Monday is all about CEOs behaving badly. We learn more about the fate of the men who helped ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn escape. Tesla chief Elon Musk tries to out-cringe Tim Robinson in San Francisco. Skoda’s top dude has some bad news about China. Finally, Stellantis CEO Carlos Taveres has a lump of coal for workers in Illinois.
Welcome to The Morning Dump, bite-sized stories corralled into a single article for your morning perusal. If your morning coffee’s working a little too well, pull up a throne and have a gander at the best of the rest of yesterday.
The Human Cost Of The Failed Renault Nissan Alliance Continues To Rise
It’s well-trodden territory, but in case you’ve missed it here’s a rough rehash of what happened to former Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi CEO Carlos Ghosn:
- As a Michelin Exec, Ghosn gets a job offer to join Renault and helps bring the company to profitability.
- Ghosn gets put in charge of Nissan as part of new Nissan-Renault alliance.
- Ghosn does well, Nissan becomes profitable, and someone makes a manga about how great he is.
- Ghosn becomes Chairman/CEO of Renault and CEO of Nissan at the same time. He tries to balance Renault’s goal of taking over Nissan and Nissan’s goal of not being taken over by Renault.
- Allegedly feeling underpaid and undervalued, Ghosn (and other Nissan execs) work to get him paid through various questionable measures.
- An increasingly worried Nissan “discovers” the payment schemes (that Ghosn claims they were aware of) and starts an investigation.
- Ghosn is arrested and jailed in Japan’s notoriously terrible prison system and gets fired.
- Ghosn gets released on a pretty lax house arrest and flees the country to Lebanon in a private jet during an operation organized by an American ex-Green Beret, his son, and an old associate.
Because Lebanon does not extradite its citizens, Ghosn has been living in a mansion in Beirut (that was essentially purchased by Nissan). The two guys who helped him escape? They weren’t so lucky, and were extradited from the United States to Japan and had to serve time in prison.
I bring all this up because there’s a good feature in Bloomberg that’s worth reading: “Ghosn’s Daring Escape Cost His Extraction Crew Their Freedom.”
Former Green Beret Michael Taylor organized the affair with the help of his son Peter and another guy. Both Taylors spent real time in jail, with the father sentenced to two years and the son sentenced to 20 months. Both were released early and are now back in the United States.
The big question is: What’s Ghosn going to do? The Taylors insist that Ghosn owes them money for their legal fees and for their escape. Ghosn response to that, saying:
“I’m glad that it is over for them,” he said in an interview in Beirut. “The human cost has been tremendous.”
As for any additional payments to the Taylors, Ghosn declined to go into the details of any agreements. “I am not the type of person who does not honor his contract, particularly for those who have been helpful,” he said.
How much money Ghosn actually has is one of the big open questions. It’s also worth mentioning that Greg Kelly, the ex-Nissan exec in charge of keeping Ghosn from leaving the company and taking a job elsewhere, also spent more time in prison than his old boss. He was released in March.
Is Elon Musk’s Twitter Move A Liability To Tesla, Part Duex
It was just last week that I shared a report claiming Elon Musk was considering using Tesla stock as collateral for better loans to cover his Twitter purchase. The value of new loans are, of course, contingent of the value of Tesla stock, which is, to some extent, tied to how people perceive Elon Musk.
Tesla’s stock, as of the previous close, was down approximately $221 for the year, or 55%. Since purchasing Twitter, Tesla’s stock has dropped from $228 to $179. It’s been a tough year for tech stocks, with Apple down about 19% over the last year, so it’s not fair to say that Tesla’s stock has tumbled exclusively because of Twitter.
Reporting on Elon Musk is exhausting and people love to write about Elon Musk because it does numbers and I don’t want to get sucked into that game. A question we ask around here a lot is: Would we cover it if it weren’t Elon Musk? Often the answer is: No. So we don’t.
