Steve Parker Motoring / The Car Nut

TEN MOST SIGNIFICANT IMPORT CARS OF 2008 AND BEYOND

(In 2008, British TV and radio personality Chris Evans purchased this car, the most expensive Ferrari ever sold, at auction. He spent nearly $7,200,000 on this black 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder. The previous owner of the Ferrari was actor -- and long-time Japanese TV pitchman for Lark cigarettes -- James Coburn).

No one, least of all me, thought that the auto industry was going to be the #1 or #2 story in the world this year; we always knew Detroit would someday go through what they're experiencing now, but never expected all of this to happen so soon. It's been, as we used to say, a real trip.

As in our previous post about the most significant Detroit Three cars, this list is in no particular order and rather than naming a "best" or "most fun" or "best-looking," these are choices currently in showrooms or arriving there soon, all of which have some important feature or combination of features which makes them interesting and/or important. And we want to hear from you how we're right or wrong, and also want to know what cars should be on our list - but aren't.

2009 NISSAN ALTIMA HYBRID
On-sale now.

Nissan pays Toyota for borrowing their well-evolved hybrid system for Altima hybrid models, the company's first and still-only hybrid offering. Renault/Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn (pro: "Gone") says the real "next step" in automotive technology are full EVs, using advanced batteries, which Nissan has been developing for the past four (or more) years; the first Nissan EV should be in the US by year 2010. Nissan is selling a hybrid, says Ghosn, only because Americans expect them to offer one. The company's 2010 Maxima is available with a clean diesel engine, so Nissan is giving customers a choice of technologies. Hybrid mileage figures are 35 in-town, 33 highway. Base price is $26,650.

2009 EURO CLEAN DIESELS: AUDI, MERCEDES-BENZ, VOLKSWAGEN
Various models on-sale now.
(One of the clean diesel-equipped Audi SUVs which participated in a cross-country, NYC to LA trek with several other Audis and achieved more than 38mpg overall - Steve Parker photo).

Once California's Air Resources Board (CARB) approved clean diesel engines for sale in the Golden State, that opened the floodgates for their sale in all 50 states. Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen all have clean diesel models in their US showrooms now; Detroit says clean diesels will be available in 2010, first in their full-size pickups. There are several large-scale projects nationwide to retrofit big rig truck engines with clean diesel technology; that's more than 11 million engines. VW's Jetta TDI starts at $21,990.

DETROIT'S "TEN MOST SIGNIFICANT CARS - 2008 AND BEYOND"

(Lexus' LF-A concept, seen here at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, has been getting ready for production for the past several years - The world economy's problems means this car probably won't be making any "Best of" lists anytime soon).

 

Since every automotive enthusiast magazine and website runs some sort of "Best of" list every year, we're listing those we think are Detroit's "Most Significant" for 2008 and 2009, and some early available news on 2010 models. After reading this post, we'd really like to know where you think we're right - or wrong - and tell us what cars should be on this list, and why. They are listed in no specific order. Coming next: Ten Most Significant Import Cars.

CADILLAC SRX
On-sale in mid-2009 as a 2010 model.

This "Caddy station wagon for the 21st century" will likely use a traditional gasoline powertrain, probably a version of GM's "High Feature" 3.6-liter V6 engine with a six-speed automatic transmission. A gas/electric hybrid version could be added to the SRX roster in late 2010, and the main reason we picked it for our "Most Significant" list. No new SRX pricing as yet; 2009 CTS base prices range from $33,500 to $36,000.

FORD FUSION HYBRID/MERCURY MILAN HYBRID
On-sale mid-2009 as a 2010 model.

Ford's all-new 2010 Fusion hybrid has been certified by the EPA at 41 mpg/city and 36 mpg/highway, with a combined rating of 39 miles per gallon. That beats the hybrid versions of Camry, Malibu and Altima. Based on the competition's '09 ratings for combined city and highway driving, the new Fusion hybrid beats every widely sold vehicle in America except the Toyota Prius hybrid (46 mpg combined) and the smaller Honda Civic hybrid (42 mpg combined). Pricing will start around $27,000.

PONTIAC G8 GT
On-sale now.

The G8 is almost certainly the last big family-sized rear-wheel drive sedan from the Pontiac division. Sometime soon, Pontiac will become a niche brand with just one or two models (sold at dealers selling several GM makes). G8's three engine offerings, a 256-hp 3.6-liter V6, a Corvette-derived 361-hp 6.0-liter V8, plus a new GXP package with a 402-hp 6.2-liter V8 and a 6-speed automatic are not high-mileage units. It's built in Australia by GM's Holden division. Base prices from $28K to $31,500.

