"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears, and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call... THE TWILIGHT ZONE." 

-Rod Serling

Consider this… a solitary man stands up and shakes his fist in defiance as the forces of darkness surround him. ( music in the background now…deee-deee-dee-dee bum-bum-bum bump)

Salt Lake City Utah…The United States of America. Brent Butterfield, a man under extreme pressure, refuses to sellout his family heritage to the Ford Auto Collection. Facing a juggernaut with nearly unlimited financial reserves, this lone entrepreneur vows to defend the legacy of his family handed down through the generations since 1937.

Wow…what an episode that would make huh! Wonder how this story’s gonna end?

As these words are flowing out of my keyboard it is the last week of June. I am sitting in my hotel room at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. There is a snifter of Remy Martin Cognac on the night stand beside me and the neon lights of an electric city glare through the opened curtains. The setting is surreal and "The Twilight Zone" is a befitting title for an article about insanity and delusion…about greed and deception …misdirection and incompetence, lies and corruption…An article about unfathomable arrogance and the enigmas of what is currently happening in the retail automobile industry.

Fasten your seatbelt…it’s going to be a bumpy ride. There’s the signpost up ahead… …next stop …The Twilight Zone.

( music …deee-deee-dee-dee bum-bum-bum bump)

Brent Butterfield is a hero. There are so few people today who really stand for anything. The Auto Collection in Salt Lake City is reportedly choking and sputtering, losing sales and market share as profits decline. On the other hand Butterfield Ford is posting record sales and profits posting nearly 30% increases month to month.

When is Ford going to admit that The Auto Collection fiasco is a failure? Why are Ross Roberts and Bob Rewey charging ahead with this project ? What’s with this love affair with Bob Rewey and AutoNation all about anyway? When asked if Ford had plans for future projects with AutoNation, Rewey was quoted as saying he wouldn’t rule that out. On the other hand they are saying that the Auto Collections are a self-defense initiative against the proliferation of the Super Dealers like AutoNation.

What do you think Tonto? "Pale Face speak out of both sides of his mouth Kemo Sabe."

What if…Nobody really knows the true figures, but let’s speculate here…What if the Tulsa Auto Collection were losing substantial money…say somewhere between a million and one million-six hundred thousand a month…say they were losing that much money every single month since they began the project. If that was true would Roberts, O’Conner and Rewey ever admit that this project was a disaster?

If anybody knows any of the Lincoln-Mercury Dealers involved with the San Diego Auto Collection, why don’t you call them up and ask them if they are losing substantial market share or is that just another one of those nasty unfounded rumors?

Let’s face it boys…Indianapolis was an embarrassment…You got blown out of the saddle when you tried to put together an Auto Collection in Connecticut…You were ridden out of Texas on a rail…Your dealers are fighting tooth and nail to keep you out of Virginia…and, it appears to me, that every Auto Collection that is up and running is running in reverse.

Talk About Bizarre…In the May 17^th edition of Automotive News, publisher, Keith Crain called for the resignation of Cadillac Division general manager, John Smith. By now everyone is aware that Cadillac got caught red-handed falsifying sales reports to make it appear that they had outsold Lincoln in 1998.

Whoa…Wait a minute Keith…slow down there big fellow. John Smith is one of the brightest stars in a dying galaxy. Even though Smith is a Zarella appointee, he is doing some innovative moves that I believe will restore Cadillac to market dominance in that segment. I love this guy. When you called for Smith’s resignation, I think you were right…you just got the wrong Smith.

Go on the internet and archive the October 23^rd, 1995 edition of Business Week Magazine. There is an article there about Bausch and Lomb and events that happened under Ron Zarella’s watch that reportedly put Bausch and Lomb in the toilet. What strikes me about that article is that, although the article doesn’t directly accuse Mr. Zarella of any criminal activity or impropriety it does say that sales reports at Bausch and Lomb were falsified and misreported…phony invoices and shipments reported that were never made…Gray market Ray Bans etc. Whether he knew about it or not, Zarella was in charge there. My question is…Is there something in Zarella’s management style or the culture he creates that pressures or encourages managers and executives to feel the need to report false sales reports? Does the concept of Red Ball days ring a bell? (Twilight Zone music…doo-dooo-doo-doo doo-doo-dooo-doo)

Speaking of General Motors…Now that the cat is out of the bag. Can you believe it? Those rascals are going to open up a program car retail outlet and sell off-lease cars directly to the public. The first one in Houston, Texas will probably be operational by the time you read this. When interviewed by Earle Eldridge at USA Today…a GM spokesperson pointed out that they were losing $3000.00 per returned off-lease vehicle. He went to point out that then the dealers bought these at auction and sold them to the public for a profit. What he didn’t say but I find to be entirely obvious is that General Motors wants that profit. I am going to put this in the hat as a contender for the "Double-Cross of the Year Trophy".

