Sales in the toilet? Market share down? Cash burning? Thank God for Maximum Bob. Post Black Tuesday, GM Car Czar Bob Lutz demonstrated GM's commitment to a better tomorrow by not flying a Harrier jump jet to the recent Volt mule demo. According to ever-faithful Detroit News, "Bob Lutz has upped his personal commitment to battery-powered transportation with the purchase of an electric scooter." If that doesn't make you think longingly about someday maybe having the opportunity to possibly order an actual Chevrolet Volt, then this: "Lutz already has four electric Segways at home, including a pair of X2 off-road models." Four? Segway soccer? Anyway, Autoblog's Sam Abuelsamid trades his Bob props for some scuttlebutt. In terms of potential Volt battery suppliers, GM has "a lower risk with one company than the other." Since the Guardian recently ran a story naming potential supplier LG Chem/Compact Power as the provider of the Volt mule's powerpack, Abuelsamid's colleagues at AutoblogGreen assumed that LG Chem/CP was Lutz's preferred company. Twice. AutoblogGreen must've missed the International Herald Tribune story "Compact Power plans to make Volt batteries at a factory on Seoul's outskirts that will make paperback-sized cells for a coming Hyundai hybrid." In other words the real headline should be "GM Volt To Use Hyundai Batteries."

"We, therefore, the undersigned citizens of the United States, petition the U.S. Congress to act immediately to lower gasoline prices (and diesel and other fuel prices)* by authorizing the exploration of proven energy reserves to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources from unstable countries." The 450k e-signatures on this petition at americansolutions.com indicate that a large number of Americans favor punching holes in The Land of the Free to free us from dependency on foreign oil. Chuck Norris, last seen supporting presidential candidate Mike Huckebee, is down with that. He's signed, and sent a far less pithy message to our Texas elected lawmakers: "Congress, get off your gas, and drill!" The bullet points ('natch) list restrictions on domestic oil production and some side effects (e.g. American Airlines going out of business.) "If there isn't a conspiracy going on here, someone needs to make a movie about one!" Norris announces, pimping for work. At least he's conciliatory at the end "Congratulations Congress – you're completely failing us."

"If Brazil can do it, we can do it; it's as simple as that." Needless to say, Fox News' demagogue-in-chief Bill O'Reilly made this asinine assertion on energy independence while berating a couple of news blonds with his usual steam-roller-like tact, anti-intellectual insights and megalomaniacal aplomb. Ignoring differences in climate (Brazil's ethanol production is based on sugar cane), speaking over pictures of a Chevy FlexFuel Tahoe, Bill O told his acolytes (repeatedly) that we "have to get away from this oil-based economy." Why Brazil's just itching to rescue us from the oil thugs with cheap imported ethanol. But evil Congress is placing restrictive tariffs on our liquid salvation on behalf of… Big Oil. Sooooo close Mr. Bill (correct answer: the farm lobby). One of the news blonds almost dared challenge O'Reilly on the ethanol front– more energy in than out, dependence on oil to create it, deforestation, boondoggles, etc.– but didn't. Hey Bill. If you want a real fight on this issue, drop us a line. 

The Toyota Camry is one of four vehicles (including the Corolla) that now sells more prolifically than Ford's dethroned F150 full-sized pickup. At the same time, the new Toyota Tundra pickup is a drug on the market; sales fell 34 percent vs. May 2007. Do the math. ToMoCo have. The transplant's looking at using its famed production flexibility to replace excess Tundra capacity with Camry assembly. Automotive News [sub] reports that Toyota is switching its Princeton, Indiana plant from cranking-out slow-selling Tundra/Sequoia trucks and Sienna minivans to producing the Camry, which sold 51,291 units last month. Though Toyota has not officially responded to the reports of production shuffling, though the company does say it's "looking at a lot of things to balance production." With Tundra production already slowed at Toyota's second truck plant in San Antonio, there's no doubt that Toyota (like many automakers) is over invested in a product that dropped sales to the tune of 31 percent last month. Camry spent much of the 1990's at the top of sedan sales records, and with the battle for the best selling vehicle in America wide open, boosting Camry production could help Toyota's champion snag top-spot bragging rights.

