Autoblog

Before the DaimlerChrysler union ended, shareholders and executives were fighting over the rightful name of the Stuttgart-based company. Management and the supervisory board want Daimler AG, but the "Benz faction" feels one of the company founder's names have been slighted in the process. Thankfully, all the bickering should come to an end today, as the Daimler AG name comes to a shareholder vote. If the measure passes, the German automaker will spend millions to update signage all over the world, and very few people will ever notice. It's not like Carl Friedrich Benz was slighted in any way; his name gets to be on the cars, and the only way we'll see the Daimler name is on a Jaguar.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

We're fired up about a few things for episode #61. We eventually get to an enthusiastic discussion of the American LeMans Series, but we wind our way through a few subjects to get there. We start off with the snub to Chrysler by some DCX shareholders who suggest a return to Daimler-Benz AG name. Not only is that a kick in the pants to the Chrysler group, but it's incredibly arrogant and illustrates that it was never really a merger of equals. In a froth, we move on to the anti-surprise that Nissan has nixed the heavy-duty Titan. In the death match that is the US pickup truck marketplace, the Japanese are having a tough fight. The Titan has its own charms but low sales, and the Tundra is taking criticism and underperforming in crash tests. We get the truck wars out of our system and move on to rhapsodic descriptions of the GT2 finish at this weekend's ALMS Sebring kickoff. Oh yeah, there were some kind of Audis there, and Acuras, too. We can't get the last-lap dogfight between the Ferrari and Porsche for the GT2 crown out of our heads, though. Before we go, we touch briefly on Smart's recently-opened registration for US buyers, as well as marvel at the low price for the practical city car that will end up as an effette bauble, as well. That's it in a nutshell, enjoy!

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