Brand

In today's episode of the Ford/Volvo saga, the U.S. consortium known as Crown has announced plans to submit a bid for Volvo this week that will rival that of Chinese automaker (and current preferred bidder) Geely. Crown's bid will be in the $2 billion to $2.5 billion range -- somewhat less than...Read More»

Today's the Big Day for the Chrysler Group, LLC: the day Sergio Marchionne unveils the new company's five-year recovery plan. Of course, like any CEO worth his bespoke suit, Marchionne understands the importance of being dressed to make a good first impression, so Chrysler has been given a sleek...Read More»

It's no secret that Ford Motor Company has withstood the current financial storm far better than Chrysler and General Motors. Between its refreshed reputation as a manufacturer of quality vehicles and the fact that Ford was the only Detroit automaker to dodge both bankruptcy and bailout dough, the...Read More»

Not so long ago, brand loyalty played a major role in keeping the auto industry healthy. Many of our parents bought vehicles from one particular manufacturer, and they often inherited such preferences from their own parents. Here in the U.S., brand perception was frequently rooted in national...Read More»

In the wake of the Big Three meltdown, U.S. automakers have been working hard to unload their bloated inventory of brands (or in Chrysler's case, the whole company). Unfortunately, even with the weak dollar, clinching those deals hasn't been easy: we all remember the sad collapse of Roger Penske's...Read More»

A couple of weeks ago, we reported that Crown -- a consortium of American investors led by former auto industry executives -- is making a play for Volvo. The group's bid for the brand is substantially lower than that of current front-runner Geely, but we pointed out that the Americans do have some...Read More»

The government of China may be angling hard to unseat the U.S. as the world's dominant economic power (case in point: itsstrong support of a plan to end oil trading in U.S. dollar formats), but China's homegrown companies don't have quite as much weight to throw around. As an example, look no...Read More»

General Motors came out of bankruptcy swinging, putting Bob Lutz on the front line of a full-court press junket to promote GM's new vehicles and new technology. We haven't heard much from the other restructured kid on the block, Chrysler, or its new Italian spouse; however, some interesting news is...Read More»

Brand valuation is an imprecise science, but in very basic terms, it merges the qualitative data from a company's balance sheet with the qualitative data of public perception. BusinessWeek and Interbrand have just released their list of the 100 "Best Global Brands" (PDF here), and Hyundai has done...Read More»

Bob Lutz has made his first stab at reinvigorating Buick's marketing campaign with a new tagline for the Buick LaCrosse: "The new class of world class". You might recall that shortly after Lutz was installed (post-bankruptcy) as General Motors' chairman for marketing, he dismissed the most recent...Read More»

Under the leadership of Volkswagen chairman Ferdinand Piech, Porsche may be subjected to fairly strict controls -- at least as far as the marque's lineup is concerned. Most importantly for Porsche enthusiasts, rumor has it that the company's new owner will axe the Porsche Cayenne SUV and Panamera...Read More»

General Motors may have emerged from bankruptcy relatively shiny and new, with industry favorite Bob Lutz leading its PR endeavors, but we have to admit that we're a little confused by its latest marketing move: a video touting the company's lineup and its new "Tell Fritz" feedback program. Don't...Read More»

Just when you think the auto world is ending in an onslaught of grim grey Korean econoboxes ... life gets better. And sometimes you just can't make this [stuff] up. Take last Friday's little news item from WardsAuto, for example. A Russian company that was supposed to assemble copies of a Japanese...Read More»