After TTAC highlighted Chris Bangle's "axis of white power" verbal faux pas in a video on a BMW web site, Spiegel Online (German language site) has been looking into the incident. Calling the video a "PR disaster," they question how it ever made it through BMW's communication department. They then quote TTAC publisher Robert Farago: "English is Bangle's first language, he should be aware of such things." A BMW spokesman told Spiegel both the company and Bangle understand the criticism for the remark, and said, "Chris Bangle sympathizes in no way with any right-wing or racist positions… Bangle will make a personal statement on this topic on the BMW-Web-TV platform shortly". BMW removed the video from their site after the Spiegel interview; the link now takes you to a generic BMW PR video. Before they pulled it, a Google search on "chris bangle nazi" returned the link for the video. We may have raised the issue of BMW's obliviousness to Bangle's remark, but we sure as Hell know that ain't right. 

Those finance guys trying to pressure you into buying an overpriced extended warranty with your new car are just the tip of the iceberg. PRNewswire brings information about a new (dis)service from Auto Service Agreement: "a new online product application that allows auto dealerships to sell an extended warranty to their customers after the car has been sold." That's right folks, even if you manage to escape the dealership without buying a needless warranty, they can now hound you by email to buy one. The service "will help auto dealerships offer service agreements to their customers, with no additional work on the dealers' part" and "without having to communicate directly with the buyer." It also "eliminates the middleman, saving their clients time and energy and offering users the convenience of buying auto warranties online." What's worse, "the new application can also be sold directly to consumers, banks, credit card companies, repair facilities, and online auto dealers such as eBay." You can run, but you can't hide!

While the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) haven't greeted the United Auto Workers (UAW) action against GM with a sympathy strike, their plants are just hours away from shut down. Speaking to CBCNews, CAW union president Buzz Hargrove asserts that "by the end of this week we could have anywhere between 80,000 and 100,000 people unemployed." Hargrove said a lack of parts will starve GM's Oshawa plants assembling Impalas, Grand Prix and LaCrosses/Allures by the end of the day shift today. The truck plant had enough parts on hand to keep running about three days. Needless to say, Buzz lays the blame for the UAW strike at GM management's feet. "GM is going to try to make the UAW members and their families and communities pay [for the] troubles they're experiencing because of imports and the transplant production that doesn't make the same commitment in terms of investment and jobs in Canada and the U.S." Based on what Buzz has heard from UAW president Gettelfinger, Hargrove predicts "this thing's going to drag on for a while." The CAW starts it own contract negotiations with GM next year. Depending.

On the same day that the United Auto Workers (UAW) decided to strike GM, the automaker has announced it's ramping-up its US to China exports by $800m. The Economic Times reports that Shanghai GM (GM's joint venture with China's SAIC Group) will import the Buick Enclave CUV for China's 400 Buick dealers. As concerns about Chinese outsourcing form no small part of the UAW's beef with The General, the timing of the announcement can be seen as a carrot or a palliative for union reps and members who consider job security Job One. Of course, the strike obviates Enclave export for the foreseeable future, and the union is keenly aware that GM imports billions of dollars worth of Chinese parts for their North American products, with the threat of fully-assembled cars from The Peoples Republic replacing NorAm products. Still, nice try.

Over the last two days, there's been a definite upswell in UK government policies and plans that seem specifically designed to make UK motorists as miserable as possible. Yesterday, Pistonheads (birthplace of TTAC) reported that Nottingham City Council is planning a £350 annual tax on workplace parking spaces to force commuters to abandon their cars for public transportation. Subtext: Nottingham doesn't have the political or financial capital (or money) to create a London-style Congestion Charge; a parking spot tax is the next best thing. Eight other UK councils are considering the same idea. Also yesterday, Pistonheads revealed that the UK's Director of Public Prosecutions Ken McDonald said all UK drivers caught violating the ban on using a cell phone while driving should be charged with dangerous driving, which inflicts a driving ban and a maximum two year jail sentence upon convicted license holders. And today, Pistonheads says the Department for Transport and the satnav company Trafficmaster are secretly testing a system to monitor drivers' movements, as a possible prelude to a national, pay-as-you-go road pricing scheme and/or a method for speed enforcement. Can it get any worse for the UK's beleaguered motorists? Yes it will.

