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Sonari Glinton

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Sonari Glinton is a NPR National Desk reporter based in Detroit, primarily covering the auto industry and transportation. He focuses on the business of cars as well as the economy and the business climate of the Detroit area and the industrial Midwest.

In this position, which he has held since late 2010, Glinton has tackled big stories including GM's road back to profitability and Toyota's continuing struggles. Glinton has traveled throughout the Midwest covering important stories such as the tornado in Joplin, Missouri, and the 2012 presidential race. He has also covered the U.S. Senate and House for NPR.

Glinton came to NPR in August 2007 and worked as a producer for All Things Considered. During that time he produced interviews with everyone from UN Ambassador Susan Rice to Joan Rivers. The highlight for Glinton came when he produced Robert Siegel's 50 Great Voices piece on Nat King Cole.

Glinton began his public radio career as an intern at member station WBEZ in Chicago. He went on to produce and report for WBEZ. While in Chicago he focused on juvenile justice and the Cook County Board of Commissioners. Prior to journalism Glinton had a career in finance.

For his work on a series uncovering abuse at the Cook Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, Glinton was honored with the Society of Professional Journalist's Sigma Delta Chi Award for Investigative Reporting.

Glinton attended Boston University.

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Business
8:00 am
Sun January 15, 2012

A GM Designer's First Car? The Cadillac XDS

Credit North American International Auto Show
Detroit Auto Show photographers sometimes mistake car designer Christine Park for a spokesmodel. "It's a very male-dominated field," she says, "so it's something that people don't expect."
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For a car designer, there's probably no scarier time than the auto show. And there's probably no scarier auto show than the Detroit Auto Show. It's like report-card day for car designers, but there doesn't appear to be much that scares Christine Park, a senior creative designer with Cadillac.

She's very eager to show off the Cadillac XTS. Park led the design of the interior of the XTS — pretty impressive, since she's only 28 and graduated from design school just six years ago.

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Technology
3:48 pm
Fri January 13, 2012

Dashboard Distractions: New Luxuries Cause Concern

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In many ways, the Detroit Auto Show has become a kind of consumer electronics show for cars, where you're just as likely to see the rollout of a new app or entertainment system as the introduction of next year's models.

"The growth in mechanical changes [has] now become incremental, whereas the growth in the consumer electronics industry seems to be taking place at a rate that is almost unprecedented," says Thomas Tetzlaff, a spokesman for Volkswagen Canada.

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Business
12:01 am
Wed January 11, 2012

New For 2012: 'This Isn't Your Father's Dodge Dart'

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Credit Tony Ding / AP
The 2012 Dodge Dart is unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Monday.
Credit Jerry Lai / AP
In 2008, Dodge started taking orders for the Challenger again after a 25-year hiatus, and some dealers began offering classic striped paint jobs to echo the original cars' style.
Credit Ray Howard / AP
Ford's Thunderbird became an iconic American car. Production began in 1955 and evolved almost continuously over the years until 1997. At right is the first version; at left is a 1984 model.
Credit AFP / Getty Images
In a 2002 revival of the Thunderbird, Ford harkened back to the smoother, classic shape of its original hit car to capitalize on its nostalgia factor. The new model didn't sell as well as the company hoped, and the line was discontinued in 2005.
Credit Charles Rex Arbogast / AP
But in 2010, the struggling car company revived the model for a fifth generation. Although the Chevy Camaro still hasn't caught up to the Mustang in overall sales, the fifth generation model outsold Ford's muscle car in 2011.
Credit Tony Ding / AP
Dodge unveiled its 2013 Dart at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week. The original Dart was in production from 1960-76. This time around, it's being built on a modified platform of one of Fiat's Alfa Romeos. After a 2009 merger between the struggling Chrysler and Italy's fast-growing Fiat, the two are sharing technology and strategy.
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Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 11:08 am

Between 1960 and 1976, the Dodge Dart was one of the best-selling cars in America, with its affordable price and rugged styling. More than 3.5 million Darts were sold.

