Forbes reports the House Energy and Commerce Committee has passed a bill requiring federal regulators to devise clever caveats that make power windows safer, eliminate blind spots in jumbo-sized SUVs and pickups, and keeps vehicles from rolling away (and over young 'uns). What any of that has to do with energy or commerce is anybody's guess. Anyway, committee chairman John Dingell said the bill would "help protect these young victims by instituting common-sense safety provisions in the design of cars." Why nothing was said about instituting common-sense safety training for the drivers is another mystery for the ages. Sorry– there I go digressing again. Right. Where was I? Oh yes… Jacqueline Gillan, vice president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, added "nobody should have to back out of the driveway without seeing what's behind them." Well, no one should get in their car to back out of their driveway without first looking to see if there's anything in the driveway, either. Damn! At any rate, the National Highway Traffic Safety Admission has to create the new regulations within three years of the bill's enactment– too late to save Jamie Lynn Spears' first baby.

The Tribune (via CNN) kicks ass and names names, detailing a panoply of rental car “scams.” We're talking hidden riders, new fees and plain old cheating. For example… When a flight delay made Amy Villa late for her rental car pickup, Alamo exercised its contractual rights and revised the rate upwards; from $268 to $400. OUCH! Renter Penny McLain was whacked with a gas charge despite filling the gas tank as required (anything less than a pegged FULL needle isn’t full). ZAP! Rental companies are charging customers for damages inflicted on their sleds by previous customers. OOOOF! Drop-off fees are on the rise. Hertz used to allow frequent renter Warren Atwood to pick up a car in LA County and drop it off in Orange County without incurring a “drop off” fee. Not anymore. KA-POW! Holy read the fine print Batman! Caveat emptor old chum, caveat emptor.

Now that they've palmed-off their Chrysler fiasco on Cerberus, Daimler is cash rich and company hungry. Reuters translates: "'Acquisitions are an option for growth,' the German news agency dpa-AFX quoted Zetsche as saying in an interview, adding the German carmaker — also the world's biggest truckmaker — had practically no financial limits for deals." Apparently, Dr. Z has ruled out scarfing-up another automaker, preferring to sniff around for companies who make technology that Daimler needs to meet new European Union fuel economy regulations, and such. Oh and to prevent a takeover– the original impetus for the Chrysler fiasco– Daimler looks set to announce another round of share buybacks. It currently owns just 4.7 percent of its shares, but plans to use the cash swilling around in its corporate coffers to repurchase up to 10 percent of Daimler stock by the end of August 2008. Why they didn't do this instead of buying Chrysler the first place, or how Zetsche remains in power after NOT doing this in the first place, remains a mystery. 

MINI's mini-suv finally has a name. Auto Motor und Sport (via motoring.co.za) reports the maxi-MINI will be called the Crossman, continuing their theme of names that start with "C." The not-so-mini MINI will be built by Magna in Austria, marking the marque's first foray away from the UK's auto industry. MINI Magna expect to produce about 45K Crossmans (Crossmen?) a year after the model's 2010 launch. Crossman consumers can opt for front wheel-drive or all wheel-drive. So now we'll have the two-door Cooper, the Cooper convertible, the four-door Clubman and the Crossman. It shouldn't be too long before BMW completes the bastardization of the MINI brand by producing a pickup version, maybe called the El CaMINI.

What does the word "draconian" mean to you? The Telegraph reports that tough new government guidelines allow UK judges to impose a two-year jail sentence on motorists caught driving whilst using a hand-held mobile phone. The shift reflects a punitive upgrade. iDistraction moves from "careless driving" (£5k and up to nine points on a motorist's license) to "dangerous driving" (unlimited fine, two years in gaol and a license suspension). Motorists nabbed entering a sat-nav destination, spinning through an MP3 player menu or texting could also face prison sentences. But distracted drivers shouldn't 't worry too much, as "prosecutions will be brought if by using the equipment a motorist is judged to have posed a danger to other drivers, such as causing another car to swerve." C'mon? Swerve? What if the swerve is the result of the other driver using an iPod? What are we talking here, cell mates? Hang on folks, cause "drivers who kill while using mobile phones could be charged with causing death by dangerous driving, which carries a 14-year jail term. In extreme cases they could be charged with manslaughter for which a life term can be imposed." Oh, and UK police now check phone records after accidents to see if the driver was making a call at the time of the crash. Fair enough?

