Steve Parker Motoring / The Car Nut

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.

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.

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).

FIVE MISTAKES DC AND DETROIT ARE MAKING WHICH HURT DETROIT THREE SURVIVAL

 

(Corvette's all-new ZR1 has a top speed of 205mph - With the very existence of the Detroit Three now in serious question, as crazy as that sounds. Anyone wanting one of these cars better be ready to pay cash).

Five mistakes Washington and Detroit are making which could kill any help or support for our American car companies:

Mistake #1- Consumers and the environment are no longer considered in Washington's loans to the Detroit Three.

In Sen. Harry Reid's new bill to allow direct and swift loans to the Detroit Three, consumers and environmentalists are being forgotten, left out in the cold. While top industry executives would have to give up bonuses and golden parachutes and stockholders would receive no dividends (all good and necessary), the bill does not set additional fuel-economy requirements on automakers getting loans. Nor does it establish a government oversight board to help manage the companies. That's two strikes against getting our money's worth; can hardly wait for strike three.

(We've used this photo in other posts, but that's because it's so interesting. What's Harry Reid, on the left, and appropriately so, doing hanging with Kirk Kerkorian at a Las Vegas prizefight? Kerkorian has owned hundreds of millions of dollars' worth, and probably more, stock in all the Detroit Three at one time or another. His sale of his Ford holdings a few weeks back lowered Ford stock to under $5. Interesting bedfellows to say the least).

MISTAKE #2 - The General a no-show in Los Angeles.

GM canceled any new vehicle introductions and all press conferences at this week's Media Days before the public opening of the Los Angeles Auto Show this Friday, Nov 21. The corporation also announced last week that they are halting all research and development on future cars and trucks. This would seem to make their Volt plug-in hybrid - and the high-mileage Chevrolet Cruze, already on-sale in South Korea and slated for Europe in mid-2009 - both dead issues - at least for the time being. This is all how not to build confidence in your company.

(GM's CEO of their Daewoo operation, Micheal Grimaldi, the one on the right, and two models/actresses, introduce the all-new Daewoo Lacetti, the Korean version of the Cruze, already being built and sold in its home market. Chevrolet's high-mileage Cruze will be built in Lordstown, Ohio, if and when GM gives the go-ahead. It's already being built by GM division Daewoo in Korea and sold there, and St. Petersburg, Russia, will be the site of the car's building when it goes on-sale next year in Europe. So far, no word on when - or if - US production might begin).

MEMO TO DETROIT: CHANGE NOW OR DIE!

The “saving” of the American auto industry has become a comedy of errors, a circus with

seemingly no good end in sight.

Feeling somewhat helpless about it all, I decided, in that great American business tradition, to

send a memo!

Memo - To Rick Wagoner (GM), Alan Mulally (Ford) and Robert Nardelli (Chrysler):

1) You’re all fired.

Please leave this memo behind for the new leaders of your companies.

(Top photo, GM CEO Rick Wagoner, left, and Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics Show at the group's annual Las Vegas convention. Sharing the stage is the GM/Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid concept, now a dead issue unless GM gets a cash infusion which some analysts say must be close to $22 billion, otherwise the company will be history).

2) America doesn’t trust you.

Most Americans think you have brought this disaster upon yourselves, with inferior, irrelevant

products the past 35 years.

3) Stop fighting.

Since 1970, when the EPA and NHTSA were created, you have fought tooth-and-nail every

advancement and improvement in your industry.

In doing so, you’ve wasted untold billions of dollars and the efforts of thousands of your

smartest and highest-paid employees.

4) Don’t build what we don’t need.

Shoe-horning your biggest V8 engines into full-size trucks and SUVs, because it was an easy

way to make hundreds of millions of dollars, is wrong.  And selling them to an audience conditioned to buy them is also wrong.

(Photo above right, what possible statement Chrysler is making with this shot of their newest Ram truck atop a Dodge flatbed escapes me. Why hand it out to the media? It can only result in bad jokes. Photo, above left, Robert Nardelli was hired by Cerberus to run Chrysler, but with no experience in the car business, one wonders why they really hired him for this job; Cerberus also hired Jim Press, highest-ranking American in Toyota/Lexus/Scion, but he has to report to Smilin' Bob, and we haven't seen Press' name in the news lately. He might be biding his time until his contract is up; he is a very smart guy).

5) Create a 21st century franchise system along with your dealerships.

Though there’s much to be done, a good start is to instill a version of GM’s Saturn sales

system in your showrooms; that would surely be welcome by car-buyers.

Click below for more on why Detroit must change now - or die!

THE FINAL TALLY - CALIFORNIA'S DRIVING AND ENERGY PROPOSITIONS

We're off to the SEMA Show today, so no time for photos ... but bear with us, anyway. Thanks!

Okay America! Breathe out! It's over. No more Palin, Plumber or McCain.

Back to business:

With a state-wide victory for President-elect Barack Obama (I like typing that) a foregone conclusion here in California, it was, as it's been so many times in the past, the California ballot's propositions which garnered much of the attention.

We in California have turned the "state-wide proposition" into an art form of sorts. And yesterday there were twelve of them on our ballots, from National City in the southern part of the state to Carmel on the Central Coast and up to Yuba City, north of Sacramento.

Three of the twelve props were about energy and transportation. Two of my favorite topics.

Proposition 1A was entitled the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Train Bond Act, and who could argue with that? Imagine - A Bullet Train between Los Angeles and Las Vegas! A "gambler's special" which will get you from Union Station in downtown LA (you've all seen it a thousand times in films and TV shows) to Lost Wages, Nevada in under two hours.

But that's not what this proposition calls for.

Certainly there's no argument on a Yes for 1A vote from those who have been fortunate enough to visit parts of the country outside Southern California and other parts of the world where safe, inexpensive and fast public transit is the beating heart of many economies. Think of New York City without the subway. Scary, right? Four million people a day trying to drive into Manhattan? Fegideboutit.

1A calls for selling a little under $10 billion in state bonds to fund the planning for a system of high-speed rail linking San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento.

Looks like we in California have finally summoned up the gumption to at least look at tackling a huge engineering challenge, because Prop. 1A passed with about 350,000 more votes than the "no" side.

Prop. 7 was the Renewable Energy Generation Initiative.

Click below for more on California's energy and driving propositions and how they will affect you!

GM/CHRYSLER MERGE? 70,000 MAY BE IDLED; NEW "GEN II" FORD HYBRIDS; CHRYSLER KILLS HEMI HYBRIDS; CHEVY CRUZE'S LATE ARRIVAL; GMAC WANTS BAILOUT

Chrysler has ended production of its first two gas/electric hybrids, only about two months after they started arriving in dealerships.

Production of the Chrysler Aspen/Dodge Durango Hemi hybrid SUVs began this August. But the two were pre-doomed to a short lifespan, having been made at Chrysler's Newark, DE, plant, which was originally scheduled to close at the end of 2009, the closure now moved forward to the end of 2008, along with 1,000 lay-offs --  just in time for the holiday season. How thoughtful of management.

(Above - Cutaway view of the Dodge Durango hybrid; actually, the proper term for this kind of artwork is "ghost view," which is entirely appropriate since Chrysler's just killed their only two Hemi hybrids; Below, another ghost view, this of a 1982 Dodge Aries, one of the great K-cars which saved Chrysler the last time they almost went out of business, and using Photoshop-like magic of the times, called airbrushing, or "phony-ing-up-a-shot" was the only way to get six adults into that car; Below left, the 2009 Dodge Challenger shown at the New York Auto Show last April).

It wasn't hard to predict the demise of these "Hemi hybrids," but the end came a lot faster than even we   had expected. We think that at least they should have given them a full year of production before, literally, pulling the plug.

Chrysler's hybrid system was very similar to that in the large GM SUVs and pickups; what was then DaimlerChrysler along with BMW and GM developed the "dual mode hybrid" system which involves electric motors in the transmission and large storage batteries. Most of the R&D was done in Europe; similar systems have been used on medium to large buses for several years, and engineers "shrunk" it all small enough to fit full-size trucks, and we hope cars are next.

News from GM has the South Korean market version of what someday will be the Chevrolet Cruze going on-sale in its home market.

Click below to learn more about Chevy's Cruze, Ford's "new and improved" hybrids, the real human cost of a GM/Chrysler merger and GMAC wanting badly to be a bank to get access to at least some of all that bailout money floating around Washington.

NHTSA: FORD'S GOT CHINESE FLU! DANGEROUS KNOCK-OFFS AT AUTOMECHANIKA AND SEMA? KERKORIAN DUMPS FORD; GAS DOWN, DRIVING DOWN, TOO

There’s good news, bad news and – finally – some smart, encouraging news by and for American drivers.

First off, we’re planning our road trips to the annual SEMA Show in Las Vegas (starts on election day, so we’re voting this week) and then the Los Angeles Auto Show’s media days, exactly three weeks after SEMA begins.

(Top - Never know what you'll run into at SEMA, like the pointy-end of a Bonneville streamliner LSR racer; 2008 SEMA Show also featured this American Suzuki outfitted-for-rally-racing car).

For those who don’t know, SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) is a trade and lobbying group which represents all the major car-makers and literally thousands of supplier firms specializing in performance and appearance upgrades, from fuzzy dice and roof racks to replacement engines and superior electronics of all kinds. At SEMA, a lot of the fun is seeing mom-and-pop operations which make some specific, esoteric race car part sit alongside giants like Edelbrock, Flowtech and retailers like AutoZone.

We’ve been going to SEMA Shows for over 20 years, and the past few we’ve been amazed at the  large number of Chinese companies displaying their wares there, both from Taiwan and that other, bigger China (the one with the Olympics), and mostly focused on selling wheels and tires. A lot of them.

Now there may be problems with some of those products. And for anyone who remembers the Ford Explorer/Firestone Tire scandal of some years back, the following might bring back some not-very-fond memories.

NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) has opened a preliminary evaluation to "assess the scope, frequency and safety consequences" of an alleged defect in tires on some Ford products. Defect investigations can lead to vehicle recalls.

The investigation concerns more than 1 million Ford vehicles after receiving reports of tires leaking air from faulty valve stems made by a Chinese company. Ford has received some complaints but no reports of crashes or injuries.

Click below for more on Ford and possible problems with their Chinese tire valve stems, Kirk Kerkorian dumping Ford stock just six months after buying it, possibly dangerous knock-offs sold at Automechanika and maybe SEMA - and the Good News: Nope, it ain't 'bout no religion, but 'bout us: Gas prices go down, but we're still driving less!

LATE CAR PAYMENTS? DON'T FRET YET - READ THIS FIRST!

While the focus of government bail-outs has been on subprime home mortgages, Americans are also late in making their car and truck payments to the tune of $25 billion and probably more. And if you’ve already had a vehicle repossessed, you’re not alone; industry experts say we’ll see a record number of repo’s this year, as many as an astounding two million of them. (Above, unless you want to see a bunch of thugs like these jerks in your driveway at 2am, repo'ing your car, it makes sense to first, talk with your lender).

But there is cause for hope, with new rules which could allow people to keep their vehicles, late- pay or not, and possibly even get repo’d cars and trucks back from the bank or lender. In the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, the so-called Bail-Out Bill, the treasury secretary is authorized to “purchase troubled assets from any financial institution.”

Treasury Secretary Paulson can now buy-up anything and everything from home mortgages to car loans, insurance policies to stocks to bonds. The government then holds these designated troubled assets until private firms again want to own them.

I think it’s probable that late car and truck loans and even leases will be labeled as troubled assets.

(Above, an Alcoa facility at the Ferrari factory in Maranello, Italy; not what comes to mind when thinking "wonder where they design those cars...?").

The auto industry, worldwide, is getting slammed as our economy moves towards official recession and possibly a Second Great Depression in the next few months.

Many prospective car-buyers find they now can’t get financing. Last week, finance giant GMAC announced they won’t loan to  any potential car-buyer with an under-700 FICO score. Dealers are saying that more than 40% of their customers now can't get financing from GMAC. Car dealers can’t get financing either, which they need to buy the cars and trucks they need from the factories to put in their showrooms and sell.

Click below for more on keeping your car or truck if you've gotten behind in your payments - You're not the only one!

TESLA LAY-OFFS, REPO'S TO HIT RECORD, GM PUSHES FINANCING, U.S. CAR MARKET COULD DROP 25%

Two more pieces of bad news today facing carmakers, dealers and us ... car-buyers and owners: Repossessions are set to break records, while industry analyst J.D. Power and Associates says the country is headed towards losing as much as 25% in total car and trucks sales for this year, from a somewhat steady 16 million to possibly below 12 million when the 2008 model year closes. (Above, Fisker Automotive displays their White Star EV sedan at some auto show. Read below to understand what's going on between Tesla and Fisker. It ain't pretty. Dodge won't like our using this PR photo to illustrate our theme of "repossession," but what the heck, right? Makes their trucks look good! Below, a supercharged Chevy Cobalt takes-on the twisties; if GM built 10 more cars this size, this much fun and this inexpensive, we wouldn't be playing the game, "Which Detroit company might survive?" so much these days).

Also, California's Tesla Motors has announced lay-offs from their company, which was formed to manufacture all-electric vehicles.

Here's a record which no one wanted to see set this or any year: Most vehicles repossessed in a year -- about 1.9 million, industry journal Automotive News reports.

Through September, repossessions of new and used vehicles rose more than 15 percent from the year-ago period, estimates say. That increase in repos follows an 8 percent rise from 2006 to last year.

In addition to some reckless lending practices, high gasoline prices and a generally bleak economy are also behind the problem. Also this year, newer, costlier vehicles like luxury cars and full-sized SUVs make up a larger share of the repossessed units.

When a vehicle is repossessed, lenders rather than dealers take the loss. But dealerships with a high percentage of repossessions could feel pressure from their lenders, making it harder for that dealer's prospective car-buyers to get loans.

Click below for more on repossessions (try locking your car in your garage, then call the cops when the repo guys arrive, unless they're shooting a Reality Show), GM tries hard to get buyers into showrooms, Tesla lay-offs ... and even more!

US SALES UNDER 1-MILLION FIRST TIME IN 15 YEARS

They say “start out bad news with a joke,” so: In Peter Gent’s “North Dallas Forty,” a football coach is talking with the team owner’s son about his father’s recent death and says, “When a man with your daddy’s money dies of cancer, you know there’s no cure.”

Translated to our Bush/McCain economy: When rich people buying and leasing cars and SUVs are paying high interest rates, you know there’s no easy credit.

US new car and truck sales plummeted to 965,160 last month, down 26.6 percent last month compared with September 2007, according to the Automotive News Data Center.

The last month when car and light truck sales were below one million was February of 1993.

General Motors even managed to look like the winner among the Detroit Three today as its sales totals, combined among their many divisions, dropped “only” 15.6 percent compared to September, ‘07. Cross-town rivals Ford lost over 36 percent and Chrysler sank almost 33 percent. (Above, A showroom needs new cars to bring customers in to see the product, even a futuristic car like the Tesla EV; Below, There it is again! Chevrolet's Volt in earlier, some say, better-looking days).

GM’s market share last month rose to 29.3 percent, the company’s highest in three years. But starting next week, GM plans to cut as many as several hundred US contract workers, in addition to cutting about 5,000 of their 32,000 salaried employees, a process already underway.

Even mighty Toyota and Honda found themselves in the loser column, Toyota slipping 32 percent and Honda 24.

Click below for more on September's dreary car sales numbers and what they mean to us all...Especially anyone who wants to a buy a new or even used car!

WHAT BAILOUT BILL FAILURE MEANS TO CAR BUYERS, CARMAKERS AND DEALERS

The worst news from yesterday's rejection of the bailout will be for, as usual, those least able to afford it.

