“Since around the beginning of this month, Nissan has stopped taking orders for the GT-R, and the production line has been stopped.  Rumors in various car magazines have suggested this is tied to a price rise, but you’ve already heard that.  In fact readers, if you insist on hard proof before accepting a story, there [...]

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says that the federal government should double the amount of money allocated to the Department of Energy’s Detroit-friendly low-interest “retooling” loans. For those of you keeping track of our federal deficit, that would be $50b. But that’s not all! “Barack Obama’s top economic adviser said Monday an Obama administration would [...]

You may remember project D: Chrysler’s plan to build something better than the world’s worst car for the mid-size segment. As it continues its campaign to replace the definition of the word gullible in Webster’s dictionary, Autobloggreen breathlessly reports that the fruit of Project D might be an electric vehicle! Tracing the story back to [...]

The autoblogosphere’s self-styled Autoextremist normally posts every Wednesday. So you know things are OOC when Peter DeLorenzo feels compelled to unleash his weekly rant on a Monday. A good thing too; Sweet Pete knocks one out of the park. “Let me get this straight right off the bat,” DeLorenzo writes late in the fifth inning. [...]

These guys can’t win from losing. I mean, first GM seeks to evade responsibility for its cratered bsuiness by claiming that “no one” could have forseen the sudden spike in gas prices (or, God forbid, planned for that contingency after, what, two previous oil price shocks). And now GM Car Czar “Maximum Bob” Lutz is [...]

What’s beyond irony? Farce? Whatever it is, the fact that Chevrolet decided to underwrite Christian Slater’s new NBC series entitled “My Own Worst Enemy” is it. The show’s “bumpers” featured the Chevrolet Traverse and the Chevrolet Camaro in split screen head-on action, supposedly reflecting the electronically-induced multiple-personality disorder suffered by the show’s main character. Or [...]

Whatever the qualifications and diplomas accumulated by auto executives, it’s a pretty safe bet that they failed mythology. Automobile names are a silly subject already, bring in some of the poorer choices, and you have the makings of high comedy.The assorted Zodiac names are harmless, if a bit silly. I’ll accept that no one at Chevy realized that Cobalt is a poisonous metal named for a demonic imp. But really, who green-lighted “Gremlin” back in the day? Odyssey is a cool-sounding name, but really, shouldn’t it be some sort of mid-life-crisis car? Well, maybe it’s a car for a “homer”. What would Oedipus drive? That’s easy: a black 300 with tinted windows cause he’s one baaad.. OK, I’ll stop. But mentioning the poster boy for tragic screw-ups reminds us of something that does have relevance for today’s auto market, the riddle of the Sphinx.

If you’re wondering about the reason behind Toyota’s $250m zero percent marketing blitz, look no further than their very own job bank. Unlike The Big 2.8’s top-secret pool of idled workers, ToMoCo’s labor reservoir is a matter of company policy, not union contracts. With Tundra sales as frozen as the truck’s namesake [...]

Dig to the bottom of our current fiscal nightmare and you'll discover an oddball type of derivative that Warren Buffet famously termed, "financial weapons of mass destruction." Also known as Credit Default Swaps (CDS). Essentially, it's a bet that a bad investment will fail. A strange type of insurance to be sure, where the purchaser of said CDS isn't required to have anything to do with what's being insured. Oh, and it's a $55 trillion market. Er, was. And because of Gordon Gekko-huffing-PCP style greed, all of our 401ks have been halved. If not worse. Maybe the Adderall-addicted pukes that tanked our economy were trying to accumulate enough cash to buy a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4? While I can't forgive 'em, I do understand.

While we await Andrew Dederer’s (or similar) translation, we are assured that Nissan has released this higher quality official version of their record-setting Nurburgring run to refute Porsche’s claims that their Japanese rivals were cheating. GTRblog.com says that “Nissan go on to say that the GT-R used in the official laptime was actually at a [...]

With all eyes focused on the stock market and the presidential candidates and federal bailouts and whatnot, the cratering price of gas is getting lost in the fug of financial ruin. Anyone remember how much gnashing and wailing accompanied its rise? Anyway, Reuters reports that “The national average price for self-serve, regular unleaded gas [...]

Regular readers of this site will know that America’s domestic automakers and their captive finance units are not on speaking terms with the truth. The estrangement continues with news that GMAC (a GM - Chrysler co-production) is tightening-up its lending practices. GMAC spins the announcement as some kind of reflection on their sense of fiduciary [...]

The best part of my job: getting to drive, think, talk, and write about cars all the time. The worst: when someone asks me what my favorite car is. The answer is “all of them.” At this point, the person thinks I’m being a jerk, which I am, but doesn’t understand that car lunatics have [...]

Well, not lied, exactly. More like flip-flopped. In my last podcast epistle, I said TTAC wouldn't make you jump on blog posts because that would be better for us (page views) than you (convenience). And it's all about you (TTAC readers), not us (anti-social writers who have to make a living somehow). And then Justin and I began to discover something interesting. While other automotive websites use the click through to bore this shit out of readers with press releases (Autoblog), or as a money shot come-on-you-know-you-want-to (Jalopnik), we found we could do more creatively using two bites than one. In other words, we can provide the main news and then give you some background info and/or additional de-spinnage. Headline. Then color. Of course, that's not true in every case. So we're restricting ourselves to those occasions where it, uh, is. If this is pissing you off, give it a few days for us to get settled-in. And meanwhile, we know we have some tweakage left for the new design. The programmers are, unlike some of us, taking the day off. Imagine that.

