Since VW and Porsche started playing footsie, there have been enough twists and turns to fill TTAC’s pages with nothing but Deutsche drama. First there was Porsche’s audacious bid for Volkswagen’s. Then, there was Volkswagen’s fight back to take over Porsche. Now, the Norwegians are unhappy. Norges Bank Investment Management, the bank which manages the fund invests Norway’s huge oil revenues, fear that the takeover of Porsche by Herr Piech and his band of Merry Volkswageners will, as the NBIM said in a letter to the members of the board of Volkswagen, “leave the impression of being designed to suit the needs of the Porsche controlling families.” Avarice? In the Porsche families? What next?
It’s easy to understand how a commercial like this gets made. Funny people miss the mark occasionally. What’s more difficult to explain is the decision to build an entire marketing campaign around such weak middle school humor. Are the executives at Subaru the same people who decided to buy the slapchop after Vince threw in the gratie, or did this actually test well thanks to Billy Mays nostalgia? If educated,experienced auto executives can be sold on this idea what hope do the rest of us have? Sebrings and WNBA tickets for all?
“There must be increased access to capital through the entire supply chain — from the largest tier one to the smallest family-owned firm,” Dave Andrea, vice president of industry analysis and economics at the Original Equipment Suppliers Association told the Senate Banking Committee [via The Freep]. “Without assistance this country will needlessly lose manufacturing capacity, technology development and jobs.” Which is about what suppliers have been telling congress since bailout mania struck. What the Freep fails to properly explain is that the supplier bailout passed earlier this year was an unmitigated disaster for suppliers and their relations with OEMs.
As the latest sales show (and have been showing for some time now) Scion is one hot mess. And though the best advice we can give is for Toyota to start selling its JDM confections as Toyotas, somehow we don’t think the big T wants to hear it. Instead, why not pick a new lineup from the latest batch of Daihatsu concepts shown at the Tokyo show [courtesy:AutoBild]? Or better yet, post a link to other Toyota/Daihatsu products that could pep up the least youthful “youth brand’s” sales. After all, anything would be better than leaving Scion as-is.
Yesterday, we learned that GM CEO Fritz Henderson was surprised by Marketing Maven Mark LaNeve’s departure. If true, it’s a revelation that puts paid to the theory that GM has finally learned how to fire someone for something. Make that anything. Today, we learn that Monster Mark LaNeve’s favorite ad agency, Modernista, “has elected not to participate [in Cadillac’s ongoing renaissance].” This from Automotive News [sub], quoting recently elevated Cadillac GM Bryan Nesbitt. Huh. So Modernista dumped Cadillac? AN’s spies say the ad agency didn’t fall on its sword; it was pushed.
Unlike Chrysler and GM, Ford has managed to minimize the downward depreciation spiral that’s been plaguing business models across Detroit. In fact, FoMoCo has increased its net pricing by $1.9b in the first half of this year alone. Ford explains this achievement with a reach back to history: a team of 19 P.H.D.s tasked with managing pricing, production and option mixes is given credit, and compared with the “Whiz Kids” of the post-war era in the Detroit News. “They are unbelievable,” gushes Ford’s Jim Farley. “It’s very scientific. I’ve never seen anything like it in our industry.” The Global Lifecycle Analytics Department (GLAD) was formed in 2000, as a modern-day equivalent to the statistical analysis pioneers hired to bring Ford back from the brink of oblivion in the 1940s. By 2005 the team, led by Rose “The Silent Lamb” Peng, had figured out that “the resale value of Ford’s cars and trucks was being eroded by sales of poorly contented vehicles to rental agencies.” Go figure. Let’s hear it for statistical analysis.
Yesterday, I asked TTAC’s Best and Brightest if Ford’s “surprise and delight” features (e.g. capless fuel filler, built-in fridge) were a suitable starting point for its latest ad campaign. You know; as opposed to slightly larger concerns (e.g. reliability, durability). Today, I’d like to expose broken mechanical teeth re: Mercedes “annoy and disappoint” features. Sure, I could unleash a major rant about the humongous clunk that occurs when my GL450’s gearbox gets confused. But let’s sweat the small stuff, shall we? What brilliant engineer/design team decided it was OK to put an MP3 connector in the left side of the glovebox, right next to the owners’ manuals? Where, exactly, did Mercedes think I was going to put those books when playing my iPhone? Did they really think I’d want to shuffle manuals after shuffling songs? Next: how much time, intelligence and money is required to see the need for—then design, craft and install—an indentation that allows the MP3 cord to remain connected and undamaged with the glovebox closed?
Laugh, said an anonymous sage, and the world laughs with you. The corollary to which apparently, is “make unrealistic predictions of your own success and the world laughs at you.” Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne is finding this out the hard way, having predicted in a Globe and Mail interview that his Auburn Hills-based bailout baby will be making money “in the next 24 months.” And how, pray, does Marchionne expect to achieve the impossible? Marchionne insists his goal is achievable “because we have decided not to flog inventory, because we’re disciplined about production, because we’re going to try not to discount the vehicles. If [discounts are] the only way I can sell them, I’d prefer not to produce them because I’m not making any money.” But is there some other way of selling Chryslers?
