My career at CNN prepared me for this work. Like TTAC, Ted's 24-hour news channel was an insatiable maw that required constant feeding. Miss a deadline? Never happened. Couldn't happen. You did the best you could within the time frame available and that was that. I soon discovered that quality was not a function of time. CNN's hourly newscasts were as good as the net's daily productions, if not better. Nor was money the deciding difference between "us" and "them". We had a hundredth of NBC's budget; yet we missed nothing. So what made it work? Contrary to some books on the subject, it wasn't esprit de corps— there was far too much alcohol, cocaine, envy and ambition for that. I reckon it was the sheer joy of having a voice. Of being able to say something without a stultifying bureaucracy reigning-in our style, creativity and passion. Obviously, that's changed since then. But freedom of expression has a home here at TTAC. So whenever I wonder how the Hell I'm going to raise this brand out of its ghetto with just one full-time staff member (me), I think back to those crazy days when everyone– everyone— said CNN wouldn't cut it. We didn't believe. We just enjoyed. In other words, sorry I missed yesterday's podcast Justin, and put this one up late. But you gotta admit: it IS fun. 

If you time-traveled back to 1964 and told a muscle car buyer that his ride would be a respected classic 40 years hence, he’d call you crazier than Khrushchev. Muscle cars were fun on the cheap. You got what you didn’t pay for:  nonexistent handling, pathetic drum brakes, two and three speed automatic transmissions and efficiency measured in gallons per mile (which was no biggie at the time). Thirty years later, Chrysler and Dodge are leading the charge down muscle car memory lane. Until the Chevrolet Camaro appears, the Dodge Charger SRT8 Super Bee could well be the post-modern muscle car mascot. Which is what, exactly?

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and National Automobile Dealers Association have launched a new website dividing the country into "car states" and "truck states." If that doesn't give the game away, the url might: AutoChoice.org. That's right: the carmakers (BMW Group, Chrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Mazda, Mitsubishi Motors, Porsche, Toyota and Volkswagen) are defending Americans' right to choose a light truck (SUVs, pickup, vans and minivans) instead one of them little high mileage runabouts. The villain of the piece: [unnamed] federal legislators who would regulate both car and truck fuel economy using the same formula. The official defense: "Continuing to meet the vehicle needs of recreation enthusiasts and American family vacations is a paramount concern of automakers. Pick-ups, SUVs and crossover vehicles are instrumental in meeting those needs." While it's kinda cool checking the percentage of car vs. light truck registrations by congressional district, I wonder why the industry is so worried about this potential facet of CAFE standards– as it doesn't have a hope in Hell of happening. So I called "The Alliance." 

The International Herald Tribune reports that the European Union's man in Afghanistan, former German commando Brigadier General Eichele, has given up trying to beef-up the national police force, and quit the theater. Seems bureacracy and corruption left him stuck at base; the EU executive delayed approving a budget for 70 armored cars, computers and office equipment. "We cannot travel outside Kabul because the armored-plated cars have not arrived," an EU diplomat told the Trib. The [theoretical] vehicles originally cost €110k a pop, but increased to €170k when security specifications changed. The commission went back to drawing up a new budget, issuing new tenders, etc. And then there's a turf war between the EU and NATO… 

Take that Toyota! Not only is GM going to bring us a lithium-ion-powered plug-in hybrid by 2010, but they're going to produce an entire family of electric vehicles. So sayeth GM Car Czar "Maximum" Bob Lutz in Frankfurt. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) described Lutz' remarks as "the latest salvo in a combined product-development and public-relations campaign… to dispel the image that it has its corporate head in the sand when it comes to advanced vehicle technology, oil prices and concerns about greenhouse-gas emissions." Lutz also said GM wants to build its E-Flex vehicles alongside mainstream models; a common chassis would accommodate either a conventional or alternative-propulsion powertrain. The WSJ cautions that the Volt– and any other electric vehicles in GM's future– depend on battery suppliers, and "it isn't yet certain the suppliers will come through." OK, Toyota– your turn!

Business Week reports that newly divorced Daimler's got the hots for the Asian market. On the eve of sending the FourTwo on its America adventure (via United Auto), Mercedes' CEO Rainer Schmueckle says he's contemplating selling the self-same ciwn faux Smart, but the vehicle faces the same "THAT'S not a Mercedes" headwind that's bedeviledty car in China and its nearby neighbors. Although the move is not exactly unanticipated (where else would you sell such a titchy car?), it's hardly a slam-dunk. Not only does China have its o the entire brand since birth– to the tune of billions of dollars in losses. Anyway, Schmeuckle is deeply impressed by the possibilities provided by Chinese Smarts: "We have a profound production base there now, primarily for the domestic market," he said. "It can't be ruled out that we might export from there to other Asian markets at some point." Now that's what we call confidence!

Contemplating yesterday's 2006 Census report on the average American's housing costs (via The New York Times), it appears that U.S. automakers' fears about the effects of the housing market on car sales are far from greatly exaggerated. The stats reveal that half of U.S. renters and more than one third of mortgage holders spent at least 30 percent of their gross income on housing. That's up two percent or 1.5 million households from '05. A staggering fourteen percent of mortgage-holders spent at least half their income on housing in 2006, up from 13 percent from the year previous. As The Grey Lady says, "The rising housing burden cuts into the money people have available for other expenses and anticipated the rise in foreclosures." To see how badly this trend will hit the auto industry, keep an eye on California sales. The Eureka state tops the list of mortgage borrowers forking over more than 30 percent of their income for housing.

