Quote Of The Day: Say Anything Edition

The best stories are those where you can barely wait to find out more. There are new heroes, new ideas and new sources of suspense… actually, all typically Porsche

So goes the opening to this video, introducing the new base-model V6 Panameras. Though some might argue that Volkswagen-sourced V6 engines are not in fact “typically Porsche” (an argument that carried more weight before the Cayenne came to town), a 300 horsepower engine in a 3,814 lb, four-door Porsche does technically qualify as a “source of suspense.” And attempting to charge $75k for a base Panamera V6 certainly requires a perspective that might be charitably described as “heroic.” On the other hand, it’s hard to get too down on this poor thing. You can’t blame a lazy dog for a veterinarian’s (or in this case, a CAFE standard’s) work. Besides, it’s still not as embarrassingly neutered as the Cayenne V6.

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Quote Of The Day: A Sucker Born Every Minute Edition

Does Tesla’s S-1 SEC filing leave you worried about the state of EV startups? The great thing about the seamy underbelly of the EV industry is that there’s always a shadier prospect out there to make even marginal cases like Tesla look good. Our perennial favorite in the EV vapor game is ZAP, the erstwhile maker of the Xebra EV (interestingly, the Xebra still shows up on ZAP’s webpage). Zap’s latest play in its never-ending quest for press-release fodder: a tie-up with (get this) a South Korean optics company, best known for its camera lenses and closed circuit TV security systems. Because sometimes you have to cross an ocean to find a sucker big enough to say things like:

Samyang decided to partner with ZAP because of its extensive industry knowledge in electric vehicle production and the breadth and maturity of its current line of electric vehicles

Oh dear.

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Quote Of The Day: "We're Not Finished With Toyota."

“We’re not finished with Toyota,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in an e-mailed statement to Reuters. Bad choice of words? Doesn’t that sound a tad vengeful? If a 900 lbs gorilla barks “I’m not through with you” at me, then I’m very afraid. Toyota should be too.

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Toyota Quality Chief: ""I Was Told by Akio Toyoda to Make Decisions That Will Not Hurt Our Credibility."

Today, Toyota gave a press conference in Nagoya, the first at Toyota’s home base to address the recall. Akio Toyoda was AWOL as usual. Instead, Toyota’s Vice President Shinichi Sasaki, who is also in charge of quality assurance, did the dubious honors. He did what he had to do: He apologized profusely.

“I’d like to offer an apology for causing anxiety among our customers around the world,” Sasaki said, according to the Nikkei [sub]

Sasaki said Toyota aggravated the situation by disclosing the problem before firming up countermeasures. By doing so, “we ended up creating mistrust in the market,” he said. “We prioritized customer safety, focusing on releasing solid information first.”

In a rather un-Japanese move, he passed a tiny bit of the blame:

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Quote Of The Day: Payback's A Bitch Edition

My commitment is to the American taxpayer. My commitment is to recover every single dime the American people are owed… We want our money back and we’re going to get it.

Without even getting into the politics of President Obama’s proposed “financial crisis responsibility fee,” it’s easy to see that the initiative holds a wealth of implications for America’s TARP-recipient automakers. In Obama’s new rhetoric, taking TARP money put businesses in a new category of special obligation to the taxpayers. Though the fee is targeted at financial institutions, the principle applies just as much to Detroit.

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Quote Of The Day: Chry The Beloved Automaker Edition

Chrysler may file a suit challenging the congressionally mandated dealer cull arbitration, reveals CEO Sergio Marchionne to Automotive News [sub].Why? Because it’s just not fair that dealers pressured congress to give them a fair shake. Wounded by the arbitrary backlash against his arbitrary cull, Marchionne threw his head back and cried unto the heavens:

Ask me what fairness is involved in all this. Why doesn’t anyone ask what’s fair to Chrysler?

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Quote Of The Day: Ed Whitacre's Big Lie Edition
It’s a bit early in the day to be crowning a QOTD, especially considering there are sure to be plenty of juicy quotes coming out of the NAIAS today. St…
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Quote Of The Day: The Teflon Automaker Edition
As soon as the vessel embarks, all risks related to the vessel are the responsibility of the distributor. All payments for the cars have been made, while the…
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Quote Of The Day: Mo' Volume, Mo' Problems Edition

Why should I want to be Toyota? They’re losing billions.

Today’s Quote Of The Day comes from the executive of a certain up-and-coming automaker with dreams of becoming a global player. Think you know who it is? Here’s a hint: it’s not Ed Whitacre.

