ON THE TABLE
Tuesday, November 2, 2010 at 09:25AM November 3, 2010
Nissan. Editor-in-Chief's Note: If this is about putting your best foot, er face, forward, then these guys just blew it. The new print ad for Nissan's "Innovation for All" campaign that's debuting this week arrays all of its models front first (except for the Cube, which gets a rear view), with various descriptive lines using innovation beneath the photos, e.g. Nissan Leaf: "Innovation for the Planet" etc. Problem is, the dead front shots present the homeliest melange of piss-poor design executions and in some cases, like the Murano - just absolutely frightening - on the planet. Whatever the train of thought was that yielded this disaster needs to be derailed, because there isn't one image on there - well, except maybe for the Cube - that says "interesting" or "desirable" or, "yeah, I gotta get me one of those." You guys need to go back to the drawing board. Please.
GM. The headlines blared from the rooftops across the media yesterday as it was revealed that GM won't have to pay $45.4 billion in taxes on future profits, due to the tax benefit from tax-loss carry-forwards and other fine print details, which, as the Wall Street Journal explained: "allow companies to use losses in prior years and costs related to pensions and other expenses to shield profits from U.S. taxes for up to 20 years. In GM's case, the losses stem from years prior to when GM entered bankruptcy." Nice little chunk of change, no? We'd like to think that the "new" GM will use this windfall perk wisely and it will be all bunny rabbits and rainbows, but realistically, we'll settle for them not screwing things up again.
Corporate Jets. GM, already under the gun to sell its IPO, is also under the gun about how it will conduct its IPO road show, as in whether or not private jets should be used to get top executives around the country in an efficient manner. According to a Reuters report, Ed Whitacre - who took advantage of a provision in his 2007 retirement package from AT&T to fly home to San Antonio most weekends from Detroit when he served as GM CEO - said commercial flights would remain the rule for the IPO. "There are no private planes at GM, so there aren't many options," he told Reuters in late September. "You'll go public or drive." That is absolutely ludicrous, according to one (anonymous) banker, as Reuters reported: "It is nuts to think people are going to go wait through security lines. And the possibility you would have a missed flight and that that would affect your ability to sell stock? It would be the stupidest decision on the face of the planet. It's just dumb. It would be so penny-wise, pound-foolish it would be ridiculous." Yeah, dumb, like he said. And that's our AE Quote of the Week.
VW. More stupidity from those wonderful folks who thought that the Phaeton was right for this market, this time it's a $60,000+ Touareg Hybrid, which is already our leading candidate for the 2011 AE "Answer to the Question that Absolutely No One is Asking" Award. But we'll let longtime reader "JaredN" from Boston tell it like it is: "I suppose it was too much to expect that the VW brain trust had learned from the Phaeton Fiasco. But the latest evidence suggests that they have not learned a thing: the 2011 Touareg Hybrid will start at $60,565. These SUVs will fly off the VW lots almost as fast as the Routan." Thanks, Jared. And so true.
(BMW)
BMW Motorrad has unveiled the Concept C - for "commuter" at EICMA in Milan - calling it "a new dimension in the field of big scooters." Actually, two future production scooters to be exact. Powered by a two-cylinder inline engine in conjunction with CVT (continuously variable transmission), the Concept C features a highly complex monolever mechanism with hollowed-out shaft connected to a suspension strut visible from the outside. In this study, front-wheel control takes the form of an upside down fork. The Concept C also has twin disc brakes at the front and a single disc brake at the rear with BMW Motorrad ABS.
(Ford)
Part of the alluring aspect of the SEMA show is that it allows manufacturers to do stuff "just because." Like this "stealth" take on Ford's new Taurus Police Interceptor. "This car offered the perfect canvas for me as a designer," Ford designer Melvin Betancourt said. "The Police Interceptor sedan is already a unique vehicle. I just started looking at ways to give it that mysterious but high-tech look.” The stealth concept Interceptor is lowered an inch, and the special 22-inch wheels are inside a staggered rim section so the front is 3 inches and the rear is 3.5 inches. It also has a trick interior, which goes out of its way to conceal all of the usual police accoutrements. Betancourt used imagery of the famed Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" - the invincible and original U.S. stealth airplane - for inspiration as he customized the vehicle. The high-altitude, long-range reconnaissance aircraft was secretly designed in the late 1950s and early 1960s and was operational for three decades. Its top speed was more than three times the speed of sound and it set many records that have never been approached, including New York to London (World Record-Speed Over a Recognized Course): Distance: 3,461.53 statute miles. Time: 1hr 54 min 56.4 secs. Average Speed 1,806.95 statute mph, set on September 01, 1974, and London to Los Angeles (World Record-Speed Over a Recognized Course): Distance: 5,446.87 statute miles. Time: 3hrs 47min 39secs. Average Speed: 1,435.59 mph, set on September 13, 1974, just to name two. Now retired, the legendary Blackbird is considered by many aviation enthusiasts as the ultimate airplane. Nice tribute to a magnificent airplane, and one bad ass-looking police car.
(wikipedia)
(Ford)
To help celebrate the launch of the new Ford eBay online store, a pool table shaped like a Mustang will be on display on the Ford stand and available for auction Nov. 2-5 at the SEMA show. The pool table is molded from a 1965 Mustang and comes complete with working lights, alloy rims and wheels and chrome decals, bumpers and hardware. Uh, wow.
(GM)
Chevrolet will showcase a bunch of stuff at SEMA this week, including the Camaro Red Flash (above). Some of the other cars on display are below.
Silverado 3500HD Race Car Hauler and Camaro SSX Track Car Concept for the SEMA Show.
The Corvette Z06X Track Car Concept.
Chevrolet Cruze Z-Spec, Volt Z-Spec, and Spark Z-Spec Concepts.
(Honda)
Editor-in-Chief's Note: Honda presented twelve modified 2011 Honda CR-Z sport hybrid coupes at the 2010 SEMA Show this week. I guess since the production car is so tepid Honda was scrambling to say "Wait a minute, we have our shit together, really!" or something like that. Remember kids, you only get one shot in modern-day marketing, especially when it comes to cars. Get it wrong or not quite right, and that product is tainted until it's fixed or replaced with a new one. And even if you do fix it, inevitably the damage has already been done and the car's street image is forever "pegged" as being not quite ready for prime time. Thus the CR-Z frenzy at SEMA. Our favorite? The CR-Z Hybrid R Concept (above). Turbocharged (with 200HP) and tricked-out with performance clutch; limited-slip differential; track-tuned suspension; upgraded brakes and various aerodynamic tweaks, it's much more like it, even though it's not meant for the street. Memo to Honda: It's really not that hard once you get one with your mojo again. The trick is figuring out how to do it, and then doing it repeatedly. - PMD
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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
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