The existing Maine Turnpike (I-95) toll plaza was built in 1969. It was expected to last 25 years. Unfortunately, the Authority built the facility on wetlands; it’s sinking at a rate of about an inch a year. Finding an alternative site has been… problematic. For one thing, the southern end of the Maine Turnpike is littered with wetlands. For another, the proposed “dry land” location is meeting stiff local opposition. According to The Portland Press Herald, York residents don’t want the $35m toll plaza. "They're taking out our neighborhood," says Michael Walek. Walek says a crash at the toll plaza involving a chemical truck carrying chemicals– or a chlorine leak at the local treatment plant– would endanger hundreds of lives. "You certainly couldn't evacuate a backed-up highway like we get in the summertime." Suggestion: Just tear down the plaza that’s sinking, tighten the budget belt and call it good.

Ford is finally addressing its bloated dealer network through a new program of store buyouts. Automotive News [sub] reports that FoMoCo's offering a one-time "go on take the money and run" deal to the 81 members of their dealer development program. Ford will refund the dealers' investment in their Ford or Lincoln-Mercury store– even if it's worth less than their original ante. In a letter to dealers, development program director Jamy Hall wrote that "Ford is taking this action in an effort to ensure a sustainable dealer development program." However, Ford's action is raising some eyebrows; the majority of participants in the program are minorities. One dealer said he will refuse the offer because "it's just targeted at minorities because they're low-hanging fruit." Ford rejects the suggestion. They also declined to say how many dealers of Ford's 309 minority-owned dealerships they expect to avail themselves of a "graceful exit" from the Ford franchise network.

VW is planning to replace the Passat and Jetta with cheaper sedans "targeted at U.S. customers." At the Geneva Auto Show, VW Group CEO Martin Winterkorn said VeeDub's also contemplating small cars and perhaps a body-on-frame pickup for the American market. Automotive News [sub] reports the German automaker's pushing ahead with plans to build a factory in the States and have narrowed the site selection to North Carolina, South Carolina or Georgia. The plant will build a Passat replacement designed specifically for the U.S., with a new name and price around $20K. Winkerkorn also discussed other possibilities for the U.S. market: a small car based on the Polo, a family of small vehicles based on the up! concepts and a VW-built minivan to replace the Chrysler Town & Country clone Routan. Oh, and he wants to bring us a next-generation Phaeton, explaining "the Volkswagen brand needs a car like the Phaeton." What is it they say about those who don't learn from history?

According to The Detroit News, the bankruptcy judge controlling Delphi's fate has OK'ed GM's $2.83b loan to its former GM parts division and current bankrupt. Delphi's other investors (save one) had protested the loan, saying the plan was "a brazen attempt to ignore a portion of the contract" and gave GM too much control of its former subsidiary. The judge overruled the protest. He green-lighted the Delphi cash conflagration– as long as The General laundered the cash made the payments through "a fully-owned subsidiary" (providing GM has any left). This stricture would meet the letter of the existing contract by keeping GM's name off the loan paperwork. GM said the ruling was "encouraging," but it's still "studying it." Delphi said the ruling will allow them to emerge from bankruptcy by April fifth, as they had originally planned. Although the ruling will ensure GM's largest parts provider keeps providing parts, GM's liquidity is looking increasing threatened.

CNN Money [via Yahoo! Finance] lists Consumer Reports' (CR) 11 worst vehicles. Not surprisingly, the list is SUV-intensive. In a move bound to anger snow belters, mud pluggers and boat luggers, CR rated all SUVs "as most people would drive them in the SUV category." In other words, without taking their off-road abilities into consideration. Chrysler can't be too happy; they manufacture four of the 11 losers (one Dodge and three Jeeps but no Sebring). GM has three cars on the list, Toyota has two, and Suzuki and Ford each have one. Four of TTAC's Ten Worst Automobiles appear on CR's list. Here are their 11 worst, with scores out of a possible 100. Those with the double ignominy of being on both Consumer Reports' and TTAC's lists are marked with an asterisk (*).

Jeep Wrangler – 17
Hummer H3 (5 cyl) – 27*
Jeep Liberty Sport – 27
Chevy Aveo5 – 32*
Dodge Nitro SLT – 33*
Toyota FJ Cruiser – 36
Toyota Yaris – 36
Suzuki Forenza – 36
Jeep Patriot Limited – 42
Chevy Trailblazer – 43*
Mercury Grand Marquis – 43

Daniel Yergin is the Pulitzer-winning oil historian/author of The Prize, chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) and a steadfast energy optimist. Peakist wags at The Oil Drum have defined a "yergin" as CERA's predicted long-term oil index price of $38/bbl. Oil prices currently hover around 2.7 yergins, but Yergin and CERA still carry a lot of weight in the energy consulting biz. US News & World Report's "Beyond the Barrel" blogs that Yergin now sees renewable energy as a serious player in energy markets. Speaking at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference, Yergin told attendees, "We are going through a period of what I call the 'great bubbling,' a high degree of innovation all across the energy spectrum… This is boosting the competitiveness of renewables and efficiency, and is also evident in terms of conventional energy." CERA forecasts that so-called clean power could supply between seven and 16 percent of the world's electric needs by 2030. That's a significantly greater percentage than U.S. government forecasts of 4.2 percent (which blithely include ethanol as clean energy). Meanwhile, gas prices continue to escalate. The AP reports they've ascended by near-as-dammit a dime in the last two weeks.

Sorry dude, but all 200+ examples of the forthcoming Roller Coupe already have buyers. Pretty nifty when you consider the $400,000 Phantom two-door isn't even at dealers yet. Hell, us auto journo slobs haven't gotten our greasy mitts on the dang things either. Equally flabbergasting, according to Motor Authority the Phantom Drophead Coupe is sold out through the middle of 2009. And they've already moved 250 of those teakwood-decked convertibles. CEO Ian Robinson also wants you to know that two-thirds of the Phantom Coupe's customers are newbies to the ultra-high end car market. Rolls-Royce is therefore poised to smash last year's sales record of 1,010 units sold. How can we account for such growth? Well, either the rich are getting that much richer, or Rolls is building a highly desirable product that consumers in their target demographic actually aspire to. We're thinking a little from column A, a little from column B. We're also dumping all our Maybach stock, post haste.

Not content with redefining built-it-yourself furniture, the Swedes have decided it is time to redefine driving. Since Sweden has the highest car-sourced CO2 emissions in the EU (mostly due to their love of huge Volvo wagons), the Swedish EPA (SEPA) has announced that anyone obtaining a new drivers license in Sweden must take eco-driving lessons. Added to the already lengthy licensing process in Sweden are class-based sessions as well as behind-the-wheel instruction on lugging your engine shifting to the highest gear as soon as possible, coasting whenever possible with the goal to avoid using your brakes. SEPA claims this process reduced fuel consumption by 10 percent (two – three MPG for most cars). According to Emilie Lundros (preparing to take her final test next month), students who don’t ecodrive fail the new tests. Catching ‘em early seems to be the key. “I only drive eco” says Lundros, “That’s the only way I have been taught, it was easy to get the hang of it and feels natural and comfortable… My parents? They think it’s a bit boring really.” So there you go, our future lies in the hands of the young saving 10 percent and having 10 percent less fun in the process. Parking lot hoonage? Det är strikt förbjudet nu.

Professor W. Edwards Deming taught post-War Japan statistical process control. Toyota management applied Deming's lessons with characteristic discipline, refining the Yale grad's famous "14 points" to create their lean manufacturing system. Through it all, ToMoCo had one over-riding goal: to mimic and surpass the world's greatest automakers. Driving the new Toyota Sequoia back-to-back against its archetypal competition– the Chevy Tahoe and Ford Expedition– proves the old adage: be careful what you wish for.

Close your eyes. Picture Chrysler products from the last decade that you like. We imagine that your mental list is similar to ours. The 300 (and its derivatives), the Challenger and the Viper. Well friends, the savvy investors car guys over at Cerebus have shuttered the doors on the Pacifica Advance Product Design Center which gave us two of three (hint — not the Viper). Perfect. Chrysler is of course spinning it as a good thing. Here, you have to read for yourself: "Increasingly, we are leveraging resources worldwide, forming new joint ventures and alliances and consolidating operations in order to better achieve global balance. These moves are designed to help Chrysler become a more globally focused manufacturer, with design, engineering, sourcing and a local presence to serve local customers."  Right, they'll be helping out the local customers in California (where one in eight cars are sold in the US) by, wait, what? Bottom line: all future design work will be taking place in Auburn Hills, a plan that has worked marginally for decades.

So I get an email from Ford PR man Alan Hall re: "Microsoft To Launch Sync-based In-Car Advertising." Our previous blog post (based on a C/Net article) summarized plans voiced by the GM of Microsoft's Automotive Business. Martin Thall was discussing the possibilities of in-car advertising in general. Our headline and lead mislead readers into believing that these plans necessarily involved Ford's SYNC system. Ford's flackmeister pointed-out that SYNC is Ford's baby. The Blue Oval Boyz will decide whether or not to allow in-car advertising on their version of Microsoft's automotive operating system platform, not Bill Gates' minions. We apologize for leaving the wrong impression about the "ownership" of the possibility of advertising on SYNC-equipped Fords– which Hall wouldn't rule out. "We may have ads on SYNC at some point," Hall said in a telephone interview. "Everything's on the table." Glad that's cleared up. [NB: the original post has been amended to remove the word "Ford" from the headline and lead.]

"It is not hard to imagine a time in the not-too-distant future when General Motors Corp. will not exist. In fact, a lot of investors are imagining such a scenario… The GM-is-dying argument is certainly compelling, which is why the stock is down 75 per cent over the past eight years." Of course, the Globe and Mail's eye-opening lead is the prelude to an argument that GM's shares are undervalued. David Berman says GM could be a terrific buy IF the automaker returns to profitability. "A number of savvy institutional investors, not exactly prone to making silly guesses, are making big bets on a recovery." The "number" of investors adding to their GM shares seems to be one: "Legg Mason increased its holdings in GM by 5.4 million shares at the end of 2007, bringing its stake to 15 million shares." Yes, well, good luck with that. The more important point: the Mail's tacit admission that The General is in a fight for its life which it could well lose. This marks a fundamental shift in perception. If the [erstwhile] car-buying public picks-up this vibe (so to speak), it could further depress GM sales, which would push them further and faster towards Chapter 11. Send in the flacks, STAT!

Although we haven't seen studies on the subject, we suspect that many motorists who fill-up with E85 don't return once they discover the [unadvertised] reduction in efficiency vs. "normal" (E10) gas. Maybe that's why none of the major oil companies have installed E85 pumps. The ethanol industry realizes that all the subsidies in the world won't guarantee them a future if consumers line-up none deep for E85. But… what if you doubled demand by increasing the mandatory ethanol content for ALL gas blends from 10 to 20 percent? Corrosion? What corrosion? According The Toledo Blade, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty released a report by The North Star State's "two largest research universities" that claims the move would be safe for non-E85-compatible cars. "The study tested 40 pairs of vehicles, half of which were powered with fuel containing 20 percent ethanol, and compared performance and damage, finding little difference between the two fuels. Part of the study was funded by the Renewable Fuels Association, an advocacy organization for the ethanol industry." What's the bet they funded the part that says it's OK to double ethanol content?

Paul Niedermeyer's editiorial reveals that our resident automotive historian prizes reliability over style or performance– at least when it comes to long-distance automotive transport. Not me. I believe the car is half the journey (or something like that). Whenever I drive a rental car, no matter how wonderful the scenery or auspicious the occasion, I'm nagged by the realization that I'd be blissing in my Boxster S. No, I'm not a car snob. But c'mon, rentals? Rentals are hair-shirts-on-wheels. That said, I'm not sure my hard-riding Finnish sports car would be the ideal choice for a REAL road trip. So… what is? If I had the choice of any car in which to Cannonball the country, I'd take a Bentley Continental GTC. While I'd still be wishing on a 987 through the curves, high-speed wafting is mission critical for any driver wishing to traverse this big ass country of ours/mine. Unbridled luxury makes any long distance trip more enjoyable and, thus, memorable. And when the sun is just going down, put the beautimous Bentley's hood down and… ecstasy. You?

One of TTAC's Best and Brightest– an automotive journo who wishes to remain anonymous– sent us this link to what he calls a "pimpatorial." It stars Jean Jennings, Automobile's Editor-in-Chief for the last seven years (with an '06 interregnum). Although Ms. Jennings does not reveal her title in the intro clip (or thereafter), she clearly identifies her employer before gushing about the Jeep brand. Apparently, Ms. Jennings disagrees with those critics who view the Compass as a brand abomination. In fact, she claims that Jeep has "remained true to its original mission." There's more. Lots more. Jennings spreads the video love over all seven Jeep models. I hereby declare Automobile's editorial integrity officially, irrefutably, defunct.