Detroit Auto Show: Overheard On the Floor (from The Car Connection)

[Robert G]

From today's Daily Edition of The Car Connection: -Asked if a report that Volkswagen AG is considering changing the name of the company to Auto Union or some such thing, as reported in Automotive News, VW AG chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder said, "No, there is nothing to it." Asked if the decision to not position Volkswagen models like Golf and Jetta as the premium-priced offering in each segment was at odds with the up-market strategy of having the Touareg and Phaeton cast a premium glow on the lower-end models, Pischetsrieder said, "A man has three daughters, two beauties and one ugly. Do you marry the ugly one because she has two beautiful sisters?" -A high-ranking DaimlerChrysler executive, when asked if the company was a little embarrassed that a California mechanics shop had figured how to economically get the smart fortwo to pass U.S. environmental regulations when Stuttgart engineers were stymied, said, "There are a few Helmuts, Klauses and Wolfgangs who are laying low these days." -Asked of Ford's Greg Smith; "Do you think it's right for Ford to claim minivan is a dirty word when Honda, Chrysler and Toyota are doing so well with minivans and Ford hasn't ever had a winning design? "We have an Explorer mentality at Ford," said Smith. Asked if he was interested in Volkswagen's pilot program of offering free insurance to buyers of New Beetle and Golf in two states with hopes of taking it national: "We tried that...the people you get can't afford insurance for good reason." -BMW marketing chief Jim McDowell says its Internet film site is still getting an average of 80,000 hits a day, years after the films debuted. He says BMW is looking to turn the film series and lead character into a video game.

[MadBill]

For details on the Smart car retrofit, use this link: http://money.cnn.com/2004/11/22/pf/autos/smart_epa/