Carlos Ghosn wants your help, and he isn’t shy about asking for it. In an interview yesterday with The Wall Street Journal, the Renault-Nissan chief announced his intentions to obtain a €40b ($50b) loan package from the French government, in addition to some undisclosed additional quantity of yen from their Japanese counterparts. Today, before a packed house during his keynote address at the LA Auto Show, Ghosn continued along this path, turning his attention to obtaining tax credits and other government assistance here Stateside. Citing October 2008 as the worst month for US car sales in the last 25 years, Ghosn claimed that the severity of current economic conditions were “putting the usual rules of business up in the air” and that “nobody knows” how long these conditions would continue. As he tore a page from Detroit’s eco-efficiency bailout pitch book, Ghosn stressed retooling for the development of Earth-friendly technology as a key driver for receiving state support.
Category: People
Fornication seems to be part and parcel of the heavy metal business: Salesmen do it to their customers, corporations do it to taxpayers, fornication-for-euros helped VeeDub bring the unions in check (and jail,) Porsche fornicates hedge funds, F1 Mosely caught being spanked by dominatrixes (link NSFW, especially THAT one) and the list goes on. What do you think the deeper meaning of “Fahrvergnügen” really was? How could someone who owns a good chunk of BMW stand aside when everybody’s doing it? And so it happened: Susanne Klatten, born as Susanne Hanna Ursula Quandt on 28 April 1962 in Bad Homburg in Germany, is, according to Bloomberg, the wealthiest woman of Germany. Forbes has her on #55 of their list of the world’s billiopersons. Married, three kids. Germany’s average soccer mom. And why would TTAC express an interest in the lady? The interest is strictly professional: Together with her mother Johanna and her brother Stephan, Frau Klatten owns 46 percent of BMW. Susanne’s father, Herbert Quandt, made headlines and a lot of money in 1959, when he bought the near bankrupt BMW for a song. Daughter Susie, commonly painted as “shy” and “withdrawn,” also owned a nagging desire for more nookie. Husband Jan Klatten, himself a BMW engineer when the couple met, apparently was more interested in propshaft couplings than in the biblical sense of the part. And then the void was filled. So to speak…
So now we know where the press scarfed all those Maximum Bob bites™: the text of GM Car Czar Bob Lutz’ address to a confabulation of spinmeisters. MB starts off on exactly the wrong foot: the perception gap. It gets worse from there, obviously. Bob reiterates his theme of late: design rules. Apparently, it’s “the last great differentiator in the automotive business. Everybody has great powertrains and adheres to the same basic fuel economy and safety standards. Everybody has good, flexible, low hour-per-vehicle manufacturing. Everybody has efficient purchasing and uses the same suppliers. Everybody has roughly similar reliability and quality ratings.” Hang on; does that include me? ‘Cause I don’t think Bob and I share suppliers, if you know what I mean. And then Bob says PR is a crock of shit. “I’ve been a lifelong critic of corporate communications that don’t communicate, or are too sanitized. All large corporations are good at it, and General Motors is certainly no exception. In this case, communications, instead of being a weapon for putting out the truth, becomes simple risk avoidance. It focuses on making sure that no one says the wrong thing. And often, by focusing on not saying the wrong thing, you’re essentially saying nothing.” Sorry. What were you saying?
No biggie. A social call to one of our writers, thanking him for the infotainment. Needless to say, we tried to get Big Al to tell us something, anything newsworthy. Nada. Not a sausage. Still, I remember when I started this website. Back in the day, Peter DeLorenzo hyped his Autoextremist site with banners proclaiming “Bob Reads It,” “Rick reads it” and… what was it again? “Tom?” “Dieter?” I wondered if a) it was true and b) TTAC would ever gain sufficient prominence to catch the ear of the ultimate insiders. So, anyway, it’s another milestone for TTAC. Suffice it to say, talking to the industry swells will not give us swell heads. We will never forget that our first, indeed our only obligation is to you, our readers. In that spirit, when we hit the North American International Auto Show, we will do our level best to report the truth about cars. As always. Meanwhile, if Mr. Mulally could call us back re: an interview, I’d be most appreciative.
Gordon Murray is calling his T25 city car project “the toughest challenge I’ve ever faced in my design career.” This as his company, Gordon Murray Design, celebrates its first birthday. Even the T25 itself showed up for the bash, swathed in the very latest in plastic wrap. Placed modestly between new and old Fiat 500s and Minis, the Christo-ed T25 comes across as smaller than any of the other city car icons. And make no mistake: Mr. F1 wants the car to be every bit as game-changing and iconic as the classics. In a speech posted at his Planet Murray blog, Gordon points to the Toyota iQ as an evolutionary approach to a city car: good, but not a true re-think. “We believe that the T.25 architecture and manufacturing process will represent the biggest step forward in our automotive world since the model T Ford, exactly 100 years ago. Our business model is quite simple – the architecture includes a separate body/chassis assembly. The manufacturing process can be adapted to many new powertrains, fuels and body styles.” Talk about raising the bar. (I’ll drink to that.)
