With what one hopes is feigned incredulity, the Freep‘s Sarah Webster marvels at how political the issue of GM’s bankruptcy has become. “I must confess,” writes Walker with a conveniently wide-eyed naiveté, “I was quite surprised when the issue of whether General Motors Corp. or Chrysler LLC should file for bankruptcy took a turn to the political when the automakers first approached the federal government for a rescue package last fall.” Yeah, it’s a shocker alright. But why is Walker so surprised?
You know that advertisement for the Cadillac Escalade Hybrid where a douchey fellow suggests that “they should hybrid (sic) this thing”? I would post the video, but it seems that Cadillac has pulled all trace of the spot from the interwebs leaving only the marginally less insipid “cupholders” and “checkmate” ads on its website. And though it’s strange to plumb the Tubes of You for hours and not find this mythically inane third ad, it’s disappearance down the memory hole isn’t surprising at all. The spot suggested a troglodyte’s approach to hybrid technology that is only underscored by the reality of GM’s hybrid strategy: quick-n-dirty BAS, expensive and complex two-mode system, and moon-shot EREV. Hybrid this. Okay, now hybrid that. [ED: Zammy found it!] But Nissan’s announcement today that it will be bringing a hybrid version of its Infiniti M to the US market in 2010 has to put the Japanese firm in contention for worst hybrid strategy around.
I’ll come right out and say it: It’s my parents’ fault. You see, my mom’s just a couple of inches over five feet tall and my dad’s only a bit taller than she is. But for some reason they passed genes to me resulting in me growing to 6’3″. It makes for interesting family portraits but when it comes to cars, it sucks. I grew up riding with my knees shoved in the dashboard of whatever bench-seat-equipped sedan they happened to own at the time. And now I’m given a Mazda MX-5 Miata Grand Touring to review. Genetics is a bitch.
Daimler has announced that it will raise $2.67 billion to fund future operations, reports Automotive News [sub]. But since we know that the BMW share swap has been nixed by the Quandts, how is Daimler coming up with the cash? By snaffling Opel’s cash from the German government? Or perhaps by jumping on the DC bailout express? No, Daimler followed the real money back to the Persian Gulf. Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments (owned by the state-run International Petroleum Investment Company) will buy a 9.1 percent stake in the German firm. After all, when you’ve repeatedly been fined for violating CAFE standards, you go to the oil wells, not the halls of government for your cash injection. The Emirate of Kuwait had already owned a 7.6 percent stake in Daimler, an investment that has been diluted to 6.9 percent by Aabar’s investment. But according to the analysts, Daimler had little choice but to take Aabar’s cash.
Ahead of the March 31 bailout buffet deadline, GM’s North American Vice President of Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing is finally taking action to quell queasiness about GM’s “restructuring.” A GM insider sent us this message from GM’s marketing maven, who sent it to GM dealers, to send it to their customers. Shall we file this under “methinks they doth protest too much”? Anyway, bottom line (as well as the top): GM’s warranty is “safe and sound.” That’s because GM dealers remain open for sales and service. And when the dealer aren’t open, as GM pares dealers and GMAC pulls the financing the stores need to survive? Moving on . . .
GM would like its millions of current and future customers to know one thing: GM’s warranty coverage is absolutely safe and sound, now and well into the future, no matter what the GM make or model.
I said, moving on . . .
We always taken care of our customers [sometimes in that mafiosi sort of way] and stood behind our products ‐‐ and we will continue to do so.
Right up until and through Chapter 11. How . . . reassuring.
In their quest to position the German automotive brand as, uh, something, Audi has decided to “invest” in the New York Yankees. Audi’s decision to back the Yanks may miff supporters of the 29 other Major League Baseball teams. But hey, those that own Audis could get a shot at seeing their team play the pin-striped perennial pennant winners in the newly re-christened Audi Yankees Club, a “premium entitlement area” perched high atop The House that Ruth Built. I thought it was baseball, apple pie and Chevrolet. Tempus fugit.
