truth about domestics

Ford just introduced a plan to boost consumer confidence for new vehicle purchases. Ford’s plan is similar to Hyundai’s, but it goes even further by offering to pay up to 12 months worth of payments if a Ford, Lincoln, or Mercury customer loses their job.

Ford is working on other initiatives to boost confidence, which includes 0 percent financing and working with dealers on local charity support programs.

Read the full news at here.

Rick Wagoner (GM)

General Motor’s CEO, Rick Wagoner, has been asked to step down by the Automotive Task Force in Washington D.C.  For the full story, and Mr. Wagoner’s press release, head on over to Autoblog.

Now that I got the official business out of the way, it’s time for one of my legendary rants.  Sure someone needs to take the blame for GM’s current position.  I mean, Rick Wagoner should have seen this coming.  Not only is GM producing it’s highest quality line of vehicles ever, they’re also the most fuel efficient, safest and most technologically advanced.  Plus, I mean, it’s totally GM’s fault that the banks collapsed, people can’t get financing to buy vehicles, gas prices hit $4+ last summer and the housing market is in shambles, so might as well blame all that on Rick Wagoner too.  Hey, wait a second!  Wasn’t Rick Wagoner CEO during 9/11?  We might want to look into that, maybe we can blame that on him too.

Glad to see that Washington thinks that because the market sucks and people aren’t buying cars, that it’s all Rick Wagoner’s fault.  If it were true that GM isn’t doing anything right, then they wouldn’t outsell Toyota and Honda and Nissan in the United States.  They wouldn’t be the second largest automaker in the world.  They wouldn’t sell cars like the Chevrolet Cobalt that gets better fuel economy than the Honda Civic or the Toyota Corolla.  They wouldn’t propose an idea like the Chevrolet Volt, a car that is expected to average 100 mpg (energy equivalent) when it’s launched late in 2010.  Sure, Mr. Wagoner could have done more.  He could have cut more jobs, he could have made more production cuts.  I hear and read hundreds of comments like that every day.  All from people who are using what they know today to look back 3 years and cast judgement.  If you were the CEO back in 2007, would you have started cutting jobs when the company was starting to show signs of improvement?  Would you have cut new product plans because, 1 year down the road gas was going to skyrocket to more than double it’s price at the time?  To anyone who says yes, I say, “bullshit.”  There was no way anyone could have seen the market collapse coming, or the high gas prices, or the lack of credit from the banks.

Hopefully Obama doesn’t abandon the Domestic automakers to the point of bankruptcy.  It sure looks as though it’s headed that way.  Oh, and to anyone who still doesn’t think the auto industry affects them, check the stock market.  I don’t care if you don’t own a share of Ford, GM or Chrysler stock, look at the market.  Rick Wagoner steps down, analysts say GM and/or Chrylser could be headed for bankruptcy and boom, the market drops 250+ points.  Weird…I didn’t think the Domestic manufacturers mattered to this country…yet their negative news spread throughout the market, causing wide spread panic and more selling.  Maybe when GM and Chrysler said they support directly and indirectly over 1 million jobs, they were telling the truth!  Are investors worried that their collapse would cause other businesses to fail?  You’re damn right they are!  Now where’s my blood pressure medication…

Dodge Viper SRT10 (Dodge)

The Dodge Viper is a brutal car.  It can burn you when you get out with it’s hot, side rocker mounted exhaust.  It will shake and jar your body with it’s stiff suspension.  It can squeeze the air from your lungs with it’s massive V-10 engine.  It can best cars like the Ferrari Enzo and Maserati MC12 around the Nurburgring.  Apparently, it can also haul some serious ass at the drag strip.

According to an owner on DragTimes.com, he took his bone stock Viper SRT10 convertible to the strip with just 100 miles on it and managed to run a 10.92 second quarter mile.  Mighty impressive, especially when you consider that the time was generated with a convertible no less.  For the full details, head on over to Autoblog.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally (The Torque Report)

Ford’s CEO Alan Mulally, the man behind the transformation taking place at the number 2 American automaker, has taken a 37% pay cut between 2008 and 2007.  Ford has also announced that Mulally will take an additional 30% pay cut for 2009.  While this all sounds like a lot, Mulally will still take home millions.  However, from my perspective, the work he is doing at Ford is working, their cars are coming out at the top of their respective classes, quality and fuel economy are improving at leaps and bounds, and they have yet to take government loans like the other two domestic automakers.

In other news, two additions have been made to the Ford board of directors.  House Majority leader Richard Gephardt and Anthony Earley (chairman and CEO of DET Energy Co.) were added to fill spots vacated by members who “no longer had the necessary time to serve.”  For the full story, head on over to Autoblog.