FINALLY, SOME GOOD, CLEAN FUN FOR THE AUTOMOTIVE HOLIDAZE!

(This carbon-fiber Lamborghini was all the rage at last year's Tokyo Motor Show).

Really wish there were better news to post about, but the auto industry is reeling worldwide, and there's no better example than Toyota. The world's biggest carmaker said Wednesday its global vehicle sales plunged 21.8% in November, the biggest drop in eight years.

But stick with us through this post; we'll try to inject a little fun for this holiday week and next's.

Even bedraggled Toyota (see above), unaccustomed to losing at anything, has some good news to report for racing fans. In spite of not winning a single race after seven years in Formula 1, Toyota will continue to support their F1 team, with an annual budget estimated at $445 million.
(Toyota thinks the $445-million annual cost to support their F1 team is worth the money and effort; they haven't won a race after seven years in the sport).

General Motors and Chrysler received their year-end gifts early this year, with Washington approving $17.4 billion in loans to those companies. Also, the Detroit Three now have access to DC's Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP).

And there's more good news for GM and, by extension, American car-buyers.

The US Federal Reserve has granted General Motors Acceptance Corporation's application to become a bank holding company, giving GMAC, too, access to what's left of the $700 billion TARP fund. GMAC can use the money to help their dealers with floorplanning (financing cars and trucks dealers buy from GM) and, it's hoped, with loans to consumers to buy new - and even used, depending on the dealer - GM cars and trucks.
(GM CEO Rick Wagoner arrived in Washington last week driving what looked like the high-mileage Chevrolet Cruze, due for the US in 2010, but GM PR-types said it was a "test mule," outfitted with the drivetrain from their Volt "extended-range EV" [that's what the company calls it]; among Wagoner's passengers were the Levin boys from Michigan, Senator Carl and Representative Sandy).

TOYOTA'S FIRST ANNUAL LOSS IN ITS HISTORY; CONGRESS STILL DISSES DETROIT - AND WHY!

(Toyota's F1 car goes a-testing in Bahrain).

Toyota's world headquarters, in Tokyo and Toyota City, Japan is forecasting the first-ever annual operating loss in its 70-year history. And there really is a Toyota City; I've been there.

And Toyota's US division has canceled its 2009 national dealer meeting in an effort to save about one million dollars, says industry journal Automotive News.

Also, the Detroit News reports Toyota's President, Katsuaki Watanabe (also CEO of the worldwide corporation), has canceled plans to attend the North American International (Detroit) Auto Show next month.

Japanese companies place tremendous significance on the visits of "home market" executives to their overseas divisions; Watanabe's decision drives-home the severity of industry problems worldwide, not just for Toyota, but every carmaker. His choice to "stay at the home office, working" speaks many volumes.
(Toyota's Tokyo headquarters; those who have been to Tokyo might recognize this building found in the city's Bunkyo section).

And sadly, for performance enthusiasts down under, Toyota has shuttered their high-performance division, Toyota Racing Development (TRD) in Australia only (at this point).

In other news:

- Land Rover is canceling a global adventure competition to focus its marketing budget on new product launches in 2009. The G4 Challenge would have pitted 18 international teams in a series of off-road driving and adventure sport competitions in Mongolia, in mid-2009;

- US Suzuki dealers won't get floorplanning help from Suzuki's headquarters in Japan ("floorplanning" is financing dealers use to buy cars and trucks from their respective carmakers);

- Chrysler has announced that Deborah Meyer, their chief marketing officer (formerly with Lexus; brought to Chrysler by Jim Press, former Toyota exec now Chrysler's vice-chairman and co-president), and Phil Murtaugh, chief executive officer of Asia operations (who built much of the success GM is enjoying in China), are both leaving the company. They follow the departures last week of John Campi, 64, head of purchasing, and Simon Boag, 43, parts operations chief;
(Chrysler's 2005 Crossfire convertible was, under the sheetmetal, a near part-by-part twin of the Mercedes-Benz SLK, but without that car's coolest feature - a hardtop power folding convertible top. Since then-"partner" Daimler had said no Mercedes parts would ever be used on any Chrysler product, Crossfire was a big indication to the media and other carmakers worldwide how badly the "merger" was doing).

- And General Motors' workers around the world worry what life without GM might be like, reports Associated Press. Unfortunately, 1,080 hourly workers at GM's SUV plant in Moraine, Ohio, a Dayton suburb, are finding out - today.

BUSH PUNTS DETROIT TO TEAM OBAMA; UAW CONCEDES EVEN MORE

(For all visitors and those from the Huffington Post, Whipnotic.com, and the Santa Monica Daily Press - Click on this line to see the complete list of vehicles available now from the "GM Heritage Collection." And now, back to this post).

