ON THE TABLE

May 19, 2010

Joel Ewanick. Editor-in-Chief's Note: Well, well, well, that didn't take long. Joel Ewanick has yanked the main ad work on the Chevrolet account away from Publicis Groupe's Publicis and assigned it to Omnicom Group's Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. Ewanick had a previous working relationship with Jeff Goodby when he was at Hyundai. Anyone who actually thought "Excellence for All" was going to survive under Ewanick's watch is sadly delusional. And guess what? If I were at Bartle Bogle Hegarty - Cadillac's "new" ad agency - I'd cinch up my chin strap and get ready for a battle, because "Mark of Leadership" isn't long for this world, either. In the immortal words of the Wicked Witch of the West, "Oh what a world, what a world..." - PMD

GM. The "Big Ed" Whitacre-led RenCen bunch posts a $865 million first-quarter net profit, and says its operating profit from January through March was $1.2 billion. They even made money in North America, which is almost unheard of. The news even ramped-up talk of GM going public by the end of the year. High fives all around? Not so fast, Ke-mo sah-bee. GM is still in the deepest, darkest of woods, and anyone who thinks different is simply kidding themselves. This all could go south at any moment - especially in Europe - and until GM sustains this kind of momentum through four straight quarters, we're still calling it a giant "We'll see" here at AE.

Don Butler, Cadillac. Editor-in-Chief's Note: The head Cadillac marketing guy tells Chrissie Thompson from Automotive News that Joel Ewanick won't rock the boat all that much as the new chief marketer for GM. As a matter of fact, Butler thinks the new "Mark of Leadership" campaign is safe. "The last thing you want to do is start rocking and shaking and just kind of moving things around for the sake of moving things around," Butler told Thompson last week. "I would imagine, given the success that he's had, he's going to take time to listen and understand." Really, Don? You actually think the "Mark of Leadership" campaign has a snowball's chance in hell of surviving, long term or otherwise? Optimism and positive thinking can be good qualities, but abject refusal to acknowledge reality is never a good thing. The clock is clicking on Cadillac's precious new ad campaign and I'll be shocked if it survives the summer. But Butler gets our AE Quote of the Week anyway. - PMD

OnStar. Refusing to wave the white flag of surrender to Ford's SYNC, GM's OnStar telematics unit is coming out swinging by bringing Google mobile navigation technology to Chevrolet Volt drivers using Google's Android operating system. OnStar is demonstrating the technology at an Android software developer's conference that starts today in San Francisco. This announcement follows a Volt smartphone application that was announced in January by OnStar. The new Google app will be available to Volt buyers when the car launches late next fall, and it will work with the Apple iPhone, the Blackberry Storm and the Android Motorola Druid.

Bob Lutz. Yesterday was "Maximum Bob's" last official day at GM, with a round of internal celebrations to mark the occasion. The Detroit News reports that at Bob's Tech Center send-off - which was a rousing success complete with video highlights set to the song "Danger Zone" from the movie "Top Gun" - Bob threatened to come back and kick-ass if GM gets off-course again. "If I see things going wrong, there will be the ghost of Bob Lutz," he said, "and it ain't going to be friendly." And that's our AE Quote of the Week, Part II.

VW, Italdesign. The German automaker is going to buy a majority stake in Italy's largest design and engineering firm, Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A., according to industry sources and confirmed to Automotive News Europe. VW and the Giorgetto Giugiaro-owned company already have a deep relationship, with the Italian design firm responsible for a tremendous amount of design and engineering work for VW, and the announcement could come as early as next week. Now, if we can just get VW to stand down from naming their vehicles for this - or any other market - and get some professional help in that matter - like from The Naming Group in New York - they might really get it goin' on...

Shift. The new book you won't see a review of here? Shift by Peter Arnell, a tome about everything he knows - allegedly - about branding. Ugh. That there are still people out there who buy into this charlatan's relentless charade of self-promotion and rampant, out-of-control egoism is beyond us. Flat-out one of the most insufferable, woefully misguided flim-flam artists of his time, a better title would have been Shaft, for all of the money he's looted from clients over the years. Truly pathetic.

Jean Halliday. The savvy advertising industry reporter and frequent Autoline Detroit panelist has started her own ad blog. Tune in here to get her latest thoughts on the biz.

(BMW)
BMW Group Olympic ambassador Katarina Witt checks out the BMW Group Environmental wind tunnel in the company's new Energy and Environmental Test Center.

(BMW)
Katarina lookin' hot as ever in the new BMW Climatic wind tunnel, part of the BMW Group's new Energy and Environmental Test Center.

Editor-in-Chief's Note: Our "quick take" this week covers two vehicles, the VW GTI, and the Hyundai Sonata SE. I raved about the VW Golf TDI with its double-clutch tiptronic 6-speed automatic a few weeks ago, and I expected the GTI to be even better. A lot better. I wasn't disappointed. For my money the GTI is the most seductive combination of performance, fun-to-drive and overall operating efficiency in the market. Throw in its daily usability and versatility and it just may be the best all-around enthusiast vehicle available today. Period. Oh, and did I mention that it's fun to drive? You can trundle along in "D" dealing with the daily absurdities of urban commuting and errand running, and the GTI just does fine as a (relatively) low-profile conveyance. (Just don't check "Tornado Red" on the order form, trust me. It's much too loud for repeat offenders.) Or, you can slip the 6-speed tiptronic into "S" and hammer this little rocket like there's no tomorrow, and it flat gets it. Shockingly so, even. (VW engineers have the 2.0-liter turbocharged, 200HP, direct-injected 4-cylinder dialed-in to the point that it's damn near perfect in all driving situations, and that's saying something.) Add in the excellent fit and finish and high quality materials in the interior - including a perfectly-executed multifunction steering wheel with just the right thickness - and you have a tremendously satisfying enthusiast package that is almost impossible to beat. As you may have guessed by now, I just can't say enough about the VW GTI. Memo to the boys and girls in Dearborn: The high-performance version of the new Focus - whenever it may get here (I'm guessing 18 months from now, minimum) - had best be dramatically better than the next GTI. Anything less and you will come up very, very short. - PMD

2010 VW GTI: $28,084 ($23,290 base price, Tornado Red, Titan Black leather interior, Autobahn Package – partial leather seat covering, power sunroof, front sport seats, $2,795; 6-speed automatic with tiptronic, $1,100; Bluetooth connectivity, $199; Destination charge, $700)

Editor’s Note: I spent three days with the 2011 Hyundai Sonata SE (in Pacific Blue Pearl with Gray Cloth) and I am still blown away. Not by its looks, although it definitely has style (contemporary, almost elegant, if derivative). Not by its features, although it is impressively equipped (power this and that, steering wheel controls, leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, etc.). Not by its performance, although it’s perfectly competent (noisy engine, however, and noisy overall on the highway). No, what I’m still blown away by is the price – $22,595. (And that’s the base price for the up-level SE; the GLS base is $19,995.) This car for that price is damn impressive. (Our test vehicle arrived right on the heels of a radio blitz that advertised a $199 a month lease on the Sonata. Even if it’s the GLS trim level, this is a screamin’ deal.) So my lasting memory is more about the price than the car, but maybe that’s not a bad thing. If price puts the Sonata on consumers’ car-buying radar screens, any time spent with the car itself will likely result in the decision to put a Sonata in the driveway. And that can only spell Not Good for the competition. –WG

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: My "quick take" on the Hyundai Sonata SE? It's very, very good, but I think with this car we all - as reviewers - can finally cease and desist with the "amazing" factor when writing about Hyundai products. There should be no surprise any longer with the fact that Hyundai can build competitive, competently-executed vehicles. And the new Sonata is every bit that. But is it a world beater? In a word, no.  It's really good in a lot of areas but is it dramatically better than its competition? No. But factor in its price point and it is impressive. Very impressive. Hyundai has gotten to the point now that with each new entry their work gets better and better. So now that the new Sonata is out and in the market, it's the next new Hyundai that competitors should fear most. - PMD

2011 Hyundai Sonata SE: $26,015 ($22,595 base price, Navigation & Sunroof Package, $2,600; Carpeted Floor Mats, $100; Inland Freight & Handling, $720)

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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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