Would you like to sip a little tea with us? Become a member and find out what’s going on in the larger world of automotive journalism.
Top photo: Newspress
Would you like to sip a little tea with us? Become a member and find out what’s going on in the larger world of automotive journalism.
Top photo: Newspress
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Will add my voice to the chorus of “Yes, more stuff like that!”. Please do have Exhaust Leaks as a regular or semi-regular Membership feature.
This is great – reading it feels a bit like those times when I’ve traveled outside the US and because of wife/company/randomness I end up getting to experience an area outside of the normal “go zone”, which I always end up finding endlessly fascinating. Also, Damn! Get DT another salt shaker!
The car in the top shot is a Porsche, jus sayin’.
If it’s tariff drama my first guess was a VW group company.
Yeah, I’m with David on this one. My first response to taking down the story would have been, “Nah, Fuck that!” I dig the peek behind the curtains
Yes – This is a great addition to the members only content.
Love this. Memberships rule.
Another “Yes” vote for Exhaust Leaks. I’ve been reading automotive journalism for a very long time and have never run across such stories. More uniqueness is a good thing!
re: Exhaust Leak-
Please sir, may I have some more?
re: Article – You made the right call not to take the article down, though it might have been worthwhile to add a clarifying update as to which of the company reps was in the right.
re: Automaker – I vote Lotus
Yes to exhaust leak (on this site, not the ones on my car).
Spicy David is fun!
I do enjoy this kind of story, so please keep them coming.
Hmm. The use of “bloody,” a car that might not be sold in the U.S. anymore…HMM.
My first thought when I read the headline was GM, but I don’t know of any Brits on their comms team.
…did this person recently retire? If so…hahahahahahaha, WHAT THE HELL DID YOU POST?! I still don’t think that was him, though. VW’s been pretty transparent on its response to tariff hell, and they did respond to that piece on the ID.Buzz.
If not, hmm. Maybe a smaller brand? My bet’s on JLR or maybe Volvo (following that wagon piece).
sure, why not?
I enjoyed this for sure. Definitely want some more of it!
Did David directly respond to this person with “FUCK OFF” or was that something he wrote in an internal communication? Because I can see the rep holding a grudge against someone that said that to him directly. Not that David was the least bit wrong of course, just that you can expect people to react emotionally to being told to fuck off.
Internal only. Well, I guess until now.
Paywall FTW!
No need really, the man already bared his own backside at a posh event by shouting at you for working at a place that does its job well. Damn shame a randy billy goat wasn’t around to help him follow DTs yet to be delivered instructions.
It certainly looks like a screenshot from their internal Slack as seen on previous Tales from the.
yaasss more of this! I’m guessing VW as well.
Thanks for the glimpse under the hood.
Just in case there was any doubt, stories like this are why I happily support your brand of independent journalism. You might lose brownie points with some of the OEMs, but you earn copious amounts of brownie points with your readers. Thanks for putting readers first. Thanks also for not writing this as a “hit piece” against the anonymous OEM. That shows integrity.
However…since Jason challenged us to guess which automaker is involved…without doing any research whatsoever…I’m guessing this is Volkswagen. It’s a large company, it’s main office isn’t in the US (per the comment about checking with the US office), they definitely had tariff issues, the Autopian writes about them quite often, and the coverage, while fair, isn’t always…umm…flattering.
Yeah. My vote is Volkswagen.
Specifically this story: https://www.theautopian.com/wtf-is-going-on-with-the-volkswagen-id-buzz/
They even have the Spiderman Pointing at Spiderman meme in there because VW gave two different stories that didn’t line up.
I don’t remember that article. Maybe I didn’t read it?
Either way, it just seemed like a Volkswagen-sort of story. I guess it was!
Excellent stuff. Love this idea as a new segment
Love all the “behind the scenes” stuff. Keep it coming, it’s why I subscribe!
Aww Volkswagen got their feelings hurt
Yes, please keep these kinds of stories coming. They make us feel like we’re part of the team and add real value to the membership. Also, it isn’t lost on us that you didn’t link to the article in question, which shows your true colors. Thank you!
Props to you all for sticking with it and not caving. Part of journalism is standing up for what you are writing, even when the people or thing it is about doesn’t like it, something quite a few other media empires could learn a thing or two from.
I have been on the receiving end of journalists publishing stuff that was, I say unemotionally, sensationalist and headline/click grabbing, sounded hot, and was waaaaaay off the mark. More than a few times. To the readers who know their shit, they dismissed and carried on. For the rest of the population, I/we/company were in the doghouse and smeared. This lasts. Its a real liability. It has consequences. For business, jobs, market share. They retract publicly, everybody makes lawyers money, oh all good? No, nobody reads retractions, the reputational damage is done. No hand slaps for the questionable journalism, even the two-bit stuff. So, I get it when someone yells at you and often, its merited – and shameful. OFTEN. That said, this is not the case here. I am in full support of your editorial and technical competence, and will support your take unconditionally until I can not (which I’m very chill about, since its you guys). Keep it up. You have to show your teeth sometimes, and where the buck stops. I’m in.
I enjoyed the article, yes. Seeing what y’all have to deal with and how it all goes on behind the scenes is very interesting to an outsider like myself. Don’t need this for every issue you experience, but the occasional peak into the factory is fun!
Guess which automaker’s PR person is shitty? I’d start with Tesla, but I think you’d just call him the CEO.
But good on you for standing your ground when they come at you like that.
Tesla hasn’t had PR people since J and D were working at the old site.
Yeah…that’s why I said if it was Tesla, they’d just use his official title of CEO. It was supposed to be a joke about him being a shitty PR guy (having fired the PR department).
MOAR! This is good stuff. I was genuinely shocked/impressed by David’s response.