Literally. Speaking at the unveiling of the new Jeep Renegade, Chrysler design chief Trevor Creed looked straight into the assembled journalists' thousand yard stare-filled eyes (the North American International Auto Show has taken its toll) and told them that you (i.e. him) can create unique exterior style with a "shared technology pool." Creed was setting the stage (literally) for Chrysler's ENVI hybrids. (Yes, ENVI.) So, three concept cars: one platform. The Jeep Renegade (complete with a brand incorrect Porsche speedster windscreen), the Dodge ZEO (muscle sedan with suicide Lambo doors) and the Chrysler EcoVoyager (the Escalade called; it wants its front end back). More interestingly, Chrysler's hot for high-speed WiMax for streaming videos and instant music downloads straight into (one presumes) their satellite TV-enabled minivans and suchlike. We'd like to see them build a competitive small car that didn't look like it was born in the shallow end of the technology pool. 

Click here for more TTAC pictures of the Jeep Renegade

[Reported by Sajeev Mehta] 

CNN reports on a gathering of more than 40 of Prius-driving “mileage maniacs” near Tokyo. During this rolling geekfest, Takashi Toya (a.k.a. “The Shogun”) showcases his plug-ins rechargeable Prius. Toya's also tricked his Prius' ECU into thinking the gasoline engine is warmed up (when it’s not) so it can run on battery power right from the git-go. So, how far can a Prius take you on a single fill up? The self-proclaimed “world record holder” says she got 1.5k miles (2500 Km) out of a single tank of gas. Well, that and battery power. After the gathering, the group “raced” their Prioras to find out who can use the least fuel. As a counterpoint, we offer one Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers. According to Sports Illustrated, Mr. James was recently clocked driving his 2008 Mercedes Benz at 101mph on I71 near Medina, Ohio. The incident occurred at 2:34 A.M. on December 30, on his 23rd birthday. Happy birthday. Sign here.

Chang Feng Motors one is one of a few Chinese automakers who crossed the Pacific to attend the North American International Auto Show. They did so to unveil their Liebao CS7 cute ute and Kylin mini-minivan today. Chang Feng want to start importing these babies into the U.S. in two to three years time– provided they can form a partnership with an existing distributor or U.S. factory. Chang Feng is already in a joint venture partnership with Mitsubishi, and manufactures a variety of vehicles based on various Mitsu SUVs. So you have to wonder why they don't just latch onto Mitsu here too. After all, anyone who can "manufacture off-road vehicles with world-class technology" using "the top engine of Mitsubishi, six-jar motive force" producing "consummate off-road performance, allocate completely, adorn luxuriously inside, it is comfortable and honourable to enjoy" shouldn't have any problems mastering American culture, right? (Quotes taken from Chang Feng web site.)

Speaking to Automotive News [sub] at the North American International Auto Show, Honda CEO Takeo Fukui revealed that the company's Acura brand will receive the automaker's first California-compliant diesel engines sometime next year. It's a bit of an odd choice, given Acura's lackluster sales, lackluster brand image and lackluster luxury flagship (which TTAC and others have slated for lacking a lustrous V8). And if that isn't enough of a marketing conundrum, Fukui also said Acura's first oil burners will only sport four cylinders. Honda's V6 clean diesel– which also "generates and stores ammonia within a two-layer catalytic converter to turn nitrogen oxide into harmless nitrogen"– won't appear until 2010. Meanwhile and in any case, Fukui is keeping his eye on the bottom line. "Our diesel cars are going to have an appropriate level of profit from the start," he said, intimating that all that high tech hybrid stuff takes ages to pay off. Which it does. Of course, it helps if you get the branding right…

Finally, Tesla Motors can sell its eco-conscious customers something other than promises. The recently-opened Tesla Shop is now offering Tesla-branded shirts, hats, coffee mugs, key chains, luggage and wallets. Among the more interesting items: a "men's zero emissions tee" (won't sell many of those since there aren't many men who don't produce emissions), a $385 "angler's bag" (sounds fishy to me) and a $12 "desk mug" (darn – and I wanted a coffee mug). At least those who plunked down good money to get on (and stay on) a waiting list can dress the part while they're waiting– provided they pay. Might I suggest one more tee-shirt? It would have a pic of the Roadster with the words "What can be conceived can be created. In theory." 