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Quote Of The Day: Your Tax Dollars At Work Edition
We’ve always said the Fiat-Chrysler alliance was positive. The headquarters of an increasingly global company are here. But I wouldn’t like to se…
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Quote Of The Day: Peace In Our Time Edition

Whitacre is a completely different type of manager than what you saw at GM in the past. It’s refreshing to talk to someone that gained his experience outside of the company. He truly wants our cooperation, he doesn’t want any confrontation at all. Just the opposite, he says that only together can we make GM, Opel and Vauxhall successful.

Opel union boss Klaus Franz expresses sudden enthusiasm for working with GM’s new leadership. And that’s a hell of a turnaround from his previous opinions on GM management, including (but not limited to) his assesment that “GM does not enjoy any credibility or faith in the eyes of the public or the (German) government.”

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Quote Of The Day: Help Wanted Edition

A person that’s a motivating, inspirational leader that’s familiar with big companies — manufacturing or industrial — would be helpful… We can’t pay people a whole lot of money here

Ed Whitacre offers up the opportunity of a lifetime [via Automotive News [sub]] : a chance to lead General Motors to victory over decades of inertia and sclerosis in a brutal market for a million bucks (if Feinberg likes you). Candidates need not have CEO experience or strong auto credentials, although Whitacre warns that the job takes him 14 hours a day, 5½ or six days a week. And when he does manage to steal away for a relaxing Sunday of rattlesnake extermination, his phone constantly rings. Plus, the RenCen is a freaking maze, y’know?

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Quote Of The Day: Earth To Ed Whitacre Edition

It’s easy to blame GM’s new Chairman and CEO’s recent webchat performance on the format. Webchats invariably combine the awkward claustrophobia of conference calls with the eloquent clarity of text-messaging, for a match made in communication hell. That’s no place to properly explain what the NSFW is going on with your company. Especially when you have yet to comment on the “Opel drama,” “palace coup,” “tilt-a-executive,” and “getting in bed with the Chinese” storylines (among others). Needless to say, the MSM is not amused. Nor, frankly, am I. Which is why today’s quote of the day is actually nine days old.

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Quote Of The Day: Mark LaNeve Knows Competence Edition
“Susan is more than capable of doing the job,” said Mark LaNeve, a mentor of Ms. Docherty’s who left GM in October and is now CMO at Allsta…
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Quote Of The Day: The Worst Possible Reason For Buying A Car Company Edition
It’s true, we are small northern countries. We don’t have big German conglomerates to help us out. I just felt like we have to stand together b…
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Quote Of The Day: Maximum Eulogy Edition

Fritz was and is an outstanding executive, and I’m very sorry to see him go. You can argue there never is a good time for any of this, but in this case, the timing is particularly inopportune… He guided General Motors through perhaps the most difficult period in its history. I think all of us were surprised and the whole General Motors team I think is genuinely saddened over what transpired

GM Marketing boss “Maximum” Bob Lutz eulogizes his erstwhile boss at the Los Angeles Auto Show [via DetN]. Historians of the Lutzian oeuvre should note that this quote represents MaxBob’s attempt at exercising “enormous skill in the non-answering of [Fritz-related] questions.”

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Quote Of The Day: Ghosn Down Memory Lane Edition
“Without any doubt we knew fundamentally that would work, but only if it was a collaborative effort. Frankly, there was a possibility to create somet…
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Quote Of The Day: Toyoda and The Splendid Flavor
Cars are not a mere means of mobility. They respond to the driver’s will; they turn, speed up, slow down. Naturally, there’s a need for excitemen…
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Quote Of The Day: McCain Calls Out Chrysler Edition

The Detroit News reports that Senator John McCain (remember him?) has declared Chrysler unlikely to survive. Mr McCain, who was serving as grand marshal of the NASCAR Sprint Cup series race at the Phoenix International Raceway, even went as far as to argue

No, I don’t think we ever should have bailed out Chrysler and General Motors. We should have let them go into bankruptcy, emerge and become viable corporations again. It was all about the unions. The unions didn’t want to have their very generous contracts renegotiated so we put $80 billion into both General Motors and Chrysler, and anybody believes that Chrysler is going to survive, I’d like to meet them.

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Quote Of The Day: Rattner's Regret Edition

We liked Fritz. We felt that Fritz had more energy and more drive and got the message that things had to change and was being groomed to be CEO and deserved a chance… He’s shown that he can manage. Whether he can fundamentally change the culture of the company is another matter.

