I remember the call like it came just last week, because it did.
“Katrina, I have a new car.”
“How exciting!”
“It…it has a stick shift.”
“Even better!”
“You don’t understand! I don’t know how to drive a stick. I need you to teach me.”
“You’ve made me a very happy woman, grasshopper.”
Continue reading "Stick It To The Man" »
On Friday, March 7, two announcements were made that impact the Southern California car culture and, to some extent, the global auto industry.
Volvo Cars of North America Returns to Rockleigh Headquarters
The first was that Volvo Cars of North America is returning to its former headquarters in Rockleigh, New Jersey at the foot of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Beautiful location and much closer to Sweden, but we can't help but wonder how the Volvo mindset in the USA will change with a New Jersey perspective rather than one from California? But, this does make sense.
Jaguar and Land Rover Likely Will Move to Jag's Old HQ in Mahwah
In due time, Jaguar and Land Rover locations will very likely move from Irvine, California back to Jaguar's old HQ in Mahway, New Jersey. One veteran Land Rover manager quipped, "Well, I've worked for Land Rover through four owners. One more (Tata) won't be too much different."
This means that Ford's Premier Automotive Group headquarters building in Irvine will be pretty empty except for some Ford regional and PR offices. This is also where Ford has some advanced design activities.
Chrysler Pacifica to Shut Down, Operations Relocated to Auburn Hills
The second announcement was that Chrysler is closing its Chrysler Pacifica operation in Carlsbad. Used as an advanced concept design center and monitoring operation, several Chrysler show cars were designed at Chrysler Pacifica and in the heyday, were fabricated by Metalcrafters in Fountain Valley. Here is Chrysler's blurb on the demise of Pacifica: "Increasingly, we are leveraging resources worldwide, forming new joint ventures and alliances and consolidating operations in order to better achieve global balance and manage fixed costs. These moves are designed to help Chrysler become a more globally focused manufacturer, with design, engineering, sourcing and a local presence to serve local customers.
As such, we are closing the Pacifica Advance Product Design Center, consolidating the Advance Design function in Auburn Hills. Advance Design remains an integral part of our future design efforts, led by Trevor Creed, Senior Vice President -- Design.
These changes set the stage for Chrysler's future global growth efforts, which also include our intent to establish global expertise in design, engineering and sourcing through centers of excellence. These actions will help the Company meet its long-term globalization goals."
Expect Many Staffers to Refuse to Move - Nissan's Experience
Volvo, Chcysler Pacifica and soon Jaguar Land Rover will lose valuable and experienced staff who will refuse to relocate out of Southern California. This is what happened when Nissan North America moved from Gardena to Nashville, Tennessee in 2006. Less than 30% of their folks went with them and it has been turmoil ever sense.
All of these operations (with the exception of Nissan North America which was "born" in Southern California) moved to Southern California to be part of the most trend-setting area in the USA and arguably the tip of the spear in advanced automotive design in the world. In the case of PAG, it can be argued that staffers spent too much time at their desks to really benefit from being here. But designers need to breathe the air and see the colors and vibrancy of the area. Viewing the world as a designer in Detroit is, simply, different.
When I arrived in Chicago night of Feb. 5, forecasters were predicting a nigh-apocalyptic snowfall. But I'm from Detroit, and I was in Chicago, and I like to think that upper Midwesterners are made of sterner stuff than the norm.
Still, I knew I'd need to fortify myself against the coming snow and arctic cold. How does the traveler far from home and operating at the mercy of automakers and their PR departments manage such a feat? The image above should provide a clue, as should the photo after the jump.
Continue reading ""How I Spent My First Media Preview" by Katrina, Age 27" »
This has nothing to do with cars or trucks, but about the halftime shows shown at extravaganzas like the Super Bowl and BCS Championship Game. Our stories about auto company and Bridgestone ads stimulated the idea.
Super Bowl Halftime Lame - Bring On the Marching Bands
I don't know how much Tom Petty cost to entertain the nation for twenty minutes, but it was too much. And it's not that I don't like Tom Petty. I have just gotten sick of these extravaganza halftime shows that Bowl Games think are necessary to put on while people are getting their snacks and going to the john. At least Petty did not have a wardrobe malfunction and the manufactured crowd was on their best behavior - young and energetic.
