Will they or won't they sell it by 2010? It seems every day there's another version of when Chevrolet's plug-in electric – gas hybrid Volt will hit the streets. In March, GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz said GM would have a running prototype by the end of 2007. The septuagenarian also said The General had "an internal target of production in 2010." Last month, Lutz said, "well, maybe not." This month, GM CEO Rick Wagoner said, "well, maybe not." The very next day, Bob Lutz said "oh yes, we will." Aware that GM's served-up more waffles than IHOP, Autobloggreen wants to set the record straight. "When a product program is still three or more years from production and contains technology that may or may not work, [the chairman] has to equivocate." Why "even the outspoken Lutz has never actually said that GM 'will build' the Volt by the end of 2010." So, never mind Maximum Bob's November promise at the LA Auto Show that GM would have the Volt on the road by November 2010. In conclusion, Autobloggreen tells Volt watchers "Depending on what happens between now and then [the end of the decade], the Volt will be produced 'on time' or not, but you won't hear it officially until much, much closer to that time." And there you have it (or not): we'll see the Chevrolet plug-in gas – electric Volt in some form some day. Eventually. Maybe. Welcome to the Volt Birth Watch!

It's a Hell of a good question. Strangely, few Western media outlets have tackled it. While TTAC's take is forthcoming, The Liverpool Daily Post's Alastair Houghton casts his beady eye on Tata's prospects with the damaged British brand. It may be painful for Jag fans to reconsider the fate of the ill-fated X-Type and re-scan the arterial spray or red ink dogging the cat, but they'll be heartened to read Houghton's historical analysis of the Indian conglomerate's success with other British concerns. The story surrounding Tata's entry into the steel market is especially resonant. “Do you mean to say Tata proposes to make steel rails to British specifications?" Frederick Upcott, Chief Commissioner for Indian Railways reportedly remarked at the turn of the last century. "Why, I’ll eat every pound of steel rail they succeed in making.” Last year, Tata ate Corus, the company that had eaten British Steel. Equally reassuring (to "traditionalists"), the chief executive of the UK India Business Council doesn't see any branding issues. “If you look at Tetley [tea], you don’t see the Tata brand on it at all," Sharon Bamford says. “They put the interests of the brand and the community they serve at the forefront. The process we’ve seen appears to be a typical Tata deal.”

When you're stuck sucking hind titty, you take whatever morsels drop your way. With Ford's U.S. market share evaporating like dog pee on a hot sidewalk, the Blue Oval Boyz are proud of each and every obscure award they receive. And so… Fox Business reports FoMoCo has been named the "Pet Friendliest Automaker" for 2008. DogCatRadio.com (DCR) gave Ford the nodding dog for its "wide range of models that offer safety, comfort and easy entry access for pets." As part of its evaluative process, DCR analyzed an undetermined number of vehicles' economy, price and (no, I didn't make this up) "creature comforts." What vehicle wowed the pet patrol? The so-beneath-the-consumer-radar-it-Hertz Taurus X. "We feel the Taurus X is not too big, not too small," DCR CEO Adrian Martenez explained, Goldilocks-wise. "It handles well, has plenty of power, great visibility all around and offers four-legged passengers as well as their humans a comfortable ride." So pets prefer vehicles that emphasize ride comfort over handling. Who knew?

Any guy who's gone swimming in cold water can tell you, shrinkage is not a good thing. Yet even as Ford comes to grips with losing second place to Toyota, The Blue Oval Boyz say the automaker could shrink even more before they return to profitability (and start to pay off the principal on those gi-normous loans). FoMOCo CEO Big Al Mulally said his employer's market share could continue to drop as they seek to stabilize output to match demand (translation: cut production, close down plants, eliminate jobs). Mark "What Me Worry?" Fields thinks Lincoln can help pull the company out of its doldrums, citing a 15 percent increase in sales last year. Apparently, that's "the largest gain of any luxury brand in the U.S. market." Chief marketing director Jim Farley added Lincoln has a good future with younger buyers and ever-oh-so-PC "diversity customers." But what about poor, pitiful Mercury? Will it suffer the fate TTAC's Steven Lang predicted yesterday? Mulally tap-danced around that one. "We're committed to Mercury" but "we're continuing to review our portfolio. That's an ongoing assessment we continue to have, and should have." And if it does survive? Fields says it'll be the "smaller volume brand" in the Lincoln-Mercury portfolio. So as Ford shrinks, Mercury will shrink even more. And when something shrinks too much it just fades away…..

