Radar Love...

So Haley’s comet has passed overhead again, or so it would seem, because my mother just had me arrange a new car for her. To preface this article it is worth mentioning that my mother suffers from what I like to call “look-aholism”. That is, she sees a car on the road that she likes and then she mulls it over repeatedly, until finally, something catastrophic happens with her current car and she is induced into buying a new one.

She started this trend with the Chrysler LeBaron convertible, by no means a looker, but nearly as gnarly as compared to today’s Sebring. It was a 1989 model, and before you ask, it was not the Maserati-produced version with the goofy removable hard top. It was the run-of-the-mill LE model with white exterior with maroon interior. I hated that car. Oh sure, it was a bit of fun to drive, but to sit as a passenger, especially in the back, where I inevitably got placed, was a painful experience. Exposed to the cool summer elements in the wild west of Nebraska, my senses were assaulted by the noisy, cold, and face-distorting speed produced by that 4-cylinder turbo racing down dirt roads at 80 miles per hour. So now you know the answer to the question: why not the Mazda Miata? Because my mother likes to torture her children in the back seat (a feature distinctly lacking in the Miata).

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GM/Chrysler and Obama

In the first place, Obama is right, though the rhetoric is decidedly populist, downplaying the performance of CEOs from the Big 3 (rightly of course), and promoting the efforts of ordinary Americans. Obama is right that the industry must stand on its own but he needs to address upfront that the industry is trying to operate using tired practices in tumultuous times. The Auto Task Force (or ATF as I will now call it) must realize that the problems the Detroit faces are only partly their own. It is still true that a person can only change their own habits, not others, but the ATF has a special task ahead of it, changing practices in a multi-industry downturn.

The next paragraph compliments GM for producing the Chevy Malibu, which right perhaps, received the nod for North American car of the year. But in the next sentence he go on to hail Buick of all entities as the most reliable car IN THE WORLD. You must be having a laugh. This web site has debunked these ratings in the past, but this author has never sat in a Buick that functioned properly. Something is always broken. The stereo. The windows. The suspension and ride comfort. There are a great many people who liked the bench seating in Buicks of old, but these tend to be the same people who would rather be sitting in a la-z-boy than a car.

The President goes on to discuss the decision to extend yet again the period for the automakers to restructure. GM gets two more months, while Chrysler gets 30 days. The problem with this approach is that it forces government to keep perpetuating the same failed leadership decisions. To deal with this criticism Obama notes that he has forced the departure of Rick Wagoner, GM’s Chairman and CEO, and someone who should have resigned some time ago, certainly before crisis hit in 2008. Then Obama does something, which should prove troublesome. He appoints an insider to run the company as interim CEO. Fritz Henderson gets the nod. A shrewder move would have been to insert someone with a record of accomplishment of success in breaking up companies. Henderson has served at GM during a time when the company got increasingly bloated, and the portfolio became a tangled mess.

What of this change? What good will brining in Fritz Henderson do for the viability of the company? (more…)

According to an article on LeftLane News, Chrysler execs are so delusional these days that they think their prime competitors are Mercedes and BMW. WHAT?????????????

Former Toyota executive Jim Press, and current Chrysler Co-President thinks that the company will build itself a few cars that will beat Cadillac at its own game and attempt to take on BMW and Mercedes for sales. RIIIIIGHT! Where’s this plan coming from?

Who’s next? Ferrari? Is Chrysler the next Lamborghini? The next Porsche? If this is the way management at Chrysler plans to act? What’s next for them, making cars that run on petrol? Oh…wait!? Where’s the originality at Chrysler? Better question, where is the R&D??? Perhaps a bailout should be tied to a commitment to change. Now THERE is a novel idea!

Co-President Press claims to want to rebuild Chrysler as a smaller, nimbler company. But he certainly has to see that this means smaller cars, and alternative energy resources. Perhaps imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but how will they accomplish all of this? You’d love to see the plan, huh?

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