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<title><![CDATA[RSS for Newspaper]]></title>
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<link><![CDATA[http://search.autonews.com/]]></link>
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<title><![CDATA[N.H. legislators pass amendments to Dealer Bill of Rights]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130524/RETAIL07/130529924/n-h-legislators-pass-amendments-to-dealer-bill-of-rights]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130524/RETAIL07/130529924/n-h-legislators-pass-amendments-to-dealer-bill-of-rights</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Fri, 24 May 2013 16:15:10 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[A bill that would further regulate the relationship between New Hampshire auto dealers and their factories is a step closer to becoming law despite opposition from automakers. The New Hampshire House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday, 338-30, that would amend the state's Dealer Bill of ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[A Chevy EV for $20K (5/23/13)]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://search.autonews.com/v/75254342/a-chevy-ev-for-20k-5-23-13.htm?]]></link>
<guid>http://search.autonews.com/v/75254342/a-chevy-ev-for-20k-5-23-13.htm?</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 23 May 2013 08:30:54 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Spark to lease for $199 a month; Ford closing Aussie sites; probe reaches ex-Saab chair Muller; Snyder: Mixing cars, politics.]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Former Saab Chairman Muller to be summoned in tax inquiry, report says]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130523/ANE/130529948/former-saab-chairman-muller-to-be-summoned-in-tax-inquiry-report-says]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130523/ANE/130529948/former-saab-chairman-muller-to-be-summoned-in-tax-inquiry-report-says</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 23 May 2013 03:34:36 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -- A Swedish prosecutor wants to question former Saab Automobile Chairman Victor Muller as part of an inquiry into suspected tax offenses at the automaker, a Swedish newspaper reported. Earlier this week Jan-Ake Jonsson, Saab's former CEO, ex-Chief Financial Officer Karl-Gustav ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Marchionne will face gov't pressure to commit to Italy]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130523/ANE/305229966/marchionne-will-face-govt-pressure-to-commit-to-italy]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130523/ANE/305229966/marchionne-will-face-govt-pressure-to-commit-to-italy</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 23 May 2013 00:01:00 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[MILAN (Bloomberg) -- The Italian government plans to press Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne over concerns he's shifting the carmaker and heavy truck manufacturer Fiat Industrial away from the country. Industry Minister Flavio Zanonato told newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore that he will meet with the CEO next week ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[F-1 racing boss Ecclestone denies bribing German banker, lawyers say]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130516/ANE/130519920/f-1-racing-boss-ecclestone-denies-bribing-german-banker-lawyers-say]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130516/ANE/130519920/f-1-racing-boss-ecclestone-denies-bribing-german-banker-lawyers-say</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 16 May 2013 03:49:15 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- Lawyers for Formula One racing boss Bernie Ecclestone repeated that he had not bribed a German banker during the 2005-2006 sale of a stake in the motor racing business, after a newspaper reported he had been charged by prosecutors. German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[BMW invests 3 billion euros in EVs, report says]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130513/ANE/130519972/bmw-invests-3-billion-euros-in-evs-report-says]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130513/ANE/130519972/bmw-invests-3-billion-euros-in-evs-report-says</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 13 May 2013 06:00:26 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[FRANKFURT -- BMW will invest 3 billion euros through the end of this year on the development of its electric vehicle lineup, funding the "i" subbrand with earnings from its booming business in China, a German business newspaper reported. Handelsblatt said today the sum, which covers 2011 through 2013, is based on calculations it made with the bank Credit Suisse. A BMW spokeswoman told Automotive News Europe that the number was a "little high" and added that she was not sure how the report had arrived at this figure. Citing unofficial sources at the automaker, Handelsblatt estimated that about a third of the BMW Group's 2012 EBIT of 7.6 billion euros were generated by sales in China. The story didn't say how much of BMW Groups 2011 EBIT could be attributed to China. BMW, like other automakers, is developing electric vehicles in a bid to meet stricter emissions rules in the European Union, United States and China. BMW Group's fleet, which includes BMW-, Mini- and Rolls-Royce-brand models, had an average CO2 emissions of 144.8 grams per kilometer in the EU in 