Toyota’s Esmond: “Consumer Confidence is Shot”
“Consumer confidence is shot,” laments Don Esmond, second-in-command at Toyota Motors Sales, USA. Esmond is one of a number of senior executives on hand for the 2009 Chicago Auto Show, the nation’s largest in terms of consumer turnout. The question is...
Book Excerpt: Why GM Matters
For three-quarters of a century, it was king-of-the-hill, not only the world’s largest automaker, but arguably the most powerful and influential. But the steady decline of General Motors was capped, last year, when the automaker not only was dethroned by Japanese...
Sneak Peek: Hyundai HED-6
Forget the great outdoors. The Hyundai HED-6 is for “urban nomads,” according to the Korean carmaker, which offered up this first, computer-generated look at the show car that will make its debut at the Salon International de L’Automobile in Geneva on March 3rd. Think...
Readers: Speak Out on the Bailout!
As it stands now – and things could change quickly – Pres. Obama is calling for the inclusion of $600 million in the proposed stimulus plan to fund the government’s purchase of new, fuel-efficient vehicles. In fact, there’ve been a number of auto-centric elements...
Sneak Peek: Kia’s Geneva Concept SUV
We normally like to have a little more information before posting news on TheDetroitBureau.com, but occasionally, we get just enough of a peek at something to encourage us to bend the rules… …like the picture, you see here of a new small MPV concept...
Yoostabee: Harry Truman and Chrysler
A friend in Detroit’s Automotive Press Association emailed me a paean to President Harry S. Truman, which got me to thinking about HST’s love of Chryslers. A few years ago, the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, and Chrysler (under whatever corporate name...
From Bush to Obama: What Does Regime Change Mean for Detroit?
Unlike most other industries, automaking has one firm that was once the largest in America and another once third largest perched at the precipice of bankruptcy. Ford is a small step back from the brink only because it mortgaged itself to the hilt (and Blue Oval)....