The Great Ethanol Boondoggle continues to evoke the law of unintended (if not unanticipated) consequences. The Economist reports that American farmers in the Pacific Northwest have switched from hops and barley production to corn. The federal tit sucking has sent the price of beer's basic ingredients skyrocketing. "Hit by price increases and shortages, many breweries, particularly the small 'craft brewers' and the even smaller microbreweries, are being forced to raise prices, make do with modified recipes or shut off the spigots altogether." Vanilla Java Porter and Salvation IPA fans aren't the only ones dreading their next trip to the cash register. "Industry giants like Anheuser-Busch and Miller are better off, thanks to long-term contracts. But even Anheuser-Busch has been forced to raise prices for its six-packs." Fuel or beer? Could this be the beginning of the end for ethanol? [thanks to chanman for the link]

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas; at least in Dearborn. Ford has reinstated merit raises for their white collar workers. Bonuses for its blue collared brigade are under consideration. Ford’s global manufacturing guru Joe Heinrichs figures “it’s important to reward people for doing the right thing.” Which is… three straight quarters of besting Wall Street’s paltry projections and slowing the Way Fordward’s cash burn. With the long anticipated sale of Jaguar and Land Rover only days away, it would seem that Mulally’s machine is running smoothly. Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

After listening to TWiT (This Week in Technology) co-host John Dvorak nearly choke to death on a cashew, for two minutes, I persevered to hear Jason Calcanis (founder of Autoblog) say that he's done his part for the world by ordering a Tesla Roadster. To his eternal credit, Dvorak interrupts Calcanis mid-mantra to ask "When are you going to get delivery?" "I think ahhhhh they're going to start in the second quarter." Claiming he's got the "inside dope," Calcanis says the production delay's down to Tesla's desire to get the "best possible transmission." "They went through three possible transmissions. The first one would have been good enough; they're just being kind of obsessive about it." The Corvette-owning internet entrepreneur goes on to say the Tesla "costs nothing" to run "because you're doing it off electrical." More credibly, he's going to put some solar panels on his garage and maybe even buy a thirty grand windmill so he can be "100 percent off the grid." Calcanis was a bit late to the party– only putting down a $5k deposit– but he's told Tesla's he's ready to jump in with the full whack if and when one of the first 100 proto-customers drops out. Oh, and the free market will solve global warming in ten years, because everyone wants to drive an electric car. You can't buy publicity like that. Nor should you. [thanks to whippersnapper for the link]

Even as the Prez picks up his pens to sign the new Energy Bill into law, the automakers are rallying around the cause. While the cynical amongst you might suggest that their support indicates that the bill's riddled with loopholes, we couldn't possibly comment. Chrysler's (nee Toyota's) Jim Presshad no such reluctance. He told MSNBC "We now know what the rules are of the game. [Translation: We manipulated the legislation as much as we could.] Each manufacturer now will be able to play its hand in its unique way. [We'll game the rules to the max.] We're in the best position to marry technology and not make people make sacrifices or compromises on the product they want. [We're going to continue to build huge trucks, CAFE be damned!]" Rick Wagoner responded with Generic Press Statement #31: "We will focus our engineering and technical resources to attain these standards, and we remain hard at work applying the innovation and developing the advanced technologies that will power tomorrow's cars and trucks." Toyota's Jim Lentz just said they'll expand their range of hybrids. "We're a hybrid company." Uh huh. A hybrid company that makes a fortune off of gas-sucking trucks and SUVs. It's nice to know even as the rules change, it'll be business as usual.

