MAY 30, 2018

Editor-in-Chief's Note: The Great Sergio - remember him? - will come down from the mountaintop tomorrow at Fiat's proving ground in Balocco, Italy, to reveal yet another five-year plan to the assembled multitudes in the media. Although he claims he is leaving in 2019, he is not expected to name a successor, and investors are clamoring for some sort of sign that if FCA is going to eschew a merger/sell out that he has a plan for electric vehicles that looks real. I still think he is going to make a deal with another automaker, so, as has always been the case with his "plans," this will be a giant "we'll see." -PMD

  Daimler. The German automaker is re-imagining its Smart brand yet again instead of killing it once and for all. The hubris of that automaker - starting with CEO Dieter Zetsche - knows no bounds. Smart was DOA ten years ago. And a new, all-electric reboot won't save it.

  Tesla. Another day, another Tesla-on-Autopilot crash. We may be stating the obvious at this point, but Tesla has now added "most irresponsible" to its title of "most unprofitable" on its corporate resume.