General Motors has canceled development of it's new Ultra V8, originally set for production at its Tonawanda engine plant. You hurt your what? The little-known Ultra V8 was the engine slated to replace the aging but iconic Northstar V8. Nestling in the noses of big Caddies and the Buick Lucerne, the Northstar has become something of a red-headed step-child: a DOHC humbly going about its business while the small block, pushrod LS3 and LS7 engines screamed for– and got– all the attention. As the Cadillac CTS-V has done right well with the LS6 V8, the General may be itching to try out the LS in other models. While the idea of a pushrod in a luxury car isn't new (think Bentley Arnage), DOHCs are generally considered a better fit for [alleged] luxury brands like Caddy and Buick, owing to their mellower sonic signature and smooth revving nature. Which leaves us with… a Buick with a Corvette engine? It's happened before; the 94-96 Buick Roadmaster had a 265hp version of the LT1 (as did the Caddilac Fleetwood and Chevrolet Impala SS and Caprice).

Like most middle aged men, I had a car crisis. So, after convincing my wife that an Imola Red BMW M Roadster isn’t “chick magnet red,” I bought my dream car. Of course, the dream is never the reality. I rarely drove the M. Summers were too wet and hot (real men don’t drive a convertible with the top up and the a/c on). Fall was too wet. Ah, winter in Florida! It’s the best ‘vert weather but… I just got a new daily driver. So Emily became a garage queen. And died.

"All in all, it appears that the production Camaro will retain more of the concept's flair than we thought, so kudos to GM for seeing it through." All in all, Autoblog is either deep in GM's pockets, completely bereft of taste or legally blind. Their spy pic demonstrates that the only thing more ghastly than the Camaro concept's interior is the production mule's interior. I mean, seriously, this has got to be the Pontiac Aztek of automotive interiors; a cabin so self-consciously designed yet so overwhelmingly cheap that I'm worried that this pic will turn TTAC readers to stone. Make that "stoned," and, as Frank remarked, it looks like a '69 Camaro on a bad acid trip. I love cars with stupid amounts of horsepower and serious exterior cool. But this… this makes me empathize with Oedipus Rex. In fact, one of our commentators recently remarked that he was waiting for the day when a member of the automotive press would boldly demand "WTF were they thinking?" Well, today's your lucky day. WTF were they thinking? 

Bentley CEO Franz-Josef Paefgen had a little kaffee und kuchen with the Financial Times Deustchland, kicking things off with a representative combination of Germanic bluntness and English understatement. "I loved the car and the company, but if you saw the scale of the challenge and the inexperienced workforce, it was a bit of a challenge." Und now? Bentley's racked-up €107m profit in the first nine months of this year. But Paefgen warns that Bentley's endive days are over. "You should not expect another 15 per cent growth now with all the basic models now in place. The growth will be more moderate and the business more stable – not exploding as it was over the past five years or so." Responding to Bentley's "growing exposure as a fashion brand," Paefgen's glad not all his customers are "football stars and other trendy people," and claims Bentley's protected by its "very strong connection with our traditional brand values." Amongst which fuel economy does not rank, and that's a BIG problem. "'If everyone is going to reduce CO2 emissions by 20 per cent, we have to do at least 20 per cent, or maybe more. This is accepted. There is no problem.' But he admits that if particularly stiff limits on CO2 emissions were imposed 'there will be no Bentley any more.'" Oh dear.

When Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) bought Nanjing last month, Fiat pulled out of their money-losing joint venture with Nanjing. Now China Car Times reports Chery has announced they're creating a joint venture with Fiat in 2008. The partnership will produce the Fiat Linea, Bravo and Grand Punto for the Chinese market. Fiat and Chery already had an agreement to build Alfa Romeos for China and supply engines for Fiat. It'll be interesting to see if there's any bleed-over between the agreements between Chery and Fiat, and Chery and Chrysler. With Chery and Fiat wanting to get into the American market and Chrysler starved for small cars, it could be a ménage à trois made in heaven. Or the San Fernando Valley…

First there were rumors of "tortilla riots" in Mexico. Then, as the price of corn-based feed skyrocketed, meat and egg prices rose. As hops farmers switched to corn, beer prices followed suit. And now MSNBC reports the booming corn-for-ethanol market is expanding the "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico. As farmers plant more corn and use more nitrogen-based fertilizer, they're increasing the amount of run-off that ends up in the Gulf via the Mississippi River. The nitrogen surge is leading to heavy algae growth, which depletes the water of oxygen (as it dies and decays), which suffocates shrimp, crabs, oysters and other sea life. Environmentalists say if something isn't done, the ethanol industry's knock-on effects threatents the Gulf's entire ecosystem and the livelihood of thousands of fishermen along the coast. Not to mention the escalating price of shrimp gumbo and oyster po'boys.