If Mary Barra had been booed off stage at a Bill Burr gig after tweeting some utterly stupid nonsense would we write about it? Yeah, probably. Without getting into all the details, there’s clear evidence that Musk was loudly jeered after being brought on stage by Dave Chapelle at an event in San Francisco. I’m not going to post the video because it’s easy to find and extremely cringe. Just walk way. Just walk away.
Elon Musk’s foray as the richest man on earth is already in peril (if you can even use that word to describe being the richest man on earth) as his Tesla stock is the biggest key to his wealth. Recently, Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas (via Yahoo! Finance) estimated that Musk’s Twitter adventure could wipe another quarter off Tesla’s value:
Tesla shares are currently in the throes of bearish sentiment momentum,” wrote the longtime Tesla bull, predicting Tesla could test his $150 bear case price target before the year is out.
[…]
Having spoken to a number of investors, Jonas believes confidence in Musk’s leadership at Tesla has been tested owing to the nonstop drama at Twitter, with both consumers and business partners potentially turning their backs on the EV industry leader amid the controversy.
I guess we’ll see. I really don’t want to talk about Tesla stocks anymore, so let’s move on to some important stuff: Skodas.
Skoda Might Pull Out Of China Because China Doesn’t Appreciate Great Cars, I Guess
I’ve got some bad news for Chinese Skoda fans — a group of people I assume exist and have just been ignoring me on Weibo for some reason. According to a profile in European automotive news site ‘Automobilewoche,’ Skoda CEO Klaus Zellmer says the Czech VW subsidiary is thinking about leaving the market:
“The competition is very intense there, so we will consider, together with our Chinese joint venture partner, how we want to proceed.”
Very intense might be an understatement. Skoda currently builds and sells vehicles there through its joint venture with SAIC. Unfortunately, foreign joint ventures haven’t been performing as well lately as domestic Chinese companies are building more competitive vehicles.
It’s not all bad news for Skoda fans in China, however, as the company may still sell cars in the country that are produced somewhere else. You know what country would appreciate Skoda? America. We already love kolaches, Pilsner Urquell, Brendan Frazer…
Stellantis Is Shutting Down Its Belvidere Plant
Workers at the manufacturing facility in Belvidere, Illinois have been making vehicles for various Chrysler entities since Lyndon Johnson was president. Everything from Dodge Monacos (Monacoes? Monégasques?) and our beloved Plymouth Neons have rolled out of the facility. More recently, the plant was used to build Jeep Cherokees.
No more.
Stellantis used Friday to dump the news that it was pulling the plug on the facility, indefinitely. From an Automotive News story we have a vague explanation as to why:
“We believe Stellantis is grossly misguided in idling this plant which has produced profits for the company since 1965,” UAW President Ray Curry said in a statement. “Not allocating new product to plants like Belvidere is unacceptable. Announcing the closure just a few weeks from the holidays is also a cruel disregard for the contributions of our members from UAW Locals 1268 and 1761. We will fight back against this announcement.”
The Flush
- The 2023 Subaru WRX Miraculously Only Costs $31,625
- The World’s Biggest Shipping Company Wants To Ban Gas-Powered Trucks
- Apple Delays The ‘Apple Car,’ Admits It Must Have Steering Wheel And Pedals
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Photos: Nissan, Tesla, Skoda, Stellantis
CEO? Morgan.
CEO of any auto company… Probably Ford.
I’d make sure we fulfill preorders first, and not bring out ANY new trims that restrict production until initial demand for a vehicle is met. Any Ford Dealership not selling their Fords at MSRP will get put at the very back of the line when it comes to getting inventory, order fulfillment, deals from Ford, etc. I’d get rid of most of Ford’s lineup of CUVs and have them focus on making cheaper commercial vehicles that people want to buy. The F-150 lightning would be available in more than one cab and bed configuration. Ford Production would not artificially limited to make a car more valuable like many Ford Performance vehicles are. I’d pull European and South America specific production because it’s losing Ford quite a lot of money annually and we can build vehicles that people in Europe and South America want to buy but without losing money by making them in the US and Mexico and exporting them according to demand.
