Good luck buying an Audi R8. There's an 18-month– or longer– waiting list. Or you could pay dealers demanding a $50 – $80k price premium. Hence the reason that Automotive News' [sub] industry-wide list of factory incentives set off my WTF alarm. As usual, a handful of Audi finance deals are listed under the VW heading. Until July 2, Audi dealers are offering the Audi A3, RS4 and S4 with 2.9 percent financing (qualified buyers, first born as collateral, etc.). Ingolstadt's American minions are also offering 0.9 – 2.9 percent financing on A4s. And well-heeled enthusiasts can pick-up an $109k (six-speed, base) Audi R8 with 5.34 – 5.85 percent financing. AN didn't list any specifics: length of financing, down payments or whether it was a purchase or lease. And Audi's web site doesn't list the deal with their other "special offers." So now I'm wondering: if they're in such short supply and such high demand, why would Audi be offering finance deals? And would that finance rate really sway someone shopping the $100k+ market to buy an R8 over a Porsche 911 Turbo?  

When we started the Tesla Birth Watch last August, we said "we'll be following this developing story as it develops." Then, in January, we stated "we're obliged to quit carping under this title when one- count it ONE- Roadster enters its owner's climate-controlled garage." Well, it's happened. After several false starts, revised delivery dates and lots of PR tap dancing, the first Tesla is in the hands of a paying customer. (We know Tesla CEO Elon Musk got his Roadster three months ago, and supposedly paid full price for the honor, but we don't see that as a "real" delivery.) According to Tesla Comms Veep Darryl Siry, "Car #3 was delivered to someone (who prefers not to be named) who is not associated with the company on a day to day basis, but whose investment fund put money into Tesla very early." Of course, RF is grumbling, asking for independent verification of Siry's assertion. But I've convinced him it's time to call it a day. The Tesla Birth Watch is officially over. The Tesla Death Watch begins. 

Canada's Magna International rarely makes headlines these days, unlike bankrupt suppliers Delphi and Plastech, and strike-afflicted American Axle. But the Quiet Canadian blew past rope-a-doped Delphi into first place in the US auto parts market, as reported in Automotive News [via the Financial Post]. A bit over a year ago Magna lost out to Cerberus in the war for Chrysler– and says a little prayer of thanks every night. So far, Magna has proven wrong those who say that unions and effective financial management cannot co-exist. After last November's deal with the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), credit rating agency S&P said "Magna's ratings and outlook will not be affected by the agreement, which preserves key elements of Magna's unique culture and employee-profit sharing while keeping the union in check with a no-strike provision." At the time the CAW deal was a shocker because Magna boss Frank Stronach had been a staunch "we don't need no stinking unions" CEO. Recent supplier of the year awards from GM and PSA-Peugeot-Citroën point to a high level of customer satisfaction. Magna's most recent quarterly report reveals that sales are up while earning are slightly down. Is this a dead cat bounce, or can a North American-based auto parts supplier remain financially strong, unionized and productive all at the same time? And what's the bet Frank swoops down on Jeep or other bits of Chrysler when they file for C11? 

On April 17, United Auto Workers (UAW) union members at GM's Delta Township plant walked out in a dispute over their local contract (two-tier terms and conditions). The action shut down production of two of GM's most popular products: the GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave (Saturn Outlook production also halted). After almost a month spent working its way through a dwindling dealer inventory, the Detroit News reports GM turned up the heat on Delta's striking workers. At midnight Wednesday, GM canceled their medical and life insurance benefits. As of 4:30 am today, the Local's web site is reporting a tentative agreement. (The site instructs picketers to continue "until further notice.") Whether GM will apply the same pressure at the Fairfax plant in Kansas– where Malibu production was halted by a similar strike– is unknown. 'Bu production continues at the Orion plant in Michigan, and there's a 34-day inventory on the lots. Still, between the strikes at American Axle and Alliance Interiors and negotiating the local contracts, GM's hardening line on "local disruptions" is both understandable and predictable. But will the UAW now toughen theirs? Count on it.

According to the AP [via Yahoo News!], Panasonic Japan is offering a new in-car navigation system that interfaces with internet-capable mobile phones, that allows drivers to surf their favorite porn sites. Just kidding. They can use it to check-up on their homes. The "Strada F-Class" system– which sounds  like a Chinese knock-off of an Alfa-Mercedes– can keep an eye on pets (I'm sorry Rover, I'm afraid you can't do that), turn lights on and off (to freak out the neighbors), adjust the A/C ('cause a thermostat just isn't web 2.0 enough) and lock the front door (cause you remembered that you forgot). Of course, all this "convenience" comes at a cost: $3.4k. While you could just use your cell to communicate with a "web-enabled" home, Panasonic claims their "Strada F-Class" system is way safer. Oh, and user-san must have a web-enabled camera and front door, along with other plug-in shit. For some reason, Panasonic is hoping to sell 8k of Strada F-Classes each month to early adopters. The line forms on June 13. While we're one with Stevie Wonder on that whole superstition thing, we'd like to point out that the 13th of June falls on a Friday. Just sayin'.