[Note: TTAC translation after the jump.] “About a month ago, “GT-R will be suspended orders,” “a temporary stop of the factory production line,” or “to raise RERURASHII” such as spreading rumors. Many were picked up by car magazines, so many of you already know it. In fact, readers have also been inquiries about the matter, [...]

Financial advisers seem to agree that a panic-fueled stock market decline has opened a number of opportunities to snag solid investments on the cheap. Stock in solid, well-proven companies is being sold at huge discounts as panic grips the market. So why in the name of price-earnings ratios is the Detroit News shilling Ford and [...]

The Columbus Dispatch reports that Madison Township, Ohio police have issued officer Ken Braden a written reprimanded for failing to write enough traffic tickets. Officer Braden only wrote 85 tickets last year. His most prolific fellow officer wrote 388. And here’s the kicker: Braden’s tied the record for the most criminal arrests. Police Chief Greg [...]

And we’re back! Our ongoing coverage of GM’s attempts to squeeze yet more money from your elected officials continues apace. We’ve got two stories on a potential “stopgap bailout” designed to keep GM afloat while funds from the already-approved bailout clear regulations. The first story from Automotive News [sub] indicates that while GM is flailing [...]

According to [yet more] unnamed sources for The Wall Street Journal, General Motors’ Board of Bystanders put the kibosh on a Chrysler merger deal. “Despite huge losses over the past four years, a plunge in GM’s stock price and growing worries about whether the auto maker has enough cash to turn itself around, GM’s board [...]

Between last month’s Paris reveal of the SEAT Exeo, a lightly rebadged B7 Audi A4, and our recent review of the Volkswagen Routan, I began to ponder some of the worst, most nonsense rebadges in recent automotive history. Some were legally or contractually required, others were clearly the work of absynthe-fueled mercury-poisoned madmen. In the [...]

Just as Costco and WalMart are doing relatively well in difficult times, the Wall Street Journal reports that while Hyundai USA’s sales are down, their market share is increasing.  Industry wide sales in September were reportedly down 27% while Hyundai was “only” down 25%.  Technically that does add up to a [...]

From The Detroit News story on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards: The agency reckons it’ll cost automakers $47b to comply with the new regs. Automakers say more. As in please sir, can I have some more? Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they? But check this [...]

Translation: NHTS = National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They’re the federal agency in charge of setting and enforcing federal fuel economy regulations, amongst other things, as directed by the U.S. Congress. CAFE = Corporate Average Fuel Economy. Those are the fuel economy rules which dictate the combined (i.e. overall) fuel economy of a car manufacturer’s [...]

You might need to seriously ask yourself whether you’re willing to buy a car from a dying GM. The Camaro pricing is that good. The LS model with a 300 horsepower V6 with a six speed manual transmission starts at $22,995. A six speed automatic is also available. The SS model with a 422 horsepower [...]

The [UK] Daily Mirror reports that Top Gear curmudgeon Jeremy Clarkson has been injured in a head-on car crash. “He suffered minor injuries to his legs, hand and back in the head-on collision during filming for the BBC show. He described it as his first serious road traffic accident in 31 years. Clarkson, 48, said: [...]

Toyota’s been pulling its punches in the U.S. market for years– to avoid the political backlash and lowered profits that a Chrysler, Ford and GM’s collapse would create. Surveying the damage left by a 32 percent drop in September sales, ToMoCo is now saying fuck that shit [paraphrasing]. “The ‘Saved by Zero’ ad campaign began [...]

According to Automotive News [sub], Boot ‘em Bob is having visions of Carmegeddon. “Bob Nardelli, just 14 months into his tenure as CEO of Chrysler LLC, now fears the collapse of an ‘extremely fragile’ auto industry amid the credit crisis and Wall Street meltdown.” Uh, I think Big Bob means the domestic auto industry. And [...]

I have no idea why Autoblog transcontinental trekker Sam Abuelsamid has suddenly and finally “woken up” to the fact that the U.S. new car market– indeed the entire U.S. economy– is in a deepy parlous state. But some prince has kissed our sleeping beauty. And now Sam is beginning to realize what we’ve been saying [...]

Activists in Scottsdale, Arizona trained their own telephoto lenses on a speed camera operator at around 5pm in the afternoon on Thursday. Members of the group Camerafraud.com wanted to give the public a rare glimpse inside an active speed trap– the same view that the photo radar van’s own photographic equipment has while peering through [...]

While global stock markets are in full retreat, Volkswagen shares have soared to a 20-year high. Marketwatch has plenty of theories to explain the recent 60 percent surge: short covering, inclusion in market indices and the relatively small number of VW’s shares which trade on the open market. Even the collapse of Lehman Brothers gets [...]

It’s hard to know which aspect of hypermiling is the most dangerous. Switching off your engine to coast? A soup tureen of not good. Driving more slowly than the surrounding traffic flow? A plunge pool of uh-uh. How about drafting an 18-wheeler? Let me put it this way: I’m watching Final Destination 2 right now. [...]

