ON THE TABLE #434

February 27, 2008 

Steve Miller. In his new book, "The Turnaround Kid: What I learned Rescuing America's Most Troubled Companies," published by Harper Collins, the Delphi CEO pulls no punches with his accurate, searing assessments of some of Detroit's biggest names whom he encountered along the way and throughout his career. Miller nails Lee Iacocca for allowing success to go to his head, which turned "Lido" into an egomaniacal liability for Chrysler. And he dispatches the UAW front man, Ron Gettelfinger, with obvious glee. You can read more on Miller’s take on Gettelfinger and others in the business in the current issue of Fortune magazine in an excellent article by long-time Detroit observer Alex Taylor III, and in a book review by Allan Sloan.

BMW. Perennial success and growth doesn't last forever, just ask NASCAR. BMW announced it is eliminating 5,600 more jobs by the end of the year, which combined with the 2,500 job cuts already made makes for a total of 8,100 in the last year. BMW blamed the rising Euro for making its cars more expensive. We wonder. Or is it that BMW's quest to put the blue and white propeller in every garage in America is finally catching up with them? Luxury automakers who continue to try to be all things to all people do so at their peril.

American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. The ACEEE named the year's "greenest" and "meanest" vehicles, along with environmental scorings of all model year 2008 cars and passenger trucks. Predictably slamming diesels and high-performance cars, the obviously media-bite friendly list also excludes a lot of consumers for whom having affordable, reliable, previously-owned transportation is more important than making a "green" statement. But we're sure the ACEEE was quite proud of their little press release.

Ford. The new Ford Flex will have a base price of $28,995, including shipping, Automotive News has reported. That's for the FWD SE. A loaded AWD Flex Limited will come in at $37,255, including shipping. The Flex will be Ford's top-of-the-line crossover when it hits the market this summer.

Gary Shapiro. The CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association called for free trade and for open standards for automobile infotainment systems in a speech before the Detroit Economic Club on Monday. He pushed for open standards for devices and software in automobiles so that consumers can update their phone, navigation and music systems in their vehicles easily. He also chastised Detroit and Michigan politicians for opposing the free-trade agreements Congress is considering this year with Panama, Colombia and South Korea. He told reporters, “by doing that, it is short-sighted and it hurts Detroit. Everyone else thinks that Detroit is just a protectionist place and cannot compete in the free market. No one wants to buy cars from someone who has special protection.” Oh really, Gary? What about the millions of Americans who buy Japanese cars and trucks every year - the ones who come in with the "special protection" of yen manipulation - freely provided and endorsed by the Japanese government? That doesn't count, right? Right.

Hot Rodding. Word came today that Boyd Coddington, the master hot-rod innovator who made his reputation by crafting aluminum-intensive rolling sculptures and turning them into riveting works of art, died at the age of 63 of undisclosed causes. Coddington won the Grand National Roadster Show's America's Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) trophy a record seven times.
 

 
(Photo by J. Emilio Flores for General Motors)
Drivers of E85 ethanol fuel-capable vehicles lined up to take advantage of an 85-cents-per-gallon price promotion yesterday between 12:00 and 2:00PM at the opening of the first Los Angeles-area E85 ethanol fuel station - Conserv Fuel at 11699 San Vicente Blvd. in Brentwood, California. It was part of a GM-sponsored promotion to raise awareness about the station, and to encourage owners of the more than 46,000 FlexFuel vehicles in Los Angeles to use E85 instead of gasoline. GM has more than 2.5 million FlexFuel vehicles on the road today and is making a big push to add more to their lineup. 

(Photos courtesy of Maserati)
The Maserati GranTurismo GT will premier at the Geneva International Motorshow. The sport version of Maserati's beautiful coupe has a 4.7-liter, V8 that delivers 440 HP. Other features include an electro-actuated gearbox, high-performance Brembo brakes with front the brake discs made with dual-cast technology - ­ a dual casting of cast iron and aluminum - paired with aluminum mono-bloc 6-piston brake calipers, a few subtle exterior tweaks and an interior upholstered in Poltrona Frau leather and Alcantara with horizontal piping on the seats and seat backs.