Ford Stock Price Climbs to New Highs; Going Higher?
Financial blogs have been all abuzz this past week as the price of Ford Motor Co. stock 
climbed to new highs.
Ford's stock has been trading at more than $13.40 a share in recent days, approaching its highest point since late 2004 when it was selling for nearly $15 a share. And its current price is a far cry from the couple of bucks it was selling for only a year ago. In fact, in November 2009, it sold at less than $8 a share.
The question now facing shareholders is hold as the prices goes higher or sell and take the money and run. For would-be Ford shareholders, did they miss the boat or is Ford still a buy?
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:41 AM under Commentary , Ford , In the Media | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Virginia Troopers Become Tax Collectors for a Weekend
The state of Virginia turned to a baldfaced fleecing of motorists this past weekend as a part 
of a solution to chip away at the state's $2.2-billion budget deficit.
The Truthaboutcars.com, via the newspaper.com, reported the shameful results of Virginia's weekend revenue-pumping ticket blitz that flew under cover of a safety campaign: the state's "Operation Air, Land & Speed, dealt out an astonishing 7,016 traffic tickets this past Saturday and Sunday.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:13 AM under Commentary , In the Media | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
No Big Wins for Automotive Advertisers at Oscars
And the Oscar for the best advertising performance during the Academy Awards show 
goes to -- Hyundai.
But barely.
Indeed, Hyundai brand and, specifically, the Hyundai Sonata got the most lift from Sunday night's Academy Awards presentation, based on an analysis of shopping consideration by consumers visiting Edmunds.com.
However, though the viewing audience for the show was the biggest in five years, advertising on the Oscars proved not much of a win for automotive marketers.
In general, Edmunds.com saw little significant impact on shopping consideration from any of the automotive ads that aired on the Academy Awards. In fact, auto advertising performance on the show was pathetic compared with the Super Bowl.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:25 PM under Analysis , Featured , In the Media | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota: Some Recall Fixes Done Improperly; Prius Runs Wild?
Well underway with the colossal job of attending to more than six million vehicles recalled to address either potentially sticking accelerator pedals or wayward floormats, a Toyota spokesman yesterday admitted some of the repairs may not be properly conducted.
The spokesman, in attendance of a media event where engineers demonstrated how unintended acceleration simulated by one researcher using a Toyota electronically controlled throttle system is virtually impossible to happen in real-world conditions, said the company is aware of multiple reports of continuing incidents of unintended acceleration in vehicles that had undergone the stipulated warranty repairs.
He added that only a few of the claims had been verified, but seemed to admit not all repairs are being properly carried out, saying that for some of the vehicles reported to still be accelerating of their own accord, "it had to do with the repair not being done properly."
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 10:39 AM under Business , In the Media , News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Refutes Researcher's Simulation of Unintended Acceleration
Toyota Motor Corp. battled back yesterday against a hurricane of negative publicity and Congressional calls for action related to unintended acceleration in its Toyota- and Lexus-brand vehicles.
The controversy takes a new twist as Toyota and Exponent Inc., the high-profile engineering consultancy and troubleshooter the company has hired, demonstrated the unintended acceleration-causing conditions produced in a highly publicized test for Safety Research and Strategies Inc. conducted by Dr. David Gilbert, an associate professor of automotive technology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, are highly unlikely to occur under real-world conditions.
The Exponent team also showed that the design of Toyota's wiring for its electronically controlled throttle - the component suspected to be at the root of unintended acceleration - is engineered to prevent the potential for the kind of failure Gilbert's testing generated.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:58 PM under Featured , In the Media , News , Technology , Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Lutz To Retire May 1
General Motors Co. vice chairman Bob Lutz, the company's energetic and often combative product guru - and long the embodiment of the auto industry's quintessential "car guy" executive - will retire May 1.
The company announced Lutz's retirement today.
The 78-year-old Lutz has had a larger-than-life automotive career that begin in 1963 and included stopovers with significant executive roles at each of the Big Three automakers and BMW AG prior to rejoining GM in 2001.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 11:50 AM under GM , In the Media , News , Personalities | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Reportedly Axes Cadillac Version of Chevy Volt
Several media sources reported late Monday General Motors Co. is dropping plans for a Cadillac-badged version of the high-tech Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle so Cadillac can focus on less-expensive plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles.
Apparently a Cadillac version of the Volt would be too weighed down by the expected luxury and comfort features to replicate the Volt's 40-mile electric-only driving range without extensive extra cost, a Bloomberg report said. Sources suggested achieving even a 20-mile driving range solely on battery power might require $30,000 of added cost, the report added.
The loss of the proposed Cadillac variant of the Volt casts more doubt on the near-term applicability of the Volt's battery-intensive, series-hybrid design.
Some GM executives had argued a Cadillac version of the Volt would help reduce costs -- mostly centered around the expensive lithium-ion batteries -- and speed wider adoption of the Volt's technology.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 9:03 PM under GM , In the Media , News , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
A Glimpse of the Feeding Frenzy Toyota Faces
This week, Toyota President Akio Toyoda and other Toyota executives are scheduled 
to testify before two Congressional committees regarding the automaker's recall of millions of vehicles. The committees, which will hear from other industry experts as well, will attempt to answer the question of whether the public is at risk.
Toyota's recalls have generated massive amounts of global media and dozens of lawsuits. Toyota has hired a crisis management team to help with the hearings and the public relations effort that got off to a bungled start.
For a glimpse of what might be going on behind the scenes leading up to the hearings and how the hearings might play out, AutoObserver turned to Ford public relations veteran Jon Harmon, now an author and crisis management consultant. His book, Feeding Frenzy, published last October, tells the riveting behind-the-scenes story of the deadly rollover accidents involving Ford Explorers equipped with Firestone and subsequent recalls. Like Toyota is now, Ford faced intense media scrutiny, aggressive trial lawyers and an angry U.S. Congress.
Here's an excerpt covering Ford's preparation for and experience in Congressional hearings:
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:10 AM under Commentary , Featured , Ford , In the Media , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
COMMENTARY: Witch Hunts and Cost Cuts Affect All Companies, Not Just Toyota
Toyota's dilemma should be thought of as a parable that applies to the entire industry, writes GaveKal, a Hong Kong-based financial services, macro-economic firm.
Why? Two reasons, says GaveKal in an excerpt from the company's recent report posted here with permission: the witch hunt is on and cost-cutting has a downside for all.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:46 AM under Commentary , Companies , In the Media , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
"How the Mighty Fall" Explains Why Toyota's Floundering
Stefan Stern's management column in the Financial Times quotes from a book written by 
management guru Jim Collins, How the Mighty Fall, published last year. Collins also wrote the well-known bestseller, Good to Great.
The column and the book are particularly appropo as mighty Toyota flounders.
In the book, as cited by the FT, businesses pass through five key stages of decline or what Collins terms as the "arc of tragedy" -- a process by which "an all-conquering company like Toyota can be brought so low."
Stern simplifies as follows Collins' five stages -- ones other automakers (Ford, Fiat, Volkswagen, come to mind) would do well to note:
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:57 AM under Commentary , Companies , In the Media , Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Crisis Management, Japanese Style
Last Friday's press conference held by Toyota's chief executive Akio Toyoda has generated 
plenty of buzz. Much has been made in the Western and Japanese media about whether or not his "apology" -- and even his bow at the start of the conference -- demonstrated true contrition. And there's been various interpretation of his words -- was he sorry for the quality problems or sorry for the concern it caused.
In a recent column in the Wall Street Journal, Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University Japan, discusses the uniqueness of the Japanese business culture that led to what the headline describes as "A Crisis Made in Japan."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:53 AM under Commentary , In the Media , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Are Toyotas Safe To Drive? Transportation Secretary Confuses the Issue More
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood publicly recommended that owners of recalled Toyotas should stop driving them during Congressional hearings on Wednesday. Then he backtracked on his statement in later in interviews, only adding to the confusion Toyota owners are experiencing.
