Daily Podcast: All of the Responsibility, All of the Blame
Daily Podcast Lieberman Edition: Who Buys Ferrari Sweatshirts?
Daily Podcast: Jalopnik's 10 Best Fall Weekend Trip Cars. Or Not.
Daily Podcast: Meta-Mucil
Daily Podcast: Lieberman: "The Hyundai Sonata Handles Better Than the MINI Cooper"
Daily Podcast: Lieberman Edition: Racecars Can't Be Daily Drivers
Daily Podcast: Lieberman Edition
Daily Podcast: Justin Case
Daily Podcast: On Banning
Daily Podcast: While the Cat's Away
Daily Podcast: Farago Takes a Break
Daily Podcast: What is a Chevy?
TTAC commentator Brent asked why fellow members of our Best and Brightest aren't cutting the new Cruze some slack. "All I ever see are comments (rightly) digging on GM for having no truly competitive small cars, and for having none in the pipeline. Now we learn of one that in fact *is* in the pipeline. Furthermore, it just might be competitive. And what do I see? A bunch of comments digging on GM for even trying." As a cynical bastard, I think the cynicism has been well and truly earned, through dozens of less-than-stellar (i.e. crap) GM small cars. And, lest we forget, Chevy is a brand that touts itself as "An American Revolution" whilst selling a Korean car. In fact, what equity/credibility remains within the Chevy brand? Like a Rock reliability? Not for cars. (Not yet, anyway.) So, really, it all comes down to one word: Corvette. And if that's true, what IS a Chevy? No matter how good the Cruze may be (Jonny), it simply can't traverse GM's branding issues. Nothing can. [PS: DON'T FORGET THERE'S A PODCAST BELOW]
Daily Podcast: Sign of the Times
Daily Podcast: The Ugly American?
Daily Podcast: Needs Must?
Daily Podcast: No Long Termers Need Apply
Daily Podcast: All Hail Frank Williams
Daily Podcast: The Bottom Line
Daily Podcast: A Pom-Pom Free Zone
Daily Podcast: America is Waiting
Daily Podcast: First We Kill All The Lawyers
Daily Podcast: The Infiniti G35 Wrecked Everything
A few years ago, when my mother was car shopping for entry luxury sedans, I suggested she "just get an Infiniti G35x." I've never been wild about the G – especially when laden with AWD – but it had more power than any competitors at the time, offered the AWD, the all-important luxury badge, and it was the best price in the class. I cannot count the number of time when I've seen in car forums somewhere, a debate or discussion in which the G35 plays the role of spoiler. "Why get a BMW 328i with only 230 horsepower when you could get an Infiniti G35 for the same price with 300+?" Replace BMW 328i with Mercedes C300, or Audi A4, or Lexus IS. That being said, they moved about 5600 G35 and G37s in June, compared to over 9000 BMW 3-Series sold in the US that month. Then again, the BMW 3-Series has a cult following going back 30 years. While the Infiniti G35 wears the legendary Skyline name in Japan, 99.9% of car shopping Americans don't know that. (Ken Watanabe, Japanese movie star and costar in The Last Samurai, is featured in the ad above). The bottom line is: Infiniti figured out how to get to the bargain breaking point. By that, I mean the position at which they offer the best value in the class, but not so much value that their car is no longer desirable.
Daily Podcast: "Tell Me Something, Anything… I Feel the Need to Be Inside of Your Head If I Cannot Be Near You"
Daily Podcast: Stupid Useless Vanity
Daily Podcast: The Steep and Thorny Way to Heaven
Motown pundit Peter DeLorenzo frequently takes his hometown heroes to task for their insularity. It's more than a bit ironic; the self-styled Autoextremist steadfastly refuses to allow comments underneath his weekly rants. The columnist also backed out of simultaneous TTAC publication because he didn't want to respond to TTAC's Best and Brightest when they ripped his writing to shreds thoughtfully analyzed his insightful commentary. In e-pistle 454, DeLorenzo once again tries to play it both ways. On one hand, he validates the "perception gag" [sic]. You know; the deep psychological chasm between U.S. consumers' understanding of GM and Ford's products (ominously enough, Chrysler's been excluded) and the vehicles' "true" competitiveness with their transplanted rivals. Well, some of them. OK, the Chevy Mailbu. On the other hand, Sweet Pete eviscerates The Big 2.8 for their "indecision, non-decisions and monumentally bone-headed decisions." In sum, uber-mensch Bob Lutz and his pals tried hard to do/build the right thing. They got tripped-up by gas prices (in just three months!) and hamstrung by their handlers' stupidity. And who do you think you are criticizing Detroit, Jane you ignorant slut? Despite DeLorenzo's writing talent, it's clear the inside outsider is rhetorically conflicted. But at least DeLorenzo has doubts. Even now, deep into the last act of a Shakespearian tragedy, the same can not be said for the people who once paid his salary.
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