There's an interesting juxtaposition in today's news about the forthcoming VW Golf. Motor Authority reports that Volkswagens sixth-generation Golf will offer standard stop-start technology in its efficiency-oriented Bluemotion versions. VW director of powertrain research Wolfgang Steiger reveals that the the Bluemotion is shooting for a 30 percent gain in efficiency, begging the question of whether Bluemotion trim will bring a hybrid drivetrain to the table. VW has reportedly ditched diesel-hybrid plans for a cheaper gas-electric unit. But Steiger only mentions a new range of 1.0 and 1.2-liter compact gas engines, with a possible forced-induction three-cylinder in the works. Either way, it's all a bit academic. Future US-market Rabbits will be developed separately, on cheaper platforms. Which is funny, because Auto Motor und Sport reports that the new "too-pricy-for-the-states" Golf costs nearly $2k less to produce than the outgoing model. Even with rising steel prices and a strong Euro, VW has managed to realize savings by reducing material costs, increasing volume and producing on a four-day work week. So, despite reducing the cost of building the new Golf, VW will be challenging Toyota in the US market with an even cheaper replacement for the Rabbit? With the diesel Jetta already behind the Prius curve, VW should bite the bullet and bring the Euro-Golf stateside, and proliferate stop-start across its US model line. Or give up its goal of taking on Toyota NA for volume sales.

Yesterday, we (and that includes Chrysler's Jim Press) predicted post-Black Tuesday light truck fire sales. This is how they start for GM, focusing on loyal GM customers, trying to get them out of their negative equity hole (a.k.a. backwards or under water). Interestingly, the deal include those "low profile" two-mode hybrid SUVs…

• Chevrolet — Tahoe (nonhybrid) or Suburban: $2,000 customer cash + $4,000 owner loyalty bonus cash = $6,000 total cash.

Tahoe (hybrid): $0 customer cash + $4,000 owner loyalty bonus cash = $4,000 total cash.

Silverado or Avalanche: $2,000 customer cash + $3,000 owner loyalty bonus cash = $5,000 total cash.

• GMC — Yukon: $2,000 customer cash + $4,000 owner loyalty bonus cash = $6,000 total cash.

Yukon (hybrid): $0 customer cash + $4,000 owner loyalty bonus cash = $4,000 total cash.

Sierra: $2,000 customer cash + $3,000 owner loyalty bonus cash = $5,000 total cash.

• Cadillac — Escalade: $2,000 customer cash + $2,000 bonus cash + $2,000 owner loyalty bonus cash = $6,000 total cash.

In response to my manifesto on The Truth About High Gas Prices, a couple of people close to me confidentially told me that they thought I was nuts for predicting sub-$80 per barrel oil “in the not too distant future.” According to an economist at the Dallas Federal Reserve, I should have gone lower with my prognostication. Stephen Brown observes that cheap Saudi Arabian oil costs just $4 a barrel to produce. The most expensive oil on the market today, and the oil that set’s the world price, known as the “final barrel” or equilibrium price, is just $50 per barrel. Shawn Tully, CNNMoney editor, concludes, “It's even possible that, a few years hence, we could see a sustained period of plentiful oil supplies and low prices, meaning $50 or below.” But that doesn’t mean that it won’t get worse before it gets better. Today, the oil futures bubble inflated to a new record high above $135 a barrel, before settling back down to $134.35.

