AD #1623 – Porsche Invests in Connectivity, Ford’s Heavy Truck Advantage, Gorlier’s New Duties
May 19th, 2015 at 11:40am
Runtime: 7:29
- Porsche Invests in Connectivity
- Board Member Bashes Chevy Ads
- Ford’s Heavy Truck Advantage
- FCA’s Pietro Gorlier Gets More Duties
- Rating the Purchasing VPs
- Cadillac CT6 Engineering Secrets
- Fast N’ Loud Giveaway
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On today’s show… Chevrolet’s “Find New Roads” campaign is not connecting with consumers… F-650s and 750s give Ford a big advantage in truck sales… and suppliers rate the purchasing VPs. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily for May 19th, 2015.
PORSCHE INVESTS IN CONNECTIVITY
Driving a sports car can be a lot of fun, unless you’re tied up in traffic. And that may be a key reason why Porsche just invested in a company called Inrix, which specializes in real-time traffic analysis. Interestingly, Inrix, which is based just outside of Seattle, Washington, uses a variety of sources to analyse traffic, including crowd sourcing. According to Philipp von Hagen, who is on the board of supervisors at Porsche, “Connectivity between cars and infrastructure is one of the mega trends in the automotive industry.” And von Hagen suggests that Porsche is going to make additional investments in connectivity and mobility services. The most interesting aspect of this deal is that you will not find any reference to it on Porsche’s corporate website.
BOARD MEMBER BASHES CHEVY ADS
Speaking of board members saying interesting things, Neville Isdell is stepping down from the board of General Motors and gave Bloomberg’s David Welch an earful of things he does not like happening there. Even though he praised Mary Barra, Isdell was especially critical of marketing at Chevrolet. Two years after Chevrolet launched its advertising campaign with the tagline “Find New Roads,” buying consideration of the Chevrolet brand actually went down. So far this year Chevy has lost a tenth of point of market share in the US market and is losing sales and share on a global basis. Now you would think that this would put enormous pressure on Tim Mahoney, Chevrolet’s Global Chief Marketing Officer, except for one thing. The Find New Roads campaign started before he arrived at GM, after stints at Porsche, Subaru and Volkswagen.
And we’ll be back with more right after this.
IT’S ALL ABOUT ADJACENCIES
Ford has a big advantage over Chevrolet and RAM in truck sales because Ford is the only one that competes in the heavy truck segment. The Ford F-Series line-up stretches all the way to the F-650 and 750, which are classified as Class 6 and Class 7 heavy trucks. Chevy and Ram don’t compete there..On Autoline This Week, John Ruppert at Ford, explained that they get anywhere from 6 to 8 adjacency sales for every heavy truck they sell. In other words, someone buying one of the heavies will also buy a handful of other F-series trucks and maybe even a couple of Transit vans. It’s one-stop shopping for fleet operators. Last year Ford sold nearly 20,000 of its heavy trucks, but that means they generated more than 100,000 sales of other truck and vans.
PIETRO GETS MORE DUTIES
The head of FCA’s MOPAR division, Pietro Gorlier, just got a promotion. In addition to his current role, starting at the end of June he’ll take over as Chief Operating Officer of Components and report directly to CEO Sergio Marchionne. Gorlier is replacing Eugenio Razelli who is leaving the company. We keep saying, remember Pietro’s name. He seems to have a bright future at FCA.
RATING THE PURCHASING VPs
If you’re in purchasing in the automotive industry, you’ll want to check out the interview I did with John Henke, the president of Planning perspectives, Inc. For the past 15 years, his company has interviewed hundreds of automotive suppliers about their relationships with automakers. I asked John how suppliers rank the trustworthiness and effectiveness of the vice presidents of purchasing at the car companies. And what they had to say will open your eyes.
Coming up next, some of the engineering design secrets on the Cadillac CT6.
CT6 ENGINEERING SECRETS
Cadillac’s all-new flagship, the CT6, is a clean sheet vehicle. It’s completely new from the ground up. That means engineers got be creative. Travis Hester, the Executive Chief Engineer of the CT6 just joined us for Autoline After Hours. In the following clip, he shares the details about one of its clever new features.