Our resident Romanian photochoppist Andrei Avarvarii renders unto us the possible shape of the future MB E-Klasse, in AMG variant, with a little Xmas spirit. Whoa! What's with those peepers? "It seems that MB will keep the quad front light layout for the E-Class, but will have it roughed-up in accordance with the rest of the model line-up. A subtle blend of curves and angles with a little retro-touch is the 'current/next thing' in automotive design." Well it couldn't be any worse than the two gens ago's friend eggs headlights. The new E, codenamed W212, is scheduled to hit the streets in mid-'09. World Car Fans reports that the model will be powered by the usual smorgasbord of petrol-fed powerplants, ranging from a frugal but slow four-cylinder 184hp four to a stonking gas-guzzling 544hp V8. Oil burners will stretch from a cylinder 136hp four to 354hp V8, with enough torque to stop the planet's rotation [my add]. A hybrid E-Class will not appear before 2010, not a moment too late.

[For more Avarvarii photochopistry, click here.]

Motor Trend (MT) has named the Tundra their Truck of the Year. Yes, "The new Toyota Tundra is now ready to take on any American-made pickup truck– on all levels." To get the gong, an aspiring pickup had to be new or redesigned in the 12 months before Jan. 1, 2008. So the only "American-made pickup trucks" that qualified were the heavy-duty versions of the Silverado, Sierra and F-series. Hang on; how come the new Tundra, introduced as an '07 model, qualifies? It's about as much as mystery as why MT considers "significance" one of their three judging criteria. Anyway, in their official reveal, MT spends a paragraph sloughing off the Tundra's well-publicized recalls and quality problems. "Our guess is many of these stories spread like wildfire, given the lightning-rod effect this new truck is having with enthusiasts and the speed with which an Internet item can travel." And of the latest recall for a soft joint in the rear driveshaft, they add, "(EDITOR'S NOTE: Testing, judging, and story for the February 2008 issue of Motor Trend were completed and printed before the latest safety recall involving 15,600 2007 Tundras to correct a potential driveshaft issue)" It's amazing how much spin a generous advertising budget can buy.

As we reported yesterday, Mercedes is working on anti-driver fatigue gizmology. Yahoo! Canada reports that Toyota has decided that the world needs more 'lerts. ToMoCo's recruiting the research team that developed Nintendo's "brain training" games to help them ride herd on driver alertness, specifically as it involves the elderly. Their wakeupmobile concept will monitor the helmsman's "brain activity, automatic nerve reflexes, attentiveness and other mental and physical conditions" and then stimulate the drowsy driver through a variety of means– including cranking-up the AC "to invigorate the driver's brain." Toyota hopes to put some of the systems they develop into use by 2015 to 2020. Nissan has also expressed interest in research in this area, but has made no decision to pursue it. No word from Buick who's rumored to be surveying their remaining customers to determine if A) they're still alive and B) they can understand the system's advantages.

GM has announced its intention to raise prices on its '08 model year cars and light trucks by about 1.5 percent, to cover "steel and commodity costs." But not on vehicles facing stiff competition. Reuters lets GM Marketing Maven Mark LaNever ring in the changes. "While most cars and trucks in our portfolio will go up between $100 to $500, in hotly contested segments, many vehicles such as the Saturn Aura four-cylinder and the all-new Malibu LS will have no increase." So… which vehicles can "afford" this increase? Why the Cadillac XLR! Yup, Caddy's priciest model, a $97kish vehicle that's sold just 1622 examples year-to-date (down from last year's 2917), gets an extra $1500 on its sticker (ready for discount?). GM PR declined to name any other specific vehicles facing the price hike, lest we call attention to their relative sales. In any case, you've got to wonder about the timing of the announcement– smack dab in the middle of GM's Christmas Toe Tag sale. Are they trying to say "get 'em while they're cheap?" As Reuters points out, the whole price hike deal is a bit odd. "GM is boosting prices as it tries to stick to a strategy of lower incentives and clearer pricing, after a decade of big discounting programs eroded profits."