Right after WW II, a group of 10 former military officers known as the "Whiz Kids" became a brain trust for Ford Motor Company. The most famous member: Robert McNamara, who went on to become the first non-Ford president of Ford. Bob and his cronies managed by numbers, cut off from the realities of operations and markets. As they say, those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. CNN Money reports that Ford executive chairman and washed-up CEO Bill Ford has announced he's forming a "'Transformation Advisory Council' of senior Ford executives and outside sustainability thought-leaders." But instead of focusing on fixing the company, this latest Ford think tank is taking on all of "society's sustainability challenges." Yes folks, the man who led FoMoCo to the brink of bankruptcy and the executives who helped him push it there are going to "propel us along the road to sustainability," using Ford's "long heritage of environmental innovation, and … commitment to finding solutions that work for everyone." God help us all!

In the real world, cars hardly ever deliver their official government fuel economy ratings. This is still the case in the U.S., where testing procedures were revised to better reflect Joe Blow's lead foot, but it's even more true in the European Union. To prove the point, Autobild recently tested a number of cars in [their idea of] real-life driving conditions. Their circuit consisted of 54 km on the autobahn, 61 km on highways and 45 km of city driving. The cars were driven speedily but not hard– never above 75 mph. The cars tested were up to 53% thirstier than rated (and advertised). Some examples:

Audi RS4 Avant 420HP
Rated 13.5 L/100KM
Test 14.0 = +3.7%

BMW M5 507HP
Rated 14.8
Test 15.2 = +2.7%

BMW 118d Diesel
Rated 4.5
Test 6.2 = +38%

Ford C-Max Diesel 109HP
Rated 4.9
Test 6.7 = +37%

Honda Civic Hybrid 95HP
Rated 4.6
Test 6.6 = +43.5%

Lexus RX400h Hybrid 211HP
Rated 8.1
Test 12.0 = +48%

Mercedes ML350 272HP
Rated 11.7
Test 15.6 = +33%

Toyota Aygo 68HP
Rated 4.6
Test 6.1 = +32.6%

Toyota Prius 78HP
Rated 4.3
Test 6.0 = +39.5%

The cheerleading team over at The Detroit News (DTN) is happy to report the GM is set to launch "a massive, worldwide [environmentally-themed] marketing campaign and a lineup of vehicles that uses a variety of fuel-saving technologies — including some that have yet to be created." Skating over the potential irony of that statement (and the obvious connection to Earth, Wind & Fire's "What A Fool Believes"), they also reveal that "As part of the announcement, GM today will debut its gasoline-electric Chevrolet Silverado, the nation's first hybrid pickup." Huh? What about the Sierra SLE Hybrid we reviewed in July 2004, and the, uh, Silverado version launched at roughly the same time? Never mind. Apparently, "the automaker is struggling to overcome a less-than-stellar reputation when it comes to the environment, and trying to do so without an iconic hit like Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius hybrid." Ya think? Oh, and here's the real news, GM will also provide Walt Disney with 10 more fuel-cell-powered Equinoxes to let the Hollywood entertainment company claim green credentials while their execs and stars shuttle around in limos transport workers and "others" at Disney facilities in California. Just in case you think we're being too hard on GM's newfound love of all things green (as if), we'll give the last word (as does the DTN) to Michael Robinet of CSM Worldwide. "Robinet said GM has the product to become credible, even among import-loving East and West coasters who want to drive green vehicles." Fair and balanced enough?

The New York Times has issued a stern warning to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Leader Harry Reid not to accept a smaller hike in federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. In an editorial entitled "Where's the energy bill?" (the word "frickin'" didn't make the cut), the Old Gray Lady asserts that "The single most effective way to address the problem of oil imports and consumption is to improve the efficiency of cars and light trucks, which use more than two-thirds of all the oil burned in the United States." After that failure of imagination, the piece hits Congress with both barrels. "Efficiency standards have changed little in 30 years. The Senate bill mandates an ambitious 40 percent improvement by 2020. The House ducked the issue — but Ms. Pelosi promised to fight for stronger standards in later negotiations. She must now honor that pledge." Or what? The Day After Tomorrow? Anyway, if you're a free marketeer with an anger management problem, you might want to give the link a miss. 