Even a freshman marketing student knows you don't launch a multi-million dollar ad blitz for a new product if you don't have the product on hand to sell. Yet that's exactly what GM did with the redesigned Chevy Malibu. GM says they sold about 7K Malibus in December. That's about the same number as in December '06. What they haven't said is how many unfilled orders or deposits they've taken for future delivery. Yet GM marketing maven and spinmeister extraordinaire Mark LaNeve told the Detroit News it'll be spring before production meets demand. That's despite ramping up production at a second plant. Monster Mark gushes, "they're selling well in Southern California. They're selling well in Flint." I'm happy to hear they're selling somewhere– because Malibus don't seem to be going anywhere in the southeast. I have yet to see a new 'Bu on the road in the Atlanta area; the only one I've seen outside a showroom was somewhere on an interstate in Texas. On my way to visit the family at Thanksgiving, I saw the car you can't ignore at a Chevy dealership in central Alabama. When I went back at Christmas it was still sitting in the same spot. How about you? Have you seen the new Malibu in the wild, or have you only spotted GM's next next big thing at dealerships (if at all)? Let's get empirical! Em-piri-cal. 

Thank you United States Congress, for not clarifying who has the ultimate authority when it comes to setting fuel economy standards. And thank you President Bush, for not holding Ms. Pelosi and Co.'s feet to the proverbial fire on this point re: the new Energy Bill– as you'd promised when you sent the bill's framers back to highlight and delete taxes on the oil industry. 'Cause here we are at the inevitable result: California and its 15 clean air groupies (Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington) suing the EPA to claim the right to regulate automotive CO2 emissions and, thus, fuel economy. According to the Governator (via The New York Times), the EPA refusal to grant The Golden State the necessary waiver is, as Californians like to say, some heavy shit. “It is unconscionable that the federal government is keeping California from adopting new standards." Arnie's apoplexy inspired Gloria Bergquist, vice president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, into double negativity. “Congress approved an energy bill that will result in 30 percent reduction in carbon dioxide over the next 12 years… So it isn’t a question of California not having a reduction.” It isn't?

As Bloomberg reports, it all comes down to this: do you count Scion sales in Toyota's sales totals or not? If you do, Toyota can– and will– claim bragging rights as America's best-selling car brand, topping the '07 sales charts. If you don't count Scion, Chevrolet reclaims its title from Ford; an honor Chevy last earned in 2005. "Through November… Toyota sold 2,101,804 cars and light trucks, for a 35,524-unit advantage. Without Scion's 121,237 vehicles, Chevrolet would be on top by 85,713." Argument for Scion's inclusion: "Toyota spokesman Xavier Dominicis: 'We've always counted it that way, and it's sold only at Toyota dealerships.'" Supporting logic: Lexus products aren't considered Toyotas because they're sold in discreet dealerships. Autodata includes Scion in its Toyota-brand total. Argument against assumptive Sciontology: "'I don't think for a second that Scion is a Toyota vehicle; it's clearly its own brand,'' said Tom Libby, an analyst for J.D. Power and Associates. 'You might as well count Pontiac vehicles as Chevrolet sales if you think Scion's a Toyota.''" Supporting logic: Libby's employer and Ward's Automotive separate Scion from Toyota in their tallies. To its credit, Bloomberg plays the GEO card; the now-defunct brand (R.I.P. 1977) brand sold through Chevy dealerships. Back in the day, GM combined GEO and Chevy's sales totals. Ah, but according to Chevy flack Terrance Rhadigan, GEOs wore the Chevrolet bow tie, while Scion's aren't branded Toyota. We report, you decide.  

There's more than a little fact-glossing in a USA Today article on disappearing domestic-tied car dealers. "Having shuttered factories and eliminated hundreds of thousands of automaking jobs, Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM) and Chrysler are now turning their attention to weeding out weaker dealers in bigger metro markets. They make fewer vehicles, so they don't need as many places to sell them." Translation: "weeding out weaker dealers" = paying off some of their dealers before the franchisees starve to death. "They make fewer vehicles" = losing market share like an hourglass loses sand. Although it's a tough job making people feel sorry for a car dealer, Chris Woodyard's tale of Keystone Ford's terminal illness gits 'er done– without dwelling overmuch on Detroit's culpability. Thankfully, there's some good old fashioned hard news here: the paper's [unattributed] Big 2.8 domestic dealer tally. "GM has reduced its dealerships by 229 to 6,807 in the past year; Ford had shrunk by 139 to fewer than 4,140 as of July; and Chrysler had eliminated 142 to 3,607 as of October." Compared to Toyota's roughly 1500-store U.S. dealer network, Detroit's numbers indicate Motown's still wearing a bloated albatross around its neck. So to speak. 

