ON THE TABLE

February 8, 2012

 Sergio Marchionne. Editor-in-Chief's Note: He tells local radio station WJR Monday morning (according to David Shephardson from the Detroit News - I wouldn't listen to the show's incredibly obnoxious blowhard host Paul W. Smith if my life depended on it) that the "Halftime in America" spot "brought a huge amount of pride back from Detroiters" and that "we probably deserve it… after all the stuff that we've gone through." Really, Sergio? After all the stuff we've gone through? You mean they've gone through, right, Sergio? Because no matter how you slice it, you're certainly not one of us by any stretch of the imagination. Not even close in fact. As King of the Carpetbagging Interlopers you don't get to say "we" with regard to this town no matter how delusional and self-important you are. - PMD

 Ford. The Dearborn automaker had their legal department harass GM to not run the "2012" Silverado spot on the Super Bowl because it was misleading and innacurate as to its "longest lasting, most dependable" claim. Really? And what was GM's predictable response? An emphatic no, of course. Plus GM marketing boss Joel Ewanick took the time to send out a press release celebrating the fact. Ford stepped right into it on this one. Memo to Ford: Ignore the spot or chuckle along with the rest of us - or not - and move on. Instead you managed to only call more attention to the spot by your actions. Lesson learned, hopefully.

  Ford. Kudos go to the denizens of Dearborn for avoiding doing a Super Bowl buy altogether on Sunday. Next year, just do a bunch of long-form video spots and release them right before the game, without spending one dime on an ad buy. You'll get almost the same Internet buzz for a lot less than $3.6 million a pop.

Fisker Automotive. From the "Almost Toast" File comes word that Fisker has laid 66 off workers in Delaware and California as the company struggles to renegotiate its loan agreement with the Department of Energy. Fisker has already received $193 million of a $529 million DOE loan, which was spent mostly on the $100,000+ Karma. The DOE has made loan availability for Fisker's next project - the more mainstream (allegedly) Nina sedan - contingent on Fisker meeting development and sales targets for the Karma, which the company has missed, and badly. Fisker is now negotiating with the DOE to modify the loan agreement so funds for that project can be released. Good luck with that.

(Ford)
Ford takes the wraps off its 2013 Shelby GT500 convertible at the Chicago Auto Show this week. “The Shelby GT500 convertible is every bit the performer that the coupe is,” said Kerry Baldori, SVT Global Performance Vehicles chief engineer. “All of the significant changes we made in the program were instrumental in delivering a convertible that could really shine on the track but can still be driven on a daily basis.” The roadster version of the 650HP King Kong 2013 Shelby GT500 coupe (with the optional Performance Package) cut almost 3.5 seconds off its lap time at Sebring International Raceway compared to the 2011 and 2012 convertible models. To mark the 20th anniversary of SVT, Ford's high-performance group, a commemorative lighted sill plate will be used in the 2013 Shelby GT500. Key fact? The 1993 SVT Mustang Cobra offered a 235-horsepower 5.0-liter V8 engine. With 650HP the 2013 Shelby GT500, along with the  580HP Camaro ZL1 and of course the 638HP Corvette ZR1, mark the peak - and the last gasp - of the high-performance era. If you're contemplating one of these machines act now, because by 2015 you'll wish you had. Oh, how you'll wish you had.

(Aston Martin)
Aston Martin has revealed the first images of its new V12 Zagato scheduled for production later this year. The V12 Zagato combines the modern ideas, materials, processes and technology pioneered on the One-77 and will be the pinnacle of the Vantage range. For Aston Martin’s CEO, Dr Ulrich Bez, the V12 Zagato is “a celebration of both Aston Martin’s heritage and its future. Our relationship with Zagato stretches back more than 50 years. Together in that time we have created a series of very special cars. The first – the DB4GT Zagato – is a true icon: fast, beautiful and incredibly desirable. In the V12 Zagato I believe we have captured the spirit of that car and combined it with a confident twist of modernity to give it a character all of its own.” Initial design concepts for the V12 Zagato were explored in early 2010 by Aston Martin’s Director of Design, Marek Reichman, and his Gaydon-based design team.

 

Editor's Note: Our West Coast correspondent, Tom Pease, weighs-in on how the auto manufacturers spoiled any impact surrounding their Super Bowl ads because they just had to show them all the week before. - WG

Letter from L.A.

By Tom Pease

Beverly Hills. Here's my problem with the Super Bowl ads. It wasn't that I didn't like the Honda ad (I didn't) or that the Clint Eastwood Chrysler ad made me tear up and want to salute, that is until 30 seconds later when I thought about it.  It wasn't that the Chevy Silverado "2012" ad seemed more like a mildly amusing pissing contest or that the Cadillac ad was just sort of nothing at all.  It was the fact that I didn't bother to watch them during the game, because the car companies got antsy and debuted them online the week before.  Which makes about as much sense as Warners throwing "The Dark Knight Rises" up on Pirate Bay in early May hoping that it will create "buzz" for seeing it in Imax at the local googleplex.  Didn't they ever hear the phrase "why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?"

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