(The excerpt from Autoline After Hours is only available in the video version of today’s program.)
There’s a lot of great info about the CT6 in that show, so check it out on our website or Youtube channel. And check out our website to learn how you can win an autographed copy of Richard Rawlings book, “Fast N’ Loud: Blood, Sweat and Beers.” He will be our guest on After Hours this coming Thursday.
And that wraps up today’s report. Thanks for watching, we’ll see you tomorrow.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
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Comments (43)
May 19th, 2015 at 12:02 pm
I don’t give much credence to the Board Members of GM; my take is that they were a big stumbling block in letting the corporation perform. As far as the “Finding New Roads” slogan, it is kind of ‘milk-toast’ and certainly didn’t help (but I don’t think it hurt much either). Even with the “Like a Rock” campaign, which was a hit (and I liked it a lot), I don’t think it led to extra sales. JMO
May 19th, 2015 at 12:03 pm
Is ford the only full line vehicle manufacturer in the US?
May 19th, 2015 at 12:43 pm
Maybe Chevy’s marketing isn’t working so well, but people must be buying Buicks. I saw a bunch of them yesterday on my trip from Florida to Indiana, mainly the cars. Actually, the sales numbers aren’t that big, but people must buy them to drive on the interstates.
May 19th, 2015 at 12:49 pm
2 Are there any full line car companies? Probably not. Ford doesn’t have minivans, wagons, or sports cars. GM doesn’t have minivans or wagons, etc. The days of real full-line car companies are long gone.
May 19th, 2015 at 12:54 pm
Could you post the link to the John Henke’s interview — I looked for it in the Autoline Daily text and on the home page but could not find it (it may be there — I just could find it and I even tried to Google Autoline and John Henke and could not find it).
Thanks for all the good information.
May 19th, 2015 at 12:58 pm
Thanks for the info Kit.
May 19th, 2015 at 1:38 pm
Chevrolet dabbled in Heavy Duty Large trucks between 1978 and 1988 (according to Wilki); Chevy’s largest was the Bruin and GMC had the Brigadier. I remember seeing them on the road but didn’t know that they basically failed to make an impact on the heavy-duty truck market.
May 19th, 2015 at 2:12 pm
It’s not the ads or marketing that hurt Chevy sales, let’s face it the Spark and Sonic don’t do create any excitement in their segment, the Cruze has not been updated much and there is more excitement about Focus, Golf, Civic and Corolla. Malibu plays second fiddle (third violin maybe) to Fusion or Camry. The standout star is Impala in a shrinking market. Market can get people to the showroom or website, but long term you must have a product that fits your customer’s needs and desires.
May 19th, 2015 at 2:13 pm
…. correction, that should be Marketing can get people to the showroom or website…..
May 19th, 2015 at 2:16 pm
Time for a new Cruze and give it a wagon and hatch variant. Generate some excitement with a competitor to the GTI or Focus RS
May 19th, 2015 at 2:22 pm
Maybe it’s time to bring back “See the USA in your Chevrolet”. Tie the brand to famous landmarks and encourage patriotism. What’s wrong with that? That campaign was a slam dunk in the late 50′s and early 60′s. Gas prices are down. Travelling abroad is looking sketchy. Summer vacation in my new (insert new Chevy name here). But not Chevy Chase please!
May 19th, 2015 at 2:37 pm
GM’s marketing strategy hasn’t been up to par for a few decades now.Too bad because they do have some very competitive offerings.
May 19th, 2015 at 2:46 pm
that cadillac ct6 engineering is amazing
May 19th, 2015 at 2:58 pm
#5. I got a little ahead of myself in today’s Autoline Daily. The John Henke interview about rating the Purchasing VPs is now posted.
