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Editor's Note: This week, Peter's Editor-in-Chief's Note really says it all. The gloves are off. In On The Table, we take in the dedication of the famed Laguna Seca Corkscrew in Alex Zanardi's honor. Then, we review a couple of "last-mile" transportation oddities from Hyundai. Our video this week features the famed Targa Florio, "the craziest race in the world." Our AE Song of the Week is "Shiny Happy People" by R.E.M and we have a new "Letter From L.A." from Tom Pease. In Fumes, Peter gives us Part II of his new series, "Famous Front Rows." And finally, in The Line, we have F1 results from Monza and INDYCAR results from the season finale at Laguna Seca. Remember, you can read past issues by scrolling down and clicking on "Next 1 Entries." Onward! -WG

Editor-in-Chief's Note: I expected blowbacks from members of a certain political spectrum over last week's column, but they were few and far between. Now, part of that is due to the fact that those card-carrying "DTIs" (Defenders of The Indefensible) have long since abandoned this website, permanently pegging me as someone who is "not one of them." They would be correct. The fact of the matter is that there is a growing majority of people in our great nation who are sick to their stomachs over the ongoing trainwreck in Washington, D.C., led by the current occupant of the White House who is hands down the most maliciously incompetent - and corrupt - person ever to reside there. We're sick of the constant lies, the inexcusable and outrageous conduct of the goons of ICE (cheerfully endorsed by this administration); the long list of serially incompetent people occupying positions of power (FBI, Justice, Defense, Treasury, et al.) who make our lives miserable each and every day; the bumbling and stumbling mishandling of the war with Iran, which has disrupted the financial well-being of everyday Americans; the nonsensical tariffs, which have only served to drive prices up for all of us and wreak havoc on our trading partners around the world; the belligerent mistreatment of our longest and closest ally to the north - Canada - which is simply unconscionable; the constant focus on all the wrong things by literally everyone in this so-called administration; the destruction of our enduring relationships with key allies around the world, which may never recover because of the lingering stench of the wildly inappropriate conduct by this administration; the constant grifting; the ridiculous "ballroom"; the desecration of the Kennedy Center; the ongoing environmental carnage; the criminal destruction of our health care system; and now, the flat-out offensive "arch," which will be a visual atrocity that will have to be removed immediately starting on January 20, 2029. And the list goes on and on. Will this country ever recover from this? I remain cautiously optimistic, but it will take years if not decades to right all the wrongs dumped on us by the embarrassing Orange Dictator and his bootlicking minions. People of all stripes around this great nation are sick and tired of it. All of it. Voting is the least we can do, but clearly that isn't going to be enough. The time has come for all of us to speak out loudly and defy every inch of the fascist regime currently occupying Washington, D.C. These people are out to destroy this great country from within, and we cannot sit by and let that happen. I'm pissed-off. We should all be pissed-off. Which is why we're re-running last week's column. And that's the High-Octane Truth for this Labor Day week. -PMD

By Peter M. DeLorenzo

Detroit. This column was supposed to be about the churning and burning going on in the global auto industry right now. Wandering through the latest auto news over the last week, it’s clear to me that some parts of the global industry are on the precipice of disaster.

The overcapacity in China will require a shakeout to that home auto industry of gargantuan proportions, with companies simply ceasing to exist left and right. Even then, it probably won’t be enough. Our friend and regular economics correspondent, Tom Bartkiewicz, passed along an article in Nikkei Asia that revealed some shocking details about current conditions in the Chinese market.

To wit: “China’s automotive industry is reaching extreme levels of saturation: at least eight automakers unveiled new models on a single day in July, hoping to keep up sales by flooding the market in an increasingly relentless showdown. BYD Executive Vice President He Zhiqi told Nikkei Asia that 542 new models were released between January and May alone, an average of 3.6 per day, and called the pace of competition ‘brutal’.”

3.6 per day? That’s unfathomable, and not in the future Ford pickup kind of way.

