It's good to have Lexis access. I'd like to post this as a document so people could download it.
Where is the place on the Fiero Forum to do this?
Industry Week November 29, 1982
Copyright 1982 Penton/IPC
Industry Week
November 29, 1982
SECTION: NEWSCOPE; Pg. 14
LENGTH: 88 words
HEADLINE: Car not due till next fall is already 'very proud'
BODY:
A sporty two-seater from General Motors Corp.'s Pontiac Motor Div. doesn't debut until the 1984 model year, but its name already has: "Fiero" -- which means "very proud" in Italian -- will be the new model's label. Ernest D. Schaefer, Fiero assembly plant manager in Pontiac, Mich., estimates that 2,400 employees will eventually be called back from indefinite layoffs to produce the car. Fiero, scheduled for public introduction next fall, "will be one of the most innovative Pontiacs in years," Mr. Schaefer promises.
United Press International November 29, 1982, Monday, BC cycle
Copyright 1982 U.P.I.
United Press International
November 29, 1982, Monday, BC cycle
SECTION: Financial
LENGTH: 192 words
DATELINE: DETROIT
BODY:
Domestic automakers will introduce new or redesigned sports cars every year during the next five years, Ward's Automotive Reports said Monday.
Each of the autos will be shorter than the car it replaces and by 1987, nearly all will be front-wheel drive, the trade publication said.
The New York Times, November 14, 1982
Copyright 1982 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
November 14, 1982, Sunday, Late City Final Edition
SECTION: Section 3; Page 4, Column 3; Financial Desk
LENGTH: 1965 words
HEADLINE: THE AMERICANIZING OF JAPAN'S CARS
BYLINE: By JOHN HOLUSHA
DATELINE: NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. WHEN Toyota brought out its second
BODY:
generation Celica in 1978, consumers were attracted by its fuel economy, the reputation of Japanese quality and by the car's sporty good looks, which were something of a departure from the more austere model that preceded it.
Few of the 167,266 Celica buyers that year, or the 417,658 who have followed since, knew that their imported car had been largely designed in the United States, by a mostly American staff.
In fact, it would probably surprise many Americans to find out that most Japanese auto companies have established design centers in Southern California staffed primarily with American car designers who have fled what many of them say is the constraining atmosphere of Detroit.
''We do total designs here and present them to top management,'' said James Sherburne, who spent 15 years at the Ford Motor Company before joining Calty Design Research Inc., a subsidiary of the Toyota Motor Company, as a design director in 1978. ''In Detroit you have to answer to innumerable layers of management. You can't make a pure design statement.''
The Celica, for example, was a product of Calty - the subsidiary's name is a contraction of California Toyota - which is located here in Newport Beach. The other major Japanese auto makers which have built facilities in Southern California are Nissan (La Jolla), Honda (Torrance), Mitsubishi (Fountain Valley) and Mazda (Irvine).
The Japanese auto companies have also used European design consultants. But Japanese cars are becoming more American than European in character, with plenty of gadgets and frequent model changes, so the American designers working for the Japanese expect to have a large influence over future Japanese cars.
The ability to produce sophisticated, appealing designs is increasingly important to Japanese auto companies as they push upward from the ''econobox'' market - plain, economical sedans - into the more profitable family, sport and luxury car markets. And for all their vaunted advances in economy, quality and manufacturing, the Japanese, according to some of their own car executives, have been weak on original design. Somewhat surprisingly, given Detroit's past image of tail fins, chrome and excess, the Japanese have raided American auto companies for most of their new designers.
''IN 1973 our management had a consensus that we should establish a department which thinks about future products,'' said Mamoru Yaegashi, the former chief of design for Toyota who founded, and remains chief executive of, Calty Design. After deciding that foreign talent would be needed, and deciding it should be American, Toyota settled on Southern California as the best place to accomplish the difficult task of blending two very different cultures. ''In California people are free; it is more acceptable to do different things,'' Mr. Yaegashi said. ''It is a white canvas. Detroit is a painted canvas.''
Detroit also has long, dark and cold winters, a serious disadvantage compared to the year-round sunshine of Southern California, where all the Japanese design centers are located. There are not as many tennis courts next to American design centers in Detroit as there are at Calty and Nissan Design. Indeed, Irvin W. Rybicki, the chief designer for General Motors Corporation, complained recently that he has had trouble hiring some young designers, who said they preferred to live in California.
