Each week, our German correspondent slices and dices the latest rumblings, news, and quick-hit driving impressions from the other side of the pond. His byline may say Jens Meiners, but we simply call him . . . the Continental.
In a surprise move, the supervisory board of Daimler has extended CEO Dieter Zetsche’ s contract by three years. It had been expected that he would stay in office for another five years, which is customary in Germany. The contract for research and development chief Thomas Weber has also been renewed for only three years, despite Daimler’s ledership role in future technologies. At the same time, current production and purchasing chief Wolfgang Bernhard, formerly head of AMG (he also was Chrysler CFO and Volkswagen brand CEO), becomes head of Daimler’s truck division. He swaps positions with Andreas Renschler, whose resume includes heading up Daimler’s Smart division.
The reshuffling of the board reveals that things are not all smiles in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim. Wolfgang Bernhard is being groomed as Zetsche’s successor, but he has never gotten along smoothly with the employee side of things, a faction which enjoys significant clout on the supervisory board. Now Renschler is back in the game. But it is also possible that 59-year-old Zetsche will get a new contract three years from now.
Over the next few years, Daimler needs to fix its China business, which is lagging far behind Audi and BMW. The Mercedes brand’s reputation largely hinges on the success of the upcoming next-generation S-class; the smashing success of the (fantastically engineered) new A-class will need to be sustained over the next few years. On the design front, Mercedes might wish to strike a balance between appealing to those coveted buyers who wear their baseball caps backwards, and the (currently poorly attended) rest of us.
Betting on India
Daimler has opened its largest research and development center outside of Germany—and not in China or America, but in Bangalore, India. The country “is one of the core markets for [the] growth strategy Mercedes-Benz 2020, and it has enormous potential,” says board member Thomas Weber. In 1996, Daimler-Benz started kicked off its research and development activities in India with ten employees. Today, India is a center of competence for IT, electrics/electronics (EE), as well as computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided engineering (CAE). The center’s opening is good news for the company and for Weber, and I was hoping to be there to report in more detail. But, alas, the Indian embassy did not process my visa application in time.
Fiat’s Present and Lancia’s Past
Fiat has lowered the price of the still-fresh Panda. In Germany, it now starts at €8,990 (including 19-percent sales tax). Fiat still sells the previous generation model, called the Panda Classic, alongside the new one. The price cut is not a very good sign, but struggling Fiat needs all the sales it can get. The automaker’s vehicle lineup is aging, and it does not fare terribly well next to the competition from Germany, France, Japan and Korea. I drove the Panda in December 2011 and liked it, but Fiat has since cleared up that it is not a totally new car.
Meanwhile, I came across a little-known nugget on the history of Lancia. In a chronicling of Daimler compiled by Wilfried Feldenkirchen, I came across the tidbit that Daimler-Benz was seriously considering purchasing the Lancia brand in the 1960s—it was a move favored by CFO Joachim Zahn and opposed mainly by Daimler’s sales and marketing team. The topic came up again in the 1970s and was again promoted by Zahn, who by then was CEO, but R & D chief Scherenberg opposed it, citing Fiat’s poor quality; he favored a cooperation with Peugeot instead. Rumor had it that Lancia’s plants in the 1970s resembled “the status of BMW in 1959.” Feldenkirchen also describes how Subaru, DAF, and Honda were discussed as potential partners for Lancia back in the day.
Two Cool Volkswagens for Europe
VW is introducing a special-edition model, spun off of its entry-level Up mini car, and it’s called Cheer Up. Contrary to what you might deduce from its cheeky name, the Cheer Up is actually sporty and features a few sinister styling elements, such as 15-inch charcoal-colored aluminum wheels, gray protective strips, and gray-painted outside mirrors. The fabric seats continue the darkened theme and come with a specific gray-and-black pattern. I like it, but what the Up really needs is a turbocharged engine, like the one in the Up GT concept I drove last year.
Far bigger and similarly cool is the company’s other new limited-edition model, the Transporter Edition. The unique van is available with six gasoline and diesel engines that make between 102 and 204 horsepower. It is distinguished from lesser Transporters by its black roof, sports striping, foglights, leather-wrapped shifter and steering wheel, and a special fabric interior. Bi-xenon headlights are available to help clear the left lane for business owners who mean business.
Speed Doesn’t Kill
This year’s road fatalities statistic is out: Germany suffered just 3,606 traffic fatalities in 2012—the fewest ever since record-keeping on the subject began. That’s less than 10 per day, and only 44 deaths per one million inhabitants. In the U.S. in 2011, that number was 104 per inhabitant. The discrepancy is more impressive given that Germany is a transit country, with vast numbers of vehicles passing through from other countries, and there’s a large number of bikes sharing the roads with cars and trucks.
A number of factors are responsible for the low number of deaths, including rigid driver training and scheduled vehicle checks every two years. Here’s another reason: Significant portions of our freeway system, the famous autobahn, are without any speed limit. You are free to travel at any speed you desire, as long as you keep everybody else’s space and your distance. It might sound counter-intuitive, but the high speeds keep drivers awake and alert. Fumbling with your smart phone, food, or a hot cappucchino is low on the priority pole when traveling on the autobahn.
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