Philip Nussel

PHILIP NUSSEL

Why GM should go all out with hot spots

1:43 pm U.S. ET | March 11, 2013
If General Motors wants to take the industry lead in installing Internet hot spots in its vehicles in coming years, then it should go all out. GM needs to make the cable industry uncomfortable by making these hot spots robust enough to become householdwide connections while the vehicles are parked in a garage.... Read More »

 

PHILIP NUSSEL

How Romney could attack Obama's auto bailout

12:49 pm U.S. ET | Oct. 17, 2012
Most voters know that Republican presidential challenger and Michigan native Mitt Romney is a businessman with a lifetime connection to the auto industry. So one must wonder why Romney's attacks on President Obama's auto bailout have been filled with inaccuracies when he still has plenty of more credible ammunition to work with.... Read More »

 

PHILIP NUSSEL

The Bailout Truth Squad throws a flag

3:20 pm U.S. ET | Sept. 13, 2012
In our relentless effort to protect the truth during an election year, the Auto Bailout Truth Squad has convened again this week. Today we look at a story from Bloomberg on Wednesday that stemmed from a TV interview conducted with Harvey Golub, the former chairman of the bailed-out financial and insurance giant AIG.... Read More »

 

PHILIP NUSSEL

Why GM can't rid itself of 'Government Motors'

4:16 pm U.S. ET | Aug. 24, 2012
Ever since the Bush and Obama administrations bailed out General Motors in 2008 and 2009, the automaker has tried to shed the insidious moniker "Government Motors." It hasn't been easy. Take the timing of a press release such as the one GM put out Thursday. It's natural grist for the conspiracy mill.... Read More »

 

PHILIP NUSSEL

Why the governors’ plan is good for taxpayers, automakers

11:43 am U.S. ET | Aug. 9, 2012
When the leaders of Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and Tennessee appeared at the 2012 Management Briefing Seminars here on Wednesday to say that they were forming the bi-partisan National Governors Auto Caucus, there was reason to hope this might be something more than political grandstanding.... Read More »

 

PHILIP NUSSEL

Can Lego be the answer for Generation N?

12:01 am U.S. ET | July 12, 2012
As automakers yearn to return to the days of 16 million-plus annual vehicle sales, one of the annoying realities they face is convincing the next generation to drive in the first place. A recent report by industry consulting firm AlixPartners labeled this young generation of drivers Generation N, as in “neutral about driving.” So how can the industry combat this generational ambivalence to driving? Lego.... Read More »

 

PHILIP NUSSEL

The most powerful force in the auto industry? Analysts' expectations

3:49 pm U.S. ET | May 10, 2012
Never mind the influence of CEOs, political leaders, military generals, the head of the Federal Reserve or the top economists in the academic world. If you read the financial media like I do for a living, you can logically conclude that the most powerful and important people in the world are Wall Street analysts.... Read More »

 

PHILIP NUSSEL

How GM's industrial accident became an election year story

2:59 pm U.S. ET | April 11, 2012
Almost as soon as reports surfaced today about an explosion at GM's battery-testing lab, there was breathless discussion in the media of this being another alleged problem for the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid.... Read More »

 

PHILIP NUSSEL

Why Mitt Romney's auto bailout position doesn't play in Michigan

2:57 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 17, 2012
The Feb. 28 Michigan Republican primary election has devolved horribly into a referendum on whether the Bush and Obama administrations did the right thing by bailing out the auto industry in late 2008 and 2009.... Read More »

 

PHILIP NUSSEL

Suddenly, GOP filled with regulatory watchdogs

3:02 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 25, 2012
Republicans for decades have been the nation's self-appointed guardians against big government. They complain about red tape, taxation and government interference in the private sector. They attack federal regulatory bureaucracies with a passion.... Read More »

 

PHILIP NUSSEL

Why auto electronics remain a concern after the Toyota recalls

3:23 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 18, 2012
A National Academy of Sciences panel today said it's impossible to say for sure if electronics or software problems played a role in Toyota Motor Corp.'s unintended acceleration problems that led to recalls of some 8 million vehicles in 2009 and 2010. But the panel recommended the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration beef up how it monitors electronics issues in vehicles. Huh?... Read More »

 

PHILIP NUSSEL

Romney, GOP alienate the U.S. auto industry, Midwest states

4:10 pm U.S. ET | Nov. 10, 2011
I checked this morning to make sure it exists, but there actually is a well-organized group called Republicans for Obama that was launched in 2006, according to its Web site. The group should set up shop in Michigan or someplace in the Midwest where there is a General Motors or Chrysler operation.... Read More »

 

PHILIP NUSSEL

Supplier scandal is lawyers' dream (but automakers don't need help)

12:01 am U.S. ET | Oct. 31, 2011
If you're an auto industry litigator, especially in the Detroit area, congratulations on your good fortune in securing perhaps years of top-billing legal work. As Crain's Detroit Business has reported, the $29 billion-a-year wire harness segment of the supply chain has been the subject of a comprehensive global price-fixing probe. Two Furukawa Electric Co.... Read More »

 

PHILIP NUSSEL

Supplier price-fixing probes will spark years of litigation

2:27 pm U.S. ET | Oct. 24, 2011
If you are an auto industry litigator, especially in the Detroit area, congratulations on your good fortune in securing perhaps years of top-billing legal work. The fallout from the price-fixing criminal prosecution of Furukawa Electric Co. has already spawned 10 lawsuits -- including three from dealership groups.... Read More »

 

PHILIP NUSSEL

Lear's Rossiter, an auto industry survivor

4:17 pm U.S. ET | Aug. 11, 2011
Can you name a CEO who has stayed with the same company for 40 years, participated in a leveraged buyout, tried to sell the company against the wishes of shareholders and then successfully reorganized it under Chapter 11 bankruptcy?... Read More »

 

PHILIP NUSSEL

The last four years have been an eternity at Chrysler

2:01 pm U.S. ET | Aug. 3, 2011
Life was so much different at this place on Aug. 5, 2007. I had just arrived at the CAR Management Briefing Seminars and took some editorial colleagues out for drinks on a Sunday evening at a lakeside restaurant. Then my cell phone rang.... Read More »

 

PHILIP NUSSEL

What Detroit product was Eminem driving first?

10:48 am U.S. ET | June 6, 2011
So here's the shot: Rap star Eminem is driving around the dark, gritty streets of Detroit. The beat from his hit song "Lose Yourself" is blaring in the background. Images of highway signs around Detroit appear. This guy looks baaaaaaad. Eminem is driving a bad new GMC Yukon.... Read More »

 

PHILIP NUSSEL

Obama's Chrysler 'victory lap' a sad celebration

11:27 am U.S. ET | June 3, 2011
As we mark the two-year anniversary of Chrysler's emergence from its government-sponsored bankruptcy reorganization this month, let's have the political truth squad join President Obama at the Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio, today. Is this really something to celebrate? Like this?... Read More »