The European Union (EU) is bound and determined to cut automotive CO2 emissions; Brussels' bureaucrats are looking to lower the required C02 levels from today’s corporate average of 160 g/km to 130 g/km by 2012. Curious about the cost of the new regs on the auto industry and, hence, consumers, Germany's federal environment ministry commissioned the Transport Research Institute to do the math. The Berlin-based boffins reckon EU car manufacturers will have to invest at least €11.7bn a year in new technologies to meet the new obligations. The "per unit" cost to the consumer: €500 to €1,500. But don't get to thinking that the Institute is lobbying against the stricter regs (perish the thought). Auto Industry reports that the report counters carbon positivists by pointing out that the fuel saving from C02-compliant cars should mitigate the extra cost "over the medium term." The Institute also suggests that funds from fines against corporate CO2 scofflaws should go to national carbon mitigation programmes. But that would be wrong! So they recommend that the regulation should be so constructed as to encourage manufacturers to invest in meeting CO2 norms rather than paying fines, just as BMW, Mercedes, Porsche and VW do on this side of the pond.

As predicted here, Chrysler's plans to import Chinese-built subcompact cars into the American market has hit a few snags. When Chrysler replaced Malcolm Bricklin as Chery's American partner of choice earlier this year, the new dream team announced they'd have a subcompact car ready for export to the North American market by 2009. Now The Detroit News reports it ain't gonna happen (dot com). Chrysler's head of Asian operations, Phil Murgaugh, admitted that "the task we decided to bite off is a little bit more challenging than either Chery or Chrysler thought at the beginning." Sensibly enough, "when we're both satisfied that we've got cars that will meet… market requirements, then we'll begin exports." Thomas Hausch, Chrysler's executive director of international sales, revealed that they're still (cough) discussing the car with Chery and could not say when a US-compatible product would emerge from The People's Republic. With the just announced demise of the PT Cruiser, that leaves the chunky Dodge Caliber as Chrysler's smallest offering in a market where subcompact cars are the hot property. How great is that?

Someone go get my Clonazepam. MINI has announced that it's building an SUV-type product, and cyber-mag Winding Road has the shots to prove it. Forget market share, ignore the ever-present push to increase sales numbers at any cost. The MINI Cooper was specifically, consistently and persistently sold as the anti-SUV– not the ante-SUV. This type of "every brand, every niche" mindset is killing the car industry, one BMW SAV, Mercedes hearse, Bentley hybrid, Audi city car, Lexus hypersport sedan and $29k Cadillac at a time. While most of those propositions are merely Three Stooges ridiculous, the MINI SUV (a.k.a. "Monte") has a major problem. It's not mini. It has to be quite a bit bigger, quite a bit heavier. It'll probably need (in some sense of that word) all wheel-drive. Oh, and a larger engine. At best, all that changes MINI from Mini to "Regular." Unless the new MINI SUV has Suzuki Sidekick off-road abilities, PASS.

As common sense suggests, GM's new "two-tier" contract with the United Auto Workers (UAW) works best (at least for the automaker) if the majority of their employees are on the lower tier. The Detroit Free Press reports that GM is using its corporate wiles to move its workforce's wage structure in a decidedly downwards direction. To that end, the automaker is dropping an entire shift at their Pontiac pickup truck assembly plant beginning in May. It's just one of three layoffs GM's planning under the new UAW contract that will eventually divest the domestic of several thousand jobs. GM claims the cuts are "to keep production in line with demand" and deny it's part of a plan to prime high paid hourly workers for a buyout– so they can hire cheaper "second-tier" replacements. Credit Suisse's Chris Cearso suspects "GM will be back before too long with an announcement of an attrition program geared to induce current noncore workers to retire so they can be replaced with new Tier Two workers at about one-third the cost." RN auto analyst Erich Merkle agrees. "I think GM wants to put as many people as possible into retirement and get young hungry workers, that are still treating their acne, in there at the lower rate." GM has responded to talk of buyouts or other attrition programs by labeling it "absolutely wild speculation." The UAW can't claim they didn't see this coming. And if they didn't, they sure as Hell should have. 

Yesterday, we speculated whether or not Chrysler would hang fire on trimming union jobs dud models until after the United Auto Workers (UAW) convinced Ford members work without job guarantees. Turns out Chrysler didn't even wait for the ink to dry on its union agreement before axing its first three losers. The Detroit News quotes "people close to Chrysler" and "people familiar with the situation" (that could be you!) saying that the PT Cruiser, Dodge Magnum and Chrysler Pacifica will get the chop. Oh, and maybe the Jeep Commander. And possibly the Dodge Dakota pickup. And the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger. Meanwhile, Chrysler hired former GE exec L. John Cataldo to assume a newly created position: vice president of business development and mergers and acquisitions. Cataldo is in charge of hooking-up with other automakers and selling the family silver. Speaking at the Magazine Publishers of America annual conference in Boca Raton, Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli reiterated Chrysler's 'focus on cash.' The company is moving to sell off $1b in "unneeded real estate and facilities." Not to go all TV Land on you, but I'm hearing "They call him stripper, flipper; faster than lightning."

Audi has let slip that its bonkers super-sedan is getting the axe. Working to a strict one-model-at-a-time policy, Ingolstadt's extreme engineers are now focusing their energies on amping-up the horsepower in Audi's overpriced Golf TT to create the TT-RS. According to South Africa's Cartoday,com, Q-ship lovers can turn to the S6, which offers almost as much oomph as the RS4– with a lot more weight in tow and about $25k more sucked out of your bank account. A forthcoming RS6 will eventually replace the S6 and RS4 as Audi's top tunermobile. Next up (maybe): the NEW RS6. And THEN we get the new A4, sitting on the new A5's platform, that [finally] repositions the engine back in the body a bit, adding a little mid-engine-esque magic to Audi's otherwise nose-heavy driving experience. All of which means that as good as the current RS4 is– and it's sell your kidney [shaped grill] good– the next gen should be a home run. Actually, the ball will leave the park, circumnavigate the globe, and return to smack the pitcher straight in the nose. To further whet your automotive appetite, our resident photochopper Andrei Avarvarii has prepared a little vision of the thunder to come.

Branding guru Al Reis has soothed this publisher's fevered e-brow on more than one occasion. "Chill out," Big Al recently advised. "The strongest brands start small and grow slowly." If that's the criteria for brand strength, TTAC is the Kleenex of automotive blogs. Thankfully, we are growing. As expected, the Ten Worst awards (results on Wednesday) are pulling in the punters. Also unsurprisingly, a percentage of these newbies have decided to check up on us on a regular basis. Not to steal the UAW's obfuscatory techniques, the last couple of weeks have seen about a 10 – 15 percent bump in daily uniques (that's you and your best buds). To capitalize on our momentum, I've managed to raise addition funding for the site's editorial budget. To reward our faithful scribes, I'm doubling the editorial and review writers' fees, from nothing much to well something's better than nothing. I'm also tripling the bloggers' pay, from you must be joking to are you kidding? I've hired a product guru, to provide at least two 800-word product reviews per week. And, most important of all, I'm looking for a Review Coordinator. I'm looking for someone to keep track of our reviews, schedule new ones with our stable of car hacks (and write some SVP), talk to manufacturers about getting press cars, secure test vehicles from another (still undisclosed) supplier and generally get us closer to aheadofthecurvosity. The pay is eh, but it IS a paid (freelance) position. If you're interested, please send a cv and a plea to frank.williams@thetruthaboutcars.com with the words "Review Guru" in the subject bar. Meanwhile, if you could email Wednesday's Ten Worst award post to all your pistonhead pals, I'd be MOST appreciative. 

Sweden's Teknikens Varld reports that Mercedes is upgrading its delivery van Viano to create a newish MPV: the X-Clusive. After failing with their hearse-themed R-Class, after winning few hearts and minds with the panel-van based Vito (including the Brabus-wheeled "Sport-X" variant), Mercedes is hoping its bigger, blingier luxo-box– complete with that's-so-Chrysler rear facing middle seats– will catch both the executive taxi and desperate football Mom crowd. The X-Clusive will offer customers' a choice of 15.5 or 16.5 foot long bodies and blend luxury, "excessive comfort" and, uh, performance. X-Clusive buyers can have any color they like as long as its silver or black, and any engine they desire as long as it's a six (including a 204-horse 3.0-liter V6 CDI). No word on plans to import the X-Clusive stateside. Nor is any expected. 

The tide may be turning against bio-fuels– at least amongst the chattering classes. The semi-prestigious Smithsonian magazine has just published a piece by Richard Conniff that rips the bio-fuels industry to bits, piece by bloody piece. After laying out the case for growing go-juice– renewabilty, carbon neutrality, recycling waste– Conniff takes bio-fuels to task for all the right reasons. We're talking food price inflation ("Cargill's chief predicted that reallocation of farmland due to biofuel incentives could combine with bad weather to cause food shortages around the world"); CO2 pollution ("when ethanol refineries burn coal to provide heat for fermentation, emissions are up to 20 percent worse for the environment than gasoline"); supply unreliability ("Switching to corn ethanol also risks making us dependent on a crop that's vulnerable to drought and disease"); soil erosion ("…growing corn requires large amounts of nitrogen fertilizer, pesticides and fuel. It contributes to massive soil erosion, and it is the main source, via runoff in the Mississippi River, of a vast "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico"); and wildlife destruction ("The United Nations recently predicted that 98 percent of Indonesia's forests will be destroyed within the next 15 years, partly to grow palm oil"). Other than that, he loves it! The article concludes with the usual conservation mantra and a plug for solar energy (so to speak). But I gotta tip my hat to Conniff for this gem: "…the switch to corn ethanol sound[s] about as smart as switching from heroin to crystal meth." 