Even before you read the review, it’s obvious Car and Driver scribe Mark Gillies doesn’t like the new Mazda 6 i Grand Touring. For once, the strapline accurately reflects the author’s take, without prevarication or sugar-coating: “Mazda’s new family sedan offers more of everything except excitement.” OK, the “verdict” below returns us to Car and [...]

“I’m disappointed to hear of the upcoming General Motors plant closings. Hardworking people are paying the price because our country’s leaders have put Washington corruption and Wall Street greed before Main Street’s interests for too long. Change is coming. I know families across America are hurting, and as president, I will [...]

The Philadelphia Inquirer reveals that the city issued thousands of red light tickets in error. A total of 4390 motorists will receive a refund, for a total of $439k. The error came to light in the case of Mike Kochkodin; the 59-year-old motorist received a ticket on March 17 for allegedly entering an intersection two-tenths [...]

New York Times scribe Bill Vlasic set the U.S. automotive industry abuzz last night, reporting that GM and Chrysler were discussing a merger. Careful reading of the article revealed that the story had more holes than a block of Emmantal. It included unocorrobrated, unnamed sources; backpedalling a plenty and language couching that seemed carefully designed [...]

The scramble to raise cash over at Ford continues apace. Recent press rumors out of Japan [via The Associated Press] say The Blue Oval Boys are talking with the Zoom Zoom Zoom folks about selling all or part of the American automaker’s share of Mazda. Ford first invested in Mazda back in 1975. FoMoCo [...]

See? I knew Sam Abuelsamid’s cross-country trek in an Audi Q7 TDI would ultimately descend into farce. On the positive side (at least for Sam): his most recent epistle has made it straight onto Autoblog, as opposed to languishing on the Autobloggreen side of the biz. On the negative side (at least for Audi): it’s [...]

After our story on GM’s letter to its non-core suppliers changing payment terms to 60 days, I received a flurry of emails that asked, in effect, are you out of your fucking mind? For example, “I do not know of anyone in the Supplier, Engineering, Consultancy or Technical world who has EVER been paid by [...]

I know I said I’d be starting a Bailout Watch 2 series on Monday, but events have once again overtaken us. And to avoid confusion, I’ve decided to simply continue the orginal Bailout Watch series, as it’s all pretty much of a muchness: your tax money for GM, Ford and/or Chrysler. This morning, Barrons reports [...]

The Wall Street Journal had a look at the idea of a GM - Chrysler merger. They say “Central to the plan is private-equity firm Cerberus, which owns 80.1% of Chrysler and 51% of GMAC, an 89-year-old auto lender that has been seriously weakened by its moves into mortgage banking. Cerberus proposed a swap in [...]

Last night, the New York Times “broke” the story that General Motors and Chrysler/Cerberus were discussing a merger. The report lacked only one crucial component: facts. As RF reported in his initial blog on the subject, the story unravels by paragraph two. We learn that the entire story is based on “two people close to the process.” While anonymous attribution is common new industry practice, a story without independent corroboration is a nothing more than rumor— especially when it defies common sense. General Motors’ assertion that they routinely talk to other manufacturers about collaborative efforts doesn’t count. But it does reveal the truth of the matter. [Continued]

This is one of those “news” alerts where I check to see if it’s April 1. Not so Ray Wert. Jalopnik’s main man is happy to hook, line and sinker the The New York Times‘ story that “General Motors is in preliminary talks about a possible merger with Chrysler, a deal that could drastically remake [...]

As the U.S. economy craters, the price of gas is about to fall below $3 a gallon. Most experts believe that lower fuel costs will not lead American consumers into gas-guzzling SUVs anytime soon. If at all. Given the sudden arrival and frentic pace of the last gas price spike, even an extended period of [...]

I dig it. I reckon some folks won’t like the Civic-style dual cowl, but I appreciate the return of driver-oriented dashboards. Picture is courtesy Speigel.de.

Interesting photo. Either Bruce is majorly pissed about something the photographer said or did (see: Winston Churchill Karsh), or he’s finally perfected the art of looking like a something other than an endlessly pampered, egomaniacal movie star. Anyway, his timing for this sale sucks. Anyone who clings to the belief that prices for vintage muscle [...]

Most Americans don’t know this, but Volkswagen has too many brands. Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Skoda, Bugatti, Bentley, and Lamborghini. Bugatti, Bentley, and Lamborghini are in their own category. In the mainstream though, VW has four brands competing with each other throughout the European markets. They subsist somehow for three reasons. (1) While the bulk of [...]

As they used to say in England, TISWAS (Today Is Saturday, Watch And Smile). Oh wait, it's Friday. MAN, what a week. The news cycle has been nothing short of ferocious, what with the financial meltdown setting a blowtorch to GM, Ford and (latterly) Chrysler's assertions that they're going to get the Titanic to New York if it kills you (i.e. taxpayers). Yes, there is that. We're going to start our Bailout Watch 2 series next week, as it's only a matter of time-- and not much of it-- before the whole "Too Big To Fail" shtick pops its head above the proverbial parapet. Meanwhile, we've been grappling with the new site design. As expected, the new format killed a LOT of page views; visitors no longer have to click to individual news stories via the home page. (We played with the idea of splitting the news posts up, "click through for the payoff" Jalop and Autoblog style, but discarded it as more about us than you.) The good news: the galleries created a net gain. When the feature went live, we saw a net gain of 40k page views in the first day. I guess that worked out OK. But that's from our perspective. What's your take on the new design? And while you're thinking about that, Justin and I devote the entire cast to the pall cast over Detroit by, well, lots of stuff.

