Auto Motor und Sport‘s latest images of the 2011 Mercedes SLK show it looking Crossfire bad. Sure, that’s better than leaf blower supercharger bad, but it’s still really bad.
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Detroit’s hometown newspapers are reacting positively to the most recent requests for another round of automaker bailouts. Shocking, I know. After all, Detroit’s media is fast becoming the most notorious bailout boosters on the block. But titling an editorial “U.S. auto producers make a solid case for federal aid” is really stretching things, even by Detroit News standards. And as conditions worsen, the rose-colored-glasses act is really wearing thin. To paraphrase an old Soviet joke, there are two ways Detroit can be turned around: the natural and the miraculous. The natural way is that the Archangel Michael and his bands of angels descend to earth and work 24 hours a day to save the city’s economy. The miraculous way is that the automakers do it themselves. Detroit’s local media clearly believes in miracles.
GM has developed a plan, currently before Congress, which is supposed to demonstrate its long run viability. The company is looking at its products, brands, manufacturing footprint and capacity, health care, and “structural costs”, while negotiating with the UAW to further reduce labor costs. All this is well and good but it is almost certain that GM is not addressing an issue that, in the long run, could be more important than all these others: its culture.
Farago is going to kill me for this one, but if I don’t tempt fate every so often, the dullness wins. Since the discussion of the bailout has turned my brain to Chex Mix, and seeing pictures of the Porsche Panamera and BMW 5-Series PAS SAC KNICK KNACK just make me nauseous, I figure we should try some lighthearted fun. Readers, please put the following cars in order according to . . . whatever you like. Just tell us your sorting mechanism when you post, or be more mysterious and let folks guess.
(A) Nissan 370Z
(B) Dodge Charger R/T
(C) Volkswagen Jetta TDI
(D) Lexus IS-F
(E) Hyundai Genesis 4.6
(F) Audi A4 2.0T
(G) Citroen C6 V6 HDI
And if this wasn’t enough to make you say “huh?”, please enjoy today’s podcast.
“Sweet” Peter DeLorenzo, the self-styled Autoextremist, has some extreme thoughts on the General Motors predicament. Specifically, his latest “Rant” suggests that General Motors is so compromised as a brand that he’d go as far as to rename the artist formerly known as “the world’s largest automaker.” “If GM is able to emerge from all of this with a strengthening pulse,” writes DeLorenzo (without getting too hung up on that “if”), “then I have a recommendation. Substitute the word ‘Precision’ for ‘General’ in the company title and then move on, burying the old company name – and the associated negativity – once and for all.” Holy unpronouncable symbols, Batman! Precision Motors? What, was “Patriotic Motors” taken? More importantly, how can Sweet Pete think a name change will make a lick of difference, while rejecting bankruptcy, brand cutting and other meaningful reforms? For more insight into DeLorenzo’s Extremist Makeover Branding Edition, check out some of his thoughts on GM’s brands over at the New York Times.
I’ve been poking around the Chrysler deal with members of our Best and Brightest. I asked one of them to explain the original Chrysler deal. I’m not completely sure what the hell he’s talking about in several places, but I get the general gist. And this information needs to see the light of day. So, here we go . . .
The agreement known as the “Contribution Agreement” found in the 6-K filed at the SEC by Daimler around 5/14/07 explains in painful legalese what was to occur and defined the capital to be funded upon closing the deal. The purpose of the agreement: protect both sides and to provide a financing commitment so that when Daimler’s Board of Directors signs off on the deal their backside is protected. It should be noted that the contributions to C-Auto and C-Finco changed from what was described in the Contribution Agreement once the loan money was raised and the deal officially closed.
Via Green Car Congress comes a number of perspectives on Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) adoption fom the 2009 SAE Hybrid Technology Symposium. And there are some interesting lessons to be learned. One consumer study by Dr. Ken Kurani of the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies indicates that mainstream consumers favor less PHEV capability than manufacturers are developing. The ITS study asked a sample of plausible early market households (neither pioneers, advocates nor experts) to design their own PHEV, and found that expectations of all-EV range and battery capacity were remarkably low. Says Dr. Kurani, “consumers right now, given the opportunity to manipulate the idea of a plug-in vehicle, are designing not only very different vehicles, they are designing vehicles that are much more possible than the experts are assuming.” How so?
From the Lorinser press release:
While it was derided at first, the Smart has since evolved into a hip cult-car—even in “big block” USA. Its success story is no surprise: the defiant small car still embodies the principles of good economic and ecological sense while being completely free of a “piggy-bank look” and “everyman design.” Consequently it suits the times perfectly. So why is Sportservice Lorinser forecasting a dark future for the Smart? Because black is suiting the dynamic light metal alloys Speedy perfectly.
Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell (R) is proposing a budget that increases the financial burden on drivers by $171M in order to close the state’s growing $850m deficit. Rell’s plan increases license and registration fees, imposes freeway speed cameras and assesses new charges on speeding tickets. If implemented, the programs would represent a permanent and steadily increasing source of revenue for the state.
Puh-lease. The idea that American motorists yearn for small, stylish, Italian cars is nuts. OK, maybe YOU do. But YOU are not the average American motorist. And this is not 1951. Or 1961. The U.S. market is saturated with strong brands selling first-class automobiles that cater to Joe Public’s every vehicular need, from stylish, miserly city runabouts to gas-guzzling, SUV cum blingmobiles. It’s worth noting that the market for new cars really, really sucks. What are the odds that consumers swimming backwards underwater will want to take a flyer on a completely untested brand selling a brand spanking new product? Did I say untested? See, now that’s funny. Fiat in the US? OK, sure, branding these [smoke a] joint ventures as Chryslers or Dodges will sort that little legacy issue right out. See that? Did it again! C’mon. You’re the Best and Brightest. Surely you know that this Fiat thing is a non-starter, from the non-start to the non-finish. Finnish! Didn’t Porsche build Boxster in Finland? I reckon a Finnish brand would have a better chance in the Land of the Free than Fiat. You?
An overview of what happened in other parts of the world while you were in bed. TTAC provides round-the-clock coverage of everything that has wheels. Or has its wheels coming off. WAS is being filed from Beijing until further notice.
GM/Opel ready to deal: As some kind of bankruptcy for GM becomes more likely by the minute, The General has signaled its readiness to consider some kind of a third party engagement in Opel. “If it makes sense and helps to make GM Europe and Opel successful, then the management is ready to entertain partnerships with or equity engagement of third parties,” GM Europe President, Carl-Peter Forster; Opel CEO, Hans Demant; and the Chairman of Opel’s Worker Council, Klaus Franz, said in a joint announcement, Automobilwoche [sub] reports. They did not elaborate whether this means an engagement by other manufacturers or an engagement by Germany’s state and central governments. In the meantime, Chancellor Angela Merkel is still waiting for Opel and GM to do their homework and hand in a viability plan: “Right now, the government cannot act because we don’t have the necessary concepts from Opel,” Frau Merkel said.
“The submission of restructuring plans by GM and Chrysler represents the next step in what has been a difficult and disappointing chapter for the American economy, but I hope will become the transformation of our domestic automobile industry into a viable, technologically advanced, and globally competitive manufacturing force.
“In the coming weeks, the Obama Administration will review these plans and assess whether the shared sacrifice required of all stakeholders affected by the auto companies’ current conditions—workers, executives, bondholders, and shareholders—will result in reasonably restructured corporations, with good, high-paying jobs for the future.
“Congress looks forward to working with the Obama Administration on any future actions that may be needed to move our domestic automobile industry on a path of global competitiveness and advanced energy efficiency technologies, while ensuring accountability to the taxpayers.”
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