 

 (President Bush can duck shoes, but not history; his failure to help the country's auto industry in meaningful ways is just one of the many disasters of his administration).

There's an old joke in the car business: A customer visits a dealership and, after enjoying the overwhelming attention of a salesperson, does buy a car. After signing the contract, the salesperson becomes distant, remote, and informs the buyer of the industry's "Three Cs," saying: "See the car, see the keys, see ya later!"

Leave it to President Bush to add a fourth C - "CYA!"

This new agreement gives General Motors and Chrysler a total of $17.4 billion between now and February. After January 20th, the challenge of "What to do about the Detroit Three?" will be squarely in the lap of the new Obama Administration, which was Bush's prime motivation in crafting this deal. It's a classic Cover Your Ass retreat action by Bush, made to unravel completely after the Obama Inauguration because the mandates in the agreement are not really mandates - they're all still negotiable.

It took less than 24 hours for Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to change his position from refusing the Detroit Three access to Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) funds, to his "getting religion" and agree with President Bush that, of course, sure, why not? ... The loan money for the Detroit Three should indeed come out of the $700 billion TARP ($350 billion left), created to bailout - not loan to - the financial industry. (Why a photo of 7-time World Driving Champion Michael Schumacher? [That's Fiat CEO and future Prime Minister of Italy Luca de Montezemolo on the right]. Because this week it was reported that Schumacher donated between $5 million and $10 million to the Bill Clinton Library. Not important for this post, but pretty interesting nevertheless).

One small bright spot: using TARP money leaves intact the $25 billion fund created last December for development of alternative fuels and other new automotive technologies - for now.

Yesterday, the White House demanded (and got) even more concessions from the United Auto Workers, while few were requested of the carmakers. The New Detroit Two are now expected to drastically restructure their 100-year old industry in the next 14 weeks. And to do it with the same management which got them into this mess.

By March 31st, GM and Chrysler, if either still exists, must give Washington a "viability plan" explaining how they're going to build high-mileage cars and trucks which Americans will really want to buy, but mostly their plans to cut, cut, cut costs, then cut some more. And to tell Washington how they're going to pay it all back in three years.
(And here he is - Your new Default Car Czar, America, Henry Paulson! He did such a great job bailing-out Wall Street, just imagine what he'll do with our nation's auto industry!)

GM'S "HERITAGE COLLECTION IS NOW FOR SALE ... ALL OF IT!

(Just a small portion of GM's Heritage Collection; buy all or part of it now, if you can get credit). 

This thing that happened tonight made the possible failure of General Motors more real than before; in fact, it brought it all home for me. It made GM's tenuous position, well, official.

I was taking a night off, not planning another post until Friday or Saturday, as soon as the next Detroit Three loan news came out of Washington. But 'twas not to be.

Instead, I found out that GM is selling-off, one-by-one, piece-by-piece, memory-by-memory, the GM Heritage Collection. Finding out felt like I'd taken a punch to the gut. 

We live in Southern California, and many automotive journalists in this area, where I've worked for 35+ years, tend to snicker and sneer when the names GM, Ford or Chrysler come up. And I've been as guilty of this as some of the others. Many Left Coast writers, but mostly their publishers, have viewed Detroit as one thing: an inexhaustible supply of advertising dollars for their magazines, and now, for their websites, too.
(A 1955 Buick Century is on the sales list).

Some say this attitude is why the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles has received little if any monetary support from the Detroit Three. There is still no official "American Car and Truck Museum," and if there were, those powers in Detroit think it should be in their city, and I don't blame them. Either there or in Washington, DC, possibly as part of the Smithsonian.

And Detroit, I'm told, views Southern California as almost an enemy, peopled by writers who constantly praise import cars and trucks while condemning Detroit's products, and publishers who show little if any appreciation for the very tangible support So Cal's 'zines and sites have received from Motor City.
(A Saab 900 transformed into a Pike's Peak race car. You buy the company, you get the race car. Now, it's for sale. There are also two Peugeots on the list of for-sale vehicles, and frankly, I'd rather not know why).

(Click below to continue reading post; a link to the complete list of GM HERITAGE COLLECTION vehicles for sale is at this post's conclusion).

WHITE HOUSE STILL "GATHERING INFORMATION" WHILE DETROIT SUPPLIERS GO BANKRUPT

(Below, Dodge's Caliber SRT4, which Chrysler thought was just a great replacement for their Neon, which had finally, with the help of the tuners of the world and MOPAR, reached a near-cult-like status. Caliber just didn't do the trick, even with its turbo'd 2.4-liter 4-banger; it looks like what it is: a small minivan).

