Keep It Simple: Ford Camper Special Pickup in Anacortes, Washington

 

A Tale of Two Types of Truck Owners

Toyota has cleaned the Big Three's clock in just about every category except one...pickup trucks. Jeff Green and Alan Ohnsman of Bloomberg Business explain why:

"The Big Three successfully beat back the Toyota incursion into the pickup market," says Brian Johnson, a Barclays (BCS) auto analyst who in 2007 predicted the Japanese company's success. "We had expected Toyota would do what they did with cars and take over the market. Their share gains have been frustratingly slow."

One reason: Toyota's full-size Tundra, which starts at $23,455, attracts a different type of buyer, data from Nielsen Claritas show. Toyota truck owners are 38 percent more likely to fly on business than typical drivers, and they lean toward hobbies like backpacking and mountain biking. Buyers of big pickups from GM, Ford, and Chrysler, however, are more likely to own a rifle to hunt than a bike to ride. Because that group of traditional truck buyers is so much larger, the Big Three has retained more than 90 percent of large pickup sales. It's a particularly lucrative win: Pickup profits range from $9,000 to $13,000 per vehicle, vs. $5,000 per car, Johnson said.

The cool response that Toyota—the world's largest auto company and America's largest producer of cars—has received to its big pickups has sent market researchers sifting through sales data for demographic and psychographic clues to the causes of its disappointing performance. They found that GM and Ford truck owners, for instance, are more likely to dine at Cracker Barrel (CBRL) restaurants, have dial-up Internet, and use the paper Yellow Pages, according to purchase data from Nielsen Claritas.

A much higher share of buyers of Toyota's big pickup dine at steakhouses, shop online, own golf clubs, and subscribe to magazines like Runner's World, the Nielsen data show. "Toyota planned for a [truck] market that really didn't exist," says Alan L. Baum, an auto analyst at Baum & Associates. "They just didn't hit a chord with buyers. It was almost comical."

When Cars Were a Family Affair

Peter Bourque (front row) and family in Flint. (Photo courtesy of Jacques Bourque)

Flint Expatriate Peter Bourque, a retired high school teacher living in Tuscon, remembers his hometown in an article published in the Arizona Star. He writes:

At family gatherings, talk among the men, to my disinterest, was invariably about "the shop," "the line" and "tool-and-die makers," a trade which I never understood. One brother-in-law, Art, had gotten a college degree and was white-collar at Buick. Another, Stan, worked for Oldsmobile in Lansing. My brother Jacques chose Ford in Detroit for his lifelong employment, but no one seemed to hold that against him.

Read the entire story here.

Marianne Moore and the Utopian Turtletop

What happened when Ford Motor Company called on a famous writer to name its cars?

As you might guess, the writer's work was more creative than some of the unintentionally titillating names auto exec's have come up with all by themselves.

Collared by the Economy

After years of blue-collar job cuts, the economic crisis is exacting a toll on white-collar workers, especially in Michigan.

Bill Vlasic and Nick Bunkley of The New York Times report:

"G.M., Ford and Chrysler have eliminated a total of 120,000 manufacturing jobs in the last three years. And now the cuts are drastically thinning the ranks of white-collar professionals, turning the once-bustling office towers of the companies into half-empty monuments to better days.

"G.M. delivered another blow last week when it said it would reduce its global salaried work force by 14 percent, or 10,000 workers this year. In the Detroit area, that could mean an additional 3,000 workers will be out of a job by May 1. G.M.’s next round of white-collar cuts will not include buyouts. Chrysler has not said whether it plans more cuts.

"The Detroit area housing market, already deeply depressed, has plummeted since the buyouts. In January, the foreclosure rate increased 102 percent from the same month a year earlier in Oakland County, Mich., home to a huge number of G.M. and Chrysler employees.

"The state’s unemployment rate was 10.6 percent in December and continues to climb. Job fairs routinely create mob scenes, drawing thousands of out-of-work employees of the Big Three and their suppliers."

