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  James Mitchell
  6:26 pm on September 7, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: james mitchell, keith whann (628), ohiada (127), OIADA (190)   

  TRUST TO TAKE BUSH’S HEISMAN
  By Charles Robinson and Jason Cole
  5 hours, 59 minutes ago

  The Heisman Trophy Trust is expected to strip former University of Southern California star running back Reggie Bush of college football’s top honor by the end of September, sources told Yahoo! Sports.

  Bush would become the first player in the 75-year history of the award to have the trophy taken away. The NCAA found major violations in the Trojans’ football program in June and levied serious sanctions against the school.

  Two sources close to the Heisman trust said the body’s investigation is coming to a close, and will ultimately concur with the NCAA’s determination that Bush was ineligible during his Heisman-winning season in 2005. Because of that independent conclusion, sources said the trust will relieve Bush of the award and leave the honor for that season vacant. The sources said Bush met with Heisman representatives last month at the New York law offices of Emmet, Marvin & Martin. The sources would not reveal details of that meeting.

   

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  James Mitchell
  11:21 am on September 7, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: james mitchell, keith whann (628), ohiada (127), OIADA (190)   

  CHEVROLET KICKS OFF VOLT PRODUCTION – NOVEMBER 11
  Dealers will find out how many they will get on November 17.

  One of the most anticipated green vehicles around is the Chevrolet Volt. The Volt is an extended range hybrid vehicle that runs all the time on electric power. The gasoline engine is only used to produce electricity to run the car when the batteries lack sufficient power alone.

  Translogic reports that the Chevy Volt is set to go into production on November 11. So far, the launch date of the Volt is said to be in November based on people familiar with the schedule. Dealer allocation is set to be posted on November 17. Dealer allocation will let dealers in the initial launch areas of California, Michigan, and Washington D.C. know how many Volts they can expect on the lot.

  GM plans to build 10,000 volts by the end of 2011 and then up that number to 30,000 units in 2012. At that level of production, the plant where the Volt is built will be producing 24 finished vehicles per day. GM finally offered the official price for the Volt in July pricing the car at $41,000 (before a $7,500 tax credit). Some dealers who will be selling the Volt immediately started adding “market adjustments” to the MSRP of the Volt bringing the price up to $61,000 after markup.

  With some dealers tacking $20,000 onto the already high MSRP of the Volt, AutoNation, which owns 230 dealerships around the country, told its 27 Chevrolet dealers that they will sell the Volt at MSRP or face contract termination. GM has made no official statements on the possibility of dealers charging much more than MSRP for the vehicles.

  Market adjustments are not uncommon in the automotive industry. Ford dealerships routinely add thousands of dollars to the price of the Shelby GT500 and the PT Cruiser saw plenty of dealer markup early in its life when it was actually popular.

   
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  James Mitchell
  4:23 pm on September 3, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: james mitchell, keith whann (628), ohiada (127), OIADA (190)   

  JURY HITS FORD WITH $131 MILLION VERDICT

  BAY SPRINGS, Miss. (Reuters)—A Mississippi jury ordered Ford Motor Co. to pay $131 million to the family of a man who died while driving an Explorer, an attorney for the family said Thursday.

  The trial centered on a 2001 accident involving Brian Cole, who at the time had been a prospect for the New York Mets, family attorney Tab Turner said.

  Turner said that after the jury returned its verdict, Ford reached a settlement with the family. He declined to disclose the amount.

  The case was heard in Jasper County Circuit Court in Mississippi.

  Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans said Cole had been driving over 80 mph when he went off the road and was not wearing his safety belt. She said Ford would have won the case had the judge not excluded certain pieces of evidence.

  “This was a tragic accident, and our sympathy goes out to the Cole family for their loss, but it was unfair of them to blame Ford,” Ms. Evans said.

  Ford also declined to disclose the amount of the settlement.

  Mr. Turner said the damages in this case were higher than other rollover cases because of Mr. Cole’s profession.

