When you're running in the back of the pack, it's almost impossible to take the lead. Detroit has learned this painful lesson in the small car market, but they're planning a compact comeback with spiffy new models like the Ford Focus, Holden Vauxhall Opel  Saturn Astra and … uh… can I get back to you on that? Even though the imported brands have been giving us high-quality small cars for years, Forbes reports Ford and GM research "shows that small-car buyers will no longer tolerate flimsy seats, cheap plastic dashboards, noisy engines and bumpy rides." (They must have finally driven a Honda.) This epiphany isn't lost on Saturn's general manager Jill Lajdziak who said, "People who go into a small car want expressive design and they want a level of refinement in the interior. We've got to make sure that our small cars are delivering what they want. They don't want to compromise." Ford CEO Alan Mulally admits his benefactors have a problem too: "It's a segment that we've been out of, so we need to have really good products in it. We missed a whole generation of Ford products. We knew the trucks and the SUVs, No. 1 in the world, but they grew up with Civics and Accords." That's all well and good, Al and Jill; the first step to curing a problem is admitting you have one. But when you're trying to hit a moving target, finally figuring out you need some ammo; you have to aim in front of it, not at it.

When Cerberus liberated Chrysler from its German captors, we speculated on the role parts maker Magna would play in the ailing automaker's future. At the time, we were looking for the three-headed canine to perform a quick strip and flip, off-loading a big ass chunk of Chrysler's production onto the cash-rich Canadians. Perhaps we spoke too soon. Bloomberg reports that Magna has reversed decades of anti-union efforts and signed a "Framework of Fairness" with the Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW). Under the terms of the agreement, the CAW agrees to a no-strike clause, in favor of independent arbitration.Today's Globe and Mail prints a joint statement by Magna's Frank Stronach and the CAW's Buzz Hargrove claiming that they've put away their differences "for the sake of the industry." Apparently. "economic studies have suggested that companies that pair union representation with extensive mechanisms for worker involvement and participation attain the best possible combination of high productivity and high morale." Who knew? A more likely explanation: at a stroke, the deal removes Chrysler's United Auto Workers members' objections to Magna's purchase of Chrysler production facilities, if not the entire company. Rock and roll!

After the United Auto Workers (UAW) ratified their new contract with GM, the automaker's stock price soared to $40.06 per share. The Detroit Free Press now reports that GM's stock price fell nearly four percent on Tuesday, as Wall Street has begun re-considering the whole GM/UAW/VEBA thing. Morgan Stanley analyst Jonathan Steinmetz is having second thoughts about the wisdom of establishing The Mother of All Health Care Tax-Free Funds. "Funding terms appear somewhat less attractive than initially envisioned," Steinmetz prevaricated. "GM has settled a $47-billion liability for the equivalent of $37 billion, or about 78 cents on the dollar." Analyst Peter Nesvold from Bear Sterns says GM's UAW contract is potentially transformational… longer term. Meanwhile GM shares are at a potential peak and on the way down." 

Even as some UAW members are balking at the new Chrysler contract because it doesn't contain guarantees of jobs in the future, Walter P.'s namesake is looking at cutting out five models in the here and now. "A person familiar with the situation" told the Detroit Free Press as many as five models could be on the chopping block. The unnamed "company insider" indicated the Pacifica, Dakota, Durango, Commander, Compass and/or Sebring could be voted off the island by the end of the month. The Durango looks like a shoe-in, as the plant which builds it is slated for closure in 2009, and the Sebring may be given a complete makeover instead of facing the executioner's ax. At least Chrysler is facing a problem plaguing the auto industry– product overlap– head on. We can only hope Ford and GM are watching.

Just a few weeks after making a deal with the UAW to guarantee work at specific plants, GM is cutting one shift and laying off 767 workers at their Poletown assembly plant in Hamtramck, Michigan. It didn't take GM long to find the loophole in the agreement: the deal guarantees future work but doesn't say how many workers they'll use or how many shifts they'll run, either now or in the future. Currently the plant builds the Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS. In September, Buick averaged six sales per dealer while Caddy floggers averaged 14; so they don't need a lot of production capacity. The "future models" slated for Poletown include a new midsize Chevy sedan (isn't that what the Malibu is supposed to be?), a seven-passenger CUV (another one– just what GM needs) and the Chevy Volt (yeah, right… whenever). The laid-off workers can be used to fill other positions within GM as needed, according to the Detroit News.

