BMW: The Ultimate Marketing Machine?

You BMW zealots out there may want to stick your fingers in your ears: The absolute purist form of BMW’s Ultimate Driving Machine ethos, the lightweight 470 hp M3 CSL, left, has been canned.

Why?

M Division head, Ludwig Willisch is blaming “likely insufficient demand.” Instead, Willisch’s skunkworks gang will turn their wrenches to M iterations of the (are your ears still plugged?) X5 and X6 SUVs.

This follows the recent news that the refreshed Z4 due next year will only come in retractable hardtop form only.

That’s right, the venerated Z4-based M Coupe is as dead as the M3 CSL.

Oy vey!

Once upon a time BMW's M badge was sacred within the company. Only rear-wheel-drive, hardtops, and naturally aspirated mills qualified to wear the respected M badge on their metal rumps. But in the search for more sales, BMW is breaking it’s own code with AWD (the Xs from above), M3 cabs and the rumoured twin-turbo V8 that will replace the current naturally aspirated V10 M5.

Further blurring BMW’s brand qualities is its hell bent desire to not only fill every available product niche, but also create new ones.

For example, spotted hot weather testing, right, is essentially a tall hatchback version (hmm... isn’t that the niche the X6 was filling?) of the next 5 Series previously called the V5 or a Progressive Activity Vehicle. That’s on top of the existing 5 Series sedan, wagon and X5. 

But wait, there’s more niche BMWs on the way…

Expect an SUV version of the compact 1 Series, the X1, to show up at the Paris auto show next month alongside the all-new 7 Series (including a hybrid using the same system as in the Chevy Tahoe) and a face lifted 3 Series.

So what do you think?

Is BMW bastardizing its brand by chasing profits?

Or is this the inevitable fate of all performance brands dealing with our post-cheap-fuel world?

[Source: CAR, Inside Line, Jalopnik]

Viper ACR new king of the 'Ring

As what may be the last hurrah under Chrysler's care, a Dodge Viper ACR has claimed the fastest time ever for a "production" car around Germany's fabled Nürburgring.

The Dodge race sports car's lap time of 7m:22s (those lucky guys over at Motor trend were there) is only a few powerslides quicker than the 7m:26s lap set by Chevy's new ZR1, seen in the video below, and smokes the Nissan GT-R's time of 7m:29s.

Keep in mind: because all of these runs are made at different times, conditions and using different drivers, the numbers can only be seen as mere fodder for the automaker's PR flacks.

Whatever. For now, the Viper ACR rules the 'Ring in Press Release Land.

So what's your guess as to the next production (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)  supercar to beat the Snake's lap time?



[Source: Motor Trend, Chrysler]

Chrysler puts Viper on the block

Finally, the parceling out of Chrysler’s assets is starting to happen.

And although some soothsayers thought the Jeep brand was going to be the first to put on the block, the recent escalation in fuel prices has made the iconic off-roading brand unattractive, very quickly.

So now it looks like the low-volume Viper super car is being rolled to the curb side in hope someone will take it off the automaker’s hands.

Chrysler says its has had “third parties” interested in exploring “future possibilities for Viper.”

Spoken like the true car money guy he is, Chrysler’s CEO (and the former head handy man over at Home Depot) Bob Nardelli, said:

"As the Company evaluates strategic options to maximize core operations and leverage its assets, we have agreed to listen to these parties. We will do so keeping in mind the best interests of those who have shown tremendous support for the vehicle- including employees, suppliers, dealers and a worldwide group of loyal Viper owners and enthusiasts.”

Don’t be shocked. This has been what Chrysler’s new private equity caretakers, Cerberus, have been planning all along. The silver lining for Viper fans, however, is that some one who thinks they can make a go of it will keep the snake alive.

Do you care if Chrysler doesn’t make a Viper anymore?

Any suggestions as to who should swoop in and take it over?

[Source: Automotive News]

Is rear-wheel-drive for the masses dead, again?

The move of mainstream automakers to wrong- front-wheel-drive en masse after the first two oil crisis in the 1970s and ‘80s nearly killed off driving from the rear forever.

The thinking was by cramming all of the drivetrain bits in the front, passengers had more room. The fact the cars drove like ski-doos on ice was lost, however, on many.

The upsurge in horsepower, though, fueled by cheap gas in the ‘90s—and the popularity of premium performance RWD cars from the likes of BMW, Mercedes, Lexus and Infiniti—brought back rear-wheel-drive big time; to the point where RWD for the masses was back in style.

