The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "automotive industry" ...
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High Flying Perks
As automakers took more financial hits in 2006 that led to layoffs and cost-cutting, company executives asserted that they too would cut down on their personal budgets. But WXYZ-TV found out that the executives did nothing to reduce their use of corporate jets and fuel in trips costing in the tens of thousands of dollars. The eight-month investigation uncovered situations like that of Ford CEO BIll Ford, Jr. He accepted a yearly salary of only a dollar, and used company planes for personal trips to the tune of $297,201 in a single year. Ford president Mark Fields is tasked with cutting costs in the company, yet used the planes on many weekends to take trips from Detroit to his mansion in Florida at a cost of between $50,000 and $70,000 each weekend.
Tags: Money; corporate pork; corporate executives; misuse of company planes; corporate cost-cutting; automotive industry; Ford Motor Company
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Tricks of the Trade
This hidden camera investigation looks at the automobile industry as a whole, and finds that more than 52,246 customers in dealerships across 39 states have been ripped off. Dateline talked to Duane Overholt, who was a finance manager at Sonic Automotive, a major corporation that owns 187 dealerships across the country. With Overholt's help, Dateline was able to find an overwhelming amount of fraud and deception within the industry. Dateline also bought a car for the investigation and reported on the whole process, including fraud they encountered along the way.
Tags: Car salesmen; Finance
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Putting the Sqeeze on Lemon Dealers
One of the most profitable rackets in the automotive industry is lemon laundering.
Tags: lemon laundering; car dealers; fraudulent resale; lemon law
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IPO to REPO: Here's One Industry In Silicon Valley That's Booming These Days
The Wall Street Journal reveals that "car repossessors score big by 'popping' the Porsches of fallen dot-commers." The story cites a private company's estimation that automotive repossessions have tripled in 2000, because many tech workers can no longer afford expensive cars. The reporter describes how repo men use a "few tricks for dealing with the young and still-affluent-at heart" in order to avoid traumatizing them.
Tags: jobs; technology; dot-coms; bankruptcy; cars; parking; lawyers; finance
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No title (id: 9421)
Detroit Free Press series gives a comprehensive look at automotive air bags and the auto industry's role in delaying the life-saving benefits of the devices; examines the widespread and sometimes deadly problems of a major substitute for air bags: automatic seat belts, November 1992.
Tags: MI Everett Muller