Automotive News - September 22, 2008 - (Page 14)

14 • SEPTEMBER 22, 2008 A 4-cylinder Cadillac? Get real Planned 2011 model is the height of gas price hysteria John K. Teahen Jr. I read it in Automotive News, so I know it’s true. Nevertheless, it’s mighty hard to believe. I’m talking about a story in the Aug. 25 issue with the headline “Cadillac will offer 4-cylinder sedan in ’10.” Merciful heavens, what are those Cadillac people thinking of? To me, that is the ultimate expression of gasoline price hysteria: “People want fuel economy; we’ll give ’em fuel economy. We’ll give ’em a fourcylinder Cadillac.” Yes, people are concerned about $4-a-gallon gasoline. People do want fuel economy. But people do not want a four-cylinder Cadillac. In the first place, a four-cylinder Cadillac is not a Cadillac. I’m not quite sure what it is, but it certainly isn’t a Cadillac. EDITORIAL STAFF 313-446-0361 E-mail autonews@crain.com Web site www.autonews.com Keith E. Crain Publisher and Editor-in-Chief comment Cadillac wants to appeal to a new class of buyer, the buyer who wants to go green and shudders at $4-plus gasoline. Laudable goals. Peter Brown Associate Publisher and Editorial Director DETROIT 313-446-0361 Fax: 313-446-0383 1155 Gratiot Ave. Detroit, MI 48207-2997 David Sedgwick Editor dsedgwick@crain.com Edward Lapham Executive Editor elapham@crain.com John K. Teahen Jr. is senior editor of Automotive News. stand for it.” Ergo, a cheap Mercedes isn’t a Mercedes; a four-cylinder Cadillac isn’t a Cadillac. Our recent story noted that Cadillac General Manager Jim Taylor wants to offer a V-6 as an option in the new sedan. Good thinking, Jim. That would take the curse off the fourcylinder somewhat. But Taylor is meeting opposition in his own house. The objectors, of course, are tooling around town in their 32-valve Cadillac V-8s. Cadillac wants to appeal to a new class of buyer, the buyer who wants to go green and shudders at $4-plus gasoline. Laudable goals, to be sure. But for heaven’s sake, don’t destroy the brand to achieve them. Years ago, Cadillac V-12s and V-16s roamed the highways and byways. Man, did they have long hoods — to accommodate those oversized pow- But don’t destroy the brand to achieve them. erplants. Please, Cadillac, don’t put a puny four-banger under the hood of your cars. You may have read that BMW is increasing production of four-cylinder engines and cutting back on bigger mills. True, but BMW doesn’t have Cadillac’s history in V-8 land. You won’t find a BMW V-8 until you reach the top of the 5 series. Only one logical name Still unannounced is a name for the Cadillac pretender. The division has a library of stately names — think Eldorado, Fleetwood, Biarritz, DeVille, Seville — some of which were dumped when Cadillac switched to its current confusing setup of identifying models by three initials instead of a word. But each of those names is too grand for a four-cylinder machine. Or Cadillac could dust off one of its Taylor wants a V-6 It calls to mind the Mercedes-Benz finance official who was visiting from Germany several years ago. In answer to a question, he told a Detroit newsman: “We don’t dare cut our prices. Mercedes owners wouldn’t proudest names, one that has been in mothballs since World War II. That, of course, is LaSalle. But it would be criminal to pin that glorious label on a four-cylinder runabout. Save it, please, for something more worthwhile. Cadillac has a four-cylinder car in Europe. It’s called the BLS, and it shares a platform with the Saab 9-3. Sales? To be kind, they are disappointing. No, there is only one plausible name for the upcoming model. Cadillac used it in the early 1980s when it garbed a Chevrolet in pseudo-Cadillac clothing and tried to sell it as a Cadillac. It flopped. Boy, oh, boy, did it flop! Yep, the only name for the new four-cylinder Cadillac is Cimarron II. You may e-mail John K. Teahen Jr. at jteahen@crain.com Richard Johnson Managing Editor rjohnson@crain.com John K. Teahen Jr. Senior Editor Mary Beth Vander Schaaf Deputy Managing Editor Charles