Lambo’s abortion-for-four is “on ice,” reports Autocar. Because of “me-too” positioning and questionable styling? No, apparently “the timing and market conditions are just not right for an additional model line,” says Lambo’s R&D boss, Maurizio Reggiani. That’s it? What about a nice, reassuring “Lamborghini refuses to build bland, uninspired vehicles in a faddish niche just because several competitors are” retort? Or, perhaps, “we encourage the folks behind the new Lagonda to join us in supporting death with dignity for similarly useless concepts”? No? Fine. Blame the economy. But file this one under “creative destruction.”
I thought that “hand built cars are better” thing disappeared on March 5, 1908. That’s when Cadillac won the Dewar Trophy, awarded by the Britain’s Royal Automobile Club for progress in automobile engineering and racing. Cadillac scrambled parts from three cars (720 × 3), reassembled them and drove the vehicles straight into the history books. (Who knew you could park a car in a book?) But the idea of hand-crafted supremacy survives—thrives even—at the top of the market. Rolls Royce, Maybach and Aston Martin all play heavily on the fact that the vehicles are hand-crafted. I know there’s no way to mass produce parts for a car that’s made in Fabergé egg quantities. I’ve seen (and commissioned) the world’s best automotive artisans. But there’s something ridiculously antiquated about celebrating price-no-object one-off-mobiles. Surely modern mass production is the greater, unsung triumph, where hundreds of thousands of people work together to create a vehicle that’s safe, somewhat stylish, reliable, comfortable and, above all, affordable. Should it ever come to fruition, the Tata Nano will bring bring prosperity to millions of Indians. The Nano will be a greater accomplishment than this fantastic work of art. Just sayin’.
Here’s un peu de inside dope from France’s L’Automobile mag. Bottom line: the on-again off-again on-again off-again Toyota – Subaru rear wheel-drive car is . . . on again. And it’ll be called a Celica. Or not.
Chez Toyota, les bons et loyaux services ne sont pas toujours récompensés : après sept générations et six titres de champion du monde des rallyes, le coupé Celica a été remercié, en 2006, faute de ventes suffisantes (ci-contre, la septième et dernière génération). Mais le géant japonais s’apprête à lui donner une seconde chance. En 2010, Toyota lancera à nouveau un coupé sportif abordable, étudié par Subaru. Une information confirmée par Thierry Dombreval, vice-président des ventes et du marketing de Toyota France, dans le numéro 755 de L’Automobile Magazine.
Loads of flames this weekend. The police stop video had members of the Best and Brightest morphing into the Mean and Nastiest. Please remember that TTAC’s posting policy is clear: no flaming the website, its authors or fellow commenters. Feel free to rip apart an opinion, but do not diss the site, the scribes or the folks. We also don’t allow meta-discussions about our editorial stance or style underneath an unrelated post. For example, I exorcised this broadside from thoots’ comment re: my Toyota Venza review:
As some have said, this is no ‘review,’ this is an ‘editorial.’ And it’s the kind of thing that makes me go elsewhere, rather than *cough* actually consider paying for somebody’s personal diatribe against car-like crossover styling or whatever it is that he or she happens to hate. Geez, just say that you prefer school-bus-style visibility, and get on with your life, could you? Crimony.
After a few emails with thoots—the proper place for site criticism—I’ve agreed to open the subject up for debate and turn off the anti-flaming directive. So, what’s wrong with TTAC’s reviews? What should we do to improve them?
