David Kiley of Business Week (via MSNBC) dives into the CAFE issue, and in the process rounded up a wild-and-woolly collection of quotables from some of the biz' top bosses. The biggest news comes from Chrysler's Jim Press, who claims that that when he was at Toyota "the Japanese government paid for 100% of the development of the battery and hybrid system that went into the Toyota Prius." Although the revelation reeks of Japan Inc. business/government collusion, let's remember that our own government funneled over a billion to U.S. automakers at around the same time through the Partnership For A New Generation of Vehicles. The fact that the American people got little more than three concept cars is hardly the fault of the Japanese government or Toyota. Still, Press' revelation does shed some light on Toyota's current dominance of the hybrid market. Meanwhile, Bob Lutz continues to symbolize America's inability to meet the new demand for efficiency. In the same piece, Lutz unveiled the next generation of "Maximum Sticker Shock" for the forthcoming Chevy Volt: a cool $48k. Get some perspective on that number here.

Today's proof that the ethanol revolution is being kept alive by the GM kool-aid sippers comes from Texas, where the first dealership-owned E85 station just opened. Installed at a cost of a mere half a million dollars, the Classic Clean Fuels (not spelled with the always-klassy "K"?) nine-pump station serves up E10, E85 and biodiesel in suburban Dallas, right next door to the HUMMER dealership that owns it. "We'll offer a biofuel powertrain in every model we build by the end of 2010," HUMMER General Manager Martin Walsh said. "A Hummer's off-road capability and care for the environment are in no way mutually exclusive. This is simply one more step in our effort to promote responsible adventure." A two-hour 85-cents-per-gallon sale on E85 and a free tank of corn juice with the purchase of any new HUMMER are only the beginning of the marketing possibilities, as GM Media Online strains to use one dealership's actions as a measure of the success of the company. "This signals that GM and our dealers are trying hard to give our customers choices," says GM VP for R&D Larry Burns. "Down the road, we may even want to consider hydrogen dispensers at dealerships." Because building fuel-efficient vehicles is just too obvious.

Ford confirmed yesterday that $16.5m in bribes public money from the province of Ontario was a crucial factor in its decision to reopen the Essex Engine plant in Windsor, Ontario. The Toronto Star reports that Ford says it will expand the Windsor reopening to include a further 300 jobs, but only if the Canadian federal government makes with more pork. "We are not able or willing to move forward with the second phase of the project until we can find resolution to all the issues we have outstanding with the governments," said FoMoCo group VP Joe Hinrichs. Translation: we won't add more output without more federal assistance input. For perspective, some 900 jobs were lost when the factory was shuttered by Ford in November, 2007. Naturally, CAW President Buzz Hargrove is lending his considerable extortion negotiating experience to the project, arguing that the 300 additional jobs would surely be worth a few mil in taxpayer lucre. The sad part? With Canada's manufacturing sector in the statistical scrap heap, Ottawa just might go for it.

It's one of those stories that makes you remember it's April Fools Day. The Free Press is reporting that Chrysler has cut life insurance to 14,000 white-collar retirees, offering a one-time pension increase in return. Chrysler will pay out $1k-4k to its non-union retirees, depending on time of service and length of time since retirement. Chrysler VP for Compensation, Benefits and Corporate Services (oxymoron, anyone?) Thomas Hadrych explains that Chrysler looked at the practices of other Forbes 1,000 companies and found that only 60 percent offered retiree life insurance. "This is in part a reaction to kind of our own internal situation, but it's also a reaction to what the competitive landscape across the full spectrum of companies in America offers," says Hadrych. As if this weren't a compelling enough reason to pull the rug out from under retirees, Hadrych also has an upcoming UAW payout to blame. Hell, he even made a call to MetLife on behalf of the recently-cut-off. "The company has made arrangements with MetLife to provide current retirees with a one-time opportunity to purchase life insurance at special group rates through the MetLife Voluntary Retiree Life Insurance Plan," says Hadrych, suggesting retirees use their one-time payout to buy insurance there. As cold-blooded as this all sounds, it's obvious that Chrysler has to cut somewhere. The fact that retirees don't build cars might be a sign that Chrysler actually does care more about cars than PR.

