A local committee in Shipshewana, Indiana is working to save Hostetler’s Hudson Auto Museum, an exceptional Hudson collection assembled by the late Eldon Hostetler. Get all the latest auto industry news in the Executive Briefing.
Today’s headlines:
+ Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor Co. seeks to buy the Jeep brand and has reached out to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to see whether a deal can be negotiated. More at Automotive News.
+ South Korea’s new antitrust chief is calling on Hyundai to reform its complex ownership structure, which critics say favors the controlling family over the shareholders. More at Reuters.
+ Federal prosecutors have offered details of a years-long conspiracy involving Fiat Chrysler executives and labor leaders who allegedly raided a workers’ training fund. More at The Detroit News.
+ Mazda has filed patent applications for a three-stage supercharged engine that employs two exhaust-driven turbochargers and an electric supercharger. More at Motor Trend.
+ Volkswagen has confirmed its plans to produce the ID Buzz, a reborn version of its beloved microbus with a battery all-electric drivetrain, with introduction targeted for 2022. More at USA Today.
+ Penske Racing unveiled the Acura ARX-05 Daytona Prototype it will campaign in 2018, and also announced it will enter the Petit Le Mans in October with an Oreca LMP2. More at Racer.
+ German sunroof maker Webasto aims to become a leader in battery systems in time to capitalize on the coming wave of electric cars from the global automakers. More at Automotive News Europe.
+ At the Pebble Beach Concours, Mercedes-Benz unveiled the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 Cabriolet, which is described as a pure design exercise with no production intent. More at The Drive.
+ A committee in Shipshewana, Indiana is crafting a new business plan to ensure the future of Hostetler’s Hudson Auto Museum, founded by local collector Eldon Hostetler. More at Hemmings Daily.
+ The Prema Formula 2 organization would be open to running a single-car Formula 1 entry if series management were to permit customer cars, said team boss Rene Rosin. More at Motorsport.com.
+ Michigan is among at least a dozen states now competing for a new joint Toyota-Mazda assembly plant that will cost $1.6 billion and employ 4,000 workers. More at the Detroit Free Press.
Review the previous Executive Briefing from August 18 here.
Photo courtesy of Hostetler’s Hudson Auto Museum.
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A Toyota/Mazda plant in the “Motor City”? Good grief! Does anybody else have a problem with that? “Union issue diminishing”? Let’s call a spade a spade, the union followers are dying off, and the Asian’s are jumping at the chance to move in. Of course it’s a strategic location for car makers, why do they think it was home to OUR car makers for 100 years. I’m sorry, that’s a pretty gutsy move, far as I’m concerned. I’m not a union man, although I do have 1.5 years vested in the machinist’s union, it would be a nice day in the Badger, before I bought an Asian car made in Detroit. What does Mac think?
My preference is for all-American auto manufacturers in America, but the historical trend is for newer economies to displace older ones in manufacturing and smokestack industries. As we displaced Europe, Asia discplaces us. China will also begin investing heavily here. Only a matter of time.
I’ll stick to my guns about buying a foreign car from Detroit, ( or a foreign car from anywhere, really) but it doesn’t help anybody holding on to old ideas, and the bottom line, is it will give jobs to an area that sorely needs it. My hangup is, I have too much of a connection with the past. Detroit, for me, is home to some of the baddest cars ever created on the planet. Newer generations don’t have that connection, and instead of 454 Chevelles ( I only use that car as a moniker for what did come out of Detroit) they’ll turn out Toyota Persephone’s or whatever, only available in silver or black.
Great Wall wants to buy Jeep? A lemon Chinese manufacturer wants to buy a lemon American one. Will anyone be silly enough to buy one?