Automotive News - May 26, 2008 - (Page 58)

58 • MAY 26, 2008 final assembly comment MARKETING >> Get live coverage of the 2008 Automotive News Marketing Seminar from Los Angeles on May 28 at www.autonews.com. Buy an ’08 . . . get a .44 M issouri car dealer Mark Muller has an offer for people worried about $4 gasoline, street crime and pantywaist talk about gun control: Buy a car and get a $250 gasoline card or a $250 certificate redeemable at a local gun shop. “There’s not enough guns in lawabiding citizens’ hands,” says Muller, whose Max Motors sells eight brands at two stores in Butler, Mo., a town of about 4,500 people an hour south of Kansas City. “I carry a gun with me every day, and most of my staff is armed.” Muller says more than 90 percent of customers have chosen the gun option since the promotion went Muller says folks in Butler are “real firm believers in the Second Amendment. Rarely do we bid on a car there’s not rifle in the back seat with one in the pipe (a bullet in the chamber) and a handgun up front. We’re in cattle country down here, and we have a real coyote problem.” Although Max Motors’ Web site says, “We are aware of the gasoline and crime problem in America,” Muller suggests that an armed citizenry is keeping Butler safe. “There’s been one armed robbery in 25 years,” he says. “You’d better not pull a gun out in Butler unless you’re ready to get shot.” New tools allow early design input from consumerst the Automotive News Europe Congress in Turin last week, most of the presentations dealt with the usual industrial topics: purchasing, suppliers, supply lines, efficiency, productivity and the latest trends in manufacturing. This is, after all, what drives the industry. Against that backdrop, I had an intriguing conversation with Anne Asensio, a designer who was honored by Automotive News Europe last week EDWARD LAPHAM as one of 25 IS EXECUTIVE leading women in EDITOR OF the European AUTOMOTIVE automotive NEWS. industry. She worked for Renault in Paris for 13 years before spending seven years with General Motors in Detroit. She is now vice president of design experience at software supplier Dassault Systemes in France. As Asensio tells it, her mission is to encourage designers to explore, at the beginning of the design process, all of the possible ways a consumer will interact with a product — rather than waiting until a design is too far along to change. Asensio says it’s easier than ever by using 3-D and virtual reality software — such as Dassault sells — that can put consumers inside a vehicle while it’s still a digital gleam in the designer’s eye. Getting consumer input that early in the process can avoid relying on the so-called “golden gut” to develop products that, ultimately, consumers can only accept or reject. The auto industry must change its business model from a push model driven by manufacturing to a true pull model driven by consumerinspired design, Asensio reasons. Although much of the industry’s growth is expected to come from emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India and China, the evolution to a design-driven model is more likely to emerge in mature markets, such as North America, western Europe and Japan. In growing markets, a manufacturingdriven push model works quite well. But as automakers fight for sales in mature markets, the company that perfects a true design-driven business model can change the game. Ultimately, the shrewdest, most efficient producers will get consumers to help them generate new product. And that’s a sure design for success. Edward Lapham writes five commentaries each week for autonews.com. Read them at autonews.com/edwardlapham. PHILIP MEECH The Max Motors Web site: “God, guns and guts” in Missouri into effect last week. “We’re selling a lot of cars because of it,” he says. “God, guns and guts. That’s our store motto.” Paul McCartney’s flying hybrid became a PR nightmare for Lexus. Lexus in the sky with carbon: How ex-Beatle’s PR effort tanked 1995 Geo Metro hatchback 1991 Honda CRX HF 1991 Volkswagen Jetta I $4 gasoline gives new cachet to aging econo-beaters W ith gasoline prices closing in on $4 per gallon, some strange things are happening in the used-car world. Like aging crooners getting rediscovered — think Tony Bennett or Mel Torme — some of yesterday’s high-mileage models are cool again. There’s a run on old economy cars, such as the early-’90s Geo Metro, Honda CRX HF and any diesel-powered Volkswagen. Prices for those cars — even if they have more than 200,000 miles on the clock and rust holes big enough to drop your wallet through — are bringing crazy prices on eBay Motors and elsewhere. Good used versions of the ugly duckling Geo Metro XFi, with its wheezing, 1.0-liter three-cylinder, 49hp engine, are selling for $3,000 to $6,000 — even