GM Global Product Maven Maximum Bob Lutz claims that satisfying new U.S. federal fuel economy regulations will cost the consumer an additional $6k per car, on average. That seems a bit of a strange statement, as there are already plenty of cars capable of besting the freshly-minted mandate. From Japan to Jerusalem, from Mumbai to Milan, the world is filled, and filling, with suitably fuel efficient passenger cars. The real question is whether or not America is ready– make that “willing”– to buy the same sort of frugal machines that the rest of the world has been driving for years. Take the Fiat Grande Punto. Please.

OK, not literally "lost." More like "totaled." No matter how you parse it, Automotive News [sub] reports that King Triton wasn't happy with the ship carrying the very first batch of 1-Series and M3s headed stateside from the Fatherland. On January 11, a storm took knocked the heavy metal loose to play a driverless game of German bumper cars. "Of the 470 vehicles on board, 120 were damaged beyond repair and will have to be scrapped. The others will be repaired, said a BMW spokesman." While one wonders if the customers for those repaired Bimmers will be told of the damage, the automaker is busy tryig to figure out if the accident will affect the models' March launch date. 6Speedonline has the gruesome gallery for those of you who can't get enough wrecked exotics, or wait for Autoblog.  

According to Cadillac, the Provoq is "a petroleum-free, hydrogen-powered vision of future luxury transportation." In fact, the official press release proclaims that "The concept can drive 300 miles (483 km) on a single fill of hydrogen – with 280 miles (450 km) from hydrogen and 20 miles (32 km) on pure, battery electric energy. A pair of 10,000 psi (700 bar) composite storage tanks beneath the rear cargo floor hold 13.2 pounds (6 kg) of hydrogen to feed the fuel cell stack, located under the hood. There, hydrogen mixes with oxygen to generate electricity – up to 88 kW continuous power. A lithium-ion battery pack can store up to a total of 9kWh of electrical energy and also provides a peak of 60 kW of power for additional performance." All this despite the fact that the Concept doesn't have any hydrogen-related parts whatsoever. So I rang-up Pete Barkey of GM Powertrain Communications and asked if GM has any intentions of building a Provoq Concept with a hydrogen engine. "I cannot tell you either way right now." David Caldwell of Cadillac Communications also pointed out that the press release uses a small "c" (concept) rather than a capital "C" (as in Provoq Concept). Both gentlemen also admitted that the numbers cited were entirely theoretical. Fair enough? 

Click here for more TTAC photos of the Cadillac Provoq Concept

[Reported by Sajeev Mehta and William C. Montgomery] 

Speaking at the North American International Auto Show, GM's head of NorAm Ops revealed that a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) version of the Saturn Vue could appear in 2010– gazumping the much-hyped Chevrolet Volt. "For the Volt we are re-engineering an entire vehicle to be optimally designed to support the architecture," Troy Clarke told Reuters. "At the Saturn Vue we are adapting an electric drive system to an existing architecture. It's a quicker way to do it." Clarke's startling announcement– who'd a thunk GM itself would steal thunder from the much-hyped Volt?– comes complete with caveats. The PHEV Saturn Vue would use "different kinds of batteries" to run 10 miles on the power pack alone, while the Chevrolet Volt is being designed to run 40 miles before the gas engine kicks-in. "We don't want to deteriorate the capability of the Vue," Clarke insisted. "It still needs to tow 3,500 pounds, which the Volt will not do. But then the Volt will be one of the most energy-efficient vehicles in the world." Question: how many potential PHEV Vue owners care about towing? Or put it this way: a PHEV Vue owner saves gas so he/she can tow a gas-burning jet-ski or snowmobile? The mind boggles. 

A few days ago, the Wall Street Journal published an article about GM's "challenges" with the Volt's lithium-ion battery. Now GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz (a.k.a. God's gift to TTAC) wants to set the record straight: "All of the battery testing is going well." The Car Czar explained everyone was confused because of the various chemical combinations used in different batteries. For example, current technology uses cobalt (the element, not the Chevy) which can lead to "thermal runaway" (a.k.a, a virtually unstoppable fire). Instead, GM is looking into other strategies like nano phosphates and manganese. In fact, MB said taking a generic view of lithium-ion technology is "like saying (something like) ‘You know that beverages can cause alcoholism.' No, Coca Cola doesn't." Oh, and the Car Czar's most recent estimate of when GM will have something test-worthy has moved, from Easter to this summer. For now.

My apologies to those of you who've come to depend on TTAC's daily podcasts to relieve the monotony of your daily running machine ritual. You can forget that trip to the tailor as Justin and I get back into the groove with a quick roundup of the action at the North American International Auto Show. And did you know that the show isn't over– not even the press day bit? I was so caught-up in the fog of war that I forgot that there's a whole 'nother 24-hour stretch of PR madness to go. Luckily, it's a more subdued deal, with some 80 percent of the hacks headed home for the homilies. So we'll be bringing you more dirt from Detroit today, and some damn fine Pixamo-living pics too, as Bill has traded his mono-pod for a tripod. Oh, and stand by for Justin's review of a highly anemic automobile, a car plying the roads of the Middle East with appropriate lack of abandon. 

Buick's communication manager, Dave Darovitz, takes exception with TTAC's blog about the Enclave's sucky sales. We received the following message from Mr. D.:

Just so our buddy Frank has the correct information – that is your outlet claims to be about the "truth" – let me give you and Frankie a dose of it. The Enclave IS the hottest selling crossover in the industry. We've sold more Buick Enclaves in half a year of production than Mazda CX-9 sold in one full year. And, 90 percent of our Enclave sales are of the uplevel CXL model – the highest contented, richest model we offer. Nearly half of our Enclave customers are new to GM, and we've had a waiting list of paid customers since we started producing the crossover. Finally, customer and dealer demand for this standout Buick far exceeds what the plant can physically produce. So, if this "sucks", what's Frank's definition of success?

Well Davie, I'd like to know how you define "hottest selling." Even the Enclave's corporate-cousin Acadia far outsells it month after month, as does the Lexus RX and any number of other CUVs. The CX-9 hasn't been on the market for "one full year" — it went on sale in February. And with all the awards the CX-9 has gotten over the Enclave, they're getting a lot of free press which will drive sales up. Incidentally, you only sold about 4K more Enclaves than Mazda sold CX-9s. Can you sustain this, or will Enclave be like other GM models that tank once you satisfy the initial demand?

So what if the CXL model is the best-selling trim level? I don't know anyone who tracks sales by trim level. It's good you can pull some new buyers from outside GM, as Buick's traditional customer base is dying off with alarming regularity. How long do you think your "paid customers" will wait when they see other comparable vehicles readily available?

Finally, if demand is that high, why aren't you diverting production at this overtaxed plant (where they recently shut down the third shift) from the Outlook (which is busy gathering snow on dealer lots) to the Enclave and 1) bolster dealer morale and let them average more than five sales per month, 2) satisfy all these customers who are lined up money in hand, 3) help Saturn deal with their almost 100-day supply of Outlook and 4) drive up Buick's overall sales numbers and bottom line (which is never a bad thing)?

My definition of success? A car that sells well without artificially manipulating supply against demand and keeps on selling well even after the initial demand has been satisfied. So far Enclave has yet to satisfy either of these expectations.

Your serve.

As we mentioned yesterday, GM has bought a piece of Coskata, a bacteria-loving ethanol high tech start-up. Speaking to DailyTech, GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz described the process. "All the other companies use enzymes, which are incredibly expensive." Instead, Coskata grinds organic wastes into a powder which is "then exposed to plasma, which causes the organic powder to ferment, releasing carbon-chain gas." [NB: plasma is an ionized gas which would incinerate the material] This gas "rises into the air where natural anaerobic bacteria eats [sic] the gas molecules and excretes [sic] ethanol and water vapor." [NB 2: anaerobic bacteria can't survive "in the air"] Maximum Bob promises a pilot plant will produce ethanol this year. By 2011, they'll be cranking-out 50 to 100m gallons of ethanol per year. And get this: "The price per gallon to produce the fuel is approximately $1 per gallon." MB admits that overhead, profits, shipping, etc. will raise that price to around $2 per gallon. And they'll have to fight big oil to get their cheap fuel to the masses as "less than 1% of the pumps in the U.S. are ethanol-equipped." Here's a thought: why not give GM dealers with ethanol pumps? That would more than quadruple America's E85 outlets at a stroke. Sorry, Bob; make that "with one move." 

It may be hard for followers of this series to believe, but in an interview with VentureWire [sub], Tesla Motors' freshly-minted CEO Ze'ev Drori reveals that he's raised another $40m for the ill-fated electric sports car maker. And that's only the first round. This cash grab comes on top of the $100m Tesla has already burned in their seemingly endless pursuit of a production-ready Roadster. C/Net says the cash conflagration has caught the attention of dot bombers who've been there, done that, left the luxurious offices. "When companies get past the $100 million mark in funding without releasing a product, eyebrows start to go up in Silicon Valley. Something about that number tends to bring out skeptics." Why even C/Net is starting to ask a few questions (not to Tesla itself, but what the hey). "The delay of the Roadster could, possibly, lead to delays with the company's plans to come out with an all-electric sedan. Tesla has been hoping to come out with that in late 2009 or early 2010." 

Bob Lutz sounded the alarm before, during and after Congress passed new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. The cost of compliance will add thousands to the prices of new cars and trucks! Investor's Business Daily (via CNNMoney) reckons he's right. They predict that the cost of satisfying the regulators will drive-up the price of new vehicles by an average of $6K or 21.4 percent. And that means unintended consequences. "The higher prices of cars will encourage consumers to keep their older, dirtier but cheaper vehicles for much longer. So the actual benefits will be less than forecast." The paper's eds pronounce Maximum Bob a presumptive prognosticator. "The new CAFE standards, as Lutz suggests, amount to a tax– a rather narrow and inefficient one that will neither reduce our reliance on foreign oil nor curb global warming." Bob Lutz, GM's canary in a coal mine. Of course, that doesn't actually change anything…

Boston.com gives us a quick look at Mitt Romney's address to the Detroit Economic Club: "I will roll up my sleeves, and I will personally bring together industry, labor, congressional and state leaders to develop a plan to rebuild America's automotive leadership." This I got to see. Or not. Mitt also called for "flexibility" on fuel standards (hint, hint) and an increase in federal auto-related R&D from today's $4b to tomorrow's $20b. Those crazy Reagan republicans! Then, on Face the Nation, Mitt told Bob that "We need stop throwing anvils around the neck of the domestic auto manufacturers. This idea, for instance, of saying we're going to have unilateral caps and trades on greenhouse gases that are not participated by other nations, that would only hurt Detroit. It would only hurt American manufacturers. We've got to stop thinking about being popular around the world and doing what's right for America." Nice thought, but those anvils have "$100 barrel oil" and "Prius" inscribed on them. [thanks to starlightmica for the links]

This weekend, I attended the grand opening of the Hoffman Auto Group's "smart center" in Hartford, Connecticut. Two smart cars filled the appropriately diminutive showroom floor: the Passion coupe and a Cabriolet (no Pure). The first salesman was desk-bound and down, fiddling with his phone. When I asked about the smart's EPA mileage, he quoted me the wrong numbers, which were, of course, too high. A bit later, he disappeared, leaving two salesmen at the far end of the showroom. I busted-up their little confab to ask about available heated seats. Salesman B's thick German accent was, again, brand appropriate. But I got the distinct feeling I'd interrupted a more important conversation. Salesman-averse customers were SOL. Sales brochures were conspicuous by their absence. Even the Monroney sticker was MIA; the cars' windows were rolled down. The comments I overheard from the public in attendance were largely positive. Imagine how many sales leads were lost due to a lack of attention. Or was it arrogance from a dealership used to selling higher end (read higher-profit) cars such as Audi and Porsche? Perhaps it’s a matter of wen kümmert es?

I read a disturbing comment over at Jalopnik today. It was underneath a post by former TTAC'er Jonny Lieberman on the stress of covering the North American International Auto Show. RLJ676 accused me of wishing for our domestic automakers' downfall, and then attacked TTAC's posting policy. "Further, he runs the place like a fascist and bans for disagreeing with him under the guise that it was a 'flame.' That's what leads to (nearly) everyone on that site agreeing, coincidentally, with all of his articles, etc. Like I said, there's very little 'truth' to be had." I am well aware of TTAC's rep for dwelling on Detroit's dark side. And I know plenty of people see our no-flaming policy as thinly-veiled editorial censorship. When I contemplate these issues, I sometimes wonder if TTAC is not just a lone voice in the wilderness, but an unimportant one. We are so far out of the mainstream we barely get our feet wet. Is it worth it? What's the point? All I can say is that my high school's motto was "For the honor of truth." Not the popularity of truth, or the rich financial rewards of truth. The honor. OK, it's also fun to be the asshole sometimes. But as long as there is ONE visitor who shares the site's crusade for honesty and integrity in an industry that we love– yes, love– then WTH, we'll keep at it. For now, it's time to rest. Perchance to dream. Aye, there's the rub. 

Chinese automaker Geely introduced a new technology today they call BMBS. The system uses tire pressure sensors to tell the brakes when and how much pressure to apply to stop the car safely when a tire blows out. So why introduce it at an auto show where they're one of the smallest fish in the pond? To prove wrong the naysayers who "don't believe that China can innovate" according to Geely chairman Li Shufu. I tried to find out just how innovative the system is. When I asked Dr Frank Zhao, Geely's VP and chief tech officer, how BMBS compares to the active suspension from other companies, he said it didn't because it's unique. When I asked about its merits over active suspension, he didn't want to discuss it and tried his best to dismiss any questions I asked. I did manage to find out he's right about one thing: it's in no way comparable to active suspension. It turns out it has no yaw sensors and can't control a skid unless a tire's circumference is changing. You have to admit that's unique!

The North American International Auto Show is winding down to it's inevitable conclusion, as journalists and auto execs alike stumble into Detroit's winter gloom, wondering what the New Year will bring, knowing that it won't bring half the weird-ass shit they just saw inside the Cobo convention center. As TTAC celebrates the conclusion of this PR bragfest in the only way we know how (watching Top Gear's Hamster almost kill himself in a jet-powered car on BBC America), we invite you to have a look at the pictures Mr. Montgomery snapped that didn't make it into blog posts. We'll have more show-related news tomorrow. But for now, a big thank you from me to Sajeev Mehta, William C. Montgomery and Frank Williams for keeping it real. You should be proud. Never in the course of the internet have so few done so much for so few. Or something like that.