"This flip-flop is not helping concerned motorists who are being presented with confusing and contradictory information about the Toyota recall at every turn," stated Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:19 AM under Commentary , In the Media , Personalities , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota CEO Apologizes; Company Advertises Apology in U.S. Media
Akio Toyoda, grandson of the founder of Toyota who was named president and CEO of the 
company last year, made his first public comment about the massive recall that led to a stop-selling order of eight popular models in the U.S. this week.
"I am deeply sorry," Toyoda said in a brief interview with the Japanese network NHK as reported by ABC News. Toyoda was attending the famous economic conference in Davos, Switzerland.
He apologized to customers for causing them worry. He said he could not answer questions because the company "was still investigating," but he hoped to provide customers with an explanation soon. "I would like for people to trust us," he said.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:35 PM under In the Media , News , Personalities , Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Dour HuffPo Blogger Calls Audi Holiday Commercial "Crass"
The Volkswagen Group's upscale Audi division probably thought it simply was lightening the 
holiday mood with a whimsical television commercial highlighting Audi's high-tech image. A "green"-oriented blogger at the Huffington Post didn't see it that way.
Jonathan A. Schein, listed at the Huffington Post as the founder of ScheinMedia and publisher of two environmentally-oriented Web sites and who apparently thinks all ads should be opportunities to impart a green message, called the Audi commercial a "crass approach to marketing during the holiday season."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:17 AM under Commentary , Companies , In the Media | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Distinguished Automotive Journalist Bill Visnic Joins Edmunds.com
Automotive publishing veteran Bill Visnic joins Edmunds.com as full-time senior editor for 
Edmunds' AutoObserver.com.
Having been a regular freelance contributor to the automotive industry blog since 2007, Visnic will expand his role, providing expert analysis of business and technology developments.
Visnic brings to the position 16 years of experience as an automotive journalist. As Senior Technical Editor at Ward's Automotive Group, he implemented the highly regarded Ward's 10 Best Engines program. Prior to Ward's, Visnic worked as Associate Editor at Car and Driver.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:46 AM under In the Media , News , Personalities | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Broke It Off With Tiger Woods Even Before it Became Fashionable
The personal and business fallout for his "indiscretions" continues for professional golfer Tiger Woods, as a variety of companies and organizations do the damage-control two-step to the certain detriment of "Woods Inc.'s" bottom line.
But at least one former corporate sponsor managed to avoid having to be in the position of judging Woods as his personal life becomes a tabloid bonanza: General Motors Co. Owing to its shaky finances, GM had to cut loose Woods and his big-bucks contract nearly a year ago.
For the nine years prior to parting ways with Woods at the end of 2008, GM reportedly had paid the golfing phenom a heady $8 million per year to be a spokesman for the Buick brand. That had to stop -- leading up to its federal bailout and eventual bankruptcy, GM jettisoned everything with the appearance of extravagance, from corporate jets to corporate golf spokesmen.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:10 AM under Business , GM , In the Media , Personalities | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler Gets Political
Chrysler Group LLC is taking part in an interesting politically-oriented promotion with a TV 
film - opening on the Chrysler brand's Website Thursday - supporting a movement advocating the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, pro-democracy leader in Burma and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Kyi has been under sporadic house arrest for more than two decades.
Chrysler partnered with Lancia Automobiles for the 30-second film originally created for Lancia's sponsorship of the 10th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Berlin last month.
The theme of the summit was "knocking down new walls and building bridges for a world without violence," to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the demolition of the Berlin Wall.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:25 AM under Chrysler , In the Media , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Latest Hybrids Probably Won't Help Build the Market
In order to prod soccer moms across the nation to plug a visit to the BMW dealership into their Blackberrys, BMW North America Inc. this week nonchalantly announced the price for its first "full" hybrid-electric vehicle, the ActiveHybrid X6: $89,725.
Welcome to hybridization as seen by German luxury marques, who, given their choices for showcasing hybrid technology, seem to be more intent on using their new hybrids to prove why their diesel-powered models make much more sense in terms of actually appealing to consumers.
At nearly $90,000, the ActiveHybrid X6 has a total of 485 horsepower, weighs more than 5,600 pounds, delivers a 2-mpg improvement over than the 6-cylinder X6 (4 mpg better in the city and 1 mpg worse on the highway than the V8 X6) - and still has plenty of extra-price options.
In the spring, BMW will follow up with the ActiveHybrid 7, the hybridized version of its 7-Series flagship. The car is certain to crack the 6-figure price barrier.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 9:30 AM under Business , Chrysler , Companies , GM , In the Media , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Tough New Roof Test Whittles Down Field of IIHS 'Top Safety Pick' Winners
A rigorous new roof-strength standard means a lot fewer new models earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's "Top Safety Pick" award for 2010.
This year, just 27 individual models were named Top Safety Pick by the IIHS, compared with last year's record 94 models that earned the award. Most of the reason so many new vehicles couldn't grab the brass ring comes down to a newly instituted roof-safety test presumed to indicate superior protection in rollovers, which are involved in about one-third of all fatal accidents.
"With the addition of our new roof strength evaluation, our crash test results now cover all 4 of the most common kinds of crashes," said IIHS president Adrian Lund in a release. "Consumers can use this list to zero in on the vehicles that are on the top rung for safety."
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 10:00 AM under Business , Chrysler , Companies , Ford , In the Media , News , Technology , Volkswagen, Audi | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Nissan-Renault's Ghosn: World Ready for EVs Now
The Nissan-Renault alliance is making a major push to accelerate the adoption of fully electric vehicles despite persistent skepticism the public - and the world's vehicle infrastructure - is ready to adopt such a paradigm shift, says the alliance's chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn in a guest editorial at Edmunds.com's Inside Line enthusiast website.
In the exclusive column, Ghosn explains why Nissan-Renault is making a leap of faith for EVs and underscores that once all the environmental and energy-independence debates are set aside, he also believes EVs can provide a new style of emotion to the driving experience.
Ghosn also enumerates why Nissan-Renault believes it is well-positioned to hasten the adoption of EVs through its steady involvement in initiatives for developing and manufacturing high-performance batteries as well as infrastructure.
Ghosn said the company believes EVs could comprise as much as 10 percent of global sales by 2020. Research conducted by Nissan-Renault showed 9 percent of consumers in Japan would choose and EV as their next vehicle; 8 percent of consumers in the U.S. responded similarly.
Nissan Leaf electric vehicle (photo courtesy Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 10:52 PM under Companies , In the Media , Personalities , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Trying to Figure Out what the Honda Crosstour Is
Criticism of its unconventional looks nothwithstanding, Honda Motor Co. Ltd.'s new Crosstour 4-door hatchback seems to be causing a stir in the marketplace as consumers try to determine just what the Crosstour is - and how to categorize it versus other types of vehicles.
Cross-shopping data from Edmunds.com indicates prospective Crosstour buyers are all over the map in terms of vehicles they are considering in addition to the Crosstour. Early indication shows most seem to view the Crosstour as either a wagon or a crossover. Through September, apart from the more conventional 2- and 4-door variants of the Accord, the vehicle most cross-shopped against the Crosstour was Toyota's Venza.
But one question Honda may find itself asking is whether the Crosstour will generate incremental sales - or if it is simply giving its own customers another alternative: three of the top four vehicles cross-shopped against the Crosstour are other Hondas.
One thing seems certain: shoppers seem to think domestic automakers have much of an analogue to the Crosstour. Of the 25 vehicles most cross-shopped against the Crosstour, only two were domestic nameplates, the Chevrolet Equinox crossover and the Cadillac CTS (most likely the new CTS Sport Wagon).
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 7:33 AM under Analysis , Companies , Featured , In the Media | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
"New" GM Goes on the Offense with Quarterback Lutz
Expect the "new" General Motors to play offense when it comes to marketing and 
communications, Bob Lutz, GM's chief marketing quarterback, told the media Tuesday.