God Wants Marching Bands: But, God intended for football halftime shows to feature marching bands. Not Tom Petty. Not Janet Jackaon. From time immemorial, marching bands have been featured at every high school and college game. Some bands are military bands. Some are pageant bands. Some do a little of both.
Military Bands - Precision and Discipline: The military bands have the toughest job. They will have an eight minute drill in which they continuously change formation from one geometric pattern to another. Countermarches. Minstrel turns. Freeze steps. Parallelograms. Squares. All precisely designed to amaze the audience. Texas A&M is a rare example of a military band. I say rare, because a military band takes a lot of practice to make look good. Lines have to be straight. Timing has to be perfect and the music has to be great. Takes a huge amount of discipline.
Pageant Bands - Easier than Military: The pageant bands may begin a show with a military fanfare, but then evolve into designs and pictures that usually have the band members wandering from one spot to another. Much more chaotic than military bands. But the fans seem to like them and it's easier to train a pageant band than a military band.
National Band Contest: So, here's the idea. Scrap these halftime concerts and have a national band contest. The national band contest would end at the Super Bowl where the best high school marching band in the country would go against the best university marching band in the country. I guess you could have military and pageant band sections. The university bands would be judged by conference - an ACC Champ, a Big Ten Champ, a Pac Ten Champ, etc. Then at the national championship game - the BCS game, the best college band would be selected. High schools would be selected on a state-by-state basis with state winners moving to regional, sectional and, finally, national.
Still have to find a way to judge military bands vs. pageant bands, but there must be a way. Just find a way to get us away from the terrible halftime shows the BCS and Super Bowl have subjected us to for the past decades.
Say it isn’t so! I sincerely hope that I’m wrong on this one, or at least over-reacting. Ford’s initial Press conference at the 2008 North American International Auto Show left me wondering, “”What about the Explorer?” Ford began the Sunday with Bill Ford, Mark Fields, Country music superstar Toby Keith, and enough fireworks and decibels to put a chill up your spine. We were shown the newly-redesigned F-150, the Verve Concept, and a herd of Mustangs. We saw the Explorer America Concept, or at least I think we did. It came on and off the stage faster than Charles Manson at a parole hearing. The pitch went something like this. “Unit body, 2.0 liter Ecoboost Engine, Adios!” I found this especially disheartening, because the vehicle looked so great. A forward-looking design that keeps real truck cues. Not another tall wagon!
Continue reading "Invisible Explorer" »
We’d like to preface this entry by saying that we know that the Chinese are learning fast, and that we acknowledge that they are definitely coming here in the near future and will be a force to be reckoned with. And honestly, we’re really not trying to add to the wariness surrounding Chinese products these days. Still, the Tang Hua lineup of electric cars – and their auto show display – provided us with just a little too much fodder to resist a few jabs.
Electric Runabouts Have, Um, Eyecatching Style; Demonstrate Unique Naming and Branding Strategies
It wasn’t too clear from the display what these cars are intended for, but we imagine (no, we dearly hope) that they’re probably low-speed runabouts, much like Chrysler’s GEM cars that are only street legal for neighborhood usage. There were three models displayed. The little ovoid one at top is called A Piece of Cloud, while the slightly phallic cab-backward one below it goes by the name of Book of Songs. There was another one, regrettably not pictured, called Detroit Fish that seemed to be a four-place version of A Piece of Cloud, but claimed to be amphibious. Indeed, that one was shod with decorative fins and a flimsy propeller in the back (which we could not verify was functional). Why one would want to take a high voltage electric car into the water is beyond us, but maybe Tang Hua’s onto something we haven’t figured out yet.
Continue reading "The Tang Hua Lineup: Cars for Renowned Environmentalists" »
Slow-Selling 9-7X Range Adds Aero Model for 2008MY
Saab borrows the 390HP 6.0L V8 that Chevrolet used to create the TrailBlazer SS for a 9-7X Aero for 2008MY. With the power, the Aero gets polished aluminum twenty-inch wheels, a specific paint color (Carbon Flash Metallic), and Aero embroidered leather seats inside. The Aero also takes a heavy-duty rear axle with a limited-slip differential and increases braking power with larger rotors, iron twin-piston calipers, and high-performance brake pad lining. These mechanical differences are the same changes applied to the TrailBlazer to create the SS, though the Saab 9-7X already had a lowered suspension compared to the Chevy. (Aside from adding the Aero model, there are only color and wheel changes to the 9-7X range for the 2008MY.)
The Saab 9-7X is on its way out, and losing what little relevance it had. The product gave Saab a quick and inexpensive SUV, but one so un-Saab-like that it did not help brand image. Joining the club of offering excessive power from an already thirsty product, especially in the midst of media and public concern over fuel economy and "global warming," seems misguided. Luxury entries from brands with performance history like BMW X5 and Porsche Cayenne offer high-output performance-oriented models to help keep brand image up, but adding a 390HP Aero 9-7X does nothing for Saab's overall brand image. Saab cannot disguise the fact that the 9-7X Aero is an American-mindset product. Even as Saab used jet references in announcing the Aero, describing the Aero's performance as "jetlike" and the 9-7X Aero as taking off and TV commercials play on the jet theme, they can't make this round product fit into Saab's square product hole.
Still, putting image and brand personality aside, our experience with the Aero's mechanical twin Chevrolet TrailBlazer SS gives us confidence that the Saab variant will be an entertaining drive. The Aero may bring in a non-traditional Saab buyer, but Saab has nothing with which to keep them, nor are they developing new products in the same vein.
The furor surrounding Cerberus' decision to make Bob Nardelli, formerly of Home Depot and GE, the CEO and chairman of the New Chrysler II, putting Tom LaSorda in the Number 2 position instead of Number 1, is the juiciest gossip train to hit the circuit since Mulally's appointment at Ford. There has been much more noise than news this week, and here's our contribution to the fray.
Employees at Announcement Wanted to be in Air Conditioning or Home by the Pool
Watching both the press conference announcing Bob Nardelli's appointment as CEO and chairman of the newly formed Chrysler LLC as well as the employee pep rally afterward, and both groups seem wary instead of enthusiastic or supportive. The backlash in the press finds little support for Nardelli. The employees, while impressed with acrobatics and fireworks, generally looked as though they'd have preferred to be in their offices that hot, muggy afternoon. Most left as soon as they sensed the formal program was over. Nardelli says he's here to bring laser-focus and energy to the turnaround plan already laid out and in progress. His presence in front of employees didn’t bring energy, and returning to finish the last few days of a family vacation the next day didn't display laser focus.
Nardelli's been characterized as a drill sergeant with little people skills, and he's entering a vibrant company full of strong personalities. Being private gives Chrysler LLC the ability to make decisions based on long-term health instead of short-term profit-and-loss statements. But Cerberus expects a quick turnaround and their investors do expect a return. Nardelli may be playing to a different audience, but the pressure will be no less intense.
Continue reading "The New Chrysler II: Lots of Noise, Questions, and Endless Speculation" »
As the auto industry reviews its future under what certainly will be tougher Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, cycle plans at each company are being scrutinized. What is happening is that some vehicles are being deferred as studies are carried out to determine if their fuel efficiency can be improved. Those that will definitely damage CAFE are being put on the chopping block if acceptable offsets cannot be found. On July 17, 2007 Chrysler Group announced that the Chrysler Imperial is being scrapped.
Thank Heavens The Emperor is Dead
This is one of the few benefits that can be expected from the more stringent CAFE standards. The Imperial, first seen during the 2006 Auto Show season has to be one of the most contrived, unattractive concepts shown in years. It goes into the "what were they thinking" category and we wondered if it was just a cruel joke.
Based on the Chrysler rear wheel drive platform the Imperial would have been assembled at Chrysler's Brampton Assembly Plant along with the Chrysler 300, Dodge Magnum and Dodge Charger. Chrysler states that the Brampton change-over for the 300/Magnum/Charger would continue moving forward just without the Imperial.
