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David Leggett's unique web log on the global automotive industry, key events, people and his own daily experiences. If you would like to offer your comments, opinions, suggest topics or just have a good rant, please feel free to email: David Leggett. |
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London Motor Show
21st July 2008 15:03
We have got a motor show on in London this week and it even looks like the weather is finally looking up here.
Is the London event a biggie? It's sizeable but no, it's not up there with the big shows and is still to become properly established in the automakers' diaries. A number of them are absent and I guess the current economic backdrop doesn't augur particularly well for consumer visits.
But this is only the second London show since moving the event from Birmingham. The first one could be claimed by the organisers to have been a modest success.
It will certainly be interesting to see how busy the show is this time around and see how much media coverage is generated. The London event perhaps needs more time to become established and generate a clear position in terms of the benefits it can bring to consumers and exhibitors alike.
I can see why people question the point of a motor show in the UK. We don't have the large immediate base of local indigenous volume producers that Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Detroit have. And Geneva is an established European 'neutral'.
But the UK is a major European market for vehicles and it's an international meeting place for OEMs wanting to supply Europe. There is plenty of automobile manufacture going on here and much more besides in terms of the supplier industry and high value engineering services.
Britain matters to the auto industry. And London isn't a bad place to spend some time is it? Just give it time.
Tomorrow is press day.
I've got an interview slot tomorrow with Bob Lutz among others. What's he doing here? Maybe it's an indication of just how important that Insignia launch is for GM. And maybe a few days in London in July didn't sound like an altogether unpalatable prospect either. If he sticks around later this week he can even catch Alice Cooper at the Arena which is hosting a number of rock concerts in the evenings to coincide with the motor show.
LONDON SHOW PREVIEW: 23 'global launches' promised
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Continental and VW similarities
21st July 2008 14:38
The style of the takeover bid for Conti by family-owned German bearings maker Schaeffller is a little bit reminiscent of the manner in which Porsche has got control of Volkswagen; it's a gradual affair in which a smaller company gets control of a much bigger one by taking advantage of a low share price. And it looks likely to succeed.
Is it a good or bad thing? Continental does much more than tyres. It sounds like Schaeffler is motivated chiefly by the electronics stuff that Conti does post-Siemens VDO acquisition. Maybe going private could be to Conti's advantage? But might Schaeffler be tempted to sell off the tyres division? Or would new owners want to add shareholder value in the long run? If the prospective new owners are following Porsche-VW they will see that the architect of that, Ferdinand Piech, is taking a long view, strategically - while also doing a good job of delivering value to shareholders, on both sides.
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Al Gore's latest
18th July 2008 13:26
Al Gore certainly knows how to make the news. He's just said that the US needs to do away with all forms of carbon-emitting electricity production within ten years (er, easier said than done). Yep, that will grab some attention. At least he should spark some serious debate about energy policy in the US and that's no bad thing in a run-up to a presidential election.
Must admit, I did like this line: "We’re borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that has to change.”
Just beware of politicians struggling to understand the energy problem or coming out with glib lines that they think will appeal to the populace. I actually would credit Gore with having done some work on the subject and to have developed his opinion as a result of that. He must know how difficult it would be to achieve what he is suggesting but wants to move the parameters of the debate in the US at this juncture.
I am not so sure our own prime minister has got a handle on the issues. He seems generally all over the place and to say he wants all new cars sold in Britain to be hybrids or electric vehicles by 2020 suggests a worryingly superficial analysis and/or inadequate briefing from his advisers. He should pick his words carefully, especially as he is about to clober hard-pressed motorists with higher taxes. Still, it's not quite as bad as 'eat up your scraps' I suppose. The man needs to get a grip on how he's coming across.
Gore Urges Change to Dodge an Energy Crisis
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Making buildings look better
17th July 2008 17:17
I recall that a few years ago there was an artist who covered landmark buildings with something like giant blankets. I think the Brandenberg Gate in Berlin was one. It made quite a visual impact.
Industrial buildings are often dull to look at. There is a brutal functional form thing going on and it's rare that an industrial building is pleasing on the eye.
I liked this draping thing going on at Ford in Germany. This could catch on, if the local authority planning regs allow it. I for one would favour anything that brightens up a grey industrial landscape.
GERMANY: Honey, I shrink-wrapped the Fiesta factory
Your Comments
Dear David, think a few little comments are allowed from a german when some of the most important buildings in the german capital are concerned. It was not the Brandenburger Tor (where Barac Obama tried having a speach next week but now has to change the location for the place around the Siegessaeule, called "Stern") which was wrapped but the Reichstag, and the artists were the world famous Christo and Jean-Claude.
