Blogs change how carmakers deal with media
As Detroit's automakers struggle to keep market share and make money, a new breed of watchdogs is emerging on the Internet. They post regular columns on Web sites and send out e-mail newsletters providing blunt, and often colorful, analysis of the auto industry.
They blast corporate strategy, single out top-level executives for failed projects and provide their own thoughts on what the automakers should do to turn things around. Several sites have developed a loyal following with thousands of regular visitors.
Whether the companies like them or not, the Internet sites are increasingly pushing information to the public, said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. They quickly circulate news and ideas about the auto companies.
"There are no secrets," Cole said. "You can't hide anything."
The sites already have caught the attention of the major automakers. General Motors Corp. monitors the Internet daily to see how its brands and the company are covered, said Michael Wiley, GM's director of new media.
The Internet has become a powerful force, Wiley said. An independent Web site, www.solsticeforum.com, attracted enough attention last year that GM invited its members to Detroit for a special preview of the new Pontiac convertible.
If people at GM see an error on a Web site, they'll contact the site's publisher or post a response on the site itself, Wiley said. Many of the sites allow for feedback from readers below the stories or commentary.
GM also is increasingly including writers for Internet sites in its media events, he said.
"Quite frankly, I think they're both good and bad," Wiley said. "Some of them are excellent reads. Some of them provide value to consumers. And I think there are some that are just plain mean-spirited."
Several of the most popular alternative Internet sites on the auto industry have been started by people who left the traditional system, whether it be media groups or the companies themselves.
Peter DeLoren-zo started www.autoextremist.com in 1999 after more than 20 years in automotive advertis-ing and marketing. He grew up in metro Detroit, the son of a GM public relations executive.
The site, which he says gets about 45,000 unique visitors a month, is free but helps him land consulting jobs in the auto industry.
DeLorenzo declined to give the names of his clients but said it has not created a conflict of interest.
He said he started the site because no one was being openly critical about the auto companies. Industry insiders and executives would talk about problems in private, but the real story was not being told to the public, he said.
"I've influenced the (mainstream media) coverage of this business," he said. "It's gotten tougher."
Robert Farago, the Providence, R.I.-based publisher of www.thetruthaboutcars.com, has a popular series on his site called "General Motors Death Watch" that provides commentary about GM's money-losing slide.
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