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Two South Dakota car dealers are suing General Motors, claiming state law bars the Detroit automaker from ending its franchise with them, at least without a hearing. Now I'm sure there's something about the relationship between GM and dealer franchises that I don't understand, but if these dealers want to keep selling cars that aren't selling, why stop them? Read more at the Chicago Tribune  

We were fortunate last week to have the new 2010 Kia Forte at our Cincinnati Kia dealership Jeff Wyler Eastgate to test drive and review.  Our Kia manufacturer reps came by for a few hours with the new Forte, as well as some anticipated training for our sales team, and the opportunity to sit in and drive the new Forte Our initial thoughts were that Kia is serious about aggressive, innovative design.  Remember - we just had the release of the 2010 Kia Soul quite recently, which surprised many folks that have some pre-conceived notions about Kia...

AR Index     567.60  +12.66  (+2.28%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  79.85  -1.87 GM        1.21    +0.46 Ford      6.38    +0.25 Dow 8764.49  +43.05   (+0.49%) Perhaps it's an abberation, but the move in GM stock this week (even though it's now on the pink sheets) kept the Index moving into positive territory again. At first I thought we might be looking at a "dead cat bounce", but it seems more like people must be convinced that even though GM is going to drastically change, there's still going to be a GM that comes out at the other end of the tunnel and the stock price makes it worth taking a chance on.

With GM reaching a tentative deal to sell Saturn to Roger Penske, you sort of wonder why anyone would want to jump into the auto manufacturing business right now. One thing for certain, Penske is no fool. He must feel pretty sure that he can make this work...

Dear Dub, have a 2003 Mini with 103,000 miles on it and the transmission suddenly went out. The dealer quoted me at $9,000 to repair the it, which is essentially the value of the car. Do you know if anyone has had any luck with extended warranties or with the dealers?..

OK, I admit I'm sort of a nut when it comes to my lawn. I love a great lawn and don't mind working on it, so my Sunday "review" of my 22 year old lawn tractor can be rationalized. But after yesterday I might need to join a Zaino support group...

We all know that the automotive industry is in trouble. Bankruptcies at GM and Chrysler were the expected outcome. These two companies used the “excuse” of economic upheaval to radically reorganize themselves in ways that labor unions, stockholders, and franchise laws wouldn’t allow otherwise...

Here's the problem with messing with private companies and the free market... where do you stop? "I honestly don't believe that companies should be allowed to take taxpayer funds for a bailout and then leave it to local dealers and their customers to fend for themselves," said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), who convened the hearing...

As the Detroit carmaker began retooling after filing for bankruptcy protection, a company spokesman said Monday he did not expect further cuts to GM Racing's budget, which supports NASCAR, NHRA, ALMS and short-track racing activities around the country and adheres to the "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" mantra. "Racing equals good ROI (return on investment)," said Steve Janisse, group manager for Chevrolet Communications. "There are no expected budget cuts right now." But will it sell the smaller, more fuel efficient cars that Government Motors is promising?..

Here we are in Garden Grove at Euclid and Garden Grove Blvd. at the classic car show. And PCH cruise...