Motor Trend Editor in Chief Angus MacKenzie LOLs on Twitter over the TTAC-Jalopnik Lutz Race drama. What Angus doesn’t realize is that our contract with GM obligates us to a minimum of one pre-stunt controversy. C’mon Angus, you run the most sold-out car rag on the planet. You should know how these things work!
The Chinese equivalent of the Forbes Richest People in America is the Hurun Rich List. On top of the list, released Tuesday, is Wang Chuanfu, founder and chairman of the automobile and battery maker BYD Company. Wang Chuanfu dethroned Huang Guangyu , who was the chairman of electronics retailer GOME. Huang was jailed last year on charges of stock marked manipulation – along with several senior Communist Party and government officials suspected of involvement.
Last year, Warren Buffet’s invested $232 million into the the car and battery producer BYD. Wang, China’s richest man, moved up 102 places on the list and has an estimated worth of more than $5.1b. Since September 2008, the BYD share had risen nearly 1000 percent.
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| 1. Chrysler Group | $4,584 | +18% |
| 2. GM | $3,796 | +6% |
| 3. Ford Motor Co. | $3,451 | +2% |
| 4. Hyundai-Kia | $2,998 | +40% |
| Industry Average |
$2,835 | +10% |
| 5. Nissan North America | $2,511 | +19% |
| 6. Toyota Motor Sales | $1,620 | +22% |
| 7. American Honda | $1,310 | +9% |
Through September, as calculated by Edmunds [via Automotive News [sub]]
The rise of electric cars has pedestrian safety and hearing-impaired rights groups worried about the accident potential of near-silent electric cars. And so the race to aurally differentiate EVs is on. Heinrik Fisker tells the New York Times that his company’s Karma EV will sound like “a cross between a starship and a Formula One car,” thanks to bumper level speakers pumping out a Hollywood-developed “exhaust note.” Others suggest exhaust notes may be downloadable, like automotive ringtones. Until now, the sounds our cars make has been a function of the engine (with some customization possible via enormous exhausts). Being given the option of making our future electric vehicles sound like anything we want creates a world of options. How to decide?
There’s the newly-updated Mitsuoka Viewt. It’s a Nissan Micra with a huge crush on the Jag Mk2. And a penetrating insight into the deep reserves of quirk available on the Japanese market. Hit the jump for cognitive dissonance-inducing interior shot.
Is it Motor Trend for giving the Outback an “SUV of the Year” award, or is it “the original SUV alternative” for being in contention at all?
I know these Volt Birth Watches are polarizing. So if you’re a Volt booster, look away now. ‘Cause I’m about to excoriate GM for attempting to keep the cloak of invisibility around its taxpayer-funded plug-in electric – gas hybrid Hail Mary Chevy Volt. Now I’m fully aware that any such criticism may spark (so to speak) charges of editorial hypocrisy. Although TTAC has no “party line” on any given subject, its main voices have consistently taken GM to task for boasting about the Volt—-when they should have just shut the f up, built the thing, tested it and THEN unleashed their PR campaign. This despite (or because of) the fact that the Volt eventually became GM’s poster child for its “Save Detroit, Save The Economy” campaign, that eventually led to the automaker’s nationalization (in case you’d forgotten). GM’s claims for the Volt’s completely untried technology—in terms of performance, reliability, price, profit, mpg (230 city!), this, that and the other thing—have done the company no favors, aside from the salutatory effect on environmentalists’ hope for change. But here’s the thing: GM crossed the e-Rubicon a long time ago. It’s time to tell its “investors” exactly what we’re paying for, or kill the goddamn thing and spend the money turning “May the Best Car Win” from a sad, pathetic, delusional joke to walking the talk. Ahem. Wired. Volt “shakedown cruise.” Irony? Absolutely. Insight (joke)? Nope. More GM lies and deception . . .
Bailout and reorganization gave GM the fresh start it so desperately needed in the US, but other governments have been decidedly less sympathetic to GM’s plight. Germany saw an opportunity to free Opel from GM’s grip, and now the Korean Development Bank has GM up against the wall over the future of GM-Daewoo. Reuters reports Fritz Henderson flew to Korea to meet with Daewoo’s creditors and put a cheery face on the situation. But calling the talks “very positive” is more tribute to Fritz’s unflagging optimism than an indication that GM-Daewoo is almost out of the woods. GM has no choice but to fight for its only remaining small car development center, the only question is with what?
