OK, guys, feel free to get it out of your system. No flaming TTAC policy switched off for this post. Yes, I know what you’re thinking: TTAC always finds the dark cloud outside the silver lining. Here we have unexpected good news: in V6 form [not shown, ’cause it’s rental car fodder], the new Camaro gets 29 miles per gallon highway. As The Detroit News giddily points out, “The brand initially estimated its highway mileage at 27 mpg but had provided a conservative estimate, said Troy Clarke, GM’s president of North America. ‘We did error on the side of caution,’ Clarke said. ‘This is at least three miles per gallon (more) than the (Ford) Mustang.'” When did error become a verb? See how that works? If TTAC isn’t criticizing GM’s turnaround plan—such as it isn’t—it’s trying to kill the ailing American automaker via death by a thousand cutting remarks. Well, two things: 1) GM should have never wasted money building this car and 2) Is anyone going to buy a Camaro over a Mustang or Challenger because the Chevy’s V6 gets better mileage? Oh, and 3) there’s something really creepy about this quote: “‘We need to seduce new customers,’ Peper said. ‘We feel (the Camaro) will have a very broad reach.'” Is that a reach around? Hey, it had to be said. OK, flameproof suit on. Gopher it.
If you’re in the automotive business and can understand German, then A M und S (as the cognoscenti know it) is the must-read bi-weekly. Auto Motor & Sport offers features with brilliant technical detail about the snazziest innovations and highest-tech automotive gadgets. For me, it’s always a chore, never a pleasure. The Stuttgart- based periodical is dour and relentlessly auto-centric. If something is pro car industry, then they like it, if not . . . they don’t. Reading AM&S is as about as much fun as a listening to a cocktail party-goer going on about the Swabian way of sweeping sidewalks. Anyway, here’s my beef . . .
The Freep’s Carol Cain has gone one better on the crazies who suggested that Steve Jobs should take over Detroit, nominating Oprah Winfrey to become Detroit’s cheerleader-in-chief. Noting calls from Senators for GM to declare bankruptcy and falling public support for the Detroit bailout, Cain suggests that desperate times call for desperate gimmicks. “I don’t know what kind of vehicle Oprah owns or if she even drives. I don’t know what she thinks about the auto industry or if she could be convinced to help. I know she likely wouldn’t be in this for the money, glory or stature,” writes Cain. But, “perhaps someone could appeal to her sense of patriotism in helping this industry that has been the bedrock of our nation for generations. Like many Americans, perhaps some family member worked in one of the auto factories. The industry still has dramatic impact on all 50 states and many livelihoods are impacted by it.” And hey, she has experience giving away cars!
The mainstream media has finally discovered that America’s Motown-based automakers are in dire straits. (Was it the bailouts?) The Detroit-based automotive media are in full counter-insurgency mode, scouring the autoblogosphere for stories that say “SEE! They’re in trouble, too!” When Toyota recently secured bank financing, cries of “Bailout! Bailout!” echoed throughout the Motor City. And now Automotive News [sub] seizes on the Automotive Lease Guide’s [ALG] revised depreciation stats for proof that GM and ChryCo are not alone. “Toyota’s residuals take a dive” AN’s headline proclaims. “Not only are Toyota Division’s new-vehicle sales plunging, but so are residual values on its used cars and trucks. That is depriving Toyota of one of its best marketing tools: the healthy residuals the brand long has been able to brag about.” Uh-oh. Hang on. Context?
This time last year, TTAC was paying its writers $25 per blog item and $200 per editorial/review. Compared to “real” websites, it was a pittance. In absolute terms, we were spending some $14k per month feeding the beast. When the ad money started to dry up, I was forced to reduce payments to $5 and $50. Now that money’s too tight to mention, our total editorial budget is zero. Nada. Niente. Aside from and including my work as a salaryman, all the content that you read here is a labor of love. It’s important for you to know because A) Respect to all our contributors, who’ve agreed to carry on because they love writing and believe in this site’s mission and B) Our writers and commentators are, once again, on equal footing. Yes. I realize that you, our Best and Brightest, add value to this site without financial compensation. So I want to formally express my eternal thanks to both writers and commentators for putting food on my table– especially during these dark days for the industry we love. I promise to reinstate our editorial budget as soon as possible. Someday, TTAC will pay top dollar for top talent. Until then, props to all of those who use this website to tell the truth about cars.
Well, he would, wouldn’t he? I mean, if Detroit was going to build a car for Scott Burgess, the 300C SRT8 would be it. Massive horsepower and . . . massive horsepower. Did I mention massive horsepower? What about massive horsepower? “The 425 horsepower instills confidence that few other engines can. Zero to 60 mph in five seconds; less than 12 seconds later and you’re cruising at 100 mph. It blasts off at lights and makes passing anything on the road as easy as stepping on the accelerator.” So, anything else then? “More importantly, for the 2009 model, engineers changed out some of the suspension to give it a smoother ride and recalibrated the antilock brakes and electronic stability program to make it even sportier. Even in the normal stability control setting, which would be the most restricting, the 300C SRT8 keeps it fun. Slam through a corner and the back end twists just enough to remind you how much fun driving can be.” Ah, power slides in a lumbering Yank tank. I’m so there! No really. Of course, no Burgess review of a car he likes would be complete without a chip on the shoulder FU to eco-weenies and Detroit haters . . .