As American as Baseball, Apple Pie and Chevrolet

Is the United States about to nationalize the auto industry?

Invasion of the Factory Snatchers

In Brazil, Ford factory workers wear matching uniforms, much like Catholic school kids. They're also young, lean, efficient, and eerily happy. You have to see this Detroit News video to believe it.

What the hell is going on down there? Well, according to Ford, there's no U.A.W. in Brazil. Apparently the News didn't seek out other opinions.

Thanks to Grumkin for passing this along.

Bad Deal

It's pretty obvious: As the Big Three suffer, the auto dealers trying to sell the Big Three's cars also suffer.

Clifford Krauss of The New York Times reports:

"The National Automobile Dealers Association predicts that roughly 900 of the nation’s 20,770 new-car dealers will go out of business this year, and automobile analysts say the number of failed dealerships could rise into the thousands next year.

"Even if Ford, Chrysler and G.M. survive, many believe a comeuppance is inevitable among dealerships; indeed, for years the nation has had more dealers for domestic brands than warranted by the sales volume of the Detroit automakers.

"The economic toll of a mass failure of dealerships around the country has already begun to harm the broader economy. In October alone, 20,000 employees of auto dealerships lost their jobs nationwide, more than half of those who were newly unemployed in the retail trade, according to the Labor Department."

Autoworker Mythology

Have you heard the myth about autoworkers making $70/hour?

Hybrid Sales: See the Problem?

Chart via hybridcars.com

The Insider Speaks

A reader going by the unfortunate name of Sable Pelt, an obvious insider at one of the Big Three, has been providing some great commentary on the need for a bailout of the auto industry. Even if you disagree with him, it's worth a read. Because he's emailing his thoughts directly too me, I'll provide an excerpt below and you can find the full email in the comment section of this post:

"People can't stand the thought of somebody getting paid $70/hour to properly seat a head gasket. What they don't understand is that $70/hr represents their total pay package - not take home pay. A big chunk of that is benefits and most of that is healthcare. Those costs have gone up like mad in the past few years so shame on the UAW for covering that but it is not the UAW's fault that healthcare has gone up so much. Plus, and I can speak from some experience, I would ask any of those clowns to spend a day in an auto plant shooting rivets and ask them if $15/hr. as a new hire or even $35/hr (estimated take home before taxes is maybe $70K) for a 30 yr. person is worth it. I think it is, those jobs are tough!"

A Rational Look at the Auto Industry

There's been no shortage of ill-informed and, at times, angry editorials and columns in favor of letting the American auto industry die. But sanity does prevail at Talking Points Memo, where Josh Marshall gets real about why we should bail out the Big Three, despite their myriad mistakes:

"We've been fielding emails all day in response to this morning's post on 'drift'. And the ones that have particularly stuck out to me are the ones about bailing out the auto industry. Quite a few readers are of the opinion either that the Big Three are ground central for global warming and/or they've spent thirty years making cars that can't compete with Japan, etc., so just let them fail. It's over. They've had their chance. It's done.

"I have to tell you this just strikes me as nuts — and beyond being nuts represents a great failure of imagination.

"The auto industry — directly and indirectly — employs a ton of people. Even in ordinary times having that all gone down the tubes would mean a massive shock to the economy. If we can avoid having that happen now, why would we possibly let them happen in the face of what already promises to be a massive recession?

"Second, on the question of the environment. There is no question that the internal combustion engine is at the heart of the climate crisis. But getting rid of Detroit won't get rid of cars. More to the point of creativity -- one of the things about crisis is that it opens opportunities would never exist in normal times. People have been looking for ways to get Detroit to get serious about developing cleaner, more fuel efficient cars for years. At this point, we're beyond that. We need to get serious about cars that don't use gas at all. If the whole domestic auto industry is all but asking to be taken into federal receivership, that tells me that the people running the federal government now have quite a lot of leverage.

"I don't pretend to know the mechanics or precise solutions. But these are times that call for boldness — and more than just boldness, which gets said a lot — but creativity to rises to the challenge of the moment."

