Autoline After Hours

This week we talk UAW and all the other top automotive news of the week. Joe Szczesny from The Oakland Press, joins John McElroy and Autoextremist Peter De Lorenzo for a discussion about where negotiations will go with Ford and Chrysler. Watch this week's show for your weekly dose of unscripted, unapproved, unusually frank discussion on Autoline After Hours!

This week the topic is wood. Sorta kinda. Actually, we'll be touching on the very special wood that went into the new Cadillac Ciel concept, and we'll be talking with none other than Clay Dean, the Director of North America Advanced Design for GM. We'll be asking him where the future of Cadillac and other GM design is going in the next few years, and we'll see if we can talk him into letting us test drive Cadillac's new über-sedan -- but somehow we doubt it. To discuss this and more, John McElroy is joined in studio by Peter De Lorenzo, the Autoextremist, and Scott Burgess from The Detroit News.

This week the Autoextremist hijacks the Autoline airwaves while John is in Frankfurt for the big auto show. Speaking of the Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung, we’ll be getting into a Frankfurt post-mortem including the invasion of tiny slo-mo EVs from VW, Opel and Audi and the Jeep Grand Cherokee-based Maserati Kubang. We’ll also discuss the NADA’s lobbying effort against upcoming fuel regulations, and we’ll talk about whether we’ll see watered down rules if Obama loses the White House. Also, Coda’s EV will be the first (almost) Chinese vehicle to enter the American market. And, Chevrolet will be aiming the next-generation Corvette at younger buyers — will it work? To discuss this and more, Peter De Lorenzo is joined in studio by Sharon Terlep of the Wall Street Journal and Gary Vasilash from Automotive Design and Production.

This week we're coming in with our shoes shined and ready for inspection because we've invited the man in charge of quality for Volkswagen, Bentley, Lamborghini and Audi. Marc Trahan is the Executive Vice President, Group Quality, VW of America and if you want to know how the company is going to maintain its commitment to quality while growing to become the largest automaker in the world, this is the man to ask. To discuss this and more, John McElroy is joined in studio by Peter De Lorenzo of Autoextremist.com and Todd Lassa from Motor Trend.

This week we invite a former After Hours regular to join us for our automotive bull session. David Welch from Bloomberg Businessweek will be stopping by to talk about all the latest controversies in the auto industry. One thing we want to know: why are Ford and Cadillac tipping their hands in future design direction? The Cadillac Ciel and, most recently, the Ford Evos are beautiful concepts that signal where these brands are headed, but doesn't that give the competition an edge? We'll be getting into other news of the week as well including a surprising sales story from GM and the ongoing UAW negotiations. To discuss all of this and more, John McElroy is joined in studio by His Extremeness, Peter De Lorenzo of Autoextremist.com.

This week we're asking: why did Jack Roush hire a chief designer? And, we think we've got the perfect man to answer that question: Roush's new head of design, D. Mark Trostle, a man with an impressive performance car pedigree. He's designed such cars as the Buick GNX and Chevy SSR as well as the renowned Speed33 Roadster -- so what's going down at Roush? In addition, we'll be discussing the news as usual. Is Toyota playing it too safe with the Camry's new styling? Is the Cadillac Ciel concept a hint at the brand's upcoming flagship sedan? Why are Ford and Toyota teaming up on hybrid development? To discuss all of this and more, John McElroy is joined in studio by the one and only Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo.

This week "Autoline After Hours" goes retro from the site of the world's largest one-day automotive event, The Woodward Dream Cruise. Crowds and cars will be populating the sidewalks and parking lots as many of the 40,000 classics get Woodward Avenue warmed up for the big day.

Join John McElroy and Peter De Lorenzo along with special guests such as:
-Detroit News Auto Critic Scott Burgess
-The "men who know too much" Jim Hall and his twin brother Bob Hall
-Executives from Mopar and Bosch

See the some fabulous classics and new customs like:
-1953 Clean Diesel Corvette
-Fatchance 2.0 Chrysler 300
-Mopar Challenger Drag Pak
-JK8 Independence Jeep
-Plus, all the Woodward cruisers!

This week we peer into the future of automotive design with the Vice President of Global Design for GM, Ed Welburn. We’ll be finding out more about the upcoming Cadillac XTS and ATS cars. And as the push for massive CAFE increases looms, we’ll get Ed’s take: does aero-optimization destroy expressive styling? We’ll also find out how GM studios around the globe compete to design vehicles the company has in the pipeline. We’ll also discuss John’s sneak peek at future Lincoln product and get into details of the brand’s turnaround plan. John McElroy is joined in studio by the one and only Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo.

This week it's time to don your beret and painting smock because our guest is an artist with a penchant for classic cars. David Snyder specializes in recreating automotive tableaus -- dealerships, car shows, parking lots -- in such meticulous detail that he even matches the original car paint exactly. We'll be learning what he does to make his paintings so realistic. Of course you can also count on a heated discussion of the news of the week including all the latest from the MBS conference in Traverse City, Michigan. Sergio Marchionne is warning about China; Bob King is aiming to organize suppliers; John DeCicco says battery electric vehicles are barely better than turbo diesels in reducing emissions. But, perhaps the biggest news: Wall Street is melting down today. Could the auto companies feel the brunt of the decline? John McElroy is joined in studio by the one and only Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo.

This week get ready to be "electrified" and you'll be "shocked" at how much it's going to cost the industry. Our two guests will both be talking about the future CAFE standards that automakers are going to have to meet in the U.S. Jay Baron is the Chairman, President and CEO of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR). According to CAR's findings, in order to meet future fuel economy requirements, prices of cars are going to skyrocket. We'll be asking what cost the regulations will have on jobs. We'll also be asking what technologies will enable us to meet those requirements, and clearly our next guest has part of that answer. Mark Perry is the Director of Product Planning and Strategy for Nissan, and he is intimately familiar with the all-electric Nissan LEAF. The company can't seem to get enough of these electric cars out the door, and we want to find out what's going on. John McElroy is joined in studio by the one and only Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo.