Autoline After Hours

This week the Autoextremist hijacks the Autoline airwaves while John is in Frankfurt for the big auto show. Speaking of the Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung, we’ll be getting into a Frankfurt post-mortem including the invasion of tiny slo-mo EVs from VW, Opel and Audi and the Jeep Grand Cherokee-based Maserati Kubang. We’ll also discuss the NADA’s lobbying effort against upcoming fuel regulations, and we’ll talk about whether we’ll see watered down rules if Obama loses the White House. Also, Coda’s EV will be the first (almost) Chinese vehicle to enter the American market. And, Chevrolet will be aiming the next-generation Corvette at younger buyers — will it work? To discuss this and more, Peter De Lorenzo is joined in studio by Sharon Terlep of the Wall Street Journal and Gary Vasilash from Automotive Design and Production.

This week we're coming in with our shoes shined and ready for inspection because we've invited the man in charge of quality for Volkswagen, Bentley, Lamborghini and Audi. Marc Trahan is the Executive Vice President, Group Quality, VW of America and if you want to know how the company is going to maintain its commitment to quality while growing to become the largest automaker in the world, this is the man to ask. To discuss this and more, John McElroy is joined in studio by Peter De Lorenzo of Autoextremist.com and Todd Lassa from Motor Trend.

This week we invite a former After Hours regular to join us for our automotive bull session. David Welch from Bloomberg Businessweek will be stopping by to talk about all the latest controversies in the auto industry. One thing we want to know: why are Ford and Cadillac tipping their hands in future design direction? The Cadillac Ciel and, most recently, the Ford Evos are beautiful concepts that signal where these brands are headed, but doesn't that give the competition an edge? We'll be getting into other news of the week as well including a surprising sales story from GM and the ongoing UAW negotiations. To discuss all of this and more, John McElroy is joined in studio by His Extremeness, Peter De Lorenzo of Autoextremist.com.

This week we're asking: why did Jack Roush hire a chief designer? And, we think we've got the perfect man to answer that question: Roush's new head of design, D. Mark Trostle, a man with an impressive performance car pedigree. He's designed such cars as the Buick GNX and Chevy SSR as well as the renowned Speed33 Roadster -- so what's going down at Roush? In addition, we'll be discussing the news as usual. Is Toyota playing it too safe with the Camry's new styling? Is the Cadillac Ciel concept a hint at the brand's upcoming flagship sedan? Why are Ford and Toyota teaming up on hybrid development? To discuss all of this and more, John McElroy is joined in studio by the one and only Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo.

This week "Autoline After Hours" goes retro from the site of the world's largest one-day automotive event, The Woodward Dream Cruise. Crowds and cars will be populating the sidewalks and parking lots as many of the 40,000 classics get Woodward Avenue warmed up for the big day.Join John McElroy and Peter De Lorenzo along with special guests such as:-Detroit News Auto Critic Scott Burgess-The "men who know too much" Jim Hall and his twin brother Bob Hall-Executives from Mopar and BoschSee the some fabulous classics and new customs like:-1953 Clean Diesel Corvette-Fatchance 2.0 Chrysler 300-Mopar Challenger Drag Pak-JK8 Independence Jeep-Plus, all the Woodward cruisers!

This week we peer into the future of automotive design with the Vice President of Global Design for GM, Ed Welburn. We’ll be finding out more about the upcoming Cadillac XTS and ATS cars. And as the push for massive CAFE increases looms, we’ll get Ed’s take: does aero-optimization destroy expressive styling? We’ll also find out how GM studios around the globe compete to design vehicles the company has in the pipeline. We’ll also discuss John’s sneak peek at future Lincoln product and get into details of the brand’s turnaround plan. John McElroy is joined in studio by the one and only Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo.

This week it's time to don your beret and painting smock because our guest is an artist with a penchant for classic cars. David Snyder specializes in recreating automotive tableaus -- dealerships, car shows, parking lots -- in such meticulous detail that he even matches the original car paint exactly. We'll be learning what he does to make his paintings so realistic. Of course you can also count on a heated discussion of the news of the week including all the latest from the MBS conference in Traverse City, Michigan. Sergio Marchionne is warning about China; Bob King is aiming to organize suppliers; John DeCicco says battery electric vehicles are barely better than turbo diesels in reducing emissions. But, perhaps the biggest news: Wall Street is melting down today. Could the auto companies feel the brunt of the decline? John McElroy is joined in studio by the one and only Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo.