Writing for Reliable Plant magazine (how appropriate is that?), Lean Enterprise Institute founder Jim Womack offers insight into Toyota's management style. Womack sats that ToMoCo solicit workers' opinions on job-related problems– like a lot of companies. But Toyota doesn't the kvetching at face value. "They challenge the employees and enter into a dialogue about what the real problem is. (It’s rarely the problem showing on the surface.)" The semi-confrontational style continues through the search for solutions and a measure of success. "The manager challenges the employees every step of the way, asking for more thought, more facts and more discussion, when the employees just want[s] to implement their favored solution." Apparently, this shows Toyota's "respect" for its workers. Semantics aside, a comparison between two distribution centers lies at the heart of Womack's analysis. In plant A, "management was focused on controlling the workforce through individual metrics. Employees were told to get a given amount of work done but given considerable latitude on just how to do it." In plant B, "the management had worked with employees to create standard work for every task and had introduced visual control with status boards so everyone could see how everyone else was proceeding with their work." Guess which one was run by Toyota, and how and why Womack found it superior. 

Would a new car buyer opt for a Ford just to get a $350 voice recognition system for their iPod (or similar) and Bluetooth-enabled phone? When Ford launched the national ad campaign for their in-dash Microsoft gizmo– selling the "new" Ford Focus entirely on its SYNCopation– the automaker revealed their faith 'n SYNC's ability to move the metal. Cynical observers might say the strategy is a desperate eHail Mary (lousy cars? syncing sales?). But credit where credit's due: it's a welcome move away from selling Fords based on price. And guess what? It's working! At least according to Cars.com. "Ford insists the 12 SYNC-equipped Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles now offering it are moving off dealer lots twice as fast as those without it." Hang on. That assertion doesn't mean Ford sales are improving; it simply says Ford customers want a SNYC-equipped FoMoCo product rather than one without. Question: do Ford dealers have enough SNYC-equipped models? Are they having to discount non-SYNC models? Cars.com ignores these and any other interesting issues. But if it's hard numbers you want… "Ford says a survey of SYNC buyers found 80% say it was easy to learn and use and 90% would recommend it to others." That's not necessarily a good thing. Ford's got an 18-month exclusive on the system. After that, it's anybody's game. 

I once worked for a colonel who'd address all obstacles by saying "you can solve any problem if you throw enough money at it." While our budget officer would have to breathe into a paper bag for a half hour afterwards, the colonel always managed to squeeze whatever was needed to resolve the crisis du jour from the budget– and solve the problem. Automakers native to the People's Republic of China (PRC) must have bugged his office; they've adopted the exact same philosophy.  

You'd expect a web site named "howstuffworks.com" to be an excellent source of information on, well, how stuff works. If so, check out HSW's entry "How the Tesla Roadster Works." Author Ed Grabianowskii states the Roadster is "fast, fancy, handles like a dream and goes like a rocket." Since the only road tested Teslas have been prototypes driven under tightly-controlled conditions, Grabianowski's description requires a distinct leap of faith. Likewise, even though Tesla has delayed production numerous times, he gushes, inaccurately enough, "Tesla's first production car is also the world's first high-performance electric car." Like most of the mainstream media, HSW is happy to parrot Tesla's official claims without question: "An electrician can install a recharging station in your garage. This 220-volt, 70-amp outlet allows for a full recharge in 3.5 hours from a completely dead battery." And here's the kicker: the reference link to safety claims leads to a Tesla web page proclaiming "We're sorry, the page you requested has been moved or is not available." Perhaps HSW should to change the website's name to howpressreleasessaythingswork.com.

CNNMoney.com reports that the price of oil has topped $100 a barrel, for the first time ever. (Happy New Year!) U.S. crude priced for delivery in February has gone up $4.02, to reach $100 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (NYMEX). Ira Eckstein, president of Area International Trading Corporation, says you ain't seen nothin' yet: "This market is really gonna fly.” CNN lists several reasons for the rise, including civil unrest in Nigeria and rumors of a potential cessation of Mexican supply (no reason given). And then there's the ongoing decline of U.S. oil supplies. Oh, and a “surprise fall” in US manufacturing, which could lead to lower interest rates, which could further ding the value of the dollar, which could lead investors bail out of U.S. equities and into commodities, which would drive up the cost of imported crude. No mater how you slice it, gas prices are sure to arc upwards, putting yet more pressure on a beleaguered market for gas-hungry SUVs and pickups.