Automotive News [sub] reports that the strike at American Axle (AA) will soon claim its 31st and 32nd factories: the Orion and Fairfax plants that manufacture the Chevrolet Malibu and Pontiac G6. "GM is fast running out of an American Axle-supplied knuckle used in the rear suspension of the Malibu and Pontiac G6 sedans, said Mike Dunn, shop chairman of UAW Local 5960. The local represents some 2,900 hourly workers at GM's Orion (Mich.) assembly plant. The plant makes about 1,000 G6 and Malibu sedans per week. Dunn said a shortage of the knuckle also will shut GM's Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas City, Kan., by mid-month." As predicted, the AA strike's impact has spread from GM's slow-selling SUVs and pickups to cash-flow critical cars; the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant (Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS) stopped operations today. You've got to wonder: is this the bus GM didn't see? And if so, why not?

California state Senator Dean Florez has introduced a bill to repeal the the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District's exemption from state emissions tests for vehicles made before 1976. The District includes eight counties in California's Central Valley, which are home to a number of now highly pissed-off tuners, hot-rodders and retro gearheads who are mobilizing to fight the new restriction. The usually apolitical Hot Rod magazine blog has posted an action alert by aftermarket industry association SEMA, urging fans of malaisemobiles and other oldtimers  to contact their representatives and protest this proposed law. Asserting that "Pre-1976 vehicles constitute a small and shrinking portion of the overall vehicle population in California and are a poor source from which to look for further emissions reductions," the SEMA bulletin warns that should this measure go through, the whole state could go on to force newly registered pre-'76 cars to undergo smog checks which they would be unlikely to pass. This should make for some interesting protests.

Bloomberg reports that Ford is investing $165m in its Essex Engine plant in Windsor, Ontario.  The plant, which has been shuttered since November, will produce an unnamed new Ford engine, and will return 300 jobs to the province. The plant refurbishment was made possible by a $16.5m investment by the Ontario provincial government, or about $55k per job created. Although Ford refuses to comment on exactly which engine will be produced at the plant, timing seems to indicate that the new EcoBoost line of turbocharged, direct-injection engines could be a prime candidate. With the first EcoBoost V6 set to debut as an option on the Lincoln MKS in 2009, and planned as an option across the Ford line aimed at lowering fleet fuel consumption, this EcoBoost is a rare investment at a time when Ford is trimming its manufacturing profile. The Canadian Auto Workers have been angling for a Ford engine project for some time, although CAW President Buzz Hargrove hinted that a fuel-efficient 5-liter engine might be in the works for Windsor. Whatever the engine, this is big news for the CAW, which lost a quarter of its D3-employed membership in the last three years alone.

Earlier today I told you that the Mitsuoka Orochi will be leaving Japan in search of oil-rich markets. I also mentioned that pig is ugly. Seriously, heinously, irredeemably butt-faced ugly. Surprisingly — and I really am surprised here — you folks, our readers, think differently. So here I am, trying my hardest to think of an uglier vehicle and… I simply can't. Nothing, nada, zilch, zip is popping into my head. If you're talking almost as ugly then I guess the misshapen Buick Rendezvous. But really, only from behind. Truthfully, even that larded hippopotamus of a Buick can't compete with the scorched-retina styling of the (barf) Orochi. Can it?

In a refreshing break with tradition, Patrick Bedard at Car and Driver admits to a lingering skepticism about the Malibu's glowing introductory reviews.  There's just a wee bit of history that informs his doubts: forty years of glowing reviews by C/D of pre-production GM cars that failed to life up to their hype. The most notorious example cited was the gusher of praise heaped upon the notorious X-bodies (Citation, etc.) based upon "specially prepped" pilot cars provided by GM. Although the Malibu managed a third place finish in C/D's recent comparo of sedans, Bedard admits that his employer's intro of GM's latest "import killer" might have (once again) raised hopes to unrealistic levels. The truth feels good, doesn't it Patrick?