And more: “The sheer competitiveness of China’s automotive market is without parallel and can seem irrational, but there are basic structural factors underpinning it. One of the biggest is domestic manufacturing capacity and its underutilization: national capacity sits at around 55 million units per year against local demand of just 23 million. Assembly lines, broadly speaking, are running at less than half capacity; this leaves automakers trying to maximize utilization by either releasing a flurry of new models or leaning on global exports.”

So far, government officials are taking a “hands off’ approach in order to let the shakeout happen at its own pace. In the meantime, Chinese automakers will continue to flood global markets with their products.

And then there’s the situation in the German auto industry, where the implosion going on is historic. The VW Group alone is talking about eliminating 140,000 jobs, related to a 500,000-unit cut in the company's European capacity. The impact of this will launch tentacles throughout the German economy, with more than a million jobs possibly at stake. Product consolidation will accelerate, with Audi and Porsche sharing underpinnings on some models, and BMW and Mercedes-Benz will be facing economic devastation as well. This is truly unprecedented and an example of the turmoil roiling these traditionally solid automakers. In other words, a giant Wiener schnitzel of Not Good.

So, that’s the current situation those in the auto industry find themselves today. It’s a tightrope walk between survival and utter devastation. What about here in the U.S.? The U.S.-based automakers, as I’ve said previously, are rolling along, pushing 84-month financing while churning out pickups and SUVs (plus muscle cars and trucks in Stellantis’ case) with kind of a “What, Us Worry?” and “It Won’t Be Long Now!” warped mantra. As in “Why fret about today when tomorrow is going to be fan-frickin-tastic!” or something like that.

We all know that’s not how it’s going to play out. Mistakes will be made and missteps will occur. (We can’t wait for the production delays to emerge with Ford’s greatest-thing-since-sliced-bread, un-Fathom-able pickup. -WG) And the tides will soon change in the political spectrum as well, which means chaos and uncertainty will continue unabated.

But compounding all of this chaos facing the U.S.-based automakers, of course, is the absurd tariff situation between the U.S. and Canada brought on by the Clown-in-Chief (aka The Global Embarrassment) in Washington. (And please note: if you’re still a supporter of the Asshole-in-Chief you need to move along now, and by the way, BooFuckingHoo.)

Arbitrary, capricious, dumb and stupid, the alleged trade “war” with Canada is flat-out ridiculous. There’s no legitimate rhyme or reason for any of it, and it’s simply absurd that one deluded idiot in Washington is causing so much havoc in the auto industry and in this region.

And that’s right, this region. We Michiganders have zero animosity for our northern neighbors. In fact, we relish the fact that Canadians are our friends and neighbors. The cringeworthy clown in the oval office has embarrassed Americans and Canadians alike with this needlessly antagonistic trade “war,” and we don’t want anything to do with it.

And by the way, the CEOs of Ford and GM should be embarrassed about how they so blatently sucked-up to the Orange Dictator. What has that play gotten them, exactly? Nothing but grief, aggravation and devastating hits to their bottom lines. But I have no sympathy for either one of them, especially when Jim “I’m a genius just ask me” Farley preened for the cameras in the Oval Office like he was the asshole’s best friend. As far as I’m concerned, you both got what you deserved. You play with a snake, you’re bound to get bit. Welcome to the political cesspool that is Washington, D.C., you both came off looking like rubes wandering around in the big city.

As I mentioned in the first sentence of my column, I was planning to stick with comments on the industry today, but when the Dumbledick in the Oval Office announced that he was renaming Lake Ontario – by executive order, no less – “Lake America” that was a level of stupidity too far.

This just in: It will remain Lake Ontario long after this walking, talking embarrassment waddles back to Mar-a-Lago, but of course huge amounts of money will have to be expended to amend all of the changes this ridiculous order will cause. I apologize to our Canadian neighbors for being subjected to this unmitigated bullshit.

Oh, and by the way, in anticipation of the hate mail sure to come our way? “Stick to cars?” Well, BooFuckingWho, Part II. Because being forced to live under the reign of the Flatulant King has become simply intolerable and untenable. I will be speaking out and speaking out often from now on. This is beyond fucking ridiculous.

And that’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.

Editor's Note: Click on "Next 1 Entries" at the bottom of this page to see previous issues. - WG