Alternative viewpoint (Auto parts)

Alternative viewpoint
We Brits had a public holiday yesterday, so today is the start of the working week and I have begun with a big flypast of my email inbox over several cups of high-strength coffee. Attention has been immediately drawn to Peter DeLorenzo's latest blast on his Autoextremist blog. Whether you agree with it or not, it's an entertaining read from a guy who has quite a bit of respect as a no-nonsense but informed commentator. It's also a reminder that bandwagons can easily get rolling in this industry and that if you dig a little bit deeper there may be an alternative and contrary take to the 'conventional wisdom' being spouted almost everywhere you look. Does Carlos Ghosn really walk on water or is he a one-trick 'slash and burn cost-cutter' who lacks the mindset to run a company after he has slashed costs? DeLorenzo is apparently picking up intelligence on what's happening at Nissan in the US that will be amunition to the sceptics. Judge for yourself at the below link.

Road Test: 2006 Hummer H3 vs. 2006 Jeep Liberty Renegade vs. 2006 Nissan Xterra OR-V6 vs. 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser
Read this full Midsize SUV Road Test & Comparison Article at Motor Trend: If a dog is man's best friend, then it's conceivable the sport/utility vehicle is man's best tool. And when we say "sport/utility vehicle," we're talking a truck-based, ladder-frame SUV here, not a car-based crossover that's as soft and common as UGG boots.

What makes for a profitable car business?
Mention of Jac Nasser's name in connection with Ford's current financial review of its operations and the possible sale of PAG brands revives that old debate about how far big car companies should be vertically integrated - especially downstream. Nasser took the wide view - get into high margin areas wherever possible: premium brands (PAG his idea); services allied to car purchase/ownership (financial services the obvious one - look at the profits GM and Ford's finance arms racked up over the years); distribution (get control of profitable parts of the automotive value chain). Let's face it: making cars in volume segments of the vehicle market is a fundamentally low-margin activity in what is an increasingly crowded global market. The firms that excel in that area with successful business models and big geographically spread volumes, large scale economies - like Toyota - are pretty difficult to catch if they have got themselves ahead. And they have. When Nasser was dumped, an alternative viewpoint came into vogue at Dearborn: 'back to basics'. That supposedly meant focusing on the business of making automobiles that the market wants. And get out of business activities that detract from that. Tough call to make at the time. I would just make the point to the Nasser critics out there that Ford's abrupt switch from what might be called 'Nasser-mode' to the much heralded back-to-basics, with its product emphasis, has hardly been a screaming success. Obviously there's a balance to be struck in a large commercial organisation between core business activities and getting into what might be viewed as more peripheral activities (even if high margin), but if the proponents of back-to-basics are judged on market share (seems reasonable - the market is the final arbiter), the evidence isn't all that supportive is it? Can it really be said that Ford is still undoing what Nasser did? Shouldn't there be some solid evidence by now that back-to-basics has put Ford on a much more solid footing product-wise in the US marketplace (though the European picture is much more positive)? Has Ford Fusion been a little bit late or half-hearted to market? I am not saying JN was always right, but blaming him for Firestone/Explorer - which was very expensive, a storm out of a cloudless sky in some ways - seems harsh, and the critics perhaps overlook the good ideas he had. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, naturally, but how much of PAG's failings are down to underlying business principles and how much is down to what might be termed 'execution'. What would Reitzle have done differently? Has Ford been well managed since Nasser bit the Ford dust? Why has Ford been losing share at home long-term? How much is down to the product on offer?

Radical Honda Civic
The Honda Civic has long been in that category of car that might be considered a reliable but relatively uninteresting econobox. A worthy rival to the hugely successful dullard that is the Toyota Corolla. The latest Civic comes as something of a surprise and a pleasant one I think. The approach to the design, interior and exterior (classic wedge shape - paying homage to Austin Princess perhaps?), has been pretty radical. Honda s UK PR office have loaned me one from their press fleet for the week and two things have particularly impressed 1) the frugality and performance of the 2.2 litre diesel engine (I m driving the 2.2 i-CTDi) and 2) the design of and ease of readability of the instrument displays in the cockpit. With regard to the second point, I ve never been a big fan of digital speedo s but the one in the Honda really works well because it has been placed as far back and as high as possible on a secondary dash tier so that it is just under the eyeline when driving. And the central dial viewed through the steering wheel has been well-designed also. I understand that the high-mounted digital speedometer and the rest of the interior design cost Honda about twice as much as doing a more conventional job on it. End result is good though and ought to broaden the Civic s appeal. I wonder how the striking looks and radical interior have gone down with Honda s more traditional customer base in the British market?

Road Test: 2006 HPA Volkswagen Jetta RGT
We took the opportunity to road test the Jetta RGT just days before the high-performance autobahn burner was shipped back to Deutschland. Read the complete performance feature from the auto experts at Motor Trend Magazine.