Issue 1275
November 27, 2024
 

About The Autoextremist

Peter M. DeLorenzo has been immersed in all things automotive since childhood. Privileged to be an up-close-and-personal witness to the glory days of the U.S. auto industry, DeLorenzo combines that historical legacy with his own 22-year career in automotive marketing and advertising to bring unmatched industry perspectives to the Internet with Autoextremist.com, which was founded on June 1, 1999. DeLorenzo is known for his incendiary commentaries and laser-accurate analysis of the automobile business, automotive design, as well as racing and the business of motorsports. DeLorenzo is considered to be one of the most influential voices commenting on the business today and is regularly engaged by car companies, ad agencies, PR firms and motorsport entities for his advice and counsel.

DeLorenzo's most recent book is Witch Hunt (Octane Press witchhuntbook.com). It is available on Amazon in both hardcover and Kindle formats, as well as on iBookstore. DeLorenzo is also the author of The United States of Toyota.

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The Autoextremist - Rants


Monday
Nov072022

SAME AS IT EVER WAS.

By Peter M. DeLorenzo

Detroit. Today’s column will be, well, a little different and unexpected, because as long as we’re living in this automotive Twilight Zone between the end of the ICE era and the dawn of the BEV era, things are bound to be more than a little unsettled. Or boring. Or both. It seems like the entire industry is lost in that traditional mindset of "It won't be long now!" Translation? Give us another year and we'll be smokin'. In the meantime, have another SUV and you'll be fine. Or something like that. If the boring and soulless EQE SUV and AMG EQE SUV are the best Mercedes can do for its EV SUV entrants, then we are doomed, and this industry is officially out of ideas. (See them again in this week's On The Table. -WG) With that in mind then, I have a few questions for you (as inspired by one of my heroes, David Byrne)...

Go ahead and ask yourself
What am I doing?
Go ahead and ask yourself
And what is it for?
Go ahead and ask yourself
Am I going where I want to go?
Go ahead and ask yourself
Or am I just running in place?
 
Go ahead and ask yourself
Is this as good as it gets?
Go ahead and ask yourself
Or am I missing something?
Go ahead and ask yourself
Is this the life I signed up for?
Go ahead and ask yourself
Or am I going through the motions?
 
Go ahead and ask yourself
Am I spending my time asking why?
Go ahead and ask yourself
Or am I living for why not?
Go ahead and ask yourself
Do I have it finally figured out?
Go ahead and ask yourself
Or am I closer to where I started?
 
Go ahead and ask yourself
Have I stopped learning?
Go ahead and ask yourself
Or am I better than yesterday?
Go ahead and ask yourself
Are my regrets stifling my soul?
Go ahead and ask yourself
Or is my past fueling me forward?
 
You may ask yourself
Am I still writing chapters?
You may ask yourself
Or is it time for my next act?
You may ask yourself
Is this all there is?
You may ask yourself
Or am I good right here?
 
You may ask yourself
Is it time to run?
You may ask yourself
Or can I run but not hide?
You may ask yourself
Is this the best me?
You may ask yourself
Or a pathetic facsimile?
 
You may ask yourself
Am I ready for The Future?
You may ask yourself
Or am I mired in the way it used to be?
You may ask yourself
Will it really be all that new?
Or will it be the same as it ever was?

I’ll leave it to The Man himself, Mr. Byrne, to close things out:

You may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
You may ask yourself
Where does that highway go to?
And you may ask yourself
Am I right? Am I wrong?
And you may say yourself
"My God! What have I done?"

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




Editor's Note: You can access previous issues of AE by clicking on "Next 1 Entries" below. - WG