So, GM's toe-dip into web 2.0 yielded its first on-line chat in its "virtual media forum." The General's Web Slingers tapped GM Director Vehicle Emissions Issues Bob Babik for its inaugural e-chin wag. In case you thought GMNext was all about the glasnost, please note the word "media" in the title. As far as we can tell, only three (non-TTAC) members of the press were allowed to put questions to Mr. Babik. And either the transcript has been heavily edited or it was the world's shortest live chat. And yet there's still a gem or, uh, well there's a gem. “The key is offering technology at a cost-effective level so that the consumer values it and makes that choice," Babik e-opines. "This is why in the early years of a certain technology, GM supports government incentives when the technology may be more costly to help consumers make that choice.” Did any of GM's pet journos explore this issue? What kind of financial support was he talking about? For what? To whom? How much? If the journos did what journos are supposed to do, GM ain't sayin'. And there you have it: proof (if proof were needed) that GMNext is the same old you-know-what in a new wrapper. 

WardsAuto reports that BMW will reveal the U.S.-bound diesel-powered X5 xDrive 35d cross/utility vehicle and 335d coupe at the upcoming (TTAC-attended,) North American International Auto Show. The big news here is that Bimmer's boffins have designed a urea-injection exhaust treatment to capture those nasty particulates before they can weld themselves onto the inner surface of your lungs. In other words, BMW's "BluePerformance" technology meets California's way-tougher-than-European-Union-regs diesel engine emissions requirements. Yada yada yada. Here are the stats oil burner aspiring pistonheads want to know. The 3.0-liter inline six cylinder. twin-turbo diesel engine develops 265 hp and, get this, 425 lb.-ft. of torque. That's enough to sling the big ass X5 xDrive 35d from 0-62 mph in 7.2 seconds, and power the 335d from 0-62 mph in a respectable 6.2 seconds. Of course, the sprint time doesn't reflect the ENORMOUS in-gear shove. Perhaps more saliently, the diesel X5 gets 19/25 mpg, while the 335d clocks in at 23/33 mpg. Do you have to pee in the urea tank? And is this the long anticipated re-start of America's oil burning aspirations? That depends on the price. Hey, there's got to be some surprise left for the show.

Thanks to modern speed enforcement, the idea of leaping large continents in a hugely fast, spectacularly comfortable car has become something of a quaint notion. And yet, upscale manufacturers still compete to build the ultimate GT (Gran Turismo). Reflecting the concept’s European origins, the short list of candidates for this honor all originate on the other side of the pond: the Mercedes CL63, Bentley Continental GT, Aston Martin DB9, BMW 650, Jaguar XKR and the Maserati GT. Having owned or reviewed all but the new Maserati, I decided to see if the mad Italian has what it takes to trump its continental cousins.

USA Today reports that a new study by the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO) claims that cars, trucks, airplanes, trains and ships generate 15 percent of the manmade CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere. "The scientists reported that within the transport sector, road transportation (cars, buses and trucks) contribute the most greenhouse gases, which includes CO2, ozone, methane, and others." So big ass yachts and U.S. presidential candidates' private jets get a pass, eh? According to the report by CICERO Research Director Jan S. Fuglestved, the remaining 85 percent of atmospheric CO2 comes from industry, buildings and agriculture. Meanwhile, writing for Yahoo! News, one Jack Kelly argues that the mass media "Promotes Global Warming Alarmism." In the piece, Weather Channel founder John Coleman says "Some dastardly scientists with environmental and political motives manipulated long term scientific data to create an illusion of rapid global warming. Their friends in government steered huge research grants their way to keep the movement going… In time, in a decade or two, the outrageous scam will be obvious." So should we even be running this story?

Wow, that's some kind of price jump. You might even file it under scarcely credible alarmist prognostications. But there it is. "Options to buy oil for $US200 on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 10-fold in the past two months to 5533 contracts, a record increase on any similar period." The Sydney Morning Herald casts its journalistic net to find experts who say you ain't seen nothin' yet. "One hundred dollars a barrel is actually 14.9 cents a cup, so we're still talking about oil being remarkably cheap," said investment banker Matthew Simmons. Inventories "are tight as a drum and I don't see how we get out of this box." It's all about rising demand chasing static supply. "We haven't got to $US100 on just a whim," said Paul Horsnell, the head of commodities research at Barclays Capital in London. "This is at heart also about longer-term concerns that supply capacity investment needs higher prices to keep up with demand growth." Needless to say, if U.S. oil prices spike to $200 a barrel (29.8 a cup), truck-heavy U.S. automakers will go to the wall, double-quick. Detroit is a city of crossed fingers… [thanks to David Holzman for the link]

I know it's not PC to say so, but I hate a lot of things. For example, I hate people walking around with those stupid cell phone earpieces looking like Lt. Uhura from Star Trek. They wear them like some sort of fashion jewelry, even when they're not asking John to phone Sally to tell Jorge he needs to phone Mary. For my sake, they should put their headsets away when not in use. Meanwhile, to find out what these people see in these devices and whether they have any practical use, I tested the suddenly very cheap Motorola HS820, a small Bluetooth, wireless headset.

