Post by TonyV on Jan 28, 2010 1:18:11 GMT -5
Last Updated: January 28. 2010 1:00AM
Manny Lopez
Toyota, Nader make wild week
You know the automotive universe is upside down when you look at the events that have transpired in the last week.
Obviously, there's the stunning news from Toyota Motor Corp. that it has halted sales of eight models and will suspend production of them to get a grip on the gas pedal recall problem.
The Japanese automaker, which had been the industry standard for quality and reliability, has recalled more than 6 million vehicles for two different problems and on Tuesday was forced by federal regulators to stop selling some models.
But there's more.
Advertisement
Nader award surprising
Ralph Nader was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the Washington, D.C., auto show Tuesday.
Really, he was.
He didn't get a consumer advocate award or win one for most notable man to have never made a dent in repeated presidential election runs, but a lifetime achievement award at an auto show.
To be sure, he has spent a lifetime criticizing all things General Motors and four-plus decades ago certainly had an effect on automotive safety, but it's hard to believe that his activism has had such a significant effect on safety that he's the best candidate out there for such an award.
Especially since he's out of touch with what Detroit's automakers are doing.
In accepting his award, he called GM "an anesthetized mastodon" -- irony in the eye of the beholder -- and questioned whether the company had really turned itself around, urging GM to focus on cars. "It's product, product, product," he said.
Really, Ralph?
GM, like other automakers, is well aware of market demand and what it should build to satisfy that. It has products on the market that are solid, stylish, safe and reliable. Unfortunately, it is the activists and bureaucrats who think they know what's best -- insisting that the automakers build vehicles that are largely unsellable -- and are the ones meddling with the system and screwing things up.
Title database starts
More evidence of that came early in the week when the federal government launched -- after 17 years of trying -- a national automotive title database to try to prevent stolen cars from being resold in other states. The idea is that anyone can log on to the database to check a VIN before buying a car or truck to see if a vehicle is stolen.
The Justice Department spent $22 million and took nearly two decades, but the database is up and running. Our tax dollars at work. Who says government isn't a well-oiled machine?
And let's not look past the Saab sale. Whew, thank goodness the Swedish car brand will still be around. Music to the ears of the 8,680 people in America who actually bought Saabs last year and the 213 U.S. dealers that had a part in that (selling an average of 40 vehicles per shop for the year).
I don't know. Maybe there's some karma in it all. Maybe next week, or the rest of this year, will be better.
Other automakers will capitalize on Toyota's pain, and there's plenty of time for someone to stake a claim to next year's coveted lifetime achievement award at the D.C. auto show. Perhaps President Barack Obama. He hasn't won that one -- yet.
Manny Lopez
Toyota, Nader make wild week
You know the automotive universe is upside down when you look at the events that have transpired in the last week.
Obviously, there's the stunning news from Toyota Motor Corp. that it has halted sales of eight models and will suspend production of them to get a grip on the gas pedal recall problem.
The Japanese automaker, which had been the industry standard for quality and reliability, has recalled more than 6 million vehicles for two different problems and on Tuesday was forced by federal regulators to stop selling some models.
But there's more.
Advertisement
Nader award surprising
Ralph Nader was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the Washington, D.C., auto show Tuesday.
Really, he was.
He didn't get a consumer advocate award or win one for most notable man to have never made a dent in repeated presidential election runs, but a lifetime achievement award at an auto show.
To be sure, he has spent a lifetime criticizing all things General Motors and four-plus decades ago certainly had an effect on automotive safety, but it's hard to believe that his activism has had such a significant effect on safety that he's the best candidate out there for such an award.
Especially since he's out of touch with what Detroit's automakers are doing.
In accepting his award, he called GM "an anesthetized mastodon" -- irony in the eye of the beholder -- and questioned whether the company had really turned itself around, urging GM to focus on cars. "It's product, product, product," he said.
Really, Ralph?
GM, like other automakers, is well aware of market demand and what it should build to satisfy that. It has products on the market that are solid, stylish, safe and reliable. Unfortunately, it is the activists and bureaucrats who think they know what's best -- insisting that the automakers build vehicles that are largely unsellable -- and are the ones meddling with the system and screwing things up.
Title database starts
More evidence of that came early in the week when the federal government launched -- after 17 years of trying -- a national automotive title database to try to prevent stolen cars from being resold in other states. The idea is that anyone can log on to the database to check a VIN before buying a car or truck to see if a vehicle is stolen.
The Justice Department spent $22 million and took nearly two decades, but the database is up and running. Our tax dollars at work. Who says government isn't a well-oiled machine?
And let's not look past the Saab sale. Whew, thank goodness the Swedish car brand will still be around. Music to the ears of the 8,680 people in America who actually bought Saabs last year and the 213 U.S. dealers that had a part in that (selling an average of 40 vehicles per shop for the year).
I don't know. Maybe there's some karma in it all. Maybe next week, or the rest of this year, will be better.
Other automakers will capitalize on Toyota's pain, and there's plenty of time for someone to stake a claim to next year's coveted lifetime achievement award at the D.C. auto show. Perhaps President Barack Obama. He hasn't won that one -- yet.