Our best wishes for the New Year!Ever wonder why a champagne bottle looks the way it does? From Portfolio (one of our links) an informative pictorial with a full explanation...Click Here.
Photo from All Posters
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Don't forget to continue reading our blog for 2008...Click Here.
Or go to Dialogue...2008 on the navigation sidebar.
We will no longer update Dialogue...2007.
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Our best wishes for the New Year!Ever wonder why a champagne bottle looks the way it does? From Portfolio (one of our links) an informative pictorial with a full explanation...Click Here.
Photo from All Posters
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May we offer you....
Here is....
A fascinating 45 minute presentation by Chris Anderson editor of Wired, author of The Long Tail, on "Free The Past and Future of Radical Price"...Click Here.
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2007 for us was captivating, and stimulating, we are thankful for achieving most of our goals and objectives. We had memorable moments, as well as moments that were less memorable. Its all part of life and business!
We executed our strategies, developed opportunities, acted quickly, got passionate, even emotional, tried to have fun, a few times we were flat footed which is a learning process. Did we constantly come up with flawless decisions, we sure tried!
We always try to make it simple, if its not simple we try harder to make it simple.
We never forget to offer good value, and be certain that we were offering a good price.
Change, on top of more change was a constant, it was always interesting and exciting to do business. Overall the level of excitement was good.
Some days we ask ourselves why we do this? Its always a simple answer we love the car business, we love interacting with customers, we love executing new ideas. Its a passion that is challenging to translate into words. We do need to make some money to pay our expenses. Its increasingly challenging to make reasonable money to pay our bills, does it sound like you heard this before?
This blog is our way to give back, to communicate information, to share our thoughts, to exchange ideas, and best of all its free.
We did several "white papers" throughout the year relating to the automotive business, we hope that you found them informative, thought provoking, and more important that you could benefit from the knowledge.
We invite you to keep on reading and participating on our blog, the version for next year is Dialogue...2008 , if you appreciate the information please tell your friends.
The second half of 2007 has been exciting, eventful, turbulent these are times that cry out for leadership, vision, innovation...an exceptional and unique learning experience. We do hope that in your own way you have taken advantage of your experiences.
The Canadian dollar reaching parity had seismic effects on Canadian automotive retailing, on the values of cars, at Strada we expressed our opinion, and took a position regarding the pricing of vehicles it started as Wash Out on this blog and progressed as a One on One with Michael Vaughan in the Globe and Mail.
This past year we enjoyed doing business, and interacting with our customers that is a constant that never changes.
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Start with Chrysler (C, Fortune 500) going private. The money guys at Cerberus Capital who now own Detroit's Number Three automaker are turning it upside down. They brought in industry outsider, Bob Nardelli, as CEO and Nardelli is taking a fresh look at everything. Going forward, Chrysler will be eliminating models and possibly some brands, closing dealers, and laying off workers.
Nardelli's got a lot of work to do. Chrysler is expected to lose more than $1 billion in 2007. With 2008 is shaping up as an even tougher year, he's going to have keep cutting and hope that new models like the Dodge Journey crossover can stop the slide. Crosstown rivals are watching carefully because a Chrysler in distress could lead to suicidal industry-wide price-cutting.
One area where Nardelli has been particularly aggressive is in pursuing foreign partnerships. Chrysler is talking to China's Chery about building small cars, Russia's GAZ about expanding overseas production, and Japan's Nissan about a range of cooperative ventures, including a new pickup truck. Such deals are notoriously difficult to pull off - ask General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) about its now-defunct alliances with Isuzu, Suzuki, Fuji, and Fiat. But if Chrysler succeeds, it could create a new model of cross-national alliances.
Meanwhile, speculation is building about Cerberus' exit strategy from Chrysler, as well as its timing. Will it try to merge Chrysler with Ford (F, Fortune 500), or sell it to another automaker, or go to the public with an IPO? If Chrysler continues to pile up losses, investors may get anxious and Cerberus will have to bail out sooner than it wants to. In an industry used to working in four-year product cycles, fast private-equity money will likely speed things up.
For another cataclysmic change, how about minnow Porsche moving ahead with its plan to swallow whale-like Volkswagen? Porsche already owns 31% of VW and CEO Wendelin Wiedeking is champing at the bit to buy more. His ambition seem preposterous on its face: VW has 324,000 workers while Porsche has fewer than 12,000.
But under Wiedeking, Porsche has become a money machine and merging with VW could solve a lot of problems. VW gets Porsche's management expertise and a greater sense of urgency, while Porsche obtains needed access to VW's scale efficiencies and advanced technology. Competitors will have to come up with their own ambitious strategies to fight this new combine or fall by wayside.
Meanwhile, Wiedeking's place in history was assured when he became the industry's first $100 million man, snagging $116 million in annual compensation. Will any other CEOs be trying to top that?
Finally, there is the evolving adventure of India's Tata Motors pursuit of two iconic British brands, Jaguar and Land Rover. At $2 billion, the price could be a secondary concern. The larger question: is the manufacturer of a $2,500 car is capable of designing, building, and marketing luxury vehicles? Winston Churchill must be spinning in his grave.
If the Tata deal goes through, it turns the entire auto industry into a global bazaar. What's next -- a Chinese company buying Alfa-Romeo? BMW linking up with Honda? Nissan arranging a partnership with General Motors? (Well, that last idea has already been tried and found wanting. But you get the idea.)
With rivers of capital free-flowing across national boundaries, the possibilities are endless. The failed marriage of Daimler and Chrysler may have been only the beginning of a global shuffling of brands and owners. The other day, a GM executive was speculating that the auto industry was sorting itself into two categories: two super-companies, GM and Toyota, with annual production of nine million vehicles each, and all the rest. But the ability of companies to arrange deals and form ventures in ways that no one would have suspected five years ago leads one to believe that nothing is fixed any more. Even for a century-old business with enormous fixed assets, the world is becoming a fluid place.
]]>We wish you a Merry Christmas have a great time with your family, friends, and that Santa Claus makes a generous visit to your house.
Photo from AllPosters
This photo caught our attention
We posted photos of the engine, here is the car...2009 ZR1
From Inside Line read about the car, look at the photo gallery, its an impressive car...Click Here
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Do you remember or would like to know what a Hemi Dart was all about? Yes...they were fast! Take a look...Click Here.
Think you know your way around the globe, and can do it quickly? Try Traveler IQ Challenge...Click Here.
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If you are looking for an innovative and different gift have you considered Automoblox? They are cool and creative with an entire series. Take a look...Click Here.
Did you know that Mercedes-Benz has a facility in California to deal with "old cars"? You can have your old Mercedes serviced to restored....Click Here.
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From Business Week some trends from 2007...Click Here.
We hope these get your thought process going as you take a few days off, to enjoy your family and friends.
A slide show of a simpler time...Click Here.
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Do you remember comparisons test of very fast cars and whenever a Porsche was part of the comparison there was usually mention of Alois Ruf and a Porsche modified by Ruf would usually blow the doors of most cars. That you are a Porsche fan or not, you have to give credit to Alois Ruf for building totally wicked Porsches especially when several other companies are also in the Porsche modification business. For some reason a Ruf was always a few steps ahead.
We urge you to take the time to look at these fascinating videos describing the past and present of Ruf narrated by Alois Ruf with additional comments by Paul Frere...Part 1....Part 2....Part 3...Part 4
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