This week get ready to be "electrified" and you'll be "shocked" at how much it's going to cost the industry. Our two guests will both be talking about the future CAFE standards that automakers are going to have to meet in the U.S. Jay Baron is the Chairman, President and CEO of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR). According to CAR's findings, in order to meet future fuel economy requirements, prices of cars are going to skyrocket. We'll be asking what cost the regulations will have on jobs. We'll also be asking what technologies will enable us to meet those requirements, and clearly our next guest has part of that answer. Mark Perry is the Director of Product Planning and Strategy for Nissan, and he is intimately familiar with the all-electric Nissan LEAF. The company can't seem to get enough of these electric cars out the door, and we want to find out what's going on. John McElroy is joined in studio by the one and only Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo.

This week can you say "Double Feature"? Join us for not one but two visionary guests. One of our guests wants to do away with the assembly line as we know it. Tom Crumm, the author of "What is Good for General Motors?", believes the future of manufacturing lies in the past when small teams built each car from start to finish. Crumm thinks this is a surefire way to rekindle the passion workers once had for their products. Speaking of passion, our other guest has plenty of it. Duncan Dayton is the owner of Highcroft Racing, which is involved in bringing the DeltaWing concept to race at Le Mans in 2012. He says this could be "one of the most significant developments in motor racing in 50 years." John McElroy is joined in studio by the one and only Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo.

Who would make the perfect automotive CEO? What if Alan Mulally was already taken? How about a chief designer -- would you try and lure Ed Welburn away from GM? That's the game we're playing this week as we perform the first-annual Autoline After Hours Automotive Draft. Just as in fantasy football, we're assembling our top executive teams, and once a coveted executive has been picked, he or she is out of the running. Our team owners for the 2011 Draft are John McElroy from Dymaxion Motors, Peter De Lorenzo from Renzo Motors, Ed Lapham from DeWard Auto Group and Jim Hall from Automobiles Bistango. On site in our War Room will be Scott Burgess from The Detroit News and Mark Phelan from the Detroit Free Press with their play-by-play analysis of the draft picks. Our master of ceremonies will be none other than Frank Markus from Motor Trend. So tune in and get ready for the battle to begin; this is gonna be good!

Who would make the perfect automotive CEO? What if Alan Mulally was already taken? How about a chief designer -- would you try and lure Ed Welburn away from GM? That's the game we're playing this week as we perform the first-annual Autoline After Hours Automotive Draft. Just as in fantasy football, we're assembling our top executive teams, and once a coveted executive has been picked, he or she is out of the running. Our team owners for the 2011 Draft are John McElroy from Dymaxion Motors, Peter De Lorenzo from Renzo Motors, Ed Lapham from DeWard Auto Group and Jim Hall from Automobiles Bistango. On site in our War Room will be Scott Burgess from The Detroit News and Mark Phelan from the Detroit Free Press with their play-by-play analysis of the draft picks. Our master of ceremonies will be none other than Frank Markus from Motor Trend. So tune in and get ready for the battle to begin; this is gonna be good!

This week we take an up-close peek at the next phase of transportation with our guest, Chris Borroni-Bird, the Director of Advanced Technology Vehicle Concepts for GM. We'll be getting into the details of the EN-V program and even take a ride in one of the futuristic concepts. GM's President of North America, Mark Reuss, suggested that an EN-V trial program could happen in Detroit, but what would it take to make that happen? As usual, we'll be getting into some of the hottest topics of the week. John McElroy is joined in studio by the one and only Autoextremist Peter De Lorenzo as well as Charlie Vogelheim from Intellichoice.com.

