Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has said that he is open to further consolidation talks with any interested firms. “A partnership with a European rival is vital,” says Emanuele Vizzini of Investitori SGR, who tells Bloomberg that PSA PeugeotCitroen or BMW are the “natural candidates.” Marchionne is staying mum, but he has aknowledged that many see a Fiat-Peugeot hook-up as a “marriage made in heaven.” For now, however, Marchionne and PSA are denying rumors of hookup talks to the Detroit News. But then, Marchionne has said that Fiat needs to approach its goals “softly and quietly.” So who knows? “The Chrysler deal does nothing to solve the overcapacity problem,” says Credit Suisse analyst David Arnold. An all-European deal could “offset spiraling costs and declining volumes with savings from joint procurement, capital expenditure and research and development,” argues Arnold.
Category: Branding
Autoexpress has been saying for some time that Jaguar’s rumored new sportscar will be more XJ220 than F-Type concept. Now, they say they are “lifting the lid” on an Audi R8-fighting sportscar that Jag still refuses to aknowledge. The highlights? A 500+ hp supercharged V8, Ian Callum styling (hinted at here in a rendering by beyond-form), light weight construction on an all-new aluminium platform, and a concept debut pegged at about 18 months from now. Bloody good, but does it mean they can’t build the F-Type too?
Since Ford said sayonara to its stake in Mazda, the erstwhile allies have been been having a lot of those “relationship talks,” reports The Detroit News. And true to the cliches, it’s a case of “can’t live with you, can’t live without you.” Crack a beer if you’ve been there before. Anyway, therap, I mean, analyst Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics sat down with the two to get a feel for the situation. “They’ve had a very symbiotic relationship,” he tells DetN. “The risk for Ford is they lose Mazda’s small car expertise. They think they can make it up with Europe, but Mazda can do it cheaper. The biggest risk to Mazda is their ability to get components on a global basis is reduced because their volumes are so low.” Ford goes around insisting that their “close, collaborative relationship will not change.” Meanwhile Mazda tells the Japanese papers that the partnership will be “fundamentally altered.” But despite its tough talk, Mazda might need Ford’s help to expand in China, where it’s looking at a 30 percent sales bump in 08. “The thing that Ford gives Mazda, historically, is capital — and that keeps the Japanese banks off its back,” empathizes Hall. “Now, the banks are a major shareholder.” Ford and Mazda still hold monthly meetings, and US executives say Mazda’s need for engines, successful JV plants, and mutual respect will keep them together. But will Mazda’s start-stop technology be shared with Ford? And for that matter will Mazda’s “own” DSG box be a dry-clutch like the forthcoming Ford Powershift? If two cannibals share a lifeboat, which one survives? So many questions. And based on how things usually go in relationships like these, the crazy kids probably don’t know yet themselves.
“We now have a special bond with the American public,” said a certain Mr James E. Press of the Chrysler Motor Company at the Detroit Auto Show. Specifically, Mr Press’s firm owes American taxpayers $5.5b (including Chrysler financial aid) and have no real way of paying it back. But Chrysler’s gonna make it worth our while anyway; they’re gonna give Americans what they want. Wait, what do we want again? High-quality, practical, efficient, fun cars that hold their value? Hell no! We want the fourth installment of an aging action franchise to feature the cars and trucks of The New Chrysler! And boy are we gonna get that! Automotive News [sub] reports that Chrysler will give the makers of “Terminator: Salvation” an undisclosed amount of your tax money to feature their top-notch products alongside a certain Mr Christian Bale. Why? “We have a following with the Terminator movies and we are going to continue with that,” gushes a ChryCo media flack. Because things have been going so swell up to now? Because if Bale can save the Batman and Terminator franchises, you’ll make him CEO? Because you think machines will end the world before the American people get around to asking what you’ve done with their money?
Farley was first. Last week, Ford’s marketing maven threw down for The Blue Oval Boyz, declaring Crazy Henry’s mob’s would grab a bigger slice of the new car pie. Now Ed Peper’s prognosticating a more prodigious piece of America’s deflated new car market. Chevy’s brand Veep stepped up to the microphone at the Automotive News World Congress (our invitation got trapped by the spam filter) and told the world– well, Detroit– that the bow tie brand is ascendant. “We gained six-tenths of a point of (retail) market share last year,” Eddy declared. “This was the second-highest year-over-year share gain among all car brands, behind only Honda.” Hang on; what’s this then? “Chevrolet’s 2008 total market share was 13.5 percent, down from 13.9 percent in 2007, according to the Automotive News Data Center. Toyota Division overtook Chevrolet as the top-selling brand in 2008, rising to 13.9 percent from 13.4 percent in 2007.” Hmmm. Anyway, you’ll never guess how Chevy will steal sales from its rivals. Government checks for buyers? Well, not directly. (Just kidding. Sort of.) Nope. Marketing!
