“The caravan bound from Detroit to Washington, D.C., to support federal bridge loans [a.k.a. bailout] for Detroit’s Big Three automakers will take the information superhighway instead of the interstate… Grand plans of an automotive cavalcade to the nation’s Capitol grew to the point of impossible once the idea was floated last week by a number of influential people in Detroit.” And so The Detroit News pronounces the T.O.D. for the Caravan of Love. “The outpouring of support was huge,” said Jason Vines, Compuware Corp.’s vice president, TTAC podcaster and former chief spokesman for Chrysler LLC. “We’ve changed this into a virtual march, in part because we didn’t want to become targets for environmental groups or others.” Whoa! Hold on there. First, GM CEO Rick Wagoner can’t drive to DC with his $25b bailout bowl because of “security concerns.” Now the Caravan of Love is bummed-out by possible bad vibes from whacko tree huggers? Talk about a bad trip! So… now what? The bridge builders are launching a site called TheEngineofDemocracy.com. “There, people can share their stories about how the auto industry impacts their lives.” Customers too?
Posts By: Robert Farago
Everything looks better sitting in the Ritz. So I’m in a magnanimous mood, surfing the web on TTAC readers’ behalf. Needless to say, I wandered into “Top Ten Things Autoblog is Thankful For.” Normally, I’d pour sarcastic sprinkles on AB’s vanilla prose, and then smother it in chastising chocolate. In fact, AB inspired me to write my own top ten higher power hat tips. And here they are, in descending order. Feel free to add yours. Or, just to tweak Stephan Wilkinson, not.
Like any good scandal, Jet-gate threatens to unfold like a wedding napkin. As TTAC pointed-out when Alan Mulally was hired, Ford’s $25m p.a. CEO’s perks include free, non-business-related jet travel for his wife and family. And now Bloomberg reports that GM has asked aviation regulators to block the public’s ability to track The General’s squadron of Gulfstream jets. “We availed ourselves of the option as others do to have the aircraft removed” from a Federal Aviation Administration tracking service, Greg Martin, told Bloomberg. The spinmeister “declined to discuss why GM made the request.” Which raises one important question: what are they hiding? To be charitable, we could take GM’s previous statements about CEO Rick Wagoner’s personal security needs seriously. Other than that, we can invoke Bertel Schmitt’s (TTAC’s man in China) reports that The People’s Republic are ready to talk turkey with GM about a Chinese buyout/rescue plan. Perhaps Wagoner plans on hopping the Pacific to do the dirty on his detractors. One also wonders if this tracking thing works backwards; have GM execs been partying like it’s 1999? Has Rick been stashing wads of cash off-shore? Anyone know how UAW Gettelfinger got to Washington?
We’ve already reported Nissan’s decision to take a powder from the hugely expensive business of cock-walking at Cobo. As the Brits would say, the other shoe has dropped. Honda has announced that it will announce bupkis at this January’s North American International Auto Show. It’ll show show-goers what it’s got– and that’s it. Bloomberg reports the reason: “The Asian brands are mired in the industrywide slump that cut U.S. auto sales by 15 percent through October. U.S. automakers led by General Motors Corp. are seeking $25 billion in federal loans to help stave off a financial collapse.” Cutbacks fer sure, but the missing message is clear enough: Detroit’s auto show is fading fast. The fact that unions have driven-up the cost of the show is one show-collapse-related irony. Toyota’s decision to stay the course and unveil new models is another.
The Bush Administration’s decision to release $27b from the Troubled Assets Recovery Program to prop-up Citigroup has pissed-off Motown’s bailout brigade but good. “Financial industry rescue criticized as double standard” the Detroit Free Press‘ headline kvetches. “While the pending bailout of Citigroup is absolutely necessary because they’re too big to fail, it’s the height of hypocrisy of the outgoing administration and the treasury secretary to not make a more robust effort to do the same with Detroit,” said Anthony Sabino, a professor of business and law at St. John’s University in New York (chosen especially for his non-Detroit residency). “One cannot sit here in America and say Citigroup is more important than any one of the Big Three, let alone all of them together.” On the bright side, the funds directed Citi’s way have played straight into the hands of MSM class warriors like MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, who see Congress’ reluctance to spread the national debt to Detroit as a classic triumph of evil champagne-swilling bankers over Bud-drinking blue collar builders. Paper shufflers vs. honest folk who make “stuff.” The meme is picking-up a head of [non-hybrid] steam– despite the fact that the banking system IS more important than Detroit’s stuff makers, and two wrongs don’t make a right, and where do you draw the line and who do you think you’re foolin’ (I got the presidential seal)? Never mind. Hubris will get you every time. Bank on it.
When Ferrari, Porsche, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Rolls Royce and Land Rover withdrew from the Detroit Auto Show, well, who cares? Niche manufacturers all. But now that Nissan has announced that it’s pulled the plug on the North American International Auto Show, it’s the middle of the beginning of the end for the show. MSNBC carries the story, reporting that the Japanese automaker’s official statement on the non-matter. “Based on the fact that we have no major new products to show at the 2009 Detroit and Chicago auto shows, as well as the current economic conditions which will impact the shows’ marketing effectiveness, we have decided to cancel our involvement and participation.” Wow! Both their involvement AND their participation? That’s some serious you-know-what. MSNBC rubs salt into the wound, bringing-up the inconvenient truth that Nissan unveiled the Cube at the LA Auto Show.(forgetting to mention the 370Z U.S. debut). The bigger picture: Detroit is no longer the center of the automotive universe.
“In the coming weeks we will begin to implement a relatively new cost savings initiative at the Warren Tech Center. This initiative deals with the personal waste baskets that are present in most all of the office work stations and conference rooms. Our plan is to eliminate these waste baskets and transition to a modified method of personal office waste disposal.
When I moved to the UK, I was shocked by the price of petrol. “Britain’s an oil PRODUCING nation,” I kvetched to my accountant. “How could the populace allow their government to tax their petrol to the point where it’s the most expensive gas in Europe?” “Do you have any idea how much income tax you’re paying?” my personal pencil pusher asked. “If I were you, I wouldn’t worry about it.” In the same sense, I wouldn’t worry about GM CEO Rick Wagoner’s Gulfstream. It’s as nothing compared to the amount of money he’s pissed away on, well, everything else. Of course, it’s not the money, it’s the principle.
While steering the artist formerly known as the world’s largest automaker into career suicide, GM CEO Rick Wagoner has steadfastly maintained that “bankruptcy is not an option.” As many members of TTAC’s Best and Brightest have pointed out, that kind of stonewalling A) Is insane and B) reveals guarantees a class action lawsuit against GM’s Board of Bystanders. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Board has released a statement which illustrates their feeble-mindedness, managerial paralysis, blantant cowardice and compelling desire not to end up folding shirts at a federal prison farm. “GM said the board had discussed bankruptcy but didn’t view it as a ‘viable solution to the company’s liquidity problems.’ The board “is committed to considering all options in light of circumstances as they may develop.” In other words, NO BANKRUPTCY. Unless there is. Meanwhile, the Journal hints at disagreements between Board members and Wagoner, the company’s CEO AND Chairman.
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