When I first picked up Car and Driver’s (C&D) fateful December 2006 issue, I was convinced that the splashy, graphics-heavy revamp sounded the death knell for my favorite buff book. But the resulting reader backlash was so loud I felt sure Ann Arbor’s finest would be scared straight. A plaintive apology followed the editor’s arrogant dismissal of the reader revolt. C&D seemed poised for a revival. Nope. The October 2007 issue isn’t just the lowest point in the mag’s inexorable descent; it’s a dive below the limits of acceptability.

Samuel Slater started the industrial revolution in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Slater's 1793 textile mill set-off a manufacturing boom in The Ocean State, which soon spread throughout New England. Nearby Fall River Massachusetts became one of the world's foremost textile manufacturing centers, generating untold riches for its masters. The human cost at the bottom of the social scale was immense. Immigrant labor– including thousands of children– worked in horrific conditions for minimal compensation, with little hope of a better life. No one who's ever fully contemplated the human misery inflicted on these workers would begrudge their right to form a labor union, to protect themselves from heinous exploitation. It's a story that played out across America, in a range of labor-intensive industries; including mining, construction and automaking. And yet, at some point, the balance of power shifted too far the other way. Unions controlled the cost, pace, scale and scope of labor, tying the hands of those who would organize it for commercial survival. As the local labor force became too expensive and unwieldy, the Fall River mill owners abandoned the town. All that's left are dozens of huge, empty mills, now occupied by laser tag, indoor golf and… nothing. It's the same right across America's northern states, the country's former industrial heartland. Could the exodus have been prevented? It's hard to know. Will it now happen to Detroit's once all-conquering automotive industry? It already has. 

Nigeria's automotive industry is facing extinction. After the demise of Steyr and Volkswagen Nigeria Limited, about all that's left is the Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Limited (PAN). Starting with three shifts producing 240 cars per day, PAN now has only one shift producing 22 cars per day. AllAfrica.com places the blame on a number of factors: prices beyond the reach of most Nigerians, high production costs, "inadequate patronage of locally-assembled automobiles" and substandard performance by suppliers. PAN's chairman Alhaji Sani Dauda contacted Nigerian president Umaru Yar'Adua asking the government for help. The president "assured them that he would intervene in the sector, stressing that the automobile industry the world over enjoys the support of government." Nigerian auto industry experts feel unless the government steps in, "the nation's automobile industry would lapse into oblivion with all its attendant implications" such as layoffs of thousands of workers, and "the country's automobile market risks being consigned to the whims and caprices of non-Nigerian vehicle importers." They want the government to take several actions, including lowering the customs duties on knocked down vehicles intended for assembly in the country to one percent while raising the duties on completely assembled cars to fifty percent. Good luck with that.

As our commentators debate the wisdom and/or necessity of the new, larger Honda Accord, our good friends over at The Car Connection (TCC) reveal that Bentley is looking at lightening their luxobarges. Well, at least they're talking about it. "They've embarked on an in-depth study that could sharply shift the brand's design and engineering direction," TCC reports. "A reflection of the fact that even the rich must recognize growing concerns about energy prices and global warming." So now you know: environmental sensitivity isn't just for poor people anymore. No really. "'We have to examine whether to change the philosophy of Bentley, which focuses on large, heavy cars with large, torquey engines,' explained [CEO Franz-Josef ] Paefgen." Then again… "The most dangerous thing for us to do would be to react to whatever we read in the papers… If our customers don't accept that (lightweight) approach, we'd be in big trouble." And when will we see these new, kindler, gentler Bentleys; you know, if we do? The new Arnage "may also feature the use of newer, lighter materials, rather than massive lumps of steel." And here I was thinking that was the entire point of the Arnage. 

According to the Mercury News, in 2005, California officials entered discussions with GM on how to integrate flex-fuel (read "E85") vehicles into the state's fleet. This in spite of a then-three-year-old policy prohibiting the purchase of such vehicles because the fuel wasn't available. Several months later, the state and GM entered an agreement for a "small pilot project of 50 to 100 vehicles"– without allowing other automakers a chance to bid on the contract. Not long after that, the state bought a fleet of 1300 flex-fuel Impalas and Silverados totaling $17m, as only these vehicles qualified for purchase. Now for a few inconvenient truths: The 2002 policy prohibiting flex-fuel vehicles was conveniently eliminated "at the last minute." California has state laws requiring officials to seek competitive bids on large purchases; it's illegal to hold private meetings with one supplier to set the specifications. GM has contributed more than any other automaker to Governor Schwarzenegger's charitable and political causes. State contracting manager Rita Hamilton stated the E85 vehicles were added to the fleet "per the Governors (sic) request." On top of all that, the Mercury News reported in July, "the alternative fuel fleet was running exclusively on standard gasoline because high-grade ethanol has never been widely available in California." State senator Dean Florez has launched a legislative investigation of the contract, which could lead to a criminal investigation by the state's Attorney General. 