"We have to shock Americans into a new awareness about the competitiveness of GM products," Lutz said. "We can't do it the way we used to do it by gently showing our products. We've got to take it on boldly and head-on. We can stand the comparison with just about anybody."
The recently launched May the Best Car Win, starring GM's government-appointed chairman Ed Whitacre was just the beginning.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:10 AM under Featured , GM , In the Media , Personalities | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
Aftermarket Maker, Apple Aim to Put Keyless Remote Suppliers Out of Business
Despair surely reigns in the electronics divisions of several major automotive suppliers with this week's unveiling of an Apple iPhone-based aftermarket system to remotely start your vehicle as well as perform all the functions of a traditional keyless remote.
After all, the electronics boffins have themselves already nonsensically eliminated the need for actual keys, so now Apple and the aftermarket are taking the exercise one step further, eliminating the need for OEM remote key fobs.
Directed Electronics said this week it has an iPhone app that will allow a vehicle properly wired with its Viper SmartStart hardware to be started remotely. The app also enables conventional door and trunk lock/unlock features and "panic" alarm operation.
And unlike current OEM and aftermarket remote starters, the company says the Viper SmartStart system allows the vehicle to be remotely started from almost any distance, provided both iPhone and vehicle have access to cellular signal.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 9:17 AM under Business , In the Media , News , Technology | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Fritz Henderson Deserves Nobel Prize, Columnist Says
General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson deserves the Nobel Prize more than President Barack Obama because he has the toughest job in the world, Wall Street Journal's Evan Newmark wrote in his Mean Street column.
Henderson "has to save GM, once America's proudest company and now its national disgrace," and he doesn't have four years to prove himself nor does he have Congress or Fox News to blame if things go wrong, Newmark writes.
Henderson has accomplished a lot in his inaugural months, most notably getting through bankruptcy. "None of that was easy. But now comes the difficult Nobel-worthy stuff - putting an executive team in place, overhauling GM's culture and making cars that Americans actually want to buy," Newmark points out.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:26 AM under GM , In the Media , Personalities | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
Volvo's Doug Speck on AutoLine Detroit
Doug Speck, president and CEO of Volvo Cars North America, is in the guest chair on this 
week's AutoLine Detroit with Edmunds' AutoObserver Michelle Krebs, Business Week's David Welch and show host John McElroy firing the questions at him.
The show is available now on AutoLine Detroit's Web site and airs on Detroit Public Television on Sunday, October 11 at 10:30 a.m.
Volvo was put on the auction block by Ford Motor Co. a couple of years ago. Ford eportedly has bids for the 82-year-old Swedish marque from Chinese automaker Geely, which just got a boost financially and in image with an investment by Goldman, and Crown Consortium, a group of former Ford executives with some private equity funds.
But no matter what goes on at the ownership level, the beat goes on for Speck and Volvo.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:15 AM under Ford , In the Media , Personalities | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Fiat-Chrysler's Marchionne Steps Down from Bank Board
Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne apparently has figured out his plate is full running both Fiat 
and Chrysler as he has decided not to run for re-election to the board of directors of UBS AG, Switzerland's largest bank.
Marchionne was elected to the bank board in 2007 and appointed independent vice chairman in 2008. The credit crisis prompted UBS to write down or write off in loss $53 billion, the most of any European financial institution.
Marchionne is spending half of his time in Chrysler in Detroit and half at Fiat's Turin, Italy, headquarters. He has promised a five-year plan for Chrysler by November. It apparently includes refreshing much of Chrysler's current line in the next 18 months and extending the life of at least one plant previously scheduled for closure.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:12 AM under Business , In the Media | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Buick Launches Ads Starring LaCrosse and "Class" Tagline
General Motors' Buick division launches a major advertising campaign with the first 
ads starring the new LaCrosse and premiering the new tagline -- "The New Class of World Class."
The Buick ad, airing for the first time in prime time Monday, is one of the promised brand- and model-specific follow-ups to come on the heels of a GM corporate marketing program that was heavily promoted last week.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:10 AM under Featured , GM , In the Media , News | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Unnecessarily Viral Story of the Week: GM Volt Buyers 'Idiots'
Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen said to a reporter last week something to the 
effect of "people who want to buy Chevrolet's Volt (General Motors Co.'s endlessly hyped extended-range electric vehicle) are idiots."
Strong sentiment, to be sure. But worthy of the Internet firestorm the remark (in whatever form) fueled through the Labor Day weekend? Hardly. Auto industry and media: get a life. Relax. Enjoy a holiday every now and then.
There is something about the Volt - and what it represents as an environmental statement - that some think makes it above reproach. As de Nysschen discovered, criticism of the Volt often is interpreted as a political incorrectness manifesto.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:51 AM under Commentary , Companies , GM , In the Media , Personalities | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Cash-For-Clunkers Expected to Go Out With a Bang: Edmunds Projects 15-Million Weekend SAAR
The federal Cash-For-Clunkers incentive program ends today, and despite frustrating administrative snarls, the program's close was expected to have prompted a rush of last-minute new-vehicle purchases over the weekend leading up to the program's shutdown at 8:00 p.m.
Whatever its problems, Cash-For-Clunkers certainly will be credited for injecting life into auto showrooms that had been moribund until the program began in late July. The industry's Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate of sales had struggled all year to broach the 10-million mark, but before the actual transaction details for the program's last weekend can be assessed, Edmunds.com is projecting the SAAR for the final weekend of the Cash-For-Clunkers program to be 15 million.
The final burst of sales should in turn generate an August SAAR of 13 to 13.5 million, said Edmunds forecasters.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:00 AM under Business , Featured , In the Media | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
It's Dealers Versus DOT as "Clunkers" Program Set to Close
No auto dealer is complaining about the extra customer traffic the Cash for Clunkers program has generated in the past weeks. But although the federal program has been a solid lifeline in what surely would have been a dead summer for sales, the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) is amounting to the ultimate in profitless prosperity for too many dealers.
Complicating the situation, data from Edmunds.com indicates that with the program nearing its conclusion - just announced to be Monday, Aug. 24 - Cash for Clunkers transactions are slowing markedly from highs of 40 percent or more of all new-vehicle sales to less than one in five new-car deals.
Despite the CARS program's undeniable invigoration of previously tomblike showrooms, angry and dispirited dealers across the nation said they had no choice but to give up on Cash for Clunkers participation. The government was so slow in repaying the $3,500 or $4,500 rebates they literally couldn't afford to keep selling new vehicles.
The government foot-dragging was so endangering the final days of the CARS program that General Motors Co., Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. Ltd. and others stepped in today to say they will provide cash advances on Cash for Clunkers transactions so dealers don't have to wait for the feds to pay up.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 9:18 AM under Analysis , Business , Featured , GM , In the Media , News | Comments (7) | digg this | del.icio.us
"Clunkers" Interest Dwindling
The buying furor instigated by the federal Cash for Clunkers program has peaked and is slipping quickly, according to a new analysis from Edmunds.com, whose data researchers also say it could be mere weeks before auto-industry sales are back to pre-Clunkers levels. 
Studying new-vehicle purchase intent, Edmunds.com analysts say figures are down 31 percent from the peak roughly one week after the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), the official name of Cash for Clunkers, began on July 24. Edmunds analysts have determined purchase intent is a reliable indicator of actual sales that can be expected to come in the following 90 days.
It appears that like many other wide-scope auto-industry incentive programs of the past, the steam may be running out of Cash for Clunkers after several weeks of furious buying by consumers initially unsure of whether the federal funding would run dry.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:09 PM under Business , In the Media , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Eying More Control Over Ads?
In a move that may signal significant implications for Toyota Motor Corp.'s relationship with its
U.S. advertising agencies, the company said it is establishing two new internal marketing organizations, "[one that] will primarily handle marketing within Japan and a company to carry out and assist global marketing as well as coordinate and assist the marketing activities of TMC affiliates."
