A quarter century ago I subscribed to this magazine in response to one of those promos that offered a really low introductory rate. I liked the auto history pieces — this was before the Internet made them a dime a dozen. However, I otherwise didn’t find Autoweek all that interesting (too much focus on racing). Thus, I let my subscription lapse and haven’t paid much attention to the magazine since.
Leon Mandel was the publisher of Autoweek when I was a subscriber. Fast forward to 2011, when I learned that his son Dutch had stepped into his role from Jack Baruth. The Truth About Cars reporter wrote a series of scathing critiques of Mandel the Younger. According to Baruth, Dutch was an elitist (2011), he screwed up a magazine redesign (2012) and was overly slow in reporting on car defects (Baruth, 2013).
For many years Autoweek was a family affair
Autoweek is owned by the same folks who control Automotive News — Crain Communications. This is a family-run business, so I was not surprised that Dutch followed in his dad’s footsteps. A few years later I was surprised to read that Dutch left the magazine with no specific plans beyond moving into a new home in South Carolina (Automotive News, 2017). That sounded like he was pushed out.
Of course, I was reading between the lines. Dutch was given a royal send off. For example, a story about his departure stated that “Fiat Chrysler, Nissan, Ford, Toyota, Infiniti, General Motors, Mazda and NASCAR honored Mandel with full-page tributes in the latest Autoweek” (Automotive News, 2017). I suppose that’s a kindly thing to do, but it also shows what Dan Neil has described as an “incestuous” relationship between the auto media and industry.
Print edition killed, management outsourced
In 2019 Crain stopped publishing Autoweek’s print edition, which in recent years had come out only twice a month. In addition, they signed a deal with Hearst Magazines to operate Autoweek‘s website, e-newsletters and podcasts (Guaglione, 2019). Did they take this half step because they couldn’t find a buyer?
Autoweek is but a click away on my browser, but I don’t check in very often. Mainly I look for Murilee Martin’s postings on auto history. It’s not Richard Longworth-level historical analysis, but Murilee is fun to read.
Otherwise, Autoweek doesn’t stand out among the auto buff media. This leads me to wonder: How much longer can it survive?
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- Free access to website; subscription/single-issue purchase required for print magazine
RE:SOURCES
- Automotive News; 2017. “Automakers, NASCAR surprise Mandel in Autoweek.” (Subscription required.) Posted January 16; accessed June 11, 2018.
- Baruth, Jack; 2011. “Fat Man Makes fun Of Fat Woman, American Complains About America: It’s Just Another Autoweek.” The Truth About Cars. Posted June 22; accessed May 5, 2013.
- ——–; 2012. “Autoweek Is About To Make Me Rich With This Lawsuit Settlement, And Rightly So.” The Truth About Cars. Posted April 16; accessed May 5, 2013.
- ——–; 2013. “Dutch Steps Up.” The Truth About Cars. Posted Sept. 19; accessed Sept. 20.
- Guaglione, Sara; 2019. “Hearst To Operate ‘Autoweek’ Digital Businesses, Crain Communications Ends Print Magazine.” MediaPost. Posted October 14, 2019; accessed October 11, 2020.
This is an updated version of a mini-review originally posted January 24, 2018.
I still check Autoweek frequently and it sometimes has some interesting features. I think the bigger story is the Road & Track story. I subscribed to R&T non-stop from 1967 and still have most of the issues (unfortunately there is no market for old car magazines, another internet victim). A year or so ago they changed it, or tried to change it, into a lifestyle magazine. I have no knowledge of how it is going but I no longer subscribe, and I believe the magazine has lost its way. No, I don’t know how to evolve a print magazine in the age of digital, electronic, media. Car & Driver still seems viable despite the electric car revolution that translates to little charisma (IMHO). michael