I’d do this all for the low low price of $1 annually + free food, free work related travel, etc. I’m just sick of seeing the bureaucracy that is Ford screwing over the customers and in doing so themselves by being a bunch of cowards afraid to put their money where their mouth is. Instead they announce vehicles people want to buy and let them preorder them, then they come out with vehicles people want to buy then proceed to not make anywhere near enough of them to meet demand though they could fulfill preorders, then when production is already constrained and they CANNOT meet demand they come out with a new trim that further constrains production, then they send over half of total production to dealerships as inventory alone that the dealerships put massive markups on, of the few cars that actually are made to fulfill orders Ford dealerships are allowed to put massive markups on them AFTER they receive your order and then they can sell it from under you for even more if you refuse to pay the ransom.
I believe in many of Ford’s products, sadly I don’t believe in their dealerships or the bureaucracy that is Ford.
I find that I agree with everything you just said. Thank you.
I appreciate you saying that, at times I feel like I’m the only one seeing this, and even with Jim Farley at the helm it seems like nothing has changed for the better.
I’m genuinely worried that Ford has become “to big to fail” and in doing so they’ll stagnate like all large bureaucracies do and eventually die in their own filth, Ford will probably get bailed out at least once before they would go under but I hope it doesn’t come to that.
What company would I want to CEO?
My heart says one of my automotive loves like Citroen, Alfa Romeo, Lancia or Tatra just so I can bring cars to market that properly respect their heritage.
However, my head says Toyota. Let’s face it they make very reliable but generally boring and/or ugly cars with a few standouts like the Land Cruisers and the very newest Prius and some wonderful JDM weirdness.
I would change that.
1. Make the RAV4 and Corolla Cross not look like an angry sucker fish.
2. Small lifestyle pickup for global release.
3. Modernize the Tacoma
4. Bring the Hilux to North America as a cheap work truck.
5. Build a cheaper version of the 4Runner or Fortuner.
6. Make all North America and European models Hybrids as the standard engine.
7. Make more cars that offer larger cargo capacity without the need to buy a massive SUV…. Oh yes something that used to be called a “Station Wagon”
Wouldn’t the Hilux cannibalize Tacoma sales? I see plenty of Tacoma’s as fleet vehicles. I’m all about 6 and 7. I saw an Corolla wagon and I liked it a lot. The more cars they produce that are hybrids, the lowers the costs will become over time. I’m all for this. I would possibly bring production or assembly of the 4Runner or Fortuner to Mexico and take advantage of their labors costs.
I want to be a CEO of an automotive company like I want to be a lead tester at the new lubeless catheter company.
re: Ghosn
Remember when Leona Helmsley said, “Only the little people pay taxes?”
Well, evidently the corollary is, “Only the little people serve real time.”
The Ghosn situation is one of the craziest international news stories over the last several years. The dude is a real life Bond villain. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think he’s a good or innocent guy or anything…but I will say that based on what I’ve read it seems like pretty much everyone who was involved was acting in less-than-kosher ways. I doubt we’ll ever know the whole truth so I won’t waste my time speculating as to what really went down, but regardless…it was just a wild situation and a perfect example of reality being stranger than fiction.
Mr. FrEe SpEeCh AbSoLuTiSt has been having every clip of him being booed removed from Twitter. What a pathetic man baby…and you know it has to hurt his ego when he’s laid into by a crowd who’s there to listen to a wealthy as shit complete jagoff of a comedian who’s on an anti-wokeness crusade. Until he makes his inevitable appearance at a Trump rally that’s about as receptive of an audience as he’s going to get. Inject the Schadenfreude directly into my veinssssss!
Y’all, if I didn’t know any better I’d think that the sort of people who rise to the CEO and/or top 1% of earning level aren’t usually the most wholesome characters…and I might even go so far as to say that there’s quite a bit of luck involved and that it isn’t necessarily related to intelligence or work ethic. Crazy stuff, I know.