With Different Styling, Imperial Could Have Been a Reasonable Line Extention
Our complaint with Imperial is that it is ugly. It is an example of Chrysler styling having run amok following the "merger of equals" with Daimler-Benz. These are the same folks, you know, that have given us the ungainly Jeep Commander. The best styling coming out of Chrysler since the "acquisition" have been the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum. Neither the Charger or the Imperial shared the same spark. We hope that with Tom Gale - Chrysler's former design boss - joining Cerberus as an advisor, that Chrysler can find its design mojo once again.
Such a Deal! Last July, I leased a Volvo XC90 Volvo Ocean Race Edition (Number 71 of 800). Reacting to a radio ad saying come on down to your local Volvo dealer you can get a Volvo XC90 V8 for $389 a month for 24 months with $3,000 cap cost reduction. How could you pass up a $54,000 SUV for that monthly payment?
Remember, I make my leasing decisions on horsepower per lease dollar so the AWD XC90 with 311-horsepower pencilled out pretty well. In fact, the dealer dropped the monthly payment to $370 without me even asking. But that's another story.
Frankly, price was the thing that brought me to the XC90. It had not been high on my list of SUVs to consider, but it has turned out to be great vehicle - not without flaws however.
What makes the XC90 great? Its size is just about optimum. Not too big. Not too small. Compared to the four Ford Expeditions in row I had driven previously, the Volvo is the right size. From the driver's seat forward and side visibility is excellent. The seats are very comfortable and the color combo was outstanding.
This XC90 is the Volvo Ocean Race Edition in a bright blue with a light tan interior. Very distinctive - not a vehicle you'd lose in a parking lot.
So, what are the nitpicks?
Tire Relationship to Wheel Lips. Have you ever looked closely at an XC90 from the side. It looks like a stork sitting on spindly little wheels and tires with a huge gap between the top of the tire and the wheel lip. Why? Well, Volvo design specs require snow chain clearance. Understandable in Sweden, but I'm willing to forgo that spec for Southern California.
Continue reading "Volvo XC90 - A Year Under the Belt" »
The following letter arrived from Ms. Caryn Griffith of Winfield, Illinois. She has had an ongoing issue with replacement headlamps on her 1999 Mercury Cougar. As you read her comments you can feel her frustration with the way her dealer(s) and Ford Motor Company are handling her problem. She details problems with replacement parts for an older car. Replacement headlamps are in short or no supply for her car. Her insurance company has told her that her car is dangerous to drive without the headlamps being replaced. And she is unhappy with the way Ford has reacted. Read on.
"Anger, frustration, no results…this is what I’ve experienced over the past several months. Over the past 3 ½ months, I’ve been without my car, due to lack of organization and stocking of headlamps by the Ford Motor Company. What aggravates me the most is that the Ford Motor Company doesn’t seem to show any remorse for the inconvenience I’ve endured as a customer. Nor have they had an initiative to take responsibility for their company’s actions. It is also implied that because they are such a large company and seem to have so much influence over the economy and society, it seems that no one is willing to take a stand for the consumer.
This is a shortened version of my very unpleasant story.
On October 2, 2006, my 1999 Mercury Cougar was damaged due to the flooding rains that we had that evening in the west suburbs of Illinois. When I took my car in for repairs to the Westgate Lincoln Mercury Dealer, on October 9, 2006, I wanted to have the headlights looked at because they contained puddles of rainwater inside them. I found out that the entire headlight casings would have to be replaced due to the water damage, so I was glad I placed a claim with my insurance company. Little did I know how long repairing my car would take.
My car sat at the Westgate Lincoln Mercury dealer in Lombard, IL for one month, until that site was closed and merged with Elmhurst Lincoln Mercury. My car was then transported over to that dealership for the remainder of the 4 month span. Why did it take 4 months just to replace headlamps? I’d like to know that answer as well, but Ford claims it’s because of a nation-wide back-order and faulty manufacturing of previous headlamp assemblies. I have found over the past several months that the various levels of the Ford Motor Company do not work together or communicate with each other.
