Aporkalypse Now: The Chrysler Comparison
By Edward NiedermeyerSeptember 2, 2008 - 4,745 views
![\"Mr. Iacocca boasted that the TC was the prettiest Italian to reach the United States since his mother. But potential buyers recognized it as a $30,000 LeBaron look-alike with a removable hardtop that leaked around its goofy porthole window. The interior was particularly jarring, juxtaposing pleated Italian leather against cheap, ill-fitting plastic.\" (courtesy nytimes.com)](http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/600-chrysler-tc.jpg "\\"Mr. Iacocca boasted that the TC was the prettiest Italian to reach the United States since his mother. But potential buyers recognized it as a $30,000 LeBaron look-alike with a removable hardtop that leaked around its goofy porthole window. The interior was particularly jarring, juxtaposing pleated Italian leather against cheap, ill-fitting plastic.\\" (courtesy nytimes.com)")
Discuss Detroit's bailout plans with one of its well-informed backers, and they will inevitably bring up the Chrysler bailout of 1979. Chrysler's near immediate return to profitability after receiving low-interest government loans is considered proof that U.S. government intervention in the American auto industry can work. After all, Chrysler paid back all its federal loans seven years early. But this comparison doesn't hold water. If anything, the bailout of '79 points out the many reasons for opposing the next big Detroit giveaway.
Aporkalypse Now: The Chrysler Comparison editorial continued »
Posted in Editorials | Industry | 27 comments 
Aporkalypse Now: The Bailout Boys
By Edward NiedermeyerAugust 28, 2008 - 3,125 views
The auto industry's $50b bailout plan should, by all accounts, be a fairly controversial issue. Detroit wants a re-do after chasing SUV profits off a cliff, but can't even guarantee that $50b will be enough. So why are industry pundits so unified in their support for the industry plan? To be fair, there is some opposition to the bailout plan among the chattering classes. Curiously it seems to be limited to John McCain, SUV-haters and everyone on Wall Street. Oh yeah, and TTAC. Meanwhile every buff-book columnist and "car-guy" commentator worth his junket airfare is parroting the same two basic arguments. First: it's not a bailout. Second: America, Fuck Yeah.
Aporkalypse Now: The Bailout Boys editorial continued »
Posted in Editorials | Industry | 78 comments
What Grinds My Gears
By Justin BerkowitzAugust 26, 2008 - 4,905 views
![You know what grinds my gears? This Lindsey Lohan. You just get up there half-naked and what? Jiggling them little things about. What do you want? What do you, Lindsey? I\'ll tell you what you want: nothing! You want nothing that\'s what you want. And that\'s \"What grinds my gears.\"](http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/what-grinds-my-gears.jpg "You know what grinds my gears? This Lindsey Lohan. You just get up there half-naked and what? Jiggling them little things about. What do you want? What do you, Lindsey? I\'ll tell you what you want: nothing! You want nothing that\'s what you want. And that\'s \\"What grinds my gears.\\"")
Psychologists tell us it's important to vent, so every so often I have to clear the air and discuss what really grizzles my gristle. I can't take it anymore, and it's possible-- even likely-- that I'm not alone on this. So, without further ado, you know what really grinds my gears?
What Grinds My Gears editorial continued »
Posted in Editorials | Industry | Media | 86 comments
Going Down
By Andrew DedererAugust 26, 2008 - 3,460 views
Montagues vs. Capulets. Crips vs. Bloods. ‘Vette vs. Porsche. How do I plead? Nolo contendere. While I technically qualify as an "auto journalist," I'm a lot more interested in the companies that build the cars than in the cars themselves. I just don't have quite the same level of fire as some of my fellow writers, so it's pretty impossible for me to be much of a "car snob". Beer is a different matter.
Going Down editorial continued »
Posted in Editorials | Industry | 38 comments
Bail This!
