ON THE TABLE

January 27, 2010

Toyota. The Japanese automaker was forced by the U.S. government to take the drastic and unprecedented step of suspending U.S. sales of eight recalled vehicle models to fix accelerator pedals that stick. Toyota is also halting production at five manufacturing facilities - in Indiana, Kentucky, Texas and Canada - for the week of Feb. 1 "to assess and coordinate activities." 2.3 million vehicles are involved in the recall, which was announced last week. "This action is necessary until a remedy is finalized," Bob Carter, Toyota's group vice president and general manager, told the Associated Press. Sales will be suspended on the 2009-2010 Corolla, the 2009-2010 Matrix, the 2005-2010 Avalon, the 2007-2010 Camry, the 2009-2010 RAV4, the 2010 Highlander, the 2007-2010 Tundra and the 2008-2010 Sequoia. It is not known how long the production stoppage or sales suspension will last, but it's clear that Toyota had to act to get at the problem once and for all in order to move on from the steady stream of bad news - an earlier recall included 4.2 million vehicles - that has plagued the automaker for months. That sounds like a reasonable plan, except this was the lead story on news broadcasts on Tuesday evening, and the negativity associated with this move will haunt Toyota for years to come. It qualifies as a PR nightmare of the first degree for the formerly bullet-proof automaker.

Tom Friedman. Publisher's Note: From the "Dicks We Have Known" File, the last time we checked with the infamous New York Times columnist and High Priest of the Green Movement - who repeatedly went on a witch hunt against GM and the rest of the domestic auto industry for the unforgivable sin of not being "green" enough (at least to his make-it-up-as-he-went-along standards), and other egregious atrocities against humanity - he was suggesting that the American automobile industry should cease to exist and that the United States would be much better off if Toyota became the sole maker of vehicles available here. Because after all, Toyota was just so darn good and green and wonderful. We said it then and we'll say it again, Friedman is a two-bit grandstanding blow hard who doesn't have the first clue as to what he's talking about when it comes to anything to do with cars and the automobile industry - or reality for that matter - and he and his Shiny Happy acolyte-zealots in California and Washington - and the New York Times, of course - can now go back over in the corner, sit down, and shut the fuck up. - PMD

Consumer Reports. Wait a minute, weren't you the guys that basically forged your influence over the domestic automobile industry by holding up Toyota as an example of everything good and righteous and great about quality automobiles and regularly took great pleasure in reminding everyone of that fact - especially the Detroit automakers - whom you relentlessly took pot shots at and trashed with glee every chance you got? Yeah, we thought so. Maybe you ought to take a break from the car business for a while - after all, if you can't write anything good about Toyota, what are you guys going to write about?

GM. The RenCen Brigade takes the gloves off and goes after Toyota and Lexus owners with a series of incentives designed to take advantage of Toyota's negative PR situation. The incentive, which runs through the end of next month, offers Toyota and Lexus owners the option of waiving three payments for up to a total of $1,000 if they lease a GM vehicle, 0 percent financing for up to 60 months for those looking to finance a vehicle, and cash buyers can receive $1,000 off their purchase. The incentive applies to purchases of GMC, Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet vehicles. It's about time GM displayed a little competitive feistiness for once. Who knows? There just might be a trace of a pulse down there after all.

The GM Board. Publisher's Note: Let's face the facts here, the GM Board took the path of least resistance in appointing Ed Whitacre as CEO. It wasn't about "stability" - which certain analysts and media types are trotting out this morning. That's a lame-ass assessment. GM doesn't need stability, it needs to sell some frickin' cars and trucks. GM needs a sense of urgency and a good dose of fear in the executive ranks. What's left of the Old Guard needs to understand that the go-along-to-get-along abject mediocrity that has fueled GM's relentless decline over the last 25 years is well and truly over. And from what I've seen there's still too much business as usual going on down at the RenCen. And the New Guard needs to be inspired to greatness, to the point that they'll run through walls to get the company where it needs to be. That isn't going to come from "Big Ed" strolling the halls and asking "How y'all doin'?" I can guarantee you that. It seems that GM's search firm couldn't find a qualified executive who would even consider the job as GM CEO. That tells me a few things: 1. As long as the government's restrictions on executive pay are still in effect, no one worth a shit will go near the job, given the huge amounts of aggravation involved. 2. That the GM Board is utterly devoid of the necessary vision and creativity to envision a scenario that could attract the right person for the job to begin with, given those restrictions. 3. And I'm not sure the GM Board wanted the "right" person to have the job anyway, because the right person would have to blow their little comfort zone to smithereens in order to get the job done, and that's flat-out anathema to a board of directors, no matter how "enlightened" they're allegedly supposed to be. So now GM is stuck with Ed Whitacre for the foreseeable future. And that's a heaping, steaming, giant bowl of Not Good. - PMD

The True Believers. Publisher's note: Given the GM board's stunning lack of vision, I can assure everyone out there that it won't be "Big Ed" Whitacre's "leadership" that gets GM back in the game. No, it will be the "True Believers" at GM Design and Engineering - the ones directly responsible for making sure that excellent products continue getting to market - who will give GM a chance. Which means that Mark Reuss is the guy to watch at GM, because it will be up to him to get the real work done. And as long as "Big Ed" confines himself to his glorified "greeter" role and stays the hell out of the way, GM has a shot. - PMD

Ron Bloom et al. Publisher's Note: So let's get this straight: The U.S. Treasury gives GM a pile of money, then they give GM another stack of cash so that it can look like they're paying the U.S. Treasury back some of the original pile, so that the U.S. Treasury's "auto czar" - Ron Bloom - and the Obama administration, can then shout from the rooftops about the GM effort to lock in a $5.7-billion repayment of a government loan for June, even though GM was already required to pay back the loan with money from the government. Nicely done. You just can't make this shit up, folks.

Saab Lives! Spyker has acquired from Saab Automobile Investering AB, a subsidiary of General Motors, all the issued and outstanding ordinary shares in the capital of Saab Automobile A.B. for a purchase price of $74 million. There is also a EUR 400 million loan agreement between Saab and the European Investment Bank, guaranteed by the Swedish Government. In other words, Saab lives to fight another day.

Dodge. Publisher's Note: We really like the new Dodge Charger TV campaign. With pitch-perfect voiceover work by Michael C. Hall of "Dexter" fame and some excellent copywriting, the spots are worth noting, especially the one entitled, "Man Bag." Honorable mention goes to "Mayan" and "Semi-Hemi" but "Man Bag" is dead solid perfect. We like to give credit where credit is due, and this is damn nice work from Wieden+Kennedy, Dodge's new ad agency. - PMD

Little Caesar's Pizza. Publisher's Note: On the other hand, the Little Caesar's Pizza TV commercial that rips-off the Ford F-150 TV campaign - right down to the color and style of the graphics - is simply reprehensible. We know original thinking is in short supply in this business these days, but really? Couldn't you people muster up at least a shred of shame? - 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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