This week while we're enjoying some beers on the set, our special guest will just be having his first cup of coffee. That's because Peter Robinson, contributing editor for Wheels magazine, will be Skyping in all the way from the land down under -- a difference of 14 hours. We'll be asking him about the latest automotive issues in Australia and find out what Aussie-derived platforms we can expect stateside. We'll also get into the news of the week including California's EV mandate that says 5.5% of all vehicles sold must be EVs by 2018. Also, CAR says that reaching the CAFE goal of 62 MPG will cost an additional $4,000 - $9,000. John McElroy is joined in studio by the one and only Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo.

This week we welcome Francois Castaing who was the VP of Vehicle Engineering at Chrysler back when the company was making boatloads of money. We'll ask him about what he's doing these days including his effort to raise money for the Detroit Science Center. As usual we'll be parsing the news of the week including GM's Dan Akerson, and the controversial comments he made about the Lincoln brand. We'll also find out why Peter De Lorenzo, the Autoextremist, is excited for the DeltaWing concept to come to Le Mans. John McElroy is also joined in studio by AAH founding member Jason Vines.

This week we pose one very important question to Saab's U.S. COO, Tim Colbeck: how is this company going to survive? If the company is in fact manufacturing cars again, how are its dealers going to keep their heads above water while they wait for product to arrive in showrooms? And how is Saab going to get the message out to the world that it is alive and well? John McElroy and the Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo, will also talk about the news of the week including the announcement of Ford's three-cylinder EcoBoost engine. They'll also talk about why three pony cars outsold all hybrids in May, combined. All that and much more on this edition of Autoline After Hours.

This week we get the skinny on some of Chevrolet's upcoming products as we talk to Russ Clark, the Product Marketing Director for the brand. In particular we'll be asking him about the next-gen Malibu, but we'll also be asking him about the news that the redesigned Impala will be built in Detroit. John McElroy and the Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo, will also be talking about the upcoming Indy 500 weekend, which marks the 100th anniversary of the race. They'll be talking about the four women who will be running on Sunday and how some of the big teams choked in qualification. John will also be joined in studio by Todd Lassa from Motor Trend.

This week we're talking about one of the best ways to have fun wasting fuel as well as all the boring ways to save as much gas as we can in a crisis. First we'll be getting into some drag racing talk with long-time Milan Dragway Track Announcer Michael G. Nastos. We'll talk about the emerging popularity of vintage drag racing, something called "Project 1320" and why the IRS is investigating the NHRA. In the meantime, a survey says most Americans want to get 62 miles per gallon. So why aren't hybrids that popular? While we're at it: why haven't CAFE regulations ever reduced our dependence on foreign oil? John McElroy is also joined in studio by the Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo, and auto journalist Jim McCraw.

This week the AAH studio is transformed into a swinging boutique as we take a look back at the history of auto show models with author Margery Krevsky. Margery wrote the book "Sirens of Chrome," which details the transformation of models into knowledgeable product specialists. We'll be getting a look at some vintage outfits from the past 50 years, modeled by contemporary product specialists. These are the dresses that stood alongside cars such as John Lennon's Flower Power Rolls-Royce, the Ford Sunliner and Pontiac Firebird. Per usual, we'll also be getting into the news of the week. John McElroy is joined in studio by the Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo.

This week in the After Hours bunker is Larry Burns the now-retired Vice President of Research and Development for General Motors. During his time at GM, Burns was an unflagging proponent of hydrogen propulsion, and we're going to ask him if fuel cells will ever catch on. Will we ever see a hydrogen infrastructure in this country? We'll get into the news of the week too including GM's whopping big earnings and talk about why hybrid sales are stagnate while the price of gas shoots sky high. John McElroy is joined in studio by the Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo as well as Frank Markus from Motor Trend.

This week we welcome Chris Theodore, the namesake of Theodore and Associates. Chris played key roles in the development of the Ford GT and the Dodge Viper. Now he's showing off what he calls Uni-Chassis, which will be aimed at EVs. He also has a goal of creating a $500 car. You read that right $500. We'll be talking about those projects and getting into the big news of the past week including Ford and VW profits, the sinking ship that is Lexus and what we can infer from the fact that Chrysler and Fiat have all but dropped out of the EV game. By the way, we've got an update about the MKZ after last week's show; this info is very telling. John McElroy is joined in studio by the Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo.