Badder Boys: When Police level the playing field

By Charlie Turner

Stopped at a red, you look to your right. A jet-black Mustang GT with white racing stripes glares back. You rev the engine and the light flashes green. White smoke billows as rubber meets pavement and you take off screaming through the open intersection. As you shift into second, you glance at the rear view mirror. The Mustang is keeping up. It’s also pulling you over.

Just another day for traffic enforcement officers in the Detroit suburb of Harper Woods, Michigan.

From the left, the car appears as nothing more than your everyday Mustang — no markings or badges indicative of a police vehicle. But cross to the right and the word “POLICE” printed in bold lettering stares back from the fender along with a police insignia and the phrase “traffic enforcement” scrolled down the side.

Deputy chief of police James Burke said the car is frequently mistaken for a potential racer.

“We’ve had a lot of people wanting to drag race our officers,” Burke said. “They’ll pull up and rev their engine.”

“They didn’t know it was a police car until too late,” added officer Tom Silva.

And if you’re unlucky enough to make that mistake, expect to be immediately greeted by an array of blue and red lights cleverly tucked in at the top of the front and bottom of the back windshields, beneath the side-view mirrors and between the two strobe fog lights on the grill.

Pop the hood, however, and the surprises end. Although this writer may have hoped for a supercharged 5.4L pony mill — stock in Ford’s beefier Shelby GT-500 – the cruiser sports the GT’s standard 4.6L V8 powerplant. Though 300 hp is nothing to shake a stick at, especially among a fleet of tired Crown Victoria Interceptors.

“It’s just so damn fast!” Burke said.

Fortunately for lead-footed motorists, it’s unlikely you’ll be seeing many more of these stealthy speed extinguishers. Apparently, due to the low ground clearance, poor handling in icy or even wet conditions and the almost non-existent back seat, the Mustang is not exactly the ideal police car.

But at least it looks cool.

GM and Ford are offering incentives
to get New York International Auto Show-goers to visit area dealerships.
The $50 comes in the form of a gift card, but requires that the recipient
go to a dealership and test drive a vehicle.

    The marketing of new cars and trucks always starts with getting the
car-buying public's attention and then getting them to consider your
models. The gift card gambit being rolled out at the New York International
Auto Show (NYIAS) appears to be the next tactic to achieve the most basic
goal; getting the customers' attention.

    Detroit automakers have long contended that if the public would take a
close look at their products, rather than just accept the conventional
wisdom of the superiority of foreign makes, they would see that Detroit
makes very competitive automobiles in this country. Paying high-potential
car shoppers at a huge auto show like New York's $50 to travel to a
dealership and actually drive the vehicle may pay some dividends. Time will
tell.

    "Auto shows provide a perfect opportunity for buyers to see, touch and
feel the latest new cars under one roof," said Mark Schienberg, president
of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, the organization
that owns and produces the New York Auto Show.

    "Programs like the $50 gift card offered by GM and Ford help continue
conversations between auto show visitors and new car dealers. This is a
great way to get engage customers and gets them behind the wheel of some
amazing new vehicles," concluded Schienberg.

    Ford gift cards can be spent anywhere. The GM gift card is only good
for purchases on restaurants.com.

    The $50 offer is available to New York International Auto Show
visitors, which runs at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan,
until Sunday, April 19. For more information, visit http://www.autoshowNY.com.

Ford Motor Company has announced that it expects annual savings of $500 million through a wage deal with its union while the White House revealed that U.S. automakers have not yet presented specific viability plans to President Barack Obama

Obama expects the industry will face some form of restructuring, the White House said on Wednesday.

The US President believes “we need an auto industry in this country but the auto industry is likely to be one in the future that is restructured and re-imagined from where it is today so that Americans are buying cars that are built by and for Americans,” the White House said.

Earlier this week, members of the Obama administration’s autos task force visited the Detroit area where they again met with executives of General Motors Corp (GM.N) and Chrysler. The two companies are seeking up to $39 billion in federal aid.

GM and Chrysler received a $17.4 billion government bailout in December and have asked for nearly $22 billion more. The government has until March 31 to determine if the automakers can become commercially viable, and if they should get additional public funds.

Unlike GM and Chrysler, Ford is trying to restructure its finances without a government bailout as the industry is battered by the economic recession.

Through a deal with the United Auto Workers, Ford expects its hourly wages would now be in the “ballpark” of foreign-based rivals, the company said.

The agreement, which was ratified by Ford-UAW members, trims average wages and benefits for UAW hourly workers to about $55 per hour this year, while the U.S. operations of foreign-based automakers — or what executives call “transplants” — pay workers on average $48 to $49 per hour, Ford said.

Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) warned that it is developing contingency plans to deal with any disruption in the U.S. automotive supply chain.

Jim Lentz, Toyota’s top U.S. executive, said the company has concerns with about 100 suppliers, but is particularly worried about 20 to 30 within that group. He did not identify the suppliers.

Auto suppliers have asked the U.S. government for $18.5 billion in assistance to offset credit woes and slowing production at automakers, which has led to a sharp decline in payments.

Separately, German auto parts giant Continental (CONG.DE) wants to cut nearly 2,000 jobs and close production at two high-cost European tire manufacturing sites.

Shares in Continental, now controlled by smaller rival Schaeffler, closed down 4.3 percent at 13.30 euros while the DJ Stoxx European car sector index .SXAP rose 2.9 percent.