Even in a race of one-legged men, there's usually a winner. That's a fact that seems lost on Fortune's Alex Taylor Three Sticks. Writing for CNN Money, Taylor compares Ford's and GM's turnaround efforts (Chrysler's gone dark since private equity hoovered them up from Daimler). He brushes aside GM's third quarter losses ($1.6b without the tax write-off) and suggest that "most indicators put it in the lead." What indicators? Well, for starters, Ford isn't selling as many cars to fleet buyers, producing a greater drop in market share. [We have word that Mazda's taking over that part of the biz. More later.] Ford doesn't have as "rich" a mix of vehicles (i.e. GM has more duplicate and overlapping models). But the real clincher– so important that it bore repeating in picture captions– Rick Wagoner has been at GM longer than Alan Mulally has been at Ford. Ignoring the fact that this means Slick Rick has farted around for seven years without even suggesting a deadline for a return to profitability, Taylor states that Big Al's impact on Ford in the year he's been there "is only on the margin." While Taylor sees Ford taking until 2009 to start showing a profit, he reckons "most analysts expect GM to return to black ink next year." Really? Name one.

Advertising Age [sub] reckons a TV ad featuring actor/singer Harry Connick Jr. touring Katrina-ravaged New Orleans in a Lincoln MKX [YouTube] is unconscionable exploitation. In the great TTAC style, columnist Bob Garfield doesn't pull any punches. "They seem to have persuaded themselves somehow that they are doing something positive — celebrating the spirit of a city, shedding light on its challenges, recognizing its heroes. Bullshit. What they are doing is exploiting its victims to advertise luxury SUVs. It is vulgar. It is grotesque. It is disgusting." From there, Garfield returns to GM's contribution to the "automaker with a heart" ad theme. "Who can forget GM's 3,000-Dead Sale-a-bration, a yearend price promotion staged on the still-smoldering ashes of Ground Zero? Ford got in on the Sept. 11 sweepstakes too, with its own version dubbed "Ford Drives America." Yeah, to the brink of depravity" While we're not quite sure how these ads deprave American citizenry, hats off to Ad Age for calling out Young & Rubican's execrable example of Lincoln's dopey "Dreams" campaign. 

Provided you have "otherwise healthy habits," Scott Fruin reckons the ultra-fine particulates you inhale during your daily commute are the worst injury your body experiences on a daily basis. The assistant professor of environmental health at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California (USC) conducted a "Marco! Polo!" study of those pesky little toxic molecules that can penetrate your cell walls and disperse throughout your body. Ward's reports that the USC team jumped into a camera-equipped electric vehicle and simulated an LA commute, monitoring air quality. "In the 1.5 hours average drivers spend in their cars every day, they are exposed to 33%-45% of the harmful air pollution they breathe in," Fruin reveals. “Shortening your commute and spending less time in the car will significantly reduce your total body burden of harmful pollutants.” (Not to mention the stress of trying to get around slow-moving, taxpayer-funded EVs.) “The extent that (diesel trucks) dominated the highest concentration conditions on freeways was unexpected." But not unwelcome– at least from a legislative point-of-view. Fruin's anti-fine particle stance lines-up nicely with California's campaign to clean-up tailpipe pollutants from the diesel trucks plying its highways and byways, and the California Air Resource Board's insistence on the world's toughest diesel emissions regulations. 

So the D.C. DMV reckons the best way to cut lines is to remove the human element from the parking ticket adjudication process. In other words, as of December '08, D.C. drivers who want to bitch that they were busted unfairly can forget the whole "Here come da Judge!" routine. They've got to argue their case via letter or email. If I were a member of the PC police, I'd immediately point out that the move from oral to literary parking ticket protests puts minorities who can't read or write English at an immediate and dramatic disadvantage. If I were a nativist, I would point out that this policy will give non-literate minorities an immediate and dramatic advantage, as the government will no doubt provide an exemption from the WBO (written bitching only) ordinance or provide a savvy translator to craft the protest. In any case, as someone who tutored Freshman English at Tufts, I can tell you that D.C. is making a BIG mistake. The vast majority of the letters and emails flowing into the parking office will be illegible and incoherent. The ones that aren't will be pompous, long-winded and riddled with spurious arguments and outright deceit. They might as well just get a big ass rubber stamp (and electronic equivalent) that says "APPEAL DENIED" and stamp 599 out of 600 letters/emails with it. (You know, to be fair.) And mark my words, that's exactly what they'll do. And you know what? People will write back asking why their appeal was denied– even though there'll be text telling them not to– which they can't read, won't see or will ignore. How great is that? 

Setting aside our usual "show me the infrastructure" hydrogen economy skepticism for a moment, it looks like we may have a winner! The AFP (via Yahoo News) is reporting that University of Pennsylvania researchers have discovered a way to generate hydrogen that produces more hydrogen energy than the process consumes in electrical energy. [NB: for those of you wishing to cite basic laws of thermodynamics, electrical energy is not the only source of energy in the process.] Poor efficiency rates and low yields have led many alt. energy experts to consider hydrogen an also-ran even before it technically ran. Apparently, adding aetic acid to the production process allows scientists to produce hydrogen at 99% of the theoretical maximum yield. Theoretically, that's more than enough efficiency to make hydrogen a viable energy source. Even better, aetic acid is a common byproduct of glucose fermentation, which is typically discarded. Isn't it wonderful when a plan comes together? Expect tons of complaining from flyover, er, corn land, and much rejoicing from grocery aisles as the price of beef and dairy go backdown to reasonable levels. That is, if this isn't a bunch of hot (cold?) air.

