The second day of press days is over, and when I left, workmen were putting up everything needed to accommodate the hordes of paying customers during the public access part of the show over the next week.
I am going home exhausted; nothing new there as I always leave all the big shows exhausted. There’s a lot to see, lots of press conferences to attend, lots of writing, lots of thinking about what to write, etc.
Where is the energy?
The show just seems subdued this year. I’ve been coming to this show for a long, long time, and it seems quieter, with less excitement in the hallways and on the show stands. There is plenty of nice iron everywhere (always is at the New York Show), as usual, and lots of ogling of same, but its all low-key and muted.
Want to see GM’s stock price recover to something closer to the IPO price or – gasp – closer to the price at which Treasury would actually break even on its bailout of GM? Perhaps the answer is addition by subtraction. Maybe it’s time for GM to cash in its chips in Europe and put Opel, Vauxhall, and Chevrolet (the Europe version) out of their misery and sell them. And if nobody wants to buy them (a very strong possibility), GM should wind down the businesses.
While I haven’t had the chance to devote time to writing for Autosavant lately, I have had the opportunity to spend plenty of time in airplanes, airports, hotels, and rental cars. Sadly, I’ve been covering way more miles lately on commercial airline flights than behind the wheel – the latter of which I would prefer.
An almost audible gasp from the automotive world was heard when Porsche announced – unapologetically – that the newly revealed 991 GT3 will come equipped with Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) only. It will be the first time ever in the GT3’s history that a manual gearbox will not be offered. Apart from the change of the Mezger engine to the new, completely unrelated direct fuel injection (DFI) engine of the lesser 911 models, Porsche’s decision on PDK has got to be the single most talked about controversy surrounding the 991 GT3.
Regular readers of Autosavant might notice that “my wife” and “accident” are common themes in my writing. Unfortunately. Back in December, my wife was in a minor accident as she was leaving a street parking spot at the local post office. She was signaling and pulling out into a one-way street from the right side. She said that she checked her mirrors and looked over her shoulder and didn’t see anything, but there was a 2005 Lincoln Aviator coming down the street. She didn’t see it, and her van’s left-front fender collided with the Aviator’s right-rear corner. Continue Reading →
It’s well-known that China has some serious issues with protecting intellectual property. From cars that are knockoffs of the name brand models (the Brilliance H530 is so similar to the F10 BMW 5 Series that enterprising vendors in China sell conversion kits to change the car into a low-buck 523i) to serious accusations of state-on-state cyber warfare, most global companies only reluctantly venture into agreements with Chinese companies. Sure, they really want access to that large and growing market, but they are also deathly afraid about how their hard work on research and development may help their local Chinese partners more than them in the long run.
As you know, we don’t usually deviate much from our core mission of covering cars and the car business here at Autosavant. But this morning, an article in the Wall Street Journal really caught my eye, and it’s about a railroad. Don’t worry, we’re not going to go all “Trainlopnik” on you, but there’s definitely a connection between this news and the auto industry, so bear with me for a few minutes while I explain.
Continue Reading →
While attending the launch event for the 2014 Corvette Stingray last month, I was struck by a thought that just wouldn’t leave my head. Were GM executives being honest when they said that they only applied the Stingray name to the car at the eleventh hour, only after it was clear that the car raised the bar in terms of design and performance? Could there be another reason that it’s no longer just a “Corvette,” but now a “Corvette Stingray” or even just “Stingray?” Well, here’s my crazy idea. Grab your tinfoil hat. Continue Reading →
About two weeks ago, my wife and our five year old son were in a pretty serious car accident. No father wants to get a call from his wife saying that a tractor trailer skidded into their van on a wet road, there was an airbag deployment, and that they were still waiting for the police or ambulance to show up. It took every ounce of will power that I have to not drive home at 120 miles per hour that day. Fortunately, they both survived, and thus far seem to have fairly minor injuries. (We’ll know more after my wife’s follow-up appointment on Friday).
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