Whether this means Toyota is pulling the rug out from under its U.S. advertising agencies and will bring some, or all, future creation of advertising in-house via the new marketing organization -- as one media-watching Web site surmised -- remains to be seen.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:53 AM under In the Media , Rumors , Toyota | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Another "Clunkers" SNAFU: Car-Trashing Not Happening
The nation's new and too-popular Cash for Clunkers program has been a boon for the nation's newest car buyers -- but the Car Allowance Rebate System's execution has not been one of the federal government's shining moments.
The big problems centered on the inadequacy of the CARS hotline to help consumers and dealers, and of course the program's major issue: a dramatic and almost comedic underestimation of initial consumer response that drained the $1-billion CARS piggy bank in what is projected to be little more than a week.
Now come reports of another CARS foible: a lack of oversight to ensure the engines of the traded-in clunkers are destroyed, as the program requires.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:45 PM under Companies , In the Media , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
"New" GM Has Busy First Week
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT - The "new" General Motors, which emerged from bankruptcy just last Friday, had a busy first week
The automaker announced a series of executive retirements, departures and re-assignments, likely the first of many as it sheds about a third of its executive ranks. The top three executives, it was revealed in government filings, will retain their previous pay. Unretired executive Bob Lutz had his first misstep in the communications role he now heads. And the automaker got back to the business of building, promoting and selling vehicles
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:55 AM under Business , Featured , In the Media , News , Personalities , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Lutz Already Making 'Em Nuts
By Bill Visnic
The ink wasn't yet dry on Bob Lutz's new contract with the newly constituted General Motors Co. to be vice chairman of, ah, just about everything, and Lutz was back to the business of baiting the media and most likely making his peers and superiors (if he has any) slightly crazy.
Exhibit 1: Lutz - whose job GM loosely and rather unnervingly describes as "vice chairman for all creative elements of products and customer relationships" - had Automobile magazine slurping out of his hand when he tossed out the remark that GM isn't going to let the rear-drive G8 sport sedan slip away with Pontiac when the division shuts down at the end of the year. The G8, Automobile breathlessly reported, will "live on" in the Chevrolet division as a new-age Caprice.
"The last time we looked at (the G8), we decided that we would continue to import it as a Chevrolet," Lutz told Automoblile.
The problem: GM CEO Fritz Henderson was widely quoted last month, including here on AutoObserver, as summarizing his product-development preferences by saying, "I'm no fan of rebadging," squarely implying the G8 would not continue under another nameplate after Pontiac's shutdown.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:58 AM under Commentary , Featured , GM , In the Media , Personalities , Rumors | Comments (8) | digg this | del.icio.us
What's Next for GM's Lutz?
General Motors' retiring Vice Chairman Bob Lutz could be back for an encore performance.
Fox Business is reporting that Lutz will return to GM in a new capacity when it emerges from bankruptcy Friday.
Lutz announced earlier this year that he was stepping down from his day-to-day duties as vice chairman of product development, turning that job over to Tom Stephens on April 1. Lutz was to finish out the year in a senior advisor role until his official retirement at year end.
Still, there had been much hand-wringing about GM without Lutz and who would be the champion for the product. Lutz threw out some tantalizing comments to Detroit's Automotive Press Association in May when he said he would "do something else" and "would not be unemployed."
Lutz is said to be staying on at the new GM indefinitely in a new, yet-to-be-announced operating capacity.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:38 AM under GM , In the Media , Personalities , Rumors | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
How's This for Energy Policy?
Portugal said today it is preparing to install some 1,300 electric-vehicle recharging stations in the next two years as the country moves aggressively to gain energy independence.
The initiative's first phase encompasses installation of charging stations in 21 of the country's major cities and most densely populated and trafficked rural areas, reported the Associated Press. The stations will be located in parking areas, shopping malls and gas stations.
Portugal has almost no significant internal energy sources such as coal or petroleum, yet it says it now has renewable-energy sources to supply 43 percent of its electrical demand.
With the charging stations, the country is attempting to prod demand for affordable, mass-market electric vehicles projected to go on sale next year. By 2020, officials claim Portugal could have 180,000 EVs in use and 25,000 public charging sites.
Posted by Bill Visnic at 1:15 PM under In the Media , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM CEO Henderson "No Fan" of Rebadging, but...
By Bill Visnic
During a recent Webcast with reporters, General Motors Corp. CEO Fritz Henderson said that when the Pontiac division turns out the lights at year-end, its critically acclaimed G8 sedan won't be picked up by any of GM's four remaining brands.
The CEO added: "I'm not a fan of rebadging."
If that's one of the reasons the G8 won't be seen wearing another division's crest, then Henderson has long suffered his distaste for rebadging: almost from its origin, GM's modus operandi has been rebadging, probably the most callous examples coming in the 1980s, when precious little in the way of genuine engineering differentiated one brand's vehicle from another.
And rebadging looks to be at least part of the modus operandi of the "new" GM to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:59 AM under Commentary , Featured , GM , In the Media | Comments (15) | digg this | del.icio.us
Government Launches Cash for Clunkers Web site; Rules Being Written
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government launched a Web site Monday to provide consumers
with information on the so-called Cash for Clunkers legislation passed last week.
Thesite, www.cars.gov
, explains how the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) program works, providesa list of frequently asked questions and the verbage of the law, links to the government's fuel economy ratings on vehicles
andallows consumers to sign up for updates.
The rules for the program have yet to be written, a process likely to take 30 days.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:22 AM under Companies , In the Media , News , Technology | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
Geely Closing in on Volvo?
By Bill Visnic
Yet another news report says, through a Chinese news agency citing anonymous government sources, that Chinese automaker Geely has signed a deal to purchase Volvo Cars from current owner Ford Motor Co.
Volvo and Geely are silent on the latest report, but neither company issued a denial. Volvo's official response, which could be interpreted either as dismissive or a Nordically stoic quasi-confirmation, was to call the report "speculative."
The report says the two companies continue to hammer out details, with the most intriguing aspect being that Volvo reputedly will add more Chinese production in a yet-to-be-built plant in the city of Dongguan in China's Guandong Province. Volvo Cars China already produces the S40 domestically and in March added a version of the S80 flagship at a factory in Chongging.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 2:23 PM under Business , Companies , Ford , In the Media | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Half-Hearted Cash for Clunkers Bill Awaits President's Pen
By Bill Visnic
Finally agreeing on legislation hoped to spur the nation's beaten-down auto sales and get some gas-guzzlers off the road, the Senate last night passed a version of the long-debated Cash for Clunkers bill that only needs President Obama's signature -- which he said will happen -- to become law.
Too long in coming and too limited in reach, the final bill, part of larger war-spending legislation, earmarks a $1 billion fund for owners of older, less-efficient models to trade in for new vehicles that use less fuel and emit less pollution. The program's official name is Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS).
Owners of 1984 or newer vehicles with a combined fuel-economy rating of 18 mpg or less will get a voucher for $3,500 if the car they trade for gets at least 4 miles per gallon better than their clunker. The payday improves to $4,500 if the purchased vehicle delivers a combined rating of 10 mpg better than the traded vehicle.
Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of Edmunds.com, parent of AutoObserver, reckons the measure, expected to take about 30 days to implement and set to expire in November, might generate only about 250,000 new sales for struggling automakers and dealers -- a fraction of what originally was hoped and with a stimulus impact much less than seen in other nations that have adopted similar programs.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:23 AM under Business , Featured , In the Media , News | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM CEO Henderson on Dealers, Clunkers, Exec Compensation and More
By Bill Visnic
In a wide-ranging and comparatively wide-open web chat with the automotive media on Tuesday, General Motors Corp. CEO Fritz Henderson confirmed GM has rescinded the decision to close at least a few dealers, is committed to further cutting its executive ranks and believes it will benefit - to a degree - from the still-debated "cash-for-clunkers" legislation.
Henderson took on several questions about the contentious decision to deny franchise renewal to some 1,100 dealers by the end of next year. He said that of the reported excess of 800 dealer requests for review of their franchise termination, GM has relented on 49 and will be done with the review process this week.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:05 PM under Featured , GM , In the Media , Personalities | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM, Germany Edge Toward Magna as Opel Buyer
By Bill Visnic
Various press reports on Friday indicate Canada's Magna International had reached a tentative agreement for ownership of General Motors Corp.'s Adam Opel AG automaking unit and most of GM's European operations, including Britain's Vauxhall.
The move would fulfill a long-held ambition forMagna, known mostly as an auto-industry supplier, to evolve into an automaker, although the company's European unit, Magna Steyr, has a strong background of low-volume and niche-volume vehicle production for a variety of automakers, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Chrysler.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 1:03 PM under Business , Companies , GM , In the Media , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Huffington Post Compiling List of Guillotined GM Dealers
Although General Motors Corp. has not made public the names and locations of the more than 1,100 dealers with whom the company plans to part ways by 2010, the Huffington Post is running an ongoing list of dealers known to have received the dreaded FedEX package notifying of GM's intent to not renew the dealer's franchise.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:32 AM under GM , In the Media | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Parents Magazine, Edmunds.com Announce Best Family Cars
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Parents magazine and Edmunds.com announced their annual list of
Best Family Cars that include15models -- three each in the budget, crossover, minivan, sedan and SUV categories.
Honda led the list with the most vehicles in on the list. They included the Fit, Accord, CR-V and Odyssey.
All of the cars on the list are budget-friendly -- five start at under $20,000 and one checks in at under $15,000. The Best Family Cars of 2009 appears in the June 2009 issue of Parents magazine on newsstands nationwide Tuesday.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:57 AM under Companies , In the Media | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Cash for Clunkers Legislation Eyed for Tuneup
By Bill Visnic
The U.S.'s "cash for clunkers" legislation earmarked to both prop up the auto industry and improve the environment is sputtering along without resolution, hampered by compromises forced by trying to attain two worthy but dissimilar goals.
The proposed used-vehicle scrappage legislation, it is hoped, will incentivize Americans to trade in older, less-efficient (and higher-polluting) models for a new vehicle, both stimulating the auto industry and the economy and also helping air quality. But muddy details, dual policy goals and squabbling constituencies have turned what seems like a good idea into a political quagmire.
"Because this program aims to achieve both environmental and industry goals, it falls short in both directions," said Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of Edmunds.com, parent of AutoObserver.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 1:52 PM under Business , Featured , In the Media , News | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler Plants Shut Down Until Bankruptcy Over; CEO Nardelli Out
By Bill Visnic
Less than an hour after confirming it filed a petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Chrysler LLC issued a press release with initial details of its proposed alliance with Italy's Fiat S.p.A.
Most intriguing is a statement (near the bottom of the release) saying most Chrysler manufacturing operations will shut down starting Monday -- and, although the language is vague, presumably not restart until the restructured company emerges from bankruptcy.
Also, Chief Executive Office Robert Nardelli will leave the company "following the emergence of the new [Chrysler] company from Chapter 11 and the completion of the alliance with Fiat."
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 11:05 AM under Business , Chrysler , Companies , In the Media , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Fiat Could Be Set To Take Stake in GM's Opel
By Michelle Krebs
General Motorsappears set to shift a majority stake in its German unit
Opel,possiblytoItaly's Fiat, though GM is in talks with other potential investors as well, according toEuropean media reports Thursday morning.
GM also is talking to other parties, including Magna Steyr, the Austrian unit of Canadian auto supplier Magna International, reports say.
GM could sign a letter of intent with one of them as early as Tuesday.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:58 AM under Companies , GM , In the Media , Rumors | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Peapod NEV Opens for Orders Beginning Today - Earth Day
By Dale Buss
At least for today, Chrysler will be able to hold its new keepers in the Obama administration at bay. Because on Earth Day in New York City, Chrysler's Peapod unit has begun taking orders for the company's new Peapod Neighborhood Electric Vehicle
.
There's nothing more "green" -- especially for a company that has notably lacked in environmental orientation -- than an all-electric vehicle that operates at low speeds with no emissions. Peapod is designed to jump-start interest in an NEV segment that always has been the dowdy province of true Earth Firsters; residents of planned communities such as Celebration, Florida; and older folks who live around golf courses.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:30 AM under Chrysler , In the Media , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Saturn Dealers Lose Hope, Close Stores
Saturn dealerships are closing at a steady rate despite pleas from General Motors
executives to hold on, trade journal Automotive News
reports.
On January 1, Saturn had 420 stores in the United States. That dropped to 405 on February 15 and 384 on April 6. Last week, three dealerships in the Kansas City area and one in Springfield, Missouri, closed.
Saturn and its dealers are looking for an alternative ownership situation, one that may allow for the distribution of non-Saturn and non-GM products, including those from emerging markets like China and India.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:59 AM under Analysis , GM , In the Media | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Told To Prepare for Quick Bankruptcy, Paper Reports
NEW YORK -- Yet another newspaper report claims General Motors is preparing to file for
bankruptcy at the urging of the Obama administration.
This time, it is The New York Times reporting in Sunday's edition that the U.S. Treasury Department is directing the automaker to lay the groundwork for a bankruptcy filing by June 1.
Citing unnamed sources supposedly briefed on the GM's plans, the Times reports the goal is to prepare for a fast "surgical" bankruptcy if the automaker can't reach agreement with bondholders and the United Automobile Workers union for a debt-for-equity swap.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:23 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , GM , In the Media | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
"Fast & Furious" Shows That Consumers Are Watching Cars, Though Not Buying Them
Consumers aren't buying cars, especially sports cars, but they're watching them on the silver
screen -- in droves.
The newly released movie Fast & Furious took in an April record of $71 million in ticket sales at U.S. and Canadian box offices.
The movie had the biggest April opening ever by a wide margin as cash-strapped consumers seek to escape the reality of the dreary economy to the fantasy within the movie theater. Anger Management, starring Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler, set the previous record of $42 million in 2003.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:46 AM under Business , In the Media , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
College Hoops and Ailing Automakers
What do college basketball and troubled U.S. automakers have in common?
Plenty this year. The NCAA championship is taking place in Detroitand the "blue-collar" hometown team, Michigan State University, is in the final Monday night, to the surprise of many and the upset ofthose playing the brackets.
Indeed, as Wall Street Journal columnist Austin Kelley noted in Monday's edition, sports fans who wanted to forget General Motors' troubles and divert attention to college basketball were out of luck this weekend. "The specter of the ailing automaker was everywhere," he wrote.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:56 AM under Commentary , Ford , GM , In the Media , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
President Obama: Auto Industry Cannot Vanish
President Obama sent a message this weekend to auto workers and residents of
auto towns that the U.S. "cannot let our auto industry vanish."
President Obama, in a column under his byline that appeared in select Midwest newspapers, said the reason the U.S. government is supporting General Motors and Chrysler with loans is because the auto industry "is an emblem of America" that helped build and sustain the middle class."
Obama acknowledged auto workers and auto towns had been through much pain and indicated they needed to brace for even more.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:15 AM under Chrysler , Commentary , Companies , GM , In the Media , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Henderson: File Bankruptcy Only if Required
By Michelle Krebs
Less than a week after becoming the new CEO of General Motors, replacing ousted Rick Wagoner
, Fritz Henderson
appeared on two major news shows Sunday -- CNN's State of the Union
and NBC's Meet the Press.
In both interviews, Henderson insisted the automaker still prefers to avoid bankruptcy court to accomplish its restructuring, "but if it's required, that's what we'll do."