Automotive News [sub] reports that GM is preparing to spin off its Saab brand, since its “strategic review” has failed to turn up any interested buyers. “Saab has been negotiating with GM and the Swedish government about becoming a more independent company, initially as part of GM,” explains a mysterious GM source. According to Saab’s union president Paul Akerlund, “under this [plan], the Saab board will be more like a normal board, and less dependent on what happens on GM’s European strategy board. They will make their own decisions.” Still confused? GM will still be the owner, but Saab will have its own budget, says Akerlund. Presumably only long enough to attract an interested buyer, though. “You have to make sure there is a company that GM can sell,” says Stefan Lofven, president of Sweden’s IF Metall union. “That means a company that is a separate entity where people can look at the balance sheets and you know what you are buying.” As in not GM, where top executives are “losing patience” with Saab. So instead of “GM life support” as Lutz so uniquely puts it, Saab gets production of the new 9-5 and an undetermined amount of cash (ha!) to retreat to the motherland and court buyers in peace.
Always be suspicious of peace announcements coming from Munich. Oh, wait… make that Stuttgart. I mean Großaspach. Anyway, AMG’s boss has been wondering where all the hydrocarbons have gone (long time passing). Volker Mornhinweg tells Autocar that “the horsepower war is over.” Luckily, it turns out that there are more ways to massively inflate a Mercedes price tag than just dialing up the horsepower. The new emphasis for AMG’s tuning efforts: weight saving, engine optimisation and alternative technologies. For example the new E63 AMG ( with “only” 550hp) will offer an optional, efficiency-improving manual wet-clutch gearbox. That’s the unit first seen on the SL63. Woo. Hoo. AMG also hints that smaller diesel, hybrid and four-cylinder models could be in the cards. But don’t call it eco-appeasement; the move may be more about finding some branding lebensraum. Daimler’s anschluss with Aston Martin, the emergence of AMG’s Black series and the persistence of Maybach are simply pushing AMG’s mainstream offerings in a less power-crazed (and carbon-intensive) direction.
One of our economy’s biggest engines is brand loyalty: both trying to keep it and trying to break it. If you’ve seen the first episode of the most excellent Mad Men, you’ll remember the scene where Don Draper is trying to figure out why his waiter smokes X brand of cigarettes, while simultaneously musing about what makes Lucky Strikes so damn special. I mention this not only because i’m a recent convert to Mad Men but because I’ve got to reattach the rear view mirror on my fiancee’s Focus. See, I grew up in a GM household. My dad’s dad was a Buick/Cadillac man and once my father got Renaults and Datsun Zs out of his system (i.e. my sister and I were born) it was Buicks, Chevys and Pontiacs to haul us around. Until he discovered Acura. But I digress. One of the big reasons we were GM-only, was because of my mom’s Ford Falcon. I can still see my dad’s eyes rolling back in his head while he says, “three valve jobs.” Never again. At least for my Mom. Me? I’d buy a Ford, despite this POS focus. But after how I was treated by Chrysler after my father died and I had to deal with his leased Jeep (nightmare), I can easily say never again. You?
I know: shooting fish in a barrel. (“If only those damn fish would keep still. Martha? Martha! Where are my reading glasses? Damn! I dropped them. In the barrel! I said… Oh never mind.”) But Automotive News [sub] is reporting that Buick is changing its tagline– again– without telling us the new motto. Just in case you’ve forgotten (“Martha? Martha! Where’s my damn medication?”), Buick’s current tagline is “Drive Beautiful.” In the past, we’ve been asked “Wouldn’t You Really Rather Have a Buick?” and told “You’re Better Off With a Buick.” Buick was once “The Beautiful Buy” (hence the outgoing motto), although before that it was more of a head than heart deal, apostrophes be damned (“Smart Buy’s Buick”). And we all know that “When Better Automobiles [crossovers? minivans? SUVs?] Are Built, Buick Will Build Them.” Oh, I forgot “The Solid Feeling.” And the wartime “Buick Powers the Liberator.” And “Better Buy Buick.” And “Buy Buick’s Best.” And “Buick’s the Beauty.” And “It’s Buick Again.” [thanks to oldcarandtruckads.com]
“I’ve never quite been in this situation before of getting a massive pay cut, no bonus, no longer allowed to stay in decent hotels, no corporate airplane,” GM Car Czar Bob Lutz tells NPR radio. “I have to stand in line at the Northwest counter. I’ve never quite experienced this before. I’ll let you know a year from now what it’s like.” Hopefully not. Meanwhile and before that, Maximum Bob was busy comparing the Chevy Malibu to the VW Phaeton. On one level, I’m down with that. The VW Phaeton was a stunning car, in an absurdly misbranded, high-tech kinda way. I mean, we’re talking about a vehicle that automatically adjusts the angle of its sunroof at speed to protect occupants from sonic distress. But during his don’t call it The Detroit Auto Show interview, GM Car Czar Bob Lutz proudly reveals that the Chevy Malibu took its styling cues from the ill-fated Phaeton. What styling cues? Of course, there’s more Maximum Bobage to be savored here.
