ON THE TABLE
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 09:29AM August 26, 2009
The GM Board. After years of rumbling, bumbling and stumbling their way around the boardroom doing exactly n-o-t-h-i-n-g, the newly-configured GM board of directors actually grew a set this week telling CEO Fritz Henderson that the Opel deal isn't good enough. Or even better, may not be a good idea at all and to explore all options. It's nice to see that GM Chairman Ed Whitacre is jingling and jangling his spurs and getting some action...
The U.S. Government. You came, you saw, you fucked it up. The "Cash for Clunkers" debacle might have been funny except for the hundreds of millions of dollars owed to dealers big and small across the country. But then again, when we're dealing with an entity - the government - where the term "accountability" isn't part of the standard operating procedure or more accurately, "MIA" on a regular basis, what more should we have expected?
Fiat. From "The Hell Freezes Over" File comes word that Fiat is developing a consumer-generated car in Brazil with input from social media, which will influence everything from the automobile's design to its marketing communications. AdAge is reporting that Sao Paulo-based AgenciaClick - part of Aegis Group's Isobar network of digital agencies - is orchestrating the project for Fiat. "We're inviting Brazilian consumers to invent the concept car that Fiat will exhibit in the Salao do Automovel, Sao Paulo's auto show, in October, 2010," said Abel Reis, AgenciaClick's president and chief operating officer. Called the Fiat Mio, users submit ideas for the car-design project - recent posts and tweets suggest bamboo car-seat covers, biometric car-owner identification and outlets to charge laptops - which will then be studied by Fiat staff. Later, users will be asked for branding and marketing ideas. Let's see, by over-indulging the social media peanut gallery and generally abdicating its role as a real live car company, Fiat Brazil is managing to set a diabolical precedent for the entire industry. What next? Sergio Marchionne "green-lighting" Jeeps with paper-mache seats?
Wendelin Wiedeking. His home is searched by investigators looking for evidence of suspected market manipulation in Volkswagen shares. No, you just can't make this shit up, folks.
GM. On the one hand, phasing out its little silver GM logo "bug" off the side of its cars and trucks sends the message that the company is serious about placing all of its marketing emphasis on its four brands - Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick and GMC. On the other, will it really make a difference in the grand scheme of things? How about no?
Jim Press. He exits Chrysler while the exiting is good, leaving a once-golden 37-year reputation accrued at Toyota tarnished and tattered. Not exactly a crowning achievement at the end of a career, to put it mildly.
Publisher's Note: It's the 50th anniversary of the MINI - August 26, 1959 - and the company is celebrating by unveiling The MINI Coupé Concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month (September 17 - 27, 2009). Billed by the company as "an expression of MINI design and the great ability of the brand’s designers to fill the elementary values of the brand with new life...and an unusually attractive vision of how the model family may well develop in future..." the MINI Coupé Concept is a slickly-designed two-seater, which clearly signals the next direction for the MINI brand. Very nice. - PMD
Publisher's Note: The Maserati GranCabrio - the first four-seater convertible in Maserati history - will make its worldwide debut on September 15 at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Clearly based on Maserati's luscious Gran Turismo Coupe - but saddled with a remarkably boring name - the new GranCabrio will join the Quattroporte and GranTurismo to complete the Maserati lineup. The Pininfarina-designed convertible is powered by a 4.7-liter 433HP V-8 and boasts one of the longest wheelbases in the market. The GranCabrio’s roof is canvas-made, thankfully, with no articulated roof to spoil the overall design, unlike the ungainly Ferrari California. The new GranCabrio will be available around the world next spring. We likey. - PMD
(Photos courtesy of Maserati
See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" hosted by Autoline Detroit's John McElroy, with Peter De Lorenzo and friends this Thursday evening, August 27, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv. By the way, if you'd like to subscribe to the Autoline After Hours podcasts, click on the following links: Subscribe via iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=311421319 http://www.autolinedetroit.tv/podcasts/feeds/afterhours-audio.xml
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