Marketing Daily (but never on Sundays) reports on a new survey of car drivers’ feelings about their whips, vis a vis self-image. “In its online survey, Mintel asked consumers: ‘How do you feel when you are driving?’ and gave them 19 choices for a response. Three of the top four feelings chosen by respondents had to do with utility and security, per the firm, with 46% saying they felt ‘responsible’; 40% saying ‘safe’; and 37% saying they felt ‘practical….’ Mintel says that near the bottom of the list landed emotions like ‘powerful,’ ‘fast,’ and ‘sexy.’ The bottom of the list was ‘rich…’ Mintel found that 60% of survey respondents believe the main purpose of a vehicle is to get from point A to point B, and 55% say the true value of a car or truck is how long it lasts. Only 13% say they want their vehicle to catch other people’s attention.” Surprisingly, Marketing Daily sees this as a condemnation of car ads that use sex and speed to sell cars, ignoring aspiration. And the fact that no one in their right mind is going to say they bought a car to feel powerful or sexy– even if they did.
Category: News Blog
Not to red rag the bulls of our Best and Brightest oil-burning automotive acolytes, but iafrica.com pits the Audi Q7 4.2 FSI V8 against the BMW X5 3.0sd and the Lexus RX400h to find out which is the best way to propel a big ass five-passenger SUV with no off-road chops whatsoever. In case the suspense might have been killing you, scribe Michele Lupini rosebuds this sled from the first ‘graph. “The result is a bit of a shock, if you would excuse the pun.” OK, so, irony-free, Africancentric perspective on the hideous Audi Q7: “Its styling divides opinion — personally I like it but we have debated this one long and hard in the office and, to be quite honest, I doubt it’s an argument that will ever be quite resolved. Yes Q7 is bold, big and imposing — and it’s selling by the dozen so it must be popular…” Apparently, the turbo-diesel Bimmer sells by the two dozens. “As noted above, X5 is a pretty sharp driving tool and this is one of very few cars these days that still has a waiting list on it. And its premier turbodiesel driving experience is quite a hoot, let alone a most gratifying experience…” And now, the winner… (I love elipses too!)
For a long time, European and Japanese auto execs looked longingly at their American colleagues who command princely salaries (along with a royal air force.) The times and sums, they are a-changing. Chump change we’re talking not. Porsche’s Wendelin Wiedeking and his CFO Holger Härter already come close to benchmark-setting Wagoner. But Porsche is different; after all; they’re a bank with attached sheetmetal-fabrication. Now, it’s raining money on the leaders of Porsche’s takeover target, Volkswagen. The Financial Times learned that “Volkswagen’s five executive board members made $31.7m selling shares in the middle of a controversial share spike at Europe’s largest car maker.” They were not alone.
You gotta love an autoblogger who writes “After all, the recent cancellation of the luxurious 4-seat coupe previewed by the concept CS shows that the current BMW management are acting, how should I say it… like a bunch of pussies.” [I don’t agree but I appreciate the, uh, Ehrbarkeit.] Anyway, our new BFF at auto-future has read the most recent paper version of Autobild (out today). The pub predicts that BMW’s about to go on a buying binge. “The strategy previewed includes BMW forming an holding in order to acquire positions in other companies, including a percentage of Daimler that allows a position in the board, and possible a Opel buy either alone or with Daimler and German government colaboration.” We’ll get ask our man Bertel Schmitt to pick-up a copy at the train station and provide a more complete translation. But given GM’s DC begging bowl debacle (part two today rock the House), it’s increasingly clear that it’s only a matter of time before someone grabs GM’s Euro-brand. Or at least the best bits.
Update: In the meantime, Bertel Schmitt picked up a copy of Auto-BILD at the train station. He called in and said “They are talking menace a trois!” Between BMW, Mercedes and Opel. He said, it’s just a scenario, written up by the magazine. We’ll hear more when he has found an Internet Cafe in Berlin.
Bertel from the Internet café: “Not much to report and translate, boys & girls: Wild assed rumor it is not. It’s pure, unsourced speculation by Auto-BILD (after all, they are the car offshoot of BILD-Zeitung, famous for its “Man Bites Dog” style.) They think, it would be a swell idea if BMW and Daimler would join forces (if someone finds a way to sedate their engineers, they will.) Then, with some government money, they could take Opel off the hands of GM. And ACHTUNG: A pure, true and true Germanic car company. Nice idea. Next idea, please! However, the “report” reflects what we’ve said for a while: Nobody in Germany doubts that Opel will leave GM. Everybody just speculates about the how and when.”