Chrysler has announced that 30 factories - all of their North American production plants - will close and remain that way until at least January 19th.

In the meantime, the White House says President Bush is still "gathering information and looking at options," with some expecting an announcement this Friday, while two major carmaker suppliers have filed for bankruptcy. Even Bush doesn't want to go down in history as the man who oversaw the destruction of GM, Ford and Chrysler (I hope), and I'd guess President-elect Obama wishes he could install his own new team now and fire Henry Paulson, who is still blocking using any of what's left of the $700 billion TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program) fund for Detroit.

While GM and Chrysler are busy announcing plant closings across the country, Ford is being aggressive, some say too aggressive, in telling Washington and the public they don't need cash right now, but they do want a $9 billion line of government-provided credit they can draw upon if and when it's needed (GM and Chrysler are both asking for $4 billion before this month is out).
(Chrysler created and dominated the minivan market, but this one is from China's Brilliance carmaker, which will be exhibiting at January's Detroit Auto Show).

Ford walks a fine line in trying to appear a "winner" as far as their products are concerned, but they must do so without making GM and Chrysler look like "losers."

Ford has been placing Bill Ford (Henry the First's great grandson) and CEO Alan Mulally (who Ford hired to replace Bill Ford, who admitted, after a few months of trying, he couldn't run the family business) in front of as many TV cameras as possible; Ford was on with Larry King this week. The company is also being aggressive in trying to get its message out through online social media Web sites like Facebook.

(Ford's Flex, their 21st-century take on the station wagon, looks a lot better in this production version than it did as the Fairlane concept seen at many auto shows two years and more before Flex went into production. A big, thirsty V6 engine meant Flex never stood a good chance of enjoying big sales numbers, though. Ford's luck - and timing - with this car was bad).

MOTOR RACING REACTS TO THE WORLDWIDE RECESSION

(An "exploded view" of Honda's 2005 F1 car - Honda has left Formula 1 due to the sour economy).

While the White House struggles to figure out how to appear to be helping Detroit and still screw the UAW, it's a good time to see how motor sports are reacting to the ruined world economy.

No sport is more dependent on sponsor dollars than motorsports.

With car sales suffering worldwide, the marketing and advertising budgets, where many companies keep their racing dollars, are often the first budgets to be trimmed.

Here's a rundown on how the racing world is reacting to the recession:

The biggest news around the racing world is that Honda has left F1 racing, a move which Honda President Takeo Fukui said will save the company $987 million a year (yes, you read right - that's Honda's budget for F1 R&D and fielding a two-car team for one year). Honda has also pulled out of the AMA's motorcycle road racing series in the US.
(Top photo - "Exploded view" of Honda's 2005 F1 race car; above, same Honda F1 car in the 2005 Grand Prix of Monaco).

Formula One, NASCAR and several other series have drastically curtailed testing sessions for teams, one of the fattest parts of any race team's budget.

F1 is working with UK-based engine-builder Cosworth and two Britain-based transmission specialists, Xtrac and Ricardo, to develop a "reference engine" for F1 for use between 2010 and 2012. This would be like a "spec" engine, one with specifications shared by all the teams with very few changes allowed. Teams could still make changes to their car's super-exotic suspension systems and aerodynamics.

Using the "reference" engine would cost teams about $27 million for three years (which includes technical help and repair, rebuilding and shipping, often overnight, sometimes same day), about half what Ferrari charges teams using their engines. F1 has a slew of new rules to help lower costs, too many to document here.

While NASCAR is still much less expensive than F1, running a top-flight two-car NASCAR Sprint Cup team does cost from $15 to $20 million annually; much more if one or both drivers are high-maintenance prima donnas. If the team doesn't have its own jet or high-bucks twin turboprop, then add-in another $10 to $15 million. Pretty soon, we're talking about some real money.

"Transplant" automakers get over $3.6 billion in subsidies; More unions, Ralph Nader comment

This post has the latest news on the billions in subsidies which off-shore transplant carmakers have received from state and local governments. Also, press releases from several unions supportive of the UAW and comments from Ralph Nader. We're running the first release, from Good Jobs First, in its entirety and have shortened those below it for space considerations. All quotes are verbatim. (Photo  - A non-union worker on an assembly line at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama).

Responding to many queries, Good Jobs First today released its summary of state and local subsidies given to foreign-owned auto assembly plants, totaling $3.6 billion.

"As elected officials debate aid for the Big 3, taxpayers have the right to know the full extent of government involvement in America's auto industry," said Greg LeRoy, GJF's executive director.

