Autoline This Week

Mighty Clouds of Joy Since his appearance in last week's Super Bowl commercial, many have automatically linked Chrysler with the gritty music of the artist Eminem. And while the soundtrack of "Lose Yourself" worked as a reflection of Detroit's streets, the song that may in fact be more relevant to the company today has its roots in 1971. Given where Chrysler was just 20 months ago, the music that seems to best capture the emotions coming out of its Auburn Hills headquarters is the 40-year-old pop tune "Mighty Clouds of Joy." As the company continues to introduce its well-reviewed new or significantly refreshed products -- vehicles that they were working on throughout those dark days of bankruptcy -- lines from the song like "those old storm clouds are slowly drifting by" take on a whole new meaning. Just ask some of those who were there...which is exactly what John McElroy does in this week's edition of Autoline. Joining John on an all-Chrysler panel are three company veterans who, like many, witnessed the bad times but kept pushing ahead because of the product. Joe Dehner, the head of Dodge Design, Chris Barman, the VLE of E-Segment vehicles and Klaus Busse the head of Interior Design, all talk with John about Chrysler -- the company, its people but most importantly its new product -- and where they all go from here.

High Cotton Three hundred years ago when cotton was king, the tallest and healthiest plants were the most valued. Farmers were said to be in "high cotton" when they had a bumper crop of plants like those because it translated directly to their status and wealth. These days the phrase "high cotton" may be a bit dated, however, it still carries the distinction of wealth. And during January's North American International Auto Show in Detroit, there was no one sitting in "higher cotton" than those few who were invited to "The Gallery." A few years ago, to cater to the customer that F. Scott Fitzgerald described as being "different from you and me," the Detroit Auto Dealers Association, sponsors of the NAIAS, developed this special preview of the most exclusive vehicles at the auto show for the crowd that Fitzgerald termed "the very rich." Well, if the Rolls-Royce fits...and in this case it does. As does the Maybach, the Bentley, the Maserati and more. Join John McElroy as he takes his cameras behind-the-scenes and into a world that even Jay Gatsby couldn't imagine. He'll talk to the men behind the event as well as dealers and customers who crossed the country to attend it. Why he even catches up with celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck who developed an exclusive meal for this very exclusive group. It's a peek inside "The Gallery," this week on Autoline.

Here Comes the Sun This January, 2011 Detroit seemed to be channeling 1969 London for a time. That's when Beatle George Harrison, to escape the burdens of the business world, took some time off to commune with nature and stroll around the home gardens of friend Eric Clapton. With a clear head, he emerged with his epic song "Here Comes the Sun;" a tune that 42-years later you could almost hear walking around the floor of this year's North American International Auto Show. Gone was the financial gloom of the 2009 NAIAS as well as the shrunken floor space from 12 months ago. This year Detroit welcomed back big aisles, bigger reveals and even some big names -- like Porsche -- who had been staying away. Here comes the sun, indeed. This week Autoline captures a little bit of these sunnier climes with four interviews from the floor of Cobo Hall. Joining John McElroy from Detroit, in order of appearance, are: Adrian Hallmark, the Global Brand Director for Jaguar; the President and Co-CEO of IAC Group North America and Asia, James Kamsickas; Scott Strong, the Director of Interior Design for Ford Americas; and the COO and CFO of Subaru of America, Tom Doll.

Travels with Farley The headline might look vaguely familiar. Think early 1960s where it borrows everything but the "Ch" from author John Steinbeck's famous travelogue "Travels with Charley." But where that work involved a camper, dog and the continental United States, "Travels with Farley" features a camera crew, a cutting-edge crossover and the hillsides of southern France. Oh, and not to mention a conversation with Ford's Global Marketing Chief. This week on Autoline join John McElroy as he and Ford's Jim Farley roam the French countryside, in a brand new C-Max crossover, and talk marketing, comebacks and cars, cars, cars. Some of the topics Jim covers during their conversation include his early days in the business, Ford's refound success and the company's plans and hopes for its new-to-the-USA crossover, the C-Max. **Special thanks to FremantleMedia North America for its assistance with the production of this week's Autoline. And don't forget, Autoline is now available on public television across the country. Consult your local listings. And if you can't find it in your city contact your local public station and ask for Autoline.

Technotronic When you're looking for an example of a huge fast marketing splash, few have been more effective than Jo Bogaert. He's the Belgian music producer who, in 1988, created the "Techtronic" sound that spread like wildfire over land, air and ocean to seemingly everything and every place that played music. His global hit single "Pump Up the Jam" with vocalist Ya Kid K was ubiquitous whether you were at a club in New York, an elevator in Tokyo or a cafe in Paris. The song and the sound spread like Kudzu and kept its grip on world music well into this decade. Jim Newton wouldn't discourage a "viral" splash like that, but both he and his clients would really prefer to build it themselves. And that's exactly what they're doing at Tech Shop. Mr. Newton is the founder of this nationwide nirvana for those who never got enough of Industrial Arts in high school. But actually Tech Shop is much more since it allows anyone with a manufacturing idea, to create, design & produce that dream all for about the cost of joining your local YMCA. For this week's special "On-the-Road" edition of Autoline, John McElroy takes you inside the original Menlo Park, California Tech Shop location. Here you'll meet some of the members of this creative community, experience their dreams coming to life and see why this idea is already spreading Technotronic-like across America, perhaps coming soon to a neighborhood near you.

