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TODAY ON FREEP.COMAutomakers releaseDecember sales figures
A look inside the newCorvette engine 1E
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DThursday, Jan. 3, 2008 Business dept.: 313-222-8765, [email protected] www.freep.com Detroit Free Press
Nancy Gioia loves takingin the Michigan outdoors onhorseback, and she has a pen-chant for recycling just abouteverything, even maskingtape — a lesson she learnedfrom her Depression-era par-ents while growing up in Li-vonia.
“If you don’t reuse things,you’re being wasteful,” shesaid one day at the LivingstonCounty stable, where sheboards her two horses, Moeand Zoom.
Still, Gioia, Ford MotorCo.’s director of sustainablemobility technologies and hy-brid vehicle programs,doesn’t consider herself anenvironmentalist.
“Maybe I just associate itmore with extremists,” sheexplained.
Still, as the womansquarely in charge of paintingFord’s future green, with newtechnologies that will makeFord’s future cars and truckscleaner and more efficient,she has an environmentalmission all the same.
“The whole world has tochange the way we dothings,” said Gioia, who be-lieves climate change is a realproblem. “I just feel verystrongly we have to live very
responsibly.”So even though she won’t
use the “e” word to describeherself, she said, “My job isvery compatible with my be-liefs. … This is in my DNA.”
Biofuels, hybrid vehicles keyFor Gioia, that job means
managing the engineeringdevelopment of a mind-bog-gling array of possible techni-cal directions automakerscould take to make cars andtrucks cleaner and more effi-
THE ACCIDENTAL ACTIVIST
2007 photo by ROMAIN BLANQUART/Detroit Free Press
Nancy Gioia gets ready to ride her horse Bask Motif, aka Moe, at Turning Point farms in South Lyon. She is an avid outdoorswoman and leadsFord’s sustainability programs, but don’t call her an environmentalist. “Maybe I just associate it more with extremists,” she said.
FUELING FORD’SGREEN ENGINE
“My job is very compatible with my beliefs. …This is in my DNA.”
NANCY GIOIA, Ford Motor Co.’s director of sustainable mobility technologies and hybrid vehicle programs
Gioia is on a mission todevelop cleaner vehicles
By SARAH A. WEBSTER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
See GIOIA, 3D
The popularity of the newChevrolet Malibu is good newsfor General Motors Corp. andfor the workers in its OrionTownship Assemblyplant.
Speaking to report-ers Wednesday, MarkLaNeve, GM’s head ofsales, service and mar-keting in North Ameri-ca, said the automakerhas expanded produc-tion of the redesignedmidsize sedan to a sec-ond plant — its OrionTownship plant — be-cause it is not able tomeet demand for the vehicle.
The big complaint fromdealers about the Malibu sofar, LaNeve said, is that theycan’t get them in showroomsfast enough.
The Malibu was named theFree Press Car of the Year andis a finalist for North AmericanCar of the Year, an award that
will be presented at the NorthAmerican International AutoShow at Cobo Center thismonth.
The automaker continuesto produce the Malibu at itslongtime home in Fairfax,
Kan., but added it to theOrion assembly line —which also makes thePontiac G6 — on Dec. 3.The Malibu and the G6are built on the same ve-hicle platform.
The companywouldn’t say what per-centage of the vehiclesproduced in Orion areMalibus, but Chevroletspokeswoman NancyLibby said the plant is
producing 60 vehicles an hourwith two shifts a day.
Fairfax is also operatingwith two shifts per day.
Workers in Orion Townshiptold the Free Press in Augustthat they expected to win pro-duction of the new hot-selling
Orion plantis buildingChevrolet’shot Malibu2nd site is effort to keep upwith demand for the sedan
MarkLaNeve, GMsales andmarketingexecutive
By KATIE MERX
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
See MALIBU, 2D
Crude oil prices hit $100 abarrel for the first time everWednesday in New York trad-ing, meaning consumers canexpect higher prices.
The price fell back into thehigh $90 range by the end oftrading, but the event con-firmed that rising crude oilprices will translate into re-cords at the pump, said BenBrockwell, director of data,pricing and information ser-vices for the Rockville, Md.-based Oil Price InformationService.
“We have already forecast… that retail prices will aver-age between $3.50 and $3.75” agallon for regular self-serve“during most of the year,” hesaid.
Gas prices were already ris-ing. Michigan gas prices areaveraging $3.099 a gallon for
regular self-serve, up 85.9cents from a year ago, AAAMichigan said Wednesday.
Contact JOE GUY COLLIER at313-222-6512 [email protected].
Crude oil pricecloses near $100
By JOE GUY COLLIER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
Sources: New York Mercantile Exchange, futures.tradingcharts.com
Detroit Free Press
Oil prices(Crude per barrel)
$100
95
9085
706560
8075
Wednesday’sclose:
$99.47
Oct. Dec. Jan.Sept. Nov.2007 2008Aug.
� Answers on oil impacts. 2D
Party timeGeneral Motors Corp. begins
the countdown to its 100th birth-day today with a 24-hour in-vitation-only virtual media forumwith its top executives fromaround the world, beginning withChairman and CEO Rick Wagonerat 10 a.m. Check www.freep.comthroughout the day to see what’sbreaking.
While the online chats areexclusively for the media, later in
the day, the public will be able tovisit a Web site GM is launchingas part of its celebration atwww.Gmnext.com.
Using the Web site, workers,retirees and the public will beable to participate in GM’s cele-bration by chronicling their mem-ories and knowledge of GeneralMotors in public blogs.
- KATIE MERX
between it and soft-roaders — luxurycrossovers with no rough-terrain creden-tials like the BMW X3, Infiniti FX, LandRover LR2 and Lincoln MKX.
The GLK is about 178 inches long,slightly longer than the LR2 and a coupleof inches shorter than the X3.
The GLK’s scalloped hood and uprightsides emphasize its connection with theGL, as do the concept’s seven-speed auto-matic transmission and all-wheel drive.
Mercedes-Benz plans to display a rug-ged little concept SUV at the North Amer-ican International Auto Show in Detroiton Jan. 13 that’s nearly identical to an up-coming production model.
Called the GLK, the compact off-roaderis a step smaller than Mercedes’ M-classmidsize SUV. Its upright styling clearlydraws on the larger Mercedes GL-classSUVs, however.
The concept is called the GLK Freeside.The production model is likely to be onsale within a year.
Mercedes emphasizes the vehicle’s off-road capability to underscore its connec-tion with the big GL and draw a distinction
Power comes from a fuel-efficient, 2.2-liter, four-cylinder turbodiesel that meetsU.S. emissions standards and produces170 horsepower.
Interior features include black leather,chrome accents and unique wood trim,which has a distinctive black color offsetby white grain.
Contact MARK PHELAN at 313-222-6731 [email protected].
Mercedes toshow offcompactSUV idea
Mercedes-Benz
The Mercedes concept off-roader is called the GLK Freeside. The production model is likely to beon sale within a year. It has a 2.2-liter, four-cylinder turbodiesel.
By MARK PHELAN
FREE PRESS AUTO CRITIC
