Quotes
From horseless carriages to robots?
“The future is manufacturing robots similar to the Ford courier robot. . . . I’d bet within a few decades robots in the home will be common. Imagine if you had to make a decision […]
2010s
Quotes
Peter DeLorenzo: Groupthink has driven model proliferation among automakers
“But the largest and certainly most demonstrable lemminglike behavior in this business is model proliferation. It’s loosely based on the philosophy that if a car company utilizes its vehicle architectures efficiently to create more models, […]
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Groupthink
A tendency toward groupthink has been a chronic problem in the American automobile industry since the mid-50s. This was a key driver of the domestic automakers’ dramatic decline from the late-60s onward. More recently, foreign […]
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Auto industry consolidation: Putting profits ahead of robust competition
The necessity of industry consolidation has long been a popular idea among auto executives and pundits. The basic argument has been that the automotive industry — both in the U.S. as well as globally — […]
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Pillar (A-D)
Some of the American automobile’s more significant design changes have been reflected in the pillars of a greenhouse. For ease of discussion, pillars have been alphabetized. An A-pillar is on each side of a windshield. […]
Media Analysis
Retiring editor does the old soft-shoe routine
Richard A. Johnson (2019) recently offered wry reflections about his 35 years at Automotive News. It’s a fitting coda for a longtime reporter and editor of a trade journal that covers such a powerful and […]
Data Dive
Are boutique brands worth the trouble?
When Volkswagen decided to discontinue its “new” Beetle, it did not have to deal with logistical issues such as remodeling showrooms like Toyota had to do when the Scion brand was phased out. That’s because […]
Current Events
Surveys find sexism still powerful in auto industry
When I started reading Automotive News in the mid-70s, one thing that struck me was how few women were in leadership positions. Only one or two would be listed on two-page displays of industry “all […]
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Media Analysis
All-time best climate change coverage by auto media?
A notable exception to the automotive media’s lack of attention to climate change was a package of stories Automotive News published in 2007. No, not last month or last year — a decade ago. Let’s […]