I have also found that I’ve been lied to, pushed around and brushed off; all signs of poor customer service. The following list is a brief overview of what I’ve been through:
Continued below the fold...
Continue reading "Ford Owner Very Critical of Ford Response to Problem" »
Over the years, AutoPacific has conducted a considerable amount of research on tires and tire advertising. One of the biggest blunders we have seen in recent years has been the shift by Michelin from its baby in the tire advertising to a refocus on the Michelin Man - Mr. Bibendum.
We can only guess that this change was brought on by new management at Michelin (not invented here - the previous management didn't know what they were doing philosophy) or present management just growing weary of the same old successful baby in the tire advertising. Remember, advertising is only as strong as the management directing it.
Michelin's Baby in the Tire Extremely Persuasive
In focus group after focus group one of the first things people remember about tire advertising is Michelin's baby in the tire campaign. The second is Goodyear's blimp. Michelin's baby-oriented theme ran for years - maybe decades and was respected for continuity almost as much as BMW's Ultimate Driving Machine message. The baby clearly communicated safety and security and hit the heart stings of every woman in the research.
One advertising critique describes the Michelin baby campaign this way: "The message here, of course, is "if you don't lay out the extra cash for Michelin tires, you are going to kill your own child." Too obvious and crude to fool anybody? Nope. "We are so proud of the impact the baby campaign has had over the years," remarks a Michelin "brand manager." "It's rare for an advertising campaign to have this kind of longevity and influence on an industry.""
So, faced with a long running successful campaign, Michelin shifted to the Michelin Man and killed the baby. Not that we don't like the Michelin Man, we do, but there probably was room for both.
Advertising Age Review of Michelin Advertising Over the Years
Advertising Age describes the Michelin Man advertising in glowing terms. Introduced in 1898, the Michelin Man was an idea conceived by Edouard Michelin. Advertising Age explains:
"Andre Michelin commissioned the creation of this jolly, rotund figure after his brother, Edouard, observed that a display of stacked tires resembled a human form. The artist's sketches of a bloated man made of tires was exactly what the brothers had in mind.
One in particular, picturing the character lifting a beer glass and shouting, "Nunc est bibendum! (Now is the time to drink!)" seemed to embody Michelin's slogan at the time, "Michelin tires swallow up all obstacles."
The artist reworked the hulking figure, replacing the beer bottle with a goblet of nails and glass that the character rose in a toast to all road hazards.
Today, the Michelin Man is one of the world's oldest and most recognized trademarks and it represents Michelin in over 150 countries."
In researching this brief blurb on Michelin's advertising, we found Google overflowing with links. A scholarly book has even been written on Michelin advertising. The review of the book is found below the fold.
Continue reading "Michelin Advertising - Suicidal Change?" »
The following story tracks the actual sales and service experience of long time AutoPacific project manager Mary Beth Martin. Mary Beth's husband leased her a new Mercedes GL450 from Fletcher Jones Motorcars. The GL450 is the top-of-the-line Mercedes SUV - not cheap by any means. Fletcher Jones is the largest Mercedes-Benz dealership in the USA if not in the world. Located in Newport Beach, California Fletcher Jones is admittedly a bit landlocked for the amount of business they push through the dealership, but that is a feeble excuse for the experience Mary Beth had when acquiring her new ride. Read on, the story will surprise you.
Nightmare at Fletcher Jones Motorcars
Purchasing or leasing a new vehicle is a wonderful thing or at least it should be! My husband surprised me with a new Mercedes GL 450 as an early Christmas present. He said all I had to do was pick out the color (I had already told him what features I wanted on my next vehicle), sign (documents) and leave (December 5th). He had prearranged the deal with a salesman at Fletcher Jones Motorcars in Newport Beach, California.
