It has been commented widely (and it doesn’t take a tall IQ to do so) that Magna might get problems with its parts customers (a.k.a. OEMs) when Magna starts competing with them through Opel. Didn’t take long: “Volkswagen AG said Wednesday Canadian auto parts supplier Magna International Inc. will face conflicts of interest following the planned takeover of General Motors Corp.’s (GM) Adam Opel GmbH unit,” Dow Jones Newswire reports from Germany. The threats are carefully worded:
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Far be it for me to extend TTAC’s reputation for putting a negative spin on news trumpeted as a sign that the auto industry’s dark days are coming to an end. But this story—“Toyota sees turnaround, boosts U.S. output”—is making the ’rounds, and it bears closer examination.
Sorry to bang on about Fritz Henderson. But, well, there he is. Again. Still. With every passing post-C11 day, the GM CEO is sealing his position as the “Uncle Walt” of the federal automotive bailout. With every news conference, media suck-up and, now, congressional inquiry, it’s increasingly clear that Government Motors’ masters aren’t going to give GM’s mustachioed public face the old heave-ho anytime soon. Or, more accurately, soon enough. Let’s face it: the Presidential Task Force on Autos should have sent Fritz his walking papers on the same day they defenestrated his mentor: GM’s last CEO. In and of itself, this failure to excommunicate is enough to abandon all hope of the zombie carmaker’s resurrection (which is an inherently ridiculous idea anyway). Drilling down deeper, we hit nothing but sewage.
The sale of the Hummer brand to a widely unknown maker of cement mixers and bridge pontoons, located in China’s wild west of Chengdu, left many questions open.
Like, how much did they pay?
The Tennessee General Assembly on Tuesday gave final approval to legislation authorizing the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) and Tennessee Highway Patrol to ticket motorists on interstate freeway work zones using automated cameras. Although many members in the House and Senate expressed strong opposition to the concept of photo enforcement, the authorization measure passed by an overwhelmingly 80 to 10 margin in the House and 28 to 0 in the Senate. The support was due in no small part to the bill’s wording, which granted authority to deploy cameras in the guise of restricting them. House Bill 1202 states . . .
Longtime TTAC Commentator dolo54 asks:
You mentioned using GM syncromesh in your recent Piston Slap article. I have a 91300zx (NA) that has a very typical problem for the model. The syncro for the 5th to 4th gear change is worn (they were made out of too soft a metal until the 95 transmission). I use the recommended Red Line MT-90 transmission oil, which helped quite a bit. But I still get a bit of a grind unless I double clutch the downshift. I’m wondering if I could use this synchromesh safely. I’ve read that you can use a more slippery oil to cure the problem in the short term, but it increases wear and in a short time the syncro will be gone completely (great for a sleazy salesman I suppose). How does synchromesh work and would it speed damage to an already worn syncro?
Sick of sinking car sales? Two choices: Relocate to Germany. Or go to China. In both countries, #4 and #3 on the world’s GDP ranking, cars are flying off dealer lots at breakneck speed.
In Germany, Abwrackprämien-powered new car registrations rose nearly 40 percent in May, compared to May 2008, Automobilwoche [sub] reports. Forty friggen percent! And we thought 19.4 percent in April was strong. In the first 5 months, 1.63 million units were sold to Deutschland’s motorists. In the beginning of the year, everybody in Germany was worried that sales could be less than 3 million cars for the whole year. Now, im Gegenteil: 2009 looks like a record breaker.
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Magna expects to consummate the marriage of Opel by September. This doesn’t surprise; it just so happens that the German elections are on 9/27/2009. In the meantime, Deutschland develops distinct doubts about the deal. “The German government made it clear that the door remains open to rival bidders,” Reuters reports. “The process is still open to all the bidders,” government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told reporters in Berlin. The German government keeps repeating that other bidders, including Fiat and China’s BAIC, still have a shot if they improved their bids. Doubts reach all the way to the top . . .
What do you do when your £50,000 ($82,000) Range Rover requires, in the span of 42,000 miles, the following repairs?
So reports the Detroit Free Press. For some perspective, The Center For Responsive Politics says GM spent $500,000 in the first three months of the year on independent lobbyists, compared with $2.8 million on its in-house lobbying corps. This “may cause some unique situations,” says to the president of the American League of Lobbyists. And that’s a hell of an understatement, considering that GM will soon be owned by a government led by a man who vowed to limit the influence of lobbyists in his administration. A GM spokesman declined to say whether the administration has given it guidance on lobbying activities.
Chrysler Co-Prez Jim Press and GM CEO Fritz Henderson faced congressional opprobrium this afternoon, as our duly elected representatives lamented the fact that the two zombie automakers are pulling the rug from under the pols’ financial backers—I mean, cutting car dealers. Never mind the bollocks; the bailout bonanza just got a big bigger. Detroit News reports that Henderson told the Senate that “GM could have 3,500-3,800 dealers by the end of next year, a reduction of 2,300-2,600 dealers. He said the reductions were painful but unavoidable.” Applying this morning’s pay-off formula (an average of $500,000 per dealer), that raises the price of the federally-sponsored sayonara to $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion. But don’t worry, ’cause Fritz feels their pain and promises this is the last last time GM will downsize.
Shark number one is Ford, which is making a concerted effort to steal sales from its cross-town rival. Automotive News [sub] reports that Ford is rolling out a regional incentive program aimed at existing Chrysler owners. Ford is offering Chrysler owners an additional $500-$1,000 on the purchase of a new Ford to owners of Chrysler vehicles older than the 2006 model year who have had service work done at Ford dealerships in the past three years. However, Ford is keeping the program as targeted and low-profile as possible. “We’ve been very cautious and certainly not predatory with regard to this,” say Ford spokesfolks. Which is smart. Domestic buyers seem to prefer other domestics, and Ford can only benefit from the uncertainty surrounding the other Detroit firms. Still, Ford should probably consider sending Chrysler owners an update on ChryCo’s attempt to welsh on its legal liability. Meanwhile, Automotive News [sub] reports that Ford is increasing production, as it angles for Chrysler’s declining market share. Toyota is, too, says AN [sub]. Let the feeding frenzy begin!
Here’s an email making the rounds amongst GM’s remaining employees:
Just announced: Now through June 30, 2009, the GM Employee Discount for Friends program* lets you share employee pricing with anyone you know who owns a competitive vehicle. It’s the ideal way to get more friends into GM vehicles.
Here’s how it works:
As the news of Hummer’s sale to a widely unknown Chinese maker of cement mixers and bridge pontoons hit the wires, James Taylor was on a plane to Chengdu, China. The city, close to the golden triangle was hitherto more famous for its illicit substances and certain kinds of clubs. Now, it will be Hummer Central. Hummer CEO James Taylor (no relation to Sweet Baby James), went to Chengdu to shake hands with his new employers. They’ll keep him for now.
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