Nissan North America, Toyota Tacoma Recall, GM Sales

Frontier/Pathfinder ConnectedIn the midst of multiple U.S. expansion projects, Nissan North America Inc. plans to start another project: adding the Pathfinder SUV to its assembly plant in Smyrna, Tennessee. Similar to its other recent U.S. expansions, Nissan will lean on its parts suppliers for assistance. The automaker will move several hundred supplier-employees into the Smyrna plant to hold down manufacturing costs. Nissan is redesigning the Pathfinder to share a new common platform with the Frontier pickup and Xterra SUV, both of which are produced in Smyrna, starting in fall 2004.

Taco' Problems?Toyota Motor Corp. will recall 123,360 Tacoma pickups to fix a part that could cause a fuel leak in a crash, federal safety officials said Friday. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the recall of 2001 through 2003 Tacoma double-cab pickups was due to a problem uncovered during crash testing. A part of the double-cab body may hit the hose that connects the fuel tank to the fuel filler pipe, damaging the hose. Toyota will install a fuel-hose protector to fix the problem for its customers.

No Lease OptionFord Motor Co.'s finance arm said Monday that it would stop leasing vehicles in New York state starting July 10 due to a state law that holds leasing companies liable for auto accidents. Instead of leases, which account for about 25 percent of all car sales in New York, Ford says it will shift new leasing customers into balloon loans that work like a lease but transfer ownership of the vehicle to the driver.

Titanic DisgustWith growing interest in the music used in automotive marketing campaigns, we were saddened to see that Chrysler is keeping the music of Celine Dion in its advertising. According to Chrysler, the music helps to improve brand loyalty. Now, what if some company we love, such as Toyota or Nissan, enlisted Godsmack or Linkin Park for the same reason? That's what we call improving brand loyalty! But Celine Dion? God-smack someone at Chrysler, please.

GM Sells Out?In a copycat move from Ford Motor Co., the finance arm of General Motors recently sold about $2 billion of auto loans to help fund its operations. GM spokeswoman Toni Simonetti said the sale by General Motors Acceptance Corp. took place before the issuance of $17.6 billion of bonds by GM and GMAC last month, marking the largest corporate debt offering ever. It was the first time GMAC sold auto loans outright, said Simonetti.

Ford Goes SouthFord Motor Co. plants in Mexico may make some of the new models the company hopes will spearhead its return to prominence in the midsize car market, a Ford executive said on Tuesday. "If things go well, it is likely that this year we will have confirmation that indeed there will be a new product (made) in Mexico," said Marcos S. De Oliveira, the head of Ford Mexico. In April, Ford unveiled the Futura, which will provide the platform for as many as 10 new Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury models over the next several years. De Oliveira said production at Ford's three plants in Mexico was likely to fall this year due to excess capacity and low demand in the United States. Ford produced 185,874 units in Mexico in 2002, down from 239,690 in 2001. It manufactured 57,334 vehicles in Mexico from January to May this year, a drop of 15.5 percent from the same period in 2002.

Fast 4-1-1* General Motors said in July that its second-quarter earnings fell 30 percent due to the rising costs of incentives and the shutdown of a key plant hit by a tornado.* The chief execs at Nissan and Mitsubishi recently criticized the U.S. Big Three for leading a race to offer incentives. They say its killing profitability.* The number of people killed in SUV rollover crashes hit a 12-year high at nearly 43,000.* Ford will cut nearly 10 percent in salary costs. No one knows just how many might be laid off.

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