Also, Russia’s biggest car maker, AvtoVAZ (AVAZ.MM) is cutting production by at least 36 percent this year as the global financial crisis takes its toll on demand for cars.

AvtoVAZ is targeting output of 590,000 cars in 2009 against 920,000 in 2008.

DETROIT – Unionized workers at Ford Motor Co. have approved contract changes that include freezing wages and cutting benefits in a move aimed at helping the automaker remain competitive.

The United Auto Workers said Monday a majority of hourly workers voted in favor of modifications to the 2007 contract with Ford, eliminating cost-of-living increases and cash bonuses.

The agreement is expected to be a model for Chrysler LLC and General Motors Corp., which need to bring their labor costs in line with those of foreign auto companies’ plants in the U.S. as a condition for the $17.4 billion they have received in federal loans so far. Under terms of their loan agreements, progress must be made by March 31. The companies are seeking an additional $21.6 billion in government aid.

In these pressing times it is not surprising to hear Ford entertaining multiple offers for the Volvo motor company. Initial interest in acquiring the controlling portion of Volvo was shown by the SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) as well as Changan Automobile. However, Ford is concerned about the product designs that they have shared with the Volvo brand and has made that clear for contractual purpose. Ford at this point doesn’t want to let any of their proprietary technology to be used on other manufacturer platforms for obvious reasons.

In early 2008 Geely Automobile visited the Volvo HQ in Sweden but was unprepared for the $6B price tag on Volvo. Since last Geely talked to Ford the markets have changed dramatically and they are now in a position to acquire the company. There is word that Mulally is willing to entertain lower offers than the original $6B price tag so we will see if this draws out a deal for the broken automaker.

WASHINGTON D.C. – After long and criticized talks, Democrats and Motor City executives have come to terms on a $14 billion federal aid package to deflect this slump into the right direction. However, many Republicans oppose the deal stating that “structure needs to be established prior to liquidating funds”. This division between parties has prompted President George W. Bush to lobby for Republican support due to the fact that implementation of the aid package could come as early as Friday, giving Ford, GM and Chrysler cash in hand by the weekend.

White House Chief of Staff John Bolten has also been dispatched to Capitol Hill to make the case to skeptical Republicans.

Although $14 billion seems like an astonishing figure, it only covers 70% of what “the Big Three” necessitate to counter act the economic crisis and will push the afore mentioned to pursue options and loans from Canada to cover the rest.

Source: MSNBC

UPDATE: By a vote of 237-170, the U.S. House has decided to pass the bill to enact federal funding in the form of $14 billion. The high number of nay-sayers sets stringent legislation onto the expectations of Chrysler and General Motors as they will need to abide to close monitoring by the White House directly.

GM executives were quoted saying “We thank the House and its leadership for their bipartisan vote to support America’s domestic automakers at this most crucial time for the nation’s economy”. GM spokesman Greg Martin also stated that “The House vote brings us closer to saving jobs and to create a more competitive U.S. auto industry in order to maintain America’s economic vitality. We encourage the Senate to act soon so that we can continue at full speed on the restructuring and advanced technologies plans that will form a stronger, more viable GM”.

Whether or not the restructuring works within the next year is highly unlikely but enough money has been poured into these companies to keep them afloat for time to take its turn, let’s wait and see what the future unfolds then shall we?

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON D.C. – After long awaited developments, news has finally broken that the federal government could come to terms with the “Big Three” as early as tomorrow (Wednesday). Talks have been ongoing for the past week and have moved forward steadily without any substantial break throughs until now. Anonymous democrats mentioned that conditions for the bailout include a stringent reform on future business plans along with the need for “reinvention”. Democrats and Republicans seem to be divided on the details of the pending agreements, but the main topic of interest apears to share a common goal, save all three automakers.

Detroit could also be asking a further $7 billion dollars from our friends to the north (Canada for the geographically challenged) in order to approach the required $25 billion to reform Ford, GM and Chrysler all together.

As further developments unfold, the Tuned staff will provide you with up to date information.

CHICAGO – In an effort to get the american automotive crisis settled, many key players are pointing fingers and blame the executives for this epic slump. Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd (Connecticut) mentioned that General Motors CEO Richard Wagoner “has to move on [...] and face the nation”. The comments come after talks for the economic bailout have moved forward but nothing of the $15 billion number has been settled. Senator Dodd also made it a point to state that “GM is in the worst shape”  while adding that one of the essential steps towards rebuilding is Wagoner’s resignation.

Many analysts suggest that Chrysler LLC. and General Motors Corp. are at risk of running out of money within the next two months if nothing is done and that Ford may not be too far behind the rest.

Tuned will keep you posted on any further developments.

In these trying times we see the big players of our market reaching for their cash. In our time this means selling shares, cutting assets, and hoping your own stock doesn’t plummet. Ford has grabbed the cash and traded in $540 Million for 20% of Mazda running them down to a 13% stakeholder in the domestic/import manufacturer. This put Mazda back into the hands of Japanese executives as Ford transplant executives are sent packing back to the states. This should call for some refreshing approaches on the tuner market but Mazda ensures their overall direction will maintain. The more profitable Japanese automaker will replace departing Ford employees with homegrown Mazda executives which will hopefully offer some fresh strategies from Mazda.

Source: Ford