But weather is not the only factor, according to some of the defectors from Detroit. It is also freedom from what some said was overwhelming corporate bureaucracy, from cars designed by committee, from financial experts who alter a seamless design to save a few pennies.
THIS is not to say that every design is accepted, just that it is considered unaltered. Norman Lean, Toyota's vice president for sales in the United States, formerly worked for Ford, so he knows the folkways of Detroit. Although he admits the appearance of the company's oddlooking, but functional, new four-wheel-drive Tercel wagon ''verges on the weird,'' he expects it to appeal to buyers to put practicality over appearance. ''I just know that vehicle woud not have cleared a domestic styling review,'' Mr. Lean said.
Commenting of the sluggish sales of General Motor's ''A'' body cars in a recent interview with Car and Driver magazine, Lee A. Iacocca, the chairman of Chrysler Corporation, echoed this theme.
''To me the tactical error is who designed the 'A' shell. That somebody was a committee. Somebody said, 'We've got to have a low drag coefficient, so raise the trunk.' Somebody said, 'Well, we've got to make it more like something an Oldsmobile buyer would want,' and they got a camel in that car.'' The reference, of course, is to the old engineering adage: A camel is a horse designed by a committee.
In Detroit's defense, some of its severest recent critics - automotive magazines such as Car and Driver, Road & Track and Motor Trend -have lately noted that the American manufacturers are becoming more innovative, now that the majority of American-made cars have been downsized for greater fuel efficiency. For example, Chrysler revived the convertible, and G.M.'s sleek Chrevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird sporty cars have been widely praised.
Gerald P. Hirshberg, who quit as chief designer for G.M.'s Buick division two and a half years ago to become director of Nissan Design International in La Jolla, describes the facility as an ''experiment in intercultural creativity.'' He said there are marked differences in the way the Japanese and Americans do business.
''Their homework is legendary,'' he said. ''Before they take step one, they research the whole subject thoroughly. Americans tend to make decisions on the basis of less preparation, knowning things can be modified later. But when the Japanese make decisions, it is locked in concrete.''
The quest for knowledge by the Japanese is so intense, Mr. Hirshberg said, ''I feel as if my brain has been nibbled away a little every day.''
The exchange seems to work both ways, with some American adapting to Japanese cultural patterns. Senior Japanese executives are always referred to as ''Mister'' and those on a roughtly equivalent level are called by their surnames with the ''san'' honorific attached.
None of the Japanese-American design centers are very large, at least by Detroit standards. Calty has nine American designers and a rotating staff of three or four Japanese designers. Model makers and other support people push the total staff to 35. Nissan Design will total 30 when its moves from its temporary quarters into a new building.
THE work done at the centers is similar on both sides of the Pacific, since the Japanese have adopted the American system of working with modeling clay and fiberglass rather than the European preference for plaster and sheet metal.
New designs are sketched out on paper and the more likely possibilities are converted into fullsize models. Usually a wooden subframe is built and covered in special modeling clay for refinement of details. These models are also used for wind tunnel tests to determine how aerodynamically efficient a proposed shape will be. Since opening and closing clay doors is hardly practical, separate ''seating bucks'' are used to refine details of the interior.
Impressions of the clay model are then taken to form the fiberglass panels. These are assembled around the interior mock-ups to make the final model that is presented to management.
Although their isolation from headquarters is conducive to design creativity, some of the American designers working for Japanese auto company said that there are also problems in working with a very different country an ocean away. Mr. Sherburne said future Celicas are likely to be designed in Japan rather than Calty, although they may be based on Calty concepts.
''IT'S a little hard to do production cars from this side of the pond,'' he said. ''We can provide the seeds for the parent company to develop, and that will fulfull the designer's ideal role of developing new concepts.''
There are other problems, ones that might not occur to outsiders. For one thing, cars often look different in Japan than they do in the United States.
''Americans design for a strong graphic image, because this is a country with big spaces,'' Mr. Sherburne said. ''It's very tight in Japan and more urban, so they pay more attention to design details. A design that looks fine here can seem out of proportion in Japan.''
The Japanese auto companies appear committed to their American design boutiques. Calty has all the facilities to build a full-size, fiberglas car model, and Nissan is investing $4.5 million in its new La Jolla design center. When Mitsubishi, the newest Japanese entrant to the American auto market moves into its new building, a spokesman said, one of the earliest actions will be to expand the design staff.
