Jay Leno may soon be back in America’s living rooms with an automotive program in prime time on CNBC. Get all the latest car industry news in the Executive Briefing.
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+ Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne says he will step down in 2018 when the automaker’s five-year rebuilding plan is completed. More at Bloomberg.com.
+ Former Tonight Show star Jay Leno is reportedly close to a deal to host a primetime television show for car enthusiasts on CNBC. More at The Hollywood Reporter.
+ Share prices of Ford and General Motors slipped during the week when Wall Street analysts adjusted their price projections downward. More at the Detroit Free Press.
+ Former Ferrari technical director Roberto Fedeli has joined the BMW Group, where he is expected to head up the automaker’s M performance group. More at Motor Trend.
+ Southfield, Michigan-based Federal-Mogul has opened a new $15 million piston ring manufacturing plant in Puebla, Mexico. More at Crain’s Detroit Business.
+ Sources at the Lotus Formula One team have confirmed that the operation will switch from Renault to Mercedes engines in 2015. More at Yahoo! Sport UK.
+ New Cadillac boss Johan de Nysschen plans a blitz of new products by 2020, from a pure battery-electric vehicle to an ultra-luxury sedan. More at Reuters.
+ The Bonhams Simeone Museum auction produced nearly $4 million in total sales, a 20 percent increase over last year, with an 80% sell-through rate. More at Sports Car Digest.
+ IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe will leave Andretti Autosport to drive the no. 77 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports entry in 2015. More at National Speed Sport News.
For the previous Executive Briefing from October 6, click here.
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I’d love watching Jay’s program. He does a wonderful job with his Leno’s Garage web show and I’m sure his would be far above the car shows currently on cable.
As an enthusiast, it’s great to see the number of car related programs on television right now. Having said that, the quality level of the majority of them is just a notch above abysmal. Regardless, I still watch just about all of them. I’m excited about the potential for a very good show with Jay Leno.
Anybody that DOESN’T like Jays Garage, should have their vehicles removed from their possession. How can you not like someone that will take the rarest cars around, and actually drive them.
As I once told him, Jay Leno and I have almost exactly the same taste in cars: steam, Buicks, Duesenberg, Lambo, etc. The difference is he can afford his.
What we need is to have Letterman, Leno and Seinfeld pool their money and give us what SpeedVision originally promised. Put Bob Lutz in charge of programming and have Roger Penske buy all the commercial time for the first year.