In a huge blow to consumers, part of the bailout bill defeated Monday would have allowed the Treasury Department to buy securities backed by automotive loans, similar to some (new) government entity buying-up securities backed by so-called subprime mortgages and holding them until some value returns and finance houses want to own them once again.

But now that both sides in Washington are against allowing bankruptcy judges to rewrite home mortgages to try and help keep people in their homes, it seems people late with their car payments will get the same kind of help - none.

But Detroit is about to be doing just fine.

As explained in this blog just days ago, the Detroit Three and some of their suppliers will soon start dividing up $25 billion in bailout funds which were part of a bill passed last December.

Also, the Federal Reserve is now able to make other "special loans" to automakers so they can provide inventory financing to their dealers, so dealers can continue to buy cars and trucks for their showrooms.

But if the public can't afford what's in those showrooms anyway, who really benefits?

Reminds me of the Doonesbury series in the '80s when the more money an executive lost while running a  tech company, the bigger a star they became on Wall Street. And right now, we've got three men running the Detroit Three who have no experience in actually planning, designing,  building or selling cars ... (Above, Honda's FCX Clarity posed in front of American Honda's headquarters in Gardena, CA; is this what Detroit needs to produce with their $25 billion bailout?, Lee Iacocca and Carroll Shelby are two cowboys who represented the US auto industry from the 1960s through to the '90s; who working in Detroit today can generate even 1/10th of the excitement they could?).

If someone is late paying their mortgage, it's almost a given they're late on their car payments, too. People pay their mortgage first, and their car notes next so they can get to and from school and work.

And cars and trucks gets repo'd a lot faster than houses get foreclosed; a few weeks versus as long as a year. Some new and used car dealers have electronics in their vehicles which will shut off the engine when a payment is late, but that's grist for a future posting.

New car dealers treat their used car lots like jewelry stores; they often make more profit on a used car than by selling a new one, especially their "certified used cars." Customers with good credit can finance a used car there just like a new one, and some dealers are even involved in leasing their used cars as well as new.

Click below for more on why this bailout bill wasn't going to help those late on their mortgage or their car payment.

DETROIT GETS ITS BAILOUT; DAIMLER SELLING 20% CHRYSLER STAKE; BIGGEST CHEVY DEALER GROUP CLOSES

(The world's biggest Chevrolet dealer group is closing, never to enjoy the 2010 Camaro convertible, seen here in concept form at a regular Saturday morning Southern California gathering of car nuts).

Three big events today involving the world of cars, politics and finance, both in the US and abroad.

First, Automotive News reports, “Automakers and suppliers soon should be able to seek $25 billion in low-interest federal loans to retool plants to build fuel-efficient vehicles and components. The House of Representatives today voted 370 to 58 to approve a broad spending bill that includes $7.5 billion to start the loan program.The Senate is expected to agree to the budget bill this week, and President Bush is expected to sign it. The bill's main purpose is to keep government running in the new fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.”

There was little doubt Detroit would be getting the $25 billion bailout, though they had started the public process by asking for twice as much. A bill signed last December cleared the way for the bailout, but none of the Detroit Three, at least publicly, thought they’d have to ask for the money this soon.

Suppliers are now mentioned in the same breath as the car-makers. Ford, GM and Chrysler have become,  as have most car-makers worldwide, giant assembly operations. In modern car-building, suppliers are located nearby factory assembly facilities. To cut down on large parts inventories, the factory and suppliers engage in “just in time” manufacturing (called “kanban” in Japan, where the technique was developed); when a part leaves the supplier and arrives at a  factory delivery dock, it will become a part of a new car or truck within a matter of hours. Suppliers are as crucial as the car-makers themselves. How they might take advantage of the billions soon pouring into Michigan remains to be seen. (Today's car factories are really giant assembly plants; without suppliers, there are no parts to build a new car or truck).

Apparently, this announcement does answer one big question about the money: Loans or loan guarantees? Detroit will apparently borrow the money directly from the US government (as in, “us”) and that will allow them to repay the debt at the lowest possible interest rates (which is just one more reason it’s always nice to “have a friend” in the government; they’re the ones who actually print the money).

How low might those interest rates be? As low as 1 or 2 per cent.

Click below for more on today's three automotive stories which will affect us all.

DETROIT EXPECTS $25 BILLION - WHO BAILS OUT AMERICANS' MISSING CAR PAYMENTS?

So, where's my bailout? For that matter, where's yours, too?

Anyone having trouble paying their mortgage is almost certainly late on their car or truck loans, too.

It used to be said that a house was the largest expenditure in any person's lifetime; but if someone buys five or more new cars over 40 or 50 years, depending on where they live, those purchases could easily cost more, in total, than their home.

The auto industry is a very powerful and significant part of the US economy and has been for many years; just last week, GM "celebrated" its 100th anniversary by displaying a "near-production version" of their Volt plug-in gas/electric hybrid, slated for sale in 2011.

Import and domestic dealers, in total, have annual sales of about $480 billion from new cars and trucks alone, not counting used vehicle sales, whose totals are even higher. Annual car and truck sales in the US, new and used, amount to a near-trillion dollar business.

People in and out of the auto industry are asking that if millions of home mortgages can be purchased by the government, and which might be re-written to help the borrower, what about the tens of millions of outstanding car and truck loan contracts, many of which are going bad? (Above, Can Chevrolet's Volt save Detroit?; Artwork from Porsche of their four-door Panamera gas/electric hybrid concept - Click to enlarge any photo).

And while it can take several months, even a year, to foreclose on and repossess a house and property, missing or being late just three payments on a car loan will, in many cases, result in a repossession.

A vehicle repo often results in a person or family losing their only way to get to and from a job; that is, if they're still employed.

Click below for more on why $25 billion of taxpayer's money may be just the beginning of the costs necessary to save what's left of the US' domestic auto industry.

KAROSHI! DEATH BY OVERWORK AGAIN IN JAPAN

For the second time in a year, a court in Japan has found that an employee of Toyota has been killed by “karoshi,” a relatively new term to the Japanese lexicon which means “death by overwork.”

The most-recent court finding, which enables the surviving family members to receive compensation from the government, concerned the death of a 45-year old lead engineer for the Toyota Camry hybrid.

This employee, who worked in Toyota City, the company’s huge headquarters near Nagoya, a few hundred miles south of Tokyo, had worked more than 80 overtime hours in at least each of the two months before he collapsed at his home, where he was determined to have died from ischemic heart disease, now clarified by a court as being a result of karoshi.

The man was found dead at home by his daughter, and was scheduled to leave Japan the next day for the US. The project on which he was working was to be exhibited at the 2006 North American International Auto Show, known popularly as the Detroit Auto Show.

In 2007, another widow was ruled by a court to be eligible for the same kind of government benefits, as her  30-year old husband collapsed and died at work. In that case, a Toyota employee died of overwork after logging more than 106 hours of overtime in a month, a judge ruled in November, 2007, reversing a government ministry’s earlier decision not to pay compensation to his widow. The employee, who was working at a Toyota factory in central Japan, died of an “irregular heart beat” in February 2002 after passing out in the factory around 4am. In Japan, it should be noted, the average worker uses less than 50 percent of paid holidays, according to government data.

The Japanese Ministry of Health made news around the world in 1987, when they adopted and clarified the concept of karoshi as law; Japan is thought to be the only industrialized country which accepts death by overwork as a legal cause of death and can implicate both the company involved and the government in paying benefits to the person’s survivors.

But before any of us in America start to “tsk, tsk” those hard-working Japanese, try the following on for size, from a United Nations 2007 report: “US workers put in the longest hours on the job in industrialized nations, clocking up nearly 2,000 hours per capita in 1997, the equivalent of almost two working weeks more than their counterparts in Japan, where annual hours worked have been gradually declining since 1980, according to a statistical study of global labor trends. Americans also work the longest hours among industrialized countries, Japanese second longest. Europeans work less time, but register faster productivity gains.”

Japanese society is so different from the United States that it might as well be Mars. European countries with a long, recorded past have some social similarities to Japan, but when it comes to the concept of teamwork, the Japanese make a championship NBA professional basketball team look like a bunch of guys who just happened to show-up at the gym at about the same time.

Click below to read more about karoshi and one man's experiences with Japanese culture over the past 30 years.

TWO JAPANESE CANTALOUPES AUCTION FOR $23,800, WATERMELON FOR $6,100 - JAPAN'S ECONOMY COULD BOUNCE BACK STRONG AND FAST AS USA CAR-BUYERS OPT FOR ECONOMY CARS RATHER THAN TRUCKS

We say that while the American economy is in the dumps (heck, even Prez W today admitted that things weren't "too good"), Japan is experiencing something in the way of one of those "bubbles" we all keep talking about. And here is one piece of evidence: A watermelon selling at auction for Y650,000, or in US dollars, $6,100; but not just any watermelon, oh no. A "Densuke" watermelon, grown and auctioned on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido. (Photo - That's the world's most-expensive watermelon; now show some respect!)

And, a pair of cantaloupes which went for (sit down) $23,800. Yes, you read right ...

This is not in the way of saying that Mitsubishi Bank is signing a deal tomorrow to buy Rockefeller Center (again --- the first time they bought and sold it they wound up on the wrong end of a $2 billion loss, and it was the Rockefellers who bought it back), but it's these kind of extravagances, these types of ridiculously-high prices for a fairly common product, which must be causing raised eyebrows around the world.

Is Japan on the verge of once again becoming the world's most vibrant economy? All we can say is  ... As gasoline prices rise in this country, and they won't stop until they hit $5 a gallon (perhaps $6 for diesel) sometime before W is shown the "exit" door at the White House, it's Japanese companies which are making the kinds of cars and trucks which Americans are buying. The South Korean company selling in the US with two different product lines, Hyundai and Kia, is gaining in popularity, too. The American public is driving less and roundly rejecting traditional, large trucks of any sort. A Toyota and Honda car model, separately, each outsold the Ford F-series truck in May, and that's the first time in at least 20 years that the F-series has not been at the top of the domestic industry's monthly "best selling" list.

GM is closing four truck plants, and fast, while Ford is about to lay-off 15% of their white-collar (executive,  non-union) employees and Chrysler ... Well, poor old Chrysler is probably not going to be with us much longer, at least not as the company it is today, with the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands. Imagine ... If Daimler had stayed in the game with Chrysler, and not sold-out for a huge loss to Cerberus, all the Smart cars now being sold only at Roger Penske's dealerships would instead be in Chrysler showrooms. Think about that for a moment ... (Photo - 2008 Jeep Commander; Jeep is probably the Chrysler division which will be sold-off first).

So, yeah, $6,100 for a watermelon is good for a giggle, but we have to look deeper ... and the Japanese, judging not only by this example but many others recently recounted in the general interest media, must be feeling pretty good about their economy.

Click below for the news story about the cantaloupes and that watermelon ... (now there's a line you don't read everyday) ...

HUGE INVESTOR TO FORD: SELL MERCURY ... AND VOLVO!

Like politics, American big business has its "great families" and its "great characters". And its "great stories" ... This is one of them. In the auto industry, the names Kerkorian, York, Iacocca, Eaton, Lutz and Perot have all had long and strong connections to every one of the Detroit Three, connections several decades long. This week, all those connections again came to light as Kirk Kerkorian's company started buying-up 20-million more shares of Ford (he already owns 100-million shares, almost 8% of the whole company) and advising Ford's CEO, Alan Mulally (a Detroit newcomer), to sell-off that company's Volvo and Mercury divisions. (Photo --- Above, Ford is estimating they will sell 100,000 of their all-new Flex models the first year it's on-sale, Below, Kirk Kerkorian makes a point to reporters; the 92-year old billionaire, with longtime, huge investments in the Detroit Three, is currently in the process of buying 20-million more shares of Ford Motor stock).

Ford's surprise turn of a profit in the year's first quarter brought all this about.

You may remember when we reported on April 25th, that "Ford Motor Co. surprised Wall Street today with a first quarter earnings report full of black ink -- saying it posted net income of $100 million on total revenue of $43.5 billion. That's compared with a net loss of $282 million on revenue of $43.0 billion during the same period a year ago. Ford stock skyrocketed on the news -- closing the day up 88 cents, or 11.7 percent, to $8.40 a share." (Photo --- Kerkorian's friendship with Lee Iacocca, shown promoting an electric bicycle which a Southern California company is making, using his name, created animosity between Kerkorian and Chrysler after Iacocca left it).

We've been saying "Buy Ford!" and "Buy GM!" for several years (can't say "Buy Chrysler!" anymore, unless you want the whole thing) ... These gigantic American corporations, with so many overseas properties and superior products, Ford and GM (or Opel or Holden, etc)  cars and trucks being the "favorites" in many markets (if not the US), simply can not have their stocks stay in the $10/share range, even if the companies are old-time, unexciting "brick-and-mortar" business, something very unsexy to Wall Street in these days of trying to make enormous sums of money by making as few actual products as possible. If all your company sells is "information," ala E-bay or, the best example, Microsoft, that's been all the better for stock prices since the 1990s. Ford and GM have massive amounts of real estate, buildings, skilled workers, many of them unionized, at that, franchised dealers around the world (highly-protected in this country from the manufacturer by US laws) and made huge sums in the US through the 1990s and early years of this decade by selling massive, heavy, low-mileage trucks and SUVs which don't have to be re-designed every two to three years, like car-buyers demand. Now, "thanks" to $4/gallon gas prices ($5/gallon by the day Bush leaves office; we'll also be at war with Iran), for the first time in about a decade, cars and the new CUVs (Crossover Utility Vehicles), which are built on car-like platforms, are outselling the big trucks and SUVs which Americans managed to get so used to, so easily.

After the announcement, Kirk Kerkorian announced his intention to greatly increase his stock holdings in Ford. This past week, Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. announced that it plans to make a cash tender offer for as many as 20 million shares of Ford stock at $8.50 a share. Kerkorian, Tracinda and York are no newcomers to Ford; Tracinda already owns 100 million shares, representing 4.7 percent of Ford's outstanding shares.

Last month, after the process to buy those 20-million shares of Ford had begun, York had a private meeting with Ford CEO Alan Mulally, the ex-Boeing chief who took the Ford job about a year ago (but only after Ford deposited more than $20 million in his bank accounts). At this meeting, York apparently told Mulally that he needed to sell the company's Volvo and Mercury divisions to help in Ford's "turn-around". (Photo --- Jerry York is Kerkorian's "bagman" in buying-up 20-million more shares of Ford stock, and last month he "advised" Ford CEO Alan Mulally to get rid of Mercury and Volvo; Mulally was not amused).

While Ford is still not making a single cent in profit in the US, the company's recent positive results show that when a company based in the US, as Ford has always been, in Dearborn, Michigan, and shows profits from markets other than the US, it's still good for the company as a whole, especially as far as Wall Street is concerned.

The big problem in Ford's case, and ultimately, for America, is that a lot of the "profit" expected to come from the US for Ford (and GM and Chrysler) will come in the form of cutbacks, as Ford has upped the numbers and the values of the "early retirement buy-outs" which the company is offering tens of thousands of their US employees. And as someone smarter than I once said, "A large company can't cut its way to success and profitability."

Kirk Kerkorian and his investment firm, Tracinda Corporation, has as his "chief aide" a former Chrysler   executive named Jerome B. (Jerry) York. York is Chairman, President and CEO of Harwinton Capital, another Wall Street investment firm. He is also the former CFO of IBM and Chrysler, CEO of Micro Warehouse  and he joined the board of directors of Apple Inc. in 1997. (Photo --- Why Mercury needs to be sold, which is unlikely, or shut-down: Their Mountaineer version of the Ford Explorer. First three months of 2008 saw sales of 4,728 Mountaineers, and 27,638 Explorers. Sure, some can argue that those 4,700 Mountaineers represent pricier Explorers which wouldn't have sold, anyway. But could those few sales, and the total costs which go into making them and then the costs of their after-care, really make Mercury viable?).

