Unlike other awards in the United States, the North American Car and Truck of the Year (NACTOY) is based on voting by dozens of journalists who work for many different websites and publications. So it might deserve a little more weight than the others. Or not. There have been some odd choices over the years, as the award often goes… More →
Category: Automotive Press
Automotive Press
Are affordable cars getting less media coverage?
Maybe it’s the increasingly less equal distribution of income and wealth. Maybe it’s something else. Maybe it’s not even happening. But my sense has been that cars few people can afford have been receiving an increasingly large slice of the automotive press coverage.
Auto industry insanity defined
Edmunds AutoObserver Michelle Krebs, commenting on the termination and replacement of Cadillac’s leadership, concluded, “If GM is going to change and is going to succeed, it must change people.” Paraphrasing Eistein, she added that “Doing the same thing over and over again with the same people in the same positions and expecting a different result is…insane.” Michelle Krebs is far… More →
Toyotas in “Modern Family” — unsafe?
An article in this week’s Advertising Age and Automotive News (they’re sister publications) investigates why the family in the new hit sitcom ‘Modern Family’ “still drives Toyota product.” The author found it “jarring” that the family “chatted happily while traveling in, of all things, a Toyota.” The answer: Toyota paid for product placement, the contract runs through the end of… More →
Consumer Guide ceases print publication
Back in 1983, when I first became strongly interested in cars, I saw Consumer Guide’s annual guide to car prices on a newsstand while on a family trip from Virginia to South Carolina, and bought it. There have been a number of printed car price guides over the years, but I always strongly preferred Consumer Guide’s format, which printed all… More →
Why the Ford Fusion wins awards
Motor Trend has announced that the Ford Fusion has won its Car of the Year award. The Fusion isn’t a particularly exciting car. So why the win? Probably because the Ford Fusion has become the poster child for Detroit’s ability to build a good car for the average person. It’s the car that car enthusiasts now recommend to their aunt… More →
ICOTY candidates–who’s likely to win?
Finalists have been announced for the ICOTY (International Car of the Year) award. Winners will be announced at NAIAS (the Detroit auto show) in January. A few dozen leading auto writers from various publications and websites vote, so advertising is not a factor in this one. The car finalists: 1. Chevrolet Camaro 2. Ford Taurus 3. Hyundai Genesis The truck… More →
Prius HID headlights–a threat to Toyota’s reputation?
“Prius headlamp troubles could dim Toyota brand’s reputation,” writes Jean Halliday in today’s Advertising Age and Automotive News. I’ve suggested that manufacturers pick up the cost of common problems out of warranty. That said, this story seems driven more by an agenda than by the facts. The issue: the optional HID headlights of the circa-2006 Prius are prone to turning… More →
Consumer Reports buys The Consumerist: implications of media consolidation
A few weeks ago it was rumored that Consumer’s Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, would purchase The Consumerist, a blog covering consumer issues and giving voice to consumer complaints. Now these rumors have proven accurate, and this purchase has been completed. Operating TrueDelta.com, I’ve learned quite a bit about the media. One of the most difficult lessons: journalists often won’t write… More →
Getting beyond Detroit vs. Japan
Every time Consumer Reports or J.D. Power releases the results of a reliability survey, much of the press rushes to reduce the message to a single question: are Detroit’s cars as reliable as Japanese cars? The same answers have followed in all recent years: the gap is closing, and some domestic cars now score as well as the imports, but on… More →