ON THE TABLE

September 2, 2009

 Tata Motors. What part of "these frickin' car companies don't make any money" did you guys not understand? Tata Motors, India's largest vehicle maker, lost 3.29 billion rupees ($67.4 million) for April-June because of Jaguar and Land Rover. Why did they do the deal to begin with? Let's review: A longing for global respectability? Check. Desperately wanting to be a premium market player? Check. Unbridled arrogance? Absolutely. And judging by their public statements surrounding these dismal numbers, they still don't get it either. Memo to Charmian Ratan Tata:
It doesn't matter how many swoopy Jaguars or zooted-up Land Rovers you crank out, you made a huge play for two brands that will do nothing but hemorrhage money for years to come. Get used to it.

BBDO. After months of speculation and even more hand-wringing, the "new" Chrysler is opening up to other advertising agencies for its fourth-quarter ad campaign. BBDO, the long time Chrysler agency, is invited to participate in the creative "jumpball," but absolutely nobody believes they have a chance in hell of ultimately keeping the account long term. Stranger things have happened in this business, there's no doubt, but if we were picking the outcome, BBDO's tenure as Chrysler's ad agency is in its final death throes.

Precious Metals. If you're in the precious or rare earth metals business things are looking good, except for the fact that certain governments - China and Russia, for instance - are fully-prepared to use their resources as strategic weapons to protect their homegrown industries and enhance their profits. if you're in the auto biz, and you're focusing on building electric and hybrid vehicles, the fact that these rare earth metals are going to become even harder to come by and much pricier is a freight car full of neodymium of Not Good.

 Cerberus. From the "They Came, They Saw, They Fucked It Up" File comes word that Cerberus investors are so disgusted with chief Stephen Feinberg and co-founder William Richter that 71 percent of them are asking for their money back. The Cerberus play in the auto biz - something they were woefully ill-equipped for although they were the only ones who couldn't see it - will go down as one of the major miscalculations in American investment history. A three-headed dog bowl of Not Good.

GM. Not exactly red-hot here, but gangbusters in China, GM announced today that its sales would be up over 40 percent in 2009 from the previous year. GM's August sales doubled from a year earlier, and sales for the first eight months of this year are already up to 1.11 million. The Chinese government cut sales tax on smaller vehicles in half, which helped a lot, but still, GM's performance is eye-opening.

Publisher's Note: We're just finishing out a week with a 2009 Nissan 370Z. Our "Chicane Yellow" tester - really, guys, why would you name a color after the antitheses of speed on a road racing circuit? Stupid. I'm just sayin' is all - with carpeted floor mats ($115) and the $3,000 Sport Package (SynchroRev Match Manual, Viscous Limited Slip Differential, 19" RAYS Forged Wheels with P245/40R19 Fronts/P275/35/R19 Rear Tires, Front Air Dam and Rear Spoiler and Nissan Sport Brakes) for a grand total of $34,240 inc. $695 destination, is a study in contrasts. First of all the car looks hot, and I loved the surface detailing, as crazy as it was in places. And the wheels are sensational looking too. And dynamically it's all good with one of the best engines in the business that howls on command and really gets on with it. As a matter of fact everything about the act of driving this 370Z was all good: power, feel, steering, brakes. Absolutely no complaints and really fun to drive. I even grudgingly accepted the SyncroRev Match feature and grew to like exploiting it, especially for late braking down into a corner. I still prefer the old do-it-yourself way, but it worked every time and it was plenty fun. But that said, enjoyment of this machine requires you to ignore the interior, which is cartoonish, cheap looking, and frankly annoying. I didn't like anything about the interior. Not one thing. If you keep your eyes focused down the road and hammer the Z, none of that matters, of course. But if you have any time to dwell on the interior at all, not so much. And our biggest complaint was reserved for the rear edge of the doors, with its sharp metal edge that you have to consciously avoid if you want to avoid catching your clothes (or anything else for that matter). In short, the 370Z Sport is a blast to drive, a relatively excellent value and a really nice package for enthusiasts. Just don't spend too much time looking at the interior, and you'll be fine. - PMD