2011, according to EU data. It needs to reduce that to 138.4g/km by 2015, at which time the targeted total CO2 fleet average for all cars is 130g/km. The EU is debating new rules that could reduce the total fleet target to 95g/km. Manufacturers hope to be able to offset higher emission vehicles in their fleets through the production of electric cars. BMW plans to launch the first model in its EV lineup, the four seat i3 city car, in the fourth quarter of this year. The company will unveil a production version of the model at the Frankfurt auto show in September. The i3 will be followed by the i8 plug-in hybrid sports car in early 2014. No prices have been announced yet for either model, but the i8's price will exceed 100,000 euros, Ian Robertson, the manufacturer's sales chief, has said. Poor EV sales The i3 will enter a market that has yet to meet industry expectations. In Europe last year Nissan sold 5,210 Leaf EVs, according to figures from JATO Dynamics. That was well below the automaker's target of 9,000 Leaf sales for Europe in 2012. U.S. deliveries of the Leaf failed to reach even half of the 20,000 cars the Japanese manufacturer was targeting last year. BMW, however, is confident of success. Harald Krueger, the carmaker's head of production, has said the group is "charting new territory" with the i3 and i8 models and said he is confident the group will earn money with every BMW i3 sold from the launch on.]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[VW confirms report it will build factory in Changsa, China]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130511/ANE/305119994/vw-confirms-report-it-will-build-factory-in-changsa-china]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130511/ANE/305119994/vw-confirms-report-it-will-build-factory-in-changsa-china</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Sat, 11 May 2013 12:46:42 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen Group has confirmed a report in a German newspaper that said it will build a factory with an annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles in Changsa, Hunan province, China. The report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , published on Saturday, said the factory will be built with ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[BMW under inspection in India after report of tax probe]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130509/ANE/305089950/bmw-under-inspection-in-india-after-report-of-tax-probe]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130509/ANE/305089950/bmw-under-inspection-in-india-after-report-of-tax-probe</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 09 May 2013 00:01:00 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[MUMBAI (Bloomberg) -- BMW says it is cooperating with Indian authorities after a newspaper reported the carmaker is being investigated for possibly owing $120 million in taxes. "An inspection is in process by the authorities at the BMW plant in Chennai," said Abhay Dange, a BMW India spokesman. "We ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Tesla shares surge 24% after 1st quarterly profit]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130508/OEM05/130509880/tesla-shares-surge-24-after-1st-quarterly-profit]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130508/OEM05/130509880/tesla-shares-surge-24-after-1st-quarterly-profit</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 08 May 2013 17:21:53 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[LOS ANGELES -- Tesla Motors Inc. shares surged today after the company posted its first quarterly profit in its 10-year history -- driven by sales of the battery-powered Model S sedan. First-quarter net income totaled $11.2 million from a loss of $89.9 million a year earlier, Tesla said Wednesday. ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Mercedes Citan vans recalled over faulty airbags]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130506/ANE/130509920/mercedes-citan-vans-recalled-over-faulty-airbags]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130506/ANE/130509920/mercedes-citan-vans-recalled-over-faulty-airbags</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 06 May 2013 10:10:37 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[STUTTGART (Reuters) -- Daimler is recalling 3,500 Mercedes-Benz Citan vans in Europe because of faulty airbags. Window airbags will be replaced in the Citan, a company spokesman said on Monday. The Citan small delivery van is a derivative of the Renault Kangoo. It recently scored only three out of ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Chevy courts 'girls' on social media]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130506/RETAIL03/305069995/chevy-courts-girls-on-social-media]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130506/RETAIL03/305069995/chevy-courts-girls-on-social-media</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 06 May 2013 00:01:00 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Boosting Chevrolet Malibu sales was deemed a top priority for Atlanta-area Chevy dealers when their regional marketing group set its priorities for 2013. But the marketing association, which represents 37 local Chevy dealerships, had reached a "saturation point" with its TV spots, says Greg Cole, ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[U.S. Targets F&I Products (5/3/13)]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://search.autonews.com/v/74405038/u-s-targets-f-i-products-5-3-13.htm?]]></link>
