Kirk Kerkorian knows how to stir a pot. In a letter to GM CEO Rick Wagoner, Kerkorian suggests that GM needs to explore a partnership with Renault-Nissan, which he apparently has already approached about such a deal. Kerkorian sees the French-Japanese alliance taking a "significant minority interest" in General Motors--a note which has sent GM shares skyward in trading today. Kerkorian himself owns nearly 10 percent of GM shares. "We believe that participating in a global partnership-alliance with Renault and Nissan could enable General Motors to realize substantial synergies and cost savings and thereby greatly benefit the company and enhance shareholder value," the letter reads, as reported by Reuters. GM's board has been convened for an urgent Friday meeting to discuss the proposal, Automotive News reported late Friday afternoon.
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We miss big Jersey metal and big Jersey hair, which is why we’re more than happy to run this picture of Jon Bon Jovi as he seeks out unsigned bands across the country. Jon Bon—that’s how we imagine we refer to him when we tell other friends that “he’s just a normal guy” and that we just got back from his place in the Hamptons—signed autographs for fans at last weekend’s Saturn “Have a Nice Gig” stop in Texas on its way to Seattle, Chicago and other music towns on its quest for talent. We’re still not sure what the transitional GM brand is getting out of the deal, but we’re quite sure some mid-level agency exec has scored a bunch of free tickets to skyboxes for the rest of the year. (Photo taken by Tim Sharp for GM)
Posted in : Enthusiasts, Shoppers
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John Madden doesn’t like to fly. This much you already know if you have any sports pulse in your veins. What you may not know is the Big M has himself a new conversion coach just in time for his switch to NBC this fall and his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the fall. The new Maddenmobile is a 2006 MCI E4500 and comes better outfitted that most of the McMansions they’re building two streets over from you: it has granite countertops, a steam shower in the master bath and a TracVision satellite TV system so Madden can watch Lifetime reruns of The Nanny as his driver nods off on the way to Kansas City. FYI, Madden logs nearly 100,000 miles a year on the Interstates, making him at least an honorary staffer of TheCarConnection, if not the mileage champion.
Posted in : Enthusiasts, Shoppers
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Badges, brightwork and vents are automotive “jewelry.” Designers use them to break up large surface areas, to telegraph the brand or make of a vehicle to owners and admirers, and sometimes just to make a new vehicle pretty.
The final frontier for jewelry — once the grille, tailgate, steering wheel, and other prime real estate have been covered — seems to be fenders, if recent auto shows and vehicle intros are any measure. Look at
Land Rover’s LR2 to get the idea: in the space between the wheel well and the door cutline, the LR2 has an eccentrically shaped accent that’s become a hallmark of the sportier Land Rovers in the lineup. In the same area on a Range Rover, there’s also a “buckle,” as some designers call it — but on the statelier SUV it’s a trim vertical rib of chrome or filigree, depending on your bank balance.
Jaguar designer Ian Callum’s done the same with
the new XK and XJ, giving them a signature style piece with a metal clasp embossed with the brand’s name.
BMW’s M6 has a dashing dash of chrome on its front fenders, too.
But it’s not just the Euro premium brands getting into the buckle boom.
Lincoln’s MKS concept wears similar cosmetic jewelry. And Buick’s bringing back portholes on the Lucerne and the Enclave — a little north of the buckle belt, but with the same concept in mind.
Not every make is convinced.
Volvo’s new S80 has unadorned fenders even though it’s the first cousin of most of the vehicles in this item. Sometimes, it seems, high style is no style at all.
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"So I moved everybody from
Hellay to freakin' Nashville. You got a problem with that?" Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Pesci!
Piece by piece, they're turning
our Honda Element into a performance milk crate. Remind us to pull the plug on our devotion when the sticker-'n-decal edition comes nigh.
Ford's planning some big South of the Border-style fiesta, by retooling three Mexican plants and moving production down there, too. The only question is, who'll be left to work the lines?
Ford loves
American Idol winners -- apparently, even
the dumpy, 30-year-old, prematurely grey ones. At this rate TCC staffers will be singing the next blue-oval jingle
live from Shady Pines.
Volkswagen is at a crossroads: execs say the next five years will be all about cutting costs and getting ready for a wave of new American-minded products. Oh, and that DC joint venture subcompact? "Friggin' bullshit," verbatim, from a top exec.
GM says new clean diesels will cost up to $2000 each to comply with regs;
VW puts the cost at $1000. A good hybrid is about $2500-$3000 more than a stock gas model. Where are we going with this? How about New York on a single tank of $3-a-gallon gas?
And finally this week, our
Speeding Excuses contest is off to a fast start. Send us your funniest speeding excuse and win a navigation system or a satellite-radio player. Don't worry, we'll make sure it gets to your prison cell.
Posted in : Enthusiasts, Industry News, Reviews, Shoppers
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Marty Padgett June 30th, 2006
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