Savvy Customers with a Zero Down Payment, Zero Percent Finance Offer and 7-Year/100,000-Mile Powertrain Limited Warranty American Suzuki Motor Corp. (ASMC) today announced it will start its "Zero, Zero & 7" program -- a zero down payment, zero percent ... Continue reading

Jaguar Cars moves testing site to Thompson, Manitoba

Jaguar Cars moves testing site to Thompson, Manitoba

BRAMALEA, ON, July 31 /CNW/ - After twenty years of operation in the city of Timmins, Jaguar Cars will be moving its cold weather testing site to join the Ford family in Thompson, Manitoba starting the winter of 2003/2004. Ford Motor Company has been conducting cold weather testing in the Thompson region since the mid ... Continue reading

Top 10 List of New and Used Car Lease Requests

Top 10 List of New and Used Car Lease Requests

CINCINNATI--July 31, 2002--Automobile Consumer Services, Inc. (ACS), an innovator in online direct-to-consumer auto leasing, today released a list of the top 10 most requested vehicles from its popular auto leasing website www.LeaseCompare.com. The upscale Acura MDX 4WD and Porsche 911 topped the most preferred lists o ... Continue reading

Car Dealer Group Lithia Motors Reports 56% Net Profit Increase on 26% Growth in Sales

Car Dealer Group Lithia Motors Reports 56% Net Profit Increase on 26% Growth in Sales

MEDFORD, Ore., July 31 Lithia Motors, Inc. announced that net earnings rose 56% to $7.9 million in the second quarter of 2002 compared to $5.1 million in the second quarter of 2001. Earnings per share rose 16% to $0.43 per share versus $0.37 in the same period last year. This was on 18.5 million diluted shares outstand ... Continue reading

NYT: Ford to Cancel Excursion

NYT: Ford to Cancel Excursion

NEW YORK, Reuters is reporting that the Ford Motor Co. has decided not to build a second generation of the Excursion sport utility vehicle, the New York Times reported Wednesday citing people close to Ford's future product program. The Excursion, seven feet tall and able to seat a softball team, was oft criticized as t ... Continue reading

``Ultimate Road Trip'' Contest

``Ultimate Road Trip'' Contest

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--July 31, 2002-- Thales (tal-less) Navigation, global provider of Magellan® consumer and Ashtech® professional GPS solutions, announces the call for entries for the Magellan "Ultimate Road Trip" contest. The contest will award one grand prize winner a spot in a classic on-road experience: "Magella ... Continue reading

Syncata Deploys Interactive Spare Parts Supply Chain Assessment Tool; Automotive, Industrial Manufacturers and Aftermarket Suppliers Get Online Analysis

Syncata Deploys Interactive Spare Parts Supply Chain Assessment Tool; Automotive, Industrial Manufacturers and Aftermarket Suppliers Get Online Analysis

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--July 31, 2002--Business consulting and systems integration firm Syncata Corp. (http://www.syncata.com), which specializes in providing services to vehicle and equipment manufacturers, has uploaded an interactive assessment tool to the Internet, which lets service parts and other aftermarket companie ... Continue reading

Ford developing fuel-thrifty engine for SUV - Financial Times

Ford developing fuel-thrifty engine for SUV - Financial Times

Jeremy Grant writing for the Financial Times in Chicago reported that Ford, the US automaker, said on Tuesday it was developing a hybrid fuel and battery-driven vehicle based on its best-selling Escape sports utility that would double the vehicle's mileage per gallon. The move is partly aimed at combating increasing pe ... Continue reading

U.S. auto dealer groups post higher profits

U.S. auto dealer groups post higher profits

DETROIT, July 30 Reuters reported that two major auto dealer groups reported sharply higher second-quarter profits on Tuesday, driven by acquisitions of new franchises and strong sales of new vehicles. But shares of Sonic Automotive Inc., the nation's second-largest dealer group, closed down more than 14 percent on the ... Continue reading

Senators Warned: Car Manufacturers' Monopoly On Repairs Hurts Small Independent Mechanics And May Cause Safety Hazards

Senators Warned: Car Manufacturers' Monopoly On Repairs Hurts Small Independent Mechanics And May Cause Safety Hazards

