ON THE TABLE

May 11, 2011

Editor-in-Chief's Note: The debate over clean technology - with federal rule makers proposing standards for the 2017-25 model years - and its costs is heating up and it will reach a crescendo in July 2012, when new standards are scheduled to be adopted. Regulators from the EPA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the California Air Resources Board, along with the auto manufacturers, are the combatants in the fight. One recommendation is a 62-mpg rule requiring a six percent improvement annually in efficiency. Another proposal will suggest a three percent increase culminating in a CAFE target of 47 mpg in 2025. Expect a compromise ending up somewhere in between those two numbers. Either way, hybrid drive trains will be a fact of life for almost two out of every three vehicles sold in the U.S. in order to meet the future standards. We already have a CAFE target of 35.5-mpg by 2016, but the costs associated with jamming new technologies down consumers' throats in order to meet the proposed standards (estimates peg the number at around $5000 per vehicle) is already setting off alarms in Washington, even though the Obama administration is pushing hard for the high number. Margo Oge, director of the EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality, commented recently, "We will be very mindful -- and I underline 'mindful' -- of the consumer throughout this process. Unless people buy these new clean cars and trucks, and buy them in large numbers, everyone loses." Amen to that, but the likelihood of cooler heads prevailing in this debate are slim and none. Left to their own devices, the regulators will make the wrong call almost every time, so this will have to remain a giant wait and see, at best. If you want to read more about the gory details of this debate, check out Dave Guilford's excellent piece in this week's Automotive News. - PMD  

GM. The company is getting quite vocal about moving GMC further upscale, away from Chevrolet. There's only one problem with that. The farther GM pushes GMC into the upper echelons of the market the more it bumps up against the Cadillac lineup pf premium SUVs and trucks. Isn't this what got GM in trouble in the first place when it couldn't sort out the clashes of its divisions in the market? Yes. Could it be possible that GM, even after culling down its brands, could end up right where they left off before the bankruptcy? GM says an emphatic "no" but we've seen this movie before. Could that pinpoint of fiberoptic light at the end of the tunnel for GM actually be a looming train wreck? We'll see.

 The UAW. Ford says it is paying $8.00 more per hour on average to its UAW workers than the labor costs paid by the import auto manufacturers doing business here in the U.S. And the UAW still thinks it's going to be able to organize the transplants? Right.

AE Question of the Week. Once Fiat gains over 70% control of Chrysler in about a year, at what point does it just become Fiat here, with Chrysler as one of its divisions?

Ford. Okay, so this touchy-feely social media stuff is starting to get really annoying. Ford solicited suggestions for naming its Mustang V6 Performance Package through a contest on a Facebook page of nearly 1.4 million Mustang fans. More than 3,000 submissions were made to the page and nearly 6,700 users installed the “You Name It” app. So Ford's happy over the attention. The result? “Mayhem Mustang Package” was the winner. Cough, gack, ugh. The winner, from North Carolina, received a three-year lease on a 2012 Mustang with the Mayhem Mustang Package. Uh, just askin', but what was wrong with "Mustang V6 Performance Package" to begin with? We get that Ford is trying to build awareness for the package but, really? Sounds like Bush League Bullshit to us.

(Ford)
Ford's Team RS and SVT engineering teams are putting the 2013 Focus ST prototypes through their paces in Europe and North America in a punishing testing regime designed to fine-tune its performance and driving dynamics. The Focus ST will be powered by a new 2.0-litre EcoBoost engine delivering 250 PS (246 hp) while delivering "impressive" fuel economy, according to Ford. The Focus ST will arrive in the U.S. market about a year from now.

(BMW)
BMW first entered the 328 in competition in June 1936 at the Mille Miglia. Seventy-five years later BMW Classic is sending 12 examples of the 328 out on the run from Brescia to Rome and back. "The Mille Miglia is the race that defines the reputation of the BMW 328 to this day," explains Karl Baumer, Director of BMW Group Classic. "That’s why, like last year, we’ve brought a record dozen examples of the BMW 328 to Italy." Lining up once again alongside the standard production cars will be the racing models, headed by the overall winner of last year’s Mille Miglia – the BMW 328 Touring Coupé. After celebrating its ‘Mille’ premiere in 2010, the long-lost BMW 328 Kamm Coupé has again been entered "out of competition" in the event.

(Rolls-Royce) 

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, which is celebrating the centenary of the Spirit of Ecstasy, announced that over the next months 100 images inspired by the Spirit of Ecstasy - the figurine famed for its prominent and defining position on the bonnet of every Rolls-Royce - will be captured by renowned photographer Rankin. The first two images in the Rankin: Spirit of Ecstasy collection were revealed today. Like Charles Robinson Sykes, the man who crafted the legendary Spirit of Ecstasy flying lady one hundred years ago, Rankin takes inspiration from the beauty and sensuality of the feminine form. Just as Eleanor Velasco Thornton is rumored to have been Sykes’ muse for the Spirit of Ecstasy, Rankin has turned to his inspirational wife and model Tuuli Shipster for the first of his 100 portraits. The Rankin: Spirit of Ecstasy collection will evolve organically in the months ahead, incorporating a variety of themes as part of Rankin’s exploration of the contemporary Spirit of Ecstasy. Power, the beauty of age, intrigue and mystery, speed, wind and metallic will blend with materials, fabrics and paint, to create an unprecedented selection of photographic portraits which will complement each other as a full set, but also work individually to ensure global appeal. The work will feature a selection of women of different ages and cultures, symbolizing the femininity of the Spirit of Ecstasy.

(Aston Martin)

Aston Martin has announced a new collaboration with renowned Italian design house Zagato in the 50th anniversary year of the iconic DB4GT Zagato. The initial concept of this renewed working partnership will be shown for the first time at the famous Villa D’Este Concours on May 21, 2011, to gauge customer reaction, with a production version possible by the end of 2012. A racing debut is slated for the Nürburgring later in the month. Dr. Ulrich Bez, Chief Executive said: “The DNA of both Aston Martin and Zagato has combined successfully to make some of the world’s most desirable collector cars in the past and in this special anniversary year of the DB4GT Zagato it is appropriate to explore a modern collaboration. Now is the right time for a new Aston Martin Zagato and in combining our design intelligence I think we can create something fitting of the iconic DB4GT Zagato that has gone before and since established itself as one of the most famous Aston Martins of all time.”