Many in the auto industry think the growth markets of the 1980's will be for specialty vehicles, such as four-wheel-drive pickup trucks, small vans and two-seat sports cars, such as Pontiac's midengined Fiero, to be introduced next fall.
''The designers and creative people are having a ball right now,'' Mr. Hirshberg observed. ''When the foundations of an industry are challenged, you have to do something different.''
AIR VS. CARS:IT'S A DRAG
Automobile designers all around the world are trying to mold cars, vans and trucks that are more aerodynamic. The reason: fuel economy. While much of the power needed to accelerate a car is used to overcome inertia, once the car gets going the air around it becomes the enemy. At a steady cruising speed of 50 miles per hour, over half of the engine's power is robbed by wind resistance.
Because of this, designers are shifting to softer, more rounded shapes to cheat the wind. For the Ford Motor Company, it means a complete change in its corporate look; from the squared-off, formal approach of the past to a flowing, angle-free design best exemplified by its soon-to-be-introduced Thunderbird.
In the quest for ever lower drag coefficients, designers and engineers are breaking with some cherished automotive traditions. Standup hood ornaments are likely to go the way of running boards and rumble seats, as more cars are designed with sharply sloping front ends intended to divide the air cleanly and start it flowing smoothly over and under the car.
Designers are also eager to do away with roll-down windows, because glass that is permanently bonded flush with the rest of the car body is of great aerodynamic benefit. Whether the public will accept a little porthole for paying tolls and buying hamburgers at drive-ins is not yet clear.
One positive effect for consumers is that trunks of cars are liable to remain spacious, despite downsizing, because a high rear deck helps the air slide smoothly off the car without drag-inducing turbulence.
The search for better aerodynamics may even produce a kind of offshoot of the totally nonfunctional tail fins of the 1950's. Designers say small wings, called spoilers, on the rear deck can help a car make a clean break with the air flowing over it.
GRAPHIC: Illustrations: Photo of the future car
The first to be introduced with be the Corvette, which will make its debut this winter as a ''1983 '' model. It will be 96 inches long instead of its 98-inch predecessor.
In 1984, Pontiac will introduce the Fiero, its P-car, and Chrysler Corp. the G-25, both front-wheel drive. Ford Motor Co. will unveil a 97.9 inch Mustang in 1985 to replace the current 100.4-inch wheelbase and it will have front wheel drive.
That year, the Capri will be imported from Ford of Europe instead of being built in the United States.
Ward's said in 1986, Buick and Cadillac each will have a two-door sporty-luxury coupe, although some insiders think this auto -- intended to compete with Mercedes-Benz -- will be introduced in 1987.
In 1987, GM will shorten its Camaro and Firebird models to 98 inches from the current 101 inches and each will have front-wheel drive.
The New York Times, November 10, 1982
Copyright 1982 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
November 10, 1982, Wednesday, Late City Final Edition
SECTION: Section D; Page 5, Column 1; Financial Desk
LENGTH: 178 words
HEADLINE: G.M. to Begin Worker Recall
BYLINE: Reuters
DATELINE: DETROIT, Nov. 9
BODY:
The General Motors Corporation said that it would begin recalling 2,400 laid-off workers at a plant in Pontiac, Mich., in January to prepare for production of its new European-style Fiero sports car.
The car, a two-seater with a rear-mounted, four-cylinder engine, will be marketed in the fall of 1983, the company said. Meanwhile, Ward's Automotive Reports, an industry newsletter, said that G.M. plans to import a new subcompact car built in Japan by Isuzu Motors Ltd. at a rate of 200,000 annually by late 1984.
Ward's said the vehicle, code-named the ''ST-Car,'' was designed to replace G.M.'s Chevrolet Chevette starting in mid-1984. It said the ST would be slightly smaller than the Chevette and would get 45 to 50 miles a gallon.
G.M., which owns a 34 percent stake in Isuzu, had no comment on the report, or on a statement by an Isuzu spokesman in Tokyo that his company and G.M. were considering joint production of Isuzu cars in the United States starting in 1986.
The Associated Press November 9, 1982, Tuesday, BC cycle
Copyright 1982 Associated Press
All Rights Reserved
The Associated Press
These materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The Associated Press
November 9, 1982, Tuesday, BC cycle
SECTION: Business News
LENGTH: 249 words
HEADLINE: Pontiac Names New Model Fiero
DATELINE: PONTIAC, Mich.
BODY:
General Motors Corp.'s Pontiac Motor Division on Tuesday announced it has named its new, two-seat sports car _ to debut next fall _ the Fiero.
At a news conference at the plant where the car will be built, Ernest D. Schaefer, plant manager, said the name comes from the Italian word meaning "very proud."
It also combines the first two letters of Pontiac's highly successful Firebird model, while the last three letters of Fiero incorporate a part of the word aerodynamic _ the shape of the new car, Pontiac said in a statement.
"Our main objective is to produce the highest quality vehicle and get it to the marketplace as fast as we possibly can," Schaefer said.
Pilot production of the car, which unofficial photos have shown to have a wedge-shaped front with pop-up headlights, a fiberglass body and side-mounted four-cylinder engine in the car's middle, will begin Feb. 21, he said. Regular production will begin July 18, he added.
About 30 cars will be built an hour, with two shifts a day, meaning a volume of about 110,000 cars to be built a year, Schaefer said.
Unofficial reports put the car's price tag at at least $10,000 or $12,000.
The 55-year-old plant where the cars will be built now is being renovated for the change. It formerly made bodies for Grand Prix and Bonneville models, which were moved elsewhere.
The approximately 2,400 workers on layoff from the facility will begin to be called back in January, with all of them expected to be back by July.
GRAPHIC: Laserphoto
PR Newswire November 9, 1982
COPYRIGHT 1982 PR Newswire Association, Inc.
PR Newswire
November 9, 1982, Tuesday
DISTRIBUTION: TO FINANCIAL; COPY TO AUTO EDITOR
LENGTH: 476 words
DATELINE: PONTIAC, Mich., Nov. 9
BODY:
PONTIAC, Mich., Nov. 9 /PRN/ -- Pontiac Motor Division announced
today that its 1984 two-seater sports car will be named the ''Fiero''
(Fee-air-o) -- a name which combines the excitement of Firebird with
the aerodynamics of the division's history.
The new name, translated from the Italian word meaning "very
proud," had been used by Pontiac in 1968 on a Pontiac "idea car,"
according to Ernest D. Schaefer, Fiero assembly plant manager. In
addition to the Fiero name, each new car will carry a "2-M-4"
designator which describes the car's function: two-seat, mid-engine,
four cylinders.
Schaefer and Jerry D. Lewis, UAW Shop Committee chairman at the
new Fiero facility, told an audience of media representatives and
laid-off employees who are scheduled to work on the new car, "Fiero
will be one of the most innovative Pontiacs in years. It is a strong
American response to the small fun-to-drive cars that have come from
Europe and Japan in recent years.
"Fiero meets that competition head on, it will set new standards
of technology," they added.
Schaefer said the conversion of the Fiero plant for '84
production is proceeding "right on schedule" with plans for the first
of an estimated 2,400 employees to be called back from indefinite
layoff in January. Employment will accelerate to an estimated 750 by
mid-year, when the first Fieros will begin coming off the assembly
line. The Fiero is scheduled for public introduction next fall.
"This new assembly facility, housed in one of GM's oldest
properties, will come on line incorporating the most modern assembly
processes in the world," according to Schaefer. "The renovation and
restoring of the former Fisher Body facility gives us an opportunity
to match the latest technology with the skills of our employees."
Hulki Aldikacti, Fiero 2-M-4 project manager for Pontiac,
predicted that the new car will be "one of the most innovative
Pontiac products in years, and as such will be a major element in
enhancing Pontiac's thrust for the 1980s as a marketer of exciting,
expressive, youthful, fun-to-drive cars.''
Lewis detailed the innovative people programs, noting
implementation at the plant. "We are looking forward to meeting any
and all competition with the Fiero," Lewis declared. "Right now, we
are making final decisions on things like plant facilities,
communications programs, supplier relations and cafeteria facilities.
"Our hourly people will continue to be closely involved in the
decision-making processes of the new plant.
"Hourly and salaried employees are working closer together than
ever before to allow Pontiac to assure the highest quality product to
compete successfully in the marketplace," Lewis said.
CONTACT -- Richard Thompson of Pontiac at 313-857-1570