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Senate hearing witnesses outlined the unfairness and potential danger to millions of drivers inherent in the monopoly auto dealers and manufacturers have on repairs and maintenance of automobiles built after 1995. More than 150 independent mechanics were in attendance. Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-MN) ... Continue reading

Nuvera Launches Hydrogen-Powered Fuel Cell Business

Nuvera Launches Hydrogen-Powered Fuel Cell Business

MILAN, Italy, and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 30 -- Nuvera Fuel Cells today announced it has launched a hydrogen fuel cell business based on its Avanti(TM) 5kW distributed generation product line. The new initiative provides OEMs with "ruggedized" hydrogen power modules ranging from 1 to 6kW that can operate under harsh con ... Continue reading

New Hydrogen Tank Moves Fuel Cell Vehicles Closer to Reality

New Hydrogen Tank Moves Fuel Cell Vehicles Closer to Reality

HONEOYE FALLS, N.Y. Ed Garsten writing for the AP submitted this story. An arbiter of certain auto industy standards has certified a high-pressure hydrogen storage tank large enough to make fuel cells a viable power source for vehicles, General Motors Corp. said Tuesday. Creating storage tanks that can hold enough hydr ... Continue reading

MEDIA ADVISORY - Photos Available for First Look at Daytona Prototype Bodywork

MEDIA ADVISORY - Photos Available for First Look at Daytona Prototype Bodywork

****MEDIA ADVISORY**** Photos Available for First Look at Daytona Prototype Bodywork DENVER, N.C. (July 30, 2002) -- Grand American Road Racing Association has released the first photos to the media of bodywork for a Daytona Prototype, which will be the premier class of the Rolex Sports Car Series in 2003. The first-of ... Continue reading

BLANEY NASCAR BRICKYARD Notes

BLANEY NASCAR BRICKYARD Notes

JASPER MOTORSPORTS The Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway has always held a special meaning for #77 Ford sponsor Indiana-based Jasper Engines & Transmissions, which started as a small home-grown business affiliated with a local car dealership and has grown in its 60th year to become largest mass-remanufacture ... Continue reading

Shane Wallace Hickory Post Race Report

Shane Wallace Hickory Post Race Report

SHANE WALLACE DISAPPOINTED AT HICKORY "Rising Star Earns First Career Pole" Hickory, North Carolina (July 29, 2002) - USAR Hooters Pro Cup "Rising Star" Shane Wallace had a weekend filled with mixed emotions at Hickory Motor Speedway. The 18 year old won his first career pole award Saturday night in the running of the ... Continue reading

Mile Marker International, Inc. Announces Record Second Quarter 2002 Results

Mile Marker International, Inc. Announces Record Second Quarter 2002 Results

POMPANO BEACH, Fla.--July 30, 2002--Mile Marker International, Inc. (OTCBB:MMKR), a specialty vehicle parts distributor, announced record revenues and net income for the six months ending June 30, 2002 in its Form 10-QSB filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today. In its Form 10-QSB filing with the U ... Continue reading

Eagle Precision Technologies Inc. - First Quarter Results

Eagle Precision Technologies Inc. - First Quarter Results

BRANTFORD, Ontario--July 30, 2002--Eagle Precision Technologies Inc. announces the financial results for the first quarter ended May 31, 2002. Sales for the quarter were $ 11.8 million compared to $ 16.5 million for the same period last year. The decline in revenues is mostly attributable to the impact of the assignmen ... Continue reading

Said Looking for Continued Success as Series Returns to Canada for Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres

Said Looking for Continued Success as Series Returns to Canada for Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: T.E. McHale (727) 533-0503 SAID LOOKING FOR CONTINUED SUCCESS AS SERIES RETURNS TO CANADA FOR LE GRAND PRIX DE TROIS-RIVIERES CLEARWATER, Fla. (July 30, 2002) - As the Trans-Am Series for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup heads north to begin the second half of its 2002 season, Boris Said is looki ... Continue reading

WIMMER Attempts INDY Double

WIMMER Attempts INDY Double

SIEMENS RACING/BILL DAVIS RACING SCOTT WIMMER HOPES FOR FORTUITOUS INDY-DOUBLE WITH ADDITION OF BRICKYARD 400 ATTEMPT TO REGULAR NASCAR BUSCH SERIES AGENDA HIGH POINT, N.C. - When he and his #27 Siemens Dodge team enter Indianapolis Motor Speedway for this weekend's Brickyard 400, a favorable historical precedent from ... Continue reading