NACTOY's New Day? Since 1994, the first awarding of the North American Car of the Year, there has been a parade each year of three finalists with one winner. Amid the 48 contenders and 16 eventual winners with their sleek designs and top-notch engineering there's been only one car that many observers considered a gateway to the 21st Century, and that was the Toyota Prius Hybrid. Well, it may be 11 years later but welcome to the 21st Century. This year the more than 50 jurors of the North American Car of the Year chose not just one but two ground-breaking finalists by adding both the Chevy Volt plug-in and Nissan's Electric LEAF to its final three. But let's not forget the third member of the COY finalists, Hyundai's hot-selling Sonata, with its more standard internal combustion engine which received review after glowing review throughout 2010. On this week's Autoline, NACTOY founding member John McElroy is joined by two of his fellow jurors, Eddie Alterman from Car & Driver and Marty Padgett from High Gear Media, as they discuss all three finalists, what they mean to the auto industry and who they each believe will be the 2011 North American Car of the Year.

King of the "NACTOY" Hill Thanks to producer/animator Mike Judge, most people connect "King of the Hill" with the former Fox TV series. And though there's a lot to be said for a 12-year old cartoon series that centered on one character and his life with propane, here at Autoline any "King of the Hill" reference points to one word and one word only, and of course that word is TRUCK! And this time of year when you talk truck, you're talking about three specific trucks or SUVs -- as the case may be -- who end up as our own "Kings of the Hill," better known as the finalists for the North American Truck of the Year. That's right, twelve months have flown by and left us with the latest top three trucks voted on by the jurors of NACTOY -- the North American Car and Truck of the Year Awards. These finalists -- Ford's Explorer, Jeep's Grand Cherokee and the Dodge Durango -- have been narrowed down from a long list of top-notch candidates with the winner to be revealed at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit January 10th. Joining Autoline host and original juror John McElroy to talk about these finalists and who may be crowned this year's "King of the Hill" are fellow NACTOY jurors Larry Webster from Popular Mechanics and Chris Paukert of Autoblog.com.

Roman Holiday It was the movie that turned a trio into stars. Even though William Holden was arguably already there and his leading lady Audrey Hepburn was well on her way, the romantic comedy "Roman Holiday" really focused the spotlight on the third star of this 1953 movie, the Italian motor scooter Vespa. As the trio whipped around Rome it sold us on the delights of small lightweight Italian transportation. Now fast forward to 2010, and small Italian transportation is poised to make a comeback here in America as the FIAT brand returns to the market thanks to its tie-in with Chrysler. Even as Sergio Marchionne has been putting the Pentastar pieces back together so Chrysler, Dodge, Ram & Jeep all have viable futures in the industry, at the same time he is ready to unleash his own brand back into the American car culture. The dealers have been chosen and they're getting ready to showcase the first FIAT product in years, the small, nimble Cinquecento better know as the 500. And the person in charge of the North American reemergence of the FIAT brand joins John McElroy on this week's Autoline. Laura Soave is well aware of what FIAT stands for. Not just from last few months of running the brand here in the Americas but from her Italian heritage and spending time growing up in Europe. She has an interesting task in front of her as she tries to resurrect a brand that disappeared from American shoes for a variety of reasons, none of them good. Joining John on his journalist panel to discuss the future of FIAT is Alisa Priddle from The Detroit News and Tim Higgins from Bloomberg News.

Innocence Lost There was a seismic shift 45 years ago. And as all change goes it was unwelcome at the time. So much in fact, that in a manner of fifteen short minutes it transformed a cultural hero to social pariah, all thanks to the innocence of choice. But that's what happened on July 25, 1965 at the prestigious Newport Folk Festival when Bob Dylan plugged in, turned on and embraced the sound electric. The audience reaction was an early version of shock and awe. His fans became horrified that he had abandoned his acoustic legacy when he launched into an electric version of "Maggie's Farm." But in reality what they didn't know was that he was simply evolving as an artist as evidenced by the success of his beloved "Like A Rolling Stone," which had been recorded just days before the event. It was clear he was moving on. For more than 100 years the internal combustion engine has driven the car. And though it continues to be tweaked and improved to the point where automotive's pioneers might not even recognize today's highly-efficient ICEs, evolution persists. We've been talking alternatives for years -- hybrids, PZEVs, Natural Gas and Hydrogen have all piqued our interest, but our muse has always been electrics. So much promise, so much promised, so much never delivered. But finally like Dylan, we're starting to move on...welcome to the world of the Nissan LEAF. On this week's Autoline John McElroy travels to Tennessee -- a state that brought human evolution to the headlines last century -- to talk about the evolution of the car this century as the LEAF goes electric. John gets a deep dive on the car from Nissan Product Planner Mark Perry while marketing chief Jon Brancheau talks to him how they are rolling it out across the country. In addition, John drives the LEAF all around the city of Nashville and gives you his impressions of this first mass produced all-electric pioneer.

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