Ford and GM shares were down sharply yesterday after a wide-load of bad financial news hit markets. The Detroit Free Press reports "Ford stock fell to its lowest level since 1985 and the price of GM stock fell to its lowest level since 2006, near the height of speculation that the automaker would need to declare bankruptcy if it didn't speed up its turnaround." Analysts believe Morgan Stanley triggered the plunge, when they cut sales and earnings estimates for the two firms euphemistically citing "near-term headwinds." Bottom line: analysts no longer expect GM to turn a profit next year, and Ford's loss expectations dipped further. Meanwhile, Lehman Brothers issued a client note stating that rising commodity prices would add about $350 to the manufacturing cost of the average car. As the Brits would say, the Big 2.8 are getting knocked from pillar to post.

Alfa's new compact car– the MI.To– is the real deal. After months of spy pictures, an ill-fated naming contest (in which Alfa rejected the name "Furiosa" chosen by voting fans) and copious amounts of internet speculation, we've finally got official shots of the new car that's being hyped as the first credible MINI fighter (other than the FIAT 500, selling in a class below the MINI). The stunning small car will holster engines drawn from the usual Alfa-Fiat family range, from 90 to 155 horsepower gas and diesel variants. Rumor says the MI.To is based– at least somewhat– on the Fiat Grande Punto, with major league revisions to the suspension, NVH, sheetmetal, and interior. Alfa puts the car on sale in July to celebrate Chevy Volt prototype testing. Just kidding. Obviously.

Click here for a Pixamo gallery with more pictures 

The recently enacted U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act mandated 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022. Good luck with that. Purchasing.com reports that soaring corn prices, a go-go ethanol industry and so-so E85 sales have turned the current bio-fuels boom into a damp squib. "Late last year, about 5.6 billion annual gallons of new or expanded fermentation ethanol capacity was due for completion in 2008, reports Nathan Schaffer, a fuels analyst with PFC Energy in Houston. Of that, he says, about a quarter has been 'put on hold or taken off the boards' since the start of the fourth quarter of 2007." Maybe that's because America already has an eight billion gal/year ethanol production capacity, relative to six billion gallons worth of domestic consumption. As R. Jeffrey DeReamer, president of EthanolMarket.com puts it "Supply is not going to be an issue for [ethanol] buyers this year." Ya think? Oh, and "domestically produced ethanol will be supplemented by imports of the commodity from Brazil and the Caribbean this summer." If the ethanol industry is going to stand on its own two feet (i.e. stop sucking on the government tit), consumers and retailers better fall in love with E85 STAT.  

First it was $30k. Then it became $40K-ish. Now, who knows? There's no way to guess how much GM will want for a Volt if when it finally hits the market in 2010. Bloomberg reports that Product Developer Supremo Bob Lutz is warning that "We are going to bake in a very substantial warranty cost for the battery in our overall pricing calculation. We need to be conservative, simply because it's the first time we've done anything like this." Maximum Bob gave no indication what that warranty cost would be,. With experts estimating that each Volt battery pack could cost as much as $10k, it won't be pocket change (except for GM's management). Between the warranty costs and the workarounds for power-sucking accessories, the Volt's guinea pigs first generation customers may find out it's no fun living on the bleeding edge.

Last November, GM Car Czar Bob Lutz shot off his mouth boldly predicted they'd have a Volt test mule on the streets when the Easter Bunny arrived. Now he says that ain't gonna happen. In an interview with Reuters, Maximum Bob now says they'll start road testing the Li-Ion battery packs in July, "slightly later than expected." (Ya think?) He also said they may not name their battery supplier of choice until the second half of the year. BUT… "That may also be a little bit longer now, as we need a better handle on who has the technological capability we need and who is going to have the production capability." That seems to be the mantra for the entire Volt program. Anyone want to place bets that December will become the new July in a couple of months?

Automotive News [sub] reports that the Pininfarina family is scaling back its 55 percent majority stake to raise cash for the famed but financially-troubled automotive designer and coach manufacturer. Last year, with revenues of €670.4 million ($1 billion) Pininfarina SpA reported a consolidated net loss of €114.9 million ($174.9 million). One investor, French battery maker Groupe Bolloré, will also partner with the Italian firm to build 15k electric vehicles (EVs) a year under the Pinifarina brand. Using Bolloré's lithium-metal-polymer (LMP) batteries, the four-seat Pininfarina EV promises a top speed of 81 mph, a range of up to 150 miles per charge and production in 2010. Betting the firm on a full-size EV with reliable batteries and a generous range is no sure thing. EV ventures are cropping up exponentially in response to legislation curbing CO2 emissions. So far only small, three-wheeled or low-speed vehicles have actually been offered for sale.

I suppose the biggest problem with naming a car "V8" is that the moniker becomes moot when you stuff a V12 beneath the bonnet. Other than that, the V12 Vantage RS looks to be perfect. The numbers are unclear, but as the engine is closer to the DBR9 racer than the DBS, power should be in the 600 horsepower neighborhood. Which means 60 mph happens in (about) four seconds and a top speed of oh, let's just say 190 mph. The price is equally bracing. Motor Authority claims the V12 Vantage RS will cost more than the $265k DBS. Stop the presses! The smaller car from a sportscar maker is the most powerful, fastest and most expensive? And all this time we thought Farago's pleas for a stonkin' Cayman motor have been falling on deaf Porsche ears. Turns-out our Aston Martin's been listening (as if). Those who are about to fly salute you. As a life long Astonphile, I'm salivating over this sucker. There are only two cars I routinely pine for: the Veyron and a Se7en. Make that three, assuming this car happens.