<guid>http://search.autonews.com/v/74405038/u-s-targets-f-i-products-5-3-13.htm?</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Fri, 03 May 2013 08:32:06 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Watchdog subpoenas lenders, Justice probing subprime rates; Alabama's Acura; GM climate declaration; Detroit's pickup boom.]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[GM, PSA study alliance on vans outside Europe, report says]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130502/ANE/130509964/gm-psa-study-alliance-on-vans-outside-europe-report-says]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130502/ANE/130509964/gm-psa-study-alliance-on-vans-outside-europe-report-says</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 02 May 2013 03:59:15 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[PARIS (Reuters) -- General Motors Co. and PSA/Peugeot-Citroen are studying an alliance to sell large commercial vans outside of Europe, a French newspaper said. The partnership would allow PSA to boost sales volumes and reap royalty revenues, according to Les Echos . For GM, the partnership would ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[GM pulls Chevrolet ad that includes song labeled as racist]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130501/RETAIL03/130509983/gm-pulls-chevrolet-ad-that-includes-song-labeled-as-racist]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130501/RETAIL03/130509983/gm-pulls-chevrolet-ad-that-includes-song-labeled-as-racist</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 01 May 2013 14:29:02 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[General Motors Co., seeking to boost China sales 75 percent by 2015, apologized for a Chevrolet ad that included a song referring to "the land of Fu Manchu" where all of the girls sing "ching, ching, chop-suey," which one Chinese newspaper called racist. "Our intent was not to offend anyone and ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[COMMENTARY: A quarter century is a long time]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130429/OEM02/304299978/a-quarter-century-is-a-long-time]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130429/OEM02/304299978/a-quarter-century-is-a-long-time</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:01:00 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[I persuaded Peter Brown to join Crain Communications 28 years ago to help launch Crain's Detroit Business . A few years later he became the editor of Automotive News . That was a quarter of a century ago. And this from a guy who warned me that he never held a job more than a couple of years. It is ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Renault will build next Nissan Micra in France]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130426/ANE/130429920/renault-will-build-next-nissan-micra-in-france]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130426/ANE/130429920/renault-will-build-next-nissan-micra-in-france</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Fri, 26 Apr 2013 05:48:36 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Renault will build the next Nissan Micra at its plant in Flins, near Paris, in an effort to use excess capacity in its home country. Production will begin in 2016 at an estimated annual volume of 82,000 vehicles, Renault said today in a statement . Renault promised to increase domestic production ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[VW, board member Garcia Sanz under investigation]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130425/ANE/304259926/vw-board-member-garcia-sanz-under-investigation]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130425/ANE/304259926/vw-board-member-garcia-sanz-under-investigation</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 25 Apr 2013 06:34:21 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[BERLIN (Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG and management board member Francisco Javier Garcia Sanz are under investigation by German prosecutors over allegations they failed to prevent corruption at the company. Prosecutors in Stuttgart are reviewing whether Garcia Sanz and Volkswagen didn't prevent an ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Daimler said to plan transmission plant in Romania]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130423/ANE/130429979/daimler-said-to-plan-transmission-plant-in-romania]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130423/ANE/130429979/daimler-said-to-plan-transmission-plant-in-romania</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, 23 Apr 2013 03:21:13 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- Daimler plans a large investment to build transmission components in Romania at the site of an existing joint venture, a German newspaper reported. Daimler's supervisory board is due to lay the groundwork for the investment on Wednesday, Handelsblatt said today, citing ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[As retirement approaches, Publisher Peter Brown honors some of the best, and worst, automotive adventurers]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130422/OEM02/304229971/as-retirement-approaches-publisher-peter-brown-honors-some-of-the]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130422/OEM02/304229971/as-retirement-approaches-publisher-peter-brown-honors-some-of-the</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:01:00 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[In five years, we