ON THE TABLE

November 9, 2011

 GM. The automaker whose headquarters are hard by the Detroit River played hardball this week by pulling the plug on its involvement with Saab over the fact that the new Chinese owners would have been handed instant access to the GM technology that's in the Saab 9-4X. "Although General Motors is open to the continued supply of powertrains and other components to Saab under appropriate terms and conditions, GM will not agree to the continuation of the existing technology licenses or the continued supply of 9-4X vehicles to Saab following the proposed change in ownership as it would not be in the best interests of GM shareholders," GM said in a prepared statement. Good for them and it's about time. Other manufacturers could learn a thing or two by following GM's lead.

Akio Toyoda. According to a Reuters special report, the Toyota CEO wants to rejuvenate the "culture" at Toyota by going "back to the basics" of building cars that make people happy, like his grandfather once did. Uh, that's noble and all, Akio, but do you really think you can snap your fingers and make people giddy about driving Toyotas again? Really? There are too many excellent choices now from Korea, Germany and the U.S. for that to happen overnight. Now do you understand the real cost of Toyota being asleep at the wheel for 30 months? And oh by the way, with your latest quarterly profits plunging due to severe supply problems, it's hard to think about building "shiny happy" cars, isn't it?

Toyota. As if right on cue regarding the Toyota discussion this week, the company is now recalling 550,000 vehicles worldwide after the automaker detected a possible problem that may suddenly affect steering. About 80 percent of the vehicles are in the U.S. The recall includes Toyota and Lexus models. All together now: Not Good.

Mindless Consumer Zombies. From the "There's A Sucker Born Every Minute" File comes word that Jeep is releasing its 2012 Wrangler Call of Duty: MW3 Special Edition this week, corresponding with the launch of the destined-to-be-a-mega-hit video game of the same name from Activision. The new Wrangler comes in black or bright silver and features Call of Duty: MW3 Special Edition graphics on the front fenders and spare tire-cover, among other things. Inside, Call of Duty logos appear on the seats, the dashboard grab handle and floor mats. For that consumers get to pay $36,495 for the two-door Call of Duty special edition Wrangler, and of course more for the Unlimited four-door. No one has ever gone broke overestimating the taste of the American consumer public, in case you needed to be reminded of that fact.

(Photos courtesy of Ford)
The Ford Flex isn't going away, in fact Ford has improved it substantially for 2013. The Flex has extremely loyal owners who rave about the vehicle's utility and its, err, flexibility, and do so loudly. In fact the Flex has the strongest word-of-mouth of any vehicle in Ford's product portfolio. The new Flex features the improved and recently hyped MyFord Touch® system, new safety and driver-aid features such as adaptive cruise control, Ford’s Blind Spot Information System (BLIS®) as well as push-button start, rear inflatable belts, rain-sensing wipers and active park assist. Flex comes standard with a 3.5-liter Ti-VCT V6 that delivers 20 more horsepower and a projected 1 mpg better fuel economy, or the hot-rodded 3.5-liter EcoBoost® V6 engine. “Flex appeals to people who want to stand out from the crowd and has the highest retention rate of any vehicle in the Ford lineup,” said Mark Fields, president of The Americas. “With technologies not found in other full-size utilities, even better fuel economy and a more modern, sophisticated look, we’re offering people even more reasons to choose Flex with the new model.” The new Flex will be formally unveiled at the L.A. Auto Show.

Editor-in-Chief's Note: Check out the Michael Bay-directed trailer for the need Need for Speed video game "The Run," which will be out November 15th. Why? Just because. - PMD