Click below to read more about Kerkorian, York, Volvo and Mercury ... if Ford will sell those two divisions ... and when!

VW TELLS BEIJING: "FURTHER OPEN UP (YOUR) SOCIETY"

Volkswagen, the first foreign automaker to enter the Chinese market and a sponsor of the 2008 Beijing games, urged China's government on Thursday, April 24th, to "embrace the spirit of the Olympic Games". (Photo --- VW's Lavida sedan is the first "China-only" car made by Shanghai Volkswagen, and was debuted at the recent 2008 Beijing Auto Show).

Everyone around the world knows what a fantastic "success" the Beijing Olympic Torch Armored Stampede, uh, Run, has been, at least in those countries where a brutal, militaristic central government can offer the Torch Run the kind of, uh, "encouragement" desired by their like-minded buddies in Beijing. (Photos --- It was protesters versus police in San Francisco; a torch-bearer enjoys his moment in the San Francisco sun).

Places like San Francisco, a city which prides itself on offering "the run of the town" to just about anyone, provided the proper permits are paid and security arrangements made. Didn't anyone wonder why San Francisco was the Torch's only US stop? While we understand San Francisco's desire and need to host their Red Chinese guests in a safe and sane manner, the city nonetheless made itself look ridiculous by playing "Hide the Torch" for several hours, toying with the city's own citizens while "kissing up" to Beijing and their crack security teams guarding the Torch.

Surprisingly, but also happily, Volkswagen has become the first Beijing Games' sponsor to stand-up publicly to China's contributions to murderous, violent, cruel repression and political manipulations not only aimed at their own people, but also in Tibet, Nepal, Darfur and other nations. They did it in a way which, while it might seem timid and weak to the average American, nonetheless attempts to "gets the message across" to their Chinese business partners in an Asian, "face-saving" way.  (Photo --- The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet has long been a flash-point between the nation which he was forced to escape, in disguise, in 1959, as China began to complete their dominance over the country, Tibet, which had been traditionally led politically and religiously by the Dalai Lama for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years).

Volkswagen is no innocent company. Born in the earliest days of what became WWII, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche sought-out and received a personal commission from Hitler to design and build the "People's Car", what was to eventually be called the Volkswagen. Porsche (the engineering firm Ferdinand founded and led) was involved as were other infamous firms of Nazi Germany, including Daimler-Benz and Bayer, in developing munitions, vehicles and many other war-related products. Today, Volkswagen, Porsche and Audi are all strongly inter-related (by both stock ownership and family) and all, including Daimler, have been involved in the payment of billions of dollars in war reparations to the war's victims and the State of Israel; these companies and many of their top executives and labor leaders, and the German government, have tried to make honest and appropriate amends following WWII, sometimes successfully, sometimes not so. (Photo --- Beijing traffic; the city now averages more than 10,000 new-car registrations per week, a number continuously on the rise).

So it is especially appropriate that the first Beijing Games' sponsor to openly criticize Beijing and try to  push the regime towards more openness should be one which had its own first-hand experience as a member of what was possibly the world's single-most deadly "government;" no one will ever be certain if China killed more people during their "Cultural Revolution" than were killed due to Germany's murderous aggression in WWII.

     As reported by Reuters, "The Olympics offer China and its people a unique opportunity not only to continue their economic development, but above all to further open up their society," Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn told shareholders at the VW annual meeting.
     "We hope and firmly believe that our Chinese partners will seize this unique opportunity."
     The CEO said Volkswagen had stressed this in talks with those responsible in China.
     The second-largest carmaker in China behind U.S. rival General Motors, Volkswagen decided in June 2004 to become a partner of the Beijing games and went so far as to dub the restructuring of its two Chinese joint ventures the "Olympic Programme."
     The Games have turned into a public relations disaster for China after violent crackdowns in Tibet provoked protests in the West and forced runners bearing the Olympic torch around the world to be protected by security forces. (End of Reuters story).

This is the interior of the VW Lavida, "Made in China, Only for China." Around the world, VW interiors are used as styling and quality benchmarks for other car-makers

Click below to read more about Volkswagen criticizing China using "soft diplomacy" and possibly cutting the amount of supplies purchased from Chinese companies!

FORD'S FIRST QUARTER LOOKING UP WORLDWIDE; USA REMAINS IN THE RED

Good news from Ford! Well, the company is not yet making a single cent in the US, but worldwide the Blue Oval is doing well. Alan Mulally, the former-Boeing executive who is now running Ford and demanded (and got)  $20 million in cash deposited in his bank account before his first day of work, isn't able to yet demonstrate that Ford's American new-vehicle sales arm can recover from the phenomenal bashing they (and GM and Chrysler) have been through the past 37 years. The improving (for Ford and their stockholders) facts below (and haven't we been telling you to BUYBUYBUY Ford stock? It's easy to find ... it's stock ticker symbol is easy to remember: "F"). (Photo Above --- Ford is predicting 100,000 sales annually for their all-new Flex CUV; you might remember it as the "Fairlane" concept car).

While Ford has some great products which they've developed for (and are building in) many other countries around the world, the company's main method of saving money is going to be through worker attrition, voluntarily or otherwise. Fewer workers using fewer platforms to make more models with much-fewer option packages is the secret to Ford's stabilization in this, their long-time home market. And a Ford connection with Nissan/Renault is not out of the question, though Chrysler seems hellbent on partnering with Nissan before the "Ford question" officially arises. (Photo --- Ford's association with Carroll Shelby has served both parties very, very well; Shelby is seen here with their latest collaboration, the Mustang Shelby GT500KR).

FoMoCo US definitely has some sales winners, but even their popular cars and trucks have greatly suffered the past decade --- and more. Mustang has always been a bright spot, and remains so, but a car which sells "only" 50,000-or-so units a year might not be able to keep a place in the factory line-ups of the future. Ford sold 14,737 Mustangs in the first three months of 2007; this year, 2008, January through March sales were way down, to a total of 10,180. In fact, Mustang sales alone for January through March of last year were almost exactly the same as the total number of all Lincoln-Mercury vehicles so far this year.  But there's some nice news, too, when a week after its 44th anniversary on April 17th, Mustang production (not sales, yet) reached nine million units. That Mustang GT Convertible went to a dealership in Iowa, and we predict that car will be seen this coming January on some TV cable network's coverage of auto auctions. As Ford's longest running nameplate, the Mustang sold over 22,000 units on its first day and more than one million sold in the first two years. Those of you of a "certain age" will remember, as we do, that the Mustang was introduced at the 1964 New York World's Fair Ford Pavilion.

Automotive News also reports that Ford Motor Co. will spend more than $100 million to market the revamped 2009 F-150 pickup, the single best-selling vehicle in the US for more over 50 years. A Ford official told AN that the model-year launch budget is in the same ballpark as the spending allocated when the automaker introduced the current F-150 in 2003. When that redesigned 2004 model went on sale, Ford said they planned to spend more than $100 million on what they called the "biggest launch campaign in Ford's history". The same kind of emphasis is being planned for the re-engineered and restyled 2009 F-150, which goes on sale this fall. Ford's Focus is doing better than last year at this time; Fusion's numbers are tied with last year's, as are the Taurus/500's numbers. Ford's critical Edge started-out strong, but sales have either dropped or remain near-steady each month since mid-2007.

Now, that news which may portend further success for Ford in the US (paraphrasing from Automotive News):

Ford Motor Co. surprised Wall Street today with a first quarter earnings report full of black ink -- saying it posted net income of $100 million on total revenue of $43.5 billion. That's compared with a net loss of $282 million on revenue of $43.0 billion during the same period a year ago.

Ford stock skyrocketed on the news -- closing the day up 88 cents, or 11.7 percent, to $8.40 a share.

Click below to read more about Ford's positive overseas sales numbers and their ongoing attempts to close-the-gap in the USA ... and what they can expect!

EV = LAWSUIT; TESLA SUES HENRIK FISKER

Ready for an "Only in California" quote? Try this on for size: “I think it’s ironic that Fisker chose to name his car the Karma, when what he’s done is very bad karma,” said Adam C. Belsky, a lawyer at Gross, Belsky & Alonso who represents Tesla. (End of quote) Now, where else would a lawyer representing a car-maker make a bad joke about the word "karma"? (Photos --- Above, Concept drawing of Fisker's "Karma", Below, Tesla's "Roadster").

So, here we go! Here come the lawsuits! It wasn't enough for Tesla to spend the past two years embarrassing themselves in the world's media ... Nope, now they start with the lawsuits. Promising too much, too soon wasn't in these guys' minds ... With all their Silicon Valley billions, they have little real concern for the "rest of us". No, they need to feel important, need to feel they are doing something for humanity. Well, they're wasting a lot of time and money in doing so ... If that's what they are trying to do.

And who are they suing? Henrik Fisker, he with the (some say) solid-gold Aston-Martin/BMW-design pedigree, and whom Tesla apparently hired, and quietly so, sometime last year. Now Tesla is saying that Fisker's Karma show car, seen at auto shows over the past year, and which has gotten tons of media attention, rips-off hybrid technologies which he, Fisker, only learned about from his paid association with Tesla. And that his Karma sedan is nothing more than the (code-named) "White Star" which Tesla told the media they were planning on building in an all-new facility somewhere in ... New Mexico. Tesla says their made-by-Lotus "Roadster" all-electric sporty car is now in production, even with a pasted-together transmission which is able to make use of about 50% of the power developed by the car's electric motors, and with that car out of the way, they now want to get-to-work on their White Star all-EV sedan, somewhere (we guess) in New Mexico. Now, everyone knows that New Mexico is a hotbed of All-American born-and-bred automotive technology, with numerous parts suppliers just off I-10, I-40 and I-25. And don't forget about the state's universities, full of professors with voluminous industry experience and packed with students of all sorts desperate to learn the latest of American car technology. Not. And Tesla says Fisker sold-out for under $1 million. Here's some of the NEW YORK TIMES story about the latest Tesla happenings (and now aren't you really glad you didn't lay-down $100,000, the "100% deposit" required of the Roadster's buyers?):

Tesla Motors, the Silicon Valley maker of electric sports cars, filed suit in San Mateo Superior Court on Monday against a competing company and two of its employees, saying they stole some of Tesla’s design ideas and trade secrets. (Photos --- Below, Fisker's Karma at the Detroit Auto Show, Bottom, California Governor Schwarzenegger met with Tesla officials and rode in the car almost two years ago, garnering the company free, positive media throughout the world).

Tesla, which has generated much interest among fans of cars and technology, recently started shipping a  two-seat electric sports car in limited quantities. Last year it hired Henrik Fisker, a Danish-born designer who is known for his work on high-end exotic sports cars, to do the body design for a four-seat sedan, code-named White Star.

The Tesla lawsuit contends that Fisker and his chief operating officer, Bernhard Koehler, doing business under the name Fisker Coachbuild, fraudulently agreed to take on Tesla’s $875,000 design contract to gain access to confidential design information and trade secrets, then announced a competing vehicle. Last fall Mr. Fisker founded Fisker Automotive, which is backed by the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

The quarrel sheds a light on the insular world of the Valley’s investors in environmentally friendly technologies.Sergei Brin and Larry Page, whose Google search engine was originally backed by Kleiner Perkins, were both early Tesla investors.

Both the planned Tesla sedan and Fisker’s recently announced Karma are meant to be hybrid cars using a small gas engine to power a generator that charges a battery, which in turn powers an electric motor. The design, known as a serial hybrid, is thought to greatly extend the range and efficiency of hybrid vehicles.

The Tesla lawsuit states that before doing the design work for Tesla, Mr. Fisker had no experience with hybrid technology. It says that he did substandard work for Tesla, essentially sabotaging it, and then used the revenue from the design contract to develop his company’s car.

“I think it’s ironic that Fisker chose to name his car the Karma, when what he’s done is very bad karma,” said Adam C. Belsky, a lawyer at Gross, Belsky & Alonso who represents Tesla.

Calls to Fisker Automotive were not returned. A person answering the phone at Finck & Dadras, the San Francisco law firm representing Fisker Coachbuild, said it was the firm’s policy not to comment on litigation.

Click below to continue reading and for more photos.

NISSAN MOVES TITAN BUILD TO CHRYSLER MEXICAN PLANT; CHRYSLER TO SELL NISSAN-MADE SMALL CAR

It's both a rare admission by a Japanese "captive import" and a powerful indication of the poor state of the American economy and the American dollar: Nissan announced today that it no longer makes financial sense to single-handedly build a full-size pickup in the current US marketplace, and starting in 2011, they will end production in Canton, Mississippi, of their Titan pickup, and partner with Chrysler, which will build the next-generation Titan at their plant in Saltillo, Mexico. (Photos --- Above, 2007 Nissan Titan, Below, Tata's Nano, being driven by Mr. Tata himself at the car's introduction at the recent Delhi Auto Show in India).

In turn, Nissan will manufacture an all-new, fuel-efficient small car based on a Chrysler concept and design. This model will be sold in North America, Europe and other global markets in 2010 and manufactured at Nissan's Oppama Plant in Japan. Analysts, including this one, think the new small car may be, in part, an answer to the Nano, which just debuted in India, built by that nation's Tata Corporation, which just purchased Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford. Tata is selling the Nano to dealers for about $2,500, so all the website chatter and noise these past few weeks about a "$2,500 car from India" was incorrect; $2,500 is the approximate wholesale cost to dealers, the customers will pay about $3,000 or more, depending on how large the demand is for the cars (and it's expected to be massive) and how much Tata dealers are allowed to add to the "factory sticker price". One thing we know for sure: The new car, designed by Chrysler and built in Japan by Nissan, will not be selling for anywhere near $3,000 in the US.

For several years, Chrysler has been making efforts to produce a "third-world car" similar to the Nano, based on using just a few large plastic pieces which could be bonded together to provide both the car's platform and chassis. However much input Chrysler will have into this all-new Nissan-built vehicle remains to be seen. Nissan recently committed to building a small car for Chrysler based on the Nissan Versa sedan platform, but only, at this time, for "limited distribution" in South American beginning in 2009. (Photos --- 2004 Nissan Titan loaded for bear; Nissan Armada, full-size SUV variant of the Titan).

Nissan also said the production of their massive Armada SUV, which is based on the Titan, will not be affected by this decision to move Titan production, though that is difficult to accept. Nissan also builds their big-selling Altima in Canton, called by industry observers a "radical new assembly plant" ... And it was expensive, costing the #2 Japanese car-maker over $1 billion. The company also said recently that it would discontinue building their seemingly ill-fated Quest minivan and super-deluxe Infiniti QX56 (Infiniti's version of the Armada) in Canton, and begin building light commercial trucks there instead.

Nissan was the first Japanese company to attempt building a full-size pickup in and for America, but  its being available only with a 5.6 Liter V8 and only in King Cab or Crew Cab configurations sealed its fate early on. Nissan had hoped to sell 100,000 Titans annually when they started selling the truck in 2003, and reviews of the truck were generally quite favorable. We know we liked it, and its Armada variant, too. But that big V8 was a massive guzzler, and smacked more of the 1980s than the 21st century. The company struggled, though, to sell just 60,000 a year, and new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) ratings for trucks, in a market which was 2.5-million trucks in 2003 but has shrunk to 2.1-million forced Nissan's hand with their big, powerful --- and pricey --- Titan.