will have fuel cell vehicles out of the lab and on the road, a big fleet of cars burning cheap compressed natural gas, and new cars with so many active-safety features that you can't crash them. Unless we don't. In this surprising and fluid industry, peopled by geniuses and ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Opel returns to Shanghai auto show with limited ambitions]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130421/ANE/304209947/opel-returns-to-shanghai-auto-show-with-limited-ambitions]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130421/ANE/304209947/opel-returns-to-shanghai-auto-show-with-limited-ambitions</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Sun, 21 Apr 2013 00:01:00 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- General Motors' Opel unit returned to China's main auto show after a five-year absence with three new cars at the center of a long-promised push into the world's largest market. At the Shanghai auto show on Saturday, Opel gave China debuts to three models set go on sale in ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Ford, GM Get Team in Gear (4/15/13)]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://search.autonews.com/v/73616780/ford-gm-get-team-in-gear-4-15-13.htm?]]></link>
<guid>http://search.autonews.com/v/73616780/ford-gm-get-team-in-gear-4-15-13.htm?</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:21:35 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Rivals to work on 9- and 10-speed transmissions; U.S.-made Infinitis?; UAW push at Ala. Mercedes plant; pioneer before '42.']]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Ford, GM Get Team in Gear (4/15/13)]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://search.autonews.com/v/73611855/ford-gm-get-team-in-gear-4-15-13.htm?]]></link>
<guid>http://search.autonews.com/v/73611855/ford-gm-get-team-in-gear-4-15-13.htm?</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 15 Apr 2013 08:27:43 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Rivals to work on 9- and 10-speed transmissions; U.S.-made Infinitis?; UAW push at Ala. Mercedes plant; pioneer before '42.']]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Opel to push growth in Russia, Akerson tells paper]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130415/ANE/130419952/opel-to-push-growth-in-russia-akerson-tells-paper]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130415/ANE/130419952/opel-to-push-growth-in-russia-akerson-tells-paper</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 15 Apr 2013 04:07:22 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[MUNICH -- General Motors Co.'s money-losing Opel brand will push growth in Russia and Turkey as part of an export drive to offset slumping European business, but steer clear of China, GM CEO Dan Akerson told a German newspaper. "For Opel, Russia is of great importance," Akerson told the Bild am ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Ex-Cadillac boss LaNeve takes helm of Lincoln's ad agency]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130415/OEM02/304159981/ex-cadillac-boss-laneve-takes-helm-of-lincolns-ad-agency]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130415/OEM02/304159981/ex-cadillac-boss-laneve-takes-helm-of-lincolns-ad-agency</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:01:00 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[DETROIT -- Mark LaNeve, former top North American marketer at General Motors and ex-head of Cadillac, now is devoting his talents to Cadillac's traditional American-luxury rival: Lincoln. On April 3, LaNeve, 54, took the helm of Hudson Rouge, Lincoln's New York ad agency. He replaced Cameron ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[A 5th-generation store with 21st-century skills]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130415/RETAIL07/304159995/a-5th-generation-store-with-21st-century-skills]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130415/RETAIL07/304159995/a-5th-generation-store-with-21st-century-skills</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:01:00 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[When you find a thriving seven-franchise dealership in sparsely populated South Dakota that has been in the same family for 106 years, you know they've learned a thing or two about finding and keeping customers. Wegner Auto Co. in tiny Pierre, S.D., has been in the family since Henry Wegner built a livery stable-car storage building near the state capitol in 1907. Now sibling partners Jim and Jenny Wegner are teaching their mix of innovations and old-school tricks to a fifth generation, Jenny's son Bryan Boocock, 22. Pierre is smack dab in the middle of South Dakota, but almost all of the state's 833,000 population lives either on the east edge near Sioux Falls or the west side near Rapid City. So life for the Wegners is traditional selling on steroids: building, cultivating and maintaining relationships generation after generation. "We only have 40,000 people within 80 miles," says Jim Wegner, 63. "We have always taken care of our customers." But modern technology helps the Wegners and their 54 employees stay in touch. Technicians use iPads to speed repairs and maintenance. Internet Manager Andy Binegar's store Web site lets customers research new and used inventory, but also look up staff members' pictures, tenure and comments. Binegar also handles Facebook and tweeting, keeping pace with the tech-savvy but staying accessible to customers with more basic skills. Jim