Though the car was never known for being especially stylish or pretty, Chrysler is now reviving the name as the company continues its own revitalization. On Monday, it unveiled the new Dart at the 2012 North American Auto Show in Detroit.

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Business
12:01 pm
Wed January 4, 2012

To Climb In U.S., Volkswagen Gets Less German

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Credit Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images
Jonathan Browning, president of Volkswagen Group of America, attends the U.S. unveiling of the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle, a new version of the iconic car. Volkswagen saw a 26.3 percent increase in U.S. sales in 2011, and has its sights on becoming the world's No. 1 carmaker.
Credit Sascha Schuermann / Getty Images
The Volkswagen Group has also acquired other, generally more expensive brands. The company has owned Audi (also from Germany) since 1965. In 2011, Audi sold 117,561 cars in the U.S., a 15.7 percent increase over 2010, as the brand markets itself to younger buyers.
Credit John Macdougall / Getty Images
In 1998, Volkswagen acquired Bugatti, a premier racing car manufacturer founded in 1909 by the Italian-born Ettore Bugatti. Under VW, just one model has been made available — the Veyron 16.4, which sells for $1.7 million and can reach more than 250 mph. Only around 300 have been sold.
Credit Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Founded in England in 1919, the Bentley brand was known for winning endurance races, like this Le Mans race in France in 1930. Rolls Royce purchased the company in 1931, and it was sold to Volkswagen in 1998. Bentley sold 2,021 vehicles in the U.S. in 2011, a 32 percent increase over 2010.
Credit Billy Weeks / AP
In 2011, the Volkswagen brand sold 324,402 vehicles in the U.S. Its best-selling car, the Jetta, made up 55 percent of those. But the Passat, seen above in the company's new plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., also made strides after a redesign and a popular Super Bowl commercial last year.
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Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 11:09 am

Last year was a very good year for the German automaker Volkswagen, but 2012 could be even better.

Sales for Volkswagen Group's brands — including Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini — increased by 20 percent in the U.S. last year. For the Volkswagen brand itself, sales rose 26.3 percent. And if things continue to go Volkswagen's way, it could become the No. 1 carmaker in the world.

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Election 2012
6:12 am
Wed January 4, 2012

Standing Room Only At GOP Caucus Site

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The Iowa caucuses ended with Mitt Romney's extremely narrow victory over Rick Santorum. The first presidential nominating contest of 2012 played out at hundreds of sites across the state. NPR's Sonari Glinton spent the evening at the Van Meter Secondary School.

Presidential Race
3:00 pm
Tue January 3, 2012

Iowa Caucus-Goers Discuss The GOP Field

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Iowans gather Tuesday evening for the state's precinct caucuses. A group of caucus-goers talks about who they plan to vote for and how they made up their minds.

Presidential Race
8:00 am
Sun January 1, 2012

GOP Candidates Join Another Party For New Year's

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How did the Republican candidates celebrate the new year in Iowa? NPR's Sonari Glinton finds out.

It Was A Good Year For...
12:01 am
Thu December 29, 2011

2011 Put Chrysler Back In The Fast Lane

Credit Scott Olson / Getty Images
Chrysler President Olivier Francois reintroduced his company to the world at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show.
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Despite a sluggish economy, it's been a good year overall for the auto industry. But among the Detroit Three, there's been a clear standout.

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NPR Story
3:00 pm
Mon December 19, 2011

Tablets Replace Some Small Businesses Tools

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Transcript

LYNN NEARY, HOST:

And now to the spreading influence of apps and tablets in the business world. As NPR's Sonari Glinton reports, many small businesses are using tablets to replace everything from the menu to the timecard to the cash register.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: That is ceroni, so the green is like a pistachio.

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Business
4:00 am
Fri December 2, 2011

Available Financing Helps Auto Sales Rebound

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Sales of new cars in the U.S. were up by 14 percent last month. One reason is more consumers are getting access to car loans — including those with less than perfect credit.

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