Autoline This Week

The bi-annual Frankfurt Motor Show never fails to disappoint. Being in the backyard of so many European OEMs, there never seems to be a shortage of interesting and expensive cars unveiled at this important show. Join John McElroy and crew as they visit each of the show’s 13 buildings to talk with the men and women behind the scene stealers for this year’s show.

He started out drawing cars and became a Hollywood sensation. Syd Mead, the inspiration behind the futurist world of the film “Blade Runner” as well as many other hit films, makes a return visit to the Autoline studios to talk about everything from autonomy to “the electronic herd.” Joining John McElroy on his panel are Jim Hall from 2953 Analytics and John Manoogian from the College for Creative Studies.

Alan Mulally and Mark Fields – the top two executives at Ford -- get much of the credit for bringing the Blue Oval back from the brink during dire economic times. But the man whose contribution shouldn’t be overlooked because he sets the tone with the buying public through television, print and social media is Jim Farley. The once Toyota and Lexus Golden Boy, now in his 6th year with Ford, continues to break the automotive marketing mold by pushing the envelope. Joining John McElroy to discuss Ford marketing with Jim Farley are Karl Henkel from The Detroit News and Keith Naughton of Bloomberg News.

There aren’t too many historical figures who have their 150th birthday celebrated. But if your name is Henry Ford, the man who gave us the modern auto industry, you might even get a book as well. And that’s just what the Henry Ford Museum did in celebration of the man’s sesquicentennial. Joining John McElroy to discuss the man, the museum and the world’s premier automotive exhibit –called Driving America – are the people who put it together, Transportation Curator for the Henry Ford Museum Matt Anderson, the man who he replaced, Bob Casey, and Patricia Mooradian, President of the Henry Ford Museum this week on Autoline.

As the price of petroleum and diesel keeps creeping higher, companies with fleet vehicles are looking for ways to save money. One way more and more of them are turning to is propane or as the Europeans call it autogas. Joining John McElroy’s panel to discuss converting their fleets to autogas is Abe Stephenson from the Dish Network, Denis Gallagher from Student Transportation of America and Edgar Benning of the Flint, Michigan Mass Transit Authority.

Why are men attracted to a certain style of car? Why do women buy the type of car they do? And what about teenagers? Are there circumstances that drive what you buy or is it something unique inside each individual person? The latter is what the personality gurus at Myers-Briggs think and the folks at Ford are ready to run an experiment to test this theory. On this week’s Autoline we examine if people buy cars based on their personalities. Joining John McElroy are Lori Costew from Ford Motor Company, personality expert Michael Segovia from Myers-Briggs and Prof. Christie Nordhielm, marketing professor from the University of Michigan.

The U.S. auto industry has had its share of characters and personalities over its first century, but you’d be hard pressed to find one bigger, at least in the last 40 years, than Bob Lutz. He’s been practically everywhere, seen everything and met nearly everybody in the industry. So when he decided to write his latest book on the men he has worked with along the way, everyone took notice. So this week he joins John McElroy, Peter De Lorenzo of the Autoextremist.com and former Car and Driver editor Csaba Csere on Autoline to discuss his new book, “Icons and Idiots.”

Each year automakers are releasing 50 to 60 new or refreshed vehicles. That means design teams are logging tons of hours trying to bring a fresh look to an old nameplate or break the mold with a brand new vehicle. Just how they’re doing it is the subject of this week’s Autoline. Joining John McElroy are three men steeped in design heritage. David Lyon worked at General Motors the last 20 years until he recently went out on his own, John Manoogian started at Ford in the ‘70s before spending the bulk of his career at GM. He now teaches design at Detroit’s College for Creative Studies. And rounding out the panel is Jim Hall, Autoline’s own resident design expert, and managing director of 2953 Analytics.

The exterior designs of today’s car may evolve from year to year, but for sheer amount of change, all you have to do is look inside any of the latest models. Not only are there softer materials, rounder surfaces and quality accents, but the cars are loaded with technology like we’ve never seen before. Joining John McElroy to discuss what’s going on inside today’s cars on Autoline This Week are: Chevrolet’s Interior Design Chief Crystal Windham, Han Hendriks from Tier One Supplier Johnson Controls and software designer Rick Comiskey from OPTIS.

These days when it comes to automobiles, technology is everywhere. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a 12,000 dollar Nissan Versa or a 190,000 dollar Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG…though auto experts might expect to find a little bit more in the Mercedes. But how does it get there and who decides what car gets what? Those are questions that this week’s Autoline guest deals with on a daily basis. Joining John McElroy for the entire show is Johann Jungwirth, the President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Research and Development in North America along with our panelists the former head of Car and Driver Csaba Csere and Mike Austin of Popular Mechanics.