So GMAC doesn’t lease anymore, and its ResCap mortgage arm is properly screwed… but they still write car loans, right? Er, sort of. Automotive News [sub] reports that GMAC is limiting loan terms to 60 months beginning this week. “We’ve been writing fewer 72-month loans,” Mark LaNeve, GM’s vice president of North American sales, service [...]

Motor Trend has a hot hand right now with the investigative journalism. After stunning the world by announcing that the new Corvette wouldn’t be mid-engined (gasp!) the MT boyz have more hot, fresh news to blow your mind. Specifically, that they hear rumors that the Toyota iQ could be sold stateside as a Scion. What, [...]

Anyway, that's all FoMoCo's got to say about Donny's exit, stage right. Of course. it's no coincidence that Mr. Leclair is leaving the family firm at a time when the automaker's share price is so far down the waste pipe that it's only a matter of time before Ford gets de-listed from the stock exchange and files for bankruptcy. Then when Ford applies for a REAL bailout-- none of that $25b "retooling" loan nonsense-- there will surely be some kind of executive accountability proviso that would tear some big ass gashes in Leclair's severance pay, pension, health care, free cars, jet travel, etc. Lewis Booth – who played a leading role in the successful transformation of Ford of Europe and Mazda during the past decade – will become the company's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

Sometimes, when we podcast, we just have too much fun. Jonny and I were yammering about the Nissan GT-R, Porsche’s PDK transmission, and of course Toyota’s ass-kicking Hilux and Audi’s bizarre plans for the R8 (which I still don’t totally grasp). The result? We ran way over time. Twelve minutes, forty-one seconds. That’s not okay. [...]

The lovable dudes at Jalopnik are usually too busy trying to shoehorn Hemis into Datsuns or photoshopping NSFW dragon-on-car action to comment at length on the sad state of the American car industry. When they do, Jalop-in-Chief Ray Wert is usually trying too hard to love all God’s internal-combustion children equally [...]

After hearing all the stories, legends, and Top Gear specials on the fabled Toyota Hilux, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on one. While I was in Afghanistan, I heard that a Hilux dragged itself and four American soldiers over forty miles to safety while only able to drive its front wheels when its rear drive shaft was blown off. Another ran for over 100 miles with no oil and a leaking head gasket after being shot by an AK-47 in the mountainous highlands. Talk about a letdown. Driving the Hilux sucks.

After four generations of on and off-road (more or less deliberate) adventures, Ford’s Explorer is trading in his body-on-frame for a lighter, greener, on-road-friendly unibody. Carfood is scarce these days, everybody has to go on a diet and count those octanes like calories. Ford has already shown their intent into this direction with the Explorer [...]

Production began today at Honda’s Greensburg, Indiana plant, which will build 200k Civics when at full capacity. “With continued high demand for the Honda Civic, we are honored and excited to help meet the needs of our customers in North America,” Yuzo Uenohara, says president of Honda Manufacturing of Indiana (HMIN) in a press release [...]

Perhaps Toyota Sales Chief Jim Lentz would like to type the words “credit crisis cars” into his Google bar. Because Jimbo doesn’t think that credit’s the main problem with a U.S. new car market that’s pretty much stopped dead in its tracks. “The vast majority of our customers are able to get approved for loans,” [...]

“Clearly we face unprecedented challenges related to uncertainty in the financial markets globally and weakening economic fundamentals in many key markets,” GM said in a statement on Friday. “But bankruptcy protection is not an option GM is considering. Bankruptcy would not be in the interests of our employees, stockholders, suppliers or [...]

Australia’s Redflex Traffic Systems announced today that they’ve been approached by unnamed buyers. The offers follow last month’s announcement that Goldman Sachs had acquired a minority stake in photo ticketing rival American Traffic Solutions (ATS). It also follows a 43 percent increase in traffic ticket revenue from the United States; the total number of ticket [...]

After our last exciting episode of “How Many MPGs Can Autoblog’s Sam Abuelsamid Achieve Whilst Driving an Audi Q7 TDI Across the Country Very Very Slowly,” TTAC commentator EEGeek wondered WTF I was on about. He confessed to being “genuinely mystified as to why this topic warrants so many posts.” As my pinball machine’s genie [...]

I say Caruthers, what’s all this hoo-ha about the Arnage? That Whitcombe chap at Classic Driver said something about them not making it any more. That is correct sir.  Well why the Devil not? Regulations sir. Damn those Belgian swine! Consider them damned sir. What’s that? Yes. Exactly. So, should we trade in the old [...]

I was walking the dog the other day when I heard a V8 bellow. I turned around to see a perfect example of a latter day muscle car: a Chevy Silverado pickup truck. I was surprised by my surprise. Although the Northeast represents Middle America’s automotive tastes about as well as Harvard professors reflect conservative political values, I wondered if society has reached the point where the sound of unabashed engine power has become, well, boorish. Has the average American automobile, once a symbol of status, virility and pride, been castrated? And is that a bad thing?