Witness the 2004 Chrysler 300C/Dodge Charger/Magnum, General Motors resurrection of the Pontiac GTO and new-this-year G8, and the return of the affordable muscle car in the form of the Dodge Challenger, Chevy Camaro and Hyundai Genesis Coupe.

But with North American fuel pricing going global (i.e. sky high), and no retreat in sight, it looks like RWD for the common folk is dead, yet again.

The General, already, has killed off plans for large RWD sedans. And now its looks like the automaker is chickening out on the long awaited scheme to walk Pontiac’s affordable-BMW talk by going exclusively RWD.

There’s still the Solstice and the G8, and, er, that's about it. But the Grand Am G6 will remain front-wheel drive s there's just not enough in GM's product development kitty to switch it to RWD. The G5 is tied to the future Cruze from Chevrolet that's on the FWD Delta platform.

As for the Matrix Vibe and Chevy Aveo-based G3/Wave? ZZZZZZZZZ…

Then there’s Ford's push to get small and Euro—and fast. That means any idea of a production version of its Interceptor rear-drive concept is as dead as DeLoren.

Ford’s grande frommage, Alan Mulally, recently spoke to the Australian press. In a move akin to removing Fosters from bars, he wouldn’t confirm if future Falcons would move away from their traditional RWD platform.

Mulally said the choice would be “customer driven,” and gave props to front and all-wheel drive vehicles, describing them as "pretty spectacular."

Low volume luxury and performance cars, no doubt, will always put down the power from the rear. But is it time to put a fork in RWD for masses?

What do you think? Are you prepared to spend the next few years understeering in FWD cars only?

[Source: Drive.com, Automotive News]

 

How long will Ford Canada’s latest grande frommage hang around?

That’s my first question after the automaker announced today that “veteran” Ford marketing executive, David Mondragon, will take over from former Ford Canada CEO and president, Barry Engle, left, who resigned last week after only being in Oakville all of eight months.

The fact that Mondragon will be the fifth Ford Canada CEO in less than four years isn’t really the big news here.

Our market, with its five distinct regions, is a great testing ground for young car execs being groomed for bigger ponds. The thinking in the auto industry is: If you can make it in Canada, you can make it anywhere.

No. It’s the fact that on the same day last week Engle bailed, Ford’s Australian boss, Bill Osborne, right, (ironically, Engle’s predecessor in Canada), also announced he was jumping ship.

Both Engle and Osborne took their respective posts earlier this year. And both officially said they were leaving Ford to greener pastures outside the auto industry.

Coincidence?

Like here in Canada, Ford’s Aussie operations are in a drastic downsizing phase, with 350 jobs recently being cut at Victorian plants.

Ford’s PR’s spin is that Engle is off to Pennsylvania, his home state, to join New Holland Agricultural Equipment SpA as president and CEO; while Ford Australia said Osborne will relocate to America to “fulfill a dream” as a “chief executive position for an independently-owned publicly listed company.”

How vague is that? At least it wasn’t the “spend more time with my family” cliché.

Whatever. The stop watch on Mondragon starts today…

[Source: Ford]

Ladies and gentlemen, your next Chevy Cobalt!

You may want to cancel your plans if you've already booked a flight to get yourself to the Paris auto show next month for the world premiere of Chevrolet's Cobalt-replacing Cruze four-door, five-passenger sedan.

Chevrolet's been teasing us—and then teasing some more—with camo versions, slightly more realistic renderings and boasts of high mileage drivetrains. But only weeks before its French debut, the General's people's brand blasted out final pics and drivetrain info today.

GM's presser says: the Cruze is "wider and longer" than most rivals, and its styling indicated a "dramatic reinterpretation of the traditional sedan featuring Chevrolet's new global design language."

In other words: it looks kind of looks like a Malibu that hasn't had its morning cup o' joe.

When the Cruze goes on sale in Europe next March, two gas four-bangers (1.6L/112 hp, 1.8L/140 hp) and a turbo diesel (2.0L /150 hp) with five-speed sticks and an all-new  six-speed slushbox will be on the drivetrain menu. 

No word yet on future coupe, hatchback or wagon versions. But Chevrolet says the Cruze will be rolled out in "other global markets" with "regional-specific engine choices."

I still question the value of changing Chevrolet's compact entry's name yet again; the Cobalt's only been out for four years. And I'm sure Chevy dealers still have plenty of customers come in and ask, "Where's the new Cavalier?"

At first, the question may be: Will you trade-in your Cobalt?

But more importantly: Will you trade-in your Civic/Corolla/Mazda3 to go Cruzing?

[Source: General Motors]

Hybrid bandwagon filling up fast

Even though Honda is trying to catch up, Toyota still has more hybirds than anyone else. Period. Full stop.