By Robert FaragoAugust 22, 2008 - 4,757 views
In George Orwell's Animal Farm, the farmyard creatures create seven commandments to ensure harmony and protect against human cruelty. The seventh commandment, "all animals are equal," eventually gets a rider: "but some animals are more equal than others." For most, it's satire. For others, it's a way of life. To wit: federal politicians, whose interest in special interests far outweighs their concern for the "average" voter-- if only because taxpayers are too busy earning money to pay their taxes to notice how the cash is being wasted. Except when they're not. The plan to bailout Detroit's automakers looks set to be one of those times.
Bail This! editorial continued »
Posted in Editorials | Industry | 63 comments
Double Lutz?
By Michael MartineckAugust 21, 2008 - 3,909 views
What if GM Car Czar Bob Lutz is the kind of hero General Motors needs, hurling Volts from high atop the Ren Center to stave off Chapters 7 and 11? What if he's fighting the bureaucratic beast from within, under the guise of corporate tool, a double agent, if you will? Could Maximum Bob be one of the good guys? Double Lutz?
Double Lutz? editorial continued »
Posted in Editorials | Industry | 42 comments
Taking Stock: Cars Rule and Trucks Drool in July’s Inventory
By Frank WilliamsAugust 12, 2008 - 3,476 views
The inventory levels and average sales per franchise (SPF) numbers as of August first are out and almost everyone looks good on the car side of the inventory sheet. Trucks are a whole ‘nother matter, though. Dealers are doing whatever they have to-- including half price sales-- to move body-on-frame trucks but inventory is still piling up. Just how bad is it? Well, let's take a look...
Taking Stock: Cars Rule and Trucks Drool in July’s Inventory editorial continued »
Posted in Editorials | Industry | Taking Stock | 36 comments
Guaranteed Trouble
By Andrew DedererAugust 7, 2008 - 5,642 views
With the odds of at least one of The Big 2.8 filing for Chapter 11 rising, the analogists are crawling out of the woodwork. While the multiple and varied demises of the [now deceased] British Motor Industry make for interesting reading and some neat analogies, the truth is that such any such comparison is apples to oranges, or, more accurately, chalk and cheese. The first major point of divergence is the level of failure. Relatively speaking, the boys from Detroit haven't even BEGUN to fail.
Guaranteed Trouble editorial continued »
Posted in Editorials | Industry | 45 comments
EcoBoost: SVO Redo?
By Sajeev MehtaAugust 5, 2008 - 3,607 views
During the first energy crisis, pundits predicted the death of the American V8. In those dark days (as opposed to these dark days), Detroit was desperate to supply an alternative to the gas-gargling engines they'd planted under the hood anything that moved. They developed a few dogs promising V8 performance with the economy of a cylindrically-challenged motor, with much talk of mechanical miracles to follow. History repeats itself; Ford is once again trying their luck with EcoBoost turbo-four technology. Once again, they could be barking up the wrong tree.
EcoBoost: SVO Redo? editorial continued »
Posted in Editorials | Industry | Technology | 40 comments
The Dangers of Sciontology
By Robert FaragoAugust 4, 2008 - 4,860 views
![\"This flabby, fat, flatulent looking Scion...\" Oh wait -- John Norton was talking about Queen Victoria, not a Toyota.](http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/xb.jpg "\\"This flabby, fat, flatulent looking Scion...\\" Oh wait -- John Norton was talking about Queen Victoria, not a Toyota.")
With great size comes great stupidity. General Motors' fall from grace-- from world's largest and most profitable company to bailout bait-- illustrates the point perfectly. And while it's about thirty years too early to suggest that GM's replacement will fall victim to the same size-related entropy, there are already hints that the profits powerhouse known as Toyota is capable of massive miscalculations. I speak here not of the full-size Tundra pickup, but of Scion, the brand that should have never made it out focus group.
The Dangers of Sciontology editorial continued »
Posted in Editorials | Industry | Sales and Marketing | 79 comments
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