Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from its death throes ?

He's now 82 years old and has a new book, 'Where Have All The Leaders Gone ?'Lee Iacocca Says: 'Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening ? Where the hell is our outrage ?

We should be screaming bloody murder ! We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, 'Stay the course'Stay the course ? You've got to be kidding. This is America , not the damned, 'Titanic'.

I'll give you a sound bite: 'Throw all the bums out !'

You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore.The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq , the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving 'pom-poms' instead of asking hard questions.

That's not the promise of the ' America ' my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you ? I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have. The Biggest 'C' is Crisis ! (Iacocca elaborates on nine C's of leadership, with crisis being the first.)

Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.On September 11, 2001 , we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A hell of a mess, so here's where we stand.We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving.We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia , while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy.

Our schools are in trouble.
Our borders are like sieves.
The middle class is being squeezed every which way.
These are times that cry out for leadership.

But when you look around, you've got to ask: 'Where have all the leaders gone ?'

Where are the curious, creative communicators ? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense ? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo ?

We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm. Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again. Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do the next time.

Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when 'The Big Three' referred to Japanese car companies ? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do about it ?

Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debit, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem with out a TELEPROMPTER. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of ? That some bonehead on CNN will call them a name ? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change ?Had Enough ? Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope - I believe in America .

In my lifetime, I've had the privilege of living through some of America 's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises: The 'Great Depression,' 'World War II,' the 'Korean War,' the 'Kennedy Assassination,' the 'Vietnam War,' the 1970's oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11.If I've learned one thing, it's this: 'You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That's the challenge I'm raising in this book.

It's a "Call to Action" for people who, like me, believe in America '. It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off the crap and go to work. Let's tell'm all we've had 'enough.'

October is here and the state fair is right around the corner. September sales ended up with GM down 44.8%, Chrysler down 42.1% but Kia up 24.4% and Hyundai up 27.2%. Here at Wilson Auto Group, our Kia and Hyundai sales were up 106% from September of last year!

Kia and Hyundai continue to outperform the market with exciting new products, outstanding value and the tendency for folks to watch their money a little closer in this economic recession.
We are real excited about the all new Hyundai Sonata and Tucson which are coming out in the 4th qtr of 2009.

I recently toured the new Kia production plant in West Point, Georgia which represents an investment of over $1 Billion dollars in the USA by Kia. This plant is the most technologically advanced automobile plant in the world and makes extensive use of robotics and non-union labor for maximum efficiency and quality.

Here at Wilson Auto Group, I am especially proud of my team for capturing the number one sales honors for the entire state of Mississippi as well as outselling Hyundai competitors in Memphis, New Orleans, Birmingham, Nashville, Shreveport and many other southern cities.

Our goal is to consistently be in the top 10 in a 5 state area that includes: Alabama, Mississippi, Louisianna, Arkansas and Tennessee. My team did a great job in Sept and posted at #6 in this 5 state region!

Stop in and see the Hyundai and Kia lineup that is breaking all records and posting huge market share gains in this tough enviroment and you'll see why.
Doug Wilson

Power of Pink!

Wilson Hyundai has joined WLBT in the Power of Pink! I am sure that all of you know someone that has been affected by this disease! Now it is your time to help with the fight against Breast Cancer.

Come down and see the new Hyundai Sante Fe Power of Pink car! Make a donation and we will let you sign the Power of Pink car.

The car will also be unveiled on October 26th at Highland Village. October 26th is the Power of Pink day, so make sure you wear your pink and come down to support all who want to fight Breast Cancer!

If you would like to nominate someone who you think should tell their story about their battle against Breast Cancer, please click on the link for http://www.wlbt.com/ and click on the Power of Pink link. You can nominate your special candidate and tell them why you feel they should be considered a finalist in The Strength In Pink Special Tribute. Check out http://www.wlbt.com/ for all of the details. The winner will receive a 3 day/ 2 night weekend GETAWAY at a Robert Trent Jones Resort in Alabama.

Check it out and help us win the fight against Breast Cancer!

