Volkswagen’s proving grounds in Ehra-Lessien, north of Wolfsburg, is not just deadly for ducks. The secretive site turned into the scene of a bizarre accident. A driver crashes, survives, only to be killed by a colleague. The second driver is fighting for his life, Flensburg Online reports.
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For the first time in fourteen months, European car buyers registered more cars than in the same month the previous year, the European Auto Manufacturer Association ACEA reports. For the month of June, Europe (as defined by the ACEA) records a modest growth of 2.4 percent, mostly “carried by the effects of fleet renewal schemes in more than 10 EU Member States.”
“Fleet renewal schemes” is a EUphemism for cash for clunkers.
What is interesting is that June ’08 was still strong. Any growth recorded against a strong month of the previous year is a good sign. As this graph shows, the car-nage in Europe begun in September ’08, and it was downhill from there. Expect more “growth” news from Europe for the following months, as a cautiously recovering market compares with a disastrous fall and winter of 2008. (Ignore August. All of Europe is on vacation in August, and next to nobody buys any cars while on vacation.) Country by country, it’s still a mixed bag.
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Back when TTAC was a voice in the wilderness on GM’s C11, I asked Bob Lutz if his pension was bankruptcy-proof. Maximum Bob scoffed and joked that he’d check with his accountant. Well, I guess he didn’t; the Car Czar recently revealed that hard times had forced him to sell one of his personal jets. After losing his shirt on GM stock options. The fact that MB’s working for New GM also indicates that he forgot to get while the getting was good. He should have had a word with his boss, Rick Wagoner. The ex-GM CEO, the man who wiped billions from the company’s worth and faceplanted the American automaker, made sure his financial future didn’t depend on anything as trivial as success.
The Telegraph reports:
“The recession has hit our industry hard,” said Thomas Goetz, owner of [Germany’s] Maison d’envie brothel.
“Obviously we hope that the discount will attract more people,” he added. “It’s good for business, it’s good for the environment – and it’s good for the girls.”
Customers who arrive on bicycle or who can prove they took public transportation get a 5-euro ($7) discount from the usual 70-euro ($100) fee for 45 minute sessions, Mr Goetz said. He said the environmentally friendly offer was working a charm.
“We have around 3-5 new customers coming in daily to take advantage of the discount,” he said, adding the green rebate has helped alleviate traffic and parking congestion in the neighbourhood. [hat tip to Justin Berkowitz]
As our previous story on New GM’s dealer oath indicated, New Chrysler and Government Motors are fighting a desperate battle to head-off H.R. 2743. The bill—which has cleared committee and continues to gather steam amongst the axed dealers’ political allies— would require the former bankrupts to take back thousands of terminated franchisees. “We’re open to a non-legislative solution,” Chrysler spinmeister John Bozzella told Automotive News [sub]. “We’re interested in a non-legislative solution,” GM spokesman Greg Martin echoed in an e-mail. Although the automakers’ media mates are happy to parrot the euphemism, let’s call this for what it is: a pay-off. Price tag? The two automakers sliced 2,789 dealerships. Even if you figure a paltry $1 million each, that’s a $2.789 billion fate-thee-well. Compared to the $70 billion to $100 billion-plus that Uncle Sam’s plowed into the zombie automakers, it’s a pittance. But the actual retail price of the showcase is likely to be . . . much more. Watch this space.
Ok, today’s QOTD was actually typed yesterday, as Alpha jet-deprived New GM Car Czar Bob Lutz faced the slings and arrows of outrageous internetocracy on Fastlane. Stan:
In my group it is just uncool to drive a GM car -even if they are as good as the imports. Is your marketing studies researching why this is. I could give you an ear full and fit the urban professional demographic. I want to see GM get that desirable one day!
Lutz’s reply (and our quote of the day) after the jump.
Automotive Traveler cites confidential sources inside GM as saying that GM’s Caprice (neé Pontiac G8) will be built in Oshawa, Canada. According to AT’s sources, the Impala’s age is hurting it in police fleet sales. The Caprice would presumably fix that and potentially squeeze a few more sales out of the Zeta platform. But it also flies in the face of recent revelations that Fritz Henderson is “not a fan of rebadging” (in regard to the G8, no less), and that the Impala is moving to the Epsilon II platform. Are we seeing the beginnings of a Lutz-Henderson rift?
