Over the weekend, sixty thousand Bug-eyed enthusiasts [sic] partied in Hanover, Germany to celebrate the 60th birthday of the Volkswagen Bus. On view: over 5000 examples of the underpowered, side wind-prone, crashhappy vehicle that would change the way people used– and experienced — the road. Der Spiegel dutifully reports that the Bus has been the preferred vehicle for postal workers, policemen, camping enthusiasts, suicidals and, of course, members of the "Flower Power" generation. It's latest claim to fame: a featured cast member of "Little Miss Sunshine." To [dog] mark the occasion, the two surviving members of The Who performed "The Magic Bus," "My Generation" and "Going Mobile". They ignored suggestions that they should also play "The Seeker" (inspired by the Bus' steering), "Squeeze Box" (seating comfort) "Substitute (car)" and "5:15" (referring to the Bus' 0-60 acceleration).

After TTAC highlighted Chris Bangle's "axis of white power" verbal faux pas in a video on a BMW web site, Spiegel Online (German language site) has been looking into the incident. Calling the video a "PR disaster," they question how it ever made it through BMW's communication department. They then quote TTAC publisher Robert Farago: "English is Bangle's first language, he should be aware of such things." A BMW spokesman told Spiegel both the company and Bangle understand the criticism for the remark, and said, "Chris Bangle sympathizes in no way with any right-wing or racist positions… Bangle will make a personal statement on this topic on the BMW-Web-TV platform shortly". BMW removed the video from their site after the Spiegel interview; the link now takes you to a generic BMW PR video. Before they pulled it, a Google search on "chris bangle nazi" returned the link for the video. We may have raised the issue of BMW's obliviousness to Bangle's remark, but we sure as Hell know that ain't right. 

[TTAC scribe Martin Schwoerer has kindly uploaded the clip onto YouTube.]

Those finance guys trying to pressure you into buying an overpriced extended warranty with your new car are just the tip of the iceberg. PRNewswire brings information about a new (dis)service from Auto Service Agreement: "a new online product application that allows auto dealerships to sell an extended warranty to their customers after the car has been sold." That's right folks, even if you manage to escape the dealership without buying a needless warranty, they can now hound you by email to buy one. The service "will help auto dealerships offer service agreements to their customers, with no additional work on the dealers' part" and "without having to communicate directly with the buyer." It also "eliminates the middleman, saving their clients time and energy and offering users the convenience of buying auto warranties online." What's worse, "the new application can also be sold directly to consumers, banks, credit card companies, repair facilities, and online auto dealers such as eBay." You can run, but you can't hide!

I've got a couple of bones to pick with BMW designer Chris Bangle. First, I reckon the "flame surfacing" design style that he's inflicted on the brand since the 2002 7-Series has trashed the sina qua non of German automotive elegance. Second, the Ohio-born Bimmer big-wig's insistence on pronouncing perfectly good English words with a German accent (e.g. "owtowmobile" and "schport") strikes me as the worst sort of pistonhead-goes-to- art-school pretentiousness. And now Bangle's really bungled it. On BMW-web-tv, Bangle waxes lyrical about his employer's Geneva auto stand. Ten seconds in, Bangles says "It's kind of an axis of white power here; there are really strong white cars." Now we're not suggesting that Bangle's racist, or that BMW's lack of minorities in their upper executive echelons reflects any kind of ethnic or cultural insensitivity. But that's certainly not the kind of comment you'd expect a car executive to make off the cuff– or fail to realize he had made and order it struck from the record. And the fact that Bangle's axis of white power comment made it onto BMW's website tells us they lack English-speakers, political sensitivity or both. Just sayin'. 

[TTAC scribe Martin Schwoerer has kindly uploaded the clip onto YouTube.]

