At $147,450, this 1961 Jaguar E-Type flat-floor roadster was the top sale at the H&H Classics Buxton, UK auction. Get all the latest auto industry news in the Executive Briefing.
Today’s Headlines:
+ The chief executives of Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi Motors will jointly lead their automaking alliance, splitting the role held by deposed chairman Carlos Ghosn. More at Automotive News Europe.
+ Top executives from German carmakers Volkswagen, BMW, and Daimler are finalizing their plans for a White House meeting on trade policy next week. More at Reuters.
+ Michael L. Cook, longtime public relations professional for Triumph and Jaguar in America and friend to the British car enthusiast community, has passed away at 85. More at Hemmings Daily.
+ Despite major upheavals in General Motors’ product lineup and production facilities, the automaker’s racing programs in NASCAR, IndyCar, and IMSA continue unchanged. More at Racer.
+ According to a study by the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) nearly 20 percent of America’s motorcycle riders are women, up from less than 10 percent a decade ago. More at USA Today.
+ Toyota North America general manager Jack Hollis says he hopes to see more Toyota models get all-wheel-drive or Toyota Racing Development (TRD) variants. More at The Drive.
+ Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV will spend $5.7 billion through 2022 for upgrades on the carmaker’s factories in Italy to manufacture in-demand SUVs and electric vehicles. More at The Detroit News.
+ The H&H Classics Buxton, United Kingdom auction generated $1.662 million (£1.3 million in total sales on 148 units and a 77 percent sell-through rate. More at Classic Cars.com Journal.
+ General Motors president Dan Ammann has been named CEO of Cruise Automation, the automaker’s autonomous vehicles unit, while founder Kyle Vogt remains as president. More at CNet.
+ The television audience for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series continues to shrink, with 3.3 million average viewers per race in 2018 compared to 4.1 million the previous year. More at Jayski.
Review the previous Executive Briefing from November 26 here.
Photo courtesy of H&H Classics.
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That’s a very interesting statistic about the motorcycle industry. They should grab onto that as an area of growth in an otherwise flat or shrinking market.
So despite all the cutbacks the racing programs will continue at GM. What does that tell us? That the programs aren’t as costly as we think?
I think it tells us that GM has contractual obligations that have to run their course before they can pull out of various series.
Indycar would be badly hurt as a one-engine series but survived many years with essentially just Offenhausers. It remains to be seen whether Honda is seeking competition to push their engineers.
NASCAR doesn’t fare much better with two manufacturers, especially as many have not accepted Toyota. Also, NASCAR already has a host of problems dragging it down and doesn’t need more. But Chevrolet hasn’t been in the Final Four for at least two years. They didn’t have any cars in the Final Sixteen this year. They obviously cut back before this.
Chevy proved their point in IMSA and I think very few Cadillac buyers are aware of the marque’s presence there and wouldn’t care if they knew. Sports car racing has a small but loyal following and American makes haven’t figured large in it since the days of Trans-Am and Can-Am.
Are the programs costly? That’s serious money to me, but corporations spend tens of millions on stupid things without blinking an eye. I predict that GM is out of racing in three years.