"And while proposed federal aid to the Big 3 would take the form of a loan, the vast majority of subsidies to foreign auto plants were taxpayer gifts such as property and sales tax exemptions, income tax credits, infrastructure aid, land discounts, and training grants," he said.

Honda, Marysville OH, 1980, $27 million*

Nissan, Smyrna, TN, 1980, $233 million**

Toyota, Georgetown, KY, 1985, $147 million

Honda, Anna, OH, 1985, $27 million*

Subaru, Lafayette, IN, 1986, $94 million

Honda, East Liberty, OH, 1987, $27 million*

BMW, Spartanburg, SC, 1992, $150 million

Mercedes-Benz, Vance, AL, 1993, $258 million

Toyota, Princeton, IN, 1995, $30 million

Nissan, Decherd, TN, 1995, $200 million**

Toyota, Buffalo, WV, 1996, more than $15 million

Honda, Lincoln, AL, 1999, $248 million

Nissan, Canton, MS, 2000, $295 million

Toyota, Huntsville, AL, 2001, $30 million

Hyundai, Montgomery, AL, 2002, $252 million

Toyota, San Antonio, TX, 2003, $133 million

Kia, West Point, GA, 2006, $400 million

Honda, Greensburg, IN, 2006, $141 million

Toyota, Blue Springs, MS, 2007, $300 million

Volkswagen, Chattanooga, TN, 2008, $577 million

Total: more than $3.58 billion

* total of direct subsidies to all Honda facilities in Ohio

** includes about $200 million for expansions of Smyrna and Decherd plants

List does not include joint ventures with U.S. companies

These data, drawn primarily from contemporary media accounts, are very conservative. They do not account for inflation; some would be worth far more in today's dollars.

They do not include any estimate of subsidies granted to hundreds of foreign-owned auto supplier companies that have located in the same areas, virtually all of which were also heavily subsidized. Finally, they do not reflect later news accounts, which often place higher subsidy values.

REPUBLICANS KILL ANY HELP FOR DETROIT

Late Thursday night, Republicans in the Senate derailed a bill, passed the day before by the House, to loan $15 billion to the Detroit Three. The Senate vote was 52 to 35, with 10 Republicans joining 40 Democrats and two Independents in favor.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-TN, after the talks collapsed late Thursday said, "We are three words away," from a deal.

Those words? Most likely, "United Auto Workers."

Republicans are demanding that the UAW accept, in 2009, pay scales, benefits and work rules equal to those of workers in transplant import factories. The union said they will accept all of them, but in 2011, when their current contracts with the Detroit Three, and many supplier companies, expire. (Photo above - From the left, we offer GM's Rick Wagoner, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, Ford CEO Alan Mulally and Chrysler chief Bob Nardelli).

But the "wage parity" question of UAW workers compared to those in transplant factories is not as cut-and-dried as Republican senators may think. There is little in the way of wage and benefit parity among the transplants themselves. And in recent years, industry journal Automotive News reports today, the overseas-based automakers have been pushing wages lower.

These so-called transplant factories, ranging from Hyundai to Honda to BMW to Nissan to Mercedes-  Benz and more, are almost all located in Southeast states, many of them with "right to work" labor laws aimed at union-busting and represented by Republican members of Congress and the Senate.

Republicans seem to be looking to score a rare political trifecta:

- First, they've already gotten a pound of flesh from their own failed and disliked president by forcing him to publicly side with the Democrats;

- Second, they see a chance to finally destroy the UAW;

- Third, they're hoping to appear as if they're just sticking-up for their own deeply-held conservative American beliefs.

For example, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, trotted-out some of the old bromides, saying Thursday that "a government big enough to give us everything we want is a government big enough to take everything we have."

(Photo above - Toyota's iQ, which we saw at the Tokyo Motor Show, is slated to go into production soon; no word on if it would be sold or made in the US anytime soon, but we guess not, unless they think the market for cars like Smart could use some competition; Below, We'll get a new President to try and help Detroit along, either to success or a "pre-packaged bankruptcy." You can't see him in this photo, but those Chi-town thugs, uh, I mean cops, are blocking the street not far from his home).

I can almost hear America's children tonight, "Please check under the bed, daddy, for those UAWs!"

Didn't these Senators take note of the recent election? The vote against hate, political in-fighting and name-calling? The loss of several of their buddies? They're probably betting that their constituents didn't notice. Maybe these representatives have - once more since Election Day - outsmarted themselves.

Thursday, one of the Republican senators opposing the loans, said, "The Republicans are trying to save the industry, and the Democrats are trying to save the union."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he dreads what will happen on Wall Street today, Friday. "It's not going to be a pretty sight,'' he said, that this means "a very, very bad Christmas" for many Americans.

Japan's Nikkei dropped 6% when the bad news hit the market in Tokyo about noon Friday.

THE LATEST! DETROIT LOAN BILL CLEARS HOUSE; SHOULD IT PASS SENATE, TOO?

And now, it's on to the Senate!

The House today passed, 237 to 170, HR 7321, the automotive loan bailout bill, and has sent it on to the Senate.

Here's my conundrum, and maybe it's shared by others (not a bad name for a car, either, this conundrum, "Yes, I'm driving the blue Conundrum, right over there..."): As a card-carrying progressive (and an actual card-carrying member of the ACLU), the Brooklyn-born, conservative Jewish, progressive Buddhist, volunteer for progressive causes including for Allard Lowenstein's first Congressional campaign in 1968 where I shook Robert F. Kennedy's hand at age 14, yeah, that part of me, the bleeding heart part, naturally wants the Detroit Three to succeed and prosper, no matter the cost.

But after 35 years writing about the auto industry and its management, I just don't see a reasonable  chance of any of the Detroit Three, in the next 14 weeks (the bill's in effect only until March 31st), restructuring their corporations so we'd all be comfortable expecting products we'd really want to buy coming anytime soon. These companies are already, at best, about a decade behind their competition, especially that from Japan. And many say Chrysler's failure is a foregone conclusion. (The 1979 Chrysler loan guarantee program eventually brought us simply wonderful cars like this 1982 Dodge Aries, seen in a cut-away view, and if you believe that one, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you, too).

So, should I go with my gut Jingoistic patriotism? Or do I follow Alabama's Sen. Richard Shelby? Perhaps neither.

Shelby is not only against any bailout or loans for GM, Ford and Chrysler now, he even voted against the 1979 Chrysler bailout. At least he's consistent. A classic phony populist demagogue, when it suits his needs, but consistent. (Dodge came a long way in a few short years, the company's top dog being the V10 Viper, a car given the go-ahead by Bob Lutz when he was at Chrysler, now toiling away as GM's top North American product chief; but Lutz' luck may have run out with his bringing to the US from Australia the "new" Pontiac GTO and the current G8 GT sedan, both sales duds. And the entire Dodge Viper brand is now for sale).

The biggest industry in Shelby's Alabama, and throughout much of the non-unionized Southeast, is now the auto industry, not American-owned carmakers, but "foreign transplants" and their factories and suppliers.

Alabama has given its own transplants (Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai and Honda) more "incentives" than any other state in the union. These incentives, aka legal bribes, often include help, if needed, with financing, no state taxes for a lengthy period, long-time breaks on utility costs (those factories use a lot of gas, water and electricity), building roads, freight train sidings, interstate off-ramps as needed and expediting (or forgiving) all the scores of necessary permits, just to mention a few. This amounts to hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, of dollars lost every year for Alabama residents.
(Famed motor racing photographer Bernard Cahier snapped this shot of the Mercedes-Benz "Silver Arrow" racers at the 1954 French Grand Prix. Today, Mercedes-Benz builds cars and trucks in Richard Shelby's Alabama).

CALL FOR K to 12 ENTRIES FOR ENERGY CONTEST; WINNERS GO TO WASHINGTON, DC AND PRESENT AT THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB

(Photo - Dashboard and instrument panel of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid. Contest sponsor Johnson Controls is a major supplier to carmakers around the world. Their products are found in almost every car and truck interior produced, including in this prototype for the Volt).

Because this is a such a great idea, we're running this press release without comment, only with the hope that some visitors to this blog will take it to their kids' schools so they can get involved. Please let us know if you do get involved, and what comes of it. It'd be great to "follow" some kids on their road from developing and writing entries to who eventually wins. Maybe one of our visitors or their kid! Now, the release:

Johnson Controls Announces Call for Creative Energy Projects Entries

Student winners of national competition to visit energy policymakers in Washington, D.C.

MILWAUKEE, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI) , the global multi- industrial leader in energy efficiency and sustainability, has developed an innovative program to engage kindergarten through 12th grade students across North America in developing ways to make the environment more energy efficient.

"Students play an important role in using energy resources wisely, which reinforces our business of providing energy efficiency solutions for consumers and businesses," said C. David Myers, president, Building Efficiency, Johnson Controls. (Photos - Chevrolet developed this convertible prototype of their new Camaro; firms like Johnson Controls can design, build and supply near-complete interiors for carmakers, which are then installed on assembly lines; below, while the Scion exhibit at the recent Los Angeles Auto Show is aimed at younger drivers with a 'tude, it's some of the world's biggest companies, not two dudes in a garage, which create them).