In an article this past June, I looked at the disconnect between what some politicians say about automobiles, fuel mileage and the environment; and what they drive.   Exhibit A: presidential hopeful Barak Obama. Mr. Obama famously berated the Detroit Economic Club about Motown’s opposition to tighter fuel economy standards– with a Chrysler 300C stashed in his garage. The instant the media exposed this hypocrisy, Obama traded his Hemi-powered luxobarge for the PC pol’s pal: a Ford Escape Hybrid. That got me wondering what our other national leaders might have parked in their garages…

According to Italy’s DueMotori, converting cars to run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is not only “for tree-hugging, penny pinching, slow driving, woolly jumper wearing motorists with a guilty conscience.” Drivers fortunate enough to be left off that list are advised to consider an LPG conversion package from the UK’s Future Power, which is “ideal for high performance cars and luxury vehicles.” On September 22nd, Future Power will be showing a 300hp LPG-powered Subaru WRX on “Rally Day” at the Castle Combe circuit in Wiltshire. Future Power’s managing director Malcolm Douglas is gassed about LPG’s potential. “It is now quite possible for the executive and the enthusiast to have their sporty car and also combat critics by running on LPG, making their cars much more environmentally friendly than many alternative petrol or diesel ‘city’ cars." Proof positive, if proof were needed, that the greens have pistonheads on the defensive.

The UK's Hello magazine reports that Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond crashed a BMW 330 Dti Sport during an endurance race at Silverstone. Even though the "Hamster" is famous for crashing a jet car at 288mph, sustaining brain injuries and returning to full health, this incident doesn't really have what it takes to make it to the top of the media pile (i.e. death or more serious injury). Hence Hello, a magazine predicated on the simple belief that millions of people want to see what kind of wallpaper celebrities prefer. But you really have to read Hecklerspray's blog on the story. Regarding the information that fellow Top Gear's top Jeremy Clarkson consoled the The Hamster after his latest fender bender, Stuart Heritage writes "Dear lord, hasn't the poor man suffered enough? But, yeah, thanks a lot for that last sentence, Hello – we're going to hold you personally responsible for all the screaming night terrors we're bound to be saddled with for the rest of our lives after summoning up that grotesque mental image."  

If you’re a gearhead monitoring the international media, you’d be forgiven for thinking the Frankfurt Auto Show was run by and for Friends of the Earth. Low-emission Mercedes! Low-consumption VWs! Hydrogen Kias! Ethanol Saabs! Non-existent plug-in hybrids! A casual visitor to this event might wonder if he’d gone to the wrong show. Why is it that all the interesting new cars premiering in Frankfurt are non-green? Why do people crowd around sexy new cars such as the 1-Series BMW, while nobody (save the press) gather ‘round the various not-quite-developed Mueslimobiles? 

During my brief stint in British advertising, I had the distinct pleasure of working with one Paul Harvey Douglas. Paul was the world’s best headline writer. He could distill an entire advertising campaign down to a single sentence, a phrase, a word. I wonder what PHD would have made of Lexus’ ad for its new F-Series automobiles. “What is F?” the two-page Autoweek center spread asks. “F is everything you thought we weren’t,” it answers. I could almost hear Paul’s derisive snort. “F means their brand’s in ‘effing trouble,” he would have pronounced. Too right, mate.

The gloves are off; GM's Vice Chairman Bob Lutz and Toyota's U.S. VP for Communications, Irv Miller, are having an alternative powerplant smackdown. On a company web site today, Miller wrote "the advanced lithium-ion batteries that the Volt would use, batteries suitable for the long-term rigors of everyday automotive use, don't exist" while pointing out the Prius uses "market-ready" technology. Lutz, never one to let facts come between him and his opinions, still insists the Volt will be ready for the market in 2010. He countered Miller's remarks in an interview with Bloomberg at the Frankfurt Auto Show: "People have a very simplistic [view]: Toyota … are saving the planet from certain destruction, whereas General Motors … is the anti-Christ that's trying to plunge us into the abyss. The only way we can get out of that is by being more environmental and leading with more environmental technology than Toyota." Uh, hello? Bob? It's hard to lead when you're relying on technology that doesn't exist yet– and that the competition has publicly stated they'll also adopt, you know, as soon as someone invents it.

What do you do if you're a politician heading to a news conference where you intend to tell citizens to leave their cars at home– and your staff car is a Lincoln Navigator? That was the dilemma facing Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty. The Metro (subway) couldn't get him there on time. Riding his bicycle would make him sweaty. Taking one of the city's fleet hybrids would look too contrived. So Mayor Fenty did what shocked a lot of people: he took the bus, minus his security detail. Hizzhonor stated to the Washington Post, "You don't need a car to get around. That's what makes us different than the suburbs." After the conference, he took the subway back to his office. Then he hopped into his personal Ford Expedition to drive across town to a pair of meetings.

August's U.S. sales results are in. Upon their release, GM crowed about their market-bucking triumph– neglecting to mention the fact that 25 percent of those sales sailed with the fleets. Meanwhile, Chrysler blamed its sales decline on diminished fleet flogging. Ford was "encouraged by sales of their crossover vehicles" (i.e. stuck in the dog house). And Toyota pinned their sales drop on the subprime lending crisis and a supply-line interrupting Japanese earthquake. Whatever. Bottom line: August wasn't kind to many of the models we're tracking on your behalf.