Our favorite motorists' rights crusader, The Newspaper, reports that Washington, DC's upcoming "Performance Plan" eliminates parking offenders' right to their day in court. No really. "The DMV will complete the phase-out of in-person adjudication of parking tickets in favor of mail-in and e-mail adjudication by December 2008." In case you hadn't figured it out already, The Newspaper says the move to suspend D.C. citizens' right to due process stems from a good old-fashioned cash grab. "As one-third of those who contest citations in the city are successful, the hearings cut significantly into the $100 million in revenue tickets generate each year." The new, more efficient (if entirely less personal) protesting policy comes on the heels of the D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's decision to equip street sweepers with automated parking enforcement cameras, destined to spit out $30 tickets at a fearsome clip. Meanwhile, one wonders if any legal challenge to the removal of a live Judge for parking offenses would have to be posted as well. 

Britain's Autocar has bestowed its annual awards on its patrons. This year's winners include the Jaguar XF, which received the Design Award for "leap-frogging an entire design generation to produce original, contemporary interior and exterior themes on which all future Jaguars will build." Joining the Jag: GM Car Czar Bob Lutz. Maximum Bob received Autocar's Outstanding Achievement award for "his long career as one of the motor industry's most successful and influential 'car guys'." Ford of Europe was named Car Company of the Year in recognition of its "key role in the progress towards recovery of the US-based Ford group, and as a future donor of models for the US market." I'm thinking these are all examples of that famous English dry wit; that sense of humor that Americans don't seem to understand. Yes? Please say yes.

You'd think auto ad writers would have learned that dissing the locals is best left to the Simpsons. The latest car company issuing a mea culpa for stepping on finely-tuned political sensitivities: Toyota. BusinessWeek reports that a recent ad by the Japanese automaker raised the hackles of Fresno mayor Alan Autry and California senator Dianne Feinstein. The commercial in question showed the miserly Toyota Prius in a future where "gas stations will become nothing more than low-budget tourist stops. Like ghost towns… or Fresno." After Feinstein complained to the company, Toyota pulled the ad and edited out the reference. What penance must be done? Fresno city councilman Henry Perea says Toyota should open a Prius factory in his patch. Given the cost of doing biz in The Golden State, Perea should've simply asked for cash compensation (if he hasn't already). 

In addition to giving United Auto Workers (UAW) members a holiday for the start of deer season, GM is also offering them a lottery ticket just for showing up. MarketWatch reports that under the new labor deal, one year's perfect attendance could win a GM factory worker a brand-new car! Or, um, a part of one. The rules are pretty tough. If you're out sick,a doctor's excuse won't cut it. You have to prove you were sick by proffering a prescription slip or test results (which is a direct violation of HIPAA regulations if I'm not badly mistaken). Eligible workers are automatically entered into a drawing for $15K towards the purchase of a new GM ('Natch!) car or truck. Needless to say, the winner is liable for any taxes or other dealer charges. No word yet on a contest to see who can make the best car.    

BMW, Mercedes, Audi and other performance-oriented manufacturers all place a high premium on providing their customers with massive stopping power, with minimal noise. To that end, they fit relatively soft brake pads. The Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) brake pads are fabricated from a combination of high tech and simple materials: carbon fibers, metal filings and a powerful adhesive to hold the pad material together. These soft brake pads help the machines achieve astounding predictability, power and control but they do make your expensive wheels look like crap.

Now that we've clocked the United Auto Workers (UAW) new contracts with The Big 2.8– including lootable union-controlled VEBA health care superfunds, wage structures that pay workers different money for the same work, and job guarantees that aren't– there's another detail that's just come to light. The GM – UAW contract changes the day union members get off for Veteran's Day. Why would the union abandon the day that the rest of the country uses to commemorate its veterans' sacrifice for their freedom (or buy a wide screen TV)? So that union members can enjoy the official opening of deer season. Even though the rest of the nation observes Veteran's Day on November 11, the contract specifies November 16, 2007, November 14, 2008, November 16, 2009, and November 15, 2010  (all Fridays of course) as UAW holidays. According to the Flint Journal "both sides say the Friday-off deal will disrupt plants less" because many UAW members are hunters and take deer opener day off anyway. This military veteran suggests that we all stop for a moment of silence for the deer that give their lives so unselfishly for the good of the auto industry.