New car sales in Japan have dropped for the fifth straight year, to their lowest level since 1975. Thomson Financial (via Forbes) cites a Japan Automobile Dealers Association study which points to high gas prices as the prime culprit in recent sales losses. Even Japan's 660cc kei car category is feeling the hurt, dropping for the twelfth straight month. Japanese automakers have been fighting sliding sales aggressively, rolling out new models and pouring money into marketing gimmicks like Toyota's Auto Mall . But there's nowhere to run in such a saturated market. Honda, Nissan, Subaru and Suzuki posted modest sales gains in March, while Lexus dropped nearly 18 percent, Isuzu dropped 12 percent, and Mitsubishi lost nearly 14 percent of sales. The biggest losers? Truck manufacturers, who saw between 12 and 27 percent losses. If economic misery loves company, America and Japan could be best of friends.

Some 80 percent of New Yorkers already travel by public transportation, but Mayor Bloomberg has promised increased subway service, faster bus routes and yes, congestion charges to push that percentage ever higher. In a dog-bites-man article, the NY Times observes that some New Yorkers remain fiercely loyal to their cars. Despite traffic jams, honking horns and urban road rage, drivers value the freedom to come and go as they choose: "It gets me closer to the job," says George Ballina, sitting in the car with his wife in Lower Manhattan. "From the train you have to walk. … it's an hour and 15 minutes with the train and about 18 minutes with the car. Big difference." Also not surprising is that drivers prefer to avoid dealing with other people — to have their own quiet space and amenities: "I really make my car comfortable," says Warren William of his touch-screen DVD with speakers lining the doors and trunk. "Every time I step in my car, I have my system, I have my music. I like it really nice and quiet. I like the peacefulness."

The Ford Flex is a large, seven-passenger crossover "people mover" that's basically replacing the minivan in Ford's vehicle lineup. So who will Ford target with the marketing? Everyone but families, according to Automotive News [sub]. It seems that Ford's new marketing chief, Jim Farley, doesn't want the Flex seen as a mom-mobile minivan replacement (wait a minute… isn't that what most seven-passenger SUVs and CUVs are?), so they're exorcising kids and dogs from the ads. Rather than "limit(ing) the Flex's potential by painting it so visibly with the family brush," they want to pitch it as "a trendsetting vehicle for people wanting a stylish ride." They think the xB-with-a-thyroid-problem styling will appeal to consumers not needing a kid-schlepper because as brand manager Kate Pearce explained "you can't not want to be noticed when you drive down the road in a two-tone vehicle with really cool grooves down the side." 

GM may have hit their breaking point in the UAW-American Axle strike. Automotive News [sub] reports The General is moving "a small but important parts contract" from American Axle (AA) to Dana Holding Corp. The contract is for 30k prop shafts for light trucks which Dana says they can start supplying "in a matter of weeks." Given the volume of parts GM needs to keep their factories running, a contract for 30k items doesn't sound like a lot and in the grand scheme of things, it isn't. But it does represent a warning shot across AA's bow, letting them know their biggest customer isn't happy and they aren't the only parts supplier in town. Now that AA stands to lose contracts because of the strike, you can bet CEO Dick Dauch will take action, most likely shifting more production to Mexican plants.

It's not shocking that Jay Leno was the first guy NBC called to front their version of Top Gear. Leno's the biggest auto enthusiast in showbiz on this side of the pond, and like any good gearhead he loves the show's no-holds-barred, enthusiast approach. But Leno thinks that Top Gear won't work on American TV, and he penned a column for the Sunday Times of London where he says so– Jeremy Clarkson style. The American version of Top Gear was pitched to Leno by an unnamed honcho (who didn't know the name of the show) as ""Well, like, one week you build a car that flies and the next week you make a car that goes under water." Leno knows how Clarksonian slams go over on networks where the sponsor is king. "When Jeremy rips into some sponsor such as Ford or Chrysler, well, that's the last time they sponsor that show. Then what you have is 'the meeting' after the show, where they tell him to tone it down. That's just not what they do at Top Gear." Fearing a lethal combo of stunts, advertainment and a firm pair of editorial handcuffs, Leno passed on the job offer. "Cars are my hobby. Television is my job," says Jay. "For me, my great release from any sort of pressure is to go to my garage." And who can blame him? As great as Jay would be as an American Jeremy Clarkson, we would hate to see America's gearhead end his public love affair with the automobile over "that meeting." [Hit tip to QuasiMondo and AutoBlog for the link]

One of the things I love about this site is the consistent welcome we all have to disagree with founding father, Robert Farago. He knows the truth about cars doesn’t come from pronouncements, but from productive exchange. Which is my slightly weasly way of saying: What’s with all this focus on brand dilution? Is it really the cancer of the car industry? Or, is it as misunderstood as Paris Hilton’s state of celebrity?