This is the Morning Shift, our one-stop daily roundup of all the auto news that's actually important — all in one place at 9:00 AM. Or, you could spend all day waiting for other sites to parcel it out to you one story at a time. Isn't your time more important?
1st Gear: Next-Gen Ford Mustang To Look "More Like The New Ford Fusion"
Michael Ramsey over at the Wall Street Journal tells us that the next-generation Ford Mustang will eschew the authenticity of the retro look for something more suited for connecting with "the youngs." No, it won't look like one of them fancy Walkmans with the internets on it. Instead, he claims the "next generation would retain the shark-nosed grille and round headlights, but would look more like the new Ford Fusion than the current Mustang." So Billy the wide-mouthed Bass meets a pony — sure, why not? Frankly, the new Ford Fusion's pretty damn hot — and current Mustang sales are anything but awesome. I could totally see a 'stang that looks like the Ford Evos concept. Read more here.
2nd Gear: Fiat Viaggio Is How You Say Alfa Romeo Giulietta In Italian-Accented Mandarin
At this month's Beijing Auto Show, Fiat will unveil its new Chinese-built small car built on the same platform as the Alfa Romeo Giulietta and Dodge Dart. It'll be called the Fiat Viaggio and from the teaser shots it's clear that styling will borrow heavily from the Dart side of the family. Production starts up under the umbrella of Fiat's partnership with Guangzhou Automobile Group in July, and sales'll begin before the end of the year.
3rd Gear: More Automakers Getting Hofmeister Kinky
What was the always necessary "trend" to come out of this month's New York Auto Show? How about the Hofmeister kink, BMW's distinctive treatment of the point where the C-pillar meets the side window? Apparently, almost every four-door at the show was showing itself getting kinky. Take the quiz Phil Patton put together over at The New York Times to see if you can pick which automaker's kink is which.
4th Gear: Ferrari Enzo Successor Could Produce 920 HP
Eight years is a long time to wait for a successor, but if rumors from Motor Trend are true, Ferrari's Enzo replacement should be worth it. They claim to expect a combination of a 800 HP 6.3-liter V12 engine and a KERS (kinetic energy recovery system) to slap down another 120 horses to produce a whopping grand total of 920 HP.
5th Gear: Commonwealth Wants Hundreds To Move To "Wild, Wild Midwest" Of Detroit
Now that General Motors CMO Joel Ewanick has finally settled on an ad agency — Commonwealth, a joint venture between Omnicom's San Francisco-based Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and Interpublic Group's New York-based McCann Erickson Worldwide — to do global advertising for the Chevrolet brand, up to 280 workers are moving into the building housing the Fillmore Theater in downtown Detroit. Their biggest challenge so far? Convincing people to move to Detroit. You know what'll help? Calling it the "wild, wild Midwest." Yeah, never underestimate the staggering drawing power of alluding to gunfights at the O.K. Corral to get today's kids to move to Detroit.
6th Gear: What's The Right Car Brand For Each Mad Men Actor To Shill For?
Did anyone watch AMC's Mad Men last night? If you didn't and you plan on it, don't read a single sentence further into this gear. OK, now that we've warned off anyone foolish enough to not follow the Lockhart Steele Mad Men maxim, I have a question for the greatest commenters in the automotive universe. Since last night's episode was all about Jaguar, this question posed by Weber Shandwick's Tom Shea on Twitter is timed perfectly. Basically, with John Slattery currently the spokesman for Lincoln and John Hamm as the spokesman for Mercedes, then what automakers would be a good fit for other cast members? Jared Harris (Lane Pryce) for Jaguar? What about Christina Hendricks (Joan Harris)? Or Vincent Kartheiser (Pete Campbell)? Answer in the comments below — I'd love to see what y'all come up with.
Reverse:
Ford sets biggest loser diet goal of 750 pounds a car. [USA Today]
How Green Are Electric Cars? Depends on Where You Plug In. [New York Times]
Toyota 86 Makes its D1GP Debut in Japan…and Crashes! [CarScoop]
Roaring back toward sweet 16. [Automotive News]
'Gordian Knott' Sliced Through Chrysler Woes with Suppliers. [Forbes]
GM's Mr. Fix-It Tackles Opel Mess. [Wall Street Journal]
Toyota Turns to BMW to Power European Rebound Against VW. [Bloomberg]
Renault Takes Low-Cost Lead. [Wall Street Journal]
Union slams Toyota sacking 'humiliation'. [ABC News Australia]
Blog Comments Could Help Catch a Killer. (aka, Why I Love Jalopnik — Ed.) [Mashable]
Today in Automotive History
On this day in 1946, Arthur Chevrolet, an auto racer and the brother of Chevrolet auto namesake Louis Chevrolet, commits suicide in Slidell, Louisiana. [History]
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