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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , Etc. , Government/Legal , Hirings/Firings/Layoffs , Chrysler, LLC. , Ford , GM Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2008 Malibu Hybrid While it won't get him there as quickly (or as luxuriously) as a Gulfstream corporate jet, GM CEO Rick Wagoner will drive to Washington this week in a Chevrolet Malibu hybrid to ask for taxpayer-funded bridge loans. Last month, Wagoner, Ford CEO Alan Mulally and Chrysler LLC CEO Robert Nardelli, all received some serious flak from both lawmakers and the public when they arrived in Washington via three separate private jets while begging for $25 billion in federal money. All are expected to take alternate forms of transportation this time around, with Mulally already announcing plans to drive a Ford Escape Hybrid . Simple math says Wagoner's Malibu hybrid should only burn about 15 gallons of fuel during the 520-mile trek from Detroit to Capitol Hill, costing the automaker about $30 in gasoline...
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Filed under: Etc. , Euro , Chrysler, LLC. , Ford , GM , Porsche Little guy Porsche is taking huge swings, and not just at the giant that is Volkswagen. Porsche head Wendelin Wiedeking had fierce Teutonic words for General Motors and Ford, and banks. His Rindfleisch - beef, that is - with U.S. automakers is that, through unsound practices, they have thrown absolutely everything into turmoil. In the words of the Guardian, in fact, they have driven "the industry to the brink of ruin." Those are big and perhaps hyperbolic words. But he then singles out GM for "openly threatening" the U.S. Government with bankruptcy, and predicts a hedge fund will take control of "one of the U.S. car manufacturers." Since Chrysler is already controlled by a hedge fund, that only leaves GM and Ford as the possible subjects of that comment. We can't imagine a hedge fund trying to swallow GM or Ford, especially after Cerberus has taken such a beating with Chrysler that seemingly...
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Filed under: Etc. , Government/Legal , Chrysler, LLC. , Ford , GM , UAW/Unions When Congress wants to hand out money, it apparently wants to include everybody. Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, is likely to propose a measure that lets automakers tap into the $700 billion vein of rescue dollars that's ostensibly intended for financial institutions, yet is being hungrily eyed by everyone. CEOs from Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler will make the trek to Washington, DC, as will UAW chief Ron Gettelfinger. All will be pleading their collective case for an estimated $100 billion-plus vitamin pill. Many, not the least of whom is Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, think that automakers should not be allowed to snag some of the cash that's intended for financial institutions. Things look bleak for all three of the brands, but can Congress be moved to offer up some money and prolong the jobs of so many Americans? Even if the automakers get the $100 billion...
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Filed under: Etc. , Chrysler, LLC. , Ford , GM , Volkswagen In 2001, General Motors needed a revival and Bob Lutz was anointed The One. It was widely accepted that if anyone could breathe life into a struggling car company, it was him. Fast-forward seven years, and GM is in the midst of a possible government bailout while its stock price sinks faster than a HUMMER's gas gauge on the freeway. It would seem that Maximum Bob's legendary straight-talking reputation for taking no prisoners and slicing through corporate red tape hasn't produced the results his supporters expected. So if Bob Lutz can't save Detroit, who can? Steve Jobs, that's who. At least that's what Pulitzer Prize-winning Thomas Friedman says in his New York Times column. While some might be averse to the company, its products and/or its leader, Apple has made a ton of money while re-defining the computer, music and mobile phone industries. Isn't innovation what Detroit needs most? What Friedman...
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Filed under: Etc. , Chrysler, LLC. , Ford , GM , Volkswagen In 2001, General Motors needed a revival and Bob Lutz was anointed The One. It was widely accepted that if anyone could breathe life into a struggling car company, it was him. Fast-forward seven years, and GM is in the midst of a possible government bailout while its stock price sinks faster than a HUMMER's gas gauge on the freeway. It would seem that Maximum Bob's legendary straight-talking reputation for taking no prisoners and slicing through corporate red tape hasn't produced the results his supporters expected. So if Bob Lutz can't save Detroit, who can? Steve Jobs, that's who. At least that's what Pulitzer Prize-winning Thomas Friedman says in his New York Times column. While some might be averse to the company, its products and/or its leader, Apple has made a ton of money while re-defining the computer, music and mobile phone industries. Isn't innovation what Detroit needs most? What Friedman...
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Filed under: Etc. , Ford , GM , Humor Click above to enlarge Credit Ford with a classy move yesterday when it strategically left the blinds open in certain offices at its World Headquarters in Dearborn. The effect was a building-sized birthday card congratulating its cross-town competitor, General Motors, on making it 100 years in the automotive business. Ford celebrated its centennial a few years back, so knows how much fun the big 1-0-0 can be. And though they're technically competitors in this grueling business, both Ford and GM often find themselves in the same boat when it comes to battling imports for market share, appealing to the federal government for loans and generally doing their best not to make Detroit an embarrassment. Did you know that GM almost bought Ford back in the day? The man responsible for making GM what it is today, Billy Durant, made Henry Ford an offer of $8 million to buy his six-year-old car company on October 5, 1909... and Ford accepted. Unfortunately...
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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show , Etc. The North American International Auto Show is by far the largest auto show in North America, but the small, aging facility that houses the new car party is prompting automakers to ditch the event all-together. In response to news that Suzuki has joined Porsche in bowing out of the 2009 show, the city of Detroit is rushing a $90M plan to increase floor space by 80,000 sq. ft. The move is seen as a stop-gap measure, with other more grand plans still on the way at a later date. With far superior facilities in New York, Chicago, and LA, Detroit may not have long to act. For people in the Detroit area, the Cobo expansion has been a hot topic of conversation, but one that typically doesn't get beyond the talking stage. If area executives continue to try to one-up each other, argue and get nothing done, more automakers are likely to bow out in the future. [Source: Detroit News ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Etc. , Ford , GM Of all the preposterous ideas floated around this, the new automotive landscape, none seem as ridiculous as Ford and General Motors merging together to create a singular domestic monolith. But according to a BusinessWeek source, the idea was recently floated by execs during a meeting of the General's generals... and then shot down moments later. While we wouldn't describe this as a close call, the fact that it was even mentioned speaks volumes about the dire straits Detroit's Big 3 (or 2.8, if you prefer) are in. Between plummeting sales, increased material costs, high fuel prices and union woes, both automakers are facing seemingly insurmountable challenges. But creating a $350 billion bloated corporate entity with excess production capacity, weak brands and more cannibalizing product overlap than has ever been seen, there's no doubt that it would be suicide for all involved. Not to mention the fact that the amount of resources necessary to...
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Filed under: Tuners , Etc. , Chrysler , Ford , GM , Misc. Auto Shows The Woodward Dream Cruise is one of the biggest events in Michigan all year, with 1.2 million people attending and over 40,000 hot rods, exotics, antiques and oddities coming from near and far to one of the world's most storied roads. Yet each year businesses on the cruise route complain that the annual event actually hurts their bottom line. It isn't so much the weekend that kills profits as it is the fact that cruisers plug up Woodward for the entire week before the big cruise on Saturday. Organizers of the big event may have helped these businesses by transforming the Woodward-centric cruise into a nine day mega-event that spans into the city of Detroit and other surrounding areas. Some of the new events includes a low-rider competition to kick off the event on August 8 to an AutoblogGreen-friendly green car show, motorcycle show, and a Model T event. Sprinkling cruise events around southeast Michigan will give...
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Filed under: Time Warp , Trends , Coupes , Etc. , Chevrolet , Chrysler , Dodge , Ford , GM We've heard this tune before. Automakers have pushed vehicles to the zenith of attainable on-road performance, with even family vehicles being outfitted with fire-breathing engines. Anything you buy today will run rings around the performance cars of yore. Boomers may get misty-eyed about how great the glory days of the 1960s were for hot cars, but that's just the filthy exhaust clouding their judgement. The golden age of performance is now. Just as it went down nigh on 38 years ago, big V8 thumpers are having their death knell sounded. Scott Burgess posits in the Detroit News that the muscle car formula could undergo some revision. Burgess spoke with GM's Troy Clarke, who thinks that muscle cars will evolve into vehicles that sell more on the strength of their style and innovation, rather than live axles and cubic inches. We agree that there will be widespread evolution and experimentation...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Etc. , Earnings/Financials It was the best of times, it was the worst of times - it was 2007. Topping the sales figures for the year that almost was are mainly service vehicles, while the more ostentatious, less useful cars round out the bottom-feeder roster. Family cars at the top and niche cars in the basement doesn't tell the entire story, though. Yes, there are some cars that you expect would sell in small volumes. Sporty things like the Porsche Boxster, Vette-in-drag Caddy XLR , blob-tacular Lexus SC430 , and Audi A8/S8 über-sedan all sold in expected tiny numbers for such specialized machinery. Rounding out the nadir of automotive sales, you'll find nearly every Jaguar model, and some dead-on-the-vine products like the Mazda B-series pickups (Ford Ranger) and Isuzu Ascender (Chevy Trailblazer). Hit the jump to read more, and see the list [Source: Motor Authority] Continue reading MSNBC names the best and worst selling of 2007 Read | Permalink...
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Filed under: Etc. , Chrysler , Ford , GM Ford and General Motors froze merit pay raises for white collar workers for one year, and as we reported last week, Ford is set to reinstate them next year . GM has just announced similar plans to bring back the merit-based raise for its salaried employees, as well. The raises will be paid starting next year, contingent on continued overall (global) rosiness in the business, but any increases will be "based on employee performance." The General, however, has also set up a merit fund from which to dole out the money. Merit pay seems to be an on-again-off-again thing. GM and Ford did not give out merit pay this year, but Chrysler did. Chrysler did not pay merit raises in 2006, but GM and Ford did. And Chrysler doesn't know if it will hand out merit pay next year. The raises don't affect hourly employees, whose pay is determined by mutually agreed upon UAW contracts. [Source: Detroit News] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Etc. , Tech , BMW , DaimlerChrysler , Ford , GM Popular Mechanics is handing out its breakthrough awards , and Ford's SYNC made its way into the tech magazine's top 10 breakthrough products. SYNC's reasonable $395 price tag and voice recognition capability gave Ford and Microsoft's joint project the edge, and Popular Mechanics also really liked the fact that SYNC can read your text messages to you. SYNC will be available on 12 Ford products for the 2008 model year, with more availability in 2009. Ford wasn't the only automaker to make its way onto the breakthrough award list, either. GM, BMW, and DaimlerChrysler's joint Two-Mode Hybrid project was also recognized for its ability to save fuel on the gas guzzlers that need it most. [Source: Popular Mechanics] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Etc. , Plants/Manufacturing , Chrysler , Ford , GM , Honda , Volkswagen A series of recent bombings targeting natural gas pipelines in southern Mexico has now caused five carmakers to halt production in the country. The attacks have apparently...
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Filed under: Etc. , Ford , GM One of the staples of the magazine business is generating lists. There are lists of sexiest, richest, overrated, upcoming and more. Time magazine is no stranger to such lists and their latest effort is a list of Top 50 Worst...
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