Five questions we're asking auto execs at the start of 2011. What are yours?

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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Etc., BMW, Honda, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen



The Detroit Auto Show is coming up. After that, we go to the Chicago Auto Show. Then New York and maybe Geneva. We are going to hob-knob with most of the auto industry titans: CEOs, Design Chiefs, Product Development Bosses.

We will be at dinners, group interviews, one-on-one interviews and members of the media will have time "on the sidelines" with these decision makers, sometimes without their pubic relations handlers listening in, trying to keep their bosses from making a headline.

I have a handful of questions for companies and executives I plan to ask. And the rest of the Autoblog staff is jotting up their notebooks with interview appointments and questions they want to ask. But how about you, dear readers, chiming in with yours? We'll do our best to get them answered.

My Questions:

1. For Volkswagen AG CEO Martin Winterkorn: Why all the rhetoric on sales goals? You want one million VWs and Audis sold in North America by 2018. Why? How about getting quality ratings going in the right direction first? VW quality scores have actually fallen in the last two years. Shouldn't quality be "Job One," to quote an old Ford ad slogan? Making it so much about sales seems like a recipe for driving the entire organization toward the wrong goal. Take care of quality and pricing, and sales will take care of themselves.

2. For Honda Motor CEO Takanobu Ito: When is Honda going to re-assert leadership in powertrains? I can still feel what a CVCC engine was like to drive. I can close my eyes and remember the beautiful gearbox on the manual transmission. We just aren't seeing this sort of leadership from Honda anymore, at least not in the U.S.

Are you serious about hybrids or not? The Accord Hybrid was a "non-starter." And the new Insight is a yawn, even for a hybrid. Are you serious about EVS, or not? You said you were going to bring a diesel engine - your wonderful diesel sold in Europe - to the States, only to kill the idea. I would suggest that there is no sound business case to be made for General Motors bringing out the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric. But the fact that it did shows that the company is seizing a leadership position trying to change the story about how we drive.

And your design department? Have you looked around a Honda showroom lately? The Ridgeline is a bust. The Element was close to a bust. The CR-Z is a puzzle whose early sales suggest it's a bust, too. I can't find any reason to tell someone they should put it on their list. The Accord Crosstour is not awful, but that's the best I can say. Yes, you own the subcompact crossover market with the CR-V. The Accord is the Accord. The Civic remains strong, but we want a five-door variant back in the showroom. The Odyssey is a pleasure among minivans. But there some big misses here for every hit you turn out.

But most of all, we want something from Honda we can get psyched about. What do you have to say?

Click through to the jump for more questions.Continue reading Five questions we're asking auto execs at the start of 2011. What are yours?

Five questions we're asking auto execs at the start of 2011. What are yours? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 19:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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