Henderson reiterated on Meet the Press what he'd told the media in his first press conference last Tuesday that GM needs to "go deeper and we need to go faster" in its restructuring. "We either accomplish this job outside of bankruptcy in the short term, or alternatively, if it's necessary, we'll go into bankruptcy in order to get this job done," he said."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:10 AM under Chrysler , Companies , Featured , GM , In the Media , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Advisor: Doubts Bankruptcy Is Chosen Route
Roger C. Altman, chairman and CEO of investment firm Evercore Partners and currently an
advisor to General Motors in its restructuring, says he doubts bankruptcy is the way struggling automakers likeGM and Chrysler will go.
Altman was asked in an interview with the Financial Times, if we will see prepackaged bankruptcies for some carmakers. "The administration hasn't entirely made clear its position on that. So I'm not sure, but I would be skeptical that's the route this will go," he responded.
"I think the companies -- and let me focus particularly on General Motors, because that's the one I know best because we represent GM -- have made much more progress than people realized, in improving product quality, improving fuel-efficiency, streamlining themselves, lowering labor cost differentials dramatically relative to the transplant costs, and so forth," he added.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:32 AM under Commentary , Companies , GM , In the Media , Personalities | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Survey Says: Americans Oppose Government Auto Loans
DETROIT -- And here comes yet another survey showing that Americans oppose government loans to General Motors and Chrysler, just as the two face a March 31 deadline to convince the government they have made progress, deserve to keep the money they've received and should get more.
This survey comes from Detroit-based R.L. Polk & Co., released on Monday. It shows 61 percent of Americans oppose the loans.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:11 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , GM , In the Media , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Obama Recognizes Unpopularity of Auto Bailout
President Barack Obama didn't give any hints about which way his administration was
leaning in terms of more loans to domestic automakers, General Motors and Chrysler. But he did acknowledge the unpopularity of such loans by the American public, during his interview with CBS' 60 Minutes
, which aired Sunday night.
The President said he is still committed to helping GM and Chrysler avert bankruptcy, but he says they have yet to demonstrate they can remain economically viable. And there are major political obstacles.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:33 AM under Business , Chrysler , GM , In the Media , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
AIG's Automotive Connections: "Red" Poling's Son Receives Biggest Bonus
Turns out Doug Poling, the son of former Ford Motor Co. Chairman Harold "Red" Poling topped the list for biggest bonuses paid to executives of American International Group Inc., an honor that earned him a personal visit by protesters over the weekend.
News reports say 48-year-old Poling, an executive vice president in charge of energy and infrastructure investments, received -- and says he will return -- the $6.4-million payment he received in bonus.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:15 AM under Ford , In the Media , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Obama on Leno: Talking Auto Industry
By Michelle Krebs
President Obama didn't spend much time during his historic appearance on The Tonight Show
talking about the auto industry to car-crazed host Jay Leno. But what he did say made it sound like he understoodthat new-car sales are simply too low for the industry to be successful.
President Obama noted that the U.S. car sales are running at an annual rate of 9 million vehicles, well below even the usual rate of replacement for worn-out vehicles, and that 14 million new cars a year would be more normal.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:09 AM under Commentary , Companies , GM , In the Media , Personalities , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Takes Issue With Wall Street Journal Coverage
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT - General Motors has gone public with the fact that it has issues with the Wall Street Journal's
coverage of the automaker's situation and its constant focus on a GMbankruptcy.
In a blog post on GM's Fast Lane, the automaker points out that: "In headline after headline, story after story, the front pages of the paper have promoted bankruptcy as a solution for GM."
The final straw for a frustrated GM was a Journal story this week entitled "GM's Chief Shifts Posture on Surviving Bankruptcy," calling it "yet one more distortion of GM's position on this critical issue."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:40 AM under Commentary , GM , In the Media | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
German YouTube Video Shows No Love Lost Between Opel and GM
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- As General Motors and the German government wrangle about how to fund and structure GM's German subsidiary Adam Opel, a video now posted on YouTube
illustrates what many at Opel think of their corporate parent.
Despite being in German, the gist of the video for even those who don't understand German is crystal clear: GM has stripped Opel cars of content, robbed Opel's till of cash and now is strong-arming the German government for money to keep the automaker afloat.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:13 AM under Commentary , GM , In the Media | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Hits Global Loss, But Exec Says Pent-Up Demand in U.S.
By Bill Visnic
Saying the company expects auto sales levels to begin recovering in the second half after "bouncing around the bottom" the first six months of this year, Don Esmond, senior vice president, automotive operations, Toyota Motor Sales USA, says the industry seasonally adjusted selling rate should begin to rise toward more tolerable levels later this year.
After recording January sales, the U.S. industry's SAAR projected to less than 10 million units. And Toyota today reported the global auto sales plunge that began in the second half of 2008 will drag it to its first net operating loss in 59 years, as the company expects to record a loss of some $3.85 billion for the year ending in March.
The loss comes on the expectation Toyota will sell nearly 1.5 million fewer vehicles around the world than it originally projected.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:17 AM under Featured , In the Media , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Senate Approves Auto-Loan Interest and Sales-Tax Writeoff
By Bill Visnic
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Perfectly timed after auto makers reported dismal U.S. sales in January, legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski's (D-Md.) to allow buyers to deduct from their income taxes the interest payments on auto loans - as well as state sales and excise taxes -- was passed in the Senate late yesterday.
The Auto Assistance Ownership Amendment is an amendment to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which is awaiting Congressional approval.
Many analysts and auto-industry executives have called for auto-loan interest tax writeoffs to be a part of the broad federal stimulus being considered in Washington as an effective way to help reignite auto sales this year.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 9:12 AM under Business , In the Media , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Few Auto Ads Air on Super Bowl
By Michelle Krebs
Super Bowl audiences will see a dearth of car ads during Sunday's big game, and they will see none from Detroit's ailing automakers. Only Audi and Hyundai, back for the second year as they seek to increase market share in the game, and Toyota will advertise during the game.
The cost of the ads, which hit the $3-million mark for a 30-second spot (of which there will be nearly 50) this year, is significant barriers to entry for automakers with auto sales slumping to their lowest levels since the early 1980s and most companies struggling to turn a profit. And the payoff is mixed for advertisers, even though the Super Bowl attracts millions of eyeballs.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:46 AM under Business , Chrysler , Companies , Ford , GM , In the Media , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler's 'Thank You' Ads: Not the Best Idea
By Bill Visnic
Readers of the nation's major newspapers -- those still reading paper, anyway -- by now have seen splashy full-page ads from Chrysler LLC thanking "America" for its bailout-investment in the company.
No harm in being contrite, but just like winging into Washington, D.C., on a trio of exec jets to demonstrate their dire financial straits, the "Thank You, America" ad isn't going to go down as one of Detroit, Inc.'s more wizened PR stunts.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:34 AM under Chrysler , Commentary , In the Media | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Remember Katrina, Senators
Detroit Free Press columnist Tom Walsh reminds senators from the Gulf States, many of
whom oppose the loans to Detroit automakers,to recall Hurricane Katrina as they cast their votes on the bailout bill tonight.
"When Hurricane Katrina slammed into Louisiana and Alabama on Aug. 29, 2005, the automobile companies of Detroit did not harrumph that the Gulf Coast should have been better prepared. They didn't sit back and wait for New Orleans to submit a detailed plan for future repair of the ruptured levees," Walsh wrote in Thursday's edition.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:51 PM under Chrysler , Commentary , Ford , GM , In the Media | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
NYT Columnist: Detroit Aid Should Hinge on Hybridizing Everything
By Bill Visnic
With a pending vote Congressional vote on a bailout package to extend so-called "bridge loans" to Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. by perhaps as soon as this week, New York Times
columnist Thomas L. Friedman -- often prominent for his provocative views on the auto industry -- is calling for one unique "string" to be attached to federal bailout funds: forcing the domestic automakers to present plans to hybridize their entire model ranges in three years.