Honda has launched a new series of short films (well, they say they’re short) about the importance of failure. Not giving up. Kicking out the ladder then lighting the building on fire (WTF?). Surrendering your life to Sochiro at the Temple of VTEC. Something. “Ultimately, we hope these films will intrigue and inspire people by giving them a look into Honda’s unique philosophy—that impossible dreams can be realized through determination, creativity and hard work,” pronounced Todd Carey, associate creative director at RPA, without disclosing what he means by “ultimately” (time delay zen?). But if you’re looking for an endlessly annoying piano riff (are they going to trademark those two notes or what?) or someone talking about how cool it is that they weren’t fired for fucking up, this is the series for you. To be fair, it’s beautifully shot and all the Honda employees speak from the heart. And remember: corporate culture eats executive strategy for lunch.
Time to update “the future of car?” Yup. GM’s Car Czar has admitted that Pontiac has a new motto: “Pontiac is toast.” Automotive News [sub] reports that Bob Lutz has admitted that GM is trimming Pontiac’s line-up to five vehicles– if you count the Solstice hardtop as a separate model. Which we don’t. That leaves Pontiac with four vehicles: the doomed Australian-sourced G8, the G5, the Toyota co-production Vibe and the dead-in-the-water “we don’t need no stinkin’ trunk space” Solstice. Maximum Bob’s admission that Pontiac is being strategically reviewed to death comes hard on the heels of GM NA Prez Troy Clarke’s assertion that GM will “follow through with plans to shrink to four core brands.” That would be Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC; ditching HUMMER, Saab, Pontiac and… Saturn. “‘We’ve entered into a very, very open and candid dialogue with our Saturn retailers,” Clarke said. Saturn, launched 19 years ago, has been successful in terms of brand attributes, he said. But ‘it just hasn’t been a good business for us… We need some breakthrough options here. We can’t continue brands that have no prospect of earning their way.'” It took them how long to figure this out? And, by the way, whose fault is that?
GM has responded to yesterday’s story “revealing” that no one wants to buy the Saab brand. The fact that the denial is off the record [via AFP] tells you that either A) The General is involved in delicate, top-secret negotiation to transfer ownership of the Swedish near-luxury brand to a third party or B) they’re lying. The off-the-record comment from “one GM official familiar with the proceedings” smacks of B: “It’s still early in the process. It’s going to take some time.” Which is the one thing– well one of many things– that GM doesn’t have. Meanwhile, Chrysler is also involved in a smoke and mirrors campaign as part of its ongoing and increasingly incredible effort to convince the world that it’s an ongoing and credible commercial enterprise. Ahead of the don’t call it the Detroit Auto Show, Chrysler product development chief Frank Klegon is talking-up the possibility of building a car-based lifestyle truck. It’s a fiction so boneheaded that even The Detroit News was impolite enough to mention that GM had just abandoned said genre (G8 ST RIP), and that Honda’s Ridgeline is a flop. In fact, scribe Alisa Priddle does a yeoman’s job proving that Klegon is lost in space. “This is a segment where many automakers have recognized there isn’t enough volume for all of the players to invest in their own platform, and there is a lot of sharing going on.” And that’s as good as it gets…
GM has placed HUMMER and Saab under “strategic review.” Which is a fancy way of saying if they could afford to kill them, they would. But thanks to 50 states’ worth of dealer-lovin’ franchise laws and a pile of cash that looks a lot like an asteroid impact crater, they can’t. So they’d like to sell them. But thanks to a global auto industry meltdown– worldwide production is well below 50 percent of capacity– they can’t. So… nothing. Well, your tax dollars hard at work. And soon, Sweden’s. Meanwhile, Automotive News [AN, sub] is confirming common sense, quoting sources familiar with people who know someone who may or may not be involved with the sale but since there isn’t going to be one do we really need to Deep Throat this thing oh what the Hell. To their credit, AN got the HUMMER-Saab-Cadillac channel’s spinmeister to reveal the corporation’s plans for their zombies, now that U.S. taxpayers have a direct stake in their fortunes. Just kidding. “Joanne Krell, a spokeswoman for GM’s Hummer-Saab-Cadillac sales channel, declined to discuss efforts to sell Saab. ‘We are not commenting on the details of the strategic review,’ she said. ‘As soon as we have some details to report, we will.'” As for Ford’s Volvo, everyone and their mother told The Blue Oval Boyz to sell the brand even before the crash of ’07. When Alan Mulally took the reins from Billy Ford, the ex-Boeing exec said no ‘friggin’ way. By the time he admitted to yes way, he couldn’t even get ten-foot poll marks on the brand [see: above]. It’s got to the point where Volvo’s grounded their press fleet. HUMMER, Saab, Volvo, Buick, Saturn, Pontiac, Mercury, Lincoln, GMC– can’t live with ’em, can’t live with ’em.
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