Autoline This Week
Autoline
Last episode almost 4 years agoIn depth discussions of the most important trends and developments shaping the automotive industry with industry executives and the top auto journalists. Your half-hour update on what they’re talking about in the C-suites.
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Episodes (685)
Autoline This Week #2010: Protecting Industrial Secrets
Personal phones and computers aren’t the only items that need protection. Hackers are at work everywhere. We saw recently how they controlled a car driving down the road. And despite layers of protection, even the U.S. military is worried about its platforms. Cybersecurity has become the clarion call of the times. From the site of the National Defense Industrial Association Conference join John McElroy for an in-depth look at what members of the NDIA are doing about Cybersecurity. Today’s guests include Bryson Bort, CEO of Grimm, a cyber research and development company; Dr. Anuja Sonalker, VP, Engineering and Operations, TowerSec Automotive Cyber Security; and BG Michael A. Stone, Assistant Adjutant General for Installations, Michigan National Guard.
Autoline This Week #2009: VW Diesels: In Search of Solutions
Ever since the gas cap dropped on VW and its diesel shenanigans last fall, it seems that the company has been stuck in first gear. Not only has there been no resolution so far, but no one seems to know what’s going on. In addition, the company hasn’t engaged the media very effectively and its customers are still trying to figure out what’s up. Joining John to discuss where the company goes from here and what it needs to do now are Todd Turner, auto analyst from Car Concepts; Jason Vines, Independent PR consultant and author; and Lisa Whalen, auto analyst with Frost and Sullivan.
Autoline This Week #2008: The Secrets of Silicon Valley
Apple, Intel and Facebook are there. So are electric and autonomy leaders Google and Tesla. But in addition to these tech giants, today’s Silicon Valley in Northern California also contain a lab or office from nearly every major automaker as well. Joining John McElroy from the floor of CES 2016 in Las Vegas to talk about why they’re attracted to Silicon Valley are top executives from three different major car companies including: Ken Washington, VP, Research and Advanced Engineering, Ford; Frankie James, the Managing Director of General Motors’ Advanced Technology Silicon Valley Office; and Arwed Niestroj, the CEO for MBUSA Research and Development North America.
Autoline This Week #2007: Karma Comes Back Around
Back in 2011 when the original Fisker Karma was released, seeing it on the road was breathtaking. The vehicle turned heads with its beautiful designs so there was never a problem with looks. The issues for this electric/hybrid car were technical. From breaking down during a Consumer Reports drive to actual customer cars catching fire, it proved too much for the startup automaker and it filed for bankruptcy in November 2013. However, its new Chinese owners believe they have worked out all the problems and are ready to re-commence production of the car. And the man chosen to run Karma Automotive is no stranger to Detroit. Jim Taylor, who formerly ran Cadillac, will now be responsible for selling the Karma 2.0 to the world. Joining John McElroy to talk to Jim about Karma, Cadillac and more will be Joe White for Reuters and Dave Guilford from Automotive News.
Autoline This Week #2006: Driving Matters
Driving has always mattered at Mazda. From its iconic “Zoom-Zoom” tagline to classic cars like the Miata to its involvement with motorsports, this small Japanese company remains a favorite of automotive enthusiasts around the world. Joining John McElroy on this special edition of Autoline is the Senior Vice President of Mazda’s North American Operations, Robert Davis. Rounding out the panel are Todd Lassa from Automobile and Dutch Mandel of Autoweek.
Autoline This Week #2005: The Economy Through Automaker Eyes
Back in the day, General Motors was so big there was a famous quote that went: if GM sneezes, America catches cold. Even though its stranglehold on the economy is not as great as it once was, GM and the rest of today’s auto manufacturers still play a significant economic role. That’s why it’s important to see how the car companies make their internal predictions. Joining John McElroy on this week’s Autoline to talk economy is Mustafa Mohatarem, the chief economist for GM, Emily Koliniski Morris, Ford’s chief economist as well as Charles Chesbrough, the Senior Principal Economist for IHS Automotive.
