The Action Express Coyote-Chevrolet was among the entries testing the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course Thursday to prepare for the Brickyard Grand Prix in July. Get all the latest car biz news in the Executive Briefing. -IMS photo by Chris Owens
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+ Bill Peffer, who last fall became Cadillac’s third U.S. vice president for sales in two years, has now resigned, General Motors announced. More at The Detroit News.
+ Mercedes-Benz has begun production of C-Class sedans at its Tuscaloosa, Alabama plant, where SUVs are currently assembled. More at Automotive Business Review.
+ Southfield-based Denso International America has reshuffled its top leadership with Sadahiro Usui promoted to chairman and CEO. More at Crain’s Detroit Business.
+ Formula One’s regulatory body plans to relax its scrutiny of on-track incidents in order to encourage drivers to battle more aggressively for position. More at Racer.
+ Volkswagen AG will choose its Chattanooga, Tennessee plant over a site in Mexico to build a new seven-passenger crossover, sources indicate. More at Reuters.
+ The TUDOR United SportsCar test of the new road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a big success, the series reports. More at National Speed Sport News.
+ The United States Postal Service has unveiled a pair of new Forever stamps honoring the 1932 Ford hot rod roadster. More at Hemmings Daily.
+ Two U.S. senators, Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), have launched an effort to increase the federal gasoline tax for the first time since 1993. More at The Hill.
+ A General Motors employee has detailed how the company allegedly silenced and stifled safety concerns among workers. More at Bloomberg Businessweek.
For the previous Executive Briefing from June 16, click here.
I’m in favor of raising the gas tax but they absolutely must allocate all of the income to roadways. These funds are too often diverted to cover shortfalls in other areas and the highway infrastructure is suffering greatly. I see that they propose using it to invest in rail as well and I disagree with that use.
With all of Congress’ ruckus over the GM recalls they’re neglecting that they’re responsible for an equal number of deaths because of bad highway maintenance and untold repairs to vehicles that directly impact their constituents. Gasoline and road use taxes are spread thin over a wide variety of non-transportation concerns.
Excellent points.
Andy,
I wouldn’t hold my breath hoping that the government will use the money for what it is actually INTENDED for. In my mind they are like a 16 year old with money; I want that, and that,and that,and that….. I have more money coming? Well give me that and that,and that too.
I always say that there are as many good government officials as there are good cops. It’s just that the one you always end up with is a jerk.
99% of government officials give the rest a bad name.
And for the record; I’m not some anti government nut. I do however pay fairly close attention to a lot of the shenanigans that go on. It seems endemic to the system as it crosses party lines. Not sure how, or even if it’s possible, to effect any change at this point. Seems usually the “new guy” always turns into “that worthless SOB” in a fairly short period of time.
OK, enough about politics, how about the news at the VW plant? Oh crap, gotta deal with the UAW issue.
Ummmm, cool hot rod stamps from the post office?
Reading the GM article really explains a lot. They let profits overcome their better sense, and one mistake led to another, with fatal results. GM turned out some very good vehicles in times past, but somewhere in the late 70’s, early 80’s time period they began to let a lot of things go and their vehicles {and owners} suffered. I have heard that the Vega was rusting as it left the assembley line. Poor quality, short lived vehicles were the norm, instead of occasionally. Last two vehicles I bought new were GM, a 86 and a 87 Pontiac, and neither were any good. Last two GM’s I owned until recently were two S 10 pickups, and I couldn’t keep an engine in either one. I switched to Fords, and never looked back. I do own one GM car now, a 86 Corvette, but it’s not a daily driver, just a weekend car. Even it is full of cheap plastic and subpar engineering, and it was supposed to be their flagship car!
My daily drivers are both Ford’s with over 175,000 miles on them, still going strong!
Overall, GM is as good as Ford. The competition is too close for one to get far ahead. Ford seems better managed, and I think it would have been beneficial if GM had kept the divisions separate and let them battle each other as they used to.
Few cars from 1975 to 1990 could be recommended. If it was reliable it was dull as a butter knife, and there were still many rust problems.
I think the initial danger in the GM ignition key deaths was relatively small and the people driving them were unaware of how to actually operate an automobile instead of pointing it where they wanted to go. But I can’t fault a 16 year old for their inexperience. Most people are ill-equipped to pilot two tons of metal down the road and it’s a shame that someone couldn’t create a popular video game that would expose folks to various conditions and situations.
Annoying as it was, the worn out and unreliable jalopies that I learned on taught me how to deal with many different problems on the road. Things like the rubber joint breaking that connected the two halves of the steering column or blowing a brake line in a car with a single reservoir master cylinder.
The Toyota unintended acceleration case seemed like another example of this problem. Despite my love of driving, I’m fully in favor of self-driving cars. Many just don’t see driving as a fully-involved process anymore.