"Each year, we continue to be impressed by the enthusiasm and ingenuity students and teachers exhibit in demonstrating ways to preserve the environment and conserve energy."

This is the eighth year for the Igniting Creative Energy competition, which provides national winners with valuable educational experiences including the opportunity to meet national leaders and energy policymakers in Washington, D.C.

The Challenge, a program developed and funded by Johnson Controls and the National Energy Foundation, is a competition that encourages students to learn more about energy and the environment.

According to Bob Poulson, president of the National Energy Foundation, "It's vital to instill in students the idea that they can creatively contribute to conserving natural resources. It results in improved leadership, character development and service to others, not to mention a better environment."

Student entries should demonstrate an understanding of what an individual, family or group can do in their home, school or community to conserve energy and help the environment. Students may choose to express their ideas in any creative format such as science projects, essays, stories, artwork, photographs, music, videos, web based applications, multimedia projects, etc. They may also submit recent service projects.

Contest Rules and Prizes

The Challenge is open to all students in grades K-12 in the U.S. and Canada, excluding Quebec. All entries are due by March 13, 2009; and winners will be announced April 17, 2009.

DETROIT'S NEXT STEP -- READ THE ENTIRE DRAFT OF CONGRESS' DETROIT RESCUE BILL

(Photo above - Just what America needs! A Hummer limousine with a sun-shaded spa - yes, an actual Jacuzzi - in the rear! If you guessed this photo was shot in Hollywood, CA, you're right!).

Sunday, on Meet The Press, President-elect Barack Obama, in talking with Tom Brokaw about the auto industry, said, "(Detroit) must put an end to their head-in-the-sand attitude, which has been so prevalent for many decades ... (then about the proposed loans and bailouts) This is not the time to put additional burdens on the American people ... We don't want government to run companies, so conditions on the auto industry must include that it becomes an industry which actually functions."

Sen.Chris Dodd, chair of the committee decided Detroit's immediate fate, was a bit more succinct on another topic: When asked about GM CEO Rick Wagoner staying in his current position, Dodd said, "It's probably time for him to move on."

Well, bravo! Maybe the three CEOs can put together a tour like the Three Tenors to make some money for their imminent retirements.

Thanks to Robert Hyde of the Detroit Free Press' Washington staff, we're able to offer their following cogent explanation of the 31-page draft of the Detroit Three rescue plan, to be voted on this week by Congress, with our comments afterwards. Here's what the Freep had to say about the draft bill early Tuesday morning:

(General Motors decided to make this car, the Pontiac G8 GT, equipped with a Corvette engine and drivetrain, available in the US. It's built by Holden, GM's Australian division. The car, similar to the "new" Pontiac GTO, also from Oz, has, like the GTO, been a sales dud. Both cars were brought to the US because Bob Lutz, GM's VP for North American products, thought they'd be hits).

"Detroit automakers would face strict oversight from a federal official and have to drop lawsuits against California's limits on greenhouse gases from cars and trucks under a draft of the rescue obtained by the Free Press.

The final amount of the loans available under the plan was one of the issues still unresolved, with some lawmakers wanting more than the $15 billion that appeared available. General Motors and Chrysler have said they need $8 billion before the end of the year to avoid collapse, and GM has said it could need $6 billion early next year. (Ford's 2010 Mustang, the company's "answer" to Chevy's new Camaro, is mostly a "paint and tape job" with no dramatic new performance or appearance features as seen here at the Los Angeles Auto Show).

Under the bill, automakers would have to submit a restructuring plan by March 31 to what's being called   a "financial viability advisor," who would have the power to set negotiations among the company, unions and creditors. If the advisor deems the company isn't making progress, the loans could be called back.

DETROIT CEOs DRIVE TO DC (YEAH, RIGHT) AND A PRIMER ON HOW DR. DEMING INVENTED JAPAN

(Above, three electric Chrysler vehicles, EVs, rolled-out for a "media event" at the company's Highland Park, MI, headquarters. The display of EVs coincided with company CEO Bob Nardelli's first of two appearances in front of Congressional committees. Nardelli jumped out of the Jeep EV seen in the right background before his second Congressional grilling and no doubt got worldwide press coverage for the effort. He jumped out of the Jeep smack-dab in front of the US Capitol before his second round in front of Congress; the sporty yellow car, like the Tesla Roadster, uses a Lotus platform and suspension to hold the heavyweight batteries and electric motors. No word yet on his return-to-Detroit trip. And oh - the minivan, Chrysler claims, is a real-life EV minivan).