Child International Editor David Kushma Retail Editor Dave Guilford News Editor Philip Nussel Special Projects Editor James B. Treece Industry Editor Jesse Snyder Senior Writer Karen Faust O’Rourke Insight Editor COPY EDITORS: Bob Allen, Tom Fetters, Patricia C. Foley, Kenn Jones, Gregory Skwira Susan Zavela Bamford/Graphics Editor Rick Kranz/Product Editor REPORTERS: Leslie J. Allen, David Barkholz, Mary Connelly, Ralph Kisiel, Jamie LaReau, Arlena Sawyers, Robert Sherefkin, Richard Truett, Bradford Wernle, Amy Wilson Mary Raetz Director, Automotive News Data Center Debi Domby, Camille Pippen Research Assistants Dan Jones Office Manager Robertta Reiff Editorial Assistant Corinne M. Price, Michael Garrison Information Center LOS ANGELES Mark Rechtin/Bureau Chief 310-739-8009 Fax: 310-832-6362 Kathy Jackson/Reporter 323-370-2481 Fax: 323-655-8157 Alysha Webb/Reporter awebb@crain.com 6500 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90048-4947 NEW YORK Diana T. Kurylko/Reporter Phone/fax: 908-273-6059 dkurylko@crain.com WASHINGTON Donna Harris/Reporter 540-668-7295 Fax: 540-668-7296 Harry Stoffer/Reporter 202-662-7212 Fax: 202-638-3155 814 National Press Building Washington, DC 20045-1801 MID-SOUTH Lindsay Chappell/Bureau Chief 615-371-6654 Fax: 615-371-6655 April Wortham/Reporter 615-371-6617 104 East Park Drive, Suite 315, Brentwood, TN 37027 SHANGHAI Steven Ribet/Staff Reporter (86) 21 6431 1227 sribet@crain.com TOKYO Hans Greimel/Asia Editor +81-3-3828-9060 Fax: +81-3-3828-9061 hgreimel@crain.com Yurakucho Denki Bldg., 20th Floor 1-7-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0006, Japan TURIN Luca Ciferri/Reporter lciferri@craincom.de +39-011 961 0194 Fax: +39-011 961 0113 Viale Cavaglia, 8 10029 Villastellone (TO) Italy STAFF CORRESPONDENT: Eric Freedman/Legal file, 517-337-0269 www.autonews.com DETROIT Victor Galvan/Web Editor vgalvan@crain.com 313-446-0345 Scott Kennedy/Multimedia Editor continued from Page 12 Free Choice Act means no choice To the Editor: This is in response to Arnold E. Perl’s Sept. 1 column about the Employee Free Choice Act. The result of such legislation will be simple: More manufacturing jobs will leave the United States. Union organizers will either mislead or bully workers into signing union cards. I thought the whole idea of a secret ballot was to avoid bullying from either side. Furthermore, what company would want to do business in the United States if an outside arbitrator largely determines wages, benefits and working conditions? Sure, union membership will rise, but only temporarily. Then it will decline as more and more jobs are lost to Mexico, India and China. The Employee Free Choice Act, if passed, will clearly be anything but free choice. LARRY EBERHART Sales Director, North America Feuer Powertrain USA Inc. Pinckney, Mich. Saccucci: Let’s hear it for free enterprise To the Editor: Boohoo for Honda and the Honda dealer group (“Honda’s family squabble,” Sept. 8). Here comes an enterprising young man, Gardiner Reynolds, who builds a better mousetrap to help save a small family dealership. He is successful in selling Honda extended warranties over the Internet to help keep the small store afloat. Initially, Honda loves it and uses him as a model of entrepreneurship in America. The big Honda dealers, however, are losing business to him and want Honda to shut him down. Having had a small, family-owned dealership near a large metropolitan area, I know how difficult it is to compete with much larger dealerships and dealership NEAL HAMBERG The letter writer says big Honda dealers could do the same thing for their dealerships that Gardiner Reynolds, shown, is doing for Saccucci Honda. groups. The big stores had no problem selling in our area with cutrate pricing. However, when customers needed personal service or had a service problem they couldn’t get handled, they came back to us. Sound familiar? That is a fact of life in business. That is free enterprise. You big guys could do the same thing that this whiz, Gardiner Reynolds, is doing for Saccucci Honda. Quit