Why would anyone want to move from head of Cadillac to being the guy in charge of the dead brand walking known as HUMMER? Answer: they wouldn’t. But there it is: Jim Taylor is now the GM of HUMMER. Meanwhile, back at Stately Wayne Manor, Automotive News [sub] reports that “Mark McNabb, 47, remains GM North America vice president in charge of Cadillac and GM’s premium sales channel. The three general manager positions reporting to him — for the Cadillac, Hummer and Saab brands — are being eliminated.” In other words, three for one and one for three! So what happened to HUMMER’s existing GM? “Martin Walsh, 56, general manager of Hummer, will work with Taylor guiding the Hummer transition, [GM spokesfolk Joanne] Krell said. She said GM plans to appoint Walsh to a new job.” Oh, and the Saab guy? “Steve Shannon, 50, Saab’s general manager, will become executive director of product and marketing for the premium channel, reporting to McNabb.” What are we to make of all this? “By creating a new and more comprehensive leadership position for HUMMER with Jim Taylor as the top executive, we are bolstering the strategic review process and the brand.” said Mark LaNeve, GMNA vice president of Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. “At the same time, we’re sharpening our focus on Cadillac as GM’s flagship brand in the global luxury marketplace under Mark McNabb’s leadership.” Me. I’m thinking deck chairs. Titanic. Feng-Shui.
These guys can’t win from losing. I mean, first GM seeks to evade responsibility for its cratered bsuiness by claiming that “no one” could have forseen the sudden spike in gas prices (or, God forbid, planned for that contingency after, what, two previous oil price shocks). And now GM Car Czar “Maximum Bob” Lutz is telling the LA Times that low gas prices threaten its plug-in electric – gas hybrid Volt-shaped Hail Mary. “We may hate high fuel prices, but they’ve been driving us in the right direction when it comes to fuel economy,” General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz told the Times. “The company’s leading cheerleader for its $500-million program to develop an electric car” said “If we suddenly went to $1 or $1.50 a gallon, that would be really bad.” Don’t get me wrong. Lutz is right. As he was when he called federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards a “crock of shit.” No wait; that was global warming. Anyway, the thing of it is, stop bitching Bob. As someone who’s followed Lutz’s career at GM– listening to every excuse for his employer’s dismal performance short of “the sun was in my eyes”– I would like to officially go on record saying that GM needs to builds vehicles, not sound bites. That is all.
The [UK] Daily Mirror reports that Top Gear curmudgeon Jeremy Clarkson has been injured in a head-on car crash. “He suffered minor injuries to his legs, hand and back in the head-on collision during filming for the BBC show. He described it as his first serious road traffic accident in 31 years. Clarkson, 48, said: ‘My right index finger looked like a burst sausage, my left shin was fatter than my thigh and my back felt like someone had driven over it with a pile-driver.’ Yesterday, from their Cotswolds home in Chipping Norton, Clarkson’s wife Frances said: ‘My husband is fine.'” And the other driver/passengers? Apparently not worth a mention. Also, it’s important to note that the accident is the second to occur during Top Gear production; there will no doubt be a BBC investigation (which could permanently shut down filming). It’s equally certain that police will mount their own inquiry (which could remove Mr. Clarkson’s right to drive). We’ll provide details of the crash as and when they become available.
Back in the day, I mistakenly asked Gary Witzenburg to write for TTAC. The aftermath was… intense. To this day, Witzenburg remains the only [non-spam] person I’ve ever banned from my email account. Even though I knew Gary was wrapped a little tight on the whole stop picking on the domestic automakers deal, I never suspected that the former GM spinmeister would make an entire career out of defending the indefensible. Nor would I have predicted that he would make Autobloggreen his spiritual home. But there he is, and his most recent rant could well be his magnum opus. Witz begins with a long defense– of GM, the EV-1 and his own career– that puts Richard M. Nixon’s “My Mother Was a Saint” resignation speech to shame. And then we’re off into the lazy journalist’s favorite format: Q & A. A highly edited Steve asks “What I cannot fathom is how all three auto manufacturers fell into the big-car trap. This happened before in the 1970s – fuel prices went up and U.S. automakers were left with obsolete product lines.” Gary responds “Come on, Steve, they’re not making sandwiches.” Seriously, this is a fascinating read, on many levels. Just imagine Jack Nicholson playing Gary Witzenburg, insert expletives where needed (everywhere) and you’re there.
“Q:I recently purchased a 2008 Nissan 350Z. I allowed a friend of mine (from Australia) to drive it to the airport yesterday, and noticed that after stopping at a red light, he would start the car in second (instead of first) gear. He said this is better for the engine and would prevent first gear from wearing out. Is he correct? And if not, is this bad for my car?
