Now that TTAC’s crew has landed in force at NYIAS, Chinese Week-end is no longer in effect. Regular rules apply. We clear the stage with a look back at the human side of last year’s Shanghai Auto Show. There are two reasons for it: Read More >
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Poor Sergio Marchionne… the man can’t go anywhere without being interrupted. The Fiat/Chrysler CEO’s speech today in the buildup to the New York Auto Show was interrupted twice, once by the the ubiquitous Teamster protesters, and once by a test of the hotel’s fire alarm system. But then, maybe people would let him speak if he had more to offer than the same lukewarm assurances that everything is going marvelously in Chrysler-land. The Detroit News summarizes his speech by saying Marchionne believes Chrysler will sell the 1.1m vehicles in needs to break even this year, and that it will do so without getting pulled into an incentive war.Which would be hard to do anyway, considering Chrysler spends more on incentives at “normal” levels than any of its competitors.
While the world was watching Volvo going to Geely, Germany was playing artillery observer: Daimler’s Zetsche came under a barrage of criticism last weekend. Not because of the graft accusations. That counts as necessary evil, at least if done abroad. Zetsche committed a mortal sin: He’s losing money, again. After losing billions in 2009, Daimler is supposed to turn the corner this year. But it doesn’t look that way. Read More >
The Detroit Free Press reports that Ford’s Alan Mulally made $12.8m last year, nearly double the $7.53m he made in 2008. Despite a considerable increase in Mulally’s overall compensation, his cash salary actually declined to $1.4m, from about $2m in 2008. In addition to the $12.85m he made in salary, bonuses and other compensation, Mulally banked a further $5.05m in stock options. Chairman Bill Ford Jr. continues to work without compensation, although he continues to accrue stock options worth $16.8m. Those options can not be exercised until the firm’s auto operations are profitable. And while Ford’s 2009 profits justify big executive payouts, federal pay czar Ken Feinberg has cut back on executive compensation at bailed-out automakers GM and Chrysler.
Bob Lutz and Bob Eaton bask in the glow of niche appeal, circa 1997 [via The NY Times‘ eulogy for Bob Lutz]. But don’t put MaxBob in a box:
“People who characterize me as a mindless muscle-car, cubic-inches fanatic don’t know my background,” he said. “I’ve always had a great fondness for relatively small and underpowered cars,” citing the 1981 Ford Cockpit, a Ghia-bodied three-wheel concept car that topped 75 m.p.g.; the European version of the Ford Escort; and the inexpensive Pontiac Solstice roadster.
Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda is a regular Japanese guy: Shy in public, but blogging on his computer every day. Using the handle “Morizou,” he blogs about his love for sports cars and auto racing on Gazoo.com, which he founded in 1998, if Todayonline has it right. Akio Toyoda is also an avid racer. His appearances at the 24 Hours Nürburgring endurance race in a Lexus LFA are legend. He is chickening out! Read More >
Fritz Henderson was Mr Transition at General Motors, taking over when Wagoner was ousted by the Presidential task force, and losing the top spot when Ed Whitacre’s purges hit a fever pitch. So it’s not exactly surprising to find out that, in addition to his $3k/hr consulting gig at New GM, Henderson is also getting paid by Old GM’s wind-down firm AlixPartners. The Detroit News won’t spill the beans on compensation, let alone the nature of Henderson’s work as a consultant, but does note that AP has slurped down over $35m in fees since last year’s bankruptcy. AP’s reasons for hiring Henderson:
From time to time, AlixPartners contracts with experienced specialists to complement our existing team and to help us grow, and that’s our purpose in signing on Fritz Henderson as an independent contractor working on a part-time basis,
Fritz Henderson: because he was liquidating General Motors before it was cool. Meanwhile, is the volatility of contract consulting work really a good idea, given the Henderson family temperament?
Toyota sales back home in Japan have yet to show a sign of suffering (they were up 49.9 percent in February while the Japanese market rose 35.1 percent.) However, Toyota’s reputation is taking a hit in the Land of the Rising Sun, says The Nikkei [sub]. Depends on how you look at it: 40 percent of Japanese consumers in a recent survey said Toyota’s troubles have undermined their confidence. 58.4 percent said the issues have not changed their opinion of Toyota, 1.4 percent said they now hold the firm in higher regard. Read More >
A few days ago, James Sikes and his runaway Prius was all over news. Until we mentioned that something is fishy. Sikes’ driving skills were put in question. Stories about a wife swapping website emerged. Stories about bankruptcy. Stories about an unpaid lease on the Prius. And sundry other stories. Quickly, Sikes turned into Balloon Boy 2.0
Michael Fumento, director of the Independent Journalism Project, went on Neil Cavuto’s show on Fox Business and said: “It appears that everybody on planet earth suspected that there was something horribly wrong with this picture – except for the national media. The real hoax wasn’t James Sikes, it was in fact our press.” Read More >
Two days ago, Ed Niedermeyer received a tip from an anonymous tipster that James Sikes, the guy who couldn’t stop his runaway Prius until a cop pulled up next to him and told him to, is, well, a bit exposed.