Anyway in this entirely fictional scenario make me the CEO of Porsche. I absolutely adore their cars and history…not to mention they’re in a market position that’s absolutely bullet proof. No one NEEDS a Porsche, but everyone wants one. They were an aspirational car 50 years ago, they’re an aspirational car now, and they’ll still be aspirational cars in 2050. Hell, people will line up to pay $140,000 for a Porsche 911 that has a base price of around $100,000 when all they’ve added to it is fancy paint, some carbon fiber trim bits, some cool writing on the side in that iconic Porsche font, and carbon ceramic brakes that will never once see track duty.
I’m an idiot but I don’t think even I could steer Porsche into an iceberg. Other than their prices, which are astronomical, I don’t think there’s a better enthusiast car manufacturer out there. They literally tick every box other than affordability…and they don’t care, because they don’t need to make affordable cars.
I’m… just not going to address pedophile Zelon other than to say you should watch the video to understand just what a thin-skinned manchild Space Karen really is.
“The competition is very intense there, so we will consider, together with our Chinese joint venture partner, how we want to proceed.”
Translation: Winnie the Pooh has put his entire arm on the scales, and is aggressively chasing foreign partners out – after ensuring they soak up all the knowledge they can, and steal all the valuable IP. China has always, always been extremely vocal about their displeasure with being dependent on foreign car companies. Going back decades. And also extremely blatant in their IP theft. “That’s not a VW New Beetle, it’s a Hong Kua Spirited Rooster!”
Basically, manufacturers that were stupid enough to allow themselves to become dependent on a country and a government that very vocally didn’t want them, and outright required they give controlling stakes to a domestic partner company just to exist? They’re about to get kicked in the crotch by the steel-toed jackboot of Jinping.
Ultimately, it’s going to be a race to liquidate/dissolve these sham partnerships before all the R&D costs on China-only models and rampant IP theft start making very big holes in the balance sheet thanks to sales plummeting. Any manufacturer that isn’t planning for the risk of all their Chinese assets evaporating literally overnight by pen-stroke is only fooling themselves.
Stellantis used Friday to dump the news that it was pulling the plug on the facility, indefinitely. From an Automotive News story we have a vague explanation as to why:
“Not allocating new product to plants like Belvidere is unacceptable. Announcing the closure just a few weeks from the holidays is also a cruel disregard for the contributions of our members from UAW Locals 1268 and 1761.”
UAW is both right and wrong. This was a truly classless and insulting move on the part of FCAtlantis with regards to the timing. It’s shitty, but show me a corporate that isn’t shitty, and I’ll show you liars or a cult. That’s just how it is.
Where they’re wrong is the assertion that “[n]ot allocating new product” is unacceptable or somehow unfair. Yes, profits since 1965 is great. Except Belvidere was built in the 1960’s, and hasn’t been ‘generating profits.’ Cherokees are rotting on lots with thousands off the sticker price right now. Sales did not nosedive because of shortages, they nosedived because the market no longer wanted them. Down over 70% YoY because customers are moving to other models and other cars.
Not only that, but there’s no claiming they didn’t KNOW it was coming. Belvidere has been idled multiple times not for want of parts, but for want of demand. They’ve had jobs cut there repeatedly for the same reasons. And it’s an extremely old plant that is decades behind in every regard. They basically are at the point where to build anything new, it would be a multi-year multi-billion dollar project.
That’s not a commitment anybody is making in the current economic climate. Forget the conditions specific to Belvidere. They didn’t have enough demand to keep the plant busy as it was. FCAtlantis sure as shit is not taking on debt with fed rates at 4%+ and expected to keep going up. The only logical thing to do for even an ethical business that reinvests every penny of profit, is to close the plant.
“If you could be CEO of any automotive company in the world, what would it be?”
FCAtlantis. No, I’m serious.
The fact is, being the hands-on CEO of FCAtlantis is the only opportunity you will get to see and sell to quite literally close to every automotive and truck segment there is. They are the only ones who are still selling things like sedans and minivans, and they have the brand and organizational structure to support catering to every flavor of car buyer there is.