After a series of trials, the British Home Office is set to approve the SPECS3 “distance over time speed measuring device.” SPECS3 uses an ISDN connection to transmit data between any two cameras in the entire road network, without the need for the expensive dedicated connection. The system can also track drivers as they change [...]

The S&P ratings agency has put both GM and its GMAC financing arm on its lowest possible rating: “creditwatch,” with negative implications. CNBC reports that “The ratings agency said the move reflected the rapid weakening of most of the world’s auto markets. It added that capital conditions in the sector would remain challenging for the [...]

TTAC has secured a letter from GM’s purchasing department whereby the ailing American automaker informs its suppliers that it’s changed its payment terms. GM used to pay its indirect (i.e. non-production) suppliers “second day, second month;” roughly 35 days from receipt of goods. The new agreement stipulates payment will be made at 60 days from [...]

Rising gas prices and lagging credit markets should spell a revival of the small car in America, but MSN Autos reports that (duh) mid-sized family sedans keep getting bigger and bigger. And it’s not as simple as just pointing out that the Accord has gained 1,400 pounds and 200 hp since it [...]

The next Volkswagen New Beetle will have more “mature” styling, reports Automotive News [sub], in news that will come as a sad shock to the MILF, openly homosexual and high-school-gum-snapping communities. “The future New Beetle should look less toyish and become a much more mature product,” glowers Walter de’ Silva, VW’s [...]

Chrysler uses Getrag DSG transmissions in its Euro-market Journey, Avenger and 300C offerings, They’d planned on offering them on its American models as well. So much for that, at least for now. Chrysler is suing Getrag in Michigan for failing to raise $300m in debt financing for its new factory. Automotive News [...]

TTAC has long warned of a “run on the bank” scenario, whereby GM suppliers demand cash up front for their wares, effectively eliminating the automaker’s cash pile, terminating its ability to build cars and driving the compay into C11. Over the last few weeks, it’s become increasingly clear to anyone paying attention that GM’s cash [...]

Doesn’t the human race EVER learn? Why must we continually have to go through the same pains, trials and tribulations that our parents, grand parents and great grand parents went through? Same with the automobile industry. Same with how our nations handle their affairs-- economics included. Even politics. Forever, politics.

Marketwatch reports that Honda and Toyota are warning against using their hybrid vehicles as taxi cabs, on safety concerns. Ford, GM and Nissan have also refused to certify the crashworthiness of their hybrid vehicles as hire cars. The story starts with an August 29 letter, sent from the New York Taxi and Limousine [...]

Plenty of rich Corinthian news today from the world of champagne wishes and caviar dreams. Among the weirdest is that Daimler has no plans to axe Maybach because (gasp!) it’s making money! How, you ask? By putting a rolling soft top on its 62S stretched sedan, calling it a Landaulet and [...]

Not the best metaphor for a writer (or reader) who’s feeling a bit thick-headed this AM (although I have to say, Jay, that Coppola’s Director’s Cut chardonnay is wicked pissa). Anyway… first we had Honda’s robot playing violin for the Grosse Pointe gadflies at the symphony hall. Now Toyota is expanding– as in opening not [...]

Automotive News [sub] reports Toyota’s profits are set to slide 40 percent when the firm announces its annual numbers. At issue: exposure to weak American sales and a slowdown in China. And though reaping just over half its expected profits sounds like bad news, ToMoCo will still pull down $12.8b this year. Needless [...]

If there’s a product recall that illustrates a particularly important point– like the GM hot fluid windshield wiper story (I’m getting to it)– TTAC will cover it.  Otherwise, no; if we didn’t cover all recalls, it would look like we were picking-on a particular manufacturer– and we can’t have that now can we? But this [...]

Car manufacturers are transitioning from one disaster to another, as the economic meltdown makes high gas prices seems like a blessing. Automotive News [sub] reports that two of the top prognosticators in the biz have looked at the proverbial tea leaves for the year’s U.S. sales figures and come-up with a soup tureen of not [...]

It’s cruel, I tell you, cruel! The moment Autoblog’s Sam Abuelsamid steps out of the office for an all-expenses-paid transcontinuental trek in a diesel Audi, green auto news hits the autoblosphere, rendering his journey something less than interesting. No wait, I mean, important. Or is it both? Anyway, in this case, Audi– the self same [...]

Self-styled Autoextremist Peter DeLorenzo has few– as in no– kind words to lavish upon Maranello’s latest Parisian fashion. “For me, the Ferrari California is a derivative, uninspiring, design mishmash of creases and folds (and horrific dimestore-quality side vents) that lacks cohesion and imparts an overall feeling of cheapness when viewed in person that just cannot [...]

Although officially set for the LA Auto Show in November, the Sydney auto show welcomed the all new 2010 Mazda3 today. Mazda says the new car will have two four-cylinder engines for the U.S. market, a 2.0 liter and a 2.5 liter (the latter probably producing in the neighborhood of 170-175 horsepower). The 2.0 liter [...]

