Trading hands at $583,000, this 1967 Corvette big-block coupe was among the top 10 sellers at the 2018 Mecum Kissimee auction. Get all the latest auto industry news in the Executive Briefing.
Today’s Headlines:
+ Ford Motor Company presented a disappointing financial forecast for 2018 and 2019 with projections well below analysts’ expectations, and predicted significant cost restructuring. More at Reuters.
+ Hyundai Motor Group has pledged to the South Korean government that the company will hire 45,000 new workers and invest $22 billion over the next five years. More at The Fiscal Times.
+ Cadillac will add a larger three-row crossover to its model lineup in spring 2019, says Johan de Nysschen, president of the General Motors luxury brand. More at the Detroit Free Press.
+ After 52 years, Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey, has suddenly discontinued all drag racing operations, including the annual NHRA Summernationals. More at USA Today.
+ Easter egg clues planted by the automaker suggest that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will offer the Ram Rebel pickup with the 707-horsepower Hellcat supercharged V8. More at Motor Trend.
+ Eric Prill, SCCA executive and this year’s Runoffs champion in F Production, has received the 2017 Mark Donohue Award for “spirit and performance behind the wheel.” More at Hemmings Daily.
+ PSA Group CEO Carlos Tavares will meet with UK unions and government officials to discuss excessive operating costs at the company’s Vauxhall plant in Ellesmere Port. More at Automotive News Europe.
+ Mercedes-Benz will phase out its V6 engines in favor of inline sixes that can be built on the same production lines as the company’s inline four-cylinder units. More at Autoblog.
+ The 2018 edition of the annual Mecum Auctions Kissimmee, Florida sale featured a 73 percent sell-through rate on more than 3,000 vehicles and total sales of $96 million. More at Classic Cars.com. Journal.
+ Web service provider Go Daddy will sponsor Danica Patrick’s farewell drives at the 2018 Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500, though the teams have not been announced. More at Motorsport.com.
Review the previous Executive Briefing from January 15 here.
Photo courtesy of Mecum Auctions.
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> Cadillac will add a larger three-row crossover
Trucks should go to GMC. Cadillac lost its way back in the Eighties and it appears they will never be relevant again. Johan de Nysschen makes Sergio look intelligent.
Crossovers are cars, not trucks. Porsche, Maserati, Bentley Ferrari, et al make crossovers. If a carmaker does not offer a crossover these days, it is not in the game.
GM is a carmaker. GMC is a division. Put the truck there. All the money ends up in the same pot. The Cadillac of old wasn’t in “the game”. Neither were the other brands you mentioned. They stood above the hoi polloi. Their selling point was to prospective buyers was that they wouldn’t be driving what everyone else drove.
The owners of Ferrari, Porsche, Bentley, Maserati et al have pissed on their legacy and obliterated what defined their brand. They have taken away a part of their mystique and in doing so, helped to destroy their own industry by turning automobiles from aspirations to appliances.
Hey, how about we make a Corvette sedan? Very popular bodystyle. Wouldn’t want to miss out. We’ve already done a four door Charger and Cougar wagon; what’s to lose?
Wouldn’t it be nice if Cadillac named their cars something interesting and evocative of past glories? Coupe de Ville, Eldorado, Biarritz, etc. The current Cadillac names are meaningless jumbles – XT5, CT6, or whatever they are. They certainly are not memorable. Sad, really.