Magazine Lists Top 10 Winners, Losers in Automotive Industry
for 2001
ANN ARBOR, Mich., Dec. 6 -- Each December, Car and Driver magazine announces its choice of 10Best cars of the year. The awards are celebrated by winning car companies. Those not making the list ... well, there's always next year or past glories for comfort.
Less celebrated but nonetheless just as telling about the automotive industry, is the magazine's Winners and Losers feature that pays homage to 10 newsmakers that won and 10 that lost -- during the previous 11 months.
Here's the list, in order of appearance, and, in a nutshell (see the issue or go online for details), why they were picked:
Winners Reason
Chevrolet Corvette Winning the Daytona 24 Hours
Lexus Chosen above Lincoln and Cadillac to
represent a millionaire's benefit from a
proposed federal tax cut.
Buick Gave green light to Bengal convertible
Michael Schumacher All-time winning-est Grand Prix driver
Toyota Cleverly naming the Corolla Runx and the
Modellista Mark II Fortuna
Hot Rod magazine Cover Blurb of the Year -- April issue
(can't repeat it here, this is a family
publication!)
Seattle Police Department Keystone Cops stolen car screwup
7 "Quotes of the Year" Example: "His corn flakes has done gone
soft"
Audi R8s remain the car to beat in the American
Le Mans
Best Original Thinking ... "The California electrical shortage can be
solved by one simple solution. Turn off
your vehicle headlights when not needed and
drive less at night. With these lights off
we can save thousands of kilowatt-hours,
considering the number of cars on the roads
and the amount of time spent driving"
Losers Reason
Ford-Firestone Tread separation fiasco
Hypers of the movie, Driven Why would you even ask ...
Pontiac's Aztek In AA, the first step to recovery is
admitting a problem
Forbes FYI Naming Chrysler's Prowler as "the most
egregious misfire ... "
Fox Sports telecast of
NASCAR's Budweiser Shootout Digitally altering decals on vehicles whose
sponsors weren't advertising
DaimlerChrysler Raging debate over "merger of equals"
Us (auto industry) Loss of an inordinate pool of talent
Land Rover Dwindling market share
General Motors Marketing mistakes
Oldsmobile dealers Out in the cold