Michigan-based ForeSee Results has set a new record for weirdest company name developed the first Automotive Website Satisfaction index, which shows that online car purchasing has plenty of room for improvement. The Detroit Free Press reports that Honda's website logged the best score among the six top brands in the 2,000 respondent survey, scoring an 80 compared to an industry-wide average of 78. The index uses methodology from the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index and measures how effective the sites are in giving consumers the information they want, getting them into dealer showrooms and driving sales. With the the Detroit three, Honda, Toyota and Nissan all rating between 80 and 76, there's not much to differentiate between them, but there's plenty of opportunity for all six to improve to the 88 scored by Amazon.com. "You walk away from these Web sites feeling like they were designed by a committee," says Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee Results. "There's a lot of noise on them."

As the "R"-word unfolds and American car demand plummets, Nissan will be idling Mexican production of its Versa and Sentra models. Reuters reports that the Nissan factory at Aguascalientes was shuttered last Friday, and will remain offline for seven days this month. The plant built an average of 26,000 vehicles per month last year, but will scale back work relative to American demand. Automobile manufacture is a mainstay of Mexico's industrial sector, and weakness in American car sales are expected to have a major impact on the Mexican economy. Although Mexican production grew rapidly in the first quarter of this year despite sluggish demand, plant idlings can be expected throughout the rest of the year, as the American economy goes through what is expected to be a particularly rough patch. Of course, if you own a '98 model year vehicle, you might still be able to get a factory trade-in…

Get a bunch of car journalists together and a few conversations are inevitable. Stuff like, "What's the best car ever, period?" or "What's the dumbest car you've ever purchased?" The answers are full of variation (Porsche 959/McLaren F1, Citroen DS/BMW 750iL) and typically end with me asking, "Aren't you guys interested in anything besides cars?" Deaf ears and all that. My point? If the question of world's ugliest car were to come up, there can be no debate. Mitsuoka Orochi is the answer. All other suggestions are utterly wrong. And Motor Authority tells us that, like some latter-day Godzilla, left-hand drive examples of the Orochi are leaving Japan to fry eyeballs in Qatar, UAE, Thailand and Jordon. No, really — look at this monstrosity. What could be more awful? How an NSX-based sports car can make the Pontiac Aztek look like Jessica Biel is inconceivable, incomprehensible and totally unfathomable, but there you go. As for me, I'm stocking up on Raid.

For the first time since WWII, UAW membership has dropped below half a million hardhats, reports the Kansas City Star . The news comes from a Labor Department filing, which shows that the union was down to just 464,910 members by the end of 2007, compared with 538,448 at the end of 2006. This continues a trend of decline for the union since membership peaked in 1979, at 1.5m dues-paying members. Many of the losses can be tied to the dismal performance of the Detroit automakers, who have been cutting jobs, closing factories and buying out workers in hopes of returning to profitability. With American automakers tanking and taking their membership with them, the UAW is trying to rebound by targeting the North American factories of Toyota and Honda. But the transplants have carefully avoided building plants in union strongholds, and have thus far held off attempts to unionize their American factories. And no wonder. Although the UAW has done well by its members over the years, its colossal pension liabilities and uncompetitive approach to wages have been an undeniable factor in the decline of Detroit.

Human Resource Executive Online points out that the new Detroit "easy-fix" of buying out workers with pension-fund money might not be the greatest strategy ever. Chrysler and GM have both recently offered worker buyout packages, with money from overfunded pension accounts. The strategy is attractive, as workers can defer taxes on pension fund payouts to their 401k accounts, and corporate can keep their cash position intact. But overfunded pension accounts never stay overfunded for long, and observers say that intense market volatility makes now a bad time to risk underfunded pension liabilities. "The [Chrysler] fund is probably overfunded because of the over-inflated value of the stock or securities that have been invested," says Gerald Myers, business professor at the University of Michigan and former chairman of American Motors. "Now that the stock market and the real estate market is [sic] going down, it's not unlikely [the pension fund] will be underfunded in short order." Meanwhile, labor relations consultant Bill Adams of Adams, Nash, Haskell & Sheridan believes that buyouts in general merely mask major workforce problems. "The automaker is stomping on the ants, and the bears are walking off with the picnic," says Adams. "They can't dump the relationship with the UAW [so] they're going out of business and delaying the inevitable." Man does that truth hurt sometimes.

Higher corn prices could soon be passed on to those filling their cars up with ethanol, says CNNMoney. The increasing cost of growing corn, along with favorable prices for other crops such as soybeans could fuel a decrease in corn production. Even though ethanol is heavily subsidized, it has contributed to the rise in corn prices, which has hurt poultry, beef and pork companies who use corn to feed their animals. But a decrease in corn production would also be bad news for the corn-juice industry. According to the Renewable Fuels Association, the number of ethanol plants has increased from 50 in 1999, to 134 today, with more plants on the drawing board. Given that, on average, a 100m gallon-per-year ethanol plant consumes about 33 million bushels of corn, more ethanol plants and less corn could spell trouble ahead. The decreased supply could drive corn prices even higher, which would offset any possible "advantages" corn-based ethanol was supposed to offer.

VW, arguably the inventor of the hot hatch (with the 1977 Golf GTI), recently released their coolest representative of the segment: the new Scirocco. I know they're marketing it as a coupe, but really, does it feel like one? Does it seem connected to the original Scirocco by anything more than name? Is it as sleek as the Corrado? I think this new car could be considered the very definition of a hot hatch, but nothing more. This makes me wonder if there's still room for the next Golf GTI (the Mk VI) in the Veedub range? Cannibalism was never seemed like something VAG worried about. Their model line-up development principle seems to be "more fishing rods into the pond equal more fish." But, they can't just rebadge a Scirocco and make it the next 3-door Golf/Rabbit GTI, can they? The spy photographs made available so far show a boxier design, with large windows and an obvious improvement of the interior space. Considering all the things mentioned above I've rendered what could be the next GTI: an uglified Scirocco with better visibility, better head room and more trunk space. If you were a fish in the hot hatch consumer pond, which lure would you find more attractive?

[For more Avarvarii photochopistry, click here]

An interesting "help wanted" ad appeared in several cities' papers yesterday: "Employment offered to applicants responding to this advertisement will be to fill anticipated attrition replacement openings after negotiations or in place of employees involved in this strike." [Emphasis added.] You guessed it– the ads were placed by American Axle. CBC News reports the company ran the ad in cities where they have a plants which have been shut down by the UAW strike. Of course, the official AA party line, as espoused by spokeswoman Renee Rogers is: "We expect that once an agreement is reached with the UAW a significant number of associates will participate in buyouts and early retirements. We are currently preparing a pool of potential new associates." The auto supplier also sent letters to workers who were laid off before the strike began, asking them to come back to work. The UAW responded by calling for a mass picket today outside AA's headquarters. There's no apparent break in the impasse between labor and management; their full negotiating teams haven't met since March 10.

As the latest GM Death Watch predicted, the GM apologists are getting warmed-up. Note to The Big 2.8's PR departments: hire the Detroit News' headline writer. Better yet, don't. Why risk losing such a public champion? After all, there is no evidence that GM, Ford and Chrysler ARE successfully clinging to their U.S. market share. Or WILL cling. And while you're wondering who to thank for cutting the words "try to" from the headline, it's best to keep scribe Sharon Terlep happy. Ms. T starts, helpfully enough, by moving the goal posts: "But preventing foreign-based rivals from stealing more buyers will be crucial to putting Detroit's automakers in a good position once sales eventually rebound." And then she trots out Michael Robinet, vice president of global vehicle forecasts for CSM Worldwide. "Robinet said GM is likely in the best position to hang on to market share with a string of popular new products such as the Chevrolet Malibu, Cadillac CTS sports sedan and the Buick Enclave crossover." None of which are conquesting transplant buyers or setting the sale charts on fire; all of which are the GM turnaround poster girls. And just because GM may be in the best position relative to Ford and Chrysler doesn't make it a good position relative to say, Toyota. Or Honda. Or Nissan. Or Hyundai. Or Lexus. Or… 

General Motors is about to report a massive sales decline for the month of March. GM’s management will acknowledge the loss, blame it on the general downturn in the U.S. new car market, point to a few successful models and move on. Later, the American automaker will report it’s burned over a billion dollars in the last financial quarter. GM’s management will blame the market downturn (again) and the strike at American Axle. The top brass will admit that GM’s turnaround is… delayed. But at no point will they accept responsibility for their plight. Well, why would they?