Tag Archives: Greg Migliore

The EV Outlook: How Many People Taking Buyouts Are Likely to Buy One?

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By Gary S. Vasilash

Last week GM announced that in its efforts to “permanently bring down structured costs” it would request that its salaried employees in the U.S. seriously consider taking a buyout. In January GM execs said that their goal is to reduce $2-billion in spending. By taking a number of its 58,000 of salaried employees off the books, it reckons it will get closer to its goal.

Given that in 2022 its full-year revenue was $156.7 billion, net income attributable to stockholders $9.9-billion and EBIT-adjusted was a record $14.5 billion, it would seem to be in good shape.

But there is something that GM and all other OEMs are grappling with, and that’s the billions of dollars that need to be invested in developing electric vehicles as well as creating the means by which the vehicles and the batteries used to store the energy for those vehicles can be produced.

It is a huge—and expensive—undertaking.

And so when they look at their books and see that one non-trivial number is salaries, product trumps people in order to maintain profit.

(To be sure there are a number of people who probably have a skillset that is not particularly relevant to automobility going forward and it would probably be tenuous from a legal standpoint to single them out, which may make casting a larger net better from a corporate point of view.)

But the point is: EVs are (1) costly to develop and (2) not making money for corporations the way that gasoline-powered vehicles are (yet).

So, in order to keep earnings up and costs down, there will be people who will have to find something else to do with their working hours.

The state of EVs is the topic on this edition of “Autoline After Hours.” Joining me are Greg Migliore, editor of Autoblog and the newly launched Autoblog Electric; Chris Paukert, director of Video for Edmunds; and Matt DeLorenzo, long-time auto journalist and author of How To Buy an Affordable Electric Car.

The discussion delves into an array of EV-related topics, from affordability to charging to how long it will be until EVs are the norm and internal combustion engines are the exception.

And as for that last topic, it may be longer than you might think.

You can see the show here.

Bob Boniface on Automotive Design

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By Gary S. Vasilash

Here’s something that you probably don’t know about Bob Boniface, director of Global Buick Design, even if you know Bob Boniface.

He began his career. . .working at a mutual fund in Boston after receiving his undergraduate degree. . .in psychology and economics.

Boniface did go to the College of Creative Studies in Detroit and while there was hired as an intern to work at Chrysler which led to a job offer from then-head of Chrysler Design, Tom Gale.

Buick Wildcat EV concept. If Buicks look like this, then the brand has a bright, electric future. (Image: Buick)

Boniface was to work at Chrysler for 12 years, during which time he worked on a variety of projects including the second-generation Dodge Intrepid, the Dodge Intrepid ESX (a diesel hybrid with wheel motors), the Stow ‘n Go seating for the minivans, the 300C, and the Jeep Liberty.

In 2004 Boniface moved across town to General Motors. The first thing he worked on was the GM Sequel—a fuel cell-powered vehicle. Then the gen-five Camaro.

Boniface says, on this edition of “Autoline After Hours,” that he was, in effect, employee #1 on the Chevrolet Volt.

Then he moved to Cadillac for six years. He worked on XT4, XT5, CTS, CT6 and. . .he says the best part was working on the V-Series, the CTS-V and the ATS-V. (He says one of the engaging parts of the V programs was the level of commitment across all the functions involved: by having everyone working toward making something special, the results is–something special.)

Boniface moved to Buick in 2016 and has worked on vehicles including the Enclave and the Envision.

He points out that a lot of his work involves overseeing the studios in Korea and China. The China market is huge for Buick—roughly four times that of the U.S. market, so that part of the world is important. He notes that a lot of developments in the interior space are occurring in that part of the world, and interiors are part of his portfolio.

But then there’s the Wildcat EV Concept.

Realize that Buick arguably gave rise to the whole notion of the concept vehicle with the 1938 Buick Y-Job. The brand has had a number of vehicles with striking designs since then, such as the Wildcat I and II of the 1950s to the Velite in 2004 to the Avenir in 2016.

Back in 2018 Boniface says that they went to work on developing not so much a new vehicle as a new design language. But that exercise gave rise to the Wildcat EV Concept, a 2+2 coupe that is an expression of the electric future of Buick and that expression includes a new face—although being new, it also includes a nod to the brand’s design paste (e.g., high lamps, body-mounted badge).

Again: it is the language that they created and the vehicles to come will be spelled with those words.

If you have any interest in automotive design over the past 30 years, then this edition of “Autoline After Hours” is must viewing.

Joining the discussion are Greg Migliore of Autoblog and Joe DeMatio of Hagerty Media.

And you can see it here.