crying and get back to work. DALE FEIGLEY Milford, Mich. The writer is a former auto dealer. A double standard on idle workers? To the Editor: I read the Aug. 18 story “Toyota idles factories — but can’t lay anybody off.” I had to laugh a little when I read it. This program has been around for years. It is exactly what the UAW and the Detroit 3 have done for their workers. It is known as the Jobs Bank, which the media have crucified the Detroit 3 over. Yet when Toyota does it, is a grand gesture by the company. If one of the Detroit 3 companies were doing it, the headline would read “Detroit 3 are pampering their workers.” Or “The UAW has a stranglehold on the Detroit 3, making them pay their members for not working.” I wonder if the UAW were not around whether Toyota would be allowing such programs. Could Toyota be paying its workers for not working to keep the UAW at bay? ROBBIE COLLINS President UAW Local 868 Morrow, Ga. We invite letters from our readers. Please limit your letter to 250 words and tell us whether we may print it. We reserve the right to edit it. Include your name and title, your company’s name, your city and state. Tell us what your connection to the auto industry is. Also include your phone number or your e-mail address. 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Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Automotive News - September 22, 2008

Credit-crunched BMW to cut volume and jobs in U.S. Did dealer pitch have a catch? Henderson will keynote World Congress Suppliers: Chrysler jury a worry Learn how going green can be good for business Hyundai hesitates on i10 Ram launches with incentive Dodge RamBox cost: $1,895 Toyota seeks bids to build A-BAT Volt: A pricey short hauler? A horse of a different, uh, color Delphi work moves to N.Y. from plant in Mexico GM store count down 226 so far this year Bill Heard shuts Arizona dealership Would Mazda2 hurt Mazda3? Chrysler dealers may see Volt fighter GM gets more bucks for its 4-bangers GM's '09 list prices rise 2.7% Suppliers seek piece of loan package Don't attach too many strings to federal loans Cars run on money and credit, not gas The workplace is a democracy? Free Choice Act must be defeated Extreme makeover Logo no go A 4-cylinder Cadillac? Get real A double standard on idle workers? Free Choice Act means no choice Saccucci: Let's hear it for free enterprise Dealers signal support for 35% estate tax rate Dealers Designing for MPG Slippery styling What happened to Volt's racy design? Aerodynamics Belletech will supply Honda in Indiana Practicality will top panache at Paris show Chrysler seeks to build loyalty with service Band buddies Personnel Auction group's new boss sees dip in volumes Wholesale prices of big used trucks rise 8.6% in August Big-truck sales off 22.6% in Aug. August sales in Europe worse than in U.S. Honda will let supplier assemble on-site at Ohio plant Farley: Retool image for era of the small car O'Donnell: No stranger to U.S. Honda to debut camera, airbag American Axle lands contract Ex-Ford dealer prevails in court Dodge plans Web blitz for Ram Federal-Mogul will idle 4,000 Sparks will fly over GM, Toyota plug-ins Negotiations fail; chaos (allegedly) ensues Bo plays defense, helps GM avoid weather woes Critics say the new Volt was jolt Lithium, schmithium-- Will the ladies like it? Small and beautiful-- mutually exclusive? Where Andrea Pininfarina saw design headed Designers think small to make it big Designers can't ignore history Pretty and petite Toyota goes its own way with green designs The elements of style It's difficult to design fuel efficiency into big pickups Specialty-car maker has bright design ideas Form follows fashion Vehicle designers aim to please Chinese Suppliers to the 2009 Dodge Ram Eaton will equip '09 VW Golf IAV to move into new tech center BorgWarner makes Tesla deal Mann plans 4th China plant NovaCast buys into Korean firm Valeo shifts rear-light work Supplier personnel

Automotive News - September 22, 2008

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