Quotables from notables
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"If you're McDonald's, put the damn arches up."
Mike Bowsher, co-chairman of the Buick-GMC National Dealer Council, on whether dealers should support General Motors' store renovation program
"If a bunch of rocket scientists couldn't find anything wrong with our cars, I'm not too worried about plaintiff lawyers."
Chris Reynolds, Toyota's chief North American legal officer, on unintended-acceleration lawsuits filed against the company
"That moment of realizing that you're a grown-up — for my generation, that was when you got your driver's license or car. For young people now, that moment comes when you get your first cell phone."
Tony Dudzik of Frontier Group, a California think tank that has studied why U.S. residents aged 16 to 34 drive less than their elders did at the same age
"I've been crucified as CEO of two companies. I would not wish on anybody to go through what I've gone through in terms of personal life."
Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault and Nissan
"I am a flesh-and-blood person. Some of the things written about the company and myself are without sufficient understanding and are speculative. Others are tantamount to character assassination, and these have been quite honestly heartbreaking."
Toyota President Akio Toyoda at the annual shareholders meeting
"One hundred percent of accidents are caused by sighted drivers."
Mark Riccobono, a blind man who circled Daytona International Speedway in a demonstration of a Ford Escape fitted with cameras and sensors, suggesting that the blind someday could become drivers
"There are few industries with more BS than the battery industry."
Elon Musk, CEO of EV maker Tesla Motors
"You don't just pick the winners and losers -- you pick the losers."
Republican candidate Mitt Romney during a presidential debate, discussing tax incentives given during President Obama's time in office to green-energy companies such as Fisker, Tesla, Solyndra and Ener1
"Osama Bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive."
Vice President Joe Biden
“I have great respect for what [Germany] has done with the automobile, but they sell hermetic, very effective stoves and refrigerators, always very similar one to the other. They don’t take risks very much or very often. The Italian aesthetic remains unique in that sense. It presents itself in products that flow from the heart.”
Lapo Elkann, manager of brand promotion at Fiat Automobiles and grandson of Gianni Agnelli, the late Fiat chairman