Mercedes Benz…Michael Jackson (factory guy not the rock star) at Mercedes Benz is shown laughing loudly, or at least grinning broadly, smiling at his dealers in every recent photograph in every publication. Of course, in the photos of Mr. Jackson you can’t see his hands or what configuration his fingers might be in.

What Mr. Jackson is allegedly grinning about is the new "Mercedes Experience". I interpret "The Mercedes Experience" as being another one of those happy-clappy new age initiatives where Mercedes Benz cut the discount profit margins in the products to their dealers from 13% to 7% and they are pressing hard for the dealers to adopt a "No-Haggle", non-negotiable price strategy. I wouldn’t be so crass as to imply that both the dealer and the public will ultimately get screwed here but I will say that BMW and Lexus market share will increase dramatically as a result of this allegedly goofy miscalculation. I predict that Mercedes customers will reject the one-price initiative and they will not accept the trade values that the lower margins will force the dealer to offer. Another manufacturer tampering with the retail process. (Twilight Zone music up…dooo-dooo-dooo-doo)

That rascal Jac Nasser is at it again. This time he’s appointing more outsiders to top management at Ford Motor Company.

The idea is evidently to get rid of all those old "Car Guys" and replace them with fresh young marketing guys and gals with no automobile background. Unfortunately they will also have no shred of a clue of how to deal with the dealers or the consumers. That is of course assuming that Jac himself possesses any of those qualities. One of the latest appointees to the position of vice-president is Brian Kelley previously with Proctor and Gamble. It appears that he will be next in line for Ross Roberts’ position. The other new face that jumped out at me was Jim Schroer, who will evidently be Bob Rewey’s successor. These guys are really young. At first take when I saw the photographs of Kelley and Schroer I wasn’t wearing my glasses and I thought the magazine had mistakenly printed the photos of Opie Taylor of Mayberry and John Boy Walton. After further inspection I realized that Kelley and Schroer don’t resemble either of those two characters.

A lonely warrior is barreling through the darkness on a deserted country road. The fog and mist shrouds the headlamps as you negotiate tight turns sliding on the loose gravel. You’re struggling to keep a keen awareness and a razor sharp edge. This road never ends…Brent Butterfield your destiny is to be an eternal traveler…This is The Twilight Zone.

(Twilight Zone music doo-doo-dooo-doo doo-doo-dooo-doo)

As a sort of footnote to this article I’ve got to say that I was cracking up with tears rolling down my face at the quote where they said that Ross Roberts was tickled to death that Butterfield Ford was doing well. I bet he was equally thrilled when Butterfield said that the Auto Collection in Salt Lake was taking a nosedive in the shallow end. (Ziegler translation of quote)

If Butterfield’s success tickled Ross to death, he must be absolutely euphoric at some recent Bert Boeckman quotes concerning the Auto Collections.

GMAC…Incredible! Let me see if I’ve got this right now. GMAC is offering lower retail interest rates to the customers of the dealers who floorplan with them and do more business with GMAC. That is so unbelievable.

Am I to understand that the consumer will penalized financially if they do business with a dealer that doesn’t qualify…does that mean they will get higher interest rates from non-qualified dealers? Somebody is gonna get sued here for sure and I am betting they’ll lose. This is incredible. 

Late Breaking News (written July 1^st)

By James A. Ziegler 

Wouldn’t you know it? Here I am on vacation with my family in Florida and a reporter calls me to ask me my opinion on the resignation of Steve Berrard. Berrard was allegedly the co-CEO of AutoNation.

Well, bear in mind that I am writing this on July 1^st and, by the time you read this, some of the events in this drama will have unfolded already.

There have been rumors about this for a long time now. Steve’s resignation has a lot to do with Mike Maroone. However, the most enlightening part of the National Gossip on this matter is that Berrard will be replaced, in the short-term, by one of the major factory executives. Three names have been floating around for about three months now.

Personally, I am betting Berrard’s replacement will be a Ford Vice-President. If that turns out to be the case, remember that I wrote in this magazine, six months ago that this was going to happen and that rumors were strong that a Ford Vice-President was lining up a plush job with AutoNation…In that article I implied that Billy Ford needed to wake up and take a testosterone injection and throw some of the Philistines out of the sacred halls before they give the whole Ford Legacy away to marauding pirates. After the O.J. Trial you never know what would stand up in court BUT If an influential Ford Vice-President should end up with that job…I would have to say something might allegedly stink about this whole deal.

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