Detroit's movers and shakers have a chip on their shoulder larger than the Rock of Gibraltar. They feel besieged, besmirched and belittled by the feds and liberal elites. Of course, that was BEFORE the Beltway Boys lavished bailout bucks on Motown's moaners to retool their factories to build better cars than their competitors. Detroit's playing kissy-face with their former antagonists now, right? Wong. "Clearly, now that Washington is loaning Detroit auto makers $25 billion to begin repenting their evil ways, legislators will try to turn the fuel-economy screws tighter so they can limit the number of unhealthy vehicle choices General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are able to sell weak-willed consumers." Well, duh! What part of CAFE doesn't WardsAuto scribe Drew Winter not understand (other than, you know, the actual regulations)? The part where everyone does the same thing, apparently. "When I see pictures of them [Chevy Volt, Toyota Prius], I can’t tell them apart. It reminds me of Soviet-era central planning. Yes, all these cars further The State’s goals of reducing carbon emissions and consumption of foreign oil, but comrade, they look boring and not everyone can drive one... Forgive us for our decadent and unhealthy choices, oh wise members of the new Washington Automotive Politburo. Fast red convertibles and big utility vehicles are the opiate (or tobacco) of the people. But this still is America, where people should be allowed to buy what they want and auto makers should be allowed to make a few dollars off our human weakness. Pretend the profits are from something politicians like, such as casino gambling. This still is a capitalist society after all. At least, it still was at press time." Wow.

OK, so I’m not convinced this full-size sedan shootout deal isn’t important for Hyundai. In other words, America loves an underdog. And while there’d be a lot more love if the underdog in question was American, as the alpha dog in the cross-hairs is German, well, that’s that, really. And this whole tugging on superman’s [...]

Supercars used to be the world’s fastest hairshirts: hot, restrictive, smelly and uncomfortable. They were also completely unreliable and as dangerous as a Cape buffalo (with roughly similar handling). On the right road, under the right conditions, with all cylinders firing, they still sucked. I burst that bubble the first (and last) time I got [...]

According to the Economic Times, Porsche Holdings SE has purchased "a small parcel of Volkswagen shares off-market, 'significantly under the current market price." How small? The deal has increased Porsche's stake in VW has by a "low single-figure'' percentage, according to Porsche spokesman Albrecht Bamler. The deal was but the first salvo in Porsche's final assault, as the Suddeutsche Zeitung (via Bloomberg) reports that Porsche Holdings will have bought a majority stake in Volkswagen by November 26. But wait, there's more! Once Porsche buys the final 15 percent or so shares it needs to own VW, expect swift changes in the way Europe's largest automaker does business. Automotive News Europe [sub] reports that Porsche CFO Holger Haerter has already spilled the beans to Handelsblatt. "I am working right now on a joint paper on the future management model together with my finance colleague at VW. We will be discussing this with the VW and Porsche board of directors," says Haerter. But Haerter's leak privileges only extend to news that won't completely piss off his new minions. Accordingly, he only mentions that VW managers will sit on the management board of Porsche Holdings, a body currently manned only by Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and Haerter himself. Still no word on how Wiedeking and Haerter plan on eviscerating the Piech/Union/Niedersachsen Provincial Government faction at VW.

Most car salesmen that I have encountered are miserable wretches, predators that stalk car buyers in between cigarette breaks. Despite their [well-earned] scum-sucking reputation, they don’t deserve to be killed. Do they? Apparently one man in Texas thought so. During a test drive yesterday, Dodge salesman Jack Phinney was ejected from a black 2006 Ram pickup on Dallas’ Central Expressway. Whether by force or recklessness, police don’t know. The Dallas Morning News reports that one James Thorp, fled the scene and did not return the truck to the dealership. Police later arrested him at Thorp’s former place of employment. He’s being held on $3m bond. Asked about Thorp, his former boss made an asinine statement, as people are wont to do in such situations, “I know James and James is a good guy.” Yeah, a good guy who harbors homicidal hatred of car salesmen.

Holy moly! Are we really getting to that point in geologic where you can order a brand new retro Camaro from your local Chevy dealer? Yes! And we've got the order book to prove it! I'm not really sure what the most exciting bit is, but I'm vacillating between the USB port or the availability of "Inferno Orange Paint" with an Inferno Orange interior. If you think that's a bit much, then <em>don't</em> opt for the High Wing Spoiler. As for Chevy dealers, Camaro allocations will be based on total Chevy sales ending August 2008 (did they ever) and, get this, "Mustang registrations for the twelve months ending June 2008 in your DMA." Click through for the full workbook. Click on the image again to spare your eyes.

As the Detroit News' auto jefe AND a regular reader of the free-market Mises Institute, it's no surprise that Manny Lopez is ambivalent about Motown's bailout bucks. In his latest column, Manny accuses the Germans of sour grapes. "Auto industry officials in Deutschland are calling the auto loan program a 'distortion of competition' and bastardization of the free market, among other things. And in the purest sense, it is." So, column over, right? Wrong. Lopez proceeds to turn protectionism into a question of relativity, comparing the bailout to closed Asian markets (which are being opened, thanks to the WTO) and the province of Niedersachsen's stake in VW (which is also in the process of being weakened by the EU). Besides, says Lopez, BMW and VW are getting local tax breaks for building plants stateside. From there, it's but a short step to bailout apologia. "Certainly (the bailout) looks like it's going to favor General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC. They don't pay big bucks to legislative lobbyists for nothing, after all." Which is argument enough for Lopez to support a $40b bailout for European automakers. None of which makes any sense. Jesus Christ Manny, Man-up! Either that or whisper words of wisdom and let it be.

