It’s too bad you don’t get those “private conferences”. You should. In fact, you should insist upon it, if not in the spirit of journalism, then in the spirit of getting something for nothing. Drink all their booze and call their wives whores. And if they refuse to let you in, tell them the next article will describe how their new hybrids run on a combination of chicken shit and fresh urine. Tell them you’re writing for the London Times now and all the Arabs love your work. Fuck ‘em. Tell them you’re marrying an Arab princess in Dubai and Daddy is buying Chrysler as a wedding gift. Scare the fuckers with the vision of an ad campaign of people pulling over to the side of the road and pissing in the gas tank. “Gotta get to work, honey. Gimme another cup o’ joe!” Special attachments for the ladies and a funnel in the back seat for junior.

Well, it’s a thought. Ciao.

It’s too bad you don’t get those “private conferences”. You should. In fact, you should insist upon it, if not in the spirit of journalism, then in the spirit of getting something for nothing. Drink all their booze and call their wives whores. And if they refuse to let you in, tell them the next article will describe how their new hybrids run on a combination of chicken shit and fresh urine. Tell them you’re writing for the London Times now and all the Arabs love your work. Fuck ‘em. Tell them you’re marrying an Arab princess in Dubai and Daddy is buying Chrysler as a wedding gift. Scare the fuckers with the vision of an ad campaign of people pulling over to the side of the road and pissing in the gas tank. “Gotta get to work, honey. Gimme another cup o’ joe!” Special attachments for the ladies and a funnel in the back seat for junior.

Well, it’s a thought. Ciao.

What’s funny is that you and I mostly agree on these things. We’ve written countless times on the pages of gas 2.0 about the tentativeness surrounding the survival of both Chrysler and GM. We’ve also written a lot about how strong Ford is and how solid their next gen car plan is. Certainly GM has pulled off some doozies in the past, and those can’t be forgotten. But when I write about the Volt, I’m just writing what I’ve witnessed first hand. In all honesty, I have way more connections with Ford and Nissan than I do with GM. Hell, I can’t even get GM to return my calls and emails half the time! They haven’t even let me personally drive their precious Volt yet (although others at gas 2.0 have). Ford, on the other hand, has gone out of their way to get me involved. Same with Nissan. If anything, that extra level of attention has made me more aware of how I cover those companies… more objective because I’m trying harder to remain unbiased because of the perceived coziness. GM? They apparently could give a rat’s ass about gas 2.0. I’m going to the NY Auto Show in two weeks and I’ve been trying hard to finally get some time behind the wheel of the Volt there, but so far all I hear are crickets.

So, in actuality I have no, nada, zero “coziness” with GM at the moment. There are no “private conferences,” not even with the manufacturers I do have relationships with! I do, on the other hand, have what could be perceived as a coziness with Nissan and Ford. I’ll readily admit that. I’ve got nothing to hide there. And if I end up showing my colors for a particular brand over another, it will have nothing to do with how responsive each company has been and everything to do with the actual products themselves.

As you’ve demonstrated, the perception out there among regular people about how this whole thing works is that there is some kind of back room dealing going on. Everybody has some kind of conspiracy theory and the world seems to work in these dark and mysterious ways. I can tell you, having worked in both government and in journalism it just doesn’t work that way. Maybe I’m doing it wrong and I should find myself a smoke-filled back room somewhere, but in my experience “private conferences” just don’t happen.

What’s funny is that you and I mostly agree on these things. We’ve written countless times on the pages of gas 2.0 about the tentativeness surrounding the survival of both Chrysler and GM. We’ve also written a lot about how strong Ford is and how solid their next gen car plan is. Certainly GM has pulled off some doozies in the past, and those can’t be forgotten. But when I write about the Volt, I’m just writing what I’ve witnessed first hand. In all honesty, I have way more connections with Ford and Nissan than I do with GM. Hell, I can’t even get GM to return my calls and emails half the time! They haven’t even let me personally drive their precious Volt yet (although others at gas 2.0 have). Ford, on the other hand, has gone out of their way to get me involved. Same with Nissan. If anything, that extra level of attention has made me more aware of how I cover those companies… more objective because I’m trying harder to remain unbiased because of the perceived coziness. GM? They apparently could give a rat’s ass about gas 2.0. I’m going to the NY Auto Show in two weeks and I’ve been trying hard to finally get some time behind the wheel of the Volt there, but so far all I hear are crickets.

So, in actuality I have no, nada, zero “coziness” with GM at the moment. There are no “private conferences,” not even with the manufacturers I do have relationships with! I do, on the other hand, have what could be perceived as a coziness with Nissan and Ford. I’ll readily admit that. I’ve got nothing to hide there. And if I end up showing my colors for a particular brand over another, it will have nothing to do with how responsive each company has been and everything to do with the actual products themselves.

As you’ve demonstrated, the perception out there among regular people about how this whole thing works is that there is some kind of back room dealing going on. Everybody has some kind of conspiracy theory and the world seems to work in these dark and mysterious ways. I can tell you, having worked in both government and in journalism it just doesn’t work that way. Maybe I’m doing it wrong and I should find myself a smoke-filled back room somewhere, but in my experience “private conferences” just don’t happen.

What’s funny is that you and I mostly agree on these things. We’ve written countless times on the pages of gas 2.0 about the tentativeness surrounding the survival of both Chrysler and GM. We’ve also written a lot about how strong Ford is and how solid their next gen car plan is. Certainly GM has pulled off some doozies in the past, and those can’t be forgotten. But when I write about the Volt, I’m just writing what I’ve witnessed first hand. In all honesty, I have way more connections with Ford and Nissan than I do with GM. Hell, I can’t even get GM to return my calls and emails half the time! They haven’t even let me personally drive their precious Volt yet (although others at gas 2.0 have). Ford, on the other hand, has gone out of their way to get me involved. Same with Nissan. If anything, that extra level of attention has made me more aware of how I cover those companies… more objective because I’m trying harder to remain unbiased because of the perceived coziness. GM? They apparently could give a rat’s ass about gas 2.0. I’m going to the NY Auto Show in two weeks and I’ve been trying hard to finally get some time behind the wheel of the Volt there, but so far all I hear are crickets.

So, in actuality I have no, nada, zero “coziness” with GM at the moment. There are no “private conferences,” not even with the manufacturers I do have relationships with! I do, on the other hand, have what could be perceived as a coziness with Nissan and Ford. I’ll readily admit that. I’ve got nothing to hide there. And if I end up showing my colors for a particular brand over another, it will have nothing to do with how responsive each company has been and everything to do with the actual products themselves.

As you’ve demonstrated, the perception out there among regular people about how this whole thing works is that there is some kind of back room dealing going on. Everybody has some kind of conspiracy theory and the world seems to work in these dark and mysterious ways. I can tell you, having worked in both government and in journalism it just doesn’t work that way. Maybe I’m doing it wrong and I should find myself a smoke-filled back room somewhere, but in my experience “private conferences” just don’t happen.