After failing to sell his gas-guzzling BMW and Mercedes-based "coach building" shtick, former Aston designer Henry Fisker wants good Karma. So he's doing his bit by introducing a hybrid that will keep the cosmos and ecosystem in balance. His Karma "Q-Drive" plug-in hybrid will operate as a gas-electric hybrid ("Sport Drive") or travel 50 miles on lithium-ion batteries ("Stealth Drive"). According to Fisker MD Alan Niedzwiecki, the LiIon battery pack ain't no vaporware. He claims it's been tested for two years on a bench and one year in a car. And Fisker's Q-Drive hybrid system has been tested for four years. (Not surprisingly, Niedzwieck says the Fisker Karma doesn't shares any engineering with the Tesla Roadster.) Fisker plans to sell the Karma (somehow that doesn't sound right) for around $80K come 2009. Whether or not the new car fulfills all the promises, if this beast was any sexier they'd have to call it the Karma Sutra.

You may recall that GM Car Czar Bob Lutz announced that GM would produce an entire family of E-Flex vehicles (the missing ninth GM brand?). Well, here's the prospective papa: the Cadillac Provoq concept. Is that pro-vock as in "provocative" or pro-voke as in "What are YOU looking at?" Our man on the scene was standing at the back amid a pack of chattering ADD journos, so he's not sure. But Mr. Mehta thinks it's pronounced "provoke" and he's sure GM puts the accent on the first syllable, as in PRO-voke. So, when's the Voke coming? I bring you this rant because there not a whole lot to say about this barge, except that someone should look under the hood to see if they even bothered with the hydrogen bits (GM has a history of cobbling together fake alt propulsion prototypes). Oh and GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz reckons the PROvoq "may" be out in June. WITH E-FLEX??? Don't be silly. Anyway, at least the "normal" Provoq– complete with the Saturn Vue's side vents– is wider than the outgoing SRX. 

[Reported by Sajeev Mehta] 

The forthcoming Caddy CTS-V should make a few German uber-tuners sit up and take notice. ("Ja, those crazy Americans!") According to GM powertrain engineers and product guys, the CTS-V will holster a detuned version of the Corvette ZR1's engine. While cast pistons will ensure the new Caddy won't out-horse the new Chevy (Heaven forbid), the V will use the same mondo-supercharger motorvating the ZR1. Both cars will also boast a "competitive driving mode" whereby drivers can tell the electronic nannies to chill. (Good luck with that.) While the CTS-V gets the latest Magnaride suspension system, it won't handle like the ZR1 (duh!). But with launch control activated, Mr. Magnaride will enable weight transfer to the rear, just like an old-school muscle car. To keep the driver behind the wheel during all these gymnastics, the V gets Recaro seats– which aren't heated and cooled like the regular chairs. One more thing: CTS-V production will only be limited by market demand, of which there should be more than a little.

Maserati doesn’t want me and they don’t care if I know it. So says Maserati President of North America, Jim Selwa. Not even the “mass affluent” who have to purchase their cars on credit interest them. The makers of the fanciest of all Fiat’s is “focusing on the super wealthy, the top half of one percent who control all of the world’s wealth.” Despite recent economic woes that the rest of us are feeling, the super rich are still spending. In fact, it’s been a good year for Maserati. In fact, it’s been a good decade, with worldwide sales up 700% since 1997. Apparently, I have a better chance with one of Maserati’s models than I ever have of stumbling into Maser’s target demographic.  In other words, I have no chance at all.

Click here for another TTAC picture of Maserati's curb appeal

God knows TTAC has upbraided GM for downsizing the Cadillac brand and taking it downmarket. Adding oil burning insult to mid-sized injury, "the standard of the world" has unveiled a diesel-engined CTS Coupe. Speaking to our man Mehta, GM Powertrain's Executive Director of Diesel Engineering defended the oil burner sitting in the snout of Caddy's overdue two-door. Charles Freese says new 2.9-liter V6 diesel's "closed loop feedback system" means the new engine runs lower compression ratios (16.5:1) so the system is "less volatile for more controllable emissions." This maximizes the operating properities of a diesel engine when it runs in the cleanest times, when it spits out less soot, CO, NOx. (Think of it as the diesel-loving tree-hugger's sweet spot.) Meanwhile, GM design chief Ed Wellburn marked the CTS Coupe's launch by pronouncing that his employer's empowering its designers to make "wild cars like this." What's more, GM has the "conviction" to turn them into reality. Well, a concept car anyway– with a rear that looks a little too much like a 1970s Buick Century Aeroback (Google is your friend) and a little too little like a G37.

[Reported by Sajeev Mehta] 

The autoblogosphere's going apeshit over the Corvette ZR1's price and performance. So here's some technical goss unearthed by TTAC's Sajeev Mehta in conversation with the powertrain guys… The Magnaride suspension wasn't available on the 2007 Z06 because Chevy's uber tuners didn't deem the system track worthy. Ferrari got it last year– AFTER Magnaride upgraded to new shock pistons and fluid, and a much smarter computer. Since Ferrari has it, the ZR1 gets it (the road course-killing Z06 is SOL). The ZR1 also has the larger of the two blowers available from Eaton Corp: a 2.3 monster that's bigger than many engines. Which means the ZR1 is SERIOUSLY undertuned from the factory. And just so you'll know how much trouble you're about to get into, the Uber-Vette's head-up display will show boost pressure on the rocket's windshield. Hopefully, it also comes with OnStar to call the paramedics, fire department and sanitation department if worst comes to drive the thing.

Our men on the scene have been duly chastened for not bringing us immediate news of yet another award given at the NAIAS by the over-capitalized ROAD & TRAVEL magazine: the equally over-capitalized HEART STRING award. This award attempts "to recognize how well automakers connect cars and consumers based on lifestyle and the emotional experience during ownership." "Rooms," a spot for the Dodge Caravan, scored this year's nod for being "the most emotionally compelling car commercial to appear on national television in 2007." I couldn't find the 30-second clip ROAD & TRAVEL judged worthy of such an honor (a 15-second excerpt on Youtube was as good as it got). As soon as I find the video, I'll post a link to it so we all can warm the cockles of our hearts. Or throw up.

Obviously, it's Em Kay Tee, which sounds more like a rapper than a Lincoln. Or, for that matter, a car name. Speaking to TTAC reporter Sajeev Mehta, Ford designer Peter Horbury dismissed any doubts about Lincoln's alphanumeric nomenclature: "They are all different cars." Different from what? Their Ford counterparts? Different how? More bling? Anyway, the Lincoln MKT concept is yet another vehicle built on Ford's increasingly ubiquitous D3 platform. According to el grande queso Mark Fields, the Eco-Boost V6 underhood gives the MKT 20 percent better fuel economy (relative to what he didn't say). It's a four passenger concept car with quad buckets! Or… a seven seat passenger vehicle! But one thing's for sure: the rear styling goes back to 1930s classicism. Or 1980s confusion a la Cadillac Seville and Lincoln Continental. As for the front, Horbury says the Paul Weller-esque grill "adorning" the MKX and Navigator is dead. And the MKT's sides are made of recycled plastic. How green is that?

[Reported by Sajeev Mehta] 

GM claims the Buick Enclave is a success– even though they sold 26,286 units in '07. Compare that stat to the sales numbers for the big Buick's platform sibs, the GMC Acadia (72,765) and Saturn Outlook (34,748 ). While we're at it, in the same time frame, Lexus shifted some 73,246 RX models. GM attributes the Enclave's low sales to "limited availability." Yes, well, GM ended the year with a 98-day supply of Saturn Outlook. As they're built on the same assembly line, GM could easily divert that production to build better Buicks. The problem is no one seems to want them. Buick dealers averaged just five sales each in December, up one sale per dealer from November. That works out to three cars (Lucernes and LaCrosses) and two trucks (Enclaves, Raniers and leftover Rendezvous and Terrazas) per dealer. If Enclave was in as much demand as GM would like us to believe, they'd surely be pumping as many as they could out the factory door to bolster the dealers' numbers. Which leads to one of two conclusions: either the Enclave is a flop or they're intentionally starving Buick dealers out of existence. Or both.

As TTAC previously reported, Getrag has pulled the plug on its $530m Chrysler transmission factory "indefinitely," for reasons that remain well outside public purview. Those of us in these parts who see the [non] development as a death rattle in Chrysler's corporate chest have yet more reason to wonder about the implications of the hard stop to a key part of Chrysler's powertrain program. Automotive News [sub] says Chrysler's new owners have gone radio silent on the automaker's suppliers. "Only 22 percent of the 90 suppliers surveyed said Chrysler executives had communicated with them since Cerberus took over in May, reports supplierbusiness.com, a research firm in Stamford, England. Of the vendors surveyed, most were direct suppliers to Chrysler. Forty percent had annual sales exceeding $500 million." The blackout could be the result of personnel changes; former Home Depot purchasing chief John Campi was named Chrysler's new supplier supremo on January 3. Or…?