Supercars + Bad Drivers = Mayhem. WreckedExotics.com is having a contest to see when the first Ferrari F458 Italia meets its demise. The latest Ferrari supercar will be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show on September 15th. Since exotic supercars and inexperienced or flat-out bad drivers seem to be a predictably volatile mix - amazingly enough money doesn't seem to ensure competence behind the wheel (who knew?!) -  the website is having a contest to see how long before the first crash of a F458 Italia occurs. For the record, 17,300 Ferrari F360s were produced, and there were 403 documented crashes. That means, according to WreckedExotics, that at least 2.3% of all 360s have crashed. As for the F430, 10,000 were produced, with 96 documented crashes. WreckedExotics.com is giving away $500 to the person who comes closest to guessing the date of the first crash of the F458. Enter here.

Publisher's Rave: The fabulous Troy Roadster, built in 1959 by Wally Troy, is one of the most stunning "one-off" customs you'll ever see. We saw the car in person at Road America back in 2004 - we featured it on our site that year - and we still get requests asking "What is it?" usually followed by a "Wow!" Click here to see why it has to be considered one of the most beautiful creations from that era. - PMD

(Courtesy of BMW)
The IAA Frankfurt Motor Show opens to the media on September 15, 2009, and the BMW Group is going all out, exhibiting all three brands – BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars – under one roof. Europe’s latest and greatest state-of-the-art exhibition hall - Frankfurt Trade Fair’s new Hall 11 - will be accessible to visitors directly from the exhibition grounds’ new main entrance, and BMW is spending a boatload of cash to make sure that they're not missed. The highlight? BMW has built a circuit several hundred metres long running around the entire exhibition space on which the BMW EfficientDynamics fleet and vehicle premieres will be presented. Thomas Muderlak, responsible for the BMW Group’s exhibition concept at the IAA, had this to say: “Motor shows are an important aspect of our communication with customers, the media and trade visitors. We are delighted to maintain our tradition of hosting innovative displays at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show and present all three brands together for the first time. A highlight for our visitors will be the chance to experience our vehicles actually driving around the BMW stand: We will be interpreting the BMW brand’s motto of 'Sheer Driving Pleasure' quite literally." Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Cobo anymore...

(Courtesy of BMW)
BMW's Vision EfficientDynamics concept car, which will be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show next week, "clearly demonstrates that the EfficientDynamics objectives are fully compatible when applied to a sports car," according to a BMW release. The mid-engined 2+2-seater features plug-in full-hybrid technology and is the result of a “clean-sheet development process to ensure that the correct achievements were made in the areas of efficiency, driving pleasure, technology, and emotional design," BMW says (uh, we'll let you know about that last one, but right now, from where we sit, not so much - PMD). The powertrain in the VED concept combines a fuel-efficient 1.5-liter 3-cylinder turbodiesel delivering 163HP with one electric motor on each axle, providing a top speed (limited electronically) to 155 mph, with acceleration to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds. Average fuel consumption in the EU test cycle is 3.76 liters/100 kilometers, equal to 62.6 mpg, and the CO2 emission rating is 99 grams per kilometer. CO2 emission management is even better when driving in the all-electric mode after charging the battery from a plug-in source. Taking all emissions in the generation of electricity into account as prescribed by the EU formula, the BMW VED concept's emission rating is just 50 grams per kilometer. The overall system output is 356 horsepower, and peak torque is 590 lb-ft. The special arrangement of the two motors and diesel engine allows all-wheel drive when driving in all-electric mode. The result is minimum power loss and a harmonious transmission of the power available under all conditions.

(Courtesy of BMW)

See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" hosted by Autoline Detroit's John McElroy, with Peter De Lorenzo and friends this Thursday evening, September 3, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv.

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