Autoblog

Ah scapegoating, the last refuge of the defeated. This season McLaren got caught red-handed (pardon the pun) and lost the constructor's championship. Then its poor reliability and performance meant that neither of the team's incredibly talented pilots could lock up the driver's title, either. Rather than look inwards to find cause for his team's enormous disappointment, team principal Ron Dennis is pointing his finger. And he's pointing in our direction.

"The internet is an unregulated source of information that is a nuissance." That's what Dennis had to say. "It has added to the pressure on our team." Ron went on a bit, but that's pretty much the gist of it. Feel free to follow the link to find out how else we and our ilk screwed things up for McLaren.

(For those not yet sufficiently entertained, Autosport is reporting that McLaren mechanics made Dennis a fake trophy.)

Don't blame us, Ron. Blame Al Gore. After all, he invented the internet.

[Source: F1-live]

You might say that, in terms of broad market appeal, the iPod is the VW of personal electronics. If that's the case, then what happens when Volkswagen comes out with a digital media player of its own?

The German automaker has teamed up with LG to produce a special MP3 player designed and branded as the Beetle of personal music devices. Rather than simply slapping a Vee-Dub logo on any old contraption, LG designed a fresh product for Volkswagen. Although the shape is the same rounded-corner block as any other on the market, it has a user interface said to be inspired by the New Beetle and is offered in Volkswagen colors including Salsa Red, Shadow Blue and Sunflower Yellow. Of course, it also comes emblazoned with Volkswagen logos, but it seems the designers couldn't fit a bud vase anywhere on the unit.

[Source: Computer World via Motorpasion]

It's nice to be back in the swing of things. We're once again cranking out weekly podcasts, and #63 is a compact one. We start off salivating over the news that the next generation Suzuki Swift will be headed for US shores. We devolve from discussing an unsubstantiated rumor into wistful praise for the current can't have it Swift, and even make mention of Swifts from nigh on twenty years ago. The dustup over Alan Mulally's work of fiction at the New York Auto Show keynote draws our ire next. This one has it all, lies, grandstanding media with agendas, attacks, grandstanding media with agendas, misinformation, grandstanding media with agendas, disinformation, and finally, grandstanding media with agendas. Speaking of grandstanding, we nearly go as far as calling Lutz's bluff on the announcement that the hotly anticipated RWD cars from GM are on hold 'till regulators get their shizzle together. Whatevs. The entire GM turnaround is on hold? Not bloody likely. The consensus we come to is: Bad Lutz. So, turn on, tune in and peel out for our latest slice of podcast goodness.

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Ah, that mythical 18-34 demographic. So celebrated in our popular culture, so coveted by brands, so elusive and fickle. They do like to party, though, and what better way to try and capture a little of their deficient attention span than to plaster your logo and brand all over the first huge party of the year? That's what Chevrolet will be doing to fulfill it's self-appointed role as the Times Square celebrations "official ride". Kind of ironic when you think about trying to drive in Midtown at any time, let alone a holiday. There's no way your Chevy's gonna get anywhere near Dick Clark that night.

GM's making quite the holiday push, actually. Chevrolet plans to cash in on hats adorned with the bowtie logo and a new billboard, all of which should be captured by cameras from several networks. They'll also be running spots for the Cobalt, HHR, Impala, and Malibu. Pontiac will be sponsoring a musical contest on Jimmy Kimmel Live and will host a band on their Pontiac Garage stage. Add to this the general ad blitz that makes up the GM Red Tag event, and it may feel like the GM show, punctuated by New Year's breaks.

[Source: Automotive News]

It seems that full-size trucks must first curry the favor of Texans before they can court the rest of this country’s citizenry. Dodge introduced its Ram Mega Cab Dually in the state and Ford unleashed its 2007 Expedition on unsuspecting Texans attending this year’s Houston Auto Show. Toyota has eschewed any showmanship and will just build its new XXL Tundra in San Antonio.

Nissan has chosen to combat its less than stellar Titan sales by putting on a show in Bridgeport, Texas in order to demonstrate how tough its full-size pickups and SUVs can be. The Japanese company built an off-road course in a rock quarry recently purchased by the town that contained rock climbs, descents, water obstacles, rugged terrain and more. They then gave 80 journalists keys to the Titan and Frontier pickups and Xterra SUV and stood back… way back. We’ve yet to see any articles emerge from the media event, so we’ll have to wait and see how many journalists the company converted.

[Source: Nissan]

Demir Barlas wrote a breakdown on the FastLane Blog, General Motors' online journal. Barlas gave positive marks to the blog itself, finding it easy to navigate and brimming with plenty of articulate writers with diverse views.

However, Barlas asserts, if GM is using the blog as a marketing tool, Fastlane Blog fails miserably. Barlas displays some of the comments by its readership, raw and unfiltered, much of it critical of the General. He then moves on to speculate if the blog is a 'failure of a success': that is, its relative merit depends on what the automaker intended to get out of it. If FastLane is meant to gather customer opinion and change business practice, then 'it is a failure.' But if it's a vehicle to hear from customers, then the blog is successful.

What's your opinion about Fastlane Blog and Barlas' article?

[Source: Line56]