I need to give you a little background information: my husband arranged to lease two vehicles in the deal, one for myself and one for his partner’s wife. Both vehicles were to be GL450s equipped the same way (or were supposed to be). We were to sign for the vehicles and Fletcher Jones was to bill my husband's company. So I was all excited about my first luxury vehicle (my husband already has a S500, but my vehicle was a Ford Expedition schlepmobile) and since purchasing my Expedition had been wonderful I anticipated this to be even better (at least that is what the Mercedes and Fletcher Jones ads implied).
Read on for my story of woe...
Continue reading "Mercedes GL450 Buying Experience - Nightmare at Fletcher Jones" »
Acura (click here for our story) wasn't the only manufacturer exploring themes for more than ten years out at the November 2006 Los Angeles Auto Show, and not the only manufacturer who may have missed the mark.
Mazda developed the Nagare (pronounced na-ga-reh) concept to describe their future design themes, as an expression of where Mazda styling might be in 2020. Nagare is not only the name of this concept, but the name of Mazda's future design language. The word, according to Mazda, is Japanese for flow and the "embodiment of motion." Nagare is the first of several show properties being prepared for this year's auto show season that will explore this new surface language, each of which will take a different interpretation. Mazda promises some of the concepts we see this year will be closer to production; this Nagare is a design rather than a production expression.
Form Follows Function? Not Here
Nagare has a sleek, aerodynamic shape, but one that is difficult to reconcile with the concept of an "urban cruiser" for 2020 or any other decade. For one, the extreme aero look didn't leave much room for people, the most basic reason for having a vehicle. Placing the wheels at the extreme edges of every corner does promise strong and nimble handling and give the concept an aggressive stance. This concept stressed the soul of the sports car over the ability for people to ride in it. Though Mazda didn't actually show the concept property with doors open, it is designed with two forward-hinged double-length doors that open like butterfly wings. Nice and pretty and a configuration found on lots of concepts, but one that is rarely used in production, and even then typically for low-volume sports cars.
Continue reading "LA Auto Show – Mazda Nagare Concept" »
Maserati Teases Auto Press With MC-12
AutoPacific and VehicleVoice staffers dutifully attended the Maserati press conference, but you get the feeling that Maserati executives felt compelled to have a press conference at the 2006 (2006.5?) Los Angeles Auto Show. With a full 30% of Maserati’s US Sales coming from California, we would have expected more
While little news was shared, the press did have the opportunity to view a street version of the MC-12. The vehicle $1.5 million vehicle was provided by the Riverside Automotive Museum, which gives you the sense that it is more of a “piece” than a machine. US sales of 14 units are testament to its rarity... in fact, is it a real car?
Continue reading "LA Auto Show - Maserati MC-12" »
Honda's design facility in Torrance, California, has developed much of Acura's current lineup, including the TL, MDX, and RDX. And as Acura moves forward to become a global brand instead of only a North American one, Honda opens an Acura advance design studio in Pasadena, California, in 2007. It was that team that brought us the Advanced Sedan Concept at this November's Los Angeles Auto Show, and the studio that will be responsible for Acura's future design. The Advanced Sedan Concept is the first look at some of the studio's thinking.
ASC: A Controversial and Amateurish Cartoon of an Acura Flagship
The Advanced Sedan Concept is a possible direction for "the biggest and baddest luxury/performance sedan we could possibly" build, according to head of the new Advanced Design Studio Dave Marek. No specifications were given for this pure design study, which did not have a finished interior or running gear, but its proportions indicated a possible front engine, rear-wheel-drive layout. As a dream of a car that maybe twelve years from now could rival Bentley or Maybach for presence as well as performance, a rear-drive orientation is the one expected by those buyers.
Though the most controversial design execution at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the Acura ASC lacks maturity needed for a range-topping flagship. Even though it hints at an urgently needed rear-wheel-drive V8-powered platform that could propel Acura into the top tier of luxury brands along with Lexus and Infiniti, the design cues are amateurish at best. The grille is almost cartoonish. Perhaps Acura designers have overcompensated for past milquetoast efforts here.
In fact, this concept could be qualified to appear in the VehicleVoice "What Were They Thinking?" category.
Continue reading "LA Auto Show - Acura Advanced Sedan Concept" »