According to GM Car Czar Bob Lutz, “The electrification of the automobile is inevitable.”  Inevitability also applies to the sun going cold. But with rising gas prices, some of us old timers are getting impatient (having had our youthful appetite whetted by GM’s Electrovair way back in 1966). The Li-ion-powered Tesla Roadster is simultaneously sold out and yet not in production. Dozens of other miraculous EV’s are just a $5k deposit and an infinitely adjustable (and not so inevitable) delivery date away. Meanwhile, down at your local Zap dealer, the banner proclaims: “saving the planet, one vehicle at a time.” And their Xebra is all charged-up and ready to roll.

The autopblogosphere is abuzz with Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli's memo to his employees, ordering the entire company to take a two-week vacation on July 7. Nardelli said he was putting 19k white collar and 52,500 hourly workers on simultaneous furlough to "create better alignment and efficiency across organizational lines and boost productivity." Huh? While most analysts take Nardelli at his word, and a company-wide summer break is an industry norm, rumors are circulating that Chrysler is going to file for bankruptcy while its workforce is off-site. Chrysler's market share losses and cash conflagration has continued (if not escalated) unabated since Cerberus bought the ailing automaker from [what was then] DaimlerChrysler. Chrysler workers' summer "vacation" could well be permanent.

Lots and lots of modern cars are pretty gnarly looking. Why, just look at the Sebring. Kidding. Don't. But when it comes to non-beauty, lumbering SUVs take the ugly-cake. Mr. Berkowitz just posted about the newly facelifted MB ML and I agree with his comment about the need to sue the surgeon for "negligence and malpractice." The thing is, by SUV standards, the ML isn't even that bad. Just look at the Mercedes GLK. Blech! Furthermore, the more Land Rover LR3 rear ends I see, the more I realize how horrid that drooping window looks. And then there's the BMW X3, which is simply a joke. A bad joke at that. And can we forget Subaru's Tribeca? No friends, we can't. Which SUV do you consider the most Medusa-like?

A reader emailed me recently, asking why I tolerated the following post by coupdetat: "I remember being at the old Ontario Motor Speedway and not being able to see the San Bernadino Mountains back in 1973. I figure the pollution controls on cars and industry allow us to enjoy the beauty of the state and have the beauty there for the coming generations. Now if we could get all these transplants to leave, it would be even nicer." The reader reckoned it was a racist remark. I saw it as a off-hand, tongue-in-cheek comment about out-of-staters. The reader was adamant. "It's an 'us vs. them' statement that definitely has nothing to do with the topic at hand," he protested. Barring some convincing argument here, I've decided to go with my gut and leave the post as is. Meanwhile, the debate got me thinking about the wider point: how life is, at its most fundamental level, a competition for resources. There are millions of battles every minute of every day; for clean air, water, steel to make cars, customers to buy the cars, readers to visit car-related websites, etc. Call me a heartless Darwinist, but I don't think 'us vs. them' conflicts are inherently bad. In fact, I believe humans were born to compete– in groups. If we weren't, I wouldn't be here. Nor, in fact, would you. And I mean that in the full, collective, inclusive sense of the word. 

In recent years, Jeep, Mercedes and Volkswagen have all offered U.S. customers diesel-powered products. However, they have not done so in California or any of the other 15 states that have adopted The Golden State's air pollution regs (Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington). Today, Mercedes has announced that they'll equip the ML, R, and GL-Series with a 50-state-compliant Bluetec V6 diesel engine. (The oil-burning E-Class awaits the '09 model year model changeover). The 3.0-liter V6 diesel uses urea injection to eliminate NOx emissions and particulate filters to "almost eliminate" soot. The powerplant makes 210 horses and a whopping 398 lb ft of torque. In the ML and R, it should deliver 18 mpg city and 24 highway (an improvement of 3 city/4 highway over the V6 ML350) In the plenty porky GL, expect about 17/23 mpg. Now, finally, we'll get to see if there's a market for "clean diesels" in the U.S.– at the top end of the market.

Do you remember when you couldn’t leave the table– or have desert– without finishing your vegetables? Personally speaking, the parental requirement didn’t make me any more likely to eat or enjoy vegetables. The same holds true when it comes to green cars. I’m as sensitive about saving the planet as the next guy, if not more. But ever since “planet friendly” jumped to the top of the list of PR-friendly attributes– above performance and styling– I’ve been turning back into a child that hates his greens.

Yesterday, we told you about the U.K.’s fleets of unmarked, speed camera-equipped vans (a.k.a. Talivans); including one they’ve pimped-out in the name of "youth education." Concurrent with our news, Britain’s Motorcycle News (MCN) reports that the North Wales police have installed a speed camera in a horse trailer. The heddlu are refusing to deny reports it has converted said horse box into a Welsh speeder's most recent worst nightmare “We never comment on speculation about police enforcement,” says a police spokesperson, commenting on speculation about police enforcement. “That’s all the comment we’re making.” The silence and stealth should come as no surprise. We've heard of speed cameras hidden in rubbish bins (trash containers). The U.K.s anti-speeding (pro-revenue collection?) jihad continues.

Mercedes has facelifted its ML SUV. And it's time to sue the surgeon for gross negligence and malpractice. Somehow, Mercedes has made the ML even more busy, even more confusing. What ever happened to the paradigm of "Keep It Simple, Stupid?" Under the hood of the ML63 AMG model, the dishonest jerks actually installed a 6.2-liter engine now making 510 horsepower and 465 lb ft of torque. They've also redone the interior a bit, and I'm ashamed to say it looks pretty good. What is so impressive about Mercedes is that they can make a car this overdone, this gaudy and tacky, and people will still buy it as though it was filled with passengers from Eliot Spitzer's black book.