GM, FORD EXECS MAKING MORE MILLIONS THAN EVER; FIRST SIGNS OF BOB LUTZ OVER-STAYING HIS WELCOME

Here are a couple of interesting tidbits from two of the Detroit Three. First, while we reported a few days ago that GM CEO Rick Wagoner (photo) has apparently, in the eyes of the company's board of directors, the only eyes that count, done his job so well over the past few years that his original salary of $2.2 million, which had been cut to a paltry $1.28 million after 2005, when GM lost $10 billion, has been reinstated. Well, good for Rick ... Like we always say, "Who can argue with success?"

Wagoner also can enjoy an extra bonus of $2.43 million if GM hits its performance targets. GM lost a record $39 billion last year, most of it from a one-time accounting change. Anyone know what GM's "performance targets" are? Didn't think so.

Next, Alan Mulally, the still-relatively-new man-in-charge at Ford, has been awarded restricted stock worth $4.1 million and 3.56 million stock options after a year in which the No. 2 U.S. automaker lost $2.7 billion. You get all that? The company stock is hovering around seven dollars --- $7.00! --- FoMoCo is bleeding red ink ... and the new guy, the CEO, gets a nice little bonus from his buds at the board (he undoubtedly plays golf with a few of them every week or so).

Not that Ford didn't try to hide this news. Oh, they did. The compensation was detailed in a filing with securities regulators, and the news came just two days after Mulally (photo)announced that all Ford employees in the United States and Canada would be paid bonuses for 2007. Just, not, you know ... as much as he got. Actually, all UAW Ford workers will receive a $1,000 bonus.

Says industry newspaper AUTOMOTIVE NEWS, "The issue of executive compensation in the struggling U.S. auto industry has become something of a hot-button issue because of the UAW." Well, I don't see why the union would be upset at all; do you?

You may remember that Mulally joined Ford from Boeing Co. in late 2006, and was paid $37.5 million during his first 14 months in the top job at the automaker and had the potential to earn a bonus of an additional $3.1 million. You may also remember that Mulally wouldn't even take the Ford job before that $37.5 million was deposited in his bank account. Sounds more like a kidnapping to us (or a blackmailing).

One more note of import, and maybe a sign of sanity, if a small one, with GM: The corporation's North American "car czar", the well-over-70 Bob Lutz, was quoted by reporters at an event in Texas a few weeks ago as saying that, "global warming is a crock of shit". Again, this from the man who is supposed to be planning future product for GM in North America for at least the next 5 to 7 years out from now.

DETROIT THREE DESPERATE; GIGANTIC FORD F-SERIES RECALL, CHRYSLER CUTS CALIFORNIA DESIGN STUDIO, BUT GM GIVES CEO WAGONER A BIG RAISE

Let's take a look at this weekend's news from the Detroit Three: First, 

Ford

is recalling about 100,000 2008 F-Series trucks because the front driver's seat does not conform with federal standards. What? On their bread-and-butter F-series truck, the #1-selling vehicle in America for the past fifty years, they didn't check the seat and its ancillary systems (shoulder harness, etc.) to make certain that the federal standards were met? Hard to believe ... Someone's head (or heads) should definitely be rolling out of Ford's Dearborn headquarters come Monday morning.

Now, second: Chrysler (now owned by the Wall Street private investment firm called Cerberus, and not stockholders worldwide) is going through an absolute hemorrhaging of whatever money in Highland Park they still have and whatever models are still in dealer's showrooms. Remember, Chrysler is now a private company and that means we the public hear only rumors or incomplete stories of what's really going on with the automaker. There's more than a few reasons to believe that Chrysler might be out of business a year or two from now.

The following is from a press release Chrysler released just today: "Increasingly, we are leveraging resources worldwide, forming new joint ventures and alliances and consolidating operations in order to better achieve global balance and manage fixed costs. As such, we are closing the Pacifica Advance Product Design Center, consolidating the Advance Design function in Auburn Hills. Advance Design remains an integral part of our future design efforts, led by Trevor Creed, Senior Vice President -- Design." Yes, there's a good idea. The company is bleeding red ink over everything it touches, so closing the one place in the corporation which might have been on the cutting-edge when it comes to design for future Chrysler vehicles seemed a grand idea ... to somebody. Someone mention "bean counters"?

Finally, General Motors. These words are from a GM press release posted Friday, March 7th: "General Motors announced today that it will be adding 900 new jobs to its factory in Brazil."

OK, great ... for Brazil. But given that news, and with some five (or more) GM plants in the USA closed-down due to a strike at one of the corporation's major suppliers, what motor journos used to call "Generous Motors" is giving CEO and President Rick Wagoner a raise ... That's right, a raise.

GM lost over $10 billion in 2005, and cut Wagoner's pay from $2.2 million to a measly $1.28 million. But apparently, GM's board of directors feel that GM has recovered so strongly (in Brazil, China and other far-flung locations) from their 2005 predicament that they are restoring Wagoner's take home pay to the $2.2 million he was making before 2005. Yep, things are tough all over.

JAGUAR, LAND ROVER SALE TO INDIA'S TATA ANNOUNCEMENT NEXT WEEK

Jaguar and Land Rover will soon be owned by Tata, the gigantic Indian car- and truck-maker,  thrust into world view when they introduced their 'Nano' $2,500 (wholesale) four-door, five-passenger sedan at the recent auto show in Delhi. Ford announced several weeks ago that Tata was the preferred buyer for their two UK-based luxury vehicle manufacturers. In the past few days, a flurry of newswire stories detailing the history and success of Tata, led many to believe, correctly, that an announcement from Ford and Tata about the Jag-Land Rover deal was imminent. Today, February 25th, industry weekly Automotive News reported that "Tata Motors will announce its purchase of Jaguar Land Rover on March 5th or 6th."

Ford Motor Company (FoMoCo), like General Motors and the recently privatized Chrysler Corporation is suffering from huge losses and slow sales. The US economy, close to recession, is slamming car and truck sales as many potential car-buyers are having trouble making their house payments, and rents are rising as many people who have lost their homes are suddenly finding themselves back in the rental market. Rental property owners are taking advantage of the situation by raising rents across the board throughout the country. (Photos - Above, The 2000 Jaguar XKR 100, a classic supercharged British drophead coupe, and below, the 2004 Jaguar F1 car driven by Mark Webber; the new 'Force India' F1 team may benefit by bringing some Jaguar engineers and much telemetric and testing information to India).

AMERICA'S DOMESTIC CAR-MAKERS MUST CHANGE AT A MUCH-FASTER PACE

Let's get one thing straight: We want GM, Ford and Chrysler to succeed, and prosper. We want to see all three companies make record profits, produce forward-looking, high-tech, fun and fast cars and trucks which do well on a new and highly-restricted diet of oil products of all kinds. We want big trucks to go back to where they belong --- In the service of individuals and companies which need them to get their work done, and not in the driveways and garages of American homes. I don't care how many kids you have to take to soccer practice; no one really needs a Chevrolet Suburban, Ford Expedition, Jeep Commander and of course, the Hummer, to run errands and go grocery shopping. If foreign-owned companies want to make vehicles that large for the American marketplace, let them go ahead and keep on doing it; at some point, the price of gasoline is going to stop cold all of those privateer-owned trucks dead in their tracks. Analysts are saying that the coming Spring, '08 season will bring the highest gas prices we have ever seen in the US. Something else to consider: Whoever owns one of these behemoths will see the value of their vehicle decline so fast their heads will spin.

Hey, people! We are fighting a WAR over oil right now ... It's on the news every night. You must have heard about it. Has anyone noticed? Besides imploring us to go shopping, how else does the President ask we on the home front help the war effort? If he even suggested the public buy smaller cars and trucks which get better mileage, that would at least get us all thinking about the loss/benefit of small vs. large vehicles.

For GM, Ford and Chrysler to succeed, at least in this country (they are all doing much better in overseas markets, especially China), they must build products which are desired by Americans ... But that can only happen after we Americans go through an agonizing reappraisal of what a car and truck should be. The domestic companies say Americans want big gas-guzzlers, and that's why they build them. Bullsh*t. The car companies created the demand on their own through marketing and advertising; they knew if they could sell huge numbers of huge vehicles, the more money they'd pocket.

CHI-TOWN INTROS, POOR PERSON'S FERRARI, GMC's DUAL MODE HYBRID DENALI CONCEPT AND MORE!

With the Chicago Auto Show, traditionally America's best-attended car show, has its run this week and with the New York Auto Show in Manhattan's Jacob Javits Center opening soon, time to take a quick look at a few vehicles, some shown at Chicago, some not, which knowing about will you a much more sophisticated person ... You hope. With the Los Angeles, New York and Detroit shows held in larger markets than Chicago, what's the secret of that show's high attendance? Well, it's mostly because in the dead of winter there's nothing much to do in Illinois and its nine surrounding states, and that's where the customers come from to view the great spectacle in McCormick Place (and how many of you knew that McCormick Place is owned by the Kennedy family?)

Sit back, scroll down, and enjoy ...

Well, everyone that I know has been waiting for this product, especially now that gasoline costs over $3 a gallon everywhere in the US (thanks to George W. Bush and, especially, Dick Cheney). Yes, my world and yours have certainly been waiting for the "2008 Rolls-Royce Phantom RR01 1100mm Limousine by Mutec". Mutec being a company located in Oberstenfeld, Germany ... But you already knew that!

The press release from the manufacturer consists of a bunch of photos of this monstrosi, uh, I mean, elegant motor carriage, and says just the following: "

Mutec now offers a stretch limousine version of the Rolls-Royce Phantom, adding an additional 44 inches of room as well as rear facing seats." Somewhat amazing that with all the "extras" Mutec put into this car, the front end with those boxy headlights and massive grille is still the single-ugliest part of any automobile in the past 25 years. Make that 50. Talk about "making a statement", the most we can say about it is, "So shut up, already!"

2008 Ferrari FXX Pedal-Car - An Affordable Supercar

On a slightly smaller scale ... Don't worry, it's still possible to buy that "best gift" for the Car Nut in your life. Especially if he or she is under 10. Thanks to the good folks at toy-maker Berg, we proudly present the 2008 Ferrari FXX pedal car.

If the real Ferrari FXX is out of your price range, maybe this FXX inspired pedal car by Berg will be of interest to you, says the firm's PR release.

The standard model costs €499, shown below, which works out to USD$723.75. But, the release goes on, why not splurge for the €1499 FXX Exclusive (USD$2,174.15, shown at left) which has a bucket seat, four-point harness,leather-wrapped steering wheel, wider tires, and an aero kit that gives the pedal-car an even more authentic FXX look. Disc brake detail shown in photo.

OK, maybe we went a little too far including the Ferrari pedal car, but this next new product should catch and hold your interest.

Two wheels not enough? Four too many? A lot of people are settling for three wheels, with a high-tech engine and sophisticated suspensions to make for a powerful and well-controlled ride. (Photo - One of Piaggio's all-new and more powerful three-wheelers)

Now, here's a little history lesson: We used to call these vehicles "trikes" back in the day, and they usually consisted of a rear axle pulled from an auto junkyard, shortened by half or more with a wheel on either end, and naturally, absolutely no rear suspension (ie, in the manner of a Harley "Hardtail"), a front wheel and front fork suspension (if any) taken from a wrecked motorcycle, and possibly extended to some unholy length, an oil-burning Chevy small block V8 moving the lightweight conveyance via the rear wheels, and a straight-from-Central Casting burly biker-type, hanging onto his monkey bars, and let's not forget the wide, comfortable rear seat, where the incumbent babe would relax during the ride, leaning back on the provided sissy bars. Let's not make the mistake of thinking trike-riders are rich urban bikers (the derisively named "Rubbies"), now it's usually a real old time motorcycle gang member driving/riding these Frankensteins of motorcycles. (Photos - Some classic trikes, as described above; the orange bike is using a rear-mounted and air-cooled VW engine and extended front forks, the second bike seems more professionally modified and gives a good view of the all-important comfortable rear seating)

These three-wheelers from Piaggio (and many other makers around the world) are not the fabled "trikes" of yore. Let's allow Piaggio to tell their story ...

2008 Piaggio MP3 - The Three Wheel Revolution Continues

Piaggio Introduces Maxi Scooter Power Couple to MP3 Family:

New 2008 MP3 500 and MP3 400 Three-Wheel Scooters Continue the Personal Transportation Revolution

NEW YORK, January 31, 2008 – Italian manufacturer Piaggio launched a revolution in the personal transportation category when it rewrote the rules with the three-wheel MP3 250 scooter. For 2008, the company again raises the bar with the introduction of two all-new MP3 models, the MP3 500 and MP3 400 maxi scooters. Based on the trademark technical innovations that transformed the MP3 250 into an immediate best-seller, the higher-displacement MP3 500 and 400 offer riders the added benefit of high-performance four-stroke engines, aggressive styling and a new level of premium safety, comfort and convenience equipment. Designed to go the distance, the newest MP3 models are uniquely suited to enjoying the diverse terrain of America's highways and byways.


All MP3 models feature Piaggio's innovative three-wheel configuration. Unique in the category, each MP3 delivers unparalleled stability, road grip and parking ease thanks to two independent tilting, articulated front wheels and an electro-hydraulic suspension locking system that allows the scooter to remain locked upright while at a standstill. At the same time, the MP3 sacrifices nothing when it comes to riding thrills – with a 40-degree lean angle, every MP3 delivers all the maneuverability, agility and entertainment of a motorcycle. Dry or wet conditions, smooth asphalt highway or pot-hole studded city streets, the MP3 models are resilient travel companions. (end of release)

To see the entire press release, which includes specifications and all the important details on these two all-new 400cc and 500cc three-wheelers, and to discover one of the websites where many, many blogs get their supposedly "inside info", simply click anywhere on this line!

2008 GMC Denali XT Hybrid Concept - Chicago Debut

Let's get off our scooters and climb into our big, bad GMC Denali XT Concept dual mode hybrid ... And this concept is  not just some paint-and-tape job, either. This Denali SUT was introduced at the Chicago Auto Show this week, and is the GMC version of the Chevrolet Tahoe SUV which had its world debut at the recent 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show; the Tahoe, with the same dual mode hybrid technology as this GMC Denali, was named, somewhat surprisingly, the "Green Car of the Year" by my old friend, Ron Cogan, editor of industry mag "Green Car Journal".

Again, let's allow the manufacturer to have their say:

GMC DENALI XT HYBRID CONCEPT TRUCK DELIVERS 50-PERCENT FUEL ECONOMY IMPROVEMENT

• New, robust design form serves as a test well for GMC's future design direction
• First combination of GM's two-mode hybrid system with E85 ethanol-capable engine
• Height-adjustable suspension and cargo space-enhancing Midgate®

CHICAGO – GMC unveiled the Denali XT concept at the 2008 Chicago Auto Show. It offers a 50-percent increase in combined fuel economy over comparable small pickup trucks when running on gasoline, and it incorporates a new, muscular form in a performance-styled, hybrid sport-utility truck (SUT). The dual mode hybrid system consists of GM's Active Fuel Management controlling the engine, which can switch between 8 or 4 cylinders, as demand warrants, along with two 60-kilowatt electric motors packaged inside the tranny itself, rather than depending on one large motor to “assist” the engine. GM, BMW and (what was then) DaimlerChrysler took an existing GM bus/truck transmission and re-worked it, working mostly in Europe, for the past three years. The latest version of it can fit in the full-size pickup and SUV GM line-up and can improve fuel mileage, GM says, by up to 50% under certain circumstances. This GMC Denali XT concept SUT can run on electric-only, V8-only, or a combination of the two.

