Autoblog

D�j� Vu: Letter to Obama suggests Steve Jobs to head GM, Chrysler

Chris Shunk — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:59:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Chrysler, GM, Earnings/Financials

Back in November, a New York Times columnist thought it would be a good idea for Apple CEO Steve Jobs to come to the auto industry's rescue. Jobs is worshiped by many in the tech world, and many feel that he pretty much saved Apple in the 1990s. But thinking that a brilliant tech guy can right the ship at struggling automakers could possibly be called a stretch. Well, Spark Capital founder Todd Dagres doesn't think so, as evidenced by his recent open letter to President Barack Obama.

Dagres, like many financial analysts, feels that the auto industry is worth saving, if only to keep its high paying jobs and stave off a deeper nationwide recession. He understands that market conditions helped cause the auto industry's current struggles, but says General Motors and Chrysler don't make products that people want to buy. He feels Steve Jobs could step in and provide design and product leadership that could help return a combined General Motors/Chrysler to their former glory.

Steve Jobs has been nothing short of heroic during his second tenure with Apple, but comparing his Cupertino-based company to GM and Chrysler is like comparing Apple to oranges. For instance, GM still builds its own engines, transmissions and many other components that make up their automobiles. Apple doesn't make its own processors, motherboards, graphics cards, hard drives or disc drives. In other words, the two industries are far too different for Jobs - or any other tech guy - to make a difference. Dagres argument is also predicated on the assumption that GM and Chrysler are selling vehicles that people don't want to buy. While that may be true to an extent with Chrysler, GM's lineup is chock full of competitive products. To simply say they're not what people want is willfully ignoring the countless other reasons for not buying a new car during a recession.

[Source: Tech Crunch]

D�j� Vu: Letter to Obama suggests Steve Jobs to head GM, Chrysler originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NYT columnist calls on Steve Jobs to fix Detroit

Chris Tutor — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:01:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Chrysler, Ford, GM, Volkswagen

In 2001, General Motors needed a revival and Bob Lutz was anointed The One. It was widely accepted that if anyone could breathe life into a struggling car company, it was him.

Fast-forward seven years, and GM is in the midst of a possible government bailout while its stock price sinks faster than a HUMMER's gas gauge on the freeway. It would seem that Maximum Bob's legendary straight-talking reputation for taking no prisoners and slicing through corporate red tape hasn't produced the results his supporters expected.

So if Bob Lutz can't save Detroit, who can? Steve Jobs, that's who. At least that's what Pulitzer Prize-winning Thomas Friedman says in his New York Times column. While some might be averse to the company, its products and/or its leader, Apple has made a ton of money while re-defining the computer, music and mobile phone industries. Isn't innovation what Detroit needs most?

What Friedman proposes is asking Steve Jobs to perform a "national service" for his country by taking reigns of one of Detroit's automakers for a year. The columnist has so much faith in the visionary talents of Jobs, he believes we'll all be lined up for a chance to buy a shiny new Chevrolet iCar. Or a JeepPro. Or a Mercury Lisa.

But we've heard in the past that Apple's CEO has been working for the other teams, so maybe Steve Wozniak could find some time in his schedule.

[Source: The New York Times via MacDailyNews]

NYT columnist calls on Steve Jobs to fix Detroit originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pixar's "Cars": Ahhh, that new DVD smell

Chris Tutor — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 17:36:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc.

Sure, "Bullitt" had a few nice cars in it. So did "Gone in 60 Seconds". But in Pixar's, "Cars", nothing but sweet, sweet animated automobilia. November 7 is the day you can park a copy right in the middle of all your other DVD tributes to transportation. Unless they're alphabetized, of course. Then "Cars" would be more toward one side or the other. But we digress.

One Amazon reviewer says the "Cars" DVD is somewhat slim on the extras we've come to expect from Pixar releases, but buyers at least get a new short, a behind-the-scenes, some deleted footage, and at least one Easter egg bonus. Australians got their copies on Oct. 25, and if you don't mind spoilers, here's a complete review of the disc and all its extras.

"Cars" on DVD should be in U.S. stores Nov. 7, several online retailers are taking pre-orders now.

Pixar's "Cars": Ahhh, that new DVD smell originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 05 Nov 2006 17:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Steve Jobs hearts Autoblog

John Neff — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 16:51:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Technology

click image to enlarge a bit

We try not to be a toot-our-own-horn kind of blog, but a few of us are just way too into Macs to let this one slide by. While watching the keynote given by Steve Jobs on the progress of OSX 10.5 Leopard in August (you can watch the video here), reader Dewey K. noticed during the demo of Apple's Mail program that two emails from Autoblog were in Steve Jobs' inbox. The emails have subjects that match the titles of a pair of older posts. The first is "In Britain, a different rally championship -- for slot cars!" and the second, not surprisingly, is "Apple's iPod looks to dominate the dashboard". ~~We don't remember sending the Apple CEO any emails~~ A smart commenter realized that Autoblog's RSS feed was probably being pumpted into Jobs' Apple Mail program, which will be a new feature of OSX 10.5.

We know his Steve-ness is into cars, as a full 70 percent of all 2007 models will natively accept tuneage from his family of iPods. We also know that he's a big fan of Mercedes-Benz and that the state of California allows him to drive without a license plate because he's had so many stolen (he instead has a small bar code where the plate should be).

Really, we're a little miffed at our boys from Engadget who were in like the second row and didn't catch this. We forgive, though. Hey Steve, we heart you, too.

Steve Jobs hearts Autoblog originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 15 Sep 2006 16:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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