Welcome to open mic night here at The Inside Joke. First up: you know and love him as The Autoxtremist… Peeeeter DeLorenzooooo! Hi guys. You know as bad as things are in Motown at the mo-ment, it's about to get worse. I bet at least half of you are about to come down with AFTERLUTZ. You know, "The state of shock destined to loom over GM after Bob Lutz hangs up his spurs". No seriously, I'm wondering how many of you've already been HUMMERED. That's "the state of eating or drinking to excess, as in, 'She was supposed to be here for the 7:30 media breakfast, but she got so hummered last night I doubt if she'll make it.'" Hey, no blowjob cracks back there! Anyway, it looks like you've already had a little SMOKEY-TIME. That's what happens during "the classic 'smoke and mirrors' presentations that go on every day in this town and in businesses across the country for that matter, as in, 'We were nowhere in that meeting until Harry went all smokey-time on them, and then we walked out with the order. Unbelievable."' Hey listen, you've been a great audience! Thanks Pete. Picking-up on Sweet Pete's theme, The Truth About Cars' Best and Brightest will now present a few new industry verbs of their own. Take it away TTAC!

Well friends, by the time you read this, an era will have ended. A delicious era I might add. That's right, starting today– Black Thursday– taco trucks in unincorporated parts of Los Angeles will be required to move every hour, effectively putting them out of business. Since this insanity was first proposed SaveOurTacoTrucks.org has been leading the crusade to save the roach coaches with a battle cry of, "Carne Asada is Not a Crime" and lots of informal protests where folks show up and… eat tacos. Sadly, it was to no avail. Last night marked the final protest. I'd already written to my useless supervisor Gloria Molina and expressed my outrage at the banning of the trucks. I even tried arguing that forcing the trucks to move every hour was environmentally irresponsible. But all I got back was a form letter thanking me for my "quality of life" concerns. Failure in hand (so to speak), I figured the least I could do is head down to East LA and eat (more) tacos. The quiet, peaceful gathering was attended by about 100 taco and taco truck lovers (half of whom I suspect of being food bloggers). The worst part? The five carne asada tacos I ate were frigging scrumptious– I'm still salivating some two hours later. And now they're gone, all gone. As far as protests go, I haven't had this much fun since I marched with Mario Savio against Proposition 187 back in 1994. Hasta la vista trocas.

Old fogies like me remember when BMW's GM-sourced automatic transmissions caused sturm und drang. Brand dilution! How can we Germans rely on a foreign competitor [at least in theory] for a key technology? So much for that. So why all the hubbub when BMW reveals they'll share engines with another carmaker? At last weekend's annual shareholder meeting, CEO Norbert Reithofer caused an uproar by announcing that the next-generation 1-Series will have a four-banger developed with PSA (Peugeot/Citroën). Reality check: BMW's MINI started life with a Brazilian-built Chrysler-designed Tritec engine. The MINI One D used a Toyota-built diesel engine. From November 2006, the MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S models have been powered by a 1.6 litre engine co-developed by BMW and PSA Peugeot-Citroën. But propeller-heads don't want a Bimmer-badged car to mix genes with the French. The Financial Times Deutschland calls the move a "taboo breaker," while shareholders bemoan the brand's move from "class to mass." Ever the beancounter, Reithofer prefers to focus on saving money: "A car's engine is responsible for 25% of the car's total manufacturing cost." So that's alright, then.

According to perceived wisdom, GM's overseas ops will keep the corporate mothership afloat. Some 64 percent of first quarter sales came from outside our borders, as well as ALL of GM’s profits. The General claims that foreign markets will account for 75 percent of its profit by decade’s end. So why not just shut down the NA operations and firewall the rest as “Global Motors?” A closer look at GM’s three international units tells the tale.

Last week we learned that GM has acknowledged Saturn has an image problem. Now, since TTAC started blogging, we've been stating that Saturn has an image problem, among other issues. But this is the first time the Detroit General has fessed up to it. How are they going to address this problem? Through advertising, stupid. Which got us thinking (I know, I know). Obviously Saturn's current Rethink campaign is not working, but are there others? And that thought led me to none other than Subaru. Have you seen the commercials for the Forrester? They're going after the CamCord demo. Look, we're big advocates of "know thy brand." Subarus appeal to Lesbians, hoons and people living in Oregon, Vermont or Colorado. And that's basically it. That said, can anyone explain this? At least in Canada they're getting closer. Can you think of other brands more out of touch?

