Jackson tosses Mercury onto the trash heap
The top executive at America’s largest auto retailer is not known for his shy demeanor, reluctance to express his mind or not having an opinion – quite the contrary, as Jackson once again demonstrated during an appearance in Detroit, where he made it clear which automotive brands should be tossed on the industry’s trash heap.
While not Vice President Biden-like, Mike Jackson is not afraid to speak his mind on CNBC, at stockholder meetings or at the 2009 Automotive News World Congress, in Detroit. If he were not as successful in a varied automotive career his articulate, often funny, remarks and views might not be acknowledged, accepted, much less admired as they are.
Following his what ails the auto industry speech and the subsequent Q&A follow-up, Keith Crain, publisher of Automotive News, asked Jackson for his opinion on what he’d do, “Buy, sell or hold,” as he read a list of auto franchises. Here are his remarks as I recorded and transcribed them.
Jackson: Buy, Sell or Hold?
KC: General Motors?
MJ: We present General Motors and we are 98% Chevy. It’s one of the great brands in America you can sell everything from an APO to a Corvette to a Silverado with the Chevy bow-tie. Why do you need anything else? But making money selling Chevrolet is another story.
KC: Ford?
MJ: Same as Chevy. Great brand. You can sell anything from a GT40 to an F150 to the new Taurus which is absolutely beautiful. Why waste time with Mercury?
KC: Toyota?
MJ: Full line … same as Chevy and Ford.
KC: Mercedes
MJ: That’s a buy. One of the premiere brands. What we love about Mercedes-Benz and BMW is they are very complicated products that are expensive to maintain with fantastic margins. And I make money with both without selling a single car. I like that.
KC: Dodge and Dodge cars?
MJ: (pause) hmm Sell.
KC: Honda?
MJ: That’s a keeper. You’ve got to admire Honda as a brand. Off all the brands, they don’t give a hoot whether gas is 50¢ or $500 a gallon, they will produce fuel efficient vehicles year in and year out … sometimes the wind will be at their back, other times in their face. You have to admire a brand that actually stands for something and never deviates from it.
KC: How ‘bout Acura?
MJ: I don’t understand Acura.
KC: (interjecting) How can they be so good at one and so bad at the other?
MJ: (continuing) That’s a good point. You’ll have to ask them. You can not have done premium luxury for the last 30 years without a V8 engine. It’s a not starter.
KC: Lexus?
MJ: Yeah, great …buy.
KC: Nissan?
MJ: Reminds me of a domestic in many ways in their business practices: over produced, push too hard, too much inventory. But it’s a keeper.
KC: Lincoln Mercury?
MJ: I don’t understand it. You can do the whole thing with Ford, put a little icing on the cake with Lincoln, that would be fine … but Mercury … what is a Mercury? You tell me.
KC: Hyundai?
MJ: I not a big fan of the Korean’s … we may have one some place out there that I don’t know about … they fire the American’s every chance they get and their chairman’s in and out of jail all the time … which gives me pause.
KC: Infiniti:
MJ: The crown jewels of premium luxury are Lexus, Mercedes, BMW and then you have Porsche … but Infiniti is not there, it’s near luxury in a beige world. The primary vehicles have so much features and content … need a lot of space to command premium prices.
KC: Mazda
MJ: Very good products … it’s a keeper. Great platform and great designs.
KC: VW?
MJ: Their mind set is, “We’ve created such great products that it is your failing that you’re not buying them! There is something wrong with you.” With American’s this doesn’t work. But I think VW and Audi are moving away from that attitude of arrogance.
Straight talk for a straight shooting guy who runs an automotive retail juggernaut, which like all retailers, has been suffering from the economic slowdown, the lack of consumer credit and clogged inventories of vehicles.
For some agreeing with his point of view may be difficult, but how many auto execs are speaking out today, much less getting an audience and are running a business. A business by the way who has attracted big time investors including Bill Gates. Stay tuned.