The Denali XT has a anybody architecture and rear-wheel drive, enabling its distinctive design and efficient performance. It builds on the equity of the Denali line and its reputation for advanced engineering and refinement, including the first combination of GM's two-mode hybrid system with an E85 ethanol-capable engine. Denali XT's new, more efficient 4.9L version of GM's small-block V-8 features fuel-saving technologies such as direct-injection technology and Active Fuel Management. (Photo - Artist rendering of possible interior theme for the dual mode hybrid Denali if and when it becomes a production vehicle)

The engine is matched with GM's unique two-mode hybrid propulsion system, giving the powerful SUT  exceptional fuel economy and uncompromising capability – including all-electric drive at low speeds. It is a powertrain combination that makes the Denali XT perfectly suited to a variety of active lifestyle activities, such as hauling skis and snowboards to the mountain or towing a sport jet boat to the lake. (end of release)

To read a comprehensive version of this PR material, just click anywhere on this line!

ISUZU QUITS US MARKET; LEAVES LEGACY OF GREAT TV SPOTS, WINNER OF WAR WITH CONSUMER REPORTS

They built the first truck which Honda ever sold in the US, but in spite of being part of automotive trivia, Isuzu has made it official: After 27 years in the world's most important automotive marketplace, Isuzu is leaving the light-vehicle market in the United States, but keeping their medium-duty truck business. The character of the lying, scheming car salesman "Joe Isuzu", portrayed in Isuzu TV ads by actor David Leisure, will be remembered long after any Isuzu vehicle. Now the company is closing-up shop in the US, one of that rare and small group of "Asian car-maker failures" which includes Japan's Daihatsu and South Korea's Daewoo. (Photo - 1991 Isuzu Trooper photographed in its natural habitat).

If any Isuzu vehicles sold in the US are thought of at all in 50 years, it will probably be the Isuzu Trooper, possibly in a "case study" for an advertising agency or a college-level marketing class. In 1996, Consumers Union (CU), which publishes Consumer Reports (CR) magazine, said the 1995 and 1996 Isuzu Trooper SUV had demonstrated a "tendency to roll over in certain situations" in its tests, and that CR had determined that this was "not acceptable". The magazine and Consumers Union issued warnings, advising the public not to buy the vehicle, and suggesting that federal officials should launch an investigation into possible (but unnamed) product defects. Isuzu filed a lawsuit against CU; the court ruled that Consumer Reports had made "numerous false statements" and had put the Trooper SUV through tests that competitors were not subjected to. Though eight of ten jurors wanted to assign punitive damages, they did not find enough evidence of malicious intent and did not assign Isuzu cash damages. (Photo - Isuzu Ascender; rebadged GMC Envoy).

As Audi found after a devastating, and proven false in court, report on the CBS "60 MINUTES" news show on an "unintended acceleration" problem with their vehicles, and as Suzuki found after another CU hit job on their Samurai small SUV, once the "cat it out of the bag" it's very difficult and amazingly expensive to recover from such an attack. In July 2004, Suzuki's case against CR and CU was settled and dismissed, with no money changing hands. But the vehicle was cleared of all of CR's negative claims. There are many cases of CR and CU making claims against products, claims which have been proven false. Some feel that because there is no advertising in CR, its parent, CU, along with the magazine, occasionally and purposely make some outrageous safety claim about a vehicle, only to create interest in the magazine and their organization. Settlements reached in or out of court can not make-up for the damage to these, and other, companies caused by CU and CR. Meanwhile, CR and CU walk away after giving an apology and changing their rating for the vehicle in question. It's cost them little and their profile with the public is certainly much higher after they make one of these claims than before.

"Joe Isuzu" made his first appearance in 1985, and though the campaign cost American Isuzu a paltry (for the car business) $7 million, the campaign, created by Della Femina, Travisano and Partners, became an instant hit. Della Femina understood that Americans were so used to hearing stilted claims not only from corporations, but also from their government, that "Joe Isuzu" presenting himself as a lying car salesman, and proud of it, was a stroke of genius and created an atmosphere in which Isuzu flourished. Joe Isuzu lasted but a few years, until 1990, but it succeeded in making the unusual and somewhat difficult to pronounce word 'Isuzu' a household name throughout America. (Photo - Joe Isuzu).

Even the actor portraying Joe Isuzu seemed to be playing his own little inside joke; his last name, Leisure, was also the name of a particular style of clothing of that era, the much-derided, and with good reason, leisure suit. These suits were made from so many different man-made fibers and available in every ridiculous shade a colorist could come up with, that they actually "hurt" to wear, according to some who had donned these suits and headed for their favorite local disco.

The character had a huge impact on American culture of the time. President Ronald Reagan once compared Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega to "that fellow from Isuzu," and Chrysler's Lee Iacocca proclaimed in his own company's advertising, "If Chrysler isn't the performance company, then I'm Joe Isuzu." The Jerry Della Femina-headed ad agency created one of the best advertising campaigns not just in the history of the car business --- But in business, period. His smarmy, cynical, underhanded method was that special kind of sarcasm which hits the target; it was not only a "home run" for Isuzu, a company which unfortunately had more than its share of bad publicity, it was the proverbial "grand slam".

Joe Isuzu confirmed what many, if not most Americans felt about car salespeople ... That they would do and/or say absolutely anything to make a sale. For a vehicle-maker to not only appear to agree with what Americans thought, but to substantiate that in their advertising, was a courageous move which changed advertising forever. And it got the results which usually follow an "authentic" ad campaign --- Sales boomed. In 2001, Joe was returned, by popular demand, but this time as a "regular" corporate spokesman, instead of the lying salesman, for Isuzu's then-new Axiom SUV. Of course, with Leisure's character now "more normal," the results were nowhere near what the "liar campaign" did for Isuzu.(Photo - Isuzu i-350 Crew Cab).

Isuzu had the right ideas about SUVs for the U.S. market at the right time. In 1992 and 1993, the mid-size Rodeo was the top-selling import brand SUV nameplate with sales of 45,257 units. In 1993, it sold 48,903 units. The brand's sales pace continued for much of the 1990s, but slowed dramatically after 2000 as more competition emerged in the segment. Isuzu sales have slid from 103,937 in 1999 to 7,098 in 2007. (Photo - Actor David Leisure portrayed Joe Isuzu).

Isuzu also built a version of its top-selling Rodeo midsize SUV for Honda. That vehicle, the Honda   Passport, was available from 1994-2002. It was Honda's first-ever truck entry in the United States. From 1996-1999, Isuzu also built for Honda a luxury SUV called the Acura SLX. It was based on the Isuzu Trooper.

According to industry publication Automotive News, the company's shut-down was announced during a conference call with American Isuzu execs and their dealers. One dealer with three Isuzu showrooms said the company was being very generous in their buy-out plans with dealers. Dealers will receive $1,000 per new car they sold on average for the past four years, they can remain Isuzu service dealers and the company plans to spiff up incentives to help dealers clear out their inventory (which means more cash from a sale will remain with the dealer ... and the salesperson ... than in the past; it also means that this is a great time to go Isuzu-shopping because salespeople are being "encouraged" to close sales, no matter what they need to do to accomplish that).

In a press release, Isuzu Motors America said it is leaving the market because General Motors may discontinue the Ascender SUV and its small-pickup platform. Isuzu has 201 dealers and sells only two models -- the five-seat Ascender, based on the Chevrolet TrailBlazer; and the i-series pickup, derived from GM's small-pickup platform. (Photo - Isuzu medium-duty conventional cab diesel truck with a flatbed trailer).

The company says they were unable to secure any commercially viable replacements for those GM vehicles, which means the company would have no new products to sell. Isuzu took great pains this week to point out that Isuzu will continue to stand behind its customers and dealers here for years to come; current owners can be fairly certain their vehicles will not become "orphans", with no factory support for parts and/or service. To that end, the company says they will continue to honor all product warranties and roadside-assistance programs and will maintain its owner relations call center.

In addition, all current US dealers can continue as service dealerships for Isuzu, and the company will sign new contracts with dealers who want to stay. Current vehicle owners should check with their Isuzu dealer to see what they plan on doing; stay with the company or, if not, owners should find another dealer as nearby as possible to do warranty work and be a source for parts and repair as their vehicle ages. We'd expect resale value of all Isuzu vehicles to suffer, though, whether an owner sells to a private party or plans to use their Isuzu as a trade-in with a dealer. Although owners will probably not even notice the change, outside of possibly having to find another dealer to do warranty and repair work and be a parts source, the company closing-out operations in the US creates a poor image for them, true or not. (Photo - Isuzu city bus).

Isuzu will instead focus on its diesel-powered commercial trucks, a much larger business in the U.S. and abroad. In the fiscal year that ended last March, Isuzu earned $910 million on $14.2 billion in worldwide sales. The company said that quitting the U.S. passenger vehicle market would cost about $37 million over two years, including fees to franchised dealers.

The company also has a very successful marine diesel engine business, with no fewer than eight different engines, ranging in cylinders from three to six, listed on various marine equipment websites, with horsepower ratings from 26 to 260. This business will also continue uninterrupted worldwide and in the US. (Photo - Isuzu VehiCross).

A Japanese failure in the United States is a rare occurrence. The last Japanese automaker to pull out of the United States was Daihatsu, which offered the Rocky small SUV and Charade subcompact in the United States from 1988 to 1992. But the company never sold more than 17,000 units a year and was forced out of the United States because of voluntary export quotas in effect at the time.

Our feeling, having spent a lot of time with Daihatsu executives and seeing all their facilities in the US and in Osaka, Japan, was that in addition to the export quotas, Daihatsu's price point was much higher than their competition in the US for vehicles which had a perceived value of lower than was reflected on their price sticker. Both the Charade ("Our president is a big Audrey Hepburn," I was told when asking why they named a car with a word which can be perceived as being "fake" or "phony") and the Rocky (for which Daihatsu had to pay the copyright owner of the film named "Rocky" a fee for every one sold) were high-quality vehicles, perhaps too high quality for the price market in which they were playing. (Photo - Off-road race-ready Isuzu Amigo).

Daewoo, a Korean automaker, quit the US in 2002. GM now owns a majority of Daewoo and is importing one of their cars from South Korea, marketed here in the US as the Aveo.

TOYOTA #1 IN SALES, NET WORTH, REVENUE, PROFIT --- GM LED FOR 77 YEARS

Sales numbers and titles are taken very, very seriously in the auto industry. More seriously even than magazine awards, JD Power titles or auto show prizes. And it looks like General Motors had the early lead in the industry's annual sales competition, but Toyota eked out the win, becoming the world's best-selling car-making company. And to their shame, GM claimed the victory only after counting the production of vehicles at a plant in China where GM was not the majority owner --- And that's not allowed. Did GM cheat? Well, as they say in NASCAR, "If you're not cheatin', you're not racin'".

The numbers are confusing because there's a big difference between "sales" and "production", and production of vehicles made in plants where less than 50% of the operation is controlled by another, outside firm. In fact, some car-makers have been known to add extra shifts in manufacturing plants right before the New Year's break, when most car companies shut down for a week or more, in order to "win" the production derby. Another outright sneaky tactic, in the past years when the "#1 sales" title was invariably one of the Big Three, one company making a sudden, massive and surprising sale of fleet, lease or daily rental vehicles could garner the prize. For instance, Ford controls Hertz, and it could have been arranged for Hertz to place an order for 15,000 Taurus sedans on November 31 or even later; we're not saying Ford ever actually did that, but if they did, it wouldn't be a surprise.

But today, with all business international, the only numbers which really matter are the ones which bring money into the company (and its home country), and for 2007, the title goes to Toyota, a company which started selling vehicles in the US in 1957. GM owned the title for 77 years; now it's time for others to take the baton and run ... and the winners are going to be running in a westerly direction, towards Korea, China, India and all of Indo-China and Toastmaster Asia, not east across the Pacific, at least not anymore, for some time to come. (Photo - The Toyota Camry, best-selling car in the USA, led the way for Toyota to grab the world sales title for the first time in 2007).

Industry weekly Automotive News reported that General Motors did have a solid 2007, with global sales  up 1.9 percent from 2006. But it is now the world's second-largest automaker. GM slipped well behind Toyota in global sales. GM sold 8,885,599 vehicles in 2007, while Toyota says it sold an estimated 9,370,000. Toyota will issue an official total in about a month.

It was widely reported in the final week of 2007 that the two automakers finished in a dead heat for the No. 1 spot. Here's why: In its total, GM includes 516,435 vehicles of the Wuling brand in China.

For the year 2007, Toyota sold a minimum of (their estimate, but trusted enough by Automotive News enough to use) 9.37 million cars and light trucks, a 6% raise from their 2006 total. GM sold 8.89 million vehicles in 2007, a rise of 1.9% from their 2006 numbers.

But GM owns only 34 percent of the Chinese company that produces Wuling vehicles, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co. Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., a major automaker in China, owns 50.1 percent.

Industry weekly Automotive News follows the industry practice by including sales of only majority-owned subsidiaries in an automaker's global total. For instance, sales of Mazdas are not included in Ford Motor's total because Ford owns just 33.4 percent of Mazda. (Photo - Chevrolet's 2009 Camaro convertible concept has reawakened the "dream car" gene in many Americans; when it debuts next year, how many will be sold remains to be seen, but GM, Ford and Chrysler have all successfully used the "retro craze" to their advantage in the past decade).

General Motors  was founded by William C. Durant on September 16^th, 1908, as a Delaware corporation, with its headquarters in Detroit, MI. Prior to the formation of GM, Durant had bought out Buick Motor Company in 1904 and four years later attempted to merge it with Ford Motor Company, and a few others, which have long since faded into the pages of history before the formation of GM.

Durant formed GM to create one large corporation that could cover the car market from top to bottom; as many of us whose family's bought GM products throughout the 1950s, '60s and into the 1980s, a family would start-out buying a Chevrolet, then move into a Pontiac, then an Oldsmobile or a Buick, depending how "sporting" your mom or dad might have been, and then, finally, into a Cadillac. There was no place in the GM "buying system" for an individual, nor in the corporation; the corporation had traditionally been led by white men, generally Catholics, and an unmarried man or a man who headed a family with no children was, at best, a questionable man, and he would never advance in the GM hierarchy. This all remains true, to a lesser degree then in the '80s and past years, but still true enough, to this day.

These are the car companies bought-out by Durant, and important GM stakes purchased much later in Japan-based companies and others (ie, Saab of Sweden), all of it starting with Durant's purchase of the Buick Motor Company in 1904, and most-recently, controlling interests in South Korea's Dewie, now known as GM DAT, General Motors Daewoo Auto & Technology; GMDAT gives GM automotive and light truck manufacturing and assembly facilities in China, Thailand, India, Colombia, South Korea and Vietnam. India's Tata, which only recently brought out the $2,500 (wholesale) Nano small sedan, bought Daewoo's truck division. Other early and more-recent GM purchases:

• Oldsmobile Motor Company (1908, though the REO, Ransom Eli Olds, company remained independent and came to be known as White Truck Company and REO Trucks; yes, the "REO Speedwagon" was a real truck, not just a Canadian rock group's name)
• Oakland Motor Company (1909, which became Pontiac)
• Cadillac Automobile Company (1909)
• Rapid Motor Vehicle Company/GMC (1909)
• Chevrolet (1915)
• Saturn (1989; Created by GM)
• Saab ('Svenska Aeroplan Aktie Bolag' or Swedish Airplane Corporation; GM bought 50% in 1990, and the rest of the company from Trollhattan, Sweden in 2000)
• Isuzu (GM bought 49% of the company in 1971; that stake was reduced to 12% in 2002)
• Subaru (GM bought a 20% stake in Subaru's parent, Fuji Heavy Industries, in 1999; since then, GM has been selling-off their share, mostly to Toyota, and has stated its intention to fully divest their stake in the company)    (Photo - A 1958 Toyopet Crown, similar to first Toyotas sold in the US by "North Hollywood Toyota", the nation's first Toyota dealer; we imagine the family which owns that dealership is doing pretty well these days ... And deservedly so).

Toyota is now not only the largest car-maker in terms of sales, but also ranks first in net worth, revenue and profit. It is also the only car-maker found on something called 'BrandZ', which, beginning in 1998, has collected data annually from consumers, with hundreds of people interviewed asked to evaluate brands, in a competitive context, from a category they shop in. In that respect, and to those many interviewees, when shopping for a car, Toyota is the world's #1 car-maker.

And no matter how many plants Toyota, and all the other "captive imports", build in other countries, and no matter how many people they employ in those countries, and no matter how many vehicles they sell in other countries, all the profit that company clears from all those nations goes right back, in Toyota's case, to Japan ... and not even Tokyo; no, Toyota is actually based in a place called (of all things) Toyota City, which is outside Nagoya, about 300-or-so miles south of Tokyo. One of of its big subsidiaries, Daihatsu (which is Toyota's small car expert; they make the "kei cars", those with engines under 650cc, which qualify for big tax breaks in Japan), is located in Osaka, much closer to Nagoya than it is to Tokyo. (Photo - 1967 Toyota 2000GT, about 400 were built by Yamaha for racing homologation purposes, it was campaigned unsuccessfully in Japan and the US, but co-starred in the James Bond film, "You Only Live Twice" --- Those of you movie buffs who remember the "headquarters building" of the "Osato Chemical Company" should know that the facade used in the film was actually the front of the Tokyo Hilton International; I stayed there in 1979 on my first trip to Japan ... The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles has a 2000GT in their collection).

The company was founded in 1937 by Kiichiro Toyoda as a spinoff from his father (Sakichi Toyoda)'s company, Toyota Industries, to create automobiles. Toyoda was, at first, a maker of looms and sewing machines and all sorts of sophisticated automatic mechanical equipment basic to what we call the "shmata" business; literally, the "rags", or clothing business. When Toyoda first came to the US (and Kiichiro visited the US, enjoying tours, especially, of Ford's huge Rouge Factory, the only plant in the world at the time with raw materials coming in one end and completed cars driving out the other), it was hoped that the American public and western journalists would pronounce the family and company name as it was pronounced in Japan, with the emphasis on the last syllable, ie, "Toy-yo-da'", but all things being equal, creating the name "Toyota" was just the first smart move of many the Japanese company would make here in the US. (Photo - Chevrolet's Volt at the recent Los Angeles Auto Show; GM says that Chevrolet is their "green" division and Volt its first product, maybe available in 2010, maybe not, but GM says it'll be able to reach 600 miles on 12 gallons of gasoline which feed a small engine which charges and then recharges batteries as needed to make electricity which drive the motors inside each wheel and thus move the car ... It all sounds a little Rube Goldberg-ish, no? But in theory, it should work well, and if they bring it out, we'd buy one!).

Toyota also owns and operates Lexus and Scion, has a majority shareholding in Daihatsu Motors, and has minority shareholdings in Fuji Heavy Industries, Isuzu Motors, and the engine, motorcycle and marine craft manufacturer, Yamaha Motors. In fact, one of the most popular and legendary cars ever made by Toyota, their  2000GT sports car, driven by no less than Sean Connery/James Bond in 1967's "You Only Live Twice", and raced in the US by no less than Dan Gurney, but to little success, was built entirely by Yamaha. Toyota now includes 522 subsidiaries, which is why it is still known and respected (and even feared) as the biggest of the Japanese "keiretsus", or conglomerates, some of which might well be considered monopolies in the US; before WWII, these conglomerates were called "zaibatsus".

HYUNDAI MIGHT SKIP CORPORATE 'SUPER BOWL' PARTY

Hyundai was the first Korean car-maker to advertise in the Super Bowl. Of course, at the time they were the only Korean company selling cars in the US, so they were first by default. Now, company spokesman Chris Hosford, who probably has the longest tenure of any American employee of any Korean company, says that the gigantic "chaebol" might sit-out this year's Super Bowl. Hyundai is by far the biggest company of any kind in South Korea, said to be responsible for as much as 10% of that nation's  gross national product. The company is so "important" to South Korea that, as you read on this website, when the head of the company was found guilty of several criminal counts, the judge refused to send him to jail, saying the country was so dependent on this corporate leader that putting him in jail would somehow endanger all of South Korea.

According to Automotive News, Hyundai Motor America is considering withdrawing as a Super Bowl advertiser. The automaker blames a worsening economy, says Chris Hosford, Hyundai spokesman. " We are reviewing whether or not we want to advertise on the Super Bowl," Hosford tells Automotive News. (Photo - Hyundai Chairman Chung was ordered to contribute US$1.1 billion "to society" following criminal convictions, but avoided prison time when a judge said his incarceration would harm the country).

" A lot of economic indicators clearly show the economy is slowing," Hosford says. " Is this the best thing  to do with our advertising funds in the first quarter?"

In October, Hyundai said it would advertise during the Super Bowl for the first time with two 30-second commercials. Super Bowl XL II airs on Fox on Sunday, Feb. 3. Fox is charging advertisers as much as $2.7 million for a 30-second commercial, two sources familiar with the negotiations said in October. Hosford says that if Hyundai remains in the Super Bowl, the automaker will review its creative strategy to determine whether it fits a deteriorating economy. (end of news story)

Hyundai has had some bad luck with the Super Bowl before. As we've noted elsewhere on this website, Hyundai's first few years in the US, selling the Excel small car, had their US sales beginning in 1986, but were so poorly-built that thousands of them literally fell apart after just a few thousand miles. Also, Hyundai was so determined to set a "100,000 sold in one year" record (which they actually accomplished in an impressive seven months) that the company would sell a car to just about anyone who wanted one, credit standing of the buyer often not taken into consideration.

Hyundai improved their quality and began offer iring the industry's first-ever 10 year/100,000 mile warranty. They developed a larger car, Sonata, and used Super Bowl advertising to launch that model; Sonata was the first Korean car advertised on the Super Bowl. (Photo - A 1992 Hyundai Excel, the model which launched the South Korean car business in the US).

The problem was that the ships carrying the cars from South Korea to the US arrived late, so people who saw the TV spot and went to their local dealers found out that the car was not yet available ... "Still on the boat", most of them were.

The company has made tremendous leaps forward in design and reliability, and their all-new upper-class Genesis sedan was launched this week at the Detroit Auto Show. Hyundai has partnered with Ford and, to some extent, Mitsubishi over the years, since they started making cars in 1974.

Hyundai is the largest of all the South Korean "chaebols," a term whose meaning is similar to that of the Japanese "keiretsu".

Many Americans in the business world know that Japanese "keiretsu" are the huge corporate conglomerates which cut across many layers of that society, and what led to the coining of the phrase, "Japan, Inc.," in this country in the late 1970s. Before WWII, keiretsus were called zaibatsus. Zaibatsus were broken-up by the General Douglas MacArthur-led American occupation following Japan's surrender, but were essentially re-formed, in time, through the purchase of other companies' stock by competing Japanese corporations. (Photo - Hyundai's 2009 Genesis sedan, introduced this week at the Detroit Auto Show).

Which car companies choose to advertise in the Super Bowl, and whether or not they pay the additional  stiff fees demanded for some sort of "exclusivity" (ie, only American car-maker, only Asian car-maker, etc.) remains to be seen for this year's extravaganza.

Hyundai has more capital and worldwide political influence than some sovereign nations. When they talk about dropping advertising in what is traditionally the highest-rated TV program of the year, that doesn't bode well for the American economy, and sends a strong negative signal to the rest of the world.

GM's LUTZ HAS HIS OWN "ROGER SMITH MOMENT": IF PEOPLE CAN'T BUY A VOLT, "THAT'S TOO BAD ... THEY CAN BUY A COBALT OR MALIBU"

When Roger Smith, who died just a few weeks ago, was in-charge of General Motors, he made what was, even for him, a very impressive, embarrassing verbal gaffe during a major GM new car introduction media event at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. While on-stage and taking questions from reporters, Smith was asked by a reporter who mentioned he thought many Americans would find the prices on these GM vehicles too high, "What do you say to people who want a moderately-priced car from GM?" Smith, not being one who was known for thinking on his feet, paused for a moment and told the gathered media, "Well, they can always buy a used Buick." (Photo - GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz introduces the Chevrolet Volt at last year's Detroit Auto Show; this year, Volt has been somewhat disavowed).

There was something of a stunned silence among everyone in the large ballroom, according to people who were there, and before Smith could open his mouth again, his eventual successor, Bob Stempel, also on the stage, took to the microphone and began to "explain" what his boss had just said. Stempel spent much of that night and most of the next day meeting individually with reporters and downplaying Smith's statement. Stempel won the day, but Smith won the war, as he made sure that Stempel was kicked-off the GM Board of Directors after Smith himself had resigned from his own GM CEO job.

Now, the question is, what is Rick Wagoner going to do about Bob Lutz, and what he said to the media yesterday, during media vehicle introductions at the Detroit Auto Show? Stay tuned for that in a moment ... (Photo - Bob Lutz and one of the first models to have Lutz' prints all over it, the Pontiac GTO; it was a remake of GM Australia's Holden Monaro, and a sales fizzle in the US).

Since its introduction at last year's Detroit Auto Show, the Chevrolet Volt has been one of the most exciting and talked-about concept cars using existing technology to make somewhat "clean power". As detailed elsewhere on this website, the Volt, as we saw at the recent Los Angeles Auto Show, is planned, according to GM, to be capable of delivering well over 600 miles on less than 12 gallons of gas. Here's how: A small on-board "generator", really a gasoline engine, is used to constantly charge a battery pack which supplies the electricity the Volt uses to power its drive wheels. The Volt, which also combined plug-in hybrid technology, can run on batteries-only for about 40 miles after it is recharged by plugging it into a normal wall socket for a few hours.

GM introduced two new high-mileage vehicle concepts at the Detroit exhibition this week, the Hummer HX and the Saab 9-4X, both of which depend on the use of ethanol, not electricity or fuel cells or even small gasoline-powered "generators," for their lowered use of plain-old gasoline. Coupled with GM CEO Rick Wagoner's statement at last week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that Volt technology is "a stretch", and news reports coming out of GM which can't seem to agree on when a vehicle similar to Volt might be available (originally they said 2010, then 2009, now it is 2010 again, if at all), the public can only assume that GM is, at best, confused, and at worst, duplicitous, in what their gas-saving plans for the near-term might be. Which is a shame, because GM's big SUV, the Chevy Tahoe, was named "Green Car of the Year" at the LA Auto Show, thanks to a new "dual mode hybrid automatic transmission" developed in conjunction with BMW and what was then called DaimlerChrysler.

All this set the stage for Lutz' remarks to a reporter at the Detroit show yesterday; according to the LA Times:

"Asked by reporters what he would tell people unhappy that they can't get their hands on a Volt, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said: "That's too bad. They'll have to visit a Chevy dealership and buy a Cobalt or a Malibu."

Perhaps Roger Smith, recently deceased, was somehow channeling himself through Lutz. Whatever the case, his remark seems callous and even cruel, based on the public clear excitement about the possibilities of Volt and its technologies being used in a variety of GM vehicles, perhaps even being licensed to other car-makers, as Toyota does with their "hybrid synergy drive" technology (see Nissan's Altima hybrid and Porsche's forthcoming Cayenne hybrid model). (Photo - "Maximum Bob" where he finds himself most comfortable; at and as the center of attention).

Lutz, now 76, wrote a best-selling book called, "Guts!", detailing his history in the car business and his own personal philosophy. An unabashed and unapologetic egomaniac who loves being the center of everyone's attention, was a Marine Corps fighter pilot and one of his hobbies is collecting (and restoring and flying) fighter jets from other countries. Some are saying that perhaps the time will soon come when Lutz himself should show the ultimate in real guts, and either involve more of GM's younger execs in his plans. and how and why he makes decisions, or simply take his leave from the company and the industry which he served well for many years.

In any event, it seems that the only "mileage" GM, Rick Wagoner and, especially, Bob Lutz have gotten out of their once-exciting Volt concept was not on the road, but in the world's newspapers, magazines and websites; we'd call it "PR mileage".

TATA's IMMINENT PURCHASE OF JAGUAR, LAND ROVER CLOSER THAN EVER; GOT A FEW EXTRA BUCKS? THEN GET IN LINE FOR A CHANCE TO BID!

Well, it's coming down to the wire --- Not in Iowa, where Barack Obama tonight decisively proved he is never to be discounted ever again for any reason ... He's in it for the long run! Now, 'Our Personal Soapbox' over, we can tell you it's coming down to the wire elsewhere in the world, specifically in the biggest-manufacturing industry on the globe, that of cars and big business, and especially for India-based vehicle-maker, Tata. Produced from 1963 through 1965, Sean Connery's character, "James Bond", already had a cool factor, but when he drove the DB5 in the film "Goldfinger", and though Aston Martin is not going to be directly involved with the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to, probably, Tata, after every James Bond featuring an Aston Martin , interest in the marque skyrocketed. (Photo Above --- Aston Martin made improvements on their then-popular DB4 model, thus DB5 pictured above was was born; and below, Pierce Brosnan seems relaxed posing in front of the car he drives when he becomes "Bond, James Bond". It's an Aston Martin "Vanquish" with a 12-cylinder engine in a "V" configuration).

The "talk in the paddocks" of tracks worldwide says Tata is soon to be the proud owners of two bouncing baby car companies --- Jaguar and Land Rover, both of which unapologetically continue to manufacture cars and light trucks that are powerful, heavy gas-guzzlers whose prices start north of $50,000 (there is one Land Rover model, though, their LR2, with a base price just a tick under $40K). Potentially, Tata could soon find themselves in possession of important and valuable pieces of Ford/Jaguar's unsuccessful F1 team, which ran for five seasons. India has already been fielding a sort-of "national" F1 team, using Spyker chassis. In September, 1986, luxury marque Spyker announced the acquisition of Midland F1 Racing, the first, and so far only Russian-owned F1 team, at least that we know of.

All these rumors have been around for weeks, even months. Today, January 3, 2008, a statement released by Lewis Booth, executive vice president, Ford of Europe and Premier Automotive Group and also Chairman, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo and Ford of Europe, lends even more credence to all the talk:

“Ford is committed to focused negotiations at a more detailed level with Tata Motors concerning the potential sale of the combined Jaguar Land Rover business.”

"There is still a considerable amount of work to do, and while no final decision has been made, we will proceed with further substantive discussions with Tata Motors over the forthcoming weeks with a view to securing an agreement that is in the best interests of all parties concerned."

The above statement, released worldwide this evening by Ford Motor's headquarters in Dearborn, MI, is only 74-or-so words in length, yet those few words are potentially worth many, many tens of millions of dollars, with the futures of two of the world's iconic car companies at stake. (Photo --- Mark Webber in the Jaguar F1 race car; the team ran five seasons, 2000 through 2004).

In BusinessTalk 101, it means that Ford and Tata are very close to an agreement on Tata's taking over those two crown jewels in Ford's crown. It also lets other possible buyers of Jaguar and Land Rover know unequivocally that now is the time to make a bid and get it to the right people at FoMoCo.

Ford bought a piece of Aston Martin in 1987, then purchased Jaguar in 1990; in 1991, Ford also took over Aston Martin and had owned it outright until last year's auction.

Aston Martin was sold early in 2007 for just over $925 million to a consortium including Prodrive's David Richards (who until 2004 had headed BAR, the F1 team formerly known as British American Tobacco Racing), Aston Martin collector John Sinders, and Kuwaiti companies Investment Dar and Adeem Investment Co. Just two months after its purchase of that large stake in Aston Martin, Investment Dar reported receiving "several" offers of US$722 million for their piece of the company, 50% more than they had paid for it barely 60 days earlier. Ford has retained a 40% stake in Aston Martin, worth about US$80 million given the dollar's current value. (Photo --- A Tata-made SUV called "Sumo").

