Known for unmitigated excess to some, the Cadillac Escalade embodies over-the-top transportation for oil barons and high-rolling hip-hop stars. The Detroit Bureau quotes an unknown senior Cadillac official saying, "We were finding that for everyone turned on by that image there were four (potential luxury buyers) who were [turned off]." Add in national gas prices flirting with $5 a gallon, and the Escalade seemed destined to join the flamboyant fins of the 1959 Eldorado.
But The Detroit Bureau says GM saw too much profit in the tanker-sized truck and plans to refresh it in early 2014 as a 2015 model. The Bureau predicts the SUV will continue to be body-on-frame with the new 2013 Chevrolet pickup underpinnings holding it all together. It's probably safe to assume the luxury will be upsized, the engine uptuned and the price upjacked.
Episode #283 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Chris, Dan and Zach chat about the 2013 Ford Shelby GT500, the Chevrolet SS, and Kia exploring diesels for the U.S. market. Your questions and comments power the end of the 'cast, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. We've embedded our Q&A module after the jump for you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #283:
Topics:
Ford Shelby GT500
Holden sending RWD Commodore Stateside
Kia mulling diesel for the U.S.
In the Autoblog Garage:
2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid
2012 Audi A6
2012 Honda Fit
Hosts: Dan Roth, Chris Shunk, Zach Bowman
Runtime: 01:08:54
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[UStream] Listen live on Mondays at 10PM Eastern at UStream
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Anyone considering a German-built car might want to buy it now. It could be a long summer.
Europe's largest industrial union, IG Metall, is taking a tough stance against some job rules German carmakers want to enforce, potentially creating the possibility of a strike, according to TheDetroitBureau.com.
"Talks are resuming, but so far five rounds of negotiations have produced little movement and a round of warning strikes earlier this month at several companies, including Porsche, BMW and Daimler, suggest that the powerful union is gearing up for a confrontation," the Bureau reported earlier this week.
The union wants a 6.5-percent pay raise for its workers and a limit in how many temporary workers the carmakers can use. Around the world, carmakers use temporary workers as way to increase production without increasing union membership and save money.
The union was offered a 3-percent pay raise, but that offer was rejected. Currently, German auto workers are some of the highest paid in the automotive world. And while parts of Europe remain in economic turmoil, Germany has shown signs of slow growth, which might be one reason some government officials are backing IG Metall.
All of this doesn't bode well for General Motors' German-based Opel. GM was hoping to get some concessions from the unions representing its workers as part of its restructuring. But if other carmakers are paying more for its workers, it's unlikely the troubled Opel would be able to squeeze much of its people.
We record Episode #283 of the Autoblog Podcast tonight, meaning you can drop us your questions via our Q&A module below and chime in to direct our conversation. Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes if you haven't already done so, and if you want to take it all in live, tune in to our UStream (audio only) channel at 10:00 PM Eastern tonight.
Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #283
Ford Shelby GT500
Holden sending RWD Commodore Stateside
Kia mulling diesel for the U.S.
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes
[RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator
The overhaul of General Motors' marketing battle plan isn't finished. The Wall Street Journal reports that Joel Ewanick, GM's global marketing chief, is giving the brand a hiatus from Super Bowl advertising, believing it's just got too expensive and that variety is called for. Thirty-second spots for next year's big game are projected to cost $3.8 million.
The development comes quickly after GM decided to stop buying ads on Facebook citing a lack of effectiveness (to which Ford responded), and comes during a year of realignment efforts throughout the company: a global review of accounts began earlier this year and some were quickly let go, a brand new agency was created for Chevrolet and set up shop in Detroit, and personnel are being realigned.
The General's global ad spend in 2011 was $4.7 billion, and word is that GM doesn't plan on spending less, it only wishes to spend better - Ewanick says the changes made so far will net the company $2 billion in savings over the next five years. It's clear he's looking to unlock more efficiencies; observers say that GM is also trying to improve its ad performance overseas and find better ways to reach demographics that have migrated in all directions and to all media.
The annual "Car Wars" report by Merrill Lynch analyst John Murphy predicts that, despite their seizing of U.S. market share over the last few tumultuous years, Korean brands Hyundai and Kia will give it all back and then some to companies like Ford, General Motors and Toyota by 2016.
Murphy bases his predictions not on tea leaves or crystal balls, but rather the rate at which automakers launch new products. Ford will replace 26 percent of its product line over the next four years, a number that represents 46 percent of its volume, while General Motors will replace 25 percent and Toyota 24 percent. On account of these new product launches, Murphy says Ford can expect to add 0.8 percentage points of market share, General Motors will recover 0.5 points and Toyota will add another 0.3 points.
Other automakers that won't be so aggressive in turning over their lineups with new models include Chrysler, Honda, Nissan and the European brands, which Murphy surmises will all remain flat in terms of market share.
Hyundai and Kia, meanwhile, will be introducing fewer new models than the rest and therefore, Murphy predicts, will see a 0.5 decline in U.S. market share.
Of course, these are all just predictions and can be blown to bits with the next unforeseen economic crisis or natural disaster, just like the last three years were. And there are other factors that might affect market share for each automaker during the next three years, including the availability of raw materials, exchange rates, union contracts, recalls and a million another minor things that might grow to become big things, not the least of which is consumers deciding they actually like all those new products being launched.