The tipster pointed out that a James Sikes had also started a business called Adultswinglife, LLC. A look at the phone numbers showed that Adult Swing Life LLC (619) 957-7355 shared the same phone number as the real estate business of Patty & Jim Sikes (619)-957-7355. We left it at that. Times are rough, and one needs to find extra streams of income.
A few hours later, an anonymous poster that went by the name “CincyJazzy” posted on the CBS news website that Sikes “is caught in 2 attempts to defraud his insurance company out of $60K, Just lost his house, and was fired for ‘unethical behavior’, in the middle of bankruptcy, and now this.” No reaction from CBS.
Then, nothing. Until ... Read More >
The personal transportation choices of auto executives has always been an easy point of reference for members of the mainstream media looking for an easy story. From Alan Mulally’s Lexus to Akio Toyoda’s Davos Audi getaway, auto execs’ use of non-company vehicles is always good for a quick “gotcha” headline. But no story in this rich oeuvre has had quite the impact of Jet-Gate, the name given to the mini-scandal that erupted when the executives of Ford, Chrysler and GM arrived in Washington DC for bailout hearings in three separate private jets, prompting derisive comments from members of congress. The PR misstep has haunted Detroit ever since, inspiring federal rules barring bailed-out automakers from using executive jets, and making transportation choices for auto-related DC hearings a major priority for automaker PR: Toyota’s Jim Lentz clearly had the episode in mind when he arrived for recent hearings in a recalled and repaired Toyota Highlander. And thanks to a recent revelation about GM Chairman/CEO Ed Whitacre’s use of executive jets, furor over auto-exec transportation is clearly a long way from playing itself out.
Recently-reassigned Cadillac boss Bryan Nesbitt isn’t the only GM exec paying the price for weak Cadillac sales, as Automotive News [sub] reports that GM has terminated three other Caddy executives.
Cadillac’s Steve Shannon and John Howell were dismissed Monday, said eight sources familiar with the moves. Jay Spenchian, an executive director who worked on Cadillac and other brands, was also let go, the sources said.
Longtime GM executive and Cadillac sales manager Ed Peper will stay on at Cadillac, and will report to Kurt McNeil, who will take over as Cadillac’s head of sales and service. This is the second time Peper’s career has moved backwards in recent months: prior to becoming Cadillac’s sales manager, he had served as the general manager of the Chevrolet brand. More proof that it doesn’t pay to be a lifer in Ed Whitacre’s new GM.
With news of Bob Lutz’s planned May 1 retirement leaking to the web, the auto journalism world is falling all over itself to get his reaction. When the Chicago Tribune caught up with the man of Maximum, they asked him to describe his work at GM and compare himself to (get this) either King Midas or Jesus Christ. You know, for the purposes of journalistic inquiry. Lutz’s reply avoided the self-flattering comparisons, and revealed some of the dynamics that led him to retire:
It’s gotten a little scary. Everything has been so good since I got here [at GM] that I’ve been thinking there really is no place to go but down because not all of my ideas will succeed. No one bats 1.000. It’s been so nice that it’s been a bit disconcerting. I try to establish a climate of irreverence as well as fun. I want to talk, but I want to listen. I want people to disagree and talk me out of things, too. But I’ve gotten no resistance from anyone to anything I want to do here.
Unnamed sources tell Reuters that the Maximum era at GM will end on May 1, when Vice-Chairman Bob Lutz will announce his retirement. Unless this is one of those Brett Favre things. Needless to say, TTAC appreciates the month of notice, and will struggle to put together a fitting tribute to the man we call Maximum.
GM has announced its new North American organizational shuffle [full release available here], and have included the following slides to help explain some of the changes. The clear winner: President of NA operations, Mark Reuss, who had this to say:
It’s become extremely clear to me since taking this role that there is a better way to structure this organization. The premise of the structure is simple — a clearer marketing focus to sell more vehicles, and freeing our sales and service experts to focus on customers and dealers. In order to be successful in North America, we need the right mix of product, people and structure. We’ve worked with a small group of executives to align this model and appoint the best candidates for each job.
Notice how he doesn’t call the new structure a simplification. As the following slides show, there’s nothing simple about the structure changes. In fact, the only thing that’s certain about this latest GM reshuffle is that wrestling with GM’s bureaucracy still takes up as much time for top managers as actually working on products, planning, outreach and other core business activities.
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