SEPTEMBER 6, 2023

The original - and still our favorite - Autoextremist logo. 

The AE Quote of the Century: Everybody loves The High-Octane Truth. Until they don't. -WG 

(Jeep)

Editor's Note: On the heels of last week's global ad push for the Jeep Wrangler, Stellantis has launched a new commercial for the Grand Cherokee. "Dents" follows the story of a family through the years, as its older model Grand Cherokee gets various scrapes and blemishes, which only serve to make the dad reminisce about all of the family's experiences. "There are no dents or scratches. Only memories." No question, "Dents" is the kind of emotional storytelling that has become marketing chief Olivier Francois' trademark. But Jeep parent Stellantis is also confronting Jeep dealership inventory that is growing by the day, and Jeep is desperate to avoid a fifth consecutive year of declining sales in the U.S. Jeep sales fell 12 percent in the first half of 2023, which is the largest decrease among the top 33 brands and comes at a time when the industry overall gained 13 percent. -WG  Editor-in-Chief's Note: There's a lot of hand-wringing currently going on out in Auburn Hills about declining Jeep sales over the last four years. They're blaming various things - including our favorite, sunspots! - but the fact of the matter is Stellantis got greedy and jacked-up Jeep pricing to the point that it is turning off consumers in droves. Plus, consumers finally have a legitimate alternative in the Ford Bronco. Stellantis needs a serious reality check with the Jeep. If they want to arrest the sales slide, they need to cut Jeep prices by at least 15 percent, and Right Now. Will they do it? Oh, of course not. Greed is insidious in this business, and Stellantis operatives are consumed by it. -PMD


Editor-in-Chief's Note: It has been a long slide into mediocrity for Mercedes-Benz. After all, this is the company that nurtured one of the greatest advertising themes in automotive history - "Engineered Like No Other Car In The World" - for decades. That theme described Mercedes-Benz to a "T", at least for a while. The cars were special back then, and enthusiast consumers appreciated the nuances about owning a Mercedes. But just like seemingly every other car company in the world, Mercedes started to lose its grip on what made the cars special. The cars became uninspired, and it showed, and the knuckleheads in Mercedes-Benz marketing abandoned one of the greatest advertising themes of all time. They made a brief rebound with "The Best Or Nothing" - the company's original motto - but it didn't take, and Mercedes marketers floundered, right along with the rest of the company. "Defining Class since 1886" is one of the worst auto advertising themes ever created. As a car company, if you have to say it, this just in: you're the furthest thing from it. Mercedes-Benz executives and its marketing team seem hell-bent on relegating the brand to afterthought status. And they're succeeding. It's truly pathetic. -PMD

(BMW images)

With its BMW Vision Neue Klasse concept, the German manufacturer is showcasing what the next generation of its vehicles will look like. “The BMW Vision Neue Klasse combines our ability to innovate in the core areas of electrification, digitalization, and circularity,” says Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG. “In this way, we are always able to stay two steps ahead of the future: The Neue Klasse is already bringing the mobility of the next decade to the roads in 2025 – and leading BMW into a new era.” The Vision Neue Klasse will be unveiled for the first time in public at the IAA Mobility 2023 International Motor Show in Munich, and it "embodies a clear design language, with expansive surfaces and a just a few distinctive lines, that has been pared down to the essentials," according to BMW PR Minions. This approach "accentuates signature features like the BMW kidney grille and the Hofmeister kink of the side window graphic, giving the design even more of a BMW feel," according to BMW. The interior features the next generation of BMW iDrive, which will offer "a unique digital user experience that merges real and virtual worlds." Increased use of secondary raw materials, resource-efficient production, and a fully-electric drivetrain with sixth-generation BMW eDrive technology reduces the carbon footprint of the Neue Klasse across the vehicle lifecycle. “30% more range, 30% faster charging, 25% more efficiency – the Neue Klasse represents a major technological leap that will take EfficientDynamics to new heights. The same applies to its design – which could not be any more futuristic,” says Frank Weber, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Development. “With the Neue Klasse, we have embarked on the biggest investment in the company’s history. We are not just writing the next chapter of BMW; we’re writing a whole new book. That’s why the Neue Klasse will certainly impact all model generations.” That's a lot to chew on, but it will be a giant "We'll see" until it becomes closer to reality and the production-influenced versions begin to surface. Editor-in-Chief's Note: Gotta love those German auto execs. Circularity? WTF? My guess it has something to do with start-to-finish recycling, but again, WTF? As far as the design, it has potential (somewhat), but how they translate it to actual production will be another story all together. If it's the next-generation 3 Series I could see it - if I squint - but still, we'll just call it for exactly what it is: the latest and most giant "We'll see" yet. -PMD

(Mercedes-Benz images)

Mercedes-Benz is calling its Concept CLA Class "the electric future of desire." It is a preview of a new model family of electric vehicles. The German manufacturer says that the next-generation drivetrain will deliver a range of 466 miles, and its 800 V system will allow for rapid charging of up to 248 miles in 15 minutes. There was a lot of other stuff in the press release, but suffice to say, this is M-B's Tesla Model 3 fighter. We can't quite get past "the electric future of desire," however, as in, really?