Frenemies Ford and General Motors have taken to cyberspace for a little verbal sparing, trading snarky shots this week over which company is more likeable on Facebook.
GM set itself up Tuesday after news broke that the carmaker decided not to spend $10 million on Facebook advertising the same week the social media juggernaut prepares for its initial public offering expected to raise $100 billion dollars.
Ford used the opportunity to tweak its crosstown rival, tweeting: "It's all about the execution. Our Facebook ads are effective when strategically combined with engaging content & innovation."
GM couldn't leave that alone, going onto its Facebook page, "Just wanted to let our millions of Facebook fans know, we're still here, and we 'like' you back!"
Both carmakers will continue to use Facebook, where both have millions of followers of their brands and vehicles. And, really, they are both right.
Ford has done an extremely good job incorporating Facebook into its marketing strategy. When it came time to launch the new Ford Explorer, it did it through Facebook reaching millions of people.
GM has determined its money will be better spent in other areas. A recent Associated Press-CNBC poll showing more than half of all Facebook users never click on sponsored ads and only 12 percent said they felt comfortable to buy anything over Facebook. Google, The Wall Street Journal points out, is much more effective.
The Internets are buzzing over the upcoming initial public offering of Facebook, but General Motors doesn't seem all that impressed. The Huffington Post reports that The General has pulled its Facebook ad campaigns just days before the social media site is scheduled to officially hit the stock market.
The pricey ad buy reportedly wasn't paying sufficient dividends for GM, which spends billions of dollars on advertising every year. GM Spokesperson Pat Morrissey confirmed that Facebook was being reassessed, but added that the automaker routinely reviews where it is spending its ad dollars. Morrissey then added that GM is looking for effectiveness when it doles out marketing cash, which doesn't bode well for Facebook's ability to draw clicks.
If GM's decision sounds at all irrational, the statistics seem to show that Facebook isn't exactly an ad-click magnet. A recent CNBC poll showed that 50 percent of all Facebook users never click on any ads, and only 12 percent of those polled feel comfortable purchasing anything through Facebook. Google appears to be more effective at attracting clicks, as The Wall Street Journal cites a click-rate that is seven times that of Facebook.
Regardless of GM's decision to break up with Facebook, we're guessing that the news probably won't drown out much of the anticipation for the IPO. After all, it isn't every day that an Internet site with 900 million mostly addicted users goes public.
Before financial Stargate opened in September of 2008 and transported us to an entirely new economic dimension, it was oh so common to read about domestic automakers hammering Tier One suppliers to lower their prices. Of course, suppliers are still asked to find efficiencies, but pre-2008, it seemed a point of honor to hold a supplier's feet to the fire. No more: in the latest Working Relations Index survey of suppliers by Detroit firm Planning Perspectives Inc., General Motors and Chrysler rocketed up the charts to bring the bunch much closer together.
Admittedly, the two companies are still in last place, with GM just ahead of Chrysler and Toyota and Honda still up top. But perspective and improvement is the issue here: in 2005, Toyota scored 415 and GM scored 114. In this year's survey, Toyota scored 296 and Chrysler scored 248. It is the first time in the 12 years of the survey that the six automakers covered have been separated by less than 50 points. Chrysler's jump was led by the efforts of the the late Dan Knott, whle GM's improvement has been led by Bob Socia.
And yes, this is also a matter of the perennial leaders, Toyota and Honda, suffering a dip: in 2010 Toyota scored 327 and Honda 309, two years later, Toyota has dropped 31 points. Every automaker, however, from top to bottom acknowledged that they still have work to do with supplier relations. The benefits of good feelings are that suppliers tend to present their newest tech to, and make better parts for, the automakers with whom they have the best relationships. Naturally, it has been found that the reverse is true as well.
Nissan and Ford make up the middle two spots, where they've been for years. BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Hyundai aren't on the list yet; PPI feels it doesn't have enough data on the Germans to yet to officially include them, and it doesn't have enough data on Hyundai to rank it at all. If the data gathered on the Germans was included, though, they would sandwich the rest of the field: BMW and Mercedes at the top, Volkswagen at the bottom a point shy of Chrysler.
The door has not yet closed on Saab. Hoping for yet another 11th hour stay of execution, the defunct carmaker's chief union, IF Metall, has written directly to President Obama, asking him to intervene, according to Just-Auto. While on the surface, this may seem silly, it's actually rather clever, even if it has little likelihood of working.
With the United States government still owning 26 percent of General Motors, the Swedish union is hoping it can appeal to Obama to pressure General Motors into granting licenses to continue manufacturing Saab vehicles, according to the report. It's this sticking point that has torpedoed every attempt to forestall Saab's dissolution, as GM fears that were it to allow continued production of Saabs developed under GM's ownership, it would open up the possibility of intellectual property conflicts, particularly if a Chinese manufacturer that competes with GM's own Chinese partner, SAIC, acquires Saab.
You have to admire Saab loyalists, as they clearly have not given up hope. But in this case, they just don't have any other options: Unemployment in the Saab hometown of Trollhättan has hit 40 percent, according to the report.
