I’m not much of a biblical scholar, but I did see Schwarzenegger’s End of Days. All sorts of weird shit happened before Arnie finally sent the devil packing. As we head down the home stretch for the auto industry reckoning, there’s some odd stuff percolating-up in the autoblogosphere. To wit: TheDetroitBureau.com’s suggestion that a newly independent Saturn or Saab should consider adding examples of HUMMER’s strategically doomed product line to their freshly liberated (or not) portfolio. Michael Strong makes the weak argument. Cross yourself and we’ll continue.
The Wall Street Journal reports that “the U.S. Treasury have started lining up the largest bankruptcy loan ever, talking with banks and other lenders about at least $40 billion in financing for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, in case the two auto makers need it, said several people familiar with the matter.” Although the WJS neglects to specify the level of intimacy involved, contempt for the automakers’ viability plans may soon bring familiarity with debtor in possession (DIP) funding. People familiar with someone involved in the negotiations who’s close to someone who fought with your great uncle in Verdun reveals the heartening news that the $40 billion figure includes paying off the $17.4 billion in loans to Chrysler and GM pissed away thus far. Loaning money to someone to pay off a loan we already made to them? Why does that sound so familiar? But wait! It gets better/worse.
An overview of what happened in other parts of the world while you were in bed. TTAC provides round-the-clock coverage of everything that has wheels. Or has its wheels coming off. WAS is being filed from Beijing until further notice.
Interest in Saab: Jan-Åke Jonsson, managing director of Saab Automobile AB, said other carmakers were among the investors that had shown interest in the unit, Reuters reports. The Swedish carmaker, granted protection from creditors last week, has said it must quickly restructure to deal with losses, seen at 3 billion Swedish crowns ($347 million) this year, and find new funding from either private or public sources in order to launch new and more competitive models. Germany’s Autohaus reports that Sweden’s government again denied any financial help to Saab.
Opel will hand in homework: GM Europe and Opel finally got their acts together: they will present their long-awaited business plan to the German government in the coming days, Reuters says. The German government distanced itself on Monday from any commitment to Opel’s future.
The federal stimulus bill delivered unto America’s nascent plug-in electric vehicle industry some $12.5 billion of your hard-earned tax money for plug-in vehicles and infrastructure. I mean, why not? You gotta spend your way out of a recession, right? Politics aside, nothing. The details of the deal are coming to light, thanks to the plugged-in cheerleaders at Plug In America. The website congratulates all those who helped the government distort the market on their behalf, especially themselves.
Therefore, the historic bill, which has a tax credit of up to $7,500 per vehicle, has the potential to stimulate the sale of more than one-and-a-half million plug-in vehicles.
The President has called for one million plug-ins by 2015, and while Plug In America would like to reach that number even sooner, this provision will do wonders in helping us to meet Obama’s goal.
I present to you the results of the little brouhaha that I started way back on 3 February. Despite assertions that I was “making a mountain out of a molehill,” I feel it is important. I like standardization because it makes life easier but I also recognize that on a site like this, with its mixture of news and opinion, standards may have to give way to flexible guidelines. Spike_in_Irvine commented, “There is always tension between saying what is right and saying what is commonly used,” and I agree. I personally like the use of “torques,” “ponies,” and Farago’s occasional many flourishes of French because it adds personality. But, I won’t let it get out of hand; and, I will ensure that a review or news item contains the proper terminology.
One hundred people answered the survey. Survey says . . .
Google Analytics provides an interesting look as to how visitors reach a website. I’d like to give our B&B some examples of how others (those who do not subscribe to the RSS feed or those who’ve not bookmarked TTAC) come our way and you’ll find the reason near the end of this post.
Below is a selection of the most interesting “entrance keywords” in the hope of giving you an insight in to the psyche of the non-B&B. Consider this: TTAC receives orders of magnitude more visitors than we have registered users. And, of registered users, a relatively small percentage are active participants (guest writers and active commenters), a.k.a. the Best & Brightest.
There is an old adage on Wall Street: If Business Week calls a trend, sell and run. TTAC has followed the dalliances between China and Detroit for many months now. The rumors ran the gamut from SAIC buying all of GM to a small Chinese manufacturer picking up Hummer. So far, nothing materialized. Now, Business Week jumps on the bandwagon: “The last hope to stop General Motors Corp.’s wounded Saturn brand from falling out of the solar system appears to rest with some unknown automaker building cars for the dealers to sell. Chinese and Indian automakers, which have made noise about entering the U.S. market, would be the most likely suppliers.” A bit belatedly, Business Week made some calls.