(Alfa Romeo images)

Alfa Romeo introduces the rebirth of the “fuoriserie” (custom-built) 33 Stradale, "a genuine manifesto of the Italian brand’s capabilities – now and in the future – in terms of style and driving experience," according to Alfa Romeo PR Minions. With only 33 exclusive - and already sold - units, aligned with a unique artisan process, the new two-seater coupé "combines Alfa Romeo’s heritage and future as a symbol of noble Italian sportsmanship," according to the Italian manufacturer. Alfa Romeo’s new limited-edition car follows in the footsteps of an icon of the 1960s — the Tipo 33. Alfa Romeo plans for the new 33 Stradale to be "the ideal link between internal combustion and electric powertrain, achieved by tastefully and respectfully reinterpreting the design of the original car," Alfa's PR Minions continued. The 33 Stradale will come in two configurations: A V-6 twin-turbo delivering more than 620HP, eight-speed DCT gearbox, rear-wheel-drive and electronic limited-slip differential; and a BEV configuration that delivers more than 750HP with estimated range of 450 km (WLTP). Top speed is estimated to be 206 mph/333 km/h, 0 to 100 km/h in less than three seconds and braking from 100 km/h to 0 in under 33 m. Two trim levels will be available: Tributo and Alfa Corse. Handcrafted at the Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera, the tailor-made quality standards "guarantee obsessive attention to detail," according to the manufacturer. Each car is designed to be a unique, one-off work of art, becoming part of Alfa Romeo history. In order to deliver an unprecedented level of customization and to guarantee the uniqueness of each car, the brand has created the “Bottega,” a team of Alfa Romeo professionals who work closely with customers from the onset, to jointly create each car, unique in every detail, including personally signing the chassis number.

The AE Song of the Week:

Here I am waiting, I'll have to leave soon
Why am I holding on?
We knew this day would come, we knew it all along
How did it come so fast?
This is our last night but it's late
And I'm trying not to sleep
'Cause I know, when I wake
I will have to slip away

And when the daylight comes I'll have to go
But tonight I'm gonna hold you so close
'Cause in the daylight we'll be on our own
But tonight I need to hold you so close
Ooh whoa, ooh whoa, ooh whoa
Ooh whoa, ooh whoa, ooh whoa

Here I am staring at your perfection
In my arms, so beautiful
The sky is getting bright, the stars are burning out
Somebody slow it down
This is way too hard
'Cause I know, when the sun comes up
I will leave, this is my last glance
That will soon be memory

And when the daylight comes I'll have to go
But tonight I'm gonna hold you so close
'Cause in the daylight we'll be on our own
But tonight I need to hold you so close
Ooh whoa, ooh whoa, ooh whoa
Ooh whoa, ooh whoa, ooh whoa

I never wanted to stop
Because I don't wanna start all over, start all over
I was afraid of the dark
But now it's all that I want, all that I want, all that I want

And when the daylight comes I'll have to go
But tonight I'm gonna hold you so close
'Cause in the daylight we'll be on our own
But tonight I need to hold you so close

And when the daylight comes I'll have to go
But tonight I'm gonna hold you so close
'Cause in the daylight we'll be on our own
But tonight I need to hold you so close
Ooh whoa, ooh whoa, ooh whoa
Ooh whoa, ooh whoa, ooh whoa

Ooh whoa (yeah), ooh whoa (yeah), ooh whoa (yeah)
Ooh whoa (yeah), ooh whoa (yeah), ooh whoa


"Daylight" by Maroon 5, from the album 'Overexposed" (2012).* Written by Adam Levine, Mason David Levy, Max Martin and Samuel Denison Martin. Publisher: Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Universal Music Publishing Group. Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind. Listen to the original track here. 

*"Daylight" was co-written by Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine and Swedish hitmaker Max Martin. This bittersweet tale of a lover creeping away in the morning is one of several Overexposed tracks where Maroon 5 worked with chart-friendly songwriters. The album title itself is further evidence that on this record, the band are aiming to be a band whose music will be inescapable. "The title is kind of pre-emptively saying, 'Hey, we're overexposed. Deal with it,' " Levine told MTV News. "Bands like to do this thing where they're like, 'Oh, man, we just didn't know. Oh my God, it's so crazy, we just wrote this song,' and that's true, but we like that. We want to have that experience, we want to have hits, we want to have songs that, internationally, people are going to know." Maroon 5 played this at the Grammy Awards in 2013 with Alicia Keys. They also did Keys' "Girl On Fire" in the performance. (Knowledge courtesy of Songfacts.com)

Editor's Note: You can access previous issues of AE by clicking on "Next 1 Entries" below. - WG