The Departments of Energy and Agriculture have released a new Biofuel Action Plan, designed to guide U.S. policy towards biofuel development. As Green Car Congress reports, the plan mandates improved oversight over biofuel development, especially in the area of sustainability. More importantly, it confirms that the market for E10 ethanol blends will be saturated in the next few years. Of course, mandated ethanol production levels aren't dropping to reflect this. As a result, federal agencies are testing E15 and E20 blends, in hopes of proliferating them to soak-up surplus, federally-subsidized ethanol. Meanwhile, the United Nations has a new report out too. "Policy interventions, especially in the form of subsidies and mandated blending of biofuels with fossil fuels, are driving the rush to liquid biofuels," notes the UN's State of Food and Agriculture report. "However, many of the measures being implemented by both developed and developing countries have high economic, social and environmental costs."And will the ethanol industry please stop bleating-on about saving Americans 10 cents a gallon at the pumps? The feds are giving them a .50 a gallon "blender's credit." So I reckon it's costing us-- even those of us who don't use it-- .40 a gallon.

One of the joys of telecommuting: no actual commuting. No train ride (I'll thank you for not spilling your coffee on my New York Times again, strangers) and no car ride. Where do I go? To my home office. The consequence is that I've been driving for fun and when I'm too short on time to walk the 3/4 mile trip to the grocery store. It's a breeze parking my little VW GTI between the beheamoth luxury SUVs that have become suburban landmarks. What I always forget, while I arrogantly load up my hatchback with a 24 pack of toilet paper, is that I share a big SUV with my father - an eleven year old Ford Expedition. We bought it with 150,000 miles for about the same price as a really nice big screen TV and use it for, well what you really would need a big truck for. That means hauling lumber from Home Depot, or double sized mattresses and coffee tables simultaneously, or towing the 23 foot Chris Craft we bought to restore, or driving six of my friends comfortably to Atlantic City. While the old Ford only gets to stretch its legs once a week or so, it's there when we do need it. It seems somewhat wasteful to have an extra car; then again, whether you consider the total cost of the small and large cars, or the carbon footprint (ahem), or the amout of gas we use, it's all very small. I do know people with a fleet of new cars, large and small, for different tasks too. Some relatives are augmenting their current Saturn Outlook with a Saturn Astra and a MINI Cooper Clubman. That strikes me as excessive. But who am I to judge?

TTAC's longstanding policy: remain skeptical about all surveys. Check the source, scan the methodology, parse the results, throw-up our hands and walk away. To wit: we've just received a press release from HNTB, a troika of construction companies that designs and builds airports, bridges, tunnels, toll booths, convention centers, sports stadiums. parking lots, libraries and... a couple of commuter rail stations. So I guess they're expanding that last bit, because they want the world to know that "more than 24 million Americans -- 11 percent of the adult population -- are using buses, light rail, commuter rail and other forms of public transportation more than they did last year. An even greater percentage of survey respondents, 16 percent, said they expect their ridership to increase in the coming year." Uh, how much more? And if this is the same group that was using public transportation before, what does that actually mean? Peter Gertler, HNTB's national director of public transit services has the answer. "As today's Americans face increasing demands on their time and money, riding public transit is shifting from something they should do, like eating their vegetables, to something they want to do." Because of.. rising gas prices! Hang on; doesn't that move public transportation back into the broccoli category? And here's my takeaway: environmental concerns are at the bottom of the switch list, at just four percent. Of course, all that's based on an emailed opt-in survey of 1000 "random" Americans. (I know exactly how they feel.)

Alex Molinaroli, president of Johnson Controls' Power Solutions business, echoes one of TTAC's ongoing beefs with the U.S. auto industry: Attention Deficit Disorder. Molinaroli tells Automotive News [sub] that "automobile manufacturers are not going to be able to afford to keep investing in all these different technologies," referring to the "gas-friendly to gas-free" approach to alternative energy vehicles. Molinaroli's got a prescription for companies who can't decide whether hydrogen, biofuel, compressed-air, electric or hybrid cars will be the future: hybrid and electric, baby. "You see the long-term r&d effort focused on the electric car. That's where the real strategic efforts are. People talk about fuel cells, but I don't really see the kind of energy and effort around that that I see around the electric power train." Of course it makes sense that Molinaroli would Molina-roll that way; his firm is currently developing Mercedes-Benz's hybrid S-Class. Stil, pop those Adderalls boys, the future's electric.