  Ford severed a nearly century-old partnership with Firestone in 2001 after blaming the tiremaker for blowouts and rollover accidents that caused a slew of deaths and injuries in rollovers of its Explorer sport utility vehicle.

  Ford, which has vigorously denied allegations the Explorer was especially prone to rollovers, earmarked $2.6 billion in the early part of the decade to replace a total of 19.5 million Firestone tires.

  The automaker has also spent an unknown amount on settlements of wrongful death lawsuits involving the Explorer.

   
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  James Mitchell
  8:59 am on September 3, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: james mitchell, keith whann (628), ohiada (127), OIADA (190)   

  OIADA Congratulates Christine White The … 

  OIADA Congratulates Christine White

  The OIADA is pleased to announce a milestone for our newest team member. This week Christine White celebrated her one year anniversary as the Administrative Assistant and it seems like yesterday when she began her position with us. I look back to the day that the decision was made to add a new member to our team and, after looking at 93 resumes`, I had narrowed the choice to the final five. I then asked LJ Marhefka to come in and interview the final five in an effort to get a second opinion. After the interviews LJ and I sat down, I wrote the name of my choice on a piece of paper, turned it upside down and asked him who he had chosen. He explained that the choice was difficult but he announced that his choice was a candidate by the name of Christine White. When I asked him why he simply said, personality. She had the personality that it took to to work with car dealers. I turned over my piece of paper and revealed the name of the same candidate that he had chosen for the same reason.

  People can be taught many different things from computer skills to sales skills but you can’t teach “Personality”. You either have it or you don’t. In other words you must be born with it and it was evident to both of us that Christine had it. It appears that we made a good choice and I for one am proud of the girl we selected. Congratulations Christine……..well done.

   
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  James Mitchell
  8:34 am on September 3, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: james mitchell, keith whann (628), ohiada (127), OIADA (190)   

  KIA RECALLS SOULS AND SORENTOS FOR FIRE RISK
  Ryan Beene
  Automotive News — September 2, 2010 – 2:58 pm ET

  NHTSA has received four complaints of fires in the interior door panels of the 2010 Kia Soul while the vehicle was being driven.
  Kia Motors America said today it is recalling about 35,000 2010-11 Souls and Sorentos because faulty wiring harnesses could short and cause a fire.

  The recall affects about 23,972 2010 Soul compact crossovers equipped with a special lighting system that includes illuminated front speakers in the interior door panel. About 11,213 2011 Sorento crossovers equipped with a similar feature in the “Limited” options package also are affected.

  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received four complaints of fires in the interior door panels of the 2010 Kia Soul while the vehicle was being driven. No crashes were reported.

  Kia said it was not aware of any accidents or injuries that have resulted from the problem, and owners of vehicles with the illuminated speaker option can turn off the feature to prevent damage before taking the vehicles to dealers for repairs.

  According to a Kia, a limited number of wiring harnesses supplied by Johnson Controls Inc. may have been soldered improperly. The harness could short out in certain conditions, possibly causing a fire, the statement said. Kia did not detail the type of conditions that could lead to a short.

   
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  James Mitchell
  11:53 am on September 2, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: james mitchell, keith whann (628), ohiada (127), OIADA (190)   

  GM POSTS GAINS IN 3 OF 4 BRANDS, BUT CHEVY DOWN 22%.
  David Barkholz
  Automotive News — September 1, 2010 – 5:10 pm ET

  General Motors Co. posted strong August sales at three of its four remaining brands.

  But Chevrolet, struggling with tough comparisons against last year’s cash-for-clunkers bonanza, posted a 22 percent drop in sales, dragging overall demand for the automaker’s core brands down 11 percent last month.

  GM’s sales — including discontinued brands — dropped 25 percent, while industry sales fell 21 percent.

  GM’s biggest division couldn’t match August 2009 — when Chevrolet recorded the bulk of its 86,000 sales under the clunkers program. The program provided incentives of up to $4,500 for shoppers who turned in older-model gas guzzlers for more fuel-efficient models.