CBS' Sunday Morning program has joined the caravan of love for Tesla Motors' not-ready-for-prime-time electric car and GM's not-ready-for-prime-time electric car. New York Times correspondent David Pogue's report leads with the usual "gas sucks" mantra, and then gets down to business: repeating Tesla's oft-repeated (never proven) claims for their LiIon-powered electric roadster. Ah, but doesn't the electric car simply shift the energy problem to powerplants? The recently demoted Martin Eberhard demures: "If you do the math, you'll find that an electric car, even if you use coal to make the electricity, produces less pollution per mile than burning gasoline in the best gasoline-powered car." After gasping at the Tesla's sticker, Pogue trots out GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz, who promises a user-friendly price tag for the Volt: "My personal target still is to bring this car into the market at, you know, nicely below $30,000." Yeah, well what about the EV1? "Now, it turns out that from a PR standpoint probably the dumbest move we ever made," Lutz said. "It was done for all the right legal reasons, but PR-wise it was dumb. So, now I'm getting e-mails saying, 'I hope you rot in hell.'" After revealing that the first Teslas will hit the streets this fall and promoting the forthcoming film "Who Saved the Electric Car?" (really), Pogue gives Maximum Bob the last word. "…I think the future for electrics is absolutely unlimited." At least the PR is.

CNN Money reports that Saturn's pulled the plug on its "Side-by-Side-by-Side Test Drive." During the promotion, Saturn dealers provided customers with [base model four-cylinder] Accords and Camrys to compare against [well equipped V6] Auras. Saturn marketing manager Matt Armstrong declared the two-month campaign a success, claiming Aura sales increased 24 percent (against a 14 percent drop in midsize cars' sales). In fact, Saturn sold 4,694 Auras in June and 5,827 in July. That's a 19 percent increase. Camry on the other hand, dropped from 46,630 sales in June to 41,514 in July, a 12% decrease. So was Aura responsible for the dent in Camry sales? Uh…. no. Accord sales rose from 28,915 to 37,142 during the same time; a 22 percent increase. In raw numbers, Aura's sales went up 1,133 in July, Camry's decreased 5,116, and Accord's increased by 8,227. No matter how Saturn spins it, the Accord was the big winner during the GM brand's "Side-by-Side-by-Side Test Drive" promotion.

The Detroit News carries news of a "made-for-TV" rally of Ford and Chrysler autoworkers in Chicago yesterday. The event, "put together by a public relations firm," protested proposed Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) legislation. The rent-a-mob consisted primarily of 200 workers bussed in from nearby assembly plants. They put on a good show, too. At one point, a Ford Expedition rolled up and disgorged a scoutmaster. three Boy Scouts and a Girl Scout "to demonstrate ways Americans need larger vehicles" (The mind boggles).  One Chrysler worker described her [ostensible] reason for attending the rally: "People should be able to drive what they want." A lot of Americans agree with her, which is why the Camry outsells the Sebring by a very wide margin. 

In an effort to show they're just as digital media savvy as GM, Chrysler V4.0 has rolled out their own corporate blog. So far, Voices of Chrysler contains the expected PR drivel frank and open pseudo exchange of views expressing hope for the future, promising new product excellence, yada X 3. It's too early to tell if any of the suits will start issuing the kind of Maximum Bob Lutzian statements that float our e-boat. Three Chrysler execs have posted so far: Tom "I'm in charge" Lasorda, Ralph "the 300 was not a fluke" Gilles and Jason "You Talking to me?" Vines. Not suprisingly, Vines comes closest to providing genuine infortainment. Ever the optimist, he states "Our owners at Cerberus think [new CEO Bob Nardelli's] incredible track record in successfully running the many businesses he did… can speed up the recovery of The New Chrysler. More power to him, if you ask me." More power to you, Jason. Given Boot'em Bob's track record at Home Depot, drop us a line as and when.

Automotive News writes that Carroll Shelby's Children's Foundation– set-up in 2002 after The Man's heart switch– has doled-out less than one percent of its $2.9m stash. (The money is supposed to help children who need organ transplants.) The revelation is bound to embarrass FoMoCo, as The Glass House Gang have provided four new Shelby vehicles for Carrol's charity to raffle and auction. It could also reduce the Foundation's ability to raise funds, as donors learn that their money's destined for a charitable parking lot. Although there are no implications of financial impropriety, and the Foundation now promises to "professionalize," it is worth mentioning that the Texas legend hasn't donated a single dime to his own cause.  

CNN Money recently named Google as America's number one workplace of choice. Among the Googliscious perks: free meals, a swimming spa and access to on-site doctors. Some 1300 people apply per day. In Italy, college grads seeking similar satisfaction send their resumes to the home of the Prancing Horse. Paddock Talk reveals that a study by Stockholm’s Universum Communications says Italian engineering, science and economics students consider Ferrari their ideal workplace. Ferrari’s training initiatives, culture and wellness plan make for a happy workforce. Yeah okay, but what about “employee pricing?”