All posts by David Bruno

Former club archivist as well as lead SOEC creative director, 2005-2018.

APTERA RECRUITS MARQUES MCCAMMON TO LEAD MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS AND HIRES LA AGENCY PCGCAMPBELL

VISTA, Calif., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ — Marques McCammon, former Saleen executive has joined new vehicle start-up Aptera as Chief Marketing Officer. He replaces branding consultant Tony Kirton, who will continue as a consultant supporting McCammon’s marketing team.

McCammon, 32, boasts an automotive resume that includes the creation of the Dodge SRT-4 and the initial blueprint for Chrysler’s SRT moniker; design of the first modern 4-door convertible, the ASC Helios; and providing product and brand leadership as the former General Manager of Saleen. While at ASC, McCammon was honored by Crain’s Detroit Business as one of 40 young executives making an impact on business in the Motor City.

“Aptera is focused on introducing the world to efficiency as a core attribute of transportation design,” says Aptera co-founder and Chief Technical Officer Steve Fambro. “Marques’s automotive experience, business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit will blend perfectly with our corporate mandate to build the world’s most energy efficient vehicles.”

Aptera, located in Vista, California, recently opened its second facility in the north San Diego suburbs, where the company will ultimately roll-out its first production vehicle, the all-electric Aptera 2e. The two-seat 2e, slated for full production in 2009, offers consumers fuel efficiency levels that are the equivalent of up to 300 miles per gallon.

“I’m excited to join the team and take on the task of developing Aptera into a brand that consumers can look to for quality, safety and efficiency,” says McCammon.

During the first week in his new position, McCammon, along with Aptera President and CEO Paul Wilbur, selected PCGCampbell as the company’s new public relations and communications agency.

“PCGCampbell provides a wealth of experience from inside and outside the transportation sector,” said Wilbur. “This combination makes them the ideal partner for Aptera, where we similarly merge the experience of the automotive industry with the creativity of California’s high-tech industries. With Marques’s leadership and the support of teams like PCGCampbell, Aptera is sure to make a significant impact on the transportation industry.”

“Anyone who’s ever seen the 2e realizes Aptera is all about innovation and re-imagining traditional automotive design,” says Shane Smith, managing partner, PCGCampbell, whose clients include EcoMotors International, Yokohama Tire Company, Enova Systems, Volvo North America and Heal the Bay. “When you combine Aptera’s unique aerodynamics and superior energy economy, you’re offering consumers a remarkable new driving experience. We’re thrilled to be a part of such an important, revolutionary project.”

About Aptera
Aptera Motors (http://www.aptera.com), founded in 2004 to develop and build the safest, most energy efficient commuter vehicles on the road, begins volume production of its first vehicle, the all-electric 2e, in 2009. Utilizing streamlined aerodynamic design, lightweight composite structures and unique drive systems, Aptera delivers vehicles that are attainable and efficient. The company operates two facilities in northern San Diego, California, where it designs, engineers and manufactures the vehicles and their composite systems to create an exceptionally strong, sleek body.

SOURCE: Aptera Motors

SALEEN DARK HORSE

By: MARK VAUGHN on October 13, 2008
Original Article: AUTOWEEK, VOL. 58, ISSUE 41

Yet Another Limited-Edition Mustang

Despite numerous executive departures from Saleen in the last month or two, the company is still making new products. This one could be the last special-edition Mustang… until the reskinned, reengineered 2010 Mustang debuts at the Los Angeles auto show in November with a corral full of them.

The Saleen Dark Horse Extreme Edition follows on the heels-or is it the hooves?-of the Sterling Edition and Gurney Signature Edition Mustangs from Saleen. The Dark Horse offers the same impressive supercharged 620 hp as the Sterling, but comes wrapped in its own sinister black exterior. Under the SuperShaker hood scoop is a 302-cubic-inch Ford V8 with Saleen port-matched Series VI integrated screw-type supercharger, forged-aluminum pistons, forged-steel connecting rods and a forged-steel crank. The hood scoop supposedly delivers 0.5 psi of boost all by itself.

Saleen will make only 25 Dark Horses, as many as five of which will be convertibles. Sticker price is $89,995. They go into production in November, with sales starting that same month.

