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Media Analysis
Hemmings highlights late-70s attack against U.S. bumper regulations
Hemmings got political recently by highlighting a 1978 attack against U.S. bumper regulations then on the books. In his “Four Links” feature, Daniel Strohl (2020) pointed to a story in a staunchly libertarian magazine called […]
Links
Dean’s Garage: An insider’s look at car design that steers clear of Detroit’s fall
(UPDATED 10/30/2022) Dean’s Garage draws together car designers to discuss their craft. The website has tended to focus on U.S. automakers during the post-war era. Publisher Gary Dean Smith was part of General Motors’ design […]
Quotes
Peter DeLorenzo: Auto journalism is a pay-to-play-for-access game
“I believe that the glaring sameness of the so-called ‘enthusiast’ car mags is still there and it’s still highly annoying. And there’s no denying that the days for the hard-copy print mags are severely numbered, and when […]
Bird Chatter
Auto Paedia
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 […]
Quotes
Corporate focus on making money is myopic
“An industrial company that sees its primary focus as making money rather than making good products, is not going to make good products. ‘Their obligation is 100% to their shareholders’ is not a law of […]
Quotes
Bob Lutz: Elon Musk is ‘tired,’ ‘volatile and unstable’
“I think Elon is tired. He’s worn out. He’s obviously got some emotional problems. He’s self medicating. He has shown some disturbing signs of being somewhat volatile and unstable. I think the right solution for […]
Quotes
Can a visionary like Musk execute at scale?
“This is no longer an innovation problem, this is an execution at scale problem — unless Tesla wants to be a niche innovator chasing profitability and sucking up cash. They need to become experts at […]
Quotes
Marketing lacks original thought
“It’s not just a plague; it’s standard operating procedure, something that permeates car company marketing enclaves all over the world. I am convinced that there is a secret automotive marketing boot camp buried underground somewhere (perhaps […]