Amy Farmer in her time as plant manager for GM's Buick City Assembly plant in Flint

Photo: GM

In 1987, she was appointed administrator of Production Control; senior administrator in 1988; and purchasing agent in 1989. She was named director of Production and Material Control for the former Buick-Oldsmobile-Cadillac Group in 1991; assistant plant manager for the Buick City assembly plant in 1994; and plant manager there in 1997.

"I am excited about the opportunity to assume a leadership role with the Lansing Assembly plant," said Farmer, "and I'm looking forward to becoming engaged in activities in the Lansing community." Born in 1954, Farmer received a bachelor of business administration degree from the University of Michigan-Flint in 1976.

Tracker's June Sales Set Record
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2000 Chevrolet Tracker

Photo: GM

Tracker's impressive MSRP is matched by its great value, which includes:

A full ladder-type frame, making Tracker an authentic sport utility vehicle capable of handling rugged terrain, unlike some of unibody competitors

Tracker's new 2.0-liter, 16-valve DOHC four-cylinder engine, which is standard on four-door models and optional on the two-door convertible. * Three-passenger seating in the rear seat of four-door models.

Adjustable tilt steering (optional), which allows better articulation of the steering wheel than the previous design.

Spacious storage areas throughout the vehicle, including a sunglass holder in the instrument panel and a center console featuring square cup holders that accommodate everything from cups to juice boxes.

"Many Tracker owners can afford larger SUVs, but buy a small SUV because it's the 'right' size for them," Brooks said. Cutline, Chevrolet's newest sport utility vehicle, the all-new Chevy Tracker, posted its best June sales (5,535) in history, exceeding June 1998 sales by 131 percent and posting its second best sales month ever. Tracker sales for the calendar year through June (17,439) have increased 56 percent over the first six months of last year. Last month the all-new Chevy Tracker exceeded June sales of the Toyota RAV-4.

Toyota Prius

Photo: Toyota

The Prius has been on sale in Japan since 1997 and is slated for U.S. introduction next year. It uses both a gasoline engine and an electric motor to achieve extremely low emissions and outstanding gasoline mileage. The hybrid 5-seat sedan operates on electricity at low speeds and switches automatically to the gasoline engine at higher speeds, depending on driving conditions. Because the gasoline engine and "regenerative" brakes recharge the battery pack, the Prius is effectively an electric vehicle that never has to be plugged in for recharging.

The Prius achieves 66 miles-per-gallon in Japanese fuel economy tests, cuts the emission of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) in half, and reduces the emission of other pollutants by 90 percent compared to a modern, pollution-controlled sedan. When the Prius is re-calibrated for typical U.S. driving conditions, Toyota engineers expect its exhaust emissions to fall into the "Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle" (SULEV) category, and its fuel economy to be about 55 miles per gallon. At the same time, it's a family-friendly car that offers all the safety, comfort, derivability and performance of a conventional four-door sedan.

Interior volume of the Prius compares to that of the mid-size Toyota Camry sedan, the best-selling car in America for the last two years. Due to innovative styling by Calty, Toyota's southern California design studio, the Prius takes up little more curb space than a compact economy car. This summer, forward-looking consumers can get a preview of Toyota's car for the next century at MoMA.