Police in San Jose, California urged a city council transportation committee to drop plans to install red light traffic cameras in the heart of California's Silicon Valley. "Studies reveal an awful lot of ambiguity and dissonance," Deputy Chief Donald Anders explained. "Some jurisdictions have noted a reduction in their traffic accident rate. Other jurisdictions have noted an actual increase in their traffic accident rate. The reason for that increase primarily seems to be rear end accidents." San Jose police conducted a 39-week evaluation of traditional enforcement efforts. Forty-one officers conducted a highly visible intersection ticketing blitz in four zones containing areas with the highest accident rates. When ticketing patrols were active, the rate of accidents attributed to red light running was 0.6 crashes per week. "By national standards, our injury crash rate is approximately fifty-percent of the rest of the country -- an indication that with the limited staff we have in traffic enforcement that we're actually being quite effective and efficient with our efforts as they stand," Anders said. Police Chief Robert L. Davis filed a written report asserting that a red light camera program would divert Special Enforcement Team officers away from duties such as conducting DUI roadblocks. Councilman Sam Liccardo asked the department to conduct another report, this time focusing on the experience of nearby cities with active red light camera programs. [click here for the full story at thenewspaper.com]

As promised, we've switched TTAC's layout from all reviews in the left hand column, to every thing we do in chronological order in the left hand column. We made the move because TTAC has evolved from a review only site, to a review and rant extravaganza, to a review, rant and blog farrago. We altered the layout (a retro-mod for those who can remember back six years) because the old format didn't offer immediate visual evidence that we're generating masses of new content. In addition, we've finally added proper photo galleries (working with it now), which will give pistonheads another excellent reason not to waste their time visiting our competitors. We've also reinstated product reviews. And added a stock tracker (suggestions for which stocks to follow would be most appreciated). The nav buttons at the top of the home page should help you find everything, or you can scan the menus on the right hand side. There will be a few more tweakettes in the hours to come, but them's the basics. Feel free to share your feedback, but we've blown the development budget; any appropriate suggestions for improvement will have to wait until the next round. Meanwhile, TTAC's content itself remains as is: irreverent, cocky, abrasive and honest. I hope you enjoy the new look and functionality.

Paraphrasing, of course. But the European Union is struggling these days, what with member states breaking ranks to save banks. And now just-auto [sub] reports that the bureaucrats in Brussels are in no mood to indulge European carmakers' "demands" for a government bailout to help them do whatever it is Ford, GM and Chrysler will do with their share of $25b worth of low-cost federal loans. "European carmakers' association ACEA had asked for a EUR40bn loan, equivalent to just two years of the research and development budget of its members. The EU responded this would equate to over one third of its annual budget. 'This idea does not even merit discussion,' a European Commission source told a German newspaper on Tuesday." And yet here we are. The only other talking point: the ACEA would AT LEAST like some EU-wide "incentives" for car owners to scrap vehicles over eight years old, over three years, to speed fleet renewal. In other words, ban/tax the Hell out of old [CO2-spewing] cars to stimulate sales of new [CO2-sighing] cars. Sounds like a plan to me!

You know how it is. You step out of the office for a transcontinetal journey to prove the worth of diesel propulsion to a skeptical-- not to say distracted, disengaged and dismissive-- nation and bang! The whole oil burner thing blows up in your face. Well, not literally. That would be WAY too exciting. No, I mean the major diesel story lies elsewhere. This time it's Toyota, who've announced that they're NOT going to build a diesel-powered Tundra. Automotive News [sub] reports that ToMoCo NA Prez Jim Lentz confirmed that the development of a diesel-engine variant of the Tundra has been deep-sixed. While a diesel option has "not been canceled outright," it's been cancelled forthwith. (See how that works?) AN says "That's a big step back from Toyota telling dealers at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention last year that a diesel would arrive by 2010 or 2011."

In theory, a dual clutch gearbox offers drivers the best of both worlds: a corner-carving-compliant paddle shift system (complete with computer-controlled, rev-matching throttle blipping) and a waft-enabling automatic gearbox. As developed by the BorgWarner, the DSG version lifted a well-sorted VW Golf GTI into automotive Valhalla. Porsche fans arched their collective eyebrows, anticipating the day when Stuttgart would perform a similar transformation for the world's only best everyday supercar: the 911. Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) is here, attached to the model's 900th evolution. Is the system finally ready for hammer time?

Easy answer for me: Porsche 914. Justin and I talked about this (kinda) on today's Podcast. He still hates it. But not me. I really, really admire the diminutive sports car. That's right, I said sports car. Before I explain why, let me explain why I used to be a hater. There's an entire class of cars I dislike because they were driven by the biggest assholes at my high school. Specifically, '55 Chevys, all Chevelles, Toyota 4-Runners and Porsche 914s. VW Bugs were a mixed bag. The most date rapingest quarterback had one (I played center -- I have issues) but so did a close friend. So, we'll call it a wash. Anyhow, jerks drove the 914 and I had always heard that in Europe they sold it as "just" a Volkswagen. But a dear friend of mine -- Davey G Johnson -- showed me the error of my ways. By using facts! And while it is true that both companies sold the car, the bulk of the development was handled by Porsche. Any guesses as to who specifically was in charge of the 914 project? If you guessed Ferdinand Piech, pat yourself on the back. You may recall that Piech is the man responsible for the Volkswagen Phaeton. But, he also willed the Bugatti Veyron into existence. More importantly he brought about the all-crushing, all-dominating Porsche 917. Seriously, they canceled Can-Am because nothing could compete with the 917. Not one race, but the whole series. So, the 914 has some pedigree. Lots of success on the track, too. Don't believe me? How does a 6th overall finish at Le Mans grab you? And yes, I know I said 7th on the Podcast. Again, not 6th in its class, but 6th overall. Why, that's amazing! Especially when you consider the cars it beat, which include a bevy of 911s and Corvettes, Alfa Romeo T33/3s, several Ferraris, several Porsche 908s and even a 917. Hell yes I now love the 914. You?