Bloomberg’s fresh sound bite from former car czarlet Steve Rattner. Well, considering you left him in charge, Steve, he’d damn well better change the culture of the company. Otherwise it reflects just as badly on the restructuring task force as it does on GM, doesn’t it? Come to think of it, picking Fritz because he had “more drive” than Rick Wagoner wasn’t really a good setup for fundamental culture change, was it? You don’t hire Larry to move your piano because he’s “higher energy” than Moe. But it’s not Rattner’s fault: GM’s inability to change its culture comes from its inability to hire the professionals. Which means Ken “the pay czar” Feinberg and his ridiculous pay limits are really to blame.

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Quote Of The Day: California Dreamin' Edition
You need to go to your toughest market. The state of California is the biggest nut to crack for Buick. Californians love their Toyotas, they love their luxur…
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Quote Of The Day: The Five Billion Dollar Question Edition
The catalyst for all this was the EU saying you only made the money available to one investor. The board did what they should have done and revisited the iss…
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Non-Quote of the Day: "I'm Sonata Going to Comment on That" Edition
“I have to be careful on what I say, I don’t want you guys writing a story saying, ‘This Toyota guy thinks the Hyundai Sonata is a great ca…
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Quote of the Day: Oops We Did It Again Edition
“I don’t think people here really understood that the work we had been promised was contingent on ratification,” Sterling Axle UAW member B…
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Quote of the Day: In The Long Run We're All Dead Edition

The internet chatter on GM is growing more intense by the day. We’ve seen this before. For at least a decade, the company and its camp followers have mounted a disinformation campaign ahead of bad news. Only these days, there’s precious little good news with which GM’s spinmeisters can obfuscate. And critics of the nationalized automaker grow more vociferous by the day. Even the normally obsequious automotive press is no longer adverse to a little kicking-a-man-when-he’s-down routine (although any discussion of kicking GM to the curb is still the story’s Voldemort). New GM’s October sales numbers are about to hit the screens, and it ain’t gonna be pretty. GM’s first full financial report will emerge thereafter; the hard numbers on the company’s cash burn will trigger major mainstream media alarms and raise fresh (stale?) questions about GM’s viability. And then what? Will heads finally roll at RenCen? Will America’s automotive English patient continue to receive copious quantities of hospice care? Will the bailout issue bite Barack’s army in the ass come mid-term time? Meanwhile The Detroit News reports that tensions are simmering, . . .

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Quote Of The Day: Don't Hate The Playa, Hate The Game Edition
I’m not going to tell you incentives are going away. They’re part of the game, but they can be better managed than they have been in the pastGM S…
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Quote Of The Day: Maximum Respect Edition
I haven’t done this in 30 years. Young whipper-snappers showed me a thing or two. Let’s see them do this when they’re 77Maximum Bob Lutz co…
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Quote Of The Day: Filling The Pipe Edition

Changes are coming to GM’s corporate ranks, likely as soon as government pay regulations are put into effect. CFO Ray Young’s departure is already a sure thing, and former car czarlet Steve Rattner has revealed that Fritz Henderson is an interim placeholder in everything but title. Oh, and Bob Lutz won’t last forever (gosh, that will be a sad day, won’t it?). Meanwhile, GM’s promote-from-within approach to culture change practically guarantees that some other denizen of the RenCen will move up at some point. Sweeping generalizations about GM management aside, is there anyone we should be particularly worried about? Autoextremist Peter DeLorenzo seems to think so. In his latest “rant” about Chevrolet’s decision to review its ad account, he skewers a particular GM executive in terms that make one almost believe he has given up his recent, lamentable role as GM’s resident cheerleader.

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Quote Of The Day: Extension Cords Bad, Home Inspections Good Edition
Aldo: Hi Mr. Posawatz. I will be buying a Volt and wanted to know if an extension cord could be used to increase the reach for recharging, or if we are going…
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Quote Of The Day: If Quotes Could Kill Edition
People have tried to be kind, saying that it’s challenging and that it’s unusual. But the simple fact of the matter is this: it’s as ugly a…
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Quote Of The Day: Gravity Always Wins Edition
The public plan is 19 percent and change. That is what everything is being based onGM board member Steven Girsky repeats Fritz Henderson’s assumption t…
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Quote Of The Day: People In Glass Houses Edition
Motor Trend Editor in Chief Angus MacKenzie LOLs on Twitter over the TTAC-Jalopnik Lutz Race drama. What Angus doesn’t realize is that our contract wit…
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Quote Of The Day: GM Rolls Out 2009 Model-Year Market Share Plans Edition
At this point about 19 percent… We’ll finalize that, but I’m not interested in going down from thatGM’s Fritz Henderson in Automotiv…
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Quote Of The Day: Betting Odds Edition
“What do you think the percentage likelihood is that, if we give this deal a chance, it will succeed?” Rattner didn’t make the decision any…
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Quote Of The Day: Death Of A Salesman Edition
It’s a sad day for the dealer body. I felt GM had its best chance with him. He was a great leader and inspirational. Hopefully the rest of management w…
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Quote Of The Day: Dying Dinosaurs Unite! Edition
One last General Motors-Condé Nast parallel worth pursing: Both companies have been badly run by executives who invested more effort in pursuing perks…
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Quote Of The Day: Leave Those Kids Alone Edition

