Cars! Cars! Cars!

Changing O'Guard

Man, cleaning house in the, uh, House and cleaning house in the... this isn't working. So:

Automotive News reports: PSA/Peugeot-Citroen names former Airbus chief as CEO

PSA/Peugeot-Citroen's supervisory board has named Christian Streiff, the former CEO of European airplane maker Airbus, as the successor to departing CEO Jean-Martin Folz.

Streiff, 52, will succeed Folz on Feb. 6, PSA said in a statement. But he will join PSA/Peugeot-Citroen on Wednesday, Nov. 8, to get acquainted with the company.

Meanwhile, The NY Times (registration required) reports: After Power Struggle, Volkswagen Ousts Its Chief.

In a sharp reversal, Volkswagen today ousted its chief executive, Bernd Pischetsrieder, six months after he appeared to win an internal power struggle by signing a new contract.

Volkswagen, Europe’s largest carmaker, gave no reason for the decision by a select committee of its supervisory board, which voted to replace Mr. Pischetsrieder with Martin Winterkorn, the head of Volkswagen’s Audi division. The change will take effect at the end of the year.

Also, what's up with having air dudes running car companies? Think they'll kick some arse?

Alliance Schlamiance

Autoblog reports: What went wrong? Analysis of GM/Renault-Nissan talks. Yeah, what did go wrong?

(Scene, sitting down to supper at an Olive Garden)
GM CEO Rick Wagoner: So, what's your idea, Carlos?
Renault/Nissan Dude Carlos Ghosn: I have many ideas. Many, many, many ideas. Hey, breadsticks! (begins to talk but mouth is quite full with three breadsticks)
RW: I'm not sure I'm on board with the idea. There's the possibility of cost savings, sure. But you guys are going to get more out of this.
CG: Salad? Man, this place is great. (begins eating)
RW: Really, Carlos. Close your mouth when you chew.
CG: How about we share suppliers. And parts. You like my parts?
RW: Look, if this deal is about to happen, you'll need to put some cash on the table.
CG: I thought the bread and salad were free? What you up to, Rick?
RW: Sigh.

Renault To Start Talks With Nissan If GM/Ford Talks Fail

All the Renault-deal talk is insane. It's like a soap opera:

The NY Times (registration required) reports: Renault Chief May Look to Ford if G.M. Talks Fail.

Autoblog reports: GM and Renault/Nissan come back into the forefront, continuing talks.

AutoWeek reports: Backup Plan?

We sat with Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn at a Bucky's Burgers 'n' Burritos recently:

Cars! Cars! Cars!: Thanks for sitting down with us today.
Carlos Ghosn: You're wel... Hey, you got salsa? I didn't get any salsa. I'll trade you something for the salsa.
CCC: You can have ours.
CG: No, no. Let's talk about this. I have some sour cream you can have.
CCC: We have a lactose issue, so we'll skip it. You can have the salsa. Tell, us, how is it that you can be willing to make a deal with any U.S. manufacturer? Are GM and Ford that similar?
CG: No, no. I have chips to trade for your salsa. How about that?
CCC: What will you eat the salsa on?
CG: Gah! These talks are going nowhere.
(Gets up, takes tray to another table where a woman is trying to deal with three children: one sitting quietly but not eating, one under the table playing with broken bits of nacho chips, and the last child grunting as if having a bowel movement. "I see you have some salsa," Mr. Ghosn is heard to say.)

Boggin'

The Detroit News reports: Alliance talks bog down. Parts? They were talking about parts? Look, we're no businessmen or anything and we're guessing "parts" are plenty important, but it sure would have been sexier if they were going to merge and pop out a new line of cars... the likes of which we have NEVER SEEN BEFORE! But, no, they're talking retainer clips and lug nuts.

We'd also like to know whether Kerkorian has sold any more stock since these "talks" were announced. It sure looks like GM's stock has rebounded to be back where it was about a year ago. Were the talks a way to help the stock price?

GM Meets With Renault And Nissan

The Detroit News reports: Heat's on GM board. You know, we don't know. Is this merger/alliance a good idea? Hell, we're not afraid of change, but in this case, we don't know. We do know that GM isn't selling a whole lot of really interesting products, Nissan's sales are down (~18%) for the first half of 2006, and Renault... hell, they don't sell anything here at all.

So does this potential deal make sense?

We don't know. What we do know is that no one involved seems to be crazy about cars. Where's the passion, mates? Hell, we'd be happy if you even sorta liked cars. Just a little. Wouldn't it be awesome if GM CEO Rick Wagoner said, "Holy crap, I love my '05 CTS so much, I'm not trading it for an '07. I LOVE this friggin' thing!"? Or if Nissan/Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn said, "I'm not giving up my 350z. Ever. Even when I get canned for cost cutting so much that we ended up in Tennessee. How do I look in overalls?"? And heaven forbid if rich dude Kerk Kerkorian said, "I do sometimes drive a car" rather than "I eat kittens for breakfast. Calicos are simply deeeeeelicious in the morning."

We think the main problem at GM is that there aren't enough dudes running the show who are passionate about cars. There's not a single person at GM who'a passionate about the Monte Carlo. Holy crap, kill that fat turd.

And build us cars that you want to drive.

GM needs to put their focus on and energy into all of their products. Like the Pontiac Solstice pictured here.

Sale Of The Century!

Best game show. Ever. Really. We won all the friggin' goodies. In our minds. We have no idea how we came to watch the show with such regularity since it was on during the time we were supposed to be at skool. Huh. Perhaps that answers a lot of nagging questions.

Anyway, The Detroit News reports: Renault, GM weigh risk-laden megadeal. What deal? you ask. Is that Renault in the headline? you ask. Why does this new megadeal seem to leave out the specifics of you and Alison? you wonder. We wonder, too. Sigh. But the most important question you ask is, Why in the world is GM still making the Monte Carlo? Have they no taste?

Well, here's the deal: Kirk Kerkorian (who has lost a billion clams buying up GM shares) is gently pushing GM into talks with Renault. But doesn't Renault also own Nissan? you ask. What's up with Renault kicking ass and buying up everyone's company when they can't even sell a car to us good ol' yanks? you demand.

In the letter to GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner, Kerkorian said Renault and Nissan were receptive to the idea of expanding the alliance and acquiring "a significant minority interest" in GM.

Expanding the alliance? Man, that doesn't sound doubleplusgood for Wagoner.

Autoblog does some follow up: Nissan responds to GM alliance talk. And our good buddy Robert Farago writes: General Motors Death Watch 83: The End of Days. While we steal his ending here, the whole article is a good read:

In short, the idea that GM would contemplate joining a Renault/Nissan “alliance” is a sign of the General’s desperation, not its ability to seize an international opportunity (whither Fuji, Fiat and Suzuki). Viewed from another angle, depending on what the Franco-Japanese contingent want for their money, you might even say that GM’s breakup has already begun. In any case, it’s yet another one of the bizarre episodes we’ve been predicting for some time: the end of days at GM.

What do we think? With GM selling off just about everything (Fiat, Fuji, GMAC), we have to wonder whether GM is shedding pieces not only raise capital but to make itself appear more attractive to suitors. And, yes, GM had to pay to end the Fiat deal, but that deal is no longer a liability, so we consider that raising capital... just not the money kind of capital.

Do you think there's gonna be a move by Renault/Nissan to gobble up some GM?

That's a picture of Paris. Renault is based near Paris. Paris is better looking than Detroit.