Talking About Automobiles
Monday, February 25, 2008
Labor Leader Dies At 91
Last year, the United Auto Workers union made the news when they assembled to strike against General Motors. It was during that time when the solidarity of the union was seen, although not for the first time. Today's UAW president Ron Gettelfinger has seen his share of bargaining with the Big Three and other automakers but even Gettelfinger looks up to someone.
That someone happens to be the former president of the United Auto Workers union, the late Douglas A. Fraser. Fraser passed away late Saturday at the
During his time as the president of the UAW, Douglas Fraser has been known to be popular with the rank and file workers. "Everybody thought he was wonderful," said Winnie Fraser. "He was a good guy, and he really was (wonderful)," she added according to The Auto Channel.
Gettelfinger said that Fraser was a "voice of reason". "He could interject humor in a very tense situation. He was realistic. He was abreast of what was going on. I was always relieved when on the other end of the line was Doug. He would always make you feel good before you hung up that phone," he added.
Sure, we are to talk about automobiles around here. But we have to talk about the guys who gave much to the industry. In fact, without Fraser, the Chrysler 300 would not have been possible. Why? It's because along with Lee Iacocca, Fraser had a major involvement in keeping Chrysler from bankruptcy.
So I honor this great man with this humble post.
Friday, February 15, 2008
VW Welcomes New Age Of Online Marketing
Tom Roberts, the Volkswagen site Account Director at Tribal, has this to say: "Buying a new car can be a confusing process. Using clean white space and featuring the most progressive car configurator currently available online, we built this site to be the most simple yet most comprehensive, intuitive and engaging experience in this market."
"Our research shows that people looking for a new car now do the majority of their research on the internet, with visits to showrooms more than halved, down from five to two on average,” said Marianne Nicholas, Volkswagen's Relationship Marketing Manager.
"The challenge for us was to respond to this change and ensure our website is equipped to give buyers and owners the information they need at the touch of a button. The old site has seen a massive rise in visits over the past three years - up from 500,000 in November 2004 to 1.4 million in November 2007, which clearly indicates the importance of the web in a customer's buying process. Our new site offers the most realistic experience on the web of what it's like to sit in and walk around a Volkswagen car - it's a richer, more responsive experience and heralds a new approach in the web's role in selling cars," she noted.
Key site facts:
- This site is the result of 18 months' work with a dedicated team of 50 people
- It is one of the largest websites to be built in Flex, providing a richer experience - in fact, the 15 strong Flex team hired by Tribal to build this site is thought to be one of the largest and most advanced Flex teams in the world
- The site uses dynamic feedback, which allows car buyers to search and modify their preferred car in 'real time', which is more responsive and provides a much richer customer experience
- It will allow people to book test drives directly on line
- Taking into consideration all the different options customers can configure their car with, the site offers well over one million different combinations of Volkswagen
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Tata Motors Owns Jaguar, Almost
We know that Ford is struggling as of today. The automaker has placed a lot of confidence on its large vehicles. SUVs and light trucks have been racking up sales for American automakers. But that was when the price of petroleum is still low and the
But today, the economy is slumping and the price of petroleum fuel is skyrocketing. This meant trouble for American automakers like Ford. The
The automaker is now focusing on their core business which means they are shipping out their luxury marques such as Aston Martin which was sold early last year. After Aston martin was sold, Ford is now looking to sell its two British luxury marques in the form of Jaguar and Land Rover.
The two British luxury brands have been performing at s subpar level as few consumers in the
The said Indian automaker is Tata Motors. You might have heard of the name as the company has unveiled last month what would be the world's least expensive vehicle. If the Indian automaker succeeds in acquiring both luxury brands, it would really be a good boost for the company.
One advantage that they can get from acquiring the two luxury brands is that they would have a wide retail network where Tata Motors can easily market their own vehicles. Another advantage they may have is the technological prowess which Jaguar and land river represents. Tata Motors will be able to use those technologies on their vehicles.
To reap those benefits though, Tata Motors would have to shell put about $2 billion. Wow!