Think the collapse of the American auto industry would be a regional problem? Think again says a New York Times editorial:

"Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican of Alabama, is wrong when he says that the troubles of the Big Three are 'not a national problem.' The Detroit companies support nearly 250,000 workers and more than a million retirees and dependents, as well as millions of workers at part makers and dealerships. A messy bankruptcy filing by any of the big car companies, in the midst of this recession, would likely cost the government and the economy more than trying to keep them afloat."

But any bailout should come with conditions:

"This goes beyond firing top management, forbidding the payment of dividends to stockholders and putting limits on executive pay — all necessary steps. The government should insist on a complete restructuring of any company it pours billions of public funds into."

Detroit's Turn?

A New York Times editorial endorses a government bailout of the big three automakers — even though there's a good chance they might eventually go out of business anyway — because the country can't handle another economic disaster at the moment. And who knows, they just might survive.

But there should be some conditions on the bailout:

"For starters, Cerberus has to open up Chrysler’s books and the rest of its finances to government inspection to make sure taxpayer money isn’t just funneled elsewhere in the opaque private equity firm. Ford and General Motors don’t pay dividends these days. We don’t know if Chrysler does. They should all be barred from paying dividends until they repay any taxpayer money they get.

"The money should also come with limits on executive pay and golden parachutes. The top executives of the car companies should be required to step down; taxpayer money should not be used to underwrite proven managerial incompetence."

Unrequited Love

G.M. apparently courted Ford without luck before turning to Chrysler.

Together at last

When you're desperate, sometimes other desperate people seem very appealing. Same goes for automakers; Ford and G.M. may join forces to create engines and other powertrain technologies, according to anonymous sources at The Detroit News.

A future without G.M.?

Bill Vlasic of The New York Times asks the obvious question: Will Ford and G.M. survive?

"Neither company appears in immediate danger of failure. But analysts say Detroit is in a race against time.

“Things are pretty bad, and the river is getting deeper, faster and wider,” said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. “The question is, can they get to other side before the cash runs out?”

American automakers have decided — critics would say, belatedly — to shift production from trucks and sport utility vehicles to smaller, more gas-efficient cars, including hybrids. But it takes time to switch equipment for production. And it is unclear whether the automakers have sufficient cash to remain solvent until their new vehicle lines are ready for customers."

June swoon

Nick Bunkley of The New York Times reports on the dismal June auto sales figures:

"Sales fell 28 percent at the Ford Motor Company, 21.4 percent at the Toyota Motor Company and 18.2 percent at General Motors in June, the worst month yet in a miserable year for the automobile industry."

Expensive ride

Forget the sticker price, what's the true cost of owning a behemoth like the Ford F-250? According to The New York Times, if you keep it five years, drive it about 15,000 miles a year, and gas stays at around $4 a gallon, it's $100,000. The gas alone would set you back $30,000.

Boone's Farm Blues

Flint has a grand tradition of underage drinking. Procuring alcohol and consuming it when you are under the age of 21 (or 18 when I was growing up) is something of an art form in the birthplace of General Motors.

Now that I’ve reached the age when a couple drinks leaves me feeling groggy the next morning, I’ve started wondering if I really drank as much in high school as I seem to think I did.

I clearly remember going to Brown Street party store with my friends Mark and Steve, who lived on Crescent Drive. Steve’s dad owned a Checker, just like the old cabs, except this one was direct from the factory, so it was a tasteful dark color instead of yellow. Not the most inconspicuous car for a night of illegal boozing, but at least it was built for safety. It was like tooling around Flint in a well-appointed tank/limo with The English Beat on the stereo. To this day I associate the song “Mirror in the Bathroom” with Steve’s car.



I trust my memory of the Checker, but I’m having my doubts about the volume and variety of alcohol we’d drink before heading into the Our Lady of Lebanon dances. Did we really finish off a bottle of Boone’s Farm wine each in about 20 minutes? I don’t think I could hold down that much water now, let alone the sickeningly sweet $2 swill courtesy of Ernest and Julio Gallo.

