A study by Booz & Co, that calls itself “one of the leading management consultancies in the world,” predicts that India will be the world’s 4th largest car market by 2015 and will surpass the European Nations by 2015. I don’t doubt that India is a very important market with great growth potential. But Booz & Co must have consumed too much of its namesake. (Read More…)
Robert writes:
I just replaced the engine in my 2005 Porsche 911 due to the failure of the INTERMEDIATE SHAFT. I would like to know just how widespread the problem is with 911’s and other Porsche models too. Why?
I am considering filing a lawsuit against Porsche to recover the costs associated with replacing the engine. If you have had an INTERMEDIATE SHAFT failure and have an interest in joining in my lawsuit or simply sharing your experience please contact me: westsidetravelmedicineATgmail.com
Chrysler’s extended Super Bowl ad for its 200 sedan is making waves in the American auto business, for “bringing back the pride” in America’s automakers and the city that hosts them. But, as with most things Detroitean, there’s a cruel irony lurking just below the veneer of pride reborn. The Detroit News reports
Three workers from Chrysler Group LLC’s Jefferson North plant were arrested recently for alleged drug use during their lunch break after police were tipped off by the automaker.
The workers were arrested on Jan. 24 but have not been formally charged, said Det. Lt. Robert Honey, of the Michigan State Police’s County of Macomb Enforcement Team.
This is the second time in the last six months that workers at Chrysler’s Jefferson North plant have been caught indulging in overly celebratory lunch breaks. Despite all the feel-good Chrysler advertisements about Detroit Pride and quality craftsmanship, workers assembling the new much-lauded Grand Cherokee can’t seem to build the thing while sober. But there’s more to this than sheer irony: we don’t have details on the latest round of arrests, but a Chrysler-employed TTAC commenter has told us that the previous round of arrests came after second-tier workers turned in union brothers out of apparent resentment of the fact that their colleagues were making twice their second-tier wage while drinking and smoking their way through the work day. Which raises an interesting question: if Chrysler didn’t have a two-tier wage system, would Jefferson North’s 24 hour party people have been caught? Is it possible that the shop-floor tensions brought on by two-tier wages actually help curb UAW worker excesses?
Back when I was semi-serious about photography— as in Pliocene Epoch photography with lots of chemicals and red lights— I scored a bunch of two-piece glass 35mm slide mounts at a camera store in Los Angeles. Most of them were empty, but a handful came with Chrysler dealership promotional slides from 1974. (Read More…)
Ford’s been fixing Lincoln for so long now, it’s almost surprising that things on the dealership level are still so broken. But, as Ford told its dealers at last weekend’s NADA convention [via Automotive News [sub]], it’s time to put up or become a former Lincoln dealership. By the end of this year, every Lincoln dealer must comply with a few of Ford’s “more than reasonable” expectations, to wit:
You know, those do sound like reasonable standards for a luxury brand dealer network… and if a Lincoln dealer doesn’t like them, well, Ford is looking to trim the network by 100 stores or so anyway. Still, isn’t Lincoln’s problem pretty conclusively product-related? There’s no word from Ford’s boffins on that front, which means some dealers may be happy to leave the Mercury sign up and become one of those used car lots that still has an Oldsmobile sign up. Yes, Lincoln needs a top-notch dealer experience (and an own-brand sales manager to keep marks away from the Taurus) to make Lincoln viable, but demanding it without even hinting at future product is to ask Lincoln dealers to make an incredible leap of faith.
In the olden days, the Detroit, Frankfurt, and Tokyo motor shows were the must go shows for any self-respecting carmaker. We’ll definitely be at the Tokyo show this December. The Detroit 3 won’t. (Read More…)
The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled on January 24 that officers who received speed camera tickets while driving police cars on duty must pay the $40 fine. Montgomery County Officers Dean Cates, Randy Kucsan, Bill Tran, and Dana Way protested after their department reissued citations in their names in 2008. They were found guilty in district court, but a circuit court judge dismissed the charges on the grounds that the officers were denied their due process rights. The state appealed, hoping the court would rule that police officers are not entitled to due process before liability for a speed camera ticket is transferred.
