Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - (Page 34) 34 • SEPTEMBER 29, 2008 final assembly comment Will Cerberus buy up Piech’s ploy was Chrysler to wave bye-bye? masterstroke in war with Porsche W S core one for Ferdinand Piech in his power struggle with Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking. Piech is chairman of Volkswagen AG’s supervisory board and the company’s former CEO. He also is a member of the family that owns Porsche, which happens to be VW’s largest shareholder. That has put Piech and his family on opposite sides of some key issues. On Sept. 12, GUIDO REINKING IS Piech skipped a EDITOR OF crucial VW AUTOMOBILWOCHE, supervisory A CRAIN board meeting PUBLICATION THAT and in doing so COVERS THE effectively voted GERMAN AUTO against his INDUSTRY. family. His absence allowed a motion to pass that requires the full board to approve any future joint projects between VW and Porsche. It was a masterstroke for the “old man,” as he is known. The action removed Porsche’s free access to technology belonging to VW, including VW’s Audi, Skoda and Bentley subsidiaries. It was a resounding slap in the face for Wiedeking and Wolfgang Porsche, the chairman of Porsche Automobil Holding SE, who is Piech’s cousin. What was Piech trying to achieve? As a large shareholder in Porsche, he does have an interest in seeing the sports car manufacturer make as much money as possible, as quickly as possible, from its alliance with VW. But as chairman of Volkswagen and its former CEO, he apparently feels more loyal to it than to Porsche. Most of all, Piech still feels connected to Audi, where he cut his teeth in the auto business. For Porsche, the involvement with VW is mostly a matter of harvesting the fruits of Audi’s development department as cheaply as possible. They include Audi’s sporty diesel engines and a new electronic architecture. But the people at Audi don’t want to hand them over that easily. Development engineers there continue to see Porsche more as a rival than a partner. And so far Wiedeking has done little to change this perception. Piech now has come down on the side of Audi. And it’s an open secret in Wolfsburg that Wiedeking is now in Piech’s cross hairs. You may e-mail Guido Reinking at greinking@craincom.de hat’s the first thing to do when you’re having a garage sale? Get all your stuff together. Many analysts are wondering whether that’s the thinking behind Cerberus’ decision to pursue the remaining 19.9 percent stake in Chrysler held by former owner Daimler. If you owned the whole bundle, the reasoning goes, it would be easier to carve up salable chunks for interested parties. After all, it’s not as if Cerberus — which entered the auto business in August 2007, just in time to see things turn sour — is raking in cash with its new venture. Chrysler told its dealers last week that the company had lost $400 million so far this year. Chrysler’s lineup is dominated by big SUVS, pickups and minivans. And the credit crunch has hurt, too. John Casesa, a New York auto analyst, said buying the rest of Chrysler would simplify the options for Cerberus and make joint ventures easier to negotiate: “Owning all the equity would give Cerberus more flexibility. If they chose to enter a joint venture with somebody who competes with SEPTEMBER SALES >> Get live updated coverage of September U.S. auto sales on Wednesday, Oct. 1, at www.autonews.com. Daimler or sell the business to somebody who competes with Daimler, it’s easier to negotiate when there’s one owner as opposed to two.” Cerberus has insisted in the past that it’s in the game for the long term with Chrysler. But Chrysler has said its strategy will be to seek alliances and partners for vehicle development. Nissan is among those partners. The Japanese automaker will make a small car in Japan for Chrysler in 2010, and Chrysler will make a full-sized pickup for Nissan. Hmmm. Didn’t Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn express some interest in developing a major North American presence a while back? Honda’s groovy road tune rubbed neighbors the wrong way. Honda’s highway groove music: It sounded better on vinyl M Rioters kill supplier exec in India T he CEO of an Italian transmission company’s Indian unit was beaten to death last week in a violent labor protest near Delhi. Lalit Kishore Chaudhury, head of Graziano Transmissioni India, was killed in company offices after a meeting over a labor dispute turned into a riot, the Financial Times reported. More than 20 people were injured. Graziano had fired 200 workers in a pay dispute. Thirteen people will be charged with murder in the attack, according to the report. The Italian government said Graziano had faced several months of violent protest, which “had repeatedly been brought to the attention of competent India authorities.” A spokesman for a business group, the Confederation of Indian Industry, expressed fears that the incident would discourage foreign investment in India. The beating followed several weeks of protests at Tata Motors’ plant in West Bengal by farmers who had been displaced. Last week Tata was said to be reviewing plans to build its low-cost car, the Nano, at the site. The new Dodge Ram just arrived, but forecasts for pickup sales are grim. No pickup seen for pickups T he pickup market won’t be picking up any time soon, says forecasting firm CSM Worldwide. CSM says U.S. pickup truck sales won’t bottom out until 2010, at a meager 1.7 million. That would