Today’s the day GM, Magna, Sperbank, the Unions, the Opel Trust, and a whole host of others are supposed to finally, at long last, definitely sign the contracts that seal Opel’s new fate and future under the Magna/Sperbank regime. At the time of this typing, it looks like the signatures will remain blank. Who’s holding up the flow of ink?
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The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that “Last year, more police in America died in traffic crashes, 44, than from gunshots, 39, according to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund, which tracks officer deaths. That trend has continued through the first half of this year, with traffic deaths outpacing shooting deaths 35 to 22. For the 12th year in a row, traffic-related incidents remain the leading cause of death for law enforcement officers.” The obvious if highly ironic answer: slow down. “In the past year, the Dallas Police Department and the Illinois State Police revamped their driving policies to include limits on how fast their officers can drive. Both moves were prompted by officer-caused crashes that killed civilians. The Metropolitan Police Department could soon follow suit once it completes a review of its driving policies that was ordered by Sheriff Doug Gillespie when officer James Manor, 28, died in a crash in May. Manor, who was responding to a domestic dispute call, was driving at a speed of 109 mph without lights and sirens on Flamingo Road when a pickup turned into his path. He was not wearing a seat belt and died a short time after the crash. Police have not released details of Wednesday’s deadly crash as they continue their investigation, but it appears that speed was a factor.”
European new car sales continue on their path of recovery. However, as the Abwrackprämien-fuel tank ran dry in Europe’s growth engine Germany, the party may come to a halt in October.
In September, European passenger car registrations increased by 6.3 percent, compared to September 2008. A total of 1,388,136 new cars were registered in all of Europe last month, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) reports today. Nine months into the year, registrations of new cars in all of Europe are still 6.6 percent lower than during the same period of 2008.
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Mark LaNeve’s career success at GM—moving from minor league Cadillac man to the head of S&M (Sales and Marketing)—is a text book example of GM’s obliviousness to the idea of accountability. Despite failing to resurrect Cadillac’s fortunes, despite helping Rick “Captain Queeg” Wagoner fondle his balls (read the book) as GM sank into bankruptcy, LaNeve didn’t go down with the ship. While his turf was carved-up post-C11, the beneficiary of the slice and dice was none other than failed Car Czar Bob Lutz, who assumed LaNeve’s marketing remit. Did LaNeve even take a salary cut? Don’t make me laugh. But if you do want to solicit a sad sort of chuckle, remind me that LaNeve is headed to Allstate. You’re in good hands? The man is bitching about his Escalade payment, having overseen the destruction of billions in shareholder value and the disappearance of thousands of dealers. See? If it wasn’t so sad, it would be funny.
To: All GM Dealers
After 28 years in the auto business and 24 with GM, I can’t believe that beginning next week I will be doing something different than trying to sell cars and sweating out another month-end close.
It’s been a great ride to this point and I wouldn’t be leaving if not for a great opportunity in a great industry in a great town. To that end, Chicago is close enough to Detroit to make the relocation manageable and has outstanding special needs resources for my sons. In the meantime, I feel good that I’m departing at a time that GM is on the right track with great products, dealers and employees. A clean balance sheet for the first time in decades doesn’t hurt either.
OK, so, was GM’s 60-day guarantee program a success or another California eBay-style unacknowledged flop? Here are the facts, according to failed Car Czar and current Marketing Maven Maximum Bob Lutz [via Automotive News, sub]: “GM has sold about 150,000 vehicles since the program began. Of that, just over 100 customers have opted to take a 60-day money-back guarantee, Lutz said. The rest turned down that option and instead took a $500 cash incentive. ‘Out of hundreds of thousands, the people who’ve selected the 60-day guarantee were in the hundreds,’ GM’s marketing chief said during a media event here today. ‘We have had one substantiated return of a vehicle.’” So less than one percent opted for the money-back guarantee. Flop. BUT only one percent of the one percent went on to return a vehicle. (A buyer who regretted opting for an autobox ‘Vette instead of the stick, apparently.) Success! So . . . a successful flop?
A Michigan state Senate committee voted unanimously to advance legislation that would legalize the hanging of fuzzy dice and air fresheners from rearview mirrors. State Senator Ron Jelinek (R-Three Oaks) introduced Senate Bill 276 to repeal the statute that allows police to pull over motorists using objects dangling from a mirror as a pretext. Existing law makes driving with a “dangling ornament” punishable by a $100 fine and up to ninety days imprisonment.
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