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Autoline After Hours hosts automotive fantasy draft tonight at 6 PM

Scott Burgess — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 17:37:00 EST

Filed under: Videos

Car nuts don't talk about wide receivers or short stops, they talk about cars and the people who build them.

That was the impetus for Autoline After Hours creating its automotive fantasy draft last year. It's now an annual event where auto insiders, journalists and others create their dream team of executives to run their fictional companies.

And tonight, at 6 PM EST, the whole shebang starts again.

Participants this year include John McElroy of Autoline, Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics, Michelle Krebs of Edmunds.com, Drew Winter of Ward's Automotive and Todd Lassa of Motor Trend. Each will get a turn to pick an executive that can help create the most powerful auto company ever.

This year, however, Autoline has added a few twists, including a number of required categories. For example, each team must select a woman, and retired or deceased executives are also up for grabs. Between each round, Mark Phelan from The Detroit News and myself will analyze the selections and attempt to figure out some of the more obscure picks that often come with this game. Everyone tries to one up the competition with their vast knowledge of people inside the auto industry.

Ultimately, Phelan and myself will pick the winner of the program.

For additional analysis, Tiffany Stone will be joining us this year as the Draft Reporter moderating the program. You'll be happy you tuned in, so scroll down to watch the show live.

Continue reading Autoline After Hours hosts automotive fantasy draft tonight at 6 PM

Autoline After Hours hosts automotive fantasy draft tonight at 6 PM originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 17:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Global auto execs don't see electric cars making big inroads for at least a decade

Jeff Sabatini — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:01:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Hybrid, Marketing/Advertising, Technology, Electric

A new survey by audit powerhouse KPMG suggests auto executives don't see electrified car sales passing 15 percent of global sales until at least 2025. Yet despite the slowly developing market, these same execs foresee substantial increased investment in electric and hybrid car production along with research and development. Given very limited consumer acceptance of hybrid cars since their U.S. introduction back in late 1999 (gas-electric new car sales are still around two percent), cautious sales estimates seem like par for the course.

Among the many highlights of the survey that polled 200 executives is word that 83 percent expect an increase in electric motor production, 81 percent think automakers will increase investment in battery technology, 76 percent see more power electronics investment, and 65 percent see increased investment in fuel cells. The survey results didn't show any conclusive winner as to which sort of alternative fuel technology might win out, with 20 percent choosing fuel cell vehicles, 16 percent picking battery-powered electrics, 22 percent choosing hybrids, 21 percent weighing in on plug-in hybrids, and 18 percent opting for battery-powered electrics with range extenders.

Perhaps the most interesting nugget we see is that 61 percent of the executives surveyed agreed that "the optimization (so-called downsizing) of internal combustion engines (ICE) still offers greater efficiency and CO2 reduction potential than any electric vehicle technology based on the current energy mix."

Click past the jump to read the full press release results.

Continue reading Global auto execs don't see electric cars making big inroads for at least a decade

Global auto execs don't see electric cars making big inroads for at least a decade originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Chung, Mullaly, Winterkorn named top car company CEOs

Jonathon Ramsey — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:32:00 EST

Filed under: Ford, Hyundai, Volkswagen

Automotive News has put together its list of 2010 auto industry all-stars, and taking first place in American, European and Asian CEO categories are Ford CEO Alan Mulally, Volkswagen CEO Dr. Martin Winterkorn, and Hyundai-Kia CEO Chung Mong-koo. Hard to fault the choices, and it shouldn't come as a surprise at all that the same three gentlemen took slots two through four of Motor Trend's list of top 50 auto execs for 2009.

Mulally was cited because his "steadfast plan to turn Ford around is bearing fruit in impressive fashion" and Chung was lauded for having " turned the Hyundai brand into a superpower." Winterkorn, who could have been awarded based on VW's Hulk-like growth, was actually noted for his "Strategy 2018," by which time he plans for the VW group to be selling ten million cars per year. Check this spot in eight years to see if he's still an all-star. For now, though, congrats to all.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd.]

Report: Chung, Mullaly, Winterkorn named top car company CEOs originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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