Nominations for TTAC's Ten Worst Automobiles awards continue apace. You, our not-so-gentle readers, are cordially invited to continue submitting your ruminations on these ruinations underneath this post. So far you've nominated 118 different vehicles (give or take a few clones). While we're not keeping track of how many nominations any given car receives, there are already a few clear front runners. Here's a roundup of the "leading" nominations and their pithy proponents…

OK, so the UK hasn't banned smoking in cars– with or without kids in situ. But changes to the Highway Code– the rules and regulations governing all road users– have empowered police to ticket puffing motorists for "not allowing proper control of a car" (allowing?). Although police pedants have previously cited UK drivers for drinking from a water bottle in slow-moving traffic and other petty distractions, a survey from the esure auto insurance company reveals that 45 percent of smoking motorists have a simple response to the new prohibition: piss off. esure surveyed a thousand UK motorists to discover than a little less than half would ignore the rule change entirely. To ensure esure's survey adopted the correct line on the matter, their research company winkled-out some "worrying" statistics: a "massive" 80 per cent of smoking motorists admit to taking their hands off the wheel to fire-up a fag; 75 per cent of them think smoking whilst driving on a motorway is acceptable and poses no risks; 46 per cent admit to dropping their cigarette in the car (26 per cent said they took their eyes off the road to retrieve it); and 45 per cent admit to throwing fag ends out the window. esure's Head of Risk and Underwriting sounded the appropriate note: "At esure, driver safety is our top priority and so the risky habits carried out by some smokers are a cause for concern. We advise drivers to always pay the road their full attention." That's it then. Carry on. 

CNN Money is reporting that Toyota has dropped from first to fifth place in Consumer Reports' (CR) ranking of average predicted reliability for all models sold under a given brand after one year of ownership. ToMoCo now slots beneath Honda, Acura, Scion and Subaru. What's worse, CR no longer recommends V6 Camrys or V8 Tundra full-size pickups due to their poor reliability. And the hits keep happening. CR says the results are so rad/bad they're changing their "free ride" methodology. Before now, Consumer Reports would assume at least average reliability for Toyota's new cars, without waiting for owner survey data. From now on, the magazine will wait for a full year of reliability survey data before recommending a Toyota product. As it does with most other manufacturers. As it should have from the git-go. Meanwhile, of the domestics, only Buick made it into CR's top ten, although Ford and Mercury are climbing CR's brand reliability charts (to 13th and 11th respectively). Of the 39 cars rated "most reliable," the domestics scored just four nods. Of the 44 "least reliable" models, The Big 2.8 accounted for 20. And the biggest loser is… the Solstice, with 234 percent less reliability than CR's statistical average. Pontiac's once red-hot roadster just beat the Cadillac Escalade EXT for the bottom position. CR reckons the 'Slade is 220 percent less reliable than average. That doesn't sound good.

[TTAC data provider truedelta analyzes CR's methodology here.] 

So here I am, on the phone to a car dealer to hook-up a test drive in the "new" Ford Focus. As I type, I'm on hold, listening to an ad for Stop and Shop. While I'm sure the message is part of a radio station plug-in, why the Hell should I call a car dealer to be sold groceries? Anyway, Dennis comes on the line forty-nine seconds later to tell me that they've got one, and it's on the showroom floor. Great! I'll come down for a test drive. When are you interested in buying the car? I resist the urge to blurt out "when my penis exceeds 12 inches." Before I can say "soon" he goes off on a rant on how some people want to test drive cars that they're only interested in buying six months hence, and how his manager is not enamored with test drives related to purchases within this time frame. Five minutes later, I get a return call. We're good to go. Do you have a vehicle to trade-in? And that's it, save a sudden desire to take a shower. Still. this process keeps us in touch with what you go through, and I gotta say, it ain't pretty. As Ford doesn't have a whole lot of exciting cars in the showroom or pipeline, perhaps they ought to use this interregnum to sort some things out at the sharp end.

Last year about this time, we gazed into the crystal ball to predict a few changes in the automotive world. A lot of water's gone under the proverbial bridge since then: Toyota's world number one, the UAW's selling out their membership for a few dozen billion, Ford and Chrysler are attempting turnarounds with leaders who have no automotive industry experience whatsoever and GM Car Czar Bob Lutz is straining his personal credibility beyond breaking point. Well, OK, some things haven't changed. Anyway, with all that's happened in the past year, what does the future hold? Here are some of our predictions.