2011 Chevrolet Volt

GM has announced that they plan on building the first of many integration level vehicles of the Chevrolet Volt in June.  Currently, GM has been testing the Volt powertrain (known as “Voltec”) in Chevy Cruze bodies.  That will all change come June 1st, when GM will build production looking Volts with production intent powertrains installed.  This will allow them a full year of testing before the vehicle is readied for production in late 2010.  For the full story, head on over to the GM-Volt official website.

GMC Terrain (KGP / Autoblog)

More GM news today.  So, an embargo was broken using Twitter which, according to Jalopnik, is the first time that has happened.  The official unveiling of the new GMC Terrain is scheduled for April 5Th, but information has been leaked out that the GMC Terrain will seat 5, and achieve 30 mpg on the highway.  This is a huge jump forward for GM, as this puts them above their key competition, the Toyota Rav4 and Honda CR-V, even though this vehicle is larger than them both.  In the full story on Autoblog, they state that the only vehicles in it’s class to do better, are it’s future cousin, the 2010 Chevy Equinox, the Ford Escape Hybrid and the Saturn Vue Hybrid.  More proof that the domestics are fighting back and winning the war on fuel economy.

Cadillac CTS coupe concept (GM)

Brenda Priddy & Co have managed to capture pictures of a very production looking Cadillac CTS coupe, and boy is it sharp.  Holding very true to the concept that was shown at the Detroit Auto Show two years ago, the car still holds it’s sleek proportions and road hugging stance.  For more details, including the expected release date of the car, head on over to AutoWeek.

Chevrolet Camaro convertible concept (GM)

Depending on what hour you read the rumors floating around on the Internet, you might get some mixed signals on the convertible production version of the 2010 Camaro coupe.  Well, according to Moter Trend, the rag top is back on, and is set to debut as a 2012 model (on sale first quarter of 2011.)  This is the complete opposite from rumors a few weeks back that stated the car was on hold indefinitely due to GM’s German convertible top maker going belly up.  Apparently the true story is that GM and the supplier reached an agreement, and will begin working on tops again.

I really hope these reports are true, as I think the convertible Camaro is a very attractive alternative, and will give cars like the Nissan 370Z a run for their money.

2010 Chevrolet Camaro (Supercars.net)

Autoblog has just had it’s first drive in the all new 2010 Chevrolet Camaro, and the initial impression is a good one.  They liked both the V6 and V8 SS editions, which says a lot about the vehicle.  Particularly impressive is the 29 mpg rating for the V6, while still haulin’ ass with 304 hp.  For the full review, as well as tons of photos of the car, head on over to Autoblog.

I’m glad to hear positive news on the car thus far, as it will hopefully help yet again to prove that the domestic manufacturers can produce fun to drive cars that still deliver good fuel economy.

I just came across a really cool website and event that will create support for the Detroit 3.  A local club in Ferndale, Michigan called AJ’s Music Cafe is putting on a 10 day long concert in order to raise awareness for what is going on with the local automobile manufacturers.  Part of this whole campaign is getting members to sign up on this website saying that they promise to buy a new car from Ford, GM, or Chrysler. Below the form, there is a place to donate to the concert and a portion of these benefits will be given to the laid off auto workers.

But why? “We’re all affected by the the auto industry here, all the way from the auto executive to cafe owners like me. I can’t do much, but I can draw attention to the situation,” said O’Neil, ” I can talk about the cars and get people to at least think about buying one.” He’s gotten a roundly positive response from the automakers too, with emails coming in from Ford and GM, dealers have dropped some of their cars in front of the cafe, UAW and CAW workers dropping in with banners and requests to play in the concert. Each band gets an hour to play, with no more than five minutes between sets, as sanctioned by Guinness. There are themed days where union workers play, politicians, local news anchors and others.

The event started out at 5:00 PM Friday night with Motown artist Martha Reeves and is intended to end in 240 hours on March 31st, to coincide with the feasibility hearings in Congress. It might go on longer though, as a United Way group in Statesville, North Carolina is making a run at the record at the same time, so it might end up going much longer than originally anticipated.

We asked AJ what the takeaway on this event should be, to which he responded: “This is an awareness campaign, people need to recognize what they purchase has an impact, and if they turn away from the big three, it puts us in Detroit in peril.” The event brought out a strange mix of locals and luminaries, we even spotted John McElroy there, sitting in for a listen, but at the core of it was a quiet desperation. Nobody seemed interested in mentioning the unmentionable, the possibility this was an early and raucous wake rather than a record attempt to rally for the home teams. [Live streaming and details available at Assembly Line Concert]