though used-car guides such as Kelley Blue Book show them to be worth around $1,500. The XFi model, equipped with a manual transmission, should get about 51 mpg on the highway under the revised EPA fuel economy estimates. The CRX HF, which has a revised EPA rating of 47 mpg on the highway, also is a hot item. Several have sold recently for more than $5,000. A clean mid-’80s VW Jetta diesel with about 225,000 miles on the odometer is worth $3,000 to $4,000, according to completed auctions on eBay Motors. Old VW diesels get about 40 mpg on the highway. Tom Kontos, an executive vice president and veteran data cruncher at auction giant ADESA, says he sees no solid statistical proof of an old-timers revival. Anecdotally, though, he says some buy-here, payhere dealers have told him that “older cars were harder to find and more expensive to obtain.” The cost of luxury? For Hyundai, it would have been $2.5 billion W hy did Hyundai decide not to go ahead with an ambitious plan to create a Lexus-like luxury brand in the United States? Now we know the reason. Actually, there were 2.5 billion of them. Kim Dong-Jin, CEO of Hyundai Motor Co., said this month that the company calculated a $2.5 billion price tag for the company and its dealers to set up a separate luxury franchise. So, for now, the Genesis sedan and coupe are the only two luxurylike rear-drive vehicles in the product plan. The sedan goes on sale this summer, and the coupe arrives next spring. Kim called the Genesis models a test. “If we succeed, we may do more luxury cars,” he said. The Genesis: Far cheaper to keep the Hyundai badge “Success” would be about 80,000 Genesis sedan sales worldwide, including 30,000 in the United States. Kim hopes for 25,000 coupe sales in this country and 60,000 worldwide. t seemed like a great idea for Lexus: Hook up with ex-Beatle Paul McCartney — a vegetarian and environmental advocate who had praised the brand’s hybrids — give him a Lexus 600h hybrid and bask in the green publicity. But, like the Heather Mills thing, there were complications. The PR problem started when somebody shipped the car from Japan to Britain on a cargo plane rather than aboard a more energyefficient oceangoing freighter. Environmental groups sensed the irony. “It’s like driving the car 300 times around the world,” said Gary Rumbold, the director of the British branch of co2balance, which helps businesses and individuals gauge their carbon emissions footprint. “It seems like somebody at Lexus made an error in judgment. They wanted to get something to McCartney promptly, but it backfired. They should have waited a few weeks and sent it by ship.” Lexus said it was all about time pressure. Spokesman Scott DeYager said: “To ensure the car’s quality, make sure security guidelines were met and meet a scheduled marketing photography deadline, it was air-shipped on a regularly scheduled commercial flight over to the U.K.” Time tips its hat to Tata T he man with the little car has made a big-time impression on Time. In the five years that Time magazine has compiled its Time 100 list — an annual register of the world’s most influential people — he is one of just five auto bigwigs to join the elite club. Ratan Tata, the 70-year-old chairman of Tata Motors, became No. 5 after a very big year. In addition to unveiling the muchballyhooed $2,500 car, the Tata Nano, Tata Motors also bought Jaguar and Land Rover. Other auto men to make Time’s list over the years: Toyota bosses Hiroshi Okuda and Fujio Cho in 2004; Katsuaki Watanabe, also of Toyota, in 2005 and 2007; and Dieter Zetsche in 2006, when he ran Chrysler. GM’s 2-pronged strategy for Calif. rules: If you can’t beat ’em . . . meet ’em T he conflicting story lines are worthy of a Hollywood script. At the Smithsonian Institution in Washington last week, General Motors and the U.S. Department of Energy announced a contest for university engineering teams, called EcoCAR. Over three years, the teams will re-engineer 2009 Saturn Vues to comply with California’s zero-emission mandate, which requires that some vehicles sold in that state produce no exhaust. The auto industry long has opposed the rule as unworkable and impractical. At nearly the same moment a few blocks away, a Senate committee narrowly approved a bill that would allow California and at least 12 other states to enforce greenhouse gas limits for vehicles. The industry vigorously opposes state-by-state rules as unworkable and impractical. What plot twists lie ahead? The Senate bill is given little chance in Congress this year, but after the November elections, anything could happen. As for EcoCAR, GM and the feds hope that fresh young minds may yet be able to write a happy ending to the zero-emission story. http://www.autonews.com http://autonews.com http://autonews.com/edwardlapham