ProDrive, the company headed by David Richards, is one of the most-respected "boutique racing fabrication" shops which the UK is so well-known for among the sport's cognoscenti. On their own website, ProDrive introduces themselves thusly: "Prodrive is one of the world’s leading motorsport businesses. For more than 20 years, we have been running race and rallying programmes for some of the biggest names in the sport, including Subaru, Aston Martin, Ford, Porsche, Honda and BMW. At the same time we provide race and rally cars for private teams." Prodrive's site also states: "We currently run programmes for the Subaru World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship; for Aston Martin Racing in world sports car series; and for the Ford Performance Racing team in the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series."

Prodrive also has had plans to enter F1 for some years now, and 2008 was their target season, taking advantage of new F1 rules allowing "customer cars". The new F1 Concorde Agreement, which all teams and participants must sign and agree to and adhere to in order to participate in the series in any capacity,  has been "read" more than a few different ways. Many think that the new rules say that new F1 teams could be formed not to develop, build, test and race both the engines and chassis, as the series traditionally calls for, but merely to purchase year-old chassis and engines from their respective manufacturers. But because of the internecine battles about this new rule, typical for any change in F1, no matter how small or inconsequential (though this change is, admittedly, huge), Prodrive says it will be at least 2009 before they can enter F1. (Photo --- Jaguar's Super Eight has a supercharged V8 which pumps out 400-horsepower; it's built on Jag's XJ sedan long wheelbase model. Click on our "Road Test" section, which is on the right-hand margin of each page, in order to read a complete review of this car).

There are some very interesting possibilities for the future, specifically for Jaguar, if it does become part of Tata. Interesting mainly because India is fielding their own Formula One race team. Called "Force India Formula One Team", Tata's purchase of Jaguar could quite possibly bring a lot of F1 technology to that country, as Ford fielded a Jaguar-branded F1 team from 2000 through 2004. Ford purchased Stewart Formula One from former F1 champion and racing analyst Sir Jackie Stewart. Even with drivers including Mark Webber, Eddie Irvine and Christian Klien, much of Jaguar F1's seasons were debacles, bringing not praise, but derision from fans across the world, expecting more from gigantic Ford, Jaguar's owner and main benefactor. (Photo --- Land Rover's new LR2, known in other nations as Freelander).

We would guess that much of the technical know-how Jaguar F1 either developed themselves and/or bought and paid-for during their five-year career in that most-expensive of all racing series, is still squirreled away in boxes, on computer discs and hard drives, and in the hands and minds of the skilled people and talented drivers who worked over the years for Jaguar F1 ... And perhaps Tata, a major manufacturing and political power in India, sometimes called the GM, Ford and Chrysler combined of the gigantic sub-continent, might find themselves in a position to create a partnership with Force India F1. With that company's money and reach, and a country which is just beginning its climb into becoming a First World member, now populated by millions of highly-educated people, if the Jaguar/Land Rover sale becomes a reality, Force India could become a major force, of many kinds, in the world of motor racing.

Tata is a huge vehicle-maker, yet we've not seen their products on most of this side of the world, and in our particular spot of North America. Tata Motors was established in 1945, when the company began making trains. Tata Motors was first listed on the NY Stock Exchange in 2004. Tata is India’s largest automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturing company. It is also the world's 5th largest commercial vehicle manufacturer. It is part of the Tata Group, and is headquartered in Mumbai. In 2004 it also bought Daewoo’s truck manufacturing unit in South Korea (while GM was busy buying the car-making part of Daewoo). (Photo --- Tata's "Elegante" sedan). Motors' range of passenger cars is still not complete by international standards. In commercial vehicles, Tata Motors commands an amazing 65% market share in their home market. That’s similar to the market share which Toyota enjoys in the cities surrounding their headquarters in Toyota City, which is near Nagoya, about 300 miles south of Tokyo.

Tata has a workforce of 22,000 employees in three plants and other offices across the country. Tata

There's much more information on Tata and their soon-to-finally-be-announced deal with FoMoCo to buy Land Rover and Jaguar just a few postings below, so scroll down a bit for the "rest of the story".

HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR SEVERAL SOUTH KOREAN CAR EXECS! THEY ESCAPE THE SLAMMER!

HAPPY "CAR NUT" NEW YEAR TO ALL! Mr. and Mrs. Car Nut (and Tippi the resident and incumbent Cat) wish everyone, everywhere a Great 2008 --- With good health, safe journeys, laughter, fun, (reasonable) excitement and Great Prosperity for all!

IT'S GONNA BE GREAT IN '08!

That's our wish to you ... Apparently, in South Korea, the well-known, kind-hearted and soft-on-crime courts in that bastion of democracy (written with tongue firmly in cheek) have made the wishes of at least three major automotive executives come true --- They ain't going to jail, after all! Here are those stories from last year, this first one (of three below) found in South Korean papers on New Year's Eve, 2007:

The founder and former chairman of South Korea's Daewoo has been pardoned in a traditional New Year amnesty. Kim Woo-Choong, 71, was sent to prison for eight and a half years in 2006 for crimes including embezzlement and accounting fraud. But one month later the court ordered the suspension of the sentence because of ill health. (Photo --- Daewoo executive Kim Woo-Choong, pardoned for his crimes; and why not ... he looks so terribly honest).

Daewoo went under in 1999 with debts of US$82 billion leaving the government to rescue its component companies. Woo-Chong fled the country and was accused of ordering his executives to lie in order to obtain loans. He was also accused of smuggling money overseas. He eventually returned to South Korea in 2005 to face charges. In addition to the prison sentence, he was ordered to forfeit 17.9 trillion won (US$18.2 billion) and pay 10 million won in fines (which amounts to $10,617, and, yes, that's in US dollars; hope it doesn't break the poor, sick guy --- Though apparently he did have US$18.2 billion to "forfeit", just like any other average auto exec).

Daewoo started out as a small textile firm, which he had bought for $5,000 in 1967. From this simple beginning, Kim turned Daewoo into one of South Korea's most powerful industrial conglomerates, or "chaebols", with close ties to other business leaders and top politicians. At its height, Daewoo employed 320,000 people in 110 countries. General Motors bought a major stake in Daewoo Motor to create GM Daewoo in 2002.

Apparently, there are special times on the South Korean calendar other than the "traditional New Year amnesty" when those in need of a little help from those on-high get just what they wished for. In September, 2007, the following news out of South Korea had millions of people around the world shaking their heads in disbelief, save for the White House, where some of our employees probably thought that a convicted big-time swindler being pardoned, entirely, from a prison sentence, simply because he is so big-time was a "good move". While you ponder the ways of Korea and Scooter Libby, read this:

An appeals court suspended a three-year prison sentence for Hyundai Motor Co. Chairman Chung Mong-koo on Thursday, saying the tycoon is too important to South Korea’s economy to go to jail for embezzlement. (Photo --- Hyundai execs and others cutting a ceremonial ribbon; Chairman Chung is third from the left).

A three-judge panel at the Seoul High Court suspended the sentence for five years, meaning that the 69- year-old head of the nation’s biggest automaker will avoid prison as long as he keeps a clean record during that period.

A lower court had sentenced Chung in February to three years for embezzling more than $100 million from the company to set up a slush fund. Prosecutors say the fund was used to pay lobbyists to gain government favors and for personal use.

Presiding Judge Lee Jae-hong told the packed courtroom that Hyundai Motor has great influence over the nation’s economy and Chung, its hands-on leader, is the symbol of the company.

“I am also a citizen of the Republic of Korea,” Lee said. “I was unwilling to engage in a gamble that would put the nation’s economy at risk.” Chung, free on bail after spending two months in jail after his arrest in April last year, has been actively running the company, which ranks as the sixth-largest automaker in the world and has ambitions to become the fifth-largest by 2010.

Lee said he struggled with the decision, originally set for July 10, and postponed it twice, saying the court needed more time. He said he sought the views of various people, including other judges, prosecutors, lawyers, journalists and “even taxi drivers and restaurant employees.” That would give anyone a lot of confidence in the South Korean court system ... That the presiding judge of the Seoul High Court, their equivalent of the US Supreme Court, would wander the streets asking people he bumps into their opinion on what he should do about this pesky "Chung case". (Photo --- An apparently proud and happy Hyundai Motors' Chairman Chung, standing amid some of his company's products, avoided any prison time when prosecutors asked judges to give him six years; well, you know, at least they asked).

In his appeal, Chung asked the court to be allowed to avoid prison to devote his energies to South Korea’s biggest automaker to contribute to the country’s economy. Prosecutors sought a six-year prison term, saying the original decision was not harsh enough for the crime. The court also ordered Chung to fulfill a promise he made last year to donate 1 trillion won ($1.1 billion) of his personal assets to society and told him to do community service.

But Park Wan-gi, an activist with the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice, denounced the ruling, saying it reinforced the perception that the rich can avoid jail. In a similar case, the Seoul High Court in 2005 suspended a three-year prison term for accounting irregularities handed to Chey Tae-won, CEO and chairman of South Korea’s leading oil refiner, SK Corp., now SK Energy.

Chung has pushed Hyundai Motor to expand aggressively overseas, building factories in China, India, Turkey and the United States, with another one currently under construction in the Czech Republic. Hyundai Motor affiliate Kia Motors Corp. has done the same, manufacturing cars in China and Slovakia and building another plant in the U.S. state of Georgia, near Hyundai Motor’s factory in Alabama.

Last year, Hyundai and Kia accounted for about 72 percent of South Korea’s automobile exports. Autos account for 13 percent of the country’s total exports. Hyundai welcomed the decision. “We can now devote our full energies to addressing the numerous challenges that face us and building a global brand,” it said in a statement.

This pardoning of convicted criminals in South Korea, when they just happen to be what some used to call "Captains of Industry", was nothing new when Hyundai's Chung had his sentence commuted; no, just a few months before the Chung pardoning, the gears of South Korean justice had already been ground to a halt. Even earlier last year, on March 28, 2007, the South Korean government also saw fit to pardon another top automotive executive, yet another one from Hyundai, the Big Boy of Korean money and politics:

Hyundai Motor is South Korea's top carmaker, and prosecutors have arrested the chief executive of carmaker Hyundai Motor's logistics subsidiary, Glovis, on corruption charges.

Lee Ju-eun is suspected of embezzling 7bn won ($6.73m; £3.85m) in company money for use in lobbying  politicians. Prosecutors say the investigation is linked to the arrest of businessman Kim Jae-rok on illegal lobbying charges. Hyundai Motor is suspected of paying Mr. Kim for his influence with politicians and local government officials. Prosecutors have also banned a number of top Hyundai Motor officials from leaving the country.

Hyundai was featured in a corruption investigation in 2003, when prosecutors examined allegations of illegal election campaign financing. Vice-chairman Kim Dong Jin was given a two-year suspended sentence and later pardoned. (Isn't being "featured" a rather strange way to describe Hyundai's predicament?)

Well, there you have it! Obviously, the way to "beat the cops" in South Korea is to make sure you work for one of their big car companies while you are committing your crime, whatever it may be ...

GUEST EDITORIAL --- WHY "DETROIT" IS NO LONGER "DETROIT"

Ron Verschoor is a member of the Board of Directors of the Society of Automotive Historian's Southern California Chapter. Their quarterly, "The Historian", is an important and informative newsletter containing, among many other things, industry news, personnel info (who is working where) and listings of upcoming chapter events. These range, for example, from the February 7, 2008 "Society of Automotive Historians in Paris XIII - the Annual European Dinner Meeting at the Automobile Club de France", at 6 Place de la Concorde, in Paris, to the somewhat more mundane, and perhaps more important (because it's a fund-raiser for the chapter), the chapter-sponsored June 22, 2008 "Annual Literature Faire and Exchange" to be held at the NHRA Museum at the Fairplex in Pomona, California, just a few hundred yards from "Parker Avenue", the official name of the 1/4-mile dragstrip where the NHRA's season-opener and -closer have been held for almost 50 years. "Parker Avenue" is not named for yours truly, but for Los Angeles Police Department Chief William H. Parker, who served in that capacity from 1950 through 1966, and supported the NHRA and their efforts to give illegal street racers (then called "hot rodders") a controlled environment in which to practice their 'hobby' (these days, "Big" Willie Robinson is working closely with the LAPD and LA Sheriff's Department to resurrect his "Brotherhood Raceway" on Los Angeles' Terminal Island, a place where anyone can "run what they brung" in a much more casual atmosphere than at Pomona, but still with an all-out emphasis on safety ... click on "So Cal" on the right-hand margin for more). Anyone interested in more information about the Society of Automotive Historians, including how to join and also find their local chapters, may visit www.autohistory.org. With no further ado, what follows is the column by Ron Verschoor entitled "Just a Thought", found in the December, 2007 issue of 'The Historian':

Just a Thought    

     The press, even the automotive press, often refers to “Detroit” when speaking of the domestic automobile industry. Though I doubt GM, Ford and Chrysler will ever leave Detroit, that city and the state of Michigan are becoming less important in the automotive world.

     After 50 years of service British Airways will discontinue flights between Heathrow and Detroit beginning March 30, 2008. Why? Because Detroit is less important than it used to be.   

     Did you make it to the Los Angeles Auto Show in November? If you did, you may have visited the rather large Porsche display. Guess what? If you go to Detroit in January for the North American International Auto Show you won’t see a Porsche display. Why? Because Detroit is less important than it used to be.  California Porsche sales are 30 times those in Michigan.

     We might complain about California traffic, the smog and the damage to the environment caused by cars but those problems were first discovered here and their solutions will be as well.    

     California makes automotive history.   

                        Ron Verschoor

Comments? Questions? Please post them here for all to see (and even debate). Personally, I have always held a bit of pity in my heart for some employees of the (Former) Big Three, specifically those who may spend many years working in the "west coast offices" of one or more of those companies, yet if transferred from Southern California to Detroit  --- It is considered a "promotion" ... That is, truly, a world-class misnomer. All we can say is: Enjoy the weather at the Detroit Auto Show! Then get back to us here in the Palm Springs area, and let us know how it was ...

"CROSSFIRE" DIED LAST TUESDAY; DIDN'T YOU SEE IT ON THE NEWS?

When Daimler purchased Chrysler Corporation for a song in May of 1998 (well, it was for $40 billion in stock, so while no cash actually changed hands across the ocean, there was plenty of potential for everyone involved), one of the first points Mercedes chieftain Juergen E. Schrempp made was that there would never be Mercedes parts found on any Chrysler products, and likewise, Chrysler parts would never be used on any Mercedes product. As we all now know, that promise lasted about 10 minutes, or as soon as both companies woke-up one morning with a terrific hangover headache, approaching a migraine in intensity, and both realized what a stupid deal the entire "merger" had been.

To be truthful, and according to court records in suits brought by stockholders against some of the merger's principals, while Bob Eaton and (some of) the folks at Chrysler were drunk with the possibilities of this "merger" of two of the world's most gigantic corporations, Schrempp had already told plenty of people before the "merger" that Daimler looked at Chrysler as a "take-over" target, and absolutely not as a "merger partner". And he said that to even more people after the sale (or merger, if you like) was consummated. Soon after the two companies did get together, some of the best people at Chrysler left the company, especially some of their "small car" manufacturing experts, Chrysler's small car-building prowess having been one of the heavily touted reasons for Daimler's desire to get its tendrils into Chrysler.

The first production car to "share" parts from the two vast, worldwide corporate cultures was the Chrysler Crossfire. Today, it was announced that the Crossfire is being discontinued, and we're pretty certain that Jason Vines, the long-time Chrysler PR guru who last week left the new, privately-owned Chrysler, would have been pleased to have made the announcement of the death of the Crossfire, a death for a car which lasted only five years. In fact, the last Crossfire rolled off the assembly line earlier this week, Tuesday, December 18th, to be exact.