  (More …)

   
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  James Mitchell
  11:06 am on September 1, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: james mitchell, keith whann (628), ohiada (127), OIADA (190)   

  INCREASING CUSTOMER TRAFFIC Written By J… 

  INCREASING CUSTOMER TRAFFIC
  Written By Jan Kelly

  F&I productivity requires opportunities. Opportunities are closed sales that come from the sales department. In short it all begins with floor traffic—if you don’t have customers to buy your cars, you don’t have customers to buy your F&I products. It seems like every business has been on a severe expense cutting program and the first thing that is cut is training, followed by advertising, both of which are necessary to grow sales. The challenge is how to increase floor traffic without increasing the cost of doing business. Automobile dealerships, which have done well in this economy, have strived to make their dealership a destination, not some place to stop by while they are on the way to somewhere else. Here are 12 ideas to help you make your business a destination for your consumers.

  Community service
  Since during the summer time local hospitals and the Red Cross need blood. Organize a blood drive with the blood mobile at your dealership. Have a local radio station advertise the event as a community service. Some will even do a remote show to raise community awareness.

  (More …)

   
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  James Mitchell
  11:31 pm on August 31, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: james mitchell, keith whann (628), ohiada (127), OIADA (190)   

  NADA TO OPPOSE NEW FUEL ECONOMY LABELS N… 

  NADA TO OPPOSE NEW FUEL ECONOMY LABELS
  Neil Roland
  Automotive News — August 31, 2010 – 3:21 pm ET

  Under one proposal to inform new vehicle shoppers of fuel economy and emissions, the window label would feature a letter grade. The label also would estimate the vehicle’s fuel-cost savings over five years compared with similar vehicles.

  WASHINGTON — The National Automobile Dealers Association said today it would likely oppose a federal proposal to label new vehicles starting with a letter grade from A+ to D based on their fuel economy and emissions.

  NADA joins many automakers in criticizing the Obama administration’s letter-rating proposal, which was unveiled Monday and has been endorsed by many environmental groups.

  (More …)

   
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  James Mitchell
  11:44 am on August 30, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: james mitchell, keith whann (628), ohiada (127), ohio dealer association (33), OIADA (190)   

  DO YOU HAVE TO TAX A VEHICLE SOLD FOR EXPORT?

  There have been a lot of questions lately regarding the sale of a motor vehicle to a customer who resides outside of the United States. After receiving many different answers, even from the Department of Revenue, I have received written clarification as to how a dealer can sell a motor vehicle to a customer who resides outside of the United States. Please review the following information which was received from Mr. Keith Wilson of the Ohio Department of Revenue.

  If the dealer arranges and pays for the shipping of the vehicle out of Ohio, it is considered interstate commerce and exempt from Ohio sales tax. See tax commissioner’s rule #5703-9-39 at this link:

  http://www.tax.ohio.gov/divisions/legal/rules/final/5703_09/5703_9_39.stm

  If the customer takes possession of the vehicle or arranges the shipping (the shipping company becomes an agent of the buyer at this point), the buyer is considered to have taken possession in Ohio and Ohio sales tax would be due at the county of the dealer location.

   
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  James Mitchell
  9:56 pm on August 27, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: FLOOD CARS, james mitchell, keith whann (628), ohiada (127), OIADA (190)   

  HOW TO AVOID BUYING A FLOOD DAMAGED CAR

  Ways To Know if a Vehicle Was Sleeping With the Fishes
  By Ronald Montoya, Contributor and Kelsey Mays, Contributor

  Vehicles damaged by floodwaters can put an unsuspecting buyer through the ringer. Sometimes these flood-damaged cars are refurbished — a process called title washing — as their titles are changed and the vehicles sold to unsuspecting buyers in distant states. Electrical and mechanical problems can surface later — long after the seller is gone — leaving the new owner with no recourse.

  With floods in the Midwest and frequent hurricanes along the Gulf Coast, there are quite a few of these cases causing headaches for consumers. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Automotive News estimated that some 200 dealerships across Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi were damaged or destroyed, and Carfax reported that well over 500,000 cars were likely affected.

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