January 26, 2011
Editor-in-Chief's Note: The battle for the Hearts and Minds of the media - automotive and otherwise, as well as consumers who bother to pay attention - has well and truly begun. On the one side you have GM's PR troops, who are primed, ready and already going full-bore spinning the story that it's Morning Again at General Motors, and that Dan Akerson is the visonary who will lead the company back to the promised land through a laser-like focus on the customer. On the other side you have me - soon to be joined by others (as soon as they get their heads out of their asses and start burrowing through the fog of war laid down by GM's PR troops) - who see a different Dan Akerson, one who is an egomaniacal corporate opportunist with an overwrought sense of himself who has been handed the keys to an American icon simply because he was the best alternative that the board of directors had at the moment. And who will now put his newfound - and instantly accrued - "wisdom" about the car business to work in remaking the company, even though that wisdom is more knee-jerk reactionary pronouncements than earned understanding of what's really going on. It's going to be delicious to see how all of this plays out but one thing is certain, traditional PR tactics are not going to work this time. This is a different time and a different era and there isn't enough "spin" at the disposal of GM PR's troops to present "Lt. Dan" as the next auto industry messiah. He is woefully miscast in that role, and there isn't enough "there" there. - PMD
Ferrari. Editor-in-Chief's Note: From the "Hell Freezes Over" File comes word that Ferrari has finally and officially lost it. The Italian car company with the impeccable heritage that's so famously and heroically intertwined with one of the greatest historical legacies in this business has succumbed to the siren song of profit over integrity. The result? The disaster you see below. The new Ferrari FF (for Ferrari Four: four seats and four-wheel-drive) - which the company refers to it as being the most powerful and versatile four-seater ever - will replace the 612 Scaglietti in their lineup. Ferrari also insists it will be the most usable Ferrari and that it will be a formidable competitor for GT machines from Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, etc. Huh? "Versatile?" "Usable?" Are you kidding me? As if those words have any business being associated with the Ferrari name, mission and purpose. Using its much-lauded Formula 1 team as its beacon of technological might, Ferrari has stayed on message for a solid ten years now delivering one breathtaking street machine after another and it appeared that this company would never dumb-down its mission for anyone, adhering to it unfailingly and religiously. If you wanted a Ferrari, and were privileged enough to own one, then you became part of that single-minded mission to build the fastest, sexiest cars on the planet. Now? With this atrocity called the Ferrari FF, Ferrari has signaled that it wants to become more "approachable" and more "versatile" - two words that should never be associated with Ferrari under any circumstances or scenario. I don't care how fast the FF is - and no doubt it will be plenty fast with its 660HP V12 - mark my words, this car is the first crack in Ferrari's heretofore impenetrable focus and overriding mission. Next up? I don't doubt for a minute that Ferrari will build a four-door, four seater with generous amounts of "versatility" and "usable" cargo space. And the stop after that? Ferrari becomes just another car company in the swirling maelstrom of car companies jockeying for attention in the luxury-performance market. I have two more words for Ferrari to contemplate: Disgusting. And pathetic. - PMD
(Ferrari)
CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE AE STORE
Publisher's Note: Check-out John McElroy's daily news show covering everything about the auto biz by clicking on the graphic below. Good stuff guaranteed. - PMD
See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" with hosts John McElroy, from Autoline Detroit, and Peter De Lorenzo, The Autoextremist, and guests this Thursday evening, 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 If you would like to read previous Autoextremist issues, click on "Next Entry" below.
Subscribe via RSS: