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Detroit and Silicon Valley: When cultures collide

Culture is a subject that rarely, if never, gets discussed when traditional auto companies buy — or hugely invest — in Silicon Valley-based companies. The conversation surrounding the investments is usually about how the tech looks appealing and how it's an appropriate step to move the automakers toward autonomy. Culture — the way things are done, the expectations, and the approaches — is something that is overlooked only at one's peril. The potential cultural gap is almost always evident in the obligatory photos of the participants in these deals, with is essentially a photo op of auto execs with their Silicon Valley counterparts. The former — rocking jeans and no ties — look like parochial school kids playing hooky. Don't worry: The regimental outfits will be back in place once they get back in the Eastern time zone. Consider what happened back in 1998 when Daimler bought Chrysler. First of all, there was a denial in Detroit that it happened. It was positioned as a "merger of equals." Which it wasn't. In any corporate situation, when one has more than 50 percent of the business, it owns the whole thing. And the German company was in the proverbial driver's seat. People who were around Auburn Hills back then kept their heads down and their German Made Simple books at hand. Things did not go well. Daimler had had enough by 2007, when it offloaded Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management — which brought ex-Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli into the picture, which is a story onto itself. But when you think about the Daimler-Chrysler situation, realize that these were two car companies (at least the Mercedes part of the Daimler organization), so they had that in common, and the language of engineers is something of an Esperanto based on math, so there was that, too. Yet it simply didn't work. It doesn't take too many viewings of HBO's Silicon Valley to know that the business people in that part of the world are far more aggressive than people who ordinarily head and control car companies in Detroit. About 20 years ago, a book came out about the founder of Oracle titled The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison* - and the asterisk on the book jacket leads to: God Doesn't Think He's Larry Ellison. It would be hard to imagine a book about a Detroit executive, even a book that had the decided bias that the tome about Ellison evinces, that would be quite so searing. Sure, there are egos. But they are still perceived to be, overall, "nice" people.

Ford is building this sweet back-to-basics SUV in Brazil

We're use to forbidden fruit teasing us in Europe. Hatchbacks and diesels from Renault, Citroën, Peugeot, Skoda, SEAT and Alfa Romeo have been a regular torment that we've grown accustomed to over the years. This vehicle, though, is one piece of forbidden fruit we aren't entirely sure we can get over. We need it.
It's called the Ford Troller T4, and if you accidentally read that as either "reborn Ford Bronco" or "Americanized Land Rover Defender," we wouldn't be rushing to correct you. It's a basic, badass SUV, and is the first new vehicle to come from Troller since Ford gobbled it up in 2007. For those with longer memories, you'll recognize this vehicle from the concept that preceded it, the Ford T-R Concept. The production model remains remarkably true to the T-R, as well as past Trollers, but it's a slightly more modern look overall, with LED taillights, contrasting colors
You'll have to bear with us on the details, as we've been forced to rely on the notoriously literal Google Translate to convert the original Portuguese into English, which means some of the details were lost along the way.

Watch NASCAR racer Brad Keselowski do a burnout... in a hotel conference room

A vast majority of hotels frown upon smoking inside the building these days, but Brad Keselowski doesn't follow the rules. During his introduction at the 2013 MiilerCoors Distribution Convention, the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion smoked the tires of his Miller-sponsored Ford Fusion stock car, adding a pair of thick, black stripes to the carpeting of the Marriott World Center's conference room.
This definitely isn't a high-quality video, but it's the perfect vantage point to watch Keselowski lay down some rubber and receive a well-deserved standing ovation after pulling up in front of the crowd. Check out the short-but-sweet video posted below.