May 19th, 2015 at 3:09 pm
Looks like it hit the fan for Takata:http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/19/feds-34-million-vehicles-to-be-recalled-because-faulty-airbags/
May 19th, 2015 at 3:13 pm
I found new roads and it was Mazda, ford, and Honda. GM is lost rite now they must be being ran by very old timers who are oppose to change and are appose to taking real risk in the market. There trucks aren’t taken seriously because ford has that market on lock. The new Silverado is ugly and lacking anything new or awesome in the technology department, most all of there passenger car line up is boring and nobody takes it seriously because that market has been dominated by imports for 25 years now and much of it is aimed at an age demographic that might be buying there last car, if I see a young person in a new GM vehicle I usually assume it’s a rental car and if I see silver white hair on there head I feel like they might actually own it, the new z28 is $75,000! Meanwhile the 707hp SRT hellcat is $60,000 and the GT500 starts around $55,000. They have priced the z28 firmly out of range of any normal persons budget. Not to mention they show concepts and prototypes for so long that people are tired of the vehicle before it even goes on sale.
May 19th, 2015 at 3:29 pm
Spark is probably the best seller in its segment. I see a whole lot more of them than I do iQ’s or Mirages.
Cruze and Malibu are among the class leaders in ride and quietness, but both have cramped back seats, not what “practicality” shoppers are looking for. Nothing stands out with those cars. That seems to be their problem.
The same applies to Sonic, though it, at least, offers a hatch. It has a problem, though, in being a “chopped off” hatch, resulting in a relatively short load floor.
May 19th, 2015 at 3:43 pm
@ JD:In GM’s defense,they did reintroduce all new midsize trucks into a questionable market,and are doing pretty good.And later this year those same midsize trucks will be available with a diesel.So,who else has done that here?
May 19th, 2015 at 3:43 pm
I can’t personally vouch for Mr. Mahoney, but the events on his watch at Chevrolet leave a lot to be desired. While he did not conjure up the Find New Roads tagline, he did review it extensively after he arrived and decided to keep it. Model naming has been particularly unimpressive with the convoluted naming of the Holden import SS model using what has always been one of the most famous package or trim level names in Chevy history. And more recently, the Bolt and Volt debacle. There is a very apparent lack of imagination or effort in Chevy marketing, which Mr. Mahoney heads. Perhaps the culture at GM is very different than the import companies he worked at before and he is struggling to adapt. With all of the new product that has launched in the last two years at Chevy, the loss of market share is really amazing. The only real weak spot in the lineup is the Malibu, so why are Chevy sales sputtering?
May 19th, 2015 at 4:10 pm
I am curious, does anyone know how much profit PER TRUCK each company makes. After all, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi don’t sell a lot of cars to make a lot of money.
May 19th, 2015 at 4:17 pm
Purchasing
So VW is rated lowest by suppliers.
I’m not taking the shot
May 19th, 2015 at 4:46 pm
Saw report on new Takata recall on TV and they tell you to look up safecars.gov for the list, however, I also read online that it takes weeks and even months for the updated list to reach the website, so you may look up your VIN and it’s not there now, but it could show up in a month or so and then you won’t even find out. TV journalism at its best, but the reporter was all dolled up when she gave out this erroneous information which could end up killing someone.
May 19th, 2015 at 5:06 pm
I don’t need to worry about the Takata recall with my van. It is 100% air bag free.
May 19th, 2015 at 5:13 pm
20 BMW and Mercedes make a lot of money by selling expensive cars. Audi makes a lot of modey for VW the same way. If GM could double Cadillac sales, they’d probably quadruple company profit. The same would apply with Lincoln in helping Ford’s bottom line.
May 19th, 2015 at 5:15 pm
I just watched the interview with John Henke.Very interesting and informative.I do have a question in regards to VW,would their dismal relationship to it’s suppliers be the reason for the overall unreliability of their vehicles? In other words,we need cheaper prices and are thus given lesser quality parts?
May 19th, 2015 at 5:24 pm
25 Those reliability problems don’t grow on trees, GA.
May 19th, 2015 at 6:47 pm
VW, presumably, makes a lot of their own bad parts, since they are more vertically integrated than most car companies.
May 19th, 2015 at 7:01 pm
But didn’t we learn on AAH that it was suppliers who were at fault for bad parts?
