Industry

Ford’s Déjà Vu Moment, Part 2

By Paul Niedermeyer
July 3, 2008 -

In the nineteen-eighties, Ford CEO Donald E. Petersen's recipe to save Ford from near-bankruptcy was "higher quality products... emphasizing smaller, more efficient cars." It worked, propelling Ford past Chevrolet to world-record profits. Current CEO Allan Mulally is banking on essentially the same ingredients: de-emphasize trucks and rejuvenate the car palette with global platforms largely designed in Europe. Ford's future, perhaps its very existence, is riding on it. Is the recipe still golden?

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Posted in Industry | Editorials | 21 comments

Ford’s Déjà Vu Moment, Part 1

By Paul Niedermeyer
July 1, 2008 -

Oil prices have just hit record highs. Talk of recession is in the air. Ford's line-up of bloated, heavy vehicles is piling-up like cord-wood on the dealer's lots. The only car selling: its "Americanized" global compact. Ford stock is in the toilet and bankruptcy rumors are swirling. The top exec hired a year earlier is intelligent, unassuming and straight-talking. He commits Ford to building "higher quality products with stronger customer appeal... emphasizing smaller, more efficient cars." Ford in 2008? No, it's 1981.

Ford’s Déjà Vu Moment, Part 1 editorial continued »

Posted in Industry | Editorials | 44 comments

TTAC’s Incredibly Useful Guide to Saving Gas

By Robert Farago
June 18, 2008 -

High gas prices are a bit like the weather: everyone’s complaining but no one’s doing anything about it. Actually, that’s not true. At the sharp end, consumers are buying more fuel efficient vehicles. They’re driving less. We’ve even heard talk of gas-conscious automobilists driving more slowly. Now THAT’S serious, and, to mind, reprehensible. So, while the mainstream media is full of helpful advice on how to use less gas (e.g. take those gold bars out of your trunk), I hereby present TTAC’s unconventional guide to saving fuel this summer.

TTAC’s Incredibly Useful Guide to Saving Gas editorial continued »

Posted in Industry | Green | Editorials | 62 comments

TTAC Doesn’t Do Motorsports - Except When We Do

By William C Montgomery
June 14, 2008 -

Few things in this world are as dramatic as the start of a NASCAR race. War, for instance. Or the launch of a Saturn V rocket. The crowd rises from their seats in anticipation. The starter stands in his box with flag in hand as the bestickered phalanx of cars rounds turn four. After the pace car scurries from view into pit lane the violence of dozens of highly tuned V8 engines is unleashed in unison. You can sense the invisible force of the sound approaching.  Like others, I reverently remove my radio headphones so that I can fully ingest the aural assault. I feel the high frequency vibration in the aluminum stadium seats beneath my feet. And then it hits – a sound so big I hear it with my entire body. You don’t get that on TV.

TTAC Doesn’t Do Motorsports - Except When We Do editorial continued »

Posted in Industry | Sales and Marketing | Editorials | 62 comments

Saturn’s Sad Legacy: Nothing

By Adrian Imonti
June 9, 2008 -

Saturn is dead. Despite a thoroughly refreshed line-up-- including a mild hybrid, a Lambda-dancing CUV, a sexy sports car and a cute ute-- the brand can’t get wood. In fact, Saturn’s sales are the very definition of flaccid. Year-to-date, they fell 19.9 percent. In May, sales sank 32.7 percent. In this process of final dissolution, the once autonomous upstart GM brand has become an irrelevant Opel outpost. Saturn’s Spring Hill, Tennessee factory is now in Chevy’s hands. Plastic body panels and unique designs have been swapped for rebadged leftovers from the GM parts bin. Saturn’s slow homicide is more than a shame. It offers a discouraging glimpse into General Motors’ dysfunctional culture.

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Posted in Industry | Sales and Marketing | Editorials | 51 comments

Fixing A Hole

By Andrew Dederer
June 5, 2008 -

May’s new car sales numbers are in and things are looking bleak for The Big 2.8. Their corporate Spinmeisters can blame a down economy and sky-high gas prices all they like, but sales drops well into the double digits are never good news. Market share declines aren’t exactly glad tidings, either. That said, truth be told, Black Tuesday is actually a good sign. It shows that the domestic automakers have finally “accepted” the market. Whether they’re too late is another question entirely.

Fixing A Hole editorial continued »

Posted in Industry | Editorials | 27 comments

The Truth About You

By Michael Martineck
May 27, 2008 -

There are two kinds of people: people who split the world into two kinds of people and people who don’t. I usually consider myself part of the latter group. However, after spending a few years with The Truth About Cars, I’ve become fascinated by the variety of opinions from readers who share so much in common. Type in anything to do with the Prius and watch the battle lines form. Last year, The Cambridge Strategy Center published some ideas that go a long way towards explaining why this website isn’t always unified, taken as gospel and/or followed like law. It seems there are two kinds of car people.

The Truth About You editorial continued »

Posted in Industry | Sales and Marketing | Editorials | 65 comments

The Lexus LF-A is a Mistake

By Robert Farago
May 23, 2008 -

The fastest way to kill an automotive brand: sell a POS. The bloodletting caused by a brand new clunker can be spectacular. Anyone remember the 1981 Cadillac Fleetwood V-8-6-4? How about the Cimarron? It has taken Caddy more than 20 years to climb back from that double debacle if, indeed, they have. But there’s another, slower and more insidious way to ruin a storied car brand: distraction. When a carmaker builds a vehicle that muddies the marque’s core message, it mortgages its future. To wit, the Lexus LF-A.

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Posted in Industry | Editorials | 69 comments

The Truth About Detroit’s Export Dreams

By Michael Martineck
May 22, 2008 -

Unlike arm wrestling or Martini making, when it comes to currency, there’s an upside to being weak. Especially if you are, say, an American car manufacturer fighting pesky foreigners.  As the value of the dollar falls overseas, the price of American-made cars and trucks falls as well. Theoretically, a lower price should mean increased demand. So, is the declining U.S. dollar the cocktail Detroit needs to lift their spirits? 

Between 2002 and 2007, American auto exports doubled, from about $25b to $50b. Over the same period, imports grew to $150b (they’ve leveled off for the last 18 months). The bad news: exports from General Motors, Ford and Chrysler combined equals a third of the vehicles the US imports. What’s more, roughly half of The Big 2.8’s exports are sent to Mexico and Canada.

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Posted in Industry | Editorials | 27 comments

The Truth About High Gas Prices, Or How I Learned to Relax and Pay $67 to Fill Up My SUV

By William C Montgomery
May 19, 2008 -

Why is gasoline so damn expensive? The mainstream media has rounded up the usual suspects. They demonize oil companies (for excessive profits), lambaste environmentalists (for blocking domestic drilling and refining), and sock it to speculators (for fear mongering over supply). Simply put, the current crisis is a speculative bubble whose impact to American consumers is exacerbated by domestic economic conditions. I fully expect crude oil will trade below $80 a barrel in the not too distant future. Meanwhile, let’s tackle this one myth at a time. 

The Truth About High Gas Prices, Or How I Learned to Relax and Pay $67 to Fill Up My SUV editorial continued »

Posted in Industry | Editorials | 136 comments