be just over half of the 3.3 million units sold in 1999, the pickup’s peak year, and well below the 2.7 million sold in 2007. And CSM sees no big resurgence. Sales will rise to only 2.1 million units by 2014, it says. That’s not good news for Chrysler, which launched its redesigned 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 this month, and Ford, whose redesigned 2009 F-150 arrives in November. The pickup’s problems, CSM says, are high gasoline prices and the struggling housing market. “Until there is a meaningful recovery in consumer confidence and housing, pickup sales will continue to be weak,” said CSM economist Charles Chesbrough. “Unfortunately, the housing correction has further to go.” For the first eight months of 2008, pickup sales totaled 1.4 million, down 23.0 percent from the first eight months of 2007. aybe it was performance art. Maybe it will be a decent commercial. But it wasn’t music, neighbors say. And certainly not a lullaby. “It keeps me awake at night,” Donna Martin, who lives a quarter-mile away, told the Los Angeles Daily News before her ordeal ended last week. “It” was a bit of nonsense by Honda’s U.S. ad agency, Rubin Postaer and Associates, for a Honda Civic commercial that debuts next month. The agency cut a series of halfinch-deep grooves into a quartermile stretch of highway 25 north of Los Angeles in such a way that cars driven over them (ideally at 55 mph) played a snippet of Rossini’s “William Tell Overture.” For those not into classical music, that’s the stirring musical beginning to the old “Lone Ranger” TV series. An ad agency video of the event (www.autonews.com/hondaroad) provides some sounds Rossini might recognize, the way Paul McCartney might recognize “Yesterday” if performed by an ensemble of third-grade tuba players who had been skipping practice. The purpose of the commercial? To “show off the spirit of a Civic, the sort of youthful driving spirit,” said agency spokeswoman Britt McColl. For Martin and her neighbors, the best highway-groove music last week came from the patching truck that came to fill in the grooves, ending the three-week concert. St. Louis dealer to paper that outsourced typesetters: ‘Deal me out’ I n his TV commercials, St. Louis dealer Dave Sinclair says, “Vote American with your money.” Last week he cast his ballot — pulling $25,000 to $30,000 in advertising from the St. Louis PostDispatch after the newspaper’s decision to lay off 11 typesetters and outsource some ad production work to India. “I’ve been with the Post for years, and I want to get along,” Sinclair, 80, told Automotive News. “But then they told me my ads were going to be put together in India. So I told them, ‘Deal me out.’ ” Sinclair, who said he was the No. 1 Ford dealer in the United States for three years during the 1980s, calls it a matter of principle. “Headlines say the entire economy is in danger and unemployment is going up, but we’re sending domestic brand dealerships. “We complain about that all the time,” says Sinclair’s son, David, who is general manager at the Buick-Pontiac-GMC dealership. “It’s a constant battle with both Ford and GM. Our customers want the product. We had to take a stand sometime.” After World War II, the elder Sinclair worked as a laborer and a St. Louis police officer. He started out as a Pontiac salesman in 1959. In 1966, he acquired his first dealership through Ford Motor Co.’s dealer development program. Now he owns four dealerships in and around St. Louis: one Ford store, two Lincoln-Mercury dealerships and a Buick-Pontiac-GMC store. “I came through the factory system,” he said. “Ford put the working stiff into business and, to me, that is America — we, the people.” See Dave Sinclair’s “Buy American” commercial at autonews.com/ sinclair our jobs overseas,” he said. “I don’t get it.” Of course, there is some irony here. Sinclair sells some vehicles built in Mexico and Canada at his http://www.autonews.com http://www.autonews.com/hondaroad http://www.autonews.com/sinclair http://www.autonews.com/sinclair
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Automotive News - September 29, 2008 GM, Ford and Chrysler place new-product bets Credit freeze could mean cash crisis Mr. Big Volume reaches the end of the line Korea's revolving door Mazda quits Ford Credit for Chase Mitsubishi, UAW reach tentative agreement Volt could break feds' 100 mpg ceiling Chase cuts back on auto leasing Target for Traverse: No. 1 in large crossovers BMW's new 7 series: Timing may be all wrong Tucson revisited Can Ford light fire under Fiesta? Lithia puts brakes on used-car stores Revived Mercury will focus on 3 segments VW taps 'zealots' to promote diesels Farley, Leuliette will kick off World Congress The new Soul (and nose) of Kia Hyundai: Drivetrain key to more mpg Taxpayers at risk if firms get fed loans - then fail GM plans high-tech small engines for Volt and Cruze Buick looks upscale Denso says U.S. woes will cut its profits Denso: No plans to make hybrid parts in U.S. Bailouts are a bad idea Chic small cars? Check them out at the Paris show Credit's no problem, but a weak brand is Helping dealers helped GM Ford field rep didn't help at all Who knew? Electric cars are fun to drive Where is the power going to come from? Hyundai shifts its U.S. ad agency Hyundai, Kia mold separate identities Behind on hybrids, Hyundai sets high goals Dealers Flashes of genius, years of turmoil No cop-out; car designed for police use PICTURE THIS: A trip to the bank