Exotic Italian? Fiat, Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Maserati. Muscle car? Dodge and Vauxhaull. Commercial? Ram and Fiat Professional. Family hauler? Jeep, Chrysler, Peugeot. Executive sedan? Citroen, Chrysler, Opel, Vauxhall. Spicy sedan? Dodge, DS, Peugeot, Opel, Vauxhall. Off-roader? Jeep and Ram. City car? Fiat and Lancia.
There’s no other automotive company with half as much breadth as FCAtlantis. The only segment they aren’t in is Kei cars. (But I expect Mitsubishi’s going to be looking for a new friend very soon.)
Dang, I wanted Stellatlantis just so I could finally figure out a way to get Citroens back to America. (Wait were they ever here?). Then I would resurrect the original DS and since it was the rival of most living rooms for comfort, I would electrify it so it made almost no noise. Then Since I am the CEO I would demand that they build me a décapotable version. (convertible for you plebeians who are not CEOs). TaDa.
Got any of that sweet pneumatic suspension? 😮
CEO? GM sure sounds fun. Telling the engineers to run stuff past accounting and then making inexplicable design changes can’t be that hard. Well, keeping the Sierra and Silverado separate but yet still badge engineered may be a bit time consuming.
Maybe ignore Musk and deprive him of the oxygen of publicity he so desires.
I’d be CEO at Koenigsegg. I’d have enough money and freedom and engineering staff to do whatever I need to do to build hybrid supercars without technical limitations. Plenty of customers are paying whatever they ask for what they produce. They have a great segment of the ultra-performance market locked up.
Why be CEO anywhere else?
The biggest risks I’d face would be the temptation to work my way either into ultra-luxury, or downmarket.
I think that Elon may be doing what a lot of “first movers” do – taking the money from his original business (yeah, yeah, yeah – eBay, I know) and transitioning out as competitors enter the market. Every car maker is doing EV’s now, and as the market becomes saturated, Tesla profits are going to start to fade – it’s a natural law. Musk has used Tesla’s current value as a company to buy an established brand in a different market. I would forecast him actually leaving/selling Tesla within the next few years; he will (should) do it while although past its peak Tesla still has good market share. Somebody (probably not in the Car Industry now) out there will see Tesla as an opportunity to enter the EV market with a “Turn Key” operation; they’ll get a good price on an established brand but enter a crowded market.
On a personal level, Elon is a bit tired of Tesla I think. He’s an ideas and start-up guy, not an administrator or operator. Now that SpaceX is maturing he doesn’t seem to spend a lot of time there, for example. He is having fun with his new toy, Twitter, where he can fiddle around and change things. I would not expect him to stay with Twitter too long either- as soon as things start working routinely, he’ll go to some new field.
Perhaps he could do us all a favor and sink all of his money into a trip to Mars. One way. He could tweet all day and we wouldn’t see for at least a few hour later.
Lotus. The CEO of Lotus. I want them to go back to making batshit crazy, light, fast, nimble stuff that makes people write articles, film videos, and pee their pants.
It’s a dream within a dream, since the times have passed that stuff by, but I want and need that in the world I live in.
Some of it would be pretty (like elan), some would be bizarre (like Europa), some would be purposeful (like super7). None would be utilitarian. None would get you there every time. But when and if you did arrive, you’d have bugs in your teeth, your hair would be a mess, your adrenal glands would be working overtime, your left calf would be exhausted, your palms would be sweaty, and you would have an in-wipe-able grin on your face.
Should you have chosen to have a passenger, they would require mental, and possibly physical, therapy. They would have some form of Stockholm syndrome when they think about you and your ride.
The options list when speccing your car would have the most aggressive names for even the simplest features. And not Tesla-style aggressive names. No sir. Want a radio? It would be the Eardrum Assassinator Package. I’ll chrome your wheels if you choose the Reflections of the Infinite Abyss Wheel Package. Need an aero stability package so the car won’t fly off the track at 140+mph? Fluid Mechanics Induced Death Avoidance Package.
Yup, nobody is putting me in charge of anything like this 😉
Dude
COTD hands down
‘Fluid Mechanics Induced Death Avoidance Package’ That there is some fine wordsmithing
Ghosn: When are regular folks going to learn that rich people will use them up and throw them away? Kind of like those clowns at the Capitol on Jan 6. Guess that pardon didn’t happen, huh?