Autocar reports that Indian automaker Tata will spend part of its day launching their NSFA (Not Safe for America) Nano in Mumbai. In case you’d forgotten—what with all the delays—the Nano is slated to be the world’s cheapest car. “The tinny four-door will sell for 100,000 rupees or $1979 (£1366) when the company takes bookings next month.” Sorry, typo. “Tiny.” So, it’s not REALLY launching the car. And it’s only TAKING BOOKINGS next month. Autocar reveals that DELIVERY will start well after the factory’s built, which “should be up and running next year, despite delays caused by an industrial dispute, but may only have capacity to build 350,000 cars a year. Until then Tata is thought to only be able to provide 50,000 cars annually.” So less, later, maybe from Mumbai. So what’s up with that? “Despite facing huge demand for the Nano, experts estimate the car will not create enough revenue to refinance by June a $2 billion (£1.3 bn) bridging loan Tata used to buy Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford.” Spinning wheels. Got to go ’round.
I was going to email TTAC commentator kazoomaloo to tell him I’d deleted his TTAC flame (“Dude, this is a pretty lame story”) when I clicked on his web addy instead of his email. I stumbled upon his pitch for a Ford Fiesta, as part of FoMoCo’s early adopter contest. I thought it worth sharing here because A) I like it and B) I’m showing the red card (or is that green card) for his assertion that the Fiesta is American. Hecho en Mexico,amigo. Moving on—I mean forward [ED. Fordward?]—I mean ahead, it’s the best day ever for Ford. CBS News is blowing some serious smoke up America’s @$$ regarding Ford’s relative health. Today, Ford received top billing as part one of The Morning Show’s weeklong series, “Early Across America,” featuring stories of “hope and optimism amid all the economic gloom sweeping the nation.” You can’t buy publicity like this. Oh wait . . . Anyway, there’s more!
Automotive News [sub] provides “tantalizing hints” (source?) about which six vehicles “could be” built in Chrysler factories and sold in Chrysler dealerships under their Italian brand names. At the U.S. taxpayer’s expense. [NB: Count the above Panda Jeep twice for two different engine permutations (1.2 and 1.4-liter) in the new Chrysler tradition.]
• Fiat 500 minicar: Big hit, retro hatch, possible Mini [ED: MINI] fighter
• Alfa Romeo MiTo: Stylish 3-door hatchback
• Alfa Romeo Milano: Compact sedan, will replace current Alfa 147
• Alfa Romeo Giulia: Sleek mid-size sedan, will replace current Alfa Romeo 159
• Alfa Romeo compact SUV: Compact utility vehicle hinges on Alfa Romeo’s re-entry into U.S.
Many of our Best and Brightest have flagged the fact that cold weather may ding the Chevrolet’s gas/electric Hail Mary Volt’s performance. And now we have anecdotal, real world evidence for the challenge. Underneath an innocuous headline, “Fusion Hybrid Game-Changer for Ford,” a WardsAuto scribe gives us the 411 on the difference between the vehicle’s heavily advertised EPA number (38.5 mpg combined) and its cold weather efficiency. Byron Pope reveals, “The best we can squeeze out of the Fusion Hybrid is a combined 33 mpg (7.1 L/100 km). In all fairness, our seat time came in the midst of a brutal Michigan winter cold snap. Running the heater at nearly full blast most of the time siphons power from the battery causing the car to rely more often on its gasoline engine.” And that’s because using the heater changes the way the Fusion hybrid’s power-train works . . .
We’ve been hearing a lot recently about GM bondholders’ unwillingness to take the haircut offered by The General—a precondition for federal loans. Ha! Got you! It was supposed to be a precondition. Uncle Sam blew through the first deadline as if that check box didn’t even exist. As the The Presidential Task Force on Automobiles (PTFOA) prepares to dish-up a second helping from the bailout buffet, GM bondholders are tooling-up for next week’s PR war. The “unofficial committee’s” letter to the PTFOA [full text via Reuters] kicks off with the Cerberus defense: ” . . . many of these bonds are owned by average citizens, who purchased them to support their own retirement and college expenses and other critical needs.” As we said when Chrysler’s owners assumed this position, bullshit. As the letter acknowledges, 80 percent of this debt is held by institutions. Meanwhile . . .
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