What is it that differentiates good car companies from bad? Probably attitude. And by thy details [thou shalt] be known. Those tiny details and gaps slowly gather together and create financial holes. A gap here, a gap there, and soon we get a real Chrysler. Like the US economy. A trillion dollar debt here, a trillion there, and soon you lose real money. How much would it have hurt Chrysler if they spent five minutes more at their 95 Windows and at least tried not to forget to photoshop sideview mirrors on their 300 sedan for the proposed turnaround plan. They managed to insert them on interior pictures, but somehow neglected the exterior. Or do they plan to have rear-view cameras all around? Detailing gentleman! If you can’t manage a simple picture, how on earth will you manage real cars?
One of the hardest questions I have to answer: “When is it cheapest to buy at the auctions?” I often find good deals even in the most competitive times of the year. But if we’re really talking about ‘averages’, as in lowest residual values for used cars, I’d say that the period between late September and mid-November is the cheapest time at the auctions. No spending holidays for consumers. No tax refunds for the public to use as down payments. Even the weather’s a pain since fewer customers visit the lots when the cool season starts. Plus, most used car dealers buy with floorplans (a finance company’s money) which often have nasty clauses that exact fees within 30 to 90 days. So what should you do if the retail deal isn’t for you? To paraphrase baseball Hall of Famer Wee Willie Keeler, in order to find a good deal in this business you have to, “Hit em’ where they ain’t.”
The mayor and police chief of a federally-funded Louisiana speed trap town were arrested Wednesday on felony corruption charges. A Tensas Parish grand jury indicted Waterproof Mayor Bobby Higginbotham for felony theft, malfeasance in office, payroll fraud and using public funds for personal use. Waterproof Police Chief Miles Jenkins faces three felony counts for receiving bonuses for meeting traffic ticket quotas and altering traffic citations. The activities of both officials were fueled by federal taxpayer dollars. In 2007, Higginbotham received $37,500 from the US Department of Agriculture Rural Development’s Community Facilities Program for the purchase of two police cars fully equipped with the latest speed detection equipment. Higginbotham ordered Miles to use these vehicles to prey on State Highway 65 travelers as the speed limit dropped without warning to 45 MPH within the town limits.
An overview of what happened in other parts of the world while you were in bed. TTAC provides round-the-clock coverage of everything that has wheels. Or has its wheels coming off. WAS is being filed from Beijing until further notice.
After Saab, will Opel be next? GM’s decision to push its Saab unit into bankruptcy protection puts pressure on Germany, the UK and Spain to come up with funding to save the rest of GM’s European business, Bloomberg reports. Hours after Saab filed for creditor protection, Opel supervisory-board member, Armin Schild, said the Ruesselsheim, Germany-based unit needs a rescue package that may exceed 3.3b euros ($4.23b). GM has set March 31 for deciding on all its European divisions’ future as the carmaker seeks as much as $16.6b in new U.S. federal loans. Saab’s move to seek protection from creditors “creates a sense of urgency” at Opel, said Laurenz Meyer, a lawmaker and economics spokesman with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling Christian Democrats. On the dark side: some members of Merkel’s Christian Democrats oppose government guarantees for Opel. They say Opel won’t operate profitably in the long term because it lacks an effective business model. They’re also worried that aid would go directly to the US. On the bright side: should Trollhättan-based Saab survive a three-month “reconstruction” under court supervision, the Swedish company may play a role in a more independent Opel. As GM’s only European brand with market recognition in the US, Saab could offer Opel a chance to “re-skin” its products for the world’s biggest auto market. On the sinister side: Most European automakers wouldn’t mind Opel fading away.
I remember when every liberal Northeast college professor worth his Cyprian latakia drove a Saab. The question is… why? Normally, I live by the Al Reisseian dictate that a brand must stand for one thing, and one thing only. It’s easy enough to identify the USP for most successful car brands. Mercedes = engineering. BWM = driving. Toyota = reliability. Lexus = comfort. Hyundai = cheap. But I can’t for the life of me remember what characteristic typified Saab. Practicality? Handling? No…. Quirky! Huh? WTH does “quirky” mean? Never mind that key between the seats thing. No wait, maybe that IS it. How much satisfaction did a Saab owner get from telling the valet parking attendant “Oh, the ignition’s between the seats.” Knowing (but not saying) that the key positioning was a safety-related “quirk.” Oh wait; college professors don’t use valet parking. But I reckon that somewhere in Saab customers’ collective subconscious they imagined they told a barely post-pubescent car parker where to fit the key. Yes, that’s some complicated shit right there. Which is why no one outside of Sweden could have possibly made the Saab brand a success. GM? Don’t make me laugh. Actually, do. I am genuinely sad to see Saab go. Only thing is, I went through the five stages of grief for Saab more than twenty years ago.
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