Friedman has been a vocal advocate for hybrid-electric technology and has been criticized for a view of the industry that typically is unkind to the Detroit auto-industry establishment. Friedman often argues in favor of the management style and operational practices of Detroit's chief competitors, the Japan-based automakers -- and caused fireworks when he once suggested GM should go out of business and let Toyota assume GM's longstanding role.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 1:32 PM under Business , Chrysler , Commentary , Companies , Ford , GM , In the Media , Toyota | Comments (8) | digg this | del.icio.us
OK, Who Can Resist a Good Bailout Joke?
Detroit's Big Three automakers are jousting with the U.S. Congress for their continued existence, and nobody denies that's serious business.
But as usual, what got the auto companies to this place has opened Detroit Inc. to plenty of ridicule -- and not all of it is mean-spirited.
Laughter may or may not be the best medicine for this predicament. Either way, here are a few examples of our favorite "bailout humor" that hit the national stage:
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:15 AM under Business , Chrysler , Companies , Ford , GM , In the Media | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Whatta Re-Voltin' Development: Chevy Volt Images 'Leaked?'
By Bill Visnic
DETROIT - Media manipulation or "human error?" Only General Motors Corp.'s public-relations office knows for sure.
Either way, images of the production version of the Chevrolet Volt "extended-range" hybrid-electric vehicle - possibly the most heavily hyped, highly anticipated vehicle in GM's history - made it to the Web Monday in what GM reputedly attributed to an accident. Until now, the Volt - which remains under a pressurized development schedule and is not slated to reach showrooms for more than two full years - had not been fully seen in final production form.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:32 AM under Commentary , Featured , GM , In the Media , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Auto Marketers Accelerate Shift of Marketing to Internet
By Dale Buss
Among the many curveballs being thrown at automakers by this summer's downturn are wrenching decisions about how much to spend on marketing and where to spend it. And car marketers are choosing to take more and more of their swings on the Internet.
In a three-part series beginning today, Edmunds.com's AutoObserver tracks this phenomenon and explains exactly how automakers are creating it.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:29 AM under Analysis , Business , Companies , Featured , In the Media | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Engine Sharing: Even Desperate Times Don't Call for This
By Bill Visnic
Alert to the American medical community: new evidence proves severe lack of corporate operating capital causes dull and even impaired judgment.
How did I arrive at this breakthrough mental-health discovery? Reading early this week that General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. reputedly are considering co-development of engines.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:00 AM under Analysis , Commentary , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , In the Media , News , Technology | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Out-Of-Touch Alert: McCain Doesn't Know Cost of Gasoline
Just about everyone's already exhausted from the daily political finger-pointing about who's responsible for the cost of gasoline.
But the interplay of politics and gas prices achieves a new and comical aspect today with The Huffington Post's sarcastic replay of a conversation earlier this week between Republican presidential nominee John McCain and a reporter from California's Orange County Register. In that interview, reports Huffington, McCain admitted he had no idea how much a gallon of gas currently costs.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 2:24 PM under Analysis , Commentary , In the Media , News , Personalities | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Edmunds.com's Inside Line Honored for Product Reviews
The Detroit Press Club Foundation presented the 2008 International Wheel Awards at the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Mich., Thursday. Edmunds.com's Inside Line won two awards for product reviews in the Internet category.
Video Producer Glenn McClanan won 1st place for his review of the 2007 Dodge Charger police package. Chief Road Test Editor Chris Walton won 2nd place for his test of the 2008 Cadillac CTS V6 DI.
The International Wheel Awards honor excellence in automotive journalism in various print, electronic and online categories.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:52 AM under In the Media | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Tata Motors To Buy Stake in Ferrari?
By Nick Kurczewski
Like a hapless A-list celebrity being hounded by the paparazzi, Tata Motors can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to avoiding being the subject of wild speculation and outlandish headlines.
The latest round of Tata’s awkward celebrity status came via a story published by Italian magazine L’Espresso, which recently reported Tata Motors now has its sights set on purchasing a stake in Ferrari.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:17 AM under Business , Companies , In the Media , Rumors | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
VW, Audi, Seat, Skoda Unveil at Geneva Motor Show
By Pál Négyesi
Volkswagen Group held a rather intense press conference Monday evening at the Geneva Motor Show. All the big bosses were present, including Chief of the Supervisory Board Ferdinand Piech and Volkswagen Group Chairman of the Board of Management Martin Winterkorn.
Though there was no talk of financial results, which will be announced later this month, Winterkorn was in rather a good mood as he spoke of 2.9 million vehicles sold in 2007 and figures "which everyone should be proud of."
A 15-minute film featuring a James Bond–like character offered short glimpses of the new models, which later appeared on the scene.
Seat gave the audience a peek of the forthcoming new Ibiza via the Bocanegra sport coupe concept, designed by Luc Donckerwolke, of Lamborghini Gallardo fame. It remains to be seen how many of the sharp styling cues survive when the new Ibiza is unveiled in 2009.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:33 PM under Business , Companies , In the Media | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Super Bowl Car Ads: Making the Grade, Failing Marks and No Shows
By Dale Buss
The New York Giants certainly achieved their Super Bowl objectives Sunday. Did car companies?
It’s too early to tell. But automakers led the way in a field of Super Bowl ads that largely disappointed on their creative merits and failed to generate the kind of instant excitement that could help them meet their marketplace goals. In some cases, it didn’t seem as if their advertising approach was actually consistent with the strategic challenges faced by the company.
And when you’re paying $2.7 million for 30 seconds of rapt attention by the biggest TV audience of the year, you really should take advantage of the opportunity.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:03 PM under Chrysler , Commentary , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , In the Media , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chevy Spot From Last Year's Super Bowl Still a Favorite
Aired during last year’s Super Bowl, the Chevrolet commercial featuring bare-chested men washing an HHR as the female occupants watch in terror remains a fan favorite, according to The New York Times.
The paper reports the commercial, created by student Katelyn Cravv of the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee to win the Chevy Super Bowl Ad Challenge, was the year’s most TiVo-recorded ad last year, based on data released by media agency Starcom USA, which sampled 20,000 TiVo users.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:33 AM under Companies , In the Media | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Sustainability Mystique Unraveled by Inforum Panel
Leaders from strategic auto industry sectors will discuss future sustainability trends in the auto industry at a breakfast meeting hosted by professional women’s network, Inforum, in conjunction with the Detroit auto Show on Wednesday, Jan. 16.
Michelle Krebs, editor of Edmunds’ AutoObserver.com, will moderate the “Beyond Green: Unraveling the Sustainability Mystique” panel discussion. Panelists will be: Charlene Wall, leader of Strategic Business Development for BASF Corporation; Sue Cischke, senior vice president -- Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering, Ford Motor Company; and Catherine Greener, vice president -- Consulting, ACT NOW.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:07 AM under In the Media , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
The Lighter Side of the Auto Beat
It’s been a grueling week for serious automotive business: more financial losses for General Motors and Ford fueling fears of more job cuts; a lousy economic outlook with oil skyrocketing near $100 a barrel and the U.S. dollar at the bottom of the barrel; and a jittery stock market.
So now for something completely different to end the week on a lighter note.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:02 AM under Chrysler , Commentary , Ford , In the Media | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler's Jim Press Speaks Publicly for the First Time Since Leaving Toyota
Former Toyota executive Jim Press, now vice chairman and president of Chrysler, told a Detroit radio show host that Chrysler and Detroit automakers in general will regain market share, lost to companies like Toyota.
“I think every 37 or 38 years you ought to try a new career,†Press, who was at Toyota for 37 years, told Paul W. Smith on his WJR-AM radio show in his first interview since joining Chrysler.
"It's great to be back on the home team. It’s great to be on this team," Press said.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 1:33 PM under Chrysler , Commentary , In the Media , Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Taking Heat for “Uncool” Minivans
My comment printed in the Wall Street Journal, and later picked up by other
publications including the Detroit News
, about minivans being considered uncool drew a lot of heat –- mostly from colleagues and friends who love their sliding-doored vehicles.
