SAME AS IT EVER WAS.

Editor's Note: This week, The Autoextremist comes roaring back with his High-Octane assessment of the state of the auto industry in this still-new year (Hint: It's a Giant Bowl of Not Good.) In On The Table, we detail the rationale behind the new ad campaign for the Cadillac Escalade IQ BEV from Cadillac's agency 72andSunny. It truly is unbelievable (and not in a good way). Then, moving on from the ridiculous to the sublime, we present the most valuable Grand Prix car ever sold, and the second most valuable car of any kind ever sold, the iconic Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Streamliner (Stromlinienwagen). We also take another look at the 2026 Cadillac LYRIQ-V, Cadillac's first-ever all-electric V-Series vehicle. And our AE Song of the Week is "As Tears Go By" by The Rolling Stones. In Fumes, we have the next installment of Peter's much-lauded new series, "The V8 Era," recalling how the emergence of V8 power transformed American sports car racing and propelled it into an entirely new dimension of popularity. And in The Line, we'll have worthy news from the racing scene.  Enjoy! -WG   

By Peter M. DeLorenzo

Detroit. I would like to say that checking in with the auto biz occasionally – aka The Swirling Maelstrom – while I was away was eye-opening for all of the right reasons, except that it wasn’t. The wrong reasons are everywhere, in fact. Anyone who says that the biz is on an upward trajectory is lying through their teeth. They’re either paid operatives of the car companies who are a-wishing and a-hoping that somehow things are going to work out just fine, in spite of all indications otherwise – or they’re dealers.

 

Speaking of auto dealers, they have been, are, and will continue to be a distinct breed unto themselves. I used to say that they live in a land of 30-day sales increments, which is still the rule, but if you’re looking for any genuine vision from these individuals, you’re sadly mistaken and frankly yearning for the impossible, because they can only see about six inches in front of their faces. In fact, they give the term short-sightedness a life in full, every frickin’ day. 

The latest evidence? The big news out of the NADA convention in New Orleans, besides the frigid weather basically ruining the entire event, of course, was that the dealers were insanely optimistic that because of the new administration in Washington, their business would be booming again, almost solely because of the “rollback” of any emphasis on EVs. Huh? Maybe I should change that to three inches in front of their faces.

Leave it to the dealers to ignore even a shred of reality while pretending that car prices aren’t ridiculously high, that the cost of financing and insurance still isn’t crushing, and that the entire industry hasn’t priced half of eligible buyers completely out of the new car market. Not to mention the still too-common standard operating procedure of extracting as much cash out of their customers as they possibly can, whether they can realistically afford it, or not.

I know a lot of well-meaning car dealers, but it’s no secret that they’re concerned about their own hides first and foremost, and they’re quick to point fingers at someone else when their business goes south. Even the manufacturers whom they depend on for the products they sell. To dealers, it’s always somebody else’s fault, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Like never.

But the emphasis on EVs is over? Huzzah!

Let’s be clear here, the dealers aren’t operating in a vacuum by any means when it comes to misguided thinking, short-sightedness or a fundamental lack of common sense, especially when there are stumblebum operatives at the manufacturers well and truly engaged in the process.

I'm going to start with Stellantis. Now that Carlos “I used to be a genius, just ask me” Tavares has been purged from screwing up the U.S. operations by Chairman John Elkann once and for all, there seems to be a belief out in Auburn Hills that by just getting the band back together and bringing back operatives like Tim Kuniskis, et al., things will be fine and dandy.

The evidence of that optimism surfaced in New Orleans when Vince Bond Jr., who covers Stellantis for Automotive News, reported that the company’s U.S. sales chief, Jeff Kommor, told dealers that they should prepare for “the most epic comeback in automotive history” in 2025.

Really, as in, WTF? Couldn’t he just have said that we’re finally flying straight and we expect business to be better? Oh hell, what’s the fun in that? Why not set up underdelivering right out of the gate by overpromising an “epic” comeback for all time? This is easily one of the dumbest statements to come out of a Detroit-located automaker in the last twelve months, and make no mistake, there has been a lot of competition for that title.

Now, remember, Stellantis’ business in the U.S. was down a crushing 15 percent in 2024. Why? Let’s see, there were a lot of factors, including the fact that Jeep was priced out of the market due to flat-out greed, while operatives sat around scratching their asses, wondering out loud, “I wonder why Jeep sales are down now for going on 24 straight months? How can this be?” Other factors included gross mismanagement of their brands, but you can sum up pretty much all of it to serial incompetence. Needless to say, they weren’t waking up and pissing excellence out in Auburn Hills.

And now? Kuniskis is desperately trying to right the Ram truck ship after that brand took a deep hit over the last calendar year, so I expect that part of the operation to do better. And the BEV Ram has been pushed back indefinitely. They say 2026, but who’s kidding whom here? I will be shocked if it ever sees the light of day, and even then, it will be in such token volumes it won’t matter.