Belvidere: This is very bad news for the Rockford area. They were just starting to climb out of the rust-belt hole they’ve been in for 50 years. A metro this small losing an employer this big is never a good thing.
CEO? Hmmm. Ford or GM. I would love to see what the designers are cooking up for the Vette and I would rename the Mach-E to the Galaxie or Futura.
Morgan. Just because.
The really funny thing about the latest Musk incident is that the original tweet with the video was deleted along with the account that posted the tweet. “Free speech absolutism” is proceeding as expected.
I would obviously choose to be the CEO of Tesla since it seems like the job duties involve making promises that can’t be kept, building low-quality cars, and tweeting all day. Then getting huge stock options. I could manage to do that for a couple years then retire somewhere warm.
Don’t forget that you gotta put in a LOT of time being butt-hurt by any valid criticism.
You know what the solution to being butt-hurt is? A luxurious velour interior…
I’d want to be the Tesla CEO so I could do 3 things:
1. Introduce a car below the Model 3 that would basically be a Honda Fit with a Tesla powertrain
2. Introduce a van… with passenger and cargo versions
3. Introduce a velour interior option across the range
am I just dumb or is this new comment system sign up confusing? let’s see what name this comment is posted under
No, it’s us, not you: https://www.theautopian.com/announcement-were-making-site-upgrades/
Idiling a plant that makes a vehicle that is an ugly, forgotten crossover? I forget they exist until each time my neighbor drives past. I used that purchase example as a math equation for my son to show the concept of depreciation. Because prior to the pandemic, the value of those plummeted like a rock. I feel for the factory workers, but Stellantis needs to shift to vehicles that are desirable.
If they are only shifting production to Mexico, then I suppose the UAW folks in Illinois have a fair beef with Stellantis. If they are just shutting down production of the Cherokee entirely, then I am actually happy about it, because I think it generally sucks, and I also hate them using that particular name for a vehicle. So, all in all, meh…
I’d wanna be CEO of General Motors. I feel like I’d fit into the role well, because I’m excellent at making really, really stupid decisions and shooting myself in the foot
… damn, that is a good point.
CEO of GM, you don’t have to do anything. And you clearly don’t have to give a shit about the consequences of what you do either.
Bristol
If I could be the CEO of any Automotive company it would be… Ferrari. That job seems like it’s fucking easy, I know it’s not, but damn. Give me the keys to Maranello, and I will get the right people to lead Ferrari back to an F1 world championship. The product line I have plans for as well. Basically the same but with improvements, starting with getting rid of the touch pads on the steering wheels and some other stuff.
Bring back the Dino and the 250 California and you have my vote!
You just need to make an offer that Newey, Horner, and Verstappen couldn’t refuse.
Right?! If the balance sheet is looking a little thin, just release a special edition limited to 100 cars and charge a fortune for it.
The one think I would do if I was CEO of Ferrari is to release a N/A midengine car (8 or 12 cylinders) with a manual transmission. I am sure that there is a market for it.
CNBC reported the Jeep Chrokee plant closure as being a cost cutting method to redirect money needed for EV investments. True? No Idea, but seem like following suit with Ford at least in EV Layoff strategy.
“If you could be CEO of any automotive company in the world, what would it be?” I’m tempted to say Tesla, since I’d apparently also have time to be CEO of several other companies, but I really don’t think that is unique to that company.
I don’t particularly want to be CEO, so my best bet is a struggling company likely to give me the golden parachute to bring in someone willing to clean house.
If the UAW loves that plant so much, maybe they should learn to spell “Belvedere”.
Wel. Egg on my face. Apparently UAW got it right! I feel like Bob Uecker right now.
Thing is, that IS how it’s spelled. Hardigree got this one wrong
Huh, I got that wrong! The car is the Belvedere, but the plant is Belvidere.
Happens to the best of us, lol
But what about Christopher Hewett?!