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Automotive News - May 26, 2008

Automotive News - May 26, 2008 Bad times? Not for CEO paychecks GM seeks Volt tax break to avoid $40k sticker Ford's big cuts aim for a Honda-sized lineup Automotive News gets new marketing communications director Toyota pushes N.A. suppliers to match offshore prices VW predicts 5% U.S. sales gain Toyota plans 3 plants for hybrid batteries GM's American Axle strike tab: $2.82 billion Lawsuit in Florida targets congressman's dealership Orbiting the blogosphere Kia to build small cars in U.S. plant VW Mexico exec will run North American purchasing Fiat mulls 500 minicar for U.S. GM scraps big rwd sedans for Chevrolet and Buick Hyundai spends like never before to launch Genesis luxury sedan Surprise: Suzuki slides as fuel prices rise GM paid Walter Chrysler a whopping $600,000 a year Chrysler sends mystery shoppers to dealerships Toyota owes royalties on some hybrids GM, American Axle to resume output Ford predicts bigger demand for smaller engines in Escape This is Volvo? Ads sell chic, not just safety An overnight success in 50 years Obama's comments were out of line Japan does it; why shouldn't we? 25% is high, but Chrysler is wise to revisit SCORE Safety efforts must focus on the driver Blame the dealer for poor service Don't judge Ford quality by just one car Ford quality is best in many years Mitsubishi considers piggybacking with Caterpillar suppliers to cut costs Nissan to make lithium ion batteries 'Boss Ket,' Connery inspire Tim Jackson Germany leads rise in Europe sales Court: Buyers must act in good faith to win lemon law damages Nissan wants suppliers to reduce utility bills Bajaj: From scooters to autos The next $2,500 car? Infiniti will look different, add engine power in Europe Lamborghini boss wants to keep the big engines Lamborghini ups ante in 'entry' supercars Continental exec: We're done selling VDO assets Honda plans Fit hybrid Outgoing Visteon CEO to receive $2.5 million Audi production chief: Cooperation with Porsche will grow Picture this RV shipments fall in March M-B will buy Chrysler studio Supplier personnel VW expects to reap big share of U.S. diesel market Valeo CEO Morin: Pass rising costs to consumers Suppliers to the 2008 Nissan Altima Dealers Auction workshops demystify Web buying April used-vehicle prices: Light trucks fall and cars rise Volvo certified plan offers free satellite radio Mulally: Full speed toward smaller Toyota plans credit card Sanfilippo switches agencies International idles plant Honda Pilot starts at $28,230 Plastech plans assets auction What counts GM's 2-pronged strategy for Calif. rules: If you can't beat 'em . . . meet 'em New wheels for the cop shop The cost of luxury? For Hyundai, it would have been $2.5 billion New tools allow early design input from consumers Lexus in the sky with carbon: How ex-Beatle's PR effort tanked Buy an '08 . . . get a .44 $4 gasoline gives new cachet to aging econo-beaters Time tips its hat to Tata Car marketers: Magazines must widen ad reach Automakers seek 'one-to-one' approach to magazine ads Auto ads go to the movies Here's the next big thing: Ads tailored to you GMC courts women with Acadia

Automotive News - May 26, 2008

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.