Autoline After Hours

Meet the man who hand-built your Corvette's engine. No Corvette? How about a Camaro? Rob Nichols is the supervisor of GM's Wixom Performance Build Center so get ready for some horsepower worship. As usual we'll get into the news of the week including a possible partnership between GM and PSA; the bailout bashing that the Republican presidential candidates are doling out; and Mazda's struggle to survive. Plus, we've got the brand new Prius V in studio, and we'll explain why it's not easy being green. All that and more with John McElroy and Peter De Lorenzo the Autoextremist as well as guest panelist Todd Lassa from Motor Trend!

This week a fierce-looking Falcon swoops into our studio. Specifically the Falcon F7, an exotic sports car made right here in Michigan. We'll be talking to the owner of Falcon Motorsports, Jeff Lemke, who also happens to be the designer of this boutique supercar. Of course we'll also get into all the top news of the week including GM's profits (and losses) in 2011, Europe's languishing EV sales and Bob King's call for UAW protests. All this and more with John McElroy and Peter De Lorenzo the Autoextremist.

This week it’s all about auto ads, and we’re bringing in the automotive advertising queen to help us get down to the heart of the matter. Jean Halliday is the voice behind AutoAdOpolis, and we’re sure she has some opinions to share about the big Super Bowl ad event. We’ll also get into the news of the week and that includes the Chicago Auto Show, and we’ll discuss the implications of the Ford management changes that went down this week. All this and more with John McElroy and Peter De Lorenzo the Autoextremist.

This week we're joined by Chris Preuss, Executive Vice President at Hill and Knowlton Strategies and former chief of OnStar and former VP of GM communications. Suffice it to say, you can expect a lively discussion. Per usual we'll get into the news of the week including the strong sales numbers in the first month of 2012, brash Chinese rip-offs and the 50th anniversary of 24 Hours of Daytona. We'll also talk about whether Opel has any chance at all of surviving. All this and more with John McElroy and Peter De Lorenzo the Autoextremist.

This week we're going to resist the temptation to polish up our Cockney accents, but we might just call our special guest "guv'nah" since he's Skyping in live from the UK. Karl Ludvigsen is an independent motor industry consultant and all-around car guy. He also wrote the well-known book "Porsche: Excellence was Expected." On the docket tonight, we'll discuss some European goings on. Who will Fiat merge with? How will GM save Opel? Also we'll talk about Audi's new Traffic Jam Assist technology -- a very real step toward automotive autonomy. All this and much more with John McElroy and Peter De Lorenzo the Autoextremist. Cheerio!

This week it's all auto show all the time as we talk about the best and the worst of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. On hand to help us spot the trends and discuss all the nitty-gritty no one should know is Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics. All this and more with John McElroy and Peter De Lorenzo the Autoextremist.

This week we're getting the inside dirt on the North American International Auto Show, or as we prefer to call it: the Detroit Auto Show. Our guests are Bill Perkins, the NAIAS Chairman and Rod Alberts, the Executive Director for NAIAS. We'll be asking them if things have really changed down at Cobo Center. Are unions still ripping everyone off? Can we expect any more fights with the Detroit City Council? Of course, with the big show only a few short days away, we'll be talking a lot about what we can expect to see at the show with major reveals from Cadillac, Lincoln, Dodge, Acura, Ford, and more. To discuss these stories and more, John McElroy is joined in studio by Peter De Lorenzo the Autoextremist.

This week Santa Welch is comin’ to town … and Santa De Lorenzo and Santa McElroy for that matter. And, like old Kris Kringle, all three of our panelists have taken a look back at the year and decided which automakers have been naughty and which have been nice. In this special episode — the last of 2011 already — our three esteemed panelists will dole out presents for some folks and dirty lumps of coal for others. John McElroy is joined by his cohort Peter De Lorenzo and David Welch of Bloomberg.

This week the Autoextremist gets behind the wheel while John McElroy is in Texas driving the new Chevy Malibu Eco. And, as we close in on 2012, we'll be taking a look back at some of the biggest automotive stories of 2011 with Scott Burgess of The Detroit News and Todd Lassa from Motor Trend. As usual we'll also get into the news of the week including China's import tariffs on U.S. cars, Acura's attempt to become relevant again, and the NTSB's recommendation to ban all cell phone use in cars. All this and more with the man himself, Peter De Lorenzo.

This week we plan to have a quality discussion, that is, a discussion about quality. As you know, we've taken exception to the way Consumer Reports evaluates cars for its quality ratings. Well, our guest on this show knows a thing about automotive evaluation since he runs the website, TrueDelta.com. We'll be asking Michael Karesh if he thinks Consumer Reports' methodology is sound. As always we'll be getting into the news of the week: the Chevrolet Volt issue is still burning hot, drama goes down between Nissan and the UAW and Aptera calls it quits. To discuss these stories and more, John McElroy is joined in studio by Peter De Lorenzo the Autoextremist.

This week we ask the question: does Detroit's culture nurture or choke off entrepreneurial thinking? We'll be getting into this discussion with our special guest, Michael Pickholz, an engineer and inventor. And, as always, we'll discuss the latest news coming out of the automotive world. Chevy Volts are catching on fire, but did NHTSA follow proper safety procedures? Laura Soave is out as head of Fiat after sales of the 500 fail to meet goals set forth by Sergio Marchionne. Plus, we'll touch on some of the announcements coming out of the Tokyo Motor Show. To discuss these stories and more, John McElroy is joined in studio by Peter De Lorenzo the Autoextremist.

This week we're in a very different time zone. Since John McElroy and the crew are in Los Angeles for the LA Auto Show, they've decided to pay a visit to the famous Petersen Automotive Museum and meet the collection's curator, Leslie Kendall. They'll also talk to John Clinard, formerly of Ford West Coast Communications, but perhaps more well known for the event he helped create in California: Cars and Coffee. We'll learn a whole lot about that, find out what's new at the Petersen and much more on this week's show.

First he accused GM of “Kill(ing) the Electric Car.” Then he took “Revenge” and got buddy-buddy with the giant company that created the Chevrolet Volt. But Chris Paine, director of the new documentary, “Revenge of the Electric Car,” hasn’t faced off against our resident EV skeptics. This week John McElroy and Peter De Lorenzo will attempt to navigate the EV hype and get down to the heart of the matter: are electric cars really here to stay? Of course we’ll get into the top news of the week as well: GM earnings disappoint, experts are sounding the overcapacity alarm in China and Lexus is calling it quits on the HS 250h. All that and much more on this week’s show.

This week we're wondering if the iPhone has met its automotive match. Designed by our guest, Stuart Norris, Cadillac CUE is the infotainment system that promises to simplify a user's experience while offering the smart phone features people have come to expect. It will begin arriving in 2012, and we'll be asking Stuart what he thinks puts CUE ahead of the competition and how it will avoid the quality problems plaguing MyFord Touch. To discuss this and more, John McElroy is joined in studio by Peter De Lorenzo the Autoextremist.

This week we’re calling Consumer Reports to the mat. As far as we’re concerned, their automotive testing is second to none, but when it comes to quality ratings: bogus. Much has been made of Ford’s plummeting status in the latest survey, but we’ll talk about whether the folks in Dearborn have to start worrying or not. We’ll also get into the news of the week including the third quarter financial results. Plus we want to talk about what we, including one of our viewers, think the next generation of Mustang could look like. To discuss this and more, John McElroy is joined in studio by Peter De Lorenzo the Autoextremist and Charlie Vogelheim from ResponseLogix.