Norbert Huhn, Germany
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Be careful in the office
17th July 2008 16:30
It's become very fashionable to mock the 'Health and Safety' culture, but if H&S procedures and systems can reduce accidents, that's no bad thing. Accidents can blow up out of nowhere.
I was talking to Mark Bursa earlier - he's been at the Farnborough Air Show this week turning his hand to producing copy for an aero publication. As he typed away, he noticed the bloke sat next to him was trying to adjust his chair. The seat and the seat 'chassis' had, unknowingly, become separated due to the failure of some component. As the poor chap moved the seat closer to the table, his fingers entered the gap between the flat bed you sit on and some metal that forms part of the structure. He then brought his whole weight down on the end of a finger that was duly sliced off, guillotine style.
Blood was gushing everywhere and Mr Bursa - who spent the rest of the day with blood on his shirt - rescued the tip and gamely took charge of getting it frozen for a possible sewing back together later. Salutary tale though. Accidents often happen in the most seemingly innocuous of circumstances. This one was down to a slightly faulty chair, no more than that.
The gent concerned was apparently a trooper and back on the job a couple of days later, alas minus some index finger. It wasn't funny, of course, but some black humour of the 'give me four-and-a-half' variety was fairly inevitable. I got a finger caught in the hinge of a car door once (daft I know, I had hold of the B-pillar from inside for some reason) - I was really, really lucky not to be permanently injured; the door was not being closed too forcefully. Very painful. Digits and apertures are not to be taken for granted.
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'Bright greys'
17th July 2008 11:32
Bright greys? Just come across a term that stuck while leafing through AM magazine. What does the Daihatsu brand say to you? An unfashionable marque that majors in dull but competitively priced small cars with Japanese kei-class roots (the Copen being a stylish exception to the dullards rule)? That's maybe a little harsh when you consider the recently introduced Materia model - a funky looking car that is turning a few heads.
But who is Daihatsu aiming its products at? Answer: bright greys and I'm not talking ETs. 'Bright greys' are the term used by Daihatsu UK chief Paul Tunnicliffe when talking about Daihatsu's relatively aged customer base. They are active and aspirational, he says. They shop at Waitrose (an upscale 'middle class' UK supermarket chain) and John Lewis (an also upscale department store) and holiday in Tuscany and France (not a caravan in Clacton). How does he know where they holiday? They write to him to explain where the trusty Sirion or Charade has been, apparently.
Tunnicliffe seems to know his customer though and stresses that for a niche brand like Daihatsu it's important to target the marketing and not try to be all things to all people.
Anyway, seems to be working for Daihatsu in Britain along with some innovative incentives for mom and pop dealers.
But I like that term, 'bright greys'. If you work in a car company perhaps consider throwing it in to a marketing discussion sometime. 'Look guys, what are we doing to appeal to bright greys?' And there's also this thought. Who appeals to the 'dull greys' and which demographic group, the brights or the dulls are ultimately the most numerous and/or profitable to sell to? I guess the brights are growing as people who remember punk rock and still wear luminous socks enter their fifties. Oldies lead pretty active lifestyles these days that belie their clocked up years. Just ask Mick Jagger or eternal teenager Richard Branson.
Scary thought: am I, in fact, a bright grey myself? Certainly no spring chicken, but I would hope for bright rather than dull. I do like France for holidays - when I can afford it - and I do think the Daihatsu Materia is a car I like as a vehicular concept. I am mid-forties, so maybe that makes me a baby grey. I am certainly not short of grey hairs, that's for sure. I'll stop there.
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Daihatsu's Materia - plenty of room in the back for the zimmer |
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Advanced diesels
17th July 2008 10:21
Just been having a chat on the phone with Jesse Crosse - one of our contributors on the technical side - about some of the very latest developments with diesel engines. Some of the results of the latest R&D out there sound genuinely exciting in terms of how efficient and clean the technology can become. An article is in the pipeline.
Jesse is good at demystifying subjects that can be hard to get the old brain around. Here's an example:
ANALYSIS: Lotus champions a methanol economy
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A 'harmonious' society
17th July 2008 9:56
There's a thoughtful series running in the Daily Telegraph comparing America and China's societies - it's a bit of a travelogue, with some extremely pertinent observations made. The latest has a look at Chongqing - a rapidly developing city where a number of car plants are to be found, including a Ford JV.
Very nice work at the Telegraph, a British daily newspaper enjoying a kind of reinvention on the web that is slightly at odds with its rather staid print image. For those that don't know, it's traditionally been seen as the sort of right-wing newspaper retired army majors might read - conservative with a small 'c' (and a large one come to think of it). I hope the good material being produced online is getting a decent audience, presumably widening the DT's readership base beyond Colonel Blimp of Tunbridge Wells who thinks it's still 1955.
