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Nissan and Chrysler, What’s Next?

nobody@vox.com(cjs226) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 10:11:51 -0600

There’s been plenty of buzz in automotive circles, this week, following word that Nissan and Chrysler would team up to sell a Chrysler-badged version of the Nissan Versa in Latin America.

In an interview, Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli told me he has had “no contact” with his counterpart, Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive of both Nissan and its French partner, Renault. Translation: for the time being, at least, there’s nothing to rumors that the U.S. maker would become the full, American affiliate Ghosn has long sought. Again, insiders tell us, there’s nothing to that for now.

If anything, sources suggest, this is a relationship that is likely to build one piece at a time. The Versa deal is a good one for both makers for a couple simple reasons: First, Chrysler needs to expand its presence outside North America, which currently accounts for about 91 percent of its total sales. Latin America is close and should be reasonably easy to make some headway into, especially with the right product.

As for Nissan, the automaker’s little Versa hasn’t been selling quite as well as it would like, and the Mexican plant building the minicar has plenty of excess capacity Chrysler will now absorb. In a low-margin segment, like minicars, that can make a major difference between profit and loss.

What’s next? Talks are now well underway, we have confirmed with several well-placed sources, on a second product partnership, this one involving full-size pickups. There’s little doubt Nissan has been dissatisfied with the reception given its big Titan, since its late 2003 launch. It’s about time for the pickup to undergo a major update, a huge expense. So, it may make a lot more sense for Nissan to simply adopt a version of the next-generation Dodge Ram, which is making its debut at the Detroit Auto Show, this week.

A lot of questions remain: would Nissan build the truck at its Canton, Mississippi plant or let Chrysler roll out a version at its own pickup plant? How much different would the Nissan version be, and would the Japanese maker get the same range of offerings available under the Dodge brand – short and long beds, various cab configurations and perhaps a diesel, as well as a V-8?

Don’t be surprised to see the two budding partners make these key decisions in reasonably short order.

As Nardelli appears to believe, partnering is the best way for Chrysler to move forward. The automaker has about $3 billion a year to invest in product. That may sound like a lot, but it really isn’t, at least not for a full-line manufacturer. So the alternative is to strike deals with various global affiliates.

The Chrysler CEO made it clear that it is moving ahead on another small car deal with Chery, the ambitious Chinese carmaker. And there’s the version of its minivan that Chrysler will soon start building for Volkswagen.

Of course, there’s also the Sebring/Avenger models developed in a joint venture with Mitsubishi. Both have received lackluster receptions from critics and consumers alike. And that underscores a serious challenge with the affiliate strategy that Chrysler – and a number of other makers – have been adopting.

“Consistency is paramount,” in the words of Ford’s marketing chief, Jim Farley. That goes for everything from your advertising tagline to the product itself. The failure of the Sebring is a prime example.

Chrysler won tremendous kudos when it launched the big 300, and even as it reaches the late stages in its lifecycle, that rear-drive sedan remains one of the most exciting and freshest looks on the market. Unfortunately, the front-drive models Chrysler built with Mitsubishi have virtually nothing in common with the 300, not the underlying powertrain layout and certainly not the visual power.

It’s not all that difficult to line up a deal to share products between two or more manufacturers. But the challenge is to make sure that the version you get looks and feels like something your customers expect. It needs to be consistent with your brand image, and if it isn’t, it’s likely to fail like the Sebring. We only hope that Chrysler will learn that lesson going forward.

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Why do I think I'm smarter than the car makers?

nobody@vox.com(cjs226) — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 21:05:09 -0600

Ford Taurus

So, Ford has decided they screwed the pooch in dropping the Taurus and will now sell the Five Hundred as a Taurus. What could have been the clue? Was it possibly that the Taurus was the best selling car until about 10 years ago when Homer Simpson was apparently in charge of the redesign? I don't get it. It seems too often that car makers ignore a winning formula. It's obviously not just Ford that blow it and yes, the imports do it too. Here's some examples off the top of my head:

Mazda RX7 (Gen 1)

My beloved RX7. When the RX7 started out it was a screamer of a small, affordable sports car. What was Mazda's bright idea when it was time to freshen it up? Make it even more of a screamer (it did kickass!) but make it much more expensive which pushed it out of it's segment.

Honda CRX Si

My beloved CRX. The CRX was a fantastic car. There were at least 3 models, I remember the HF which had fantastic fuel enconomy but my favorite was the SI which was the sports model. Again, a great small, affordable sports car. What did Honda do when it was time for a redesign? They completely dropped it in favor of the Del Sol. Don't get me wrong, the Del Sol was interesting but was much more of a Miatacombatant than a CRX.