I actually think right now is the best time to pursue an automotive career because all of the domestic automobile companies have been through the cleansing fire of sharp retraction — getting ourselves competitive on wage cost, reducing capacity, getting rid of excess people and so forth … the UAW concessions on wages … etc. I see a genuine resurgence for the U.S. automobile companies, especially General Motors. So I think it’s a very good time to pursue a career.

Maximum Bob Lutz gives Northwood University students some of the worst career advice in recorded history [via MLive]. But to be fair, Lutz can imagine at least one scenario in which GM won’t regain its former glory…

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Quote Of The Day: Meet The New Upstart Edition
Hyundai is awesome. They are undoubtedly a threat because their products are cheap, and the quality is improvingHonda CEO Takanobu Ito in the Canadian Press.…
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Quote Of The Day II: 230 MPG "May Be Overly Optimistic?" Edition
Official fuel economy testing for all vehicles is conducted on chassis dynamometers, which are basically treadmills for cars and trucks. One subtlety of chassis dynamometer testing is that vehicle fuel economy measurements using decades-old standard speed profiles may be overly optimistic compared to today’s average on-road fuel use. Official methods exist to adjust the test cycle fuel economy of conventional vehicles to better estimate expected real-world fuel use, but a similar adjustment method has yet to be finalized for PHEVs.From a National Renewable Energy Lab paper on plug-in hybrid efficiency testing [via Green Car Congress].
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Quote Of The Day: There Are Incentives And Then There Are Incentives Edition
The big blockbuster, peanut-butter-approach programs like zero-percent financing and employee discounts for everyone have all been done beforeGM spokesman Jo…
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Quote of the Day: Car Designer As Rock Star Edition
In the past two years I have spent more time with (VW group CEO) Dr. Winterkorn than with my wifeSo sayeth VW Group Design Boss Walter De Silva in Automotive…
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Quote of the Day: "It's Just Really Good to Be Back in the Car Business"

Daniel Howes’ column for the Detroit News is based on an interview with GM CEO Fritz Henderson, while the latter was embarked on a national dealer handholding tour [your name suggestions below]. And here’s the first money shot: “It’s just really good to be back in the car business.” Howes reads TTAC; I’ve taken him to task many times for his transformation from kick-ass European correspondent to Motown pom-pom waver and, at best, chronic fence sitter. “Now, before all the cynics glom on to that single sentence as proof — proof, I tell you — that GM’s leadership is back to the bad ol’ days of denial, I’d offer this: There is more that’s changing inside GM today than staying the same, starting with the fact that the CEO and key leaders of his management team spend a whole lot more time talking about cars and trucks than the nonautomotive headache du jour.” This is all kinds of wrong.

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Quote of the Day II: Truck Month Strikes Back Edition
Quote Of The Day II: Truck Month Strikes Back Edition
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Quote Of The Day: Least Necessary Use Of The Word "Obviously" Edition
Quote Of The Day: Least Necessary Use Of The Word "Obviously" Edition
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Quote Of The Day: Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't Edition
Quote Of The Day: Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't Edition
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Quote of the Day: Now Was That so Hard? Edition
Quote Of The Day: Now Was That So Hard? Edition
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Quote of the Day: Detroit Must Die Edition
Silicon Valley believes itself different from Detroit. From anywhere, really, In fact, they’re masters of the friggin’ universe! Detroit? Detroit…
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Quote of the Day: The Audacity of Optimism Edition
Quote Of The Day: The Audacity Of Optimism Edition
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Quote Of The Day [Continued]: Sergio's Stunner Edition
Quote Of The Day: Sergio's Stunner Edition
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[First] Quote of the Day: Marchionne: At Chrysler, We Own You
So, you thought your $14,312,130,642 “investment” in New Chrysler bought you some accountability, seeing as it’s your tax money? Here&rsquo…
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[Last] Quote of the Day: I Don't See A Problem There Edition.
From The Detroit News:When employees rent cars they “should be a GM brand whenever feasible,” the expense rules said. But they are also “t…
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Quote of the Day: "False Familiarity" Edition