Even though he says he's not surprised by the outcome, Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW) president Buzz Hargrove is disappointed with the contract agreement signed by his American comrades at GM and Chrysler. The London Free Press reports the union leader feels the agreement "worsens things in the sense that one more time the U.S. government is let off the hook in terms of dealing with the [closed foreign markets] trade issue." In a more piercing glimpse into the obvious, Hargrove says the Chrysler contract's narrow margin of victory "shows there's an enormous amount of dissent among the rank and file members." When the CAW starts their contract talks in July of next year, Hargrove vows the CAW won't follow the same path as the UAW. Considering Canada's national health care program obviates retiree health care discussions, negotiations can't follow the same path. However, it'll be fun to see what Buzz has to say when the automakers try to lower Canadian wages to match the UAW's new two-tiered structure.

Speaking to Automotive News [sub], GM CEO Rick Wagoner promised his employer will plow the money saved by its new contract with the United Auto Workers (UAW) into "green products."  Specifically, in the next four to ten years, GM will build  more [some?] low-emitting diesels, hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles running on lithium ion batteries. "If we have a significantly profitable and cash-generating enterprise, that really opens up the opportunity to be more aggressive and take more risks." Never one to miss an opportunity not to ask GM's jeffe the hard questions surrounding the details of a major announcement, Automotive News doesn't reveal GM's strategy in the event that GM isn't "significantly profitable" and the company's cash conflagration continues. (By GM's own admission, they won't realize any major savings from the new contract for another four years.) Right. That's it. I'm going to the Detroit Auto Show to find this guy. Who's with me? 

According to the Luxury Institute's "2007 Social Responsiblity WealthSurvey" [sic], Lexus is the wealthy motorist's green machine of choice. The Institute (can they really call themselves that?) polled a "national sample" of 950 consumers with an average net worth of $3.1m and an average income of $307K. These not-so-super rich folk pegged Lexus as the "most admired brand for environmental concerns." The CEO of the Luxury Institute dismissed critics who dismiss his eco-oriented survey as PC pandering. "Being 'green' is no longer a luxury," Milton Pedraza asserted. "It is a requirement of doing business according to wealthy consumers." Apparently, 70 percent of well-heeled car buyers look for environmentally-friendly brands "with whom to do business." Environmentalists may be heartend to discover that America's most conspicuous consumers base their purchasing decisions on biodegradable packaging, zero-landfill manufacturing and EPA ratings.

Much to the dismay of the Soldiers of Solidarity and World Socialist Web Site, the United Auto Workers (UAW) rank and file were railroaded into narrowly approved the new four-year contract with Chrysler. The Detroit Free Press cited the results from a UAW statement: 56 percent of production workers, 51 percent of skilled-trade workers, 94 percent of office and clerical workers, and 79 percent of engineering workers voted in favor of the new labor pact. (Again with the percentages, rather than raw numbers. Hmmm.) Although the UAW leadership is crowing about their victory, eight locals that represent over 16K workers rejected the deal. They won't be too happy working under its provisions– especially if Ford workers win the job guarantees missing from the Chrysler agreement. Speaking of which, Chrysler is now free to announce its long-awaited product cull and close the plants making the duff products. Or did the UAW get them to agree to wait until Ford's sorted, before the full betrayal can be revealed? 

After failing to ascend to the top slot at software maker SAP, forty-year-old Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi has decided to populate the world with electric car recharging stations. The International Herald Tribune reports Agassi's newly-founded "Project Better Place's" plans to "extend the existing electric-power grids with a wide network of intelligent recharging stations in urban areas." Sticking to the cellular phone biz model, Agassi wants to sell motorists juice on a subscription basis, and lease and/or finance the vehicles to end users (that's motorists to you and me). And here's the big difference between your silly ideas and his: the software maven has raised $200m to fund his ambitions. Investors include Israel Corp. (a transportation and technology holding company), Vantage Point Venture Partners (Tesla's backers) and private investors such as booze billionaire Edgar Bronfman Sr. and former World Bank head James Wolfensohn (uh-oh). As for the problem of waiting for a recharge, Agassi envisions a smaller number of "car wash style" automated battery-swapping stations. Meanwhile, it's worth noting that Tesla has yet to deliver a single electric roadster to a customer after multiple production delays, while iPhone has delivered over 1.4m units since its scheduled launch. 

I’ve spent countless hours rolling down serpentine highways through the deserts and mountains of the West’s big sky country. Hundreds of times my knuckles have whitened, pupils dilated and pulse quickened as I got up my gumption to pass a velocity-challenged vehicle. In my younger years, this TED (Time Exposed to Danger) was delivered courtesy of a wheezing four-banger struggling to crank out double-digit horse power. This week I put Mazda’s modern incarnation of the family hauler, the CX-9 Grand Touring AWD, to the test. Yup, it’s déjà vu all over again.