Wegner shops distant auctions virtually to save on time and travel expenses. Salespeople supplement calls to customers with texts and e-mail. The dealership's traditional daily newspaper, TV and radio advertising schedule is supplemented by e-mail and other new-media marketing. Personal touch It's a balance, says Jenny Wegner, 57. "I respect that my family laid the foundation for a fourth generation to continue, but I recognize that we need modern technology to operate the computers, Facebook, texting and Twitter," she said. "We blend that with person-to-person selling, but our customers prefer the personal touch." There's a vintage patina over modern technology at the main Wegner location along Sioux Avenue, near the bridge over the Missouri River and two blocks from the Capitol. The technicians with their iPads and computerized diagnostics are inside the service department, between the Buick and GMC showroom on one end and the Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Jeep and Nissan showroom at the other. While a salesman configures vehicle specifications on the desktop monitor, a customer might peruse the Wegner "bible," a fragile, glass-enclosed ledger of dealership records, to see if great-grandpa bought a Buick in 1923. Being the state's oldest auto dealership is a powerful sales tool, and the family tries to make the most of it. In 1907, after Nebraska mill operator Henry Wegner "came up the Missouri to see what was up," Jim Wegner says, keeping a roof over the three automobiles in town was barely a side business to his horse-and wagon livery. But later that year, Henry started selling R.E.O.s obtained from out-of-state distributors, and soon added Dodge and Buick. As a full-time auto dealer, Henry weathered World War I, the Great Depression and the 1941-45 hiatus on civilian auto manufacturing during World War II. In 1945 Henry turned the business over to sons Varro and Lester. In the late 1950s, Varro's two sons, Hank and Tony, bought out Lester's son Peter's equity, though Peter stayed as parts manager until 1980. Tony was childless. Two of Hank's kids became dealer principals, Jim in 1972 and Jenny in 1986. The Wegners have diversified to seven brands and added a separate body shop and the under-$7,500 used-vehicle Miracle Motors a mile down the road. The operation is shaped by population density and geography, both a blessing and a curse. The low population keeps sales modest -- an average 38 new and 65 used units a month -- but limits the number of sales and service competitors. There are two other dealerships in town, a Ford-Lincoln-Toyota store and a Chevrolet-Cadillac outlet. At the Wegner operation, "It all works because everybody wears three hats," Jim Wegner says. "We all sell or service GM, Chrysler and Nissan brands." And new salesman Boocock, who spent many after-school afternoons at the store where mom Jenny Wegner and father Mike Boocock worked -- is adopting the practice of the four generations that preceded him, learning to visit the service customers and other locals who often linger to talk business and gossip. Customers since the 1950s "We have customers that have been buying from us since the 1950s," he says. "They know they can always stop in, have a cup of coffee and just chat." Boocock has even updated an old sales adage: "I always say, 'A happy customer will tell three, an unhappy one will tell 10 ... and farmers and ranchers will tell a hundred.'" The dealership is a place where tourists can ask about walleye fishing in Lake Oahe, the widened part of the Missouri that extends from Oahe Dam just north of Pierre 200 miles upstream to Bismarck, N.D. The advice is direct, but steeped in Dakota heritage. For example, don't take U.S. 83 north to follow the water. Take the river roads named 1804 and 1806 after the dates the Lewis and Clark Expedition went up and back down. Customers pile up miles but they maintain their vehicles, says Ray Shepherd, used-car manager for 25 years. Nobody wants to be stranded on a below-zero day, so 95 percent of customers buy four-wheel-drive and the mix is truck-heavy, "about 40 percent pickups and another 40 percent SUVs, minivans and vans." Shepherd gets a lot of high-mileage trades -- more than half of the 186 used vehicles in stock last week had more than 80,000 miles -- so the dealership buys 30 percent of its volume from auctions in Denver, Minneapolis, Omaha, Neb., and Fargo, N.D. Myron Rau, president of the South Dakota Automobile Dealers Association in Sioux Falls, says the state is still so reliant on agriculture and tourism that business isn't so much a cycle as a barometer of the weather. "For agriculture here, moisture is the key," he said. "When the ag industry is healthy and the big pickups start rolling off the lot, it's a big deal." Jenny Wegner says sales rise and fall with the crop, so she worries a dry January and February might hurt the winter wheat crop. And Pierre is still recovering from a 2011 flood. "Everybody in town sandbagged and barricaded homes and businesses, so they were safe," she said. But fish beds silted up and fishing tourism is down. The Wegner succession plan is still hazy. Jim's two daughters have not been active in the dealership, and Jenny's youngest, Sara, is still in high school. So Jenny's oldest, Bryan Boocock, is the first fifth-generation family member to work at the store. But he plans to stay. "Selling cars is whole lot of fun," he says. "This is something I want to do the rest of my life."]]></description>
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