“It should not be surprising that when we elected politicians last year that those politicians would use their influence and taxpayer money to pursue the political aims they were elected to represent. That is what politicians do and that is what Cash for Clunkers (CFC ) was all about….offering an incentive for US Citizens to move towards more fuel efficient and less polluting /cleaner vehicles. The political aims being to reduce our dependence on foreign oil by consuming less fuel and to reduce global warming by swapping high polluters for much cleaner burning vehicles.

Regardless of your thoughts about the polar bears or global warming, you have to concur with the fact that older vehicles do not meet the same pollution standards that 2010 vehicles do. When you are behind them at the red light, you can readily smell the noxious fumes. 80% of the vehicles we “clunked” were built in the 80’s and 90’s and didn’t meet 21st century tailpipe emissions standards.

I will freely admit that I love it when the government subsidizes someone to buy my product, especially when I spent over 20 years selling Dodge vehicles which almost 100% qualified as a clunker and virtually ALL our fuel efficient Kia’s and Hyundai’s qualified as a replacement vehicle. By the way, we did right at 100 CFC deals and OVER 22% were old Chrysler products that we traded people into a New Kia or Hyundai!!! Talk about poetic justice.

Timing is everything in business and this could not have come at a better time for us. May 14, we got “the letter” from bankrupt Chrysler telling us we had only till June 9 to sell off all our inventory of Dodge vehicles. We had 136 new Dodge’s and sold all but 6 during our going out of business sale. We then ordered heavily from our Kia and Hyundai manufacturers to replenish our inventories. Just as all these fuel efficient vehicles were arriving, on June 24 President Obama signed CFC into law…going into effect July 1.

While everyone else was running out of small to mid-size cars and SUV’s, we had truck after truck of factory fresh units arriving! Now our challenge is to liquidate an abundance of inventory without CFC in a short period of time now that model year change is upon us.

One criticism of CFC centered on the perception that these were usable vehicles that were being sent to an early grave. While that is certainly true in some cases, 80% of the vehicles we “clunked” were manufactured in the 80’s and 90’s. Only 20% were year model 2000 and up. Some of these vehicles had over 200,000 miles on them. But wouldn’t the program have to stipulate running vehicles? If it didn’t , wouldn’t we be paying people to get rid of the non-operable vehicle sitting in their yard? That wouldn’t reduce emissions very much, would it?

Which would you rather have? An incentive to do what big government wants you to do…or a penalty or imprisonment? For all the criticism about cash for clunkers; you probably would prefer an incentive to a $2.00 per gallon gas tax or just simply decreeing or outlawing thirsty (read larger) vehicles. I believe it would take at least a $2 per gallon price increase via an additional tax on top of the free market price of gasoline to motivate consumer behavior radically towards fuel efficient vehicles or electric vehicles. That would be devastating to our already fragile economy.


Finally, I have stated that CFC could have been called “The 2009 Act to Subsidize Foreign Vehicles And Trade Out of a Domestic Vehicle”. But what is a foreign vehicle? My former manufacturer, Chrysler, is run by Fiat in Italy and most Dodge vehicles we sold were produced outside the USA; while Hyundai has a huge manufacturing plant in Alabama and Kia, one on the Georgia/Alabama line, employing our southern neighbors and utilizing supplier plants some of which are located in Mississippi.

CFC was great for our business and will definitely reduce carbon emissions and improve the overall fuel economy of the US fleet. Considering the price tag…$3 B…compared to the $787B “stimulus” package, it was a bargain. If Congress would give the car industry just 10% of that stimulus and put the 90% back into the US Treasury, car dealers would get this economy rocking again…employing thousands of southern plant workers, supplier companies, truck drivers, salespeople, radio/newspaper/television/advertising personnel plus many more as the tentacles of the automobile business reach into virtually every crack and crevice of the economy…all the while giving state and local governments a nice shot in the arm also from increased sales tax collections. And the polar bears like it too.

Boy are we glad the Cash4Clunkers is over....we need to get out of the 2009 model business cause we have 2010's coming in daily.

By the way...what do we call 2010's? Are they "Oh tens" or "twenty-tens"?

2010 KIA Soul