'73 Chevy Camaro Z28

My beloved Camaro. I don't know where to start on the Camaro. Chevy had a winning formula for over 20 years, a good, affordable sports car. So, what was their decision when sales dropped thanks to a lackluster design and the redesigned Mustang? They ran. Thankfully, the Camaro should return this year with a kickass retro design, but it's a brand that should never had been dropped to begin with.

</rant>

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Automakers Can Learn From Apple

nobody@vox.com(cjs226) — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 14:37:50 -0600

'09 Convertible Camaro

It's a long way from Henry Ford's gritty factory complex on the banks of the Rouge to the light-filled atrium of Apple Inc.'s corporate headquarters in sunny Silicon Valley. But events this week have leaders of Detroit's Big Three automakers thinking less about differences and more about similarities between themselves and the once-troubled company that brought the world iPods, Macintosh computers and -- starting in June -- iPhones.

Apple's problems, circa 1997, are familiar: red ink, falling market share, tumbling stock price and persistent doubts about its future. Analysts questioned whether it could find someone to permanently replace ousted CEO Gil Amelio, who had been hired to turn the company around.

The key to the turnaround -- engineered by returning co-founder Steve Jobs -- was in ideas as old as capitalism itself: Make something new, something people want to buy.

Detroit is watching.

Read the rest on Yahoo!.

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Mustang + 2 rear doors = Interceptor?

nobody@vox.com(cjs226) — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:05:37 -0600

Ford Interceptor Concept

'Tis the season to be spreading cheer…and rumors. With the holidays largely behind us and the 2007 Detroit auto show, fast approaching, the automotive gossip mill starts churning out word of what just might make it to the floor of Cobo Hall.

TheCarConnection.com has confirmed that Ford will lift the covers on the so-called "four-door Mustang" at the Detroit show in the form of the Interceptor concept.

In the word's of Ford's North American design director, Peter Horbury, the concept Interceptor is intended to "celebrates the best of American muscle." It's also meant to suggest that after all too many years rolling out bland and boring products, like the Five Hundred sedan, Ford really can put some edge in its designs.

Ford Interceptor Concept

Read the rest at TheCarConnection.

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Sweet Ford Shelby Commercial

nobody@vox.com(cjs226) — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 12:53:58 -0600

Ford Shelby Commercial

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Hennessey turbo-tunes the Ford GT

nobody@vox.com(cjs226) — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 14:24:53 -0600

Hennessey GT

Hennessey Performance seems to have a knack for producing modified supercars that are as intoxicating as its namesake Cognac. Hennessey specializes in top-level American muscle, having earned its street cred by strapping twin turbochargers to the Dodge Viper to crank power up to 1000 horsepower. Now Hennessey has turned its attention over to the Viper's main rival in the battle for American supercar dominance: the Ford GT.

The Ford GT was, of course, created as rolling homage to the Le Mans-winning GT40 of yore, and the modern retro-mobile lives up to the legend by challenging Ferraris just as it did in the sixties. But cavallino-trouncing performance just wasn't enough to John Hennessey and his crew, so they went to work. Two Garret turbochargers, an intercooler, a new exhaust system, a custom intake manifold, a revised engine management system and a whole slew of other modifications later, the Hennessey Ford GT Twin Turbo puts out Koenigsegg-like levels of power: 850 horsepower and a matching 850 lb-ft of torque. That's enough to propel the throwback sportscar to sixty in a claimed 2.6 seconds, covering the quarter-mile in 10.6 seconds on its way to a very Veyron-like top speed of 240 mph.

The price, of course, is not specified, but for that kind of performance, if you have to ask... But for a customer bent on American domination of even the performance supercar world, price is no object.

Stolen from AutoBlog.

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Holy crap, check out this mustang!

nobody@vox.com(cjs226) — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 20:59:24 -0600

In a late night blitzkrieg, Ford dropped all the details on Giugiaro's reinterpretation of the Mustang and words seem to fail it. The world-class coachbuilder has taken the iconic coupe and transformed it into rolling automotive pornography, leaving no body panel untouched and enlisting the help of Ford Racing to provide motivation to match its extreme design.

Stolen from Autoblog, read the rest and you damn well better look at the other pics!!!

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Wonderful New World of Fords...from 1960

nobody@vox.com(cjs226) — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 16:59:16 -0600

A Wonderful New World of Fords 1960

Man, I miss the old days. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't even alive in 1960, but I miss old tv, old media, simpler days, you name it. Damn, I'm getting old. But wouldn't it be cool be back in the 70s, well, as long as I could take my Tivo, my Treo, my Macbook...oh, damn, never mind.

Why, if they had a car that could fit 6 adults comfortably and still get 30 miles per gallon in 1960, can we NOT do the same 46 years later?!

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