I love The Autoextremist. What a great name! Sure, it’s better suited to a championship wrestler than an automotive analyst. But it’s also entirely, deliciously misleading. Peter DeLorenzo’s views on car sales, marketing and branding are about as “far out” as Brooks Brothers’ plaid pants. Even though Motown execs must surely view Peter as the nutter in the attic, DeLorenzo is always pulling for the home team. But I think he’s gone too far this time. In rant #464, Sweet Pete’s sweet on the Bavarian outside the gates. Specifically, BMW NA Prez Jim O’Donnell. After doing the WTF routine on the German brands’ model proliferation, DeLorenzo lauds the Bimmer suit for trimming imports by 44k, cutting leases by 10 percent, reducing spending on incentive marketing and spiking the marque’s blow-out December sale. (We’ll see about that one.) Supposedly, all these moves indicate genius. DeLorenzo reckons O’Donnel wants to return BMW to its upmarket– or is that four-cylinder downmarket?– roots: “hallefrickinluja.” Meanwhile, back in the real world, O’Donnel is doing sweet FA to trim BMW’s bloated product portfolio or reposition the brand and the measures Pete describes are a reaction to declining market conditions and the credit squeeze. If the Autoextremist wants to give credit where credit’s not due, he should applaud GM CEO Rick Wagoner for putting GM dealers out of business trimming The General’s dealer count. In other words, if the truth doesn’t hurt, it may not be the truth.
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This guy is in love with himself. He pontificates like a pope. Sometimes he seems so out of touch with the real world that I think his column borders on science fiction. One thing he did get right. Americans hate detroit.
Rday
Everyone hates Detroit except for this one Dutchman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgJ_6DldvGY&feature=related
He seems to be very optimistic about urban renewal.
I stopped reading him weeks ago. He’s too much into himself. Besides, what do ex-advertising men really know about the car industry?
Besides, what do ex-advertising men really know about the car industry?
Jim Wangers does. But he is the rare, rare exception.
Where are the requirements of exactly what constitutes a “car person”? Are hese written, ior in stone?
We might all miss the mark by a football sized field or three. Just owning a car or two doesn’t count.
Ya know, if the pontifornicators agree with us, they’re geniuses. If not, they’re FN nuts or loonies.
Right?
(everyone in room nods in agreement…)
I must admit to being a bit confused when reading that op-ed this morning.
How do 4-cyl and going upmarket work together? The 2002 was NOT upmarket to start with.
Mentioning how great the 3-seires is is probably correct, but forgetting to mention that most people would buy anything with a propeller badge, even if it was a rebadged Chrysler Aspen does limit the validity of the op-ed.
And then the 44k units less is because of exchange rates, is it not?
Well, at least the redesigned 3-series is a little more acceptable. However, I’ve seen 1 X6 and almost puked on myself. it makes the Porsche Cayenne look good.
DeLorenzo was first on the scene with an automotive “Inside Baseball” site/blog.
And he was the first, to my knowledge, to hit upon the Too Many Brands/Too Many Models/Too Many Dealers rant. At least, publicly (self-)published.
His knowledge of the innerworkings of Detroit manufacturers, and the flawed system of marketing found inside the D3 and their agencies is accurate, honest and above all, vast.
Many times he has called the D3 out on flat out stupid decisions, products, and practices. Sometimes, he said the absolute un-sayable (at least in Detroit). Many times I came away after reading his rants saying, “I can’t believe he said that with his out-loud voice. Someone’s gonna put a hit out on him.”
However, the internet has matured quite a bit since Autoextremist’s introduction and many other commentators and bloggers have joined the fray — this site included.
As such, the tune Peter sang solo in the wilderness now has a choir singing — so his position is hardly unique any longer.
He maintains a nostalgia for the “good ol’ days” in Detroit which were unique to the time and place in our history. They cannot be replicated no matter how much he (or Detroit) would like.
But I give him props as being among the first to tell us consumer sites like Edmunds and magazines like Car and Driver were crap — and that Detroit auto management was worse, and giving specifics on all the above. Some of his early rants, Like Dirty Dancing in the Motor City, were terrific. Now, his tune has become a little repetitive.
And I gotta ask, who is Dr. Bud E. Bryan?
His alter ego, flexing his prose chops on non-car related topics?
Or some middle aged guy in Texas chasing UT coeds for real, kissing and telling? Which if true, is ungentlemanly and misplaced in an car site.
Just sayin’.
I have been reading the Bud chronicles on autoextremist lately, and have also thought to myself that this has nothing to do with cars.
If the guy at least mentioned what car he drove to the Four Seasons bar in, or something…
Considered the Prius a joke, until the sales numbers proved how much he has to learn about the car industry, and society in general.
All environmentalists were whack jobs, until about 4 months ago, when the tipping point became too great.
Wishes the world was a giant candy-apple-red-pin-striped-chrome-plated and small-block powered ride. Once it was, but the whining about why it can’t be ever again is just too annoying.
DeLorenzo believes companies should constantly strive to recreate 1969, and forgets that nobody cares anymore. Nobody wants to hear whining boomers talk about how great the 60s were. (Hell, nobody wants to hear ME talk about the 80s.) The world is changing, that change is accelerating, and cars are changing too.
DeLorenzo would be great at writing an automotive nostalgia site. But he’s absolutely abrasive writing about the latest busines decisions. And that’s not always a good thing.
Road Kill is a ridiculous addendum on a motoring site, but at least he’s a racing enthusiast, so he can’t be ALL bad!
Hey, enjoying the podcasts but have a request, could you clean them up a bit before posting? It’s three in a row i think that have a loud phone keypress or some other loud noise in the middle. Something like audacity,
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
free, open source sound file editor would be all you need to find and remove such noises. Can also play with the levels as needed.
Thanks!
@Domestic Hearse: And I gotta ask, who is Dr. Bud E. Bryan?
This is perhaps the most pressing point of Autoextremist.com. Where did they find this guy – his writing, and his adventures are priceless!
In fairness, while Peter does cheerlead for Detroit and perhaps over-celebrate their salad days, he has had some excellent commentary throughout the life of TTAC’s GM Deathwatch series. His viewpoint is different, but then again his experience in the industry is also different.
I’d like to suggest that this site engage in more writing about cars and less “flaming” other bloggers. You folks have no corner on the “truth” – you have an opinion just like everyone else. Folks who read the various autoblogs are smart enough you know the difference between opinion and truth. Based on past experience, I do not expect this will see the light of day, ’cause, heaven forbid, no one is allowed to call you all to task. Only you can do that.