For years, I’ve been trying to convince one of our GM moles to provide some anonymous insight into the boiler room of the Titanic. This is my most recent reply, reprinted with permission. “Its not that I am no longer interested in at least giving it a whirl– Robert I gotta be honest with you, the position I hold within the Corporation as well as the UAW would almost spell doom for me personally if I would ever post under my actual name… Given all that’s going on right now, its not uncommon for me to take work home and plug away a 18 hr. day. Some on the site that I believe work for GM are refering to high stress/bunker like mentality and I can attest to this. Watching grown men cry that have always behaved somewhat professinally is discomforting at best. I personally hope this is not the end as my march toward insolvency would only be preceded by GM itself. I’m not wealthy nor sheltered by past savings or 401k. And I sure as hell would have a hard time explaining that I’ve spent the last 5 years as a XXXX for the UAW. Gotta think that my choice in this matter would sink my resume quicker than a manhole cover in water… My personal daily feelings are as follows when at work: one part fucked-up chapter of McBeth read in pig-latin; one part daily interaction with people that look and act the part of droogs in Clockwork Orange. And all the while the Doors “The End” playing in the background.”
Dubai gas prices might reach parity with Oklahoma City prices in the near future, as the Emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi contemplate raising their standard prices from 6.2dhs per Imperial Gallon (or $1.38 per US Gallon). The rising gas prices only hint at the start of problems from plummeting oil prices in the UAE as ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) and ENOC (Emirates National Oil Company) have started to prohibit cars bearing plates from other Emirates from using their filling stations, as they are the cheapest areas in the UAE. Residents of Sharjah have created the greatest outcry thus far as they complain they are all citizens of the UAE, not one particular emirate, and should have equal filling opportunities no matter where they are. Other victims of the oil crash: the massive building sprees Dubai and Abu Dhabi went on trying to create a tourist destination paradise from a gravel parking lot covered in sand dunes.
Couric You came from Home Depot to run Chrysler. You had to be a quick study, but from what you’ve learned, what was the U.S. auto industry’s biggest mistake?
Nardelli: Well I think, look, we’ve all made mistakes. I’ve been in business for 38 years, and whether I was at GE or Home Depot or Chrysler, I think the important thing now is to look at this crisis. How do we make sure that we are repositioning ourselves that we break from some of those old paradigms to make sure that we are making new products that we are delivering service to customers, the kinds of cars and trucks they want to drive, have the conficence to drive and will tell their friends about it, Katie.
Too much happening around the globe to let a business trip stop me from reporting it. TTAC provides round-the-clock coverage of everything that has wheels. Or has its wheels coming off. Who can sleep with news like that anyway?
Lutz loose cannon, shoots foot, “too good to die:” The folks at RecCen were so busy charging up the batteries for their trip to DC that they forgot to put a muzzle on Czarevitch Bob Lutz. GM selling brands? Fohgeddaboutit, said Bobbie in an interview to the Swiss business magazine Bilanz. It’s all over today’s press in Europe. GM off-loading brands like Saturn, Saab, and Opel? LOL-Lutz had never heard of it. “It’s as trying to remove single eggs from an omelet and put them on sale,” Lutz told the Swiss who choked on their Roesti. Shutting down some brands would be thinkable, but “it would cost one or two billion per brand.” Opel? Opel is too tightly integrated into GM, and besides, Opel “doesn’t have the critical mass to survive. The idea to separate Opel from GM is a pipe dream.” Comes from someone who said that global warming is a crock of excrement, and that the moon is made of green cheese. OK, made the last one up. The charitable assumption is that the magazine was in print while other announcements were made. On the other hand … Lutzie’s last words: “We are too good to die.”
Uh-oh. Japan to repatriate foreign investments, tax free: The Liberal Democratic Party’s tax panel decided Friday that dividends received by Japanese companies from overseas subsidiaries should be exempt from corporate taxes, “in a bid to encourage Japanese firms to repatriate more capital,” says the Nikkei (sub) this morning. It’s one of those things we usually won’t notice, but we do now.
Chrysler clueless in China. Chrysler has put most, if not all of its Chinese joint venture plans on hold, says Gasgoo. A deal with Chery has been put on ice. Which surprises nobody.