Ford and Visteon to File Jobless Claims for Its Hourly Workers

Ford and Visteon to File Jobless Claims for Its Hourly Workers

DETROIT, July 30 -- Two of Michigan's largest employers have agreed to file unemployment claims on behalf of their hourly workers during lack of work layoffs. "Ford Motor Company and Visteon have joined DaimlerChrysler (DCX) in partnering with the State of Michigan in a new program that allows the three employers to fi ... Continue reading

Ballard Power Systems Issues 2002 Second Quarter Results

Ballard Power Systems Issues 2002 Second Quarter Results

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--July 30, 2002--Ballard Power Systems (TSX:BLD.TO) (TSX:BLD; NASDAQ:BLDP) today released its report to shareholders for the second quarter ending June 30, 2002. All amounts are reported in U.S. dollars. A conference call will be held to discuss the results for the second quarter on Tuesday, ... Continue reading

Fw: MDA Release fro Steve Christian

Fw: MDA Release fro Steve Christian

----- Original Message ----- From: "LaBord, Karen" <Karen.LaBord@BellSouth.com> To: "'Tim Southers'" <usar@bellsouth.net> Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 3:52 PM Subject: RE: MDA Release > Tim, > > Sorry, try this one or the copy below. > > Karen > > July 30, 2002 > > MEDIA CONTACT: > Karen LaBord > (770) 831-1773 > 1-877 ... Continue reading

Nonnamakers Hope for Repeat Win, Championship

Nonnamakers Hope for Repeat Win, Championship

Nonnamakers Hope for Repeat Win, Championship DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 30, 2002) -- HRPworld.com drivers Will and Wayne Nonnamaker are not your typical brothers. While most brothers usually try to one-up each other in competitions, the pair of Grand-Am Cup Sport Touring II drivers prefers to work as a team. "For Will ... Continue reading

Transpro, Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2002 Results

Transpro, Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2002 Results

NEW HAVEN, Conn.--July 30, 2002--Transpro, Inc. -- Second Quarter Sales Increase 12.8% -- Gross Margin Percentage Improves to 20.3% in the Quarter from 11.9% in the Prior Year Period -- Company Reports Net Income of $1.5 million, or $0.21 per Diluted Share for the Quarter Transpro, Inc. today announced results for the ... Continue reading

Jeremy Mayfield -- NASCAR Brickyard Preview

Jeremy Mayfield -- NASCAR Brickyard Preview

<<ole0.bmp>> Kristine Curley Golin/Harris 704.924.9404 JEREMY MAYFIELD NO. 19 DODGE DEALERS INTREPID R/T INDIANAPOLIS PREVIEW THOUGHT ON INDIANAPOLIS "I've done well there before. I really like that track. There's so much history there. It's a big race for everyone. ... Continue reading

Rita Rudner And Louie Anderson To Star in SEMA Banquet Double Feature

Rita Rudner And Louie Anderson To Star in SEMA Banquet Double Feature

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contacts: Lisa Guth, lisag@sema.org SEMA, 909/396-0289, ext. 181 Rosemarie Kitchin, rosemariek@sema.org SEMA, 909/396-0289, ext. 104 RUDNER, ANDERSON WILL STAR IN SEMA BANQUET DOUBLE FEATURE DIAMOND BAR, Calif. (July 30, 2002) - SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association, has booked tw ... Continue reading

Powerflex Points Sheehan Motor Racing in the Right Direction

Powerflex Points Sheehan Motor Racing in the Right Direction

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 25, 2002 Powerflex Points Sheehan Motor Racing in the Right Direction Martinez, CA: Suspensions on modern cars are engineered for comfort. But driving a car at speed on a racetrack has little to do with comfort. Racing requires precision. Precision is hard to achieve when each of the suspensi ... Continue reading

Search The Auto Channel

The Auto Channel content library (since 1996) has grown to become the world’s most extensive and complete interactive archive of automotive centric news, articles, reviews and intense event coverage, presented to viewers as Text, Video and Images.

The Auto Channel Content by Topic

Vehicle manufacturers and alt fuels.