A China-market exclusive, this porcelain-patina’d prancer’s look is based on a Song Dynasty vase. And costs about as much. Now it’s just a matter of time before the savvy marketers from Maranello decide to name the California’s replacement the “Guangdong.” [via AutoBild]
The panicked reaction that some drivers have to the sight of a speed camera may in fact be a significant cause of accidents. The group CameraFraud.com yesterday released an Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) accident report that describes a July 25 incident in which a gray Chevy Camaro collided with a red 1994 Toyota 4Runner SUV on Interstate 17 in Yavapai County, sending two people to the hospital. Although DPS maintains that it hired an Australian company, Redflex Traffic Systems, to operate speed cameras to improve safety, the department’s own report tells a far different story. “All the witnesses reported seeing the gray passenger car lose control of the vehicle as it passed the photo radar van, and was apparently trying to slow down for the photo radar van,” the police report explained.
Hi Sajeev, this is part two of my Monte Carlo saga discussed in an older Piston Slap. I finally had the transmission codes read on my Monte Carlo. Just to remind everyone it is a 2000 with 196,000 miles, engine is a V6 3800, series 2. The transmission lost overdrive. It shifts fine through first, second, and third. The transmission shop said there are no codes and it must be a mechanical failure. They also said it could last a long time or fail very soon. So far there no strange noises except a small faint whine at 70 MPH. So I am actually asking about the engine codes. P0128, coolant thermostat (I know how to fix this); P0440, evap emissions system fault; P0463, fuel level sensor (i can live with this); P0481, fan control 2/3 circuit; P1115, ECT circuit intermittent voltage high. So there is my list: what to fix? Oh, I should add the car runs okay.
According to The Wall Street Journal [sub], GM CEO Fritz Henderson “was ‘surprised, frankly’ to learn that his sales lieutenant, Mark LaNeve, plans to leave GM next week, a move the CEO announced Wednesday.” In other news, “As he prepares GM for an initial public offering, Mr. Henderson plans to focus on accomplishing things the company has failed to do in the past: making solid margins on rental-car sales; differentiating the GMC truck brand so it doesn’t so closely mirror Chevrolet; and raising the average transaction price for Chevy’s small cars.” Not to mention Buick or Cadillac.
GM and Sichuan Tzenzhong hope to close the Hummer deal within the next few days, reports Automotive News [sub]. GM expects to receive $150m for the brand, or about $1m per dealer (pre-cull). Incidentally, GM made each of those dealers pay up to $15m for the “brand faithful” (read: garish) dealership upgrades pictured above. Not to get all Lou Dobbs about it, but GM already turned down $100m from an American bidder too. But hey, $50m is $50m. Just ask the Hummer dealers. Meanwhile, who else is ready for Hummer to become a symbol of China?
Penske Automotive’s official explanation for pulling the cord on Saturn was that they couldn’t get a supply deal. Renault-Samsung figured the risks of supplying a reborn Saturn were high, while the reward was (at best) competition with established Nissan offerings. But Roger Penske was putting his company out on a limb as well. Penske Automotive stock had been bid up in the days before the Saturn deal fell apart, as speculators sought to get in on the ground floor of the new company. As usual though, the speculative bid-up was based more in hype and long-term potential than underlying financial realities. Despite a losing over $3 in share price after the collapse of the Saturn deal, Penske’s forbearance is being rewarded. Standard and Poors had put Penske on a credit-rating downgrade watch on fears of the firm over-leveraging to take on Extreme Makeover Saturn Edition. With the deal called off, Penske stock might not have the speculative upside it once did, but it has already doubled this year. And backing away from a potentially messy revival of a troubled brand has PAG headed out of the credit-rating doghouse. And as the man himself has said, “my dad told me a long time ago, it’s not what’s good for you Roger, it’s what’s good for the company.” Meanwhile, Pete “Autoextremist” DeLorenzo figures the Saturn network would make a good upscale network for Hyundai’s Genesis and forthcoming Eqquus lines. A whole network for two vehicle lines? I wouldn’t be holding my breath. Luckily Saturn dealers have had a few years to get used to being unwanted.
The tortured relationship between auto writers and the industry got a little more complicated this week, as Hyundai debuted its “Hyundai Momentum” advertising site. The site itself is a wall of images showing reviews of Hyundai products from such fine publications as Autoblog, Edmunds Inside Line, and KickingTires. And of course, carefully curated by Hyundai PR. “Everything you want to know about Hyundai,” reads the tagline, “As told by everyone but Hyundai.” Which is true if “everything you want to know” consists of breathless Genesis reviews, concept car hype, and meaningless award write-ups. If Hyundai’s going to drape itself in the questionable credibility of so-called auto-journalists, why not post a few Elantra or Sonata reviews while they’re at it? Or, better yet, why not pretend there still is a line between the auto media and manufacturer PR? The sad part is that Hyundai actually has momentum, which makes snowjobs like this all the more unnecessary.
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