Ray: Well, your friend certainly did teach you a valuable lesson: Don’t let any of your knucklehead friends drive your new car again!
Tom: Starting in second is not good for the engine. The engine is perfectly happy to start in first gear. In fact, starting in a higher gear under the wrong circumstances could cause you to “lug” the engine, which is bad for it.
Ray: But more important, starting in second is bad for your clutch. You need to use more gas and let the clutch out more slowly when starting in second. That wears out your clutch more quickly.”
Last we checked in on the unfolding Porsche family drama, cousin Ferdinand “Phaeton” Piech had made a play for the CEO spot at Porsche Holdings. Turns out cousin Ferdie may have overplayed his hand by taking on Wendelin (I’d tell you my salary but then I’d have to kill you) Wiedeking, current Porsche Holdings CEO and darling of the Porsche clan. Wiedeking’s patron d’overcompensation and Porsche paterfamilias Wolfgang Porsche tells Focus Magazine (by way of Automotive News [sub]) that Piech will pay dearly for going after his Wendelin. After a particularly “turbulent” meeting of the VW advisory board, Wolfie told Focus “I am horrified by the behavior of the chairman,” and that Piech’s removal from that position was imminent. “It is not a question of ‘if’, rather ‘when’ and ‘how’,” Focus quoted one Porsche manager as saying. But don’t expect Piech to simply fade away into that good night. Sure, the Porsche clan damns him and the oversized Passat he rode in on. But Piech still has VW CEO Martin Winterkorn, the massive VW Unions and all of their paid politicians on his side. These interests aren’t backing Piech because they particularly like him or his ideas; they’re scared of Wolfie and Wendelin and their curious “profit fetish.” Is a family being torn apart because Wolfgang Porsche don’t understand the importance of company-funded brothel outings for labor leaders? Because that would just be so tragic. And hilarious. Watch this space.
If you believe Iran will abandon its nuclear ambitions in the face of economic sanctions, there’s nothing to see here. If you believe there’s no way deny Iran The Bomb short of a military strike, the question becomes who and when? It’s hardly likely the Bush administration will want to engage in yet another military “adventure” before the next guy to accompany the football takes office. On the other hand, Bernard Baumohl thinks the Israelis want to get this thing done before Barack or John assumes the position (so to speak). ABC News reports that the Economic Outlook Group’s Chief Global Economist says a strike would disrupt oil prices (surprise!), one way or another. “It all depends on the success of the Israeli strike. If it was a quick, successful strike and Iran doesn’t block the Strait of Hormuz — a key oil route in the Persian Gulf — Baumohl sees a quick spike in oil prices and then a steady decline. He says that within three days of the strike oil could costs $175 to $225 a barrel. The record of $147.27 a barrel was reached back in July and oil today closed at less than $108. But within three months the price would fall because Iran’s nuclear weapons program would be destroyed or crippled. Oil would cost $70 to $85 a barrel. Of course, Baumohl has a more-dire scenario with oil prices between $200 and $300 a barrel. This happens if the strike fails, triggers a bigger war and the flow of oil is disrupted. In that case, the price of gas in America would climb to $5 to $7 a gallon.”
And York should piss off. I’m sorry, but court papers released yesterday— part of an SEC slap on the wrist– reveal that Jer’ told his boss Kirk Kerkorian that investing in GM was a “no-brainer.” Of course, this was back in ’05– when the shit was already hitting the fan. Immediately before The Lion of Las Vegas forced York’s elevation to GM’s Board of Directors, and then tried to broker a GM – Renault merger. OK, OK, Kirk eventually made his crust on the playing the dozens with GM (hence the SEC ruling). But I’m thinking that York isn’t the brainiest “auto industry gadfly” in the biz– although it seems like piercing glimpses into the obvious are all that’s needed to catch Automotive News‘ editorial eye. (Sorry guys, but you write this stuff.) “The winners will be those companies that can change their output from larger to smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles,” York revealed in a presentation to auto dealers and investors. “And that can improve their efficiency to make substantial profits on a less-rich mix of products sold.” And if you doubt York’s sagacity, well, he doesn’t. “There’s no doubt in my mind Cerberus’ strategy was to fix Chrysler up as best they could and find a merger partner,” York said. “I don’t know this for a fact. Nevertheless, there is no doubt in my mind.”
As Reuters notes, 90 percent of the vehicles Ford builds in Canada end-up in the U.S. So, despite the fact that the Ford F-series is still the best-selling vehicle north of the border, Ford Canada is suffering. All of which leads to the suprise (really?) resignation of Barry Engle, Ford of Canada's president. Though Engle has served for several years for Ford and Chrysler, working in several capacities around the globe, he decided to exit the auto industry just six months after assuming FoMoCo Canada's top job. Engle's new job will be in his native Pennsylvania, working for an agricultural equipment company; IMHO he's using "family time" as a smokescreen. Time for a Lilly Pulitzer: did he fall or was he pushed? And why?
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