"Frankly, sliding doors are what give minivans open access, but that's what makes them uncool. Practical, yes, but uncool," I told the Journal reporter, a story on the introduction of Chrysler’s new minivans and the segment entitled “The minivan is dead; long live the minivan?†The 2008 Chrysler Town & Country and the 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan go on sale soon.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:11 AM under Chrysler , Commentary , In the Media | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Wiper Inventor’s Story Hits the Silver Screen
Don’t expect the automakers to fight for a product placement in this film!
The story of Robert W. Kearns, inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper systems used on most vehicles for decades, will hit the silver screen. Detroit’s Big Three automakers will play a starring role –- as the bad guys –- who lost after long court battles that ultimately reached the Supreme Court.
Actor Greg Kinnear, most recently appearing in the Oscar-winning Little Miss Sunshine, plays Kearns in Flash of Genius.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:58 AM under Chrysler , Ford , GM , In the Media , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Big Three Discuss Union-Run Health-Care Fund, Bloomberg Reports
General Motors, Ford and Chrysler may propose in this year’s labor talks that the United Auto Workers (UAW) manage a health-care fund financed by the automakers, Bloomberg reports sources as saying today.
The U.S. automakers have discussed such a fund as a possible alternative to eliminate most of a combined $114 billion in retiree health-care obligations, sources told Bloomberg. Under the joint fund proposal, the companies would contribute a percentage of their retiree liabilities to the fund, whose assets and investment proceeds would cover retiree medical benefits.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:46 AM under Business , Chrysler , Commentary , Ford , GM , In the Media , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler-Cerberus: Winners and Losers
“Who are the winners and who are the losers with Cerberus buying Chrysler?” Business Editor Rod Meloni of Detroit’s NBC affiliate, WDIV-TV, asked me.
The biggest losers are Chrysler’s unions. The biggest winner is Daimler.
However, there are flip sides to both.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:38 AM under Chrysler , Commentary , In the Media | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Edmunds.com, Inside Line Win Journalism Awards
Edmunds.com, the premier resource for automotive information (and parent of AutoObserver), and Inside Line, Edmunds’ high-speed online car magazine, were awarded six 2007 International Wheel Awards for excellence in automotive journalism presented by the Detroit Press Club Foundation.
Winners were selected by professor-judges from the the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Chicago. The awards were presented during a ceremony on April 26 at the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan.
Edmunds received half of the awards presented in the Internet category, including all three Internet photojournalism awards.
“This is a credit to our entire editorial department, and we’re excited to be recognized by our peers for the work we produce. These awards highlight the talented team we have at Edmunds.com, Edmunds’ Inside Line and Edmunds’ AutoObserver.com,” said Kevin Smith, editorial director for Edmunds. “The Internet has become the leading source of information and entertainment for automotive consumers and enthusiasts, and these awards clearly demonstrate that Edmunds.com and Inside Line are the leaders in that space."
Winners of the Wheel Awards from Edmunds.com and Inside Line are:
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:51 AM under In the Media | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
So, Toyota’s No. 1. What Now GM?
We’re recovering from the shell shock of Toyota dropping
the bomb that it had surpassed GM as No. 1 in global sales in the first quarter –- news the industry had expected. It was a matter of not if but when.
“This was not an unexpected turn of events,†said Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jesse Toprak, “but it happened a bit earlier than forecasted.â€
And, as I told NBC’s Detroit affiliate Tuesday, it’s also not the end of the world. While certainly not a positive trend -– no one likes being No. 2 when they’ve been No. 1 for more than seven decades -– GM’s dethroning could have a silver lining. The pressure is off to maintain the No. 1 sales spot, while allowing GM to focus on the more important race -– the one for profitability.
As a Detroit marketing professor told a local reporter: “[GM is] no longer the New York Yankees. They can be the pursuer rather than the pursued.â€
At the same time, Toyota will don the bull’s eye of the press and public, while it struggles to ensure quality, control costs and maintain profit margins during its rapid growth.
But what now for General Motors?
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:17 AM under Commentary , Featured , GM , In the Media , Toyota | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
Iacocca Speaks Out on Auto Industry and Everything Else
Former Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca has written a new book, Where Have All the Leaders Gone?,
scheduled for release by Simon & Schuster Tuesday, and, in it, he doesn’t mince words.
In the book that reviewers describe as a combination of memoir, business advice and political harangue, Iacocca rips President Bush, the proposed Chrysler sales and his Chrysler successor Bob Eaton, who engineered Chrysler’s sale to DaimlerChrysler.
Page 1 of the book, coauthored with Catherine Whitney, sets the tone: “We’ve got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we’ve got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can’t even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car…. I hardly recognize this country anymore.â€
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:02 AM under Chrysler , In the Media , News , Personalities | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler Is for Sale. Now What?
Now that it is a foregone conclusion that DaimlerChrysler has put Chrysler
Group up for sale and it quite possibly will be sold to a private equity firm, what’s next?
Everyone –- employees, suppliers and the media –- wants a definitive answer to what will happen to Chrysler once it is sold. How will the deal work? Will Chrysler still exist when all is said and done? If it does, what will it look like?
Despite relentless questioning, no one knows. Not even DaimlerChrysler insiders. The sale of Chrysler is unprecedented. There’s no blueprint for how a sale of an auto company to a private equity firm would work. In an interview with CNBC's Morning Call Wednesday, I suggested we spectators “expect the unexpected.â€
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:05 AM under Analysis , Business , Chrysler , Commentary , Featured , In the Media , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Where Have All the Women Gone?
The drain of talent, both male but especially female, is one of the most dangerous signs of weakness
for Big Three automakers and top suppliers, says a former Ford executive and television broadcaster turned industry consultant.
Anne Doyle, president of Anne Doyle Strategies, is a leadership and communications coach appearing on the television program, AutoLine Detroit, which began airing Sunday. Hosted by John McElroy, the show’s segment features Sarah Webster of the Detroit Free Press and me as guest panelists to discuss the massive departure of women from the top ranks of the auto industry.
For few decades, women executives were on the rise. The 1990s, says Doyle, a pioneer in sports broadcasting in Detroit before she went to Ford, were the golden years for women in the auto industry. But in the last few years, an alarming number of top-level female auto executives have left the industry. Scan the list of Automotive News top 100 women in the U.S. industry, published in 2005. A number of the women have left the auto industry for extremely significant jobs in other businesses.
One of the highest profile women to leave the industry of late was Anne Stevens, one of the industry's highest ranking women. She had been Ford executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Americas, working with Ford President of the Americas Mark Fields, heading the automaker's turnaround plan. She left Ford to take a top job with Carpenter Technology Corp. in Pennsylvania late last year. And just this yesterday, Ford announced its treasurer, Ann Marie Petach, was leaving to take a newly created position with BlackRock Inc. as managing director and head of business finance.
Downsizing isn’t the only reason, says Doyle. Many women are abandoning the auto industry for a better life, both professional and personal.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:21 AM under Business , Commentary , Featured , Ford , In the Media | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
In the Media: Saturn Surge
Detroit’s NBC affiliate, WDIV, aired a story on its Auto Insight report on Saturn’s growing success. The
report stemmed from and included me citing an Edmunds.com’s AutoObserver report on Saturn’s surprising 60-percent increase in sales in February and heavy cross-shopping of Saturn’s new models by prospective Toyota, Honda and Nissan buyers.
An interesting tidbit uncovered by WDIV anchor Guy Gordon was the fact that the Saturn of Troy dealership, the Troy, Mich.,-based showroom where the segment was filmed, has engaged for years in a friendly competition with the neighboring Toyota dealership. Both owned by the same dealer, the two have run neck-and-neck in sales. But the Saturn dealership began pulling ahead last fall, and this month is likely to be 100 cars in front of the Toyota dealership.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:36 AM under GM , In the Media , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