After more than a week of overtime negotiations, the United Auto Workers (UAW) is on strike at General Motors. For those who think this action signals the beginning of the end for The General: yes and no. On the yes side, the strike will highlight the original sins that led both sides to this point. The executive greed and mismanagement. The union intransigence and denial. The strike will alert the dim-witted media that the Emperor hasn’t been wearing any clothes for decades, ding GM's rep, and make it even more difficult for the carmaker to sell cars. On the no side, GM will settle. A compromise will be reached. The same players will play the same game, poorer but no wiser.

According to USA Today, six states are about to test the same gas tax alternative currently contemplated for the UK. Early next year, the University of Iowa will equip some 2700 vehicles with computers and satellite equipment to clock their exact mileage. These Road User Charge Study volunteers will then get “sample” bills, simulating what they would have paid for that month’s motoring using a per mile charge. The reasoning: Americans’ cars are gaining fuel efficiency and using E85. In other words, the government’s looking at lower revenue and it’s NOT HAPPY. As hoiking-up gas taxes would be a kiss of death for any politician's career, “virtual tolls” would enable a suitable end-run– and raise serious questions about privacy. Still, the study’s “principal investigator” isn’t fazed. "It's not a question of if this is viable,” says Jon Kuhl. “It's a question of when it becomes politically and socially viable to make such a large-scale shift.”

I remember sitting in a park with my father a quarter-century ago, pointing at a nearby car. “What do you think that is?” “A BMW?” Nope, but his guess was not without reason. The second-generation Accord lifted more than a few design cues from the storied German marque. The 1982 sedan was also notable for its astounding attention to detail, compactness and efficiency. For those “in the know,” the Accord revealed Detroit’s sedans as over-sized, over-powered and indelicate. Now that Honda’s eighth-generation Accord faces a supposedly chastened Detroit, does the new model maintain the mechanical high ground?

An investment banker once told me business isn't risky. People are risky. One guy can take a dumb as toast business plan and make millions. Another guy can take a slam dunk and forget to throw the ball. Divining where risk lives is a lot harder than it seems. The same biz brain said planning for failure is easy. If Cadillac's new sub-CTS doesn't sell, well, the brand has plenty of experience not selling small cars. But what if the mini-Caddy sells like hotcakes? Could the average Caddy dealer deal? What would it do to the Cadillac brand? Or Buick? Or Chevy? For GM execs who mutter "we should be so lucky," be careful what you wish for. Meanwhile, I wish governments would ease-up on the whole risk elimination business. Even global warming's most vociferous adherents will admit that the possibility of rising ocean levels flooding our coastal conurbations is a risk, not a dead cert. How far are we willing to go to eliminate that risk? Do we really need to force people out of their cars to do so? And who's planning for the potential problems that success would bring? No one. Until I see that kind of thinking on the issue, I'm staying out of it. Well, at least until Monday. 

I've got a couple of bones to pick with BMW designer Chris Bangle. First, I reckon the "flame surfacing" design style that he's inflicted on the brand since the 2002 7-Series has trashed the sina qua non of German automotive elegance. Second, the Ohio-born Bimmer big-wig's insistence on pronouncing perfectly good English words with a German accent (e.g. "owtowmobile" and "schport") strikes me as the worst sort of pistonhead-goes-to-art-school pretentiousness. And now Bangle's really bungled it. On BMW-web-tv, Bangle waxes lyrical about his employer's Geneva auto stand. Ten seconds in, Bangles says "It's kind of an axis of white power here; there are really strong white cars." Now we're not suggesting that Bangle's racist, or that BMW's lack of minorities in their upper executive echelons reflects any kind of ethnic or cultural insensitivity. But that's certainly not the kind of comment you'd expect a car executive to make off the cuff– or fail to realize he had made and order it struck from the record. And the fact that Bangle's axis of white power comment made it onto BMW's website tells us they lack English-speakers, political sensitivity or both. Just sayin'.