Archives: September 2007

For Detroit, it's prove it time

Posted by: David Welch on September 28

Make no mistake. General Motors Corp. executives are ecstatic about the tentative agreement they have reached with the United Auto Workers. Not only did they get to offload $51...

With Healthcare Behind It, GM Must Now Focus on a Coherency Plan

Posted by: David Kiley on September 27

General Motors got its transformational deal with the United Auto Workers, which will take a huge bite out of the healthcare cost deficit it suffers compared with Toyota, Honda,...

It's a walkout!

Posted by: David Welch on September 24

When the United Auto Workers walked off the job at General Motors, one UAW local president told me he lost a bet. “I didn’t think they’d walk out,” says...

Google Says The Old Sales Funnel Theory Is Dead For Car Marketers

Posted by: David Kiley on September 20

Google is out to change the way automotive marketers think about their basic business, and they have new data that just may do the trick. Ask most garden variety auto...

Bargaining Breaks Down

Posted by: David Welch on September 20

Talks between General Motors and the United Auto Workers hit a big stumbling block yesterday. The two sides came to an impasse over how many billions GM would give the...

Ford Reviews For New Brand Strategy

Posted by: David Kiley on September 14

The decision has been made at Ford that "Bold Moves" as a brand strategy/ad tagline is dead. It's just a question of when the funeral takes place. CEO Alan...

BMW X6 Invents a New Niche

Posted by: Gail Edmondson on September 12

BMW's new X6 pre-production concept car pushes the design innovation pedal to the metal. The X6 is making its press debut at the Frankfurt Auto Show, and will hit...

The Chinese Gauntlet

Posted by: Gail Edmondson on September 11

The Chinese have dared the wrath of BMW. At the Frankfurt Auto Show which opens Sept. 13, German importer China Automobile is proudly showing the CEO, an SUV which...

Volkswagen's Small-Car Revival

Posted by: Gail Edmondson on September 11

Volkswagen veered off track in the 1990s with expensive, upmarket models. Now it's steering back to its roots: Small cars at more pleasing prices. The "Up" is the first...

Bugati Pur Sang ("Pure blood")

Posted by: Gail Edmondson on September 11

Analysts castigated former VW Group CEO Ferdinand Piech for sinking over $1 billion into the development of the rarified 1001-horsepower Bugati Veyron, which hit the market in 2005 and...

New U.S. VW Chief Wants To Bring Back The Phaeton

Posted by: David Kiley on September 07

Perhaps no Volkswagen model more embodies the company's odd product strategy over the last decade more than the $75,000-$90,000 Phaeton sedan. The car, which VW chairman Ferdinand Piech developed...

Nardelli's Coup

Posted by: David Welch on September 06

There’s no telling what new Chrysler Chairman and CEO Robert Nardelli will do to transform the troubled car company in the coming months. But I think it’s fair to...

Sales slump, Jackson takes the stump

Posted by: David Welch on September 04

Another month of slightly-down car sales should be enough to put anyone to sleep. But AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson thinks that the slumping economy and car market should wake...

Desperate Ad Claims For Pontiac

Posted by: David Kiley on September 04

I don't want to say Pontiac is desperate. But a recent TV ad for the G5 ballyhooed "More horsepower than the standard Ford Focus." Other claims it might have included:...

VW Headed for Nation's Capitol

Posted by: David Kiley on September 04

Since last I blogged, it has come to be known that Volkswagen of America on Thursday is expected to announce a move of its American headquarters from Auburn Hills, MI...