Crossfire was born as the answer to a question which no one had asked.

During its five-year lifespan, this "all-American" coupe was built in good-old American, uh, Germany, sold 80,000 total units in that time, but last year US sales accounted for only 8,216 Crossfires. That works out to about 22 cars a day in one year. For comparison, Honda and Toyota sell somewhere more than 1,130 Accords and Camrys --- Every single day of the year. Even with a 330-horsepower supercharged V6 and a snappy six-speed six or five-speed automatic, and in spite of its proper front engine/rear-wheel drive, Crossfire just never caught on.

There was no 2006 version of Crossfire (so be afraid if someone wants to give you a "great deal" on their "2006 Crossfire", just don't buy any Florida swampland or a bridge in Brooklyn from them) and the news was so, so sad for the final Crossfires: Both body styles offer base and Limited models, but the high-performance SRT-6 model, really the only reason to buy this car, was no longer available. The lone engine was the 215-hp Mercedes 3.2 liter, single overhead cam V6, and in a 3,010-pound vehicle, that just "ain't enuff power", as they say Down South. A 6-speed manual transmission was standard, and the 5-speed automatic was optional on Limited models. ABS, traction/antiskid control, and side airbags are standard on all Crossfires, which is a nice bunch of features on any vehicle. Curtain side airbags are unavailable, due to the convertible feature, but driver and passenger knee airbags were added for '07. Limited comes with leather upholstery and is available with a navigation system. A plug-in air compressor and a can of tire sealant are provided instead of a spare tire. Now, that's big of them, don't you think?

Prices for these last-year Crossfires range on the dealer's invoice from $29,510 to $38,955. A new Crossfire for the garage? Probably not, but a used Crossfire ... That could turn out to be one of the better used car buys in the country. A SRT-6 with the 6-speed stick, in coupe form (hardtop) only might make sense for the garage of a driver who can appreciate the 330-horsepower and front engine/rear drive configuration ... and buyers and their passenger can also enjoy the magnificent "whine" from 0 rpm and up the hp/torque scales, as the supercharger is immediately kicked into service via the engine's serpentine belt.

But the car was the sad, unwanted and, finally, bastard offspring of the Chrysler/Mercedes "merger", and shared its platform with the original Mercedes SLK roadster ... Which had already been replaced. No one wanted to take "credit" for it; actually, neither company would allow itself to take the blame. So buyers of the Crossfire got the first and now old SLK platform, and though the car was intro'd as a coupe-only, when a convertible version of Crossfire was finally made available (due, we assume, to some huge outcry from the American public, an outcry which we must have missed by being in the kitchen or somewhere else when it happened), the American-version car-buyer got the (much, much) lesser version of the German car.

SLK was one of the first modern cars outfitted with a true hardtop convertible, something so cool that  traffic and pedestrians in intersections would stop cold when the SLK was put through its paces from the cabin; a simple twist of a knob and press of a button put the hardtop up or down, leaving room in the trunk for a couple of small bags, and, most importantly, in the top-up configuration, SLK maintained much of its structural integrity, could cross over several sets of railroad tracks without the drinks spilling out of their cupholders and offered driver and passenger a warm, dry and quiet ride.

But pity the poor Crossfire buyer. No hardtop convertible, but a manually-operated softtop which was more a throwback to the 1960s rather than into the future of the finest Germanic automotive architecture. Crossfire was cold inside if it were cold out, had trouble remaining dry inside if there were rain or snow outside, and with the top won, had, as a friend of mine once said, more shakes than McDonalds when crossing obstacles as small as the reflective Bots Dots found on most all modern highways (especially California's freeways, where many Crossfire owners put the car through its gears).

The Crossfire is the first of four models that Chrysler is cutting, and there are some fast cuts in the plans of the new owners (Cerebus, whose logo is that of the mythical three-headed monster which guards the gates of hell ... Which some people say is akin to visiting a Mercedes stockholders meeting). Rumors say that next to go are the Dodge Magnum (quite unfortunately), Chrysler PT Cruiser Convertible and Chrysler's Pacifica. We understand Chrysler is simply sending some of their zone managers across the USA to let the 15 people who actually bought a Pacifica know, in person, that they may have some trouble getting parts in another 15 years or so ...

How abrupt was the sale of Chrysler just four months ago? In a piece dated February 5th, 2007, in the Detroit News, writers Bill Vlasic, Josee Valcourt and Christine Tierney had an "Exclusive!" on the soon-to-be-announced "X Plan", an the story was entitled "Chrysler's Secret Comeback Plan". The first few lines of the piece said: "German shareholders may be clamoring for DaimlerChrysler AG to sell off the Chrysler Group, but they won't get their wish. Instead, a secret restructuring plan dubbed "Project X" is focused on transforming Chrysler into a smaller, more efficient automaker with closer ties than ever to its German parent company and the Mercedes-Benz luxury division. The Detroit News has learned that the plan, to be unveiled on Feb. 14, calls for unprecedented sharing of vehicle architectures and parts between Chrysler and Mercedes, including developing small cars and SUVs together."

Before I posted the above quotes from the DETROIT NEWS story, I had to re-check the source page to make sure it was not printed in the paper on April 1st ... Indeed, it was a real story, printed on a real date, not any kind of "April Fools" joke. But with the perfect 20/20 hindsight which we're all so lucky to have, even those first few lines sound comedic.  And keep in mind, they were written only about 10 months ago; sometimes it's shocking how fast even the most gigantic companies can move --- when they want to do so.

SAY "TA-TA" TO JAGUAR, LAND ROVER; INDIA'S TATA CAR COMPANY SAID BUYING BOTH

India's Tata, one of the world's biggest automakers you've never heard of, is headed to cross the finish line first in the "quiet" worldwide auction being staged by Ford Motor Company to take-over both Jag and Land Rover. The news might hit the wires here in the US later tonight (12/20/07) or early tomorrow morning, but it's almost a "slam dunk". Well, maybe not that "for certain", but all signs and comments in the press point to two of the most historic vehicle makers being gobbled up by a company based in India.

And the irony is there for all to see; US car-buyers, beginning in the late 1950s, not more than 20 years since the end of WWII hostilities, have helped German and Japanese car-makers become some of the most high-quality and consistent in the world. Now, moving to the "subcontinent" of India, which was the so-called "Jewel In The Crown" of the UK's worldwide Commonwealth, is home to a company which will apparently, within hours, become the owners of two of their former "occupiers" most famous names. And yes, this is a real irony, not a mere coincidence (in answer to all those English teachers visiting this site looking for mistakes). (Photos --- Jaguar and Land Rover both headed to India?).

Tata is a huge vehicle-maker, yet we've never seen their products on this side of the world, in our particular spot of North America. Tata Motors was established in 1945, when the company began making trains. Tata Motors was first listed on the NY Stock Exchange in 2004. Tata is India’s largest automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturing company. It is also the world's 5th largest commercial vehicle manufacturer. It is part of the Tata Group, and is headquartered in Mumbai. In 2004 it also bought Daewoo’s truck manufacturing unit in South Korea (while GM was busy buying the car-making part of Daewoo).

Tata has a workforce of 22,000 employees in three plants and other offices across the country. Tata Motors' range of passenger cars is still not complete by international standards. In commercial vehicles, Tata Motors commands an amazing 65% market share in their home market. That’s similar to the market share which Toyota enjoys in the cities surrounding their headquarters in Toyota City, which is near Nagoya, about 300 miles south of Tokyo. (Photo --- Tata Elegante).

The company has had plans for years to build a car that will cost under $2500, and now they are in the process of making that long-held dream come true. Ratan Tata of Tata Motors says the company's planned under-$2,500 car also will emit "less pollution per vehicle than any other vehicle in (India) today." He was responding to criticism from environmentalists that the availability of ultra-cheap cars will lead to more traffic congestion.

With the Times of London reporting that Tata is one of the finalists in the bidding for Ford's Land Rover and Jaguar units, Thomas Stallkamp, a former Chrysler executive now with a U.S. private-equity firm, Ripplewood, was quoted as saying: "I don't understand how a company that's going to make cars for $2,000 can also sell cars for $120,000." Stallkamp might have made that statement out of some degree of jealousy; Stallkamp's firm was reportedly knocked out of contention for the purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover. (Photo --- Tata Indica).

But Stallkamp does absolutely make sense. Indeed, how can a car company which specializes in small family cars, and we mean really small as well as being traditionally underpowered, be able to produce, market and sell cars and trucks which have a base price of over $40,000. Or to even oversee their production, marketing and sales, which will probably be what Tata wants to do if their bids for Jag and Land Rover get them the outfits.

Now that the future of Tata is embroiled with the futures of both Jaguar and Land Rover (if the sale goes through), our guess is that most executives at most car companies would not look forward to being involved with such a jarring change in their company’s culture. One can always hire the “right” people to run your entire company, or even a small division within that company. (Photo --- Tata Sumo...and no kidding about that name).

But with Tata a car and truck-maker unto themselves, there are probably enough execs in the company  who think they can easily make the transition from just finishing-up development of a $2,500 car for the masses, then jump right into Jag and Rover production, barely missing a step. Yeah … right. We wish them luck, because everyone wants to see Jaguar and Land Rover succeed and prosper. But if Tata isn’t about to announce that they are stealing a bunch of executives from, say, General Motors and/or Toyota, or BMW and/or Mercedes-Benz, or any other of the world’s best car-makers, we frankly don’t see how they are going to succeed with the much-beloved Brit makes.

AMERICANS ROBBED BY POLICE ON MEXICO'S HIGHWAYS

There's a story in the Sunday LA Times' Travel section (10-14) which details one American motorist's scary run-in with Mexican cops which was nothing short of a shake-down for cash. The story runs below, but some background is necessary as to why we are running this piece and think it is important for the entire country, not only the states which share the border with Mexico. (Photo --- Mexico street scene).

Several weeks ago, it was announced that Mexican big rigs would be allowed unfettered access to American highways. Although it was part of the NAFTA treaty, President Clinton decided to not institute the part of the treaty allowing the Mexican trucks and their drivers and their loads all over America; he limited them to a 25-mile zone north of the US/Mexico border. The truckers would then drop their loads at warehouses within that 25 mile zone and head back to their home country. American trucks and their drivers would then pick-up the loads and deliver them to their destinations in the US.

Many people, including those who run this website, see many potential problems with allowing the Mexican trucks and their drivers complete freedom to be on US roadways. Safety is perhaps the biggest concern; those of you who have traveled to Mexico have no doubt marveled at how so many of their big rig trucks seem ready to fall apart and are frankly frightening when one thinks about their brake systems, trailer-pulling ability, lighting systems, etc. Also many worry about the skills of the truck's drivers; are they subject to and familiar with the rules which govern big rigs and their drivers in the US? We think these are reasonable concerns.

An interview I did on my radio show with our area's state assemblyman, John Benoit, revealed just how serious this situation is. Benoit is the former head of the California Highway Patrol for the desert area in which we live, from Palm Springs, CA, south and east towards the Mexican border. He's in a unique position to judge whether implementation of this particular part of the NAFTA treaty is a good, safe idea. He's against it for the one major reason many others are: Safety and quality of the Mexican trucks. He told my audience that the only Mexican trucks that could possibly be inspected, due to the CHP's manpower, would be "those which are obviously falling apart". He said that even though the Treaty calls for inspections of the Mexican trucks at the border (and for American trucks going into Mexico due to the reciprocal agreement the Treaty puts into effect), that it is simply impossible, given the number of CHP truck specialists available, to give the trucks anything more than a cursory going over, not much more than a visual inspection.

For running this information, we received several e-mails calling us "racist" and claiming that Mexican big rigs are in better shape then those in the US, and that Mexican truck drivers are more highly-skilled and better-trained then those in America. I asked those e-mailers to send us more information on those statements so we could run it here for everyone to see; I never heard back from any of them. (Photo --- Gateway arch; entrance to Mexico in Tijuana).

There's another huge reason that President Bush has decided to allow the Mexican trucks into the US:  To drive down the wages of the unionized American truck drivers of the Teamsters Union. The Mexican drivers do not make anywhere near the level of American drivers, and certainly not even approaching the level of a union driver. The truck fleet owners figure that if the Mexican trucks and drivers have wide-open access to this market, then companies who hire trucks to carry their items will start to look for trucks and drivers which will operate for less money. If that happens to enough truckers for a long-enough period of time, American truck drivers will be priced out of their own profession.

Here's the article from the LA TIMES detailing what can happen to Americans on Mexican roadways ... and for someone like me, who has lived near the border for almost 40 years and visited Mexico many times --- without any problems with the police --- This kind of story does not surprise me, and won't surprise anyone who has visited Mexico or knows people who have. Remember, an important part of the NAFTA Treaty is the reciprocal agreement which calls for Mexico's roadways to be wide-open to US truckers. But if even the POLICE in Mexico are stealing from American tourists, what types of hijackings and other crimes might our truckers have to look forward to, especially those who regularly travel with members of their family in the cab with them?

ON THE SPOT

Caution tourists, Mexican police not above extortion

A few tips on how to protect yourself when south of the border.

By Catharine Hamm, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 12, 2007

Question: On a recent crossing from Mexico back to the U.S., I was stopped for an alleged traffic infraction in Tijuana. The police ended up taking me to an ATM, where I withdrew $500 in cash. Then they then let me go. What could I have done?

--Rob Gonzalez, Claremont

Answer: The letters we receive often deal with broken promises (by airlines, hotels and other travel providers), bad treatment (by airlines, hotels and other travel providers) and unruly behavior (by everybody).

But this goes way beyond unruly. It is maddening at best and frightening at worst.

At least it was when it happened to me about three years ago. My travel mate and I got stopped for "impeding traffic." We were lucky this was the only charge. Others have reported being falsely accused of drinking or having drugs. We got off for a mere $40 donation to the "Tijuana Policemen's Fund."

Alas, this is one of the dirty little secrets of travel. Extortion of tourists happens more often than is reported. It's not confined to Mexico, of course, but because so many of us cross the border so often, whether to enjoy Baja's beaches or to shop, we may get our turn on the horns of this dilemma. (Photo --- Trucks crossing the US/Mexico border).

And some people worry that new Mexican traffic laws, which went into effect this summer and allow drivers to be cited for, among other things, not wearing seat belts, for talking on cellphones or for having windows tinted too darkly, may increase your chances of a fraudulent ticket. The new laws, they think, are just another vehicle for officers to supplement their incomes.

The problem is so prevalent in Mexico that the State Department's consular information sheet acknowledges it: "In some instances, Americans have become victims of harassment, mistreatment and extortion by Mexican law enforcement and other officials. . . . In some cases, assailants have been wearing full or partial police uniforms and have used vehicles that resemble police vehicles, indicating some elements of the police might be involved. . . . Tourists should be wary of persons representing themselves as police officers or other officials. When in doubt, ask for identification."

So how do you protect yourself if you get stopped for an "infraction"?

"Try to get the name and badge number and specifics" about the officer, said Michele Bond, deputy assistant secretary for Overseas Citizen Services. (This might also be a new use for the camera on your cellphone.) The traveler also should ask for a copy of the citation, she said.

You also can offer to accompany the officer to the police station to settle the matter. This is said to discourage a phony citation.

If you're in a hurry you may be tempted to offer a "donation" to the "Policemen's Fund."

Before you do, remember that trying to bribe an officer is a crime, so you may want to reconsider trying to buy your way out of trouble. That's one purchase it may not pay to make south of the border.

-30-

(Photo --- Teamsters Union members protest NAFTA Treaty; but this isn't a political issue as much as being about safety and the economy --- Many see implementation of this part of NAFTA as a way to lower the wages of American big rig truck drivers).