GM Bankruptcy lawyer Harvey Miller confirms what Steve Rattner’s departure from the Presidential Task Force On Autos suggested, telling Bloomberg “I really believe that by the end of August, the task force will be gone.” Miller explains that “the winding down of Old GM and Old Chrysler will take a significant period of time, but it will not involve anything like the task force. It will be an ordinary liquidating bankruptcy.” Rather than the bankruptcy code-shredding process that recently wrapped up. The credit market is going to take it from here. “I’ve been around a long time in this business and I’ve heard financial institutions say, ‘We will never lend another penny to this industry’ on the basis of this decision in bankruptcy court or elsewhere,” says Miller. “Three or four months later, they’ve totally forgotten. There is no institutional memory in this world.” At least the last part of that is dead on. The rest? Perhaps a tad optimistic. Most likely, some form of government guarantees will be necessary to convince banks that GM is creditworthy. Otherwise, its $50b debt load to the taxpayers and internal turmoil make it a poor target for private investment. But, hey, why not give it a whirl?
Because, why not? Thanks to the American taxpayer, Fiat didn’t have to pay for Chrysler. But China’s First Auto Works (FAW) and others are bidding for Bertone Carozzeria, so Fiat stump up real, actual money, says Automotive News [sub]. For a coach builder (last project: the Opel Astra convertible of 2000-2005) which was just bailed out by the Italian government in 2007. And is only going to auction because of a family feud (via AN [sub]). Now that is what you call adding insult to bailout.
With the Malibu mild-hybrid out of the picture and the Volt project still in integration testing, GM-Volt.com reports that the General is developing a “dedicated hybrid” model alá Prius and Insight. According to GM’s Ed Peper, the 4-banger manual Malibu’s 33 highway mpg makes the extra cost of a mild hybrid a tough sell. Besides, a hybrid has to look like a hybrid to earn its eco-premium, right? But isn’t that what the Volt does? Unless, of course, GM wants an eco-halo that it can (possibly) make money on. In which case… duh? Either way, if GM plumps for a dedicated hybrid alongside the Volt, it will mean more development cost, more cannibalism, and more signs of death-thrashing. Time to pop those focus pills, GM. Again. Still.
“People don’t want cars named after hungry old Greek broads! They want names like ‘Mustang’ and ‘Cheetah’ — vicious animal names,” according to Homer Simpson’s automaker brother Herb. Yesterday I learned another good rule of thumb for car naming: if it doesn’t sound hilarious with the word “anal” in front of it, it’s probably not a great car name. Think about it… Commander, Wrangler and Legacy good; CTS, MKT and Optima bad. It may not be safe-for-work, but dammit it’s the truth.
Glenn sent us a link to this list on oddee.com. And the winners are:
10. AMC Gremlin – Wikipedia: “Gremlin is an English folkloric creature, commonly depicted as mischievous and mechanically oriented, with a specific interest in aircraft. Although their origin is found in myths among airmen, claiming that the gremlins were responsible for sabotaging aircraft, John W. Hazen states that ‘some people’ derive the name from the Old English word gremian, ‘to vex’. Since World War II, different fantastical creatures have been referred to as gremlins, bearing varying degrees of resemblance to the originals.” Such as . . . Howie Mandel. The AMC Gremlin wasn’t known as much for mechanical malfunctions as its questionable styling. That said the name didn’t stop 671,475 American and Canadian customers from buying one. Well, I assume it was one.
What’s the deal with these small cars and their self-righteous names? I’m talking about the Smart, the iQ, and the Think. Does anybody really believe that making a car diminutive turns it into some kind of Einstein? If anything, I’d be happy if car makers showed they understand they have some really stupid machines out there. The Fiat Cretino, the Ford Fiasco, the Opel Idiot, the Mercury Moron: now that’d be Truth in Naming.
According to the Detroit News, both Ford and GM are looking at unifying their full- and mid-sized car platforms around a single platform in hopes of capturing economies of scale. Ford will move future Taurus and Fusion models to its European (Mondeo) C/D platform, while GM is looking at basing a future Impala on the Malibu’s Epsilon II platform. The Ford Flex/MKT would also likely move to the C/D platform, leaving the Taurus/Current Flex’s D3 platform available for the next generation Explorer.
Curbside Classics takes you back to 1971 for a virtual comparison test of six small cars, based (and partly borrowed) from a C/D test.
Few cars are more polarizing than the Pinto (except the Prius, of course). Commonly derided for its exploding gas tank and general crappiness, other folks found (still find) it to be cheap, fairly reliable transportation with a variable fun quotient, depending on its configuration. Sometimes cars develop their reputations later in life, but the underdeveloped Pinto was pretty much an open book, right from the beginning. A children’s book, at that. The Pinto should have been called Foal; it was a baby car.
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