But speaking at an industry conference last week, the automaker's advanced powertrain program manager, Justin Ward, confirmed the company's plans to offer hybrids in every one of its model lines by the end of the next decade—even larger vehicles like the Tundra pickup, assuming anyone other than municipalities are buying trucks in 2020.

Despite the ongoing debate about the pros and cons of the genre, Toyota isn't the only automaker ratcheting up plans for more compromises hybrids:

• If only to improve the air quality of dog-poop littered Parisian streets, debuting in a matter of weeks at this year's Paris auto show is Peugeot's RC concept, left. The French automaker says its RC, (a shameless ripoff of Audi's R8, BTW) will offer an "unspecified hybrid powertrain" producing a maximum of 313 hp and emitting only 109 g/km of CO2 in gasoline mode and, of course, zero in electric;

• Hyundai says its first North American hybrid, a Sonata, is a go by 2010. It'll have "next generation" lithium-ion battery pack, but the Korean automaker has no plans to offer the new sedan with a plug-in option;

• Although Fiat's Mini-size 500 isn't exactly a gas guzzler, a Fiat 500 hybrid is expected to debut at (of all places) next year's Goodwood Festival of Fuel Economy Speed.  The drivetrain will include an electric motor and battery pack attached to a 0.9-liter two-cylinder gasoline engine, plus start-stop technology and a dual-clutch transmission to further reduce emissions and increase fuel economy.

[Sources: Autoblog, Automotive News]

Update: Montrealer becomes Chrysler's new head pen

Just one day after being named Chrysler's future Veep of Design, Ralph Gilles gave a hint at the direction he wants to take the design of future rides.

Here are the highlights from a chat he had yesterday with the Automotive News crew:

• Everyone wants to go "organic" these days. And so does Gilles. He wants Chrysler products to lose the "edge" look (think Nitro and canned Magnum), pointing to concepts like the Dodge Zeo electric sports car, left,  and the Chrysler ecoVoyager he recently oversaw;

• One priority going forward will be to "get this monkey off our backs on interiors." Gilles believes the new 2009 Ram interior does just that;

• He also wants future Chrysler products to be "relevant anywhere in the world" so Chrysler's small design team stops redesigning vehicles for different markets.

Beyond the Sebring, what Chryslers do you think Gilles needs to fix sooner than later?

[Source: Automotive News]

So, you want to buy a hybrid, eh?

Maybe you're just getting back from the cottage. Or someone rang the doorbell at the rock you've been hiding under. But here's a tip: hybrids are hot. Really hot.

So as a guide for all you hybrid neophytes out there, The Car Connection provided this helpful list of hybrid pros and cons:

Seven "great" reasons to buy a hybrid

• Your old car is busted and you need a new one anyway
• You get a tax break with some hybrids
• Your employer is a hippy and offers hybrid drivers perks
• Hybrids can drive in the high occupancy lanes where you live
• Better mileage than your gas guzzler
• Hedge your bets against gas prices skyrocketing
• Buy a hybrid to send a message to automakers

Six "lousy" reasons to buy a hybrid

• You think it will save money right now
• By some delusion, you think a hybrid is cheaper to own
• You think there's no difference in performance against a normal car
• You think you'll get the claimed fuel economy
• By some delusion, you think you'll never have to service it

Agree? Disagree? Climbing back under your rock?

[Source: PR Newswire]

Montrealer becomes Chrysler's new head pen

The passing of the design torch at Chrysler has finally happened: as of this Labour Day, former Montrealer Ralph Gilles will take over from current Veep of Design, Trevor Creed, who retires after coming over from Ford 23 years ago.

Credited with the groundbreaking 300C design in 2004, Gilles moved on to head up the Jeep, truck and advanced interior design at Chrysler.

In addition to this year's all-new Ram pickup and last year's new minivans, Gilles has also been the driving force behind making Chrysler's interiors seem less Toys R Us-like.

Hopefully the rarefied air in his new executive office doesn't stop Gilles from putting on the Nomex. Besides his Canadian roots and creative talents, Gilles is a racer at heart.

The highlight of his car barn is his Viper he often exercises  at club events (that's Gilles in the video below, breaking in a new SRT10 ACR.)

He's also a One Lap of America veteran and was one of my teammates in his second run at Targa Newfoundland in 2006, above. (He'll be back on the Rock again this year in a Challenger SRT8, along with your's truly in a Mitsubishi Ralliart—but that's another blog for another time.)

Maybe the best news here: if anyone can fix the Sebring's looks, it's Gilles...

[Source: Chrysler]