(sorry for the snark, Autoline, but I couldn’t believe what I was hearing several weeks ago)
May 19th, 2015 at 7:06 pm
Don’t the parts have to pass a qc inspection regardless where they originate.Of course since vw does make a lot of their own parts,the qc inspector is Sgt.Shultz…..I know nuthink,I see nuthink…
May 19th, 2015 at 7:55 pm
LOL you guys crack me up. From what I see in the field, VW Jetta and Passats from 2013-2015 start with headlamp failures, nav. radio failures, and oil leaks at 60k+ miles when its out of warranty. I do like the layout and the ride. The Jetta wagon is nice.
May 19th, 2015 at 8:00 pm
I don’t know who is responsible for the headlamps, but the VW design and bulbs are similar to the headlamps in Chrysler Pacifica’s which were recalled about 10 years ago. I guess they got them at a discount.
May 19th, 2015 at 8:08 pm
Although VW does have a vehicle I would be interested in,their lack of quality/reliability will keep them off any future lists for me.As the saying goes for computers,”garbage in..garbage out”. The same applies to the oems.
May 19th, 2015 at 8:09 pm
Off Topic: Miata pre-orders
It looks like there are manuals available again for pre-order. Immediately upon the opening of ordering, the manuals were gone. But now Mazda re-emailed me to pre-order, and they’re back baby! In NY, DC, and LA at least, you can still get a stick Miata.
I guess those fifteen year old boys weren’t real buyers, and are back at their internet endeavors.
May 19th, 2015 at 9:04 pm
33 They make automatic Miatas?
May 19th, 2015 at 9:07 pm
Actually, the last I heard, Mini had the highest take rate for manuals in the U.S., higher than Miata, but that was a few years ago.
May 19th, 2015 at 9:16 pm
Kit , Ford does have a minivan in the Transit Connect. Also can be technically considered a wagon. Not in the sense that we know. Although if they imported the Mondeo Estate , that would be covered and with the coming GT so is a sports car /supercar.
May 19th, 2015 at 9:25 pm
34 Would you like one, Kit? How about ten?
May 19th, 2015 at 10:16 pm
36 Yeah, the passenger Transit Connect is a minivan, but not a wagon. To me, a wagon is car height, like 68 inches, not 72 like the TC. Also, a wagon has a flat floor with the seats folded, not various shaped lumps of seat parts, or seats that have to be removed to get a flat floor. Yeah, the Mondeo Estate is certainly a wagon, but unfortunately, is not available where I live.
The upcoming GT will be a low volume, very pricey near-exotic. To me, a sports car does not cost $300K+, as it sounds like the upcoming Ford GT will be, at least according to Autoblog.
May 19th, 2015 at 10:18 pm
37 A Miata is one of those cars where an automatic just seems out of place, at least to me. Probably a majority of them have automatics, though, at least in the U.S.
May 19th, 2015 at 10:24 pm
38 Typo. That’s ~58 inches height for a wagon, 14 inches lower than a Transit Connect. Also, I’ve heard people say that a Flex is a wagon. It looks wagon-like, but it is 10 inches taller than most cars, and the seats don’t fold into flat into the floor, at least in the one I’ve seen up close.
May 19th, 2015 at 10:33 pm
No wagon? Has anyone seen a Flex? I know Ford refuses to call it one, but it hits almost all of the traditional American station wagon buttons. I’ve got a 2010 Flex. Great car. Everyone I know that has one says so. Last year Popular Mechanics called it the perfect wagon. Too bad no one buys them. I suspect its days are numbered.
May 19th, 2015 at 10:47 pm
Old episode of Knightrider on. An 82 Firebird is what an autonomous car should be.
May 20th, 2015 at 3:57 pm
7 GM more than “dabbled” in large trucks. Basically GM has been in the truck business for most of its existence (at least as long as the GMC brand has been around). In the 1970s and 80s, GM made class 8 conventional and cab-over trucks. The GMC versions were the General and Astro (don’t remember the names of the Chevy version). GM was also into city buses and even large RVs (they made a distinctive FWD, dual rear axle configuration). Also heavy-duty powertrains (Detroit Diesel engines and Allison transmission).
GM exited Class 8 in the late 1980s and Class 4-7 in the mid-2000s (Navistar was supposed to take over the brand, but that deal fell apart). There have been rumors they might re-enter class 4 via a beefed up HD3000/3500.