In just one short month or two, we’ll know whether Eddie Alterman will be subsumed by the don’t bite the hand that feeds borg at Car and Driver, or not. Motor Trend’s editorial boosterism is trending it towards a straight path from letterbox to circular file. Road and Track still can’t make up its mind (between simple and complex boredom). Etc. In the race to the bottom, both in terms of editorial dependence and circulation, no one wins. Of course, I have a dog in this race: us. I’m hoping that TTAC will emerge as the new Car and Driver when this adverpocalypse ends. And in just one short year or two, we’ll know. Meanwhile, we’ve got a free car mag subscription of your choice to give away, which is almost what they’re doing anyway. Anyway, FYI, it’s courtesy of subscription.com. All you have to do: in 800 words or a LOT LESS, tell us which car magazine sucks least and why. I will choose the winning comment by 9am tomorrow, based on the usual criteria: sarcasm, cynicism and general snarkiness. Oh, and again, TTAC’s overlords have put the subscription idea on ice. Thanks to you. Grazie.
TTAC is the third most critical reviewers of automobiles, according to Motor Mouths, an ambitious project which seeks to aggregate and rate car reviews. With an average review score of 75.52, TTAC is the least forgiving non-print outlet that MM rates. Only Consumer Reports (70) and the Wall Street Journal (73.5) boast a more carmudgeonly average score of vehicles they review, with Automobile.com and the NY Times rounding out the top five. Of course, standardizing reviews is a tricky undertaking, making comparisons a bit of an apples-oranges exercise. Still, MM goes there, even comparing reviewers with owner feedback to create an index of “reviewer credibility.” Sadly, TTAC reviewers don’t rate in the top three “most credible,” but since MM has only been around to gather owner feedback since February, we’ll give it some time. Not that we’d necessarily expect to replace the LA Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Dan Neil at the top of that list.
The German government doesn’t seem to be in an awful hurry to bail out Opel. First, Berlin bitched about the quality of GM Europe’s rescue plan which was submitted last month. According to that plan, the German unit, along with its UK-based Vauxhall unit, would be partly spun off. Along with that, state aid to the tune of €3.3B ($4.2B) was requested. Berlin said the plan was interesting but mostly fluff. They demanded another one; it hasn’t arrived. No plan, no money.
And just in case a better plan would be forthcoming, Chancellor Angela Merkel set the bar a bit higher. “Before we decide (on aid), we must know important decisions in the United States; for example, how things proceed with Opel’s parent company General Motors, what independence General Motors can give Opel, what happens with Opel patents,” Merkel said, according to Reuters. That’s a whole bunch of important decisions to be taken before any money is being given. Read More >
Think bankruptcy might be an option worth exploring for General Motors? Worried that the Volt might have been a tad too ambitious? Clearly you must be sick in the head. Reasonable people just don’t think that way. After all, why listen to bankruptcy lawyers and university researchers when you can get the truth straight from GM. You think those eggheads know more about GM than GM? Think about it. And while you’re suspending your disbelief, head down to GM’s Fastlane blog. You’ll get your facts straightened out faster than you can say “Stockholm Syndrome.”
In Peter DeLorenzo’s last column, the self-styled AutoExtremist prescribed nichedom as an “elixir” for Pontiac. Reader reaction was so positive (apparently) that Sweet Pete has jumped off the deep end. People love the “excitement brand, whether it be for nostalgia reasons or because the attitude and spirit exemplified by Pontiac in its heyday.” In short, for nostalgia reasons. “But,” reckons DeLorenzo, “warm feelings of nostalgia won’t be enough to save Pontiac – or GM, for that matter.” Fast forward through some vintage bashing of “grim-reaping, hand-wringing, self-flagellating purveyors of doom in California and Washington,” and other “green-tinged” coastal elites, and what does DeLorenzo prescribe for the broken brand? Yup, “warm feelings of nostalgia.” Specifically, the return of the Firebird Trans-Am. The screaming chicken. Strap on the mullet, folks, this is going to get interesting.
“For those who want to use as little gas as possible but still need the capabilities of a full-size pickup truck, the hybrid twins from General Motors will fit the bill nicely. So let the love affair continue.”
Layoffs, product cancellations and product postponements in America’s once great auto industry are way beyond cutting into fat. ‘Amputation’ is a better description. Even as the government spends billions to save the American manufacturers—with billions more aid to come—it is fair to ask if there will be anything left to save.
Despite generously admitting that “Chrysler may survive,” Flint believes the Pentastar has far better chances under Marchionne’s Fiat than under Feinberg’s Cerberus. Not because Americans will fall madly in love with Italian cars, but because “Chrysler has thinned its employee ranks so severely that it probably cannot create new cars on its own.” And it’s a trend that Flint is seeing across the industry.
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