If you don’t have $90,000 of disposable income, consider Saleen’s Racecraft division. A Racecraft 420S offers 420 hp and a few other amenities for “just” $38,000.

Even more affordable will be the coming Racecraft Focus, expected shortly after the new production Ford Focus debuts in 2010. The Racecraft version will come in a normally aspirated version with handling and cosmetic improvements for $20,199, while the turbocharged version will offer “between 200 hp and 250 hp” for between $23,000 and $24,000. Production plans call for 50 to 75 a month, all of them 50-states legal.

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CHRIS THEODORE: KEEPING PERFORMANCE ALIVE

By: CHRISTOPHER A. SAWYER on September 2008
Original Article: AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN & PRODUCTION, VOL. 120 ISSUE 9, P18-19. 2P.

The CEO of ASC and Saleen sees this time of higher gas prices and tighter emissions regulations as the perfect opportunity for domestic automakers to grab the imagination of the next generation by increasing their reliance on niche manufacturers.

One of the last times that I saw Chris Theodore-the newly named CEO of American Specialty Cars (Southgate, MI; www.ascglobal.com) and Saleen, Inc. (Troy, MI; www.saleen.com)-was in 2003, before he retired from Ford. The setting was a media introduction of the 2005 Ford Five Hundred and Freestyle (now Taurus and Taurus X). Showing a fellow journalist the capacious rear compartment of Ford’s new premium sedan, Theodore exhibited remarkable restraint when said journalist blurted out: “Wow! This’ll make a great taxi cab!” But Theodore’s mind was on his next project-and, as it turned out, his last at Ford-the Ford GT, a car that never could be mistaken for a taxi cab. Though insiders say Theodore’s 2004 departure from Ford was driven by internal political intrigue, it’s a subject which he sidesteps easily. “I tried retirement for about 10 months,” he says, “did-and still do-some teaching at the University of Detroit, and played with my toys, but I’ve been a car nut since I was four. I couldn’t just sit still.” Offers from various suppliers were considered, but Theodore-an avowed “total car guy with a heavy emphasis on powertrains”-didn’t want to take a position just so he could keep his hand in. If he was to come out of retirement, it would take an opportunity that would give him a chance to express his creativity, something that working for a commodity supplier wouldn’t accomplish.

“The OEMs are going to be focused on meeting a set of fuel economy standards that probably will be relaxed when it’s too late,” he says. This is causing a major refocusing of cycle plans, and forcing automakers to redirect their performance efforts toward more mainstream concerns. “This creates a tremendous opportunity for us,” he says, especially with the next generation of car buyers. Describing car lust as “an anthropological thing that goes in cycles,” Theodore believes domestic automakers have an unequalled opportunity to connect with the Millennial generation as traditional youth-oriented brands like Honda have “aged with the people they attracted to their fold in the first place.” What will appeal to this new generation of buyers is uncertain, but developing products like the Sky Slider roof and going directly to the consumer for their reaction, he says, is both faster and less expensive than following an OEM’s normal approval process. It also is less risky as it is easier for a supplier to react to changes in demand or introduce new products based on customer feedback.

Despite the fact that the Saleen facility is a former AMT model factory-“We had all these tiny rubber tires coming down from the rafters when we remodeled the place!”-with the only low-volume paint facility in North America (the Dodge Viper’s body panels are painted there), an engine shop, a supercharger shop, and a fabrication and composites shop, the four-year-old that still lives inside the man still has dreams of building his own car-“No true car guy goes through his life without having that fantasy.”-a dream that is closer with his ascension to the CEO’s slot at both ASC and Saleen. Will it be the Saleen S5S Raptor, a mid-engined sports car in the mold of Ford’s GT, or something less predictable? “Before I left Ford,” he recounts, “I wanted to do a new version of the Mustang I concept car of the early 1960s.” His preliminary layouts showed a turbocharged version of the Escape Hybrid powertrain situated transversely behind the driver and passenger, and side-mounted radiators like the original. It was an ethical sports car, he says, and one in tune with the desires of younger buyers. “After all,” he intones, “no matter how ‘green’ anyone purports to be, they just want to have fun.”