Under county policy, speed camera tickets are re-issued to the policemen, paramedics and firemen who were behind the wheel of police cars, ambulances and fire trucks if the emergency lights on the vehicles were not visibly activated in the photograph. The officers complained that their sergeant would ask them weeks or months after an alleged offense to explain why they were speeding. (Read More…)
Sometimes you’re just driving along when something catches your attention as you whiz past. Was that a… no, it couldn’t be. (Read More…)
Ford brought two pieces of good news for their dealers at this year’s NADA meeting: The dealers will get more cars. And they will get more cash. But wait, there will be less … (Read More…)
Chrysler is proud of the fact that they did NOT release their Super Bowl ad on YouTube like most of the others. “While many sponsors revealed their advertising plans for Sunday’s Super Bowl, the Chrysler brand remained tight lipped to create a stronger impact for the reveal of their new marketing and advertising campaign featuring famous Detroiter, Eminem,” their press release says. (Read More…)
While America is glued to the flat screen, Fiat gets all the headlines. The other day, Sergio Marchionne had dropped a mention that the HQ of a merged Fiat & Chrysler could move to the U.S. Stateside, this didn’t make much waves. It was buried in shyster-gate. In Italy, all hell broke loose. Fiat emigrating la bella Italia for America? Porca miseria! (Read More…)
To commemorate the sudden departure of Marcelo de Vasconcello’s Illustrated History of the Brazilian Car, I’ll resurrect The Autobiography Of BS© – just for this one time, honest. It only tangentially has to do with cars, but a lot with Brazil. As all the other stories, the story is true. Even the name wasn’t changed. Hans-Peter is alive and well. He eluded the Brazilian DOI-CODI (their secret police) after I got him into hot water. He lives the good life, somewhere in Europe.
In the 70s, I started my career in advertising at GGK, one of the hottest shops in Europe. Our biggest client was Volkswagen and that client was mine. At that time, Volkswagen was on the verge of bankruptcy, the world went from one oil crisis to the next, and the end of the automobile was predicted by all. “When the liter Benzin will hit one Deutschmark, people will stop driving,” was the prediction by many experts, and everybody had bought into it. The other guys in the agency fled to safe accounts, such as alcohol and cigarettes, and I could take over Volkswagen.
One of the Art Directors I worked with was Hans-Peter Weiss. I made him a target of Brazil’s secret police. (Read More…)
Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne stepped into a minefield by calling the high-interest bailout loans provided by the U.S. and Canadian governments in 2009 “shyster loans.” Some called him an ingrate, others branded him a racist. Yesterday, Marchionne apologized. (Read More…)
Just received this email from Chrysler Communications in my Outlook. It starts: “Dear Bertel: Who won the battle between the flakes of last week and the four-wheel drives from Chrysler Group LLC?”
Now that raised my interest. Did some folks with an Explorer or a Denali call out Dodge to a duel? Or did I just miss another RAM Challenge? And Chrysler PR calls the other guys “flakes?” Are the gloves coming off? (Read More…)
Kurt Wiley writes in:
Having been a long time reader of TTAC, I now pose a question to the Best and Brightest:
Should one who likes the driving experience offered by German brands, but abhors their reliability and maintenance expense, seek safety with an extended warranty? Or will purchasing one of those warranties be an utter waste of money?
Considering I’m about to embark on a weekend roadtrip in a 12-year-old M Coupe, I’m hoping the answer to this question is “no.” At the same time, I’m willing to admit that I bought the car I wanted and that a little bit of risk was part of the deal. But then, I’m just a callow youth with no kids to worry about… I’ll let TTAC’s Best and Brightest bring their wealth of experience to this question while I pray that Mr M doesn’t blow a gasket this weekend.
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