What follows are three favorite aphorisms of Detroit's carmakers, often heard at media events like new car introductions (see above) and while the hot, new "Aphorism" is not yet officially a new car name, it's not half-bad, and certainly competition for these, all of which have actually been used: Mirage, Charade, Naked and Precis. Okay, here's those promised three aphorisms:

1) "Yes, we've had some problems, but we really expect our dropping market share to stabilize at some point, and we'll soon start reclaiming those consumers who want to buy American cars and trucks!"

2) "Our own American-built gas/electric hybrids and hydrogen-fueled fuel cell EVs are just around the corner!"

And my personal all-time, long-time favorite:

3) "Wait'll next year!"

Which makes the Detroit Three the Chicago Cubs of Cars.

A CNN poll conducted last week showed 61% of Americans (over 1,000 were polled) against a Detroit Three bailout.

Now they've blackmailed Congress: If you don't give us the money, they say, over six million Americans will be unemployed; it will put the big "D" in recession, as in, "Depression."

We've had enough threats from our sworn enemies; we don't need them from Detroit executives. These CEOs and their boards of directors must go, whether by car or jet or skateboard, they must go.
(Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli arrived in style at the US Capitol, in an EV Jeep his company first displayed just a few weeks ago; Chrysler's only gas/electric hybrids are the Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen Hemi hybrids, but the Delaware factory where they are produced is closing at the end of this month. One funny thing did occur when Nardelli got out of the Jeep and his door refused to close, in full view of the gathered cameras. Duh!).

None of these three classic fat-cats, GM's Rick Wagoner, Chrysler's Bob Nardelli and Ford's Alan Mulally, has ever shepherded any vehicle from concept to showroom; two of them spent their most-formative working years outside the auto industry.

Blaming their decades-long corporate problems on the UAW is outrageous, sleazy class warfare.

People working on the assembly lines, union member or not, can build a product only as good as its plans, and Detroit Three plans come from white-collar employees and are approved by scores of other executives before production begins.

US CAR SALES TANK; DETROIT VISITS DC, Pt. II

The only thing worse than October's US car and truck sales are November's.

GM, Ford, Toyota and Honda sales all dropped more than 30% compared to November, 2007. Ford declined for the 12th consecutive month. GM plunged more than 40% for the second straight month. Even mighty Toyota was down for the 11th time in the past 12 months and American Honda's fall was its steepest this year. BMW had a 26.8% drop, Volkswagen 19%, and Subaru 7.8%. (Photo above - GM and Ford say they'll sell their corporate jets; Honda builds them).

Now that they have our attention, the Detroit Three, in plans submitted to Congress Tuesday, increased their appeals for federal loans from $25 billion to $34 billion, according to industry journal Automotive News, a GM teleconference Tuesday evening and other sources.

No other recipient of Washington's recent largesse has been required to provide plans for using and/or paying back loans. In fact, no other loans have been given; the nearly-trillion dollars already handed-out to the financial industry, from AIG to Citigroup, are all outright grants, aka bailouts.
(Couldn't find a more appropriate photo of George W. Bush --- Deal, or no deal?).

These required plans could be part of a final "gift" from President Bush and Henry Paulson to Wall Street (and Detroit boardrooms); by plans demanding unprecedented union concessions, to once-and-for-all crush the United Auto Workers.

The UAW, to a great extent, created and still keeps humming along with the blue-collar, middle-class of skilled laborers in this country, and there's nothing more frightening to a Wall Street republican than a large, powerful and organized group of smart, skilled workers.

GM, not surprisingly, wants the most money, their plan asking for $18 billion, up from the $10 to $12 billion requested last month. GM says without $4 billion this month, the company could collapse.

Ford wants $9 billion, up from the $7 to $8 billion asked for in November, and says profitability may come in 2011. Ford is also cutting 2009 first-quarter production by 38%.

Ford said if the economy doesn't get much worse, they may not need the money. If they may not need it, why did they ask for more than they asked for last month?

Chrysler wants $7 billion in loans, unchanged from November's performance in front of Congress by CEO Robert Nardelli, and says they need $4 billion - this month - to stave off failure. The company expects profitability in 2009. Frankly, I don't see that happening.

GM CEO Rick Wagoner, that corporation's board of directors, Ford's Alan Mulally and Chrysler's Nardelli all say if their companies get the loans, they will all work for $1 a year. If that happens, they'd still be overpaid.

Without loans, they say, they'll all likely shut-down. Talk about your basic greenmail ...

(Top to bottom, GM's Bob Lutz (l) and Rick Wagoner, Chrysler's Bob Nardelli and Ford's Alan Mulally all promise to take an annual salary of $1 --- But only if they get their loans).