At the 2013 Los Angeles auto show Bob Carter, senior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A. Inc., talked to Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, Driving the Nation about marketshare and brand loyalty. What is the average age of a Toyota? What are the sales for Toyota so far this year? Toyota [...]
California is a critical state for Mazda. Robert Davis, Senior Vice President for U.S. Operations, reminds me that they are headquartered in California, so he knows the California Air Resources Board (CARB) emissions requirements all too well. "We're a smaller manufacturer, so the ability to meet the requirements they give us are a little bit [...]
BMW of North America's President and CEO Ludwig Willisch talked to Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, www.drivingthenation.com, about the BMW i concept cars. When will we finally see a production vehicle come out of all these i concept cars? Will it be a full EV, a plug-in, or an extended range, or all three. What will [...]
John Maloney, President and CEO, Volvo North American talked to Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, www.drivingthenation.com about Volvo. How is Volvo doing? What new products is Volvo bringing out? What is Polestar? Where are the new Volvos being designed? Is Volvo producing in other countries than Sweden? How critical is California to Volvo? 41 percent of [...]
Tim Mahoney, Volkswagen's Vice President of Product and Marketing, Volkswagen North America, talked to Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, www.drivingthenation.com, about Volkswagen's new Beetle and record sales growth. There were snickers behind the executives of Volkswagen AG's backs when they said they wanted a certain number of sales, but Volkswagen's sales are increasing, along with the [...]
Mark Del Rosso, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, of Audi of America, talked to Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, www.drivingthenation.com about Audi in California. Is Audi looking at bringing in more mid-size and sub-compact cars? How did Audi produce better results in 2012 than they did in 2011? How are diesel sales for Audi? [...]
Wolfgang Hatz is a member of Porsche AG Board of Management in charge of Research and Development, and is additionally Head of Engines and Transmissions Development for the Volkswagen Group. Hatz talked to Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, www.drivingthenation.com. How much further can the gasoline engine go for fuel efficiency? Hatz talks about the hybrids that [...]
Mark Templin, Group Vice President & General Manager & Global Marketing & Product planner, talked to Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, www.drivingthenation.com, after the unveil of the Lexus LF-CC concept. Lexus was launched in 1989, for the United States market. How many countries are they in now? Who is Lexus' biggest competitor? What is the average [...]
Los Angeles, CA - Benoit Jacob, Chief designer, BMWi, talked to Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, www.drivingthenation.com, at the 2012 Los Angeles auto show about the world debut of the i3 coupe. What does i stand for? Jacob talks about the BMWi, the design, the powertrain, the lightness of the vehicle. Will BMW use recycled or [...]
Los Angeles, CA - Lonnie Miller is Vice President of Polk's Marketing & Industry Analysis team. Miller talked to Lou Ann Hammond, CEO, www.drivingthenation.com, about the auto industry, past, present and future. Polk is known for impartial data collection and reporting. It wasn't until I read Polk's website that I found out that Alfred P. [...]