Information Week reports Hughes Telematics has developed an internet-connected in-car information system that allows owners to lock or unlock doors, run remote vehicle diagnostics. send music from PC to car and locate their mobile Playstation to within an eighth of an inch [our guess]– all from the comfort of their home computer! The HAL9000 DriveConnected system is scheduled to debut in selected 2010 Chrysler and Mercedes models. Initially, DriveDistracted will use the cell phone network to work its wizardry. By 2012, Hughes plans to deliver broadband connectivity via satellite. Users will set up the system through a web site. Voice controls will run the show in the vehicle, with voice responses providing information. One of the system's big selling points: "teen tracking." Yes, primary caregivers at cocktail parties will be able to use their iPhone to pinpoint the car's location at any given time (at least until their computer savvy teens figure out how to feed HAL false data). To avoid privacy issues, an in-dash indicator will signal when the vehicle's being tracked. Needless to say, DriveConnected will also provide OnStar-like safety and security services. Just make sure it can't see your lips move.

Four vehicles. That’s all you’ll find on Mercury's web site. If you’re as “lucky” as I am, Mercury will respond to your browsing by asking if you want to spend five minutes on a questionnaire. Say what? Asking for five minutes of your customer's time before you even show them your products? That isn’t the smartest thing to do to a spam-weary public. Then again, once you click on the word "No" and return to the actual products, you begin to realize that the entire Mercury product line represents the brand’s not-so-smart existence.

Heads-up Autoblog! Buried in a boring-looking post on Toyota's Open Road blog: news that the Japanese manufacturer will follow Nissan's lead and add a real-time fuel economy gauge to all its Toyota, Scion and Lexus vehicles. The yet-to-be-finalized gizmo will debut in the next-generation 4-Runner, launched in August ‘09. ToMoCo's Corporate Comms Director Jon F. Thompson writes that the Eco Driving Indicator will include an "Eco Zone Display" that will tell the driver that they are saving money and the planet, and reducing our need for oil-related foreign military entanglements [paraphrasing]. Autobox-equipped vehicles get an "Eco Lamp" that illuminates once the driver enters the “Eco Zone” (da da da da da, da da da da). Drivers of manual transmission-equipped vehicles (do they still make those?) light the lamp by hitting the most fuel efficient shift point. The system will, of course, include an Average Fuel Consumption Meter to help aspiring hypermilers frustrate dangerous drivers yakking on the cell in their [non-Toyota] gas hogs. I mean, optimize their fuel economy. Oh, and Thompson says social engineering rocks! "We’ve learned that as we work to make our vehicles more efficient, we also can work to make our drivers more efficient."

The U.S. isn't the only market where car sales have stumbled, tripped and hit their head on the coffee table. Japan Times reports that new vehicle sales in The Land of the Rising Sun sank to a 35-year low in 2007. The Japan Auto Dealer's Association recorded slightly fewer than 3.5m new vehicle sales.  Automobiles with engines larger than 660cc were down 7.6 percent from 2006, while sales of minicars (engines smaller than 660cc) fell 5.1 percent. Toyota took a huge hit on their home turf, dropping 6.2 percent for the year. Honda, Nissan and Mazda took managed to lose less. Analysts blame rising fuel prices, a shrinking population and a decline in wages. Just like GM and Ford (and to a lesser extent, Chrysler), foreign sales are buoying the car companies' bottom lines. Even they're doing relatively well, the current U.S. sales slowdown will take their toll on the Japanese corporate motherships. 

Santa left a lump of coal in the automakers' stockings this year. Even the usual Christmas sales failed to put presents under the tree. As the year drew to a close, new car and truck sales were down across the board, with carmakers jostling for the honor of doing less badly than the other guy. New Year's was a decidedly dour affair, with manufacturers clocking the housing downturn and the mortgage crisis and predicting either flat or "slightly lowered" sales in the year ahead. Translation: batten down the hatches; it's about to get rough. Ain't that the truth.