January 13, 2010
"Big Ed" Whitacre. GM PR's orchestrated charm offensive for GM's chairman and acting CEO was turned up a few notches in last Sunday's Detroit Free Press. The Tim Higgins cover story stopped short of saying that "Big Ed" lassoed a tornado with a rattle snake in his spare time as if he was the Second Coming of Pecos Bill, but it was filled with enough "aw, shucks" anecdotes from his AT&T stint by the end of the story that you couldn't help but get the distinct impression that "Big Ed" was a damn nice guy and that this industry was damn lucky to have him too. Uh, there's another side to "Big Ed," folks, but for the foreseeable future we're only going to be subjected to the "aw shucks" stuff. Don't worry, the other "Big Ed" Whitacre will emerge soon enough.
Audi. Hands down the classiest display, the most impressive production vehicle lineup, the finest hospitality – kudos to Cori the bartender, btw – the best of everything. Talk about a company that has it goin’ on…BMW. They redeemed themselves - at least somewhat anyway - by showing the 2010 S1000RR super bike in their display. Cool. Chrysler. Publisher’s Note: What possessed anyone at Chrysler to think that throwing in a Maserati Spyder, a Fiat 500 Abarth, a Fiat 500 Electric and a Ferrari 599XX race car into the middle of the Chrysler display at Cobo Hall would make any sense whatsoever is beyond me. It not only didn’t make any sense, it only served to underline the extreme apples and oranges nature of this enterprise from the get-go. The comely eye candy models – who were flown in specially from Europe for the occasion - were show-stoppers, there’s no doubt, but that didn’t cover up the fact that those cars had no business being in the display and should be kept as far away as possible from the mess that Chrysler is right now, and in the future, too, for that matter. – PMD
The Bentley Mulsanne. The “Frankly, My Dear, I don’t Give a Damn” Award goes to the Bentley Mulsanne. We couldn’t help but mention the Mulsanne again, because from its “Gatling Gun” LED headlights to its beyond-category sumptuous interior, if you absolutely, positively need the latest rolling expression of “fuck you” money, this is your ride.
BYD Auto. Henry Li, the general manager of BYD's auto export division says the company is going to begin selling an electric car in California by the end of the year. Yeah, now there's a way to instill confidence in the future credibility of Chinese automakers in the U.S. No crash testing requirements completed. Check. No dealers to speak of. Check. A firm grip on well, nothin'. Check. Warren Buffet or no Warren Buffet, you're more likely to see the debut of Fu-King Motors at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show than you'll see BYD Auto here by the end of the year. Here's an idea, Mr. Li: Sit down and shut up.
It's a Craptastic World After All. Acura (ZDX), BMW (5 Series GT) and Honda (Crosstour) demonstrated that the degradation of mainstream automotive design is well under way. If it was up to us we'd take all of those vehicles by crane out of Cobo Hall and dump them in the Detroit River.
(Ford)
The 2011 Mustang GT will make its hip-hop debut alongside Grammy Award-winning artist Nelly as part of his upcoming album’s artwork. DUB Magazine tricked-out a 2011 412HP 5.0-liter Mustang GT for the 35-year-old rapper, actor and mogul that features a gloss black exterior paint job, flat black racing stripes, a billet grille, hood scoop, tinted taillights, angel eyes headlights, a Borla exhaust and a Street Scenes body kit complete with 22-inch Pirelli tires in the front and 24-inch tires in the rear. In addition, the interior is a complete suede and leather design with a custom JL Audio system that includes two 12-inch subwoofers, amps and speakers. “I don’t care where you grew up, everyone knows the Mustang. At some point, you’ve had a conversation about a Mustang – and it was probably one about you wanting to get behind the wheel of one,” says Nelly. “I’ve always loved the Mustang; the vehicle has power to the point where you can’t help but want to hit the pedal. And the newest one? More power, hotter style.” The project came to life after the artist caught a glimpse of the vehicle while inside the walls of Ford’s design studio a little more than a year ago as part of a partnership tied to the launch of the 2009 Ford Flex. Since then, Nelly has collaborated with Ford’s design team and DUB’s customization team to make the Mustang his own while still keeping the vehicle true to its muscle car roots. Crystal Worthem, Ford’s Multicultural Marketing communications manager, says Nelly is an amazing partner for Ford. “Nelly is a true car guy, there’s no denying that. When Nelly expressed interest in wanting to partner with Ford on the all-new 2011 Ford Mustang GT, we knew it was a perfect fit,” said Worthem.
(Ford)
Grammy Award-winning artist Nelly talks to the media about his tricked-out 2011 Mustang GT at the Detroit Auto Show Tuesday afternoon.
WE'RE OPENING THE VAULT!
The AE wearables are back - and only in extremely limited quantities and sizes, we might add - and once they're gone, they're gone! We're starting with our most popular items, the classic AE Sweatshirt and AE Hat. Click on a PayPal button below to order yours now! (If you prefer to pay by check, please send us an email with AE STORE in the subject line, and we'll reserve your item.)
AE Sweatshirt - Crewneck, sturdy 80/20 cotton/poly, in black with throwback lettering - the original AE logo in our Chiller typeface shown above. Size XL only. 40 bucks, including shipping. US orders only.
AE Hat - Black with throwback lettering - the original AE logo in our Chiller typeface shown above. 25 bucks, including shipping. US orders only.
Publisher's Note: Check-out John McElroy's daily news show covering everything about the auto biz by clicking on the graphic below. Good stuff guaranteed. - PMD
See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" hosted by Autoline Detroit's John McElroy, with Peter De Lorenzo and friends this Thursday evening, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv. By the way, if you'd like to subscribe to the Autoline After Hours podcasts, click on the following links: Subscribe via iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=311421319 http://www.autolinedetroit.tv/podcasts/feeds/afterhours-audio.xml
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