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AUTOS WORLDWIDE: COMMENT & OPINIONS
* USA - By Daniel Howes - A new leader at Ford, Alan Mulally: A can-do guyDearborn,MICH,USA -The Detroit News, by Daniel Howes -7 Sept 2006: -- If there's any "we-can't-do-it" in Alan Mulally, Ford Motor Co.'s new CEO, you couldn't find it in his first town hall meeting Wednesday with employees... Greeted by cheers and a standing ovation, Mulally invoked humor, the language of teamwork and a Dilbert reference to stoke hope in apprehensive employees laboring with rampant rumors and scary change as the company prepares to announce more cutbacks in coming weeks... It was a pivotal moment in Ford's 103-year history -- an outsider with no ties to Ford becoming its CEO -- ... "There's no reason we can't do this," he told me later, countering the conventional wisdom that Ford is doomed to decline. They said the same about his former employer, Boeing Co., an Old Economy behemoth beset with expensive labor contracts, fierce global competition and declining demand for its aircraft... The guy Chairman Bill Ford Jr. wooed from a 37-year career at Boeing and named CEO Tuesday told me "the biggest thing that I can contribute (to Ford) is to move from worrying, from being afraid, back to their roots. We've done this in the past."... To the employees, he promised to work with Ford's unions, not fight them. He embraced Ford's current leadership instead of signaling that he was preparing to assemble his own team and broom the rest. He didn't dwell on how and where Ford screwed up, but instead focused on the opportunity to retool it for the future... (Photo by David Coates / The Detroit News: -- Ford's new CEO Alan Mulally, left, and Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. lead a town hall meeting Wednesday for employees, where Mulally fielded questions about the company's future and aimed to set anxious minds at ease)
* USA - New Ford CEO pay package to be rich
WASHINGTON,DC,USA -The Detroit News -7 Sept 2006: -- Alan Mulally was Boeing's second-highest paid executive in 2005, with a compensation package of $9.9 million, which included $7.6 million in long-term incentive stock grants...
* USA - By Joel A. & Marti Barletta: Was it women who led Honda, Toyota's rise?
USA - The Car Blog, by Joel A. & Marti Barletta of Brandweek -Sept 8, 2006: -- Marti Barletta of Brandweek voiced something that I've always suspected: Honda and Toyota built their cars to women's taste and destroyed the domestic car industry... According to the Marti Barletta of Brandweek, women are the decision makers for over 80 percent of any major (and many minor) household purchases. This includes cars, where 60 percent new car buyers are women... Yet most car ads target men, who tend to read, browse, and discuss cars frequently. However, women, when interested, will actually make a purchase... Barletta discuss some steps for marketers to consider when developing car ads towards women including:
* Women do consider the environment such as pollution.
* Women tend to be more interested in a car’s interior.
* Women don’t care about how many seconds it takes to reach 60 mph.
* Women care about vehicle safety; specifically, what happens when her car’s hit, not if she can avoid it.
Barletta provides more advice at the article...
* USA - By Robert Farago: The Truth About GM’s New Powertrain Warranty
USA -The Truth About Cars, by Robert Farago -Sept 7, 2006: -- It's clear that GM's new powertrain warranty– 5 years, 100k miles– has set TTAC tongues wagging. To get on top of the story, I phoned Philip Reed, Consumer Advice Editor at Edmunds.com... Reed has written a book called Strategies for Smart Car Buyers, which covers the entire car buying process: selling, leasing, buying, used cars, certified cars, the whole schmeer. Reed knows what's what when it comes to warranties and, equally important, their value to both customer and manufacturer... According to Reed, GM's announcement could well be a great landing at the wrong airport...
* USA - New technology takes driving away from drivers - Cars of the future may park themselves, cruise through city traffic and warn of curves ahead
New York,NY,USA -The Wall Street Journal, by Stephen Power and Jennifer Saranow -6 Sept 2006: -- If you think driving is a drag and parking even more so, take heart: Automakers are coming up with ways to shift a lot of the work from the driver to the car... BMW AG, DaimlerChrysler AG and Toyota Motor Corp. are among the makers of premium models that are starting to market cars that automate many parts of the driving experience: self-parking cars (with the driver inside or out); parking guidance systems (for the less-lazy driver); enhanced cruise-control systems that work in stop-and-go-traffic and maintain a safe distance between cars; and warning systems that tell you when you've strayed from your lane...
posted by Unknown @ 10:12 AM
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