America and China: The Eagle and the Dragon
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China's 'green Olympics'
16th July 2008 16:21
China is so desperate to look good in the eyes of the world with the Beijing Olympics that it's almost painful to see the PR problems being dealt with in a rather ham-fisted manner (why does the world not understand us?). After the clumsy spectacle of the Chinese secret service goons accompanying the Olympic torch and being outwitted by determined Tibet protesters, there's now the small matter of air quality in Beijing.
Well, you wouldn't want to work your lungs hard through a smog of particulates would you?
I understand that some emergency measures are being contemplated to get some improvement before the Games commence, but there have now been enough media stories about poor air quality to engender unfavourable comparisons with the pea-soupers that gripped London in the 1950s before smoke-free zones came in.
Ironically though, if you go the Olympics, you may find yourself in a hybrid cab. Good stuff, bravo - every little helps. However, 'greenest ever' Olympics might be pushing it a bit if the athletes need lamps attached to their foreheads lest they get lost in the sooty fug.
http://www.chinacartimes.com/category/chinese-hybrid-cars/
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Freddie & Fannie matter, yes they do
14th July 2008 19:58
They may sound like a couple of old-time showbiz names, but Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are reminding us this week that the credit crunch is still very much with us, even if we are in danger of obsessing over the impact of dearer oil in our own sector.
As far as the auto industry is concerned, the way the credit crunch plays out is important because of its impact on vehicle markets and consumer demand. It’s looking less likely that 2009 will see a sharp rebound in the US economy and the scale of ongoing problems in wholesale credit markets is brought home by Freddie and Fannie’s woes.
Meanwhile, automakers are having to adjust to rapidly changing market conditions. Last week, Toyota became the latest to announce a major restructuring of US manufacturing operations. If even Toyota is having trouble shifting its Tundra pick-up that tells you how serious things have become.
With gasoline prices where they are, you don’t need to be Einstein to conclude that the Toyota Prius hybrid should be a hot seller. Indeed, there is no doubt that people are clamouring for it in the US and dealers are screaming. But supply constraints – on the battery - mean that Prius sales this year in the US have actually been down on last year.
They’ll be pulling out the stops at Toyota to get that supply situation resolved when the next generation Prius hits the market in 2009. Let’s just hope no-one else at Toyota keels over with ‘karoshi’ (a Japanese word that I understand means sudden death through overwork; the fact that there is a specific word in Japanese for that phenomenon is slightly mind boggling – a bit like the multitude of words the Inuit have for snow, it’s a kind of cultural pointer).
Looking further ahead, a firm in Britain believes it is onto something with the idea of local hydrogen refuelling stations (hydrogen gas produced via electrolysis on water) and the ability to retrofit ICE engines to take hydrogen. There’s more work to do but it’s quite a vision and presents a radical answer to the ‘chicken and egg’ fuelling infrastructure hurdle that alternative propulsion/fuel technologies are often faced with.
US: Toyota replacing trucks, SUVs, with Prius assembly
UK: UK technology company announces dawn of hydrogen age
Your Comments
At present there is a severe mis-match between the high ideals of introducing all forms of low-carbon transformational solutions and the economic reality of backing every eco-horse. The public purses in UK & US look directed at a new crop of clean energy nuclear reactors; whilst the emergent technologies from bio-mass extraction to solar P-Vs 'beauty parade' competing for PE funding as public monies dwindle. With today's tortuous financing climate the arbitors of that private equity money are rightly being hyper-critical when assessing risk-reward. And complexity in energy creation, transmission and storage raises risk. There's a wealth of theoretically possible solutions in 'well-side' (source) tech vs 'wheel-side' (deployment) tech, but - as we see with pared-down eco-house building intentions - the sentiment of public and private finance will dictate the best backed eco-horse. And given that much of that finance is increasingly sourced from the Arab and Asian SWFs, reliance may well be on improving conventional & easy transfer technologies that fit their own resources, infrastructures and engineering competancies.
Turan Ahmed - investment-auto-motives, United Kingdom
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What's this?
Your Comments
I do think it quite shameful and short sighted that many manufacturers with large sales volumes neglect the London Show while at the same time they will be making over 30 appearances at motor shows around the USA. A motor show does build brand values with the youngsters who will only be able to connect to the cars at a show, they don'e go to dealers to have their pictures taken with the prestige cars they dream of.
Simon Jowett, United Kingdom