ON THE TABLE #446

May 21, 2008

Honda. The Japanese company announced that it will offer a gas-electric hybrid version of its next-generation Fit in 2010. The gasoline-powered version of the new Fit arrives in the U.S. this coming fall. The new Fit debuted at the recent New York auto show, and it's destined to be even hotter in-market than the current one.

VW. VW has just announced pricing on its unfortunately named Tiguan small SUV, and once again, they're coming in too expensive for the segment. The AWD model starts at $29,515 and will be positioned as being "GTI-like" as opposed to other small SUVs. Right. It's just stunning to us that VW's overlords in Germany keep making the same mistakes over and over and over again here in the U.S. market. It's as if they wake-up and press the re-set button each and every day, with no accumulated knowledge clouding their brains whatsoever. They're clearly out of touch with reality and have been for years, but it's still flat-out unbelievable every time they do it yet again.

Porsche. Denying that they're going to be building the Cayenne in a new VW factory slated to open in the U.S. in 2010 is kind of pathetic, isn't it? Especially when word has leaked out that VW already plans on building the Touareg and the Audi Q7 there.

Automotive News. Nice job on your "Nissan's 50 years in America" special section in this week's issue. Featuring the people and their stories was a nice touch (at least some of the people anyway), and we got to see ex-client Joe Opre again, which was shocking.

The "New" Nissan. After posting the above item we heard from multiple sources within and outside Nissan who verify that Automotive News had to dig deep to do their piece on the company. We understand that when AN showed up to study company assets for the 50th Anniversary issue, they were pointed to a couple of cardboard boxes in the corner. When asked what was in them they were told "We don't know." The current Nissan management doesn't think much of the company's rich history here in the U.S. apparently.

WPP Group. In what is being hailed by Ad Age as "one of the ad world's most closely watched experiments," the new agency formed by ad juggernaut WPP Group to handle the Dell business will be called Synarchy. WTF? AdverDell was already taken? According to Wikipedia, synarchy has Greek roots, referring to joint rule or harmonious rule - but it also refers to an obscure political theory and can be found in references to rule by secret societies or secret elite. Needless to say, the name has captured the attention of the blogosphere, which has heaped derision on Synarchy ever since WPP's announcement of the name. We can't believe that this was the best that the vaunted WPP (and its branding firm Landor Associates) could do. Even the placeholder name - Project DaVinci - was better. Of course, the agency is now back-peddling a bit, saying they must see if Synarchy works for all of Dell's international markets and intended usage. If they stick to the name - which would be tragic - they deserve all the synarchasm that comes their way.

(PPG)
This is the "Ferrambo," the 2008 winner of the Ridler Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the world of custom automobiles. The award is presented to the most outstanding new custom car making its debut appearance at the Detroit Autorama, held each year in March. It marks the second time in three years that a PPG finish has adorned the Ridler Award winner. The Ferrambo features Ferrari 360 Modena mechanicals wrapped by the much-modified vintage skin of a 1960 Rambler wagon, a creation built from the combined talents of Divers Street Rods, Startup, WA, and Ferrambo owner Mike Warn, president of Gran Prix Imports, Wilsonville, OR. “True to its promise, PPG provided us with the most beautiful and reliable finish possible,” explained shop owner Tim Divers. “The PPG Ferrari Rosso Corsa Red color chosen for Ferrambo really delivered.” Shawn McNally and Jim Lykken executed the flawless PPG finish and PPG custom painter Paul Stoll provided support to the Divers crew.