Sticker Shock

Obama, out of touch and what auto brand do you want to see eliminated?

We don’t like to get all political, but what kind of advisors does Barack Obama have? Do they drive cars? Have they studied free-market theory?
When the candidate expounds his simpleton view of the U.S. auto industry,it erodes his credibility across the board. Did the Detroit 3 know that gas prices would end up in the stratosphere? This is a group that has lost market share via a series of marketing and design miscues and has a bureaucracy as thick as a politician’s skull. Not only that, but when SUVs started rolling off the line in earnest, consumers were buying them up. And let’s remember that in Q1, the top selling vehicle in the U.S., despite the gas price gains, was the Ford F-Series, trailed by the Chevy Silverado. Consumers have loved these vehicles, and the move to small cars is market driven. Which is good, natural. For some out-of-touch politician (what other kind are there?) to step in and make silly statements like this squeaks of poor advising. We think that if he drove the streets more and spent a few hours trying to understand the industry, being the thoughtful fellow we perceive him to be, he would expound with more reason.
We might also remind candidate Obama that for three decades, congressional types have refused to allow expansion of U.S. refineries and the No Nuke Kooks have stomped on nuclear development.

On a lighter note, in a poll at Businessweek.com, readers believe that the next auto brand to go should be Mercury. We’re not sure why. We have driven the Mariner Hybrid and found it to be by far the best of the CUV hybrids. The Milan sedan is likewise a fine machine. Both suffer from poor marketing, because Ford doesn’t have the money to spread around these smaller brands.
Coming in second in brands to do away with was Hummer.
We like Hummer and there is a place for it. One of the things auto companies need to be wary of is overcompensation. Don’t do away with your large models. Things will get better, and there will be oil. And we will adjust.

Jim Farley - Rock Star, GM and syntax

“All my life, General Motors and Ford Motor have tried to go bankrupt. It takes them a long time because, even at this sorry task, they’re not very competent. I have faith. They will eventually succeed, which will benefit Toyota, the world’s leading carmaker.” – Ken Fisher, columnist, "Portfolio Strategy" Forbes magazine.

We had a good two-day trip to Las Vegas with the fine people at Ford. Heard about the new corporate campaign, the new tag, “Drive one,” and how it will be put into effect. And we have to say, Jim Farley is one of the most engaging, enthusiastic, sincere marketers we’ve seen. His absolute euphoria about the brand is contagious and if he could walk the streets and talk to everyone about Ford, the brand would recover quickly. And his idea of taking it to the employees, retirees and dealers to allow them to talk up the brand is a good one. He’s got the makings of a hero, for sure.
And Farley is now a rock star in Detroit. We talked with him one evening while we were there about how he’s coping with it and he said it was unusual for him. He and his wife are living in a Detroit suburb as they close on a house and he goes to the local Border’s bookstore sometimes to browse.
Sticker Shock: So do you get recognized there?
Farley: I do! I’ve been there looking at the magazines and I run into Ford employees. It’s kind of weird. I’m leafing through “Hot Rod” and “Tattoo” and there they are.
SS: “Tattoo?”
Farley: Yeah…I’ve always liked the permanence of tattoos, how each one has a story. If you ask someone about each tattoo, they can tell you the story.
SS: Do you have any?
Farley: No
So we moved along and asked about being recognized when he was with Toyota in Los Angeles.
Farley: No, hardly ever. I’d go to these Hollywood parties with my wife (who had some ties to the movie industry – SS) and someone would ask me what I did, and I’d tell them I worked for Toyota. And they’d walk away.
It is gratifying to see someone as decent and down-to-earth as Jim Farley being recognized. We do believe he’ll fare well anywhere he goes.

Yesterday, we listened in briefly to a phone conference Q & A with General Motors marketer Mark LaNeve and before we fell asleep, Mark was trying to explain how the new marketing realignment
was going to work. “I know it can be kind of obtuse,” he noted. We think he may have just gotten his word wrong. But he's a smart dude: He may have been obliquely referring to the reporters, who really didn’t seem to grasp the simple move.