RV sales drop 31.9% in June Mexico sales off 4.8% in Aug., 1.2% for 8 mos. Suzuki to aim pickup at motorcycle owners Experts: Learn Korean hierarchies Readers' comments on Bill Heard's collapse Bill Ford sells some Ford stock CarMax net income falls ArvinMeritor raises forecast Toyota plans CNG concept Chrysler cuts 250-300 salaried workers Minority supplier drops stamping business Will Cerberus buy up Chrysler to wave bye-bye? Rioters kill supplier exec in India No pickup seen for pickups Piech's ploy was masterstroke in war with Porsche Honda's highway groove music: It sounded better on vinyl St. Louis dealer to paper that outsourced typesetters: 'Deal me out' Automotive News - September 29, 2008 Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - (Page Intro) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - (Page Bellyband1) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - (Page Bellyband2) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Mr. Big Volume reaches the end of the line (Page 1) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Mr. Big Volume reaches the end of the line (Page 2) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Volt could break feds' 100 mpg ceiling (Page 3) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Tucson revisited (Page 4) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Tucson revisited (Page 5) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - The new Soul (and nose) of Kia (Page 6) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - The new Soul (and nose) of Kia (Page 7) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Buick looks upscale (Page 8) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Buick looks upscale (Page G1) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Buick looks upscale (Page G2) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Buick looks upscale (Page G3) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Buick looks upscale (Page G4) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Buick looks upscale (Page G5) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Buick looks upscale (Page G6) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Buick looks upscale (Page G7) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Buick looks upscale (Page G8) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Buick looks upscale (Page G9) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Buick looks upscale (Page G10) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Buick looks upscale (Page G11) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Buick looks upscale (Page G12) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Flashes of genius, years of turmoil (Page 9) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Denso says U.S. woes will cut its profits (Page 10) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Denso says U.S. woes will cut its profits (Page 11) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Ford field rep didn't help at all (Page 12) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Ford field rep didn't help at all (Page 13) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Where is the power going to come from? (Page 14) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Where is the power going to come from? (Page 15) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Hyundai, Kia mold separate identities (Page 16) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Hyundai, Kia mold separate identities (Page 17) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Behind on hybrids, Hyundai sets high goals (Page 18) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Behind on hybrids, Hyundai sets high goals (Page 19) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Dealers (Page 20) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Dealers (Page 21) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - RV sales drop 31.9% in June (Page 22) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - RV sales drop 31.9% in June (Page 23) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - RV sales drop 31.9% in June (Page 24) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - RV sales drop 31.9% in June (Page 25) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - RV sales drop 31.9% in June (Page 26) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Mexico sales off 4.8% in Aug., 1.2% for 8 mos. (Page 27) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Suzuki to aim pickup at motorcycle owners (Page 28) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Experts: Learn Korean hierarchies (Page 29) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Readers' comments on Bill Heard's collapse (Page 30) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Chrysler cuts 250-300 salaried workers (Page 31) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Minority supplier drops stamping business (Page 32) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - Minority supplier drops stamping business (Page 33) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - St. Louis dealer to paper that outsourced typesetters: 'Deal me out' (Page 34) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - St. Louis dealer to paper that outsourced typesetters: 'Deal me out' (Page 35) Automotive News - September 29, 2008 - St. Louis dealer to paper that outsourced typesetters: 'Deal me out' (Page 36)
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.