Autoline This Week #2004: The New Communicators
Automakers are mammoth organizations with campuses, plants and offices across the globe. So you can imagine with so many divisions and employees, it’s tough to speak with one voice. And for the most part that voice is Corporate Communications. Whether it’s talking to the automotive press, crafting a vehicle campaign or dealing with a crisis, this is the company voice. Joining John McElroy on this very special edition of Autoline to discuss OEM Communications, where it is today and how it’s changed over the last few decades are: Tony Cervone, the SVP of Global Communications for GM, Chris Hosford, the Director of Corporate Communications for Hyundai Motor America and Stuart Schorr, the VP of Communications and Public Affairs for Jaguar Land Rover North America.
Autoline This Week #2003: Ward’s Best Engines
If you’re one of those car folks who just can’t get enough of numbers like horsepower, pound feet of torque and zero to 60 times, then this is the show for you. It’s our annual Autoline where some of the Ward’s Auto editors join John McElroy to discuss the winners of its Best Engines competition. Tune in to see who made the cut for 2016.
Autoline This Week #2002: Truck of the Year
The competition is as tough as some of the trucks themselves. The vehicles up for North American Truck of the Year include: the Nissan Titan XD, the Volvo XC90 and the Honda Pilot. On this edition of Autoline THIS WEEK, John McElroy is joined by fellow NACTOY jurors Mike Austin of Autoblog.com, Jeff Gilbert from CBS Detroit and Ron Sessions of AutoWeb.com.
Autoline This Week #2001: Car of the Year
Will it be the Honda Civic? Maybe the Chevrolet Malibu? Or possibly the Mazda MX-5 Miata? Yes, it’s that time of year again to highlight the possible winner of the North American Car of the Year. Joining John McElroy to discuss these cars and more are fellow NACTOY jurors Kirk Bell from Motor Authority, Mark Phelan from the Detroit Free Press and Mike Austin from Autoblog.
Autoline This Week #1939: Leading CES
The Consumer Electronic Show, now known simply as CES, has become the Disney World for technology. Last year more than 170,000 from around the world came to Las Vegas for what used to be a small trade show. It has now blossomed into an event that even the car companies can’t ignore anymore. The man in charge of not only this enormous trade show, but also the Consumer Electronic Association who puts it on is Gary Shapiro. Today he joins John McElroy and his panel to discuss technology, the auto industry and CES 2016.
Autoline This Week #1938: Freightliner Makes a Big Move
Freightliner Trucks is the largest heavy-duty truck manufacturer in North America. It was founded in 1942 and bought by Mercedes-Benz in the 1980s. From its headquarters in Portland, Oregon the company has recently been producing some groundbreaking technologies including the DTNA “Super Truck” which improved freight efficiency, and the Inspiration which is the first licensed autonomous commercial truck. On this week’s Autoline, John McElroy is joined by its North America president and CEO Martin Daum along with Jeff Allen who leads the company’s Detroit Diesel operation. And joining John to help question the Freightliner executives is Neil Abt from Transport Topics.
Autoline This Week #1937: Autoline’s Game Changers
The automotive world is changing faster than at any time in its history. More and more game changing innovations are popping up with seemingly each new vehicle. John McElroy and his blue ribbon panel of auto analysts Maryann Keller, David Cole, the Chairman Emeritus of C.A.R. and Edward Lapham the Chief Editorial Officer at the Normington Group, roundup their top choices of automotive innovations for the year in Autoline’s Game Changers for 2015.
Autoline This Week #1936: Auto Sales Around the World
Anyone who lives in America has undoubtedly noticed that cars have been flying off dealer lots. New, Used, Pre-Owned…whatever the type, the numbers are staggering. But is it just a one country story? How are sales in some of the other great economies of the world? On Autoline THIS WEEK John McElroy and three global auto analysts look at sales from the four corners of the world to see if this has been just a one country recovery.
Autoline This Week #1935: VW’s Diesel Dilemma
It broke in mid-September but had been boiling for some time. Volkswagen, the largest automaker in the world had done wrong with its diesel engines. VW was hoping it might go away but this huge story has done nothing but grow. On this week’s Autoline, John McElroy is joined by an all-star panel including, Csaba Csere, Contributing Editor, Car and Driver, Pulitzer Prize reporter Joe White from Reuters and AutoPacific car analyst Dave Sullivan, to look at what VW did and if it can get itself out of this global quagmire.