Chinese makers short on cash: Chinese auto makers Haima, Brilliance, and Changfeng said that they need cash urgently. “The listed automakers now have dropped the unrealistic hope of raising capital through the stock market; instead, they are turning to their parent companies or issuing corporate bonds to collect money,” says Gasgoo.
There is more …
Thanks to some hard-nosed detective work by Edmunds’ Inside Line, Ford has confirmed that the Mercury Sable (now, as always, a twin of the Ford Taurus) will be ending production in April. As a likely April Fool’s joke, Ford may announce on April 1 that the Sable is being replaced with something not boring. In other, equally important news, GM has confirmed that all cupholders will grow in size by approximately 0.01 millimeters, and Audi announced that the popular A4 sedan will probably be available in “some colors” next year. I have fond memories of riding in the rear-facing seats of a Sable wagon as a kid, but that’s only because years of therapy have suppressed the memories of being terribly nauseous back there. All joking aside, dont tell anyone, but I do like the current Sable.
“Robert, I am not sure if this appeals to your audience but we have quite an interesting feature on Lotus Cars just published. It is the first time anyone has been allowed to film the Hethel circuit where all Lotus chassis are developed. Gavan Kershaw who is their senior chassis engineer talks readers around a full lap of the circuit and shares some of his insights into what makes a ‘perfect lap’ in the new Lotus 2-Eleven GT4. We also review the Lotus 2-Eleven GT4 in full detail.”
Steve Davies
Managing Director
Drivers Republic Magazine
TTAC’s Deep Throat has resurfaced from points unknown. To make up for his extended absence, he’s got a major scoop– you know, if it goes down. He tells us that GM’s Franchise Operating Team (eight dealers and eight factory guys) will decide the Saturn brand’s fate next Thursday. “It’s not looking good for the different kind of car company,” DT intones (should such a thing be possible via email). He reckons Saturn will be terminated. “Some key vehicles will be parceled out to other brands. Possibly.” The payoff for Saturn dealers to crawl off into a corner and die is unknown, perhaps unknowable. Anyone want to guess who’d end-up paying for it?
See Corker’s post-hearing interview with CNBC here.
You know you’ve got trouble when your company’s having a very public congressional colonoscopy and the first question your in-house PR team throws at the Chief Financial Officer is “Why are you confident GM has vehicles the public wants to buy?” Uh, guys? Ray’s a beancounter. You know, accountant? Like Rick. And Fritz. If you want someone to explain why our cars are so wicked pissa talk to Bob Lutz. Oh wait. OK. Carry on. (BTW: Did GM hire Bill O’Reilly to teach Ray how to gesture? If so, it didn’t work.) After his warm-up, Ray tells the faithful that GM has done a lot to restructure over the years. In fact, if I hear that one more time, I will finally surrender my grip on reality and equate GM’s failed attempts to rectify all its other failed attempts at “right-sizing” the company as akin to saving fresh-faced orphans from members of the Man Boy Love Association. BTW. Do you want to know why GM is doomed? Because Ray Young honestly believes GM now has a focused branding strategy, bolstered by brand-new “incremental actions,” which will speed-up GM’s previous [targetless] turrnaround plan. Which was going great before GMAC Wall Street screwed-up the U.S. economy. Or so I hear.
The truth is out: as Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli drove a Chrysler Aspen Hybrid to today’s Senate Banking Committee hearings. Confirmation comes from Jet-Gate Media Inc, formerly known as ABC News, which dedicates no fewer than four pages to the symbolism of CEO transportation choices. Of course Nardelli gets a good hosing for choosing a ride that will be canceled within less than a year of its introduction. ABC contrasts the high cost and marginal returns of hybrid vehicles with the currently low cost of gas, and concludes that (in the words of Kelly Blue Book’s Jack Nerad) “a hybrid alone will not save Detroit.” In short, the parade of Volt/Cruze mules, Chrysler vapoware and assorted hybrid and flex-fuel vehicles are a PR show to gain environmentalist support for a bailout. Shocking stuff, I know, but the disconnect between self-image and reality is key to this entire situation. Slate’s Daniel Gross explores this “Detroit Delusion,” arguing that “the markets are treating the auto companies as if they’re already in bankruptcy,” and “the federal funding they’re requesting is necessary to help manage failure, not to stave it off.” Luckily Senators seem to be focusing on these financial issues rather than taking the eco-future bait.
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