Obviously, we don't screen our readers' TWAT nominees– until next week. That's when TTAC's writers vote on the 20 finalists from ALL your suggestions, for your final vote. Meanwhile, the "best of the best" love fest that inspired our name and shamery continues over at the buff books, car writers' associations and anywhere else they can get brownie points (i.e. press cars and advertising) from automakers. Motor Trend has announced their SUV of the Year :" the Mazda CX-9. Strangley, the accompanying article is laden with qualifiers "Mazda's finest demonstration of infusing sports-car qualities into an SUV;" "An SUV seemingly well suited for going to the mountains, midtown, or the market;" "The CX-9 was arguably the most enjoyable sport 'ute to pilot;" and "Of course, the CX-9 isn't perfect;" Although it's [more than] a little unfair to suggest that the CX-9 is inherently TWAT-worthy (our review is on its way), the SUV didn't escape TTAC commentator kansei's scorn: "The CX-9 is decidedly unsporty and pollutes the zoom zoom brand image." Oh, and two of the 11 Motor Trend's also-rans are former TWATs: the Jeep Compass (the Liberty was also on their short list) and the Subaru Tribeca. Just sayin'…

What's the bet that Ford has a whole room full of MBA's who do nothing more than scan the tea leaves of the U.S. economy and powerpoint their prognostications to the Powers That Be? If so, you gotta be a little worried, 'cause Ford CEO Alan Mulally doesn't seem to be. Despite the ongoing slide in American home values (a.k.a. the mortgage crisis) the soaring price of oil (cresting $86 a barrel) and the current downturn in new car sales ('07 looks to be the slowest year since '98), Reuters reports that Big Al sees 2008 U.S. light vehicle sales between 16.3 million and 16.5 million units. In fact, "We've laid out our plans to handle that kind of volume." Yes, well, however theoretical, a rising tide doesn't lift all boats. As Reuters points out, Ford has lost roughly one percent market share per year since the turn of the century, and is set to shut 16 plants and cut more than 50k jobs. Here's hoping The Blue Oval Boyz know something we don't. 

At a special shareholder's meeting on October 4, DaimerChrysler officially became Daimler AG. According to Autobild, many shareholders believe a rose by any other name stinks. Minority shareholder rep Bernd Köhler pointed out that Daimler paid Jaguar/Ford $20m for the rights to use the name. But “what happens if Jaguar gets purchased by a Chinese or Indian company? Will there be five-thousand Dollar Daimlers?" Carl Benz’ great-great granddaughter Heidemarie Hirsch was equally indignant. "Why is Daimler disregarding Benz, who was the inventor of the motor car?" Shareholder activist and economics professor Prof Ekkehard Wenger said the name change was "simply stupid.” Shareholders also criticized Daimler’s new $100m typography and graphics package. "It looks more like the logo of a pharmaceutical company, or of an airline, or an insurance company” complained Uli Mayer-Johannsen of MetalDesign. Graphics designer Kurt Weidemann performed design work for the Daimler-Benz and Mercedes-Benz brands for 15 years. "In graphic art terms, Daimler's new appearance looks miserable.”

Auto Industry reports that Volkswagen is set to roll out a new line of small cars, codenamed “New Small Family" (NSF). VW expects sales of the first gen NSF to top 4.16 million units during its nine-year lifecycle. Last week, the Rheinische Post reported that VW Group CEO Martin Winterkorn told delegates at a International Iron & Steel Institute conference that VeeDub was developing a version of the 2005 prototype ‘1-litre’ VW two-seater car for 2010. Winterkorn confessed that the car “would not be a world-beater in sales terms, but would set new technical standards for light weight and offering low CO2 emissions.” While VW abandoned its plans for a “super economy” car back in 2005, rising oil prices have inspired them to reconsider. Oil topped $86 per barrel yesterday; economist Jeff Rubin predicts $100 per barrel oil could “become normal” as early as 2008, with rising gas prices to match. If so, any automaker without a line of seriously efficient automobiles will be in serious trouble. 

Even as Chrysler workers ponder whether or not to accept their new contract, GM is bragging about announcing the blessings the union has bestowed on the automaker's bottom line. Under the two-tier wage structure in the new United Auto Workers (UAW) contract, GM will be paying "non-core” workers about a third less in wages and benefits than they presently shell-out to their union workers. The Detroit Free Press reveals that revisions to these employees' pension fund and health coverage will lower their cost to the company to $25.65 per hour. That's compared to the $78.21 per hour in wages and benefits GM currently pays all their UAW workers. What's more, GM expects 65  to 75 percent of their hourly employees to retire during the four-year life of the contract; many of these retirees will be replaced with lower-paid workers. CFO Fritz Henderson predicts the new labor deal will save The General some $2.8b in annual cash flow by 2010, and $3.3b by 2011.