Cruze scores low in quality study

Cruze scores low in quality study

LORDSTOWN

The Lordstown-built Chevrolet Cruze didn’t score well in JD Power and Associate’s 2011 Initial Quality Study.

The Cruze received two out of five stars in overall quality. It received, however, four stars for body and interior quality, but only two stars for powertrain quality. The Cruze is Chevrolet’s best-selling nameplate.

Two Honda vehicles — the Civic and Insight — both received five of five stars in overall quality.

Car-dealers group raises charity funds

YOUNGSTOWN

The Automobile Dealers Association of Eastern Ohio Inc. reported Thursday it raised a record-setting $67,012 at its annual charity auction in conjunction with the 2011 President’s Gala, a dealers-association event. The funds will go to The Rich Center for Autism at Youngstown State University. ADAEO has contributed $466,100 to the Rich Center over the past 13 years.

Nike faces criticism for shirt slogans

PORTLAND, Ore.

Nike Inc. is being blasted for replacing its signature “Just Do It” slogan on some T-shirts with the phrases “Dope,” “Get High” and “Ride Pipe.”

The shoe and athletic apparel company said the terms are part of the lingo used by the skaters, snowboarders and participants in other extreme sports it’s trying to target with the shirts. But critics say the slogans endorse drug use.

Boston’s mayor has asked Nike to remove a display of the shirts. And an Oregon antidrug group condemned them in a letter sent to 1,500 people — including some at The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy — urging them to let Nike know they disapprove of the slogans.

Nike, based in Beaverton, Ore., recently has increased its marketing surrounding extreme sports and said the new shirts promote sports — not illegal drug use.

“Sport is an antidote to drugs,” Nike spokeswoman Erin Dobson said in a statement. “There is no better adrenalin rush than catching a wave or landing a trick. The language is the same that skaters, BMXer’s and surfers use every day around the world.”

Princess axes stops in Puerto Vallarta

MEXICO CITY

A cruise line says it is canceling stops in the Mexican port of Puerto Vallarta later this year to protect its passengers from the violence.

A spokeswoman for Princess Cruises, a brand of Carnival Corp., says the company has dropped three calls in November and December.

Karen Candy said in an email statement to The Associated Press on Thursday that the ships now will have longer stops in Ensenada and Cabo San Lucas.

She said the line is worried about security in Puerto Vallarta’s surrounding areas.

Puerto Vallarta port authorities said they have not been contacted by the company. Port director Alex Casarrubias said no cruises have canceled. Other cruise ships announced earlier this year canceling calls in Mazatlan, a nearby port.

Staff/wire reports