You know BMW is serious about improving efficiency when you hear they're equipping the M5 with a stop-start system. But what else have the bayerische wissenschaftlers been cooking up to improve efficiency? Auto Motor und Sport brings us up-to-date on the innovations unveiled by BMW at its unimaginatively named "Innovation Day 2008." One concept that's sure to have green chins wagging: solar roof panels designed to run the cars' electrical systems. BMW estimates a square meter of roofspace in northern European conditions could deliver 200 watts; more still if the entire roof's covered in photovoltaic cells. Solar panel could be used to reduce dependence on efficiency-sapping alternators for on-board systems, which could deliver small improvements to efficiency (0.3 fewer liters per 100km driven) or pre-heat the engine and fluids, improving inefficient cold start fuel consumption. Bimmer's boffins are also looking at generating electricity from excess engine heat. BMW claims that current thermodynamic generators from aerospace applications could deliver 200 watts of electricity today, with up to 1k watts available next Thursday (or so). The combination of thermodynamic generators, solar panels and engine pre-heating could yield a five percent increase in efficiency. We'll wait until we see a cost – benefit analysis, but the propeller people deserve credit where CAFE credit's due.

According to the AP [via Yahoo! News], the diminutive 2008 smart fortwo received an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) rating of "good" in both front- and side-impact testing. It's the IIHS' highest rating. However, the IIHS pointed out that "the front-end test scores can't be compared across weight classes, meaning a small car that earns a good rating isn't considered safer than a large car that did not earn the highest rating." Still, "all things being equal in safety, bigger and heavier is always better," says IIHS president, Adrian Lund. Meanwhile, U.S. government crash tests gave the fortwo five stars in side-crash testing, BUT the driver door unlatched and opened. Government regulators say the incident requires them to note a "safety concern," which will appear on the cars' window stickers. More than 6.1k smart cars have been sold in the U.S. through April 2008. "America has never seen a car this size before and their first question usually isn't about (fuel) economy, it's about safety," says the president of smart USA, Dave Schembri. "And that's why we think these results are so very important." So now you know: the clown car is a safe ride. As long as you stay out of the way of Tahoes and Expeditions.

Autocar UK has the latest details and a rendering of Nissan's updated 370Z sports coupe. The pic reveals an gently evolved version of the current Nissan offering. The Z's proportions, curved roofline and vertical door handles remain virtually unchanged. Other than new LED headlights, you'd be hard-pressed to tell elder and younger Zs apart. From what we can tell, a better-handling shortened wheelbase is the only major cosmetic change. The new sports car's 3.7-liter V6 will make 326hp, up from the 309hp offered by the outgoing 3.5-liter mill. Autocar speculates that the Z's new powerplant will sing a slightly more grunty tune than the G37's engine, thanks to variable valve lift and timing. Expect six-speed manual and seven-speed paddle-equipped automatic transmissions, as well as a welcome diminution of interior and road noise. Autocar suggests a diesel version, but they're going to pull the other one (it has bells on it).

Canada (like most other developed countries) has a hard time attracting/keeping auto manufacturing jobs due to high labor and tax costs. To counteract these competitive disadvantages, provincial governments often offer car companies tax holidays and other incentives. The problem with these handouts is that they do not guarantee a long-term presence by the bought-off manufacturers. Exhibit A: GM got handouts worth nearly $250m in provincial tax money (and about $200m in federal funds) for its Beacon project aimed at revitalizing its Canadian production facilities. Now, a few short years later, they're cutting some 1400 jobs at their Windsor transmission factory, with another 900 lost due to production cuts at the Oshawa truck plant. Having spent some $7b on various automaker subsidies without receiving a single job guarantee, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is coming under fire. "The more money this government invests in a company, it seems the more jobs are lost," says Progressive Conservative MPP Bob Runciman. But McGuinty ays he "doesn't regret" giving the money to GM (at least until the next election). Report on Business tells us that GM is set to ask the Ontario government for another $140m to build transmissions at its St Catharines plant. Oh, and don't expect GM to offer any job guarantees, either.

As body-on-frame SUV sales crater, a number of manufacturers are prepping a new generation of lighter, compact soft-roaders. One such cute ute is Audi's Q3, based on the A3 platform and closely related to VW's Tiguan. Motor Authority has a rendered preview, showing off styling cues from the recently debuted Cross Coupe concept. Expect Ingolstadt's standard 2.0-liter TFSI four-banger, the 3.0 diesel V6 or the 3.6 FSI V6 to motivate the three and five-door Q3s. With Toyota's Urban Cruiser, Ford's Kuga, Landies LRX and BMW's X1 all coming online soon, the Q3 will have plenty of competition when it debuts in July of 2009. An official concept will hit the Auto Show circuit sometime before this time next year. While a higher roofline should help alleviate the A3's cramped cabin, the sharply-falling rear C-pillar won't win any friends amongst those relegated to the Audi's backseats. Let's also hope Audi designers do something about the rendering's weird flank lines, which have a confused, Bangle-on-PCP feel– especially compared to the clean lines of the A3.