The Back End: October 2008

TALEPIPE Huffs and puffs along the automotive road

Quotations are from press conferences and media reports.
Compiled and edited by managing editor Peter Craig.

‘ T ’    F O R    T A R D Y

“When you’re on a Model T tour, you don’t go very fast, [so] you get a chance to look at things.”

—Model T confab organizer Jay Klehforth on a recent event celebrating that car’s 100th anniversary

C R A S H    D I E T

“As you can imagine, much of what we had to eat this morning did not go down well.”

—NADA Washington Conference speaker Sen. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) on his breakfast with financial services reps, discussing Wall Street troubles

L I F E    E X P E C T A N C Y

“Accounts of our imminent demise are not only premature, but also inaccurate and unsubstantiated.”

—GM worldwide product chief Bob Lutz upon introducing the maker’s 2009 product lineup amid reports of a $15.5 million second-quarter loss

W O M E N    O F    T H E    S T R E E T

“We’re trading in the old program for a newer, more advanced model.”

—Transportation secretary Mary Peters on NHTSA’s new crash-test dummies, which will be used to represent women and large children

G O A L - D I S O R I E N T E D

“There are diminishing returns to underachieving. People will only accept that for so long.”

—Simon Chadwick, sports-business prof at Britain’s Coventry Business School, on how Toyota’s weak racing rep may ultimately hurt the automaker’s image