But that being said, it hasn’t prevented the operatives out in Auburn Hills from launching the brand-new Jeep Wagoneer S, another $72,000 BEV that they’re insisting is a game changer, followed by the obligatory early reports from auto journos praising it as the greatest thing since sliced bread, at least for this week. I would pause to ask how these people can sleep at night, but that ship sailed a couple of decades ago. The only possible way that the Wagoneer S can be called a “game changer” is if people actually go out of their way to buy one, and given Jeep’s fractured relationship with its customers, all I can say is good luck with that.

Another big issue for the denizens out in Auburn Hills is the debut of the “muscle” Dodge Charger Daytona BEV. It’s almost dead in the water right out of the gate, because this just in: Dodge muscle heads aren’t exactly thrilled about a $73,000 EV Charger, no matter how fast it is. Shocking, I know, but there you have it. Hear that grinding sound? That’s the sound of Dodge operatives frantically hedging their bets with the Dodge Charger SIXPACK H.O., powered by the 3.0L Twin Turbo 550HP Hurricane High Output engine. And that’s not all. Dodge also announced that it is extending production of its Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, powered by the supercharged 6.2-liter 710HP HEMI® Hellcat V-8 engine, and also its Durango R/T with the 5.7-liter HEMI well into the 2025 calendar year.

As far as “epic comebacks” go, let’s just say that if Stellantis can do more than tread water this year, it will be a major accomplishment. 

As for GM and Ford, what can be said about them is best exemplified by a shrug of the shoulders. GM is still busy terminating people by email, so there’s that. And they continue to push their lineup of BEV Cadillacs, including the Lyriq-V, the Escalade IQ, the Vistiq and the “affordable” Optic (at $55,000 or thereabouts, due this fall).

I applaud GM for sticking to their guns, at least somewhat anyway, but make no mistake, it’s only because the company’s lineup of ICE machines is so strong that they can do any sticking in the first place. A giant "we’ll see" is the best I can offer to GM operatives going forward.

As for Ford CEO Jim “I am a genius, just ask me” Farley, he made the pronouncement that Ford would no longer build “boring cars,” which is cute and totally believable. Not. His bullshit statement went hand-in-hand with yet another recall, this time of 272,817 U.S. vehicles on concerns over battery failure, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Jan. 23. The recall affects certain 2021-2023 Bronco Sport crossovers and 2022-2023 Maverick pickups.

And just in case you think I'm piling on, Ford is also recalling almost 150,000 of its Bronco SUVs. This latest recall is about its rear shock absorbers, which could fail because of corrosion. These specific shock absorbers can apparently fail when the external reservoir separates from the main shock body, which would cause the shock to fail and create a hazard for other drivers. This is only a problem with Broncos equipped with external reservoir shocks, which means the Sasquatch package or a Bronco Badlands. It doesn’t affect Broncos without external reservoir shock absorbers, but still, when does this shit end? 

I’ll leave it to one Ford insider who wrote us after Farley’s “no boring cars” comment and said, “You wouldn’t believe how many people are sick of him around here and wish he would just STFU.”

My sentiments exactly.

At least Ford is planning on going to Le Mans in 2027 to finally contest for the overall win with a prototype. But cool racing endeavors aside; this won't mask the fact that the company's business is by nature precarious, and its CEO has done nothing to quell this reality.

And let's not forget Nissan, which is pirouetting into The Abyss as we speak, cutting jobs by the thousands. And Honda operatives think it's a good idea to team up with this company? I shake my head at this, and frankly, the entire industry is shaking its head at this. If there was any rational thinking left floating around in this world, Nissan would be and should be cut up and parted out, becoming yet another brand left standing by the side of the road of automotive history.

And what about the German manufacturers? This illustrious (cough, hack) bunch overcommitted to the BEV thing and are now frantically scrambling to backpedal in the other direction, cancelling electric programs left and right. I have zero sympathy for them, especially the Greed Merchants at Porsche, as their relentless arrogance has continuously gotten them into trouble for going on decades now. And just for the record, despite its latest win at Daytona, it's still just another frickin' truck/SUV company, and that's just pathetic and sad.

And then, there's the Muskian Nightmare, which is ongoing, I'm sorry to say, and increasingly annoying.

Oh, and let's not forget that all of the troubles mentioned in my column today have now been officially compunded by The Dictator's tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which are arbitrary, stupid, and will immediately cripple these auto companies' endeavors from here on out. Actually, cripple may not be a strong enough word – I'm thinking decimate is more appropriate.

As far as this business goes, it’s the same as it ever was. The downward spiral is accelerating, even while various operatives from the usual suspect car companies insist otherwise, which is just flat-out depressing.

 

By the way, I’d like to tell you all that it’s nice to be back, but I would be lying.

Let’s just say I’m here for the time being, anyway.

 

And that’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.

 

 

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