James B. Treece
Automotive News
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Past articles by James:
Toyota Group suppliers grapple with yen's impact on profits
Toyota Group suppliers posted mixed financial results in the April-June quarter, reflecting varying levels of success coping with adverse exchange rates in the wake of the yen's sharp rise following the U.K.'s Brexit vote. → Read More
Public dealership groups pump up stock buybacks
Several publicly traded dealership groups have reported record first-quarter earnings per share. A key driver of that has been aggressive share buybacks. → Read More
Dealer pessimism about 2016 outlook grows
Dealers' optimism is being tested in 2016. An unscientific survey by Automotive News found a sharp jump in the percentage of dealers who are pessimistic about the sales and profits outlook this year, even as the percentage that is strongly optimistic held steady. → Read More
TrueCar hits reset, drops practices that riled dealers
New TrueCar CEO Chip Perry is radically overhauling the online lead-generating site, dismantling many of the practices that have most alienated dealers. Perry, in a letter to have been sent to dealers late Sunday, identified changes designed to address several areas of dealer concern. → Read More
Buy-sells reshuffle dealership rankings
One of the busiest buy-sell years ever led to reverberations throughout Automotive News' annual proprietary list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., as ranked by new-vehicle retail unit sales. → Read More
Is CHAdeMO headed for CHAde-NO?
The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV plug-in hybrid crossover drops the CHAdeMO charging port for the U.S. That can't be good news for the Japanese backers of the high-speed charging protocol. → Read More
Mitsubishi gives sneak peek of Outlander plug-in hybrid
Mitsubishi offered a sneak peek at the U.S. version of the Outlander PHEV plug-in hybrid crossover at an event Thursday evening ahead of the Detroit auto show. → Read More
Lexus is flexing its CPO muscles
Lexus, one of the pioneers in aggressively promoting certified used-vehicle sales, is raising its game. The brand re-badged its Lexus Certified program as L/Certified about two months ago. The program also got a new logo and supporting ad campaign. → Read More
N.H. Supreme Court upholds 'dealer bill of rights’
The New Hampshire Supreme Court has ruled against a challenge to the state’s “dealer bill of rights” by farm-equipment makers, which had held up implementation of 2013 revisions to the state law. → Read More
As head of a desperate Nissan, Hanawa knew where he stood
If Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is tempted to revive his push to acquire -- I'm sorry, merge with (cough, cough) -- General Motors, he might do well to consider the tale of Yoshikazu Hanawa. → Read More
With a foe like this, CarMax just can't win
Sean Kane, a consumer advocate, set out deliberately to buy a used vehicle with an open safety recall at a CarMax store in Massachusetts. He succeeded, purchasing a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee with three unfixed recall orders on it. Now, he's upset that CarMax sold him the Jeep. → Read More
Hachigo steers back-to-basics strategy at Honda
Takahiro Hachigo took over as Honda Motor Co. CEO last June as the company was recovering from several body blows. → Read More
Manheim makes used vehicles retail ready
Auction giant Manheim, which has long offered to recondition clients' vehicles before they go through the auction lanes, now preps cars and trucks to get them front-line retail ready. The operation takes on work that otherwise would have filled dealerships' service bays. → Read More
Checking out the competition
It’s common to see senior auto executives strolling through an auto show, checking out the competition. The various ways they do it offer insight into their styles. → Read More
AutoNation's Q3 net rises 11%
AutoNation's third-quarter net income rose 11 percent to $118.5 million from a year earlier, as revenues increased 9.1 percent to $5.35 billion. Revenues rose across all business lines, climbing by double digits for new-vehicle sales as well as finance and insurance. → Read More
AutoNation buys 12 Texas stores in biggest purchase since 1999
AutoNation is acquiring 12 stores in Texas from Allen Samuels Auto Group. The stores generate approximately $800 million in revenues and sell about 19,500 new and used retail units a year. Terms of the deals were not disclosed. → Read More
Mitsubishi Q2 net falls 14% despite revenue gain
Mitsubishi Motors' net income fell 14 percent to 28.1 billion yen ($234.6 million) in the fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, despite a 9.2 percent rise in revenues. → Read More
Why U.S. isn't ready for a law that grounds vehicles with open recalls
AutoNation's declaration that it won’t sell a vehicle that has an open recall may prompt renewed calls to make that policy the law of the land. Such a law would be a mistake, at least under our current system of government recalls. → Read More
CarMax dodges a bullet, thanks to NADA, NIADA and NAAA
CarMax owes the National Automobile Dealers Association, the National Auto Auction Association and the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association an enormous thank you. → Read More
AutoCanada Q2 net grows 5.4%, but same-store results decline
AutoCanada said its second-quarter net rose 5.4 percent to $13.5 million Canadian (US$10.9 million), as gains from newly acquired dealerships offset economic headwinds in western Canada's oil patch. → Read More