Autoline After Hours

This week we're thinking small. Micro actually. Our special guest for this episode is Jack Hollis, the Vice President of Scion. We'll be talking about the pint-sized iQ and whether it could be the car that gets the brand's mojo back. We'll also get into the news of the week including the Indy race that never should have been run. To discuss this and more, John McElroy is joined in studio by Peter...

This week we talk UAW and all the other top automotive news of the week. Joe Szczesny from The Oakland Press, joins John McElroy and Autoextremist Peter De Lorenzo for a discussion about where negotiations will go with Ford and Chrysler. Watch this week's show for your weekly dose of unscripted, unapproved, unusually frank discussion on Autoline After Hours!

This week we talk UAW and all the other top automotive news of the week. Joe Szczesny from The Oakland Press, joins John McElroy and Autoextremist Peter De Lorenzo for a discussion about where negotiations will go with Ford and Chrysler. Watch this week's show for your weekly dose of unscripted, unapproved, unusually frank discussion on Autoline After Hours!

This week the topic is wood. Sorta kinda. Actually, we'll be touching on the very special wood that went into the new Cadillac Ciel concept, and we'll be talking with none other than Clay Dean, the Director of North America Advanced Design for GM. We'll be asking him where the future of Cadillac and other GM design is going in the next few years, and we'll see if we can talk him into letting us te...

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 regulati...

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...

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 s...

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 a...

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 "me...

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...

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 o...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 s...

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'l...

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,...

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 50...

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 NH...

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...

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...

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...

This week's guest of honor is Ford's Barb Samardzich, the Vice President of Global Product Programs. We'll be asking her if there are new segments Ford needs to get into and what the future holds for the Lincoln brand. John McElroy will also talk about his trip to Taiwan and a brand new car company called Luxgen that is developing some very interesting technologies. We'll also touch on some of the...