(Let’s not even talk about the other horrible things I drank in high school. Okay, okay, but just one example: Apple cider and rum, followed by a half bottle of cheap champagne. I started throwing up in Alena Birnie’s bathroom, and finished barfing in a snowbank near Bassett Park.)

I put a call into Mark on his lunch hour at Ford, convinced he’d say that all three of us shared a single bottle. Nope. He confirmed that it was one bottle each.

“It was easier to drink than beer,” Mark explained, revealing why he became an accountant for an automaker and not a sommelier.

He pointed out that I might be thinking of the time we couldn’t get Boone’s Farm so we bought a single massive jug of wine — one of those bottles with the little glass rings near the top for easier swigging — and took turns finishing it off.

“That night we technically shared one bottle of wine,” he added.

This trip down memory lane got me interested in figuring out just what Boone’s Farm really is. We all refer to it as “wine” but that doesn’t seem accurate. The Gallo Wine website calls it a “fruit flavored beverage.” Boonesfarm.net, which jokingly — I hope — claims to be “dedicated to the best selection of drinks in the world,” describes it as a “flavored…wine product produced in the American state of California.” But in a testament to the high quality of Boone’s Farm, the site adds: “In some U.S. states, such as Minnesota and Utah, some Boone's Farm products are labeled as malt beverages and not as flavored apple/citrus wine products, as state liquor laws prohibit the sale of wine in grocery and convenience stores.”

Why don’t I settle this once and for all and call it a “flavor enhanced wine-like malt beverage.” That has a nice ring to it.

One thing Boone’s farm doesn’t have is a lot of alcohol. It's "only" in the 8-10 percent range, which is why it gets dissed on a few websites dedicated to, well, booze with high alcohol content: “This sugary swill is more of an underage drinker's economy wine than a bum wine,” the connoisseurs at bumwine.com opine. “You won't find empty Boone's bottles in any rail yard or heating vent, but you will find it in the local bowling alley parking lot or make-out spot.”

Regardless of its alcohol content, Boone's farm is responsible for a lot of happy memories and horrible morning afters. That might be why it inspired Emily Dunbar to write a song about it, which you can listen to here. But I’ll provide the lyrics just in case:

Painted eyes, ruby lips
Press-on nails on her fingertips
She wears her hair down
Like a Clairol Crown

An entourage at her command
A string of beaus, no wedding band
If she looks your way
Hey, you’re kind for the day

She says, “Hey, shut up and kiss me”
If she thinks you’re looking fine
She says, “Hey get me a drink, dear”
What’s she drinking?
Boone’s Farm Wine

A lipstick stain on her cigarette
T-top down on the Corvette
Well, it’s Friday night
She’s feeling alright
She meets her friends just south of town
They turn the music up and watch the sun go down
They get fired up
With their plastic cups

She says, “Hey, kick off your shoes girls
“Cheers to yours and here’s to mine
“Let’s have another round girls”
A round of what?
Boone’s Farm Wine

She wears her heels high and her skirts short
She lives at the East Line Trailer Court
Baby blue with the screen porch
And the bamboo tiki torch

She works the video counter at the IGA
Nothing glamorous but she gets paid
Rent nine get one free
New release DVDs

Hey, hey when her shift is over
Out the door she goes flying
With just one stop at the liquor counter
What’s she buying?
Boone’s Farm Wine

Strawberry Hill, Mountain Creek
Wild Island, Wild Raspberry
Two dollars, ninety-nine cents
For a liter at five percent

It tastes so sweet like Kool-Aid
Put it on ice and you got it made
It’s fizzy and it’s pink
It’s a girls’ drink

You can keep your Pabst Blue Ribbon
You can keep tequila shots
Keep your Triple Sec and So-Co
I’m not drinking unless I got
Boone’s Farm Wine

99 bottles of Boone’s on the wall
99 bottles of Boone’s
Take one down and pass it around
98 bottles of
Boone’s Farm Wine