GM’s constant reference to the “perception gap” is, without doubt, the most galling thing about the company. Despite sucking-up over $62 billion in taxpayer money, the nationalized automaker continues to insist there’s nothing wrong with our products. Oh no, American-consumers are a bunch of [Jap-loving] idiots. If if they would just open their minds they’d see that they’re idiots. And buy our cars. And save the company. And keep Mexicans Americans employed. And get their taxes back. Now, adding insult to insult, they’re launching a taxpayer-funded ad campaign based on that premise: “May the Best Car Win.” Note to New GM: it HAS been winning. Ipso ’effing facto. Now LEAVE IT ALONE. But oh no. In fact, the car Czar who drove GM into the dirt is flooring it, betting the company’s future on this series of comparison ads. And he’s got a new name for “the perception gap” not because he understands the problem but because he’s bored with it.

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Quote of the Day: Chinese Meritocracy Edition

Getting involved in European companies is likely to bring a complexity of personnel management that will blow their minds.

European auto analyst Graeme Maxton in an Automotive News [sub] report on potential issues with Chinese buyouts of western auto brands. “I’m not sure they can handle a brand like Volvo and turn it around,” adds an anonymous “senior executive working in China with a major U.S. automaker.” To be fair, Maxton concedes that auto-sector mergers are difficult under any circumstances, but that doesn’t stop AN [sub] from trotting out an ominous quote from BAIC chairman Xu Hey, who blames “western discrimination” for China’s trouble wooing established brands.

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Quote of the Day: How to Prevent Traffic Jams in Holland Edition
According to The Brisbane Times, Holland is fed up with drug-related tourism. Moves are afoot to restrict dope and hash-peddling coffee shops to domestic cli…
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Quote of the Day: Perception Gap This Edition

Participating in GM’s global technology development and purchasing organizations secures important economies of scale for Opel/Vauxhall and other GM brands. For example, vehicles that represent new propulsion technologies, such as the Ampera extended-range electric vehicle, can only be brought to market in a joint effort.

“GM operates many joint ventures around the world and has proven in the past that this business model delivers the right balance of independence, innovation and synergies,” said John Smith, GM Group Vice President Business Development. “All parties will work hard to close the deal as soon as possible,” he added.

GM straps on the rose-colored blinders and dangles the Volt in its presser on today’s agreement to sell Opel to Magna and Sberbank. Ironic counterpoint after the jump.

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Quote of the Day: On the One Hand Edition
Quote Of The Day: On The One Hand Edition
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Quote Of The Day: That We May One Day Build A Cayenne Edition
Quote Of The Day: That We May One Day Build A Cayenne Edition
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Quote of the Day: Did Cars Really Maintain That Gap Back Then Edition
“If all the cars in the United States were placed end to end, it would probably be Labor Day Weekend.” Doug Larson, author of Don’t Shoot t…
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Quote of the Day: Peter Horbury Edition

Last week, our man Thor translated a Q & A with Peter Horbury in Automotorsport.se. Ford’s former global design director was recently demoted to his roots: head of Volvo design. Sadly, Automotorsport failed to discuss Horbury’s career reversal. Equally unfortunate: I had to inform Mr. Johnsen that we can’t lift entire articles. (Automotorsport.se denied our request to republish the piece.) We can, of course, publish excerpts. And Horbury is, like all car designers, a veritable fount of designer-speak. Or not. You’ll see what I mean. Meanwhile, here’s the warm-up for the money shot: “Horbury always missed the sea and the forests surrounding Gothenburg. ‘I like the Bohuslän nature with its clean lines, exactly as I believe car design should be.’ He pauses, thinking. But soon enough he makes a metaphor between U.S. and European design, and how Yanks often exaggerates certain design elements while the European design tradition is more stylish, simpler. . .”

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Quote of the Day: As Opposed to What Edition
AZ Central reports that the usual logic—the worse the economy the higher the crime rate—doesn’t apply to this current, uh, economic downt…
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  • Lorenzo The original 4-Runner, by its very name, promised something different in the future. What happened?
  • Lorenzo At my age, excitement is dangerous. one thing to note: the older models being displayed are more stylish than their current versions, and the old Subaru Forester looks more utilitarian than the current version. I thought the annual model change was dead.
  • Lorenzo Well, it was never an off-roader, much less a military vehicle, so let the people with too much money play make believe.
  • EBFlex The best gift would have been a huge bonfire of all the fak mustangs in inventory and shutting down the factory that makes them.Heck, nobody would even have to risk life and limb starting the fire, just park em close together and wait for the super environmentally friendly EV fire to commence.
  • Varezhka Of all the countries to complain about WTO rules violation, especially that related to battery business…