Introducing TheDetroitBureau.com

The more things change, it’s said, and the more they stay the same. Three decades after Ken Zino and I started in this business, Chrysler Group is once again struggling for survival, as is General Motors Company and, to a lesser degree, Ford Motor Company.

I stumbled into the online world in its infancy, and ran a major website for close to a dozen years. I sold that site in late 2007, and moved on entirely a year later. Zino and I now see an opportunity to return to the web with an entirely new analytical automotive magazine, an internet extension of the automotive news bureau I have long operated.

If one thing has changed, it’s the way news is delivered. Far more rapidly than the auto industry, the media have been evolving. Once there were a few news sources in the traditional print and broadcast realms. Today, while  old outlets are fading, failing or gone, the list of automotive outlets has grown. Rather than waiting for a broadcast, the mail or a newspaper delivery, viewers open a web browser.

My partner, Ken Zino, is a versatile utility player with vast global experience in auto publishing, auto testing, public relations and communications. Ken is at home on test tracks,  knows his way around Congressional hearing rooms, as well as auto research and testing labs. He can quote from court decisions and dockets, or sports writers such as Red Smith.

Ken will be responsible for an editorial philosophy that emphasizes critical thinking, and for pulling together our emerging car review program. Auto testing is a job Ken is well suited for since he reviewed hundreds of vehicles  in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe and in Asia, now the only automotive growth market in the world.

What is TheDetroitBureau.com?

Simply, it’s some of the world’s brightest writers and commentators using the latest web-publishing format, but with traditional editing and journalism techniques behind it — new format, old values.

There are professionals such as Joe Szczesny, who has been covering the business even longer than Zino and I have, as well as  European-based contributor Henny Hemmes, and spy photographer extraordinaire Brenda Priddy. Yale grad and senior editor Mike Davis has been writing about the auto industry for more than 50 years. His first auto report concerned Continental Mark II sales, followed by a story on Detroit’s involvement in racing, both for Business Week. He later spent 25 years as a Ford public relations and marketing executive.

Collectively, we think of ourselves as the Voice of the Automotive World. It is an informed, experienced, and opinionated voice.

We can only achieve our goal by encouraging our viewers to share or debate ideas on these digital pages. We want to hear from you, whether you’re an executive, an associate  on the assembly line, or a car buyer with something to say about the latest products. Send us your stories, challenge us with criticism of our opinions or add your perspective.   E-mail us your pictures and as we upgrade our site, we’ll look for your video as well.

We trust you like what you see. We’ll try to reflect the input of our readers; it’s one of the great benefits of publishing on the internet.

Spread the word and come back to visit us at TheDetroitBureau.com — the Voice of the Automotive World.  – Paul Eisenstein