Back in the mid-1950s I was a student at General Motors Institute in Flint, Mich. Class assignments often included going to the library and looking up articles in past issues of Automotive News. I wrote several papers on Opel, which I had never heard of, and on leasing, which I also had never heard of, using Automotive News as the source.
Since then I have never been without Automotive News, including my time in the military.
When I became a GM dealer we also got the Opel franchise, and we immediately began leasing new and used cars, long before it was fashionable.
The only publication I pay to subscribe to is Automotive News. It has been a godsend in so many ways, keeping me in the loop of what’s going on in the industry, providing ideas and options for dealing with trends and cycles, and taking away a lot of the surprises that no one in business likes.
Thank you, Automotive News. You are a good friend!

Over the years since I started reading Automotive News, the auto industry has grown enormously, not only in terms of volume but in terms of scope. Manufacturing, components, retail, leasing, service, motorsports - each of these is a part of today's auto business and has expanded as our industry has grown from a collection of national entities to a truly global business.
Over the decades, Automotive News has proven to be an indispensable resource and a valuable tool for our company. Its industrywide data web keeps us apprised of what our competitors are doing; by reading what others skim, we learn more about the business and potential new synergies emerge virtually every Monday as the new issue comes off the press.
I congratulate Keith and the staff on the diamond anniversary of Automotive News -- a publication that has come to be not only an industry standard, but required reading in offices from Dearborn, Warren and Detroit to Stuttgart, Tokyo and Melbourne.
Automotive News has gained an industry reputation for being tenacious. Its readership may not agree with every word it prints -- and, if truth be known, they may wish some had not been printed at all. But Monday mornings would not be the same without it.
Congratulations, Automotive News.

(Note: Ralph Nader reflects on Helen Kahn, who was a Washington reporter for Automotive News for 27 years.)
I first met Helen Kahn in late 1965 when she invited me to lunch at the National Press Club to talk about my new book, Unsafe at Any Speed.
Dropping by Helen’s office on the way to lunch was memorable. It was not just the piles of paper that defied the law of gravity.
It was that out of this tiny office year after year came copy that filled a third of Automotive News and sometimes more -- especially when the regulatory battles heated up.
At lunch she kept up a calm but steady line of inquiry about how and why I wrote this book-long criticism of the automobile industry and about the suppression of safety devices that were developed decades earlier.
I had just obtained the early copies of the book and gave one to her. She proceeded to be one of the earliest and certainly the most prolific reporter about this epic struggle, which led to safer, more crashworthy motor vehicles.
Helen was unfailingly polite and persistent. Her reporting was fair, accurate and, needless to say, expressive of lengthy detail. I never saw her lose her temper and never heard a negative word about her work -- other than that she wrote stories that some companies and dealers wished had not seen the light of day.
Helen’s professionalism gave Automotive News a reputation for news and features; it was not just another captive trade journal.

Congratulations! Any of us who need to follow the ins and outs of the automotive industry must read Automotive News. It is the bible of the car business. In my 28 years in the automotive publishing business, I have relied upon Automotive News for quick, accurate insider information. Here’s to the next 75 years!

Congratulations on your 75th anniversary.
I have been a regular reader of Automotive News since January 1968. I quickly learned that each week Automotive News is "must" reading in order to keep up with the major events of the automotive industry.
In addition to reading Automotive News to be informed on current automotive industry news, I candidly must read it because almost all of NADA’s 19,000 dealer members also read it each week. If something is reported in Automotive News that impacts dealers, you can bet I will immediately start receiving calls from dealers asking what NADA is going to do to help them. Obviously Automotive News is not only of great value to me but also to our dealer members.
The scope, quality, and professionalism of Automotive News have kept pace with the rapidly changing automotive industry. Having this publication as a resource has been a great asset.
Keep up the good work.