Autoline This Week #1934: Selling the Big Rigs
There are 8 classifications for trucks in America. Many of us know the first three, which are all Light duty. The other five, Medium and Heavy duty, are not as well known though we do see them on the road all the time. On this week’s show John McElroy introduces us to the larger class of trucks, who uses them and where they are bought and sold. Joining him on his panel are Shaun Skinner, the VP of Sales for Isuzu Commercial Truck, analyst John Stark from the Stark’s News Service as well as Greg Reefer a veteran Peterbilt Heavy Duty truck dealer.
Autoline This Week #1933: Inside Dealer Nation
In the old days, the phrase was if you owned a dealership it was like a license to print money. These days, with so many options for consumers, the dealers aren’t making nearly as much on the cars like they used to. But they’re still expected to participate in the community like they always did. This week John McElroy welcomes current NADA chair William Fox to talk about the world of today’s car dealer. He is joined on the panel by Steve Finlay from Ward’s Dealer Business and Jeff Bennett of the Wall Street Journal.
Autoline This Week #1932: Leading the New Lincoln
His name is Kumar Galhotra and he’s got what many consider the toughest job at Ford. He is in charge of rebuilding its famous luxury brand, what they now call the Lincoln Motor Company. John McElroy welcomes Mr. Galhotra as his guest for this week’s show along with Alisa Priddle from the Detroit Free Press and Keith Naughton of Bloomberg.
Autoline This Week #1931: Automotive Cybersecurity
With computers running more of your car’s activities these days, is it safe from hackers? We recently discovered Jeeps weren’t. Joining John McElroy on this week’s Autoline to discuss the growing problem of Cybersecurity is Jeff Massimilla from General Motors, analyst Egil Juliussen from IHS Automotive and Erika Anden from the Sandab Group.
Autoline This Week #1930: Engineering the Future
Johnson Controls is one of the world’s leading automotive suppliers. Mary Ann Wright leads its global engineering and product development where she is responsible for driving technology and energy storage solutions. She joins John McElroy as his guest on this week’s Autoline along with Jeff Bennett from the Wall Street Journal and David Welch from Bloomberg.
Autoline This Week #1929: The Last Drive
100 years ago 21-year old Edsel Ford was preparing to join his father running Ford Motor Company. Just before he took the reins, Edsel and six buddies drove 1915 Model T’s cross- country on, what Bruce Springsteen would later call, “a last chance power drive.” Mark Gessler of the Historical Vehicle Association re-enacted the drive this year and joins John McElroy and Mark Phelan of the Detroit Free Press to talk about “both” journeys.
Autoline This Week #1928: Automotive Emissions: EPA v States
We all hear the word “CAFE” and think consumption – coffee/food – but in the auto industry it’s all about miles per gallon. Two men from different agencies who each have a lot to do with CAFE sat down separately with John McElroy to discuss where the standards are going. Joining John are Christopher Grundler from the Environmental Protection Agency and Dr. Alberto Ayala from the California Air Resources Board or CARB.
Autoline This Week #1927: Who Wins? Buying Through 3rd Party Programs
How do you buy your cars? Do you still negotiate or do you use one of those 3rd Party programs that set the price for you? Joining John McElroy to discuss this new option for buying a car is the CEO of the Costco Auto Program Jeff Skeen and dealer Ken Foster from Brown Honda in Toledo, Ohio.
Autoline This Week #1926: The Reality of Recalls
Takata might’ve gotten the most headlines this year, but recalls have hit the auto industry hard across the board. Joining John McElroy in separate one-on-one interviews to talk about the topic is Mark Rosekind, the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration and Ben Hoffman the CEO of the company Movimento that might just have an answer to help with recalls.
Autoline This Week #1925: The Changing Face of Commercial Vehicles
With as much change that is currently encompassing the automotive industry, the big rigs aren’t very far behind. Joining John McElroy to talk about topics including everything from lightweighting to platooning is attorney Tom Manganello from Warner, Norcross and Judd, Mihai Dorobantu from Eaton and trucking company owner Brian Pohl.