They say hope dies last, and GM's damned-to-strategic-review HUMMER brand certainly doesn't have much else to run on. Accordingly, HUMMER GM Martin Walsh has posted a reality-efficient, truth-sipping take on his brand's beleaguered fortunes to GM's Fastlane blog, utterly confirming that website as the place bad spin goes to die. Anticipating "speculation" about HUMMER's future, Walsh wants us to know that in his opinion, "the HUMMER name, and it's line-up of iconic vehicles, will still be purchased and enjoyed by customers around the world." In fact, Walsh seems to think the overseas market will rescue HUMMER. "Outside the US, where the world has been living with high fuel prices for the past decade, 2008 sales through April were up 34.8% compared to 2007." Yes, well, as Bloomberg reports, these sales spikes are the result of recent introductions of the brand to countries like Japan, complimenting a steady trickle of sales from gas-subsidizing countries like China and Russia where HUMMERS are still nouveau-riche icons. Walsh trots out every possible reason to think HUMMER isn't completely effed– truck mags love HUMMERS, there's a HUMMER biofuel concept, etc. He finally concludes that he "wholeheartedly believes that HUMMER can have a bright future." So is Walsh trying to stimulate pity-purchases of H2 and H3s, or is this just brand inflation leading up to a sale to Mahindra or Tata? Or is this just empty reassurance to HUMMER dealers that their recent million-plus dollar GM-mandated dealership upgrades were not complete wastes of money? Hand the guy some jam. HUMMER is toast.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Michael Jackson is joining a growing chorus shouting "take your medicine." No it's not MJ handing a can of Coke to a young fan. It's the CEO of mega-dealer AutoNation, who thinks "high gas prices are good for the U.S. auto industry." Just as Scott McClellan trash-talking the Bush administration, Jackson is biting the hand that feeds. "We are highly skilled at selling size, horsepower and speed at a premium price, and giving away fuel efficiency," Jackson opines. "Now, going forward over the next 10 years we are going to have to convince consumers why they should pay more for a smaller engine, or some new technology, that is going to give them a tremendous benefit on fuel efficiency." Surely it's a new day in the US of A when the top car salesman in the land embraces the challenge of selling fuel efficiency. Who's bad?

Problem: the Toyota Camry is being outsold almost 2-to-1 by Dodge's Avenger among black customers. "Here's this nameplate that's ubiquitous," said Monica Warden, account director for Burrell, Toyota's agency of record or African-American advertising. "But for an African-American woman, it's not even in her consideration set. Our preliminary testing found they think of it as suburban, not urban; as solid but boring. And for this woman, she doesn't see herself as boring." To raise sales of its best-selling dullard, Toyota hired the company responsible for the intriguing (at least to us fanboys) The Dark Knight (movie) viral ad campaign. The result this site: If Looks Could Kill. It features a subtle sales pitch, serial web movies and who knows what else. The Dark Knight campaign had fanboys running around the San Diego Convention Center in Joker facepaint; we'll see what curious activities will arise from ILCK.com.

You may recall that GM recently blamed Saturn's rapidly sinking sales on the brand's "awareness problem." The spin that started there has spiraled over to GM's two-mode hybrids. Automotive News [AN, sub] earnestly reports that "so far, the word isn't getting out… Marketing to build awareness, and move the metal, has to be kicked up." Ah, that MUST be it! 'Cause… GM says so! "There's very little awareness that we even have these products," GM marketing maven Mark LaNeve tells an entirely credulous Jamie Lareau. "We're going to be constrained by battery availability, but we still think that we could work it up to 5 to 10 percent of our full-sized SUV sales." Constrained? As in "we can't get them?" To be fair (hey, it's Monday), AN points out that the mondo-expensive hybrid SUVs are a gigantic flop: they've sold just 1,540 Tahoe and Yukon hybrids  compared to their 8k to 12k annual sales target. This may have a little something to do with it: "The top-end, four-wheel-drive Tahoe LT starts at $40,460. The hybrid starts at $50,490. The Yukon starts at $36,245 and the top-end, all-wheel-drive Yukon Denali at $50,380. The hybrid starts at $50,945. All prices include shipping." Ouch.

Toyota's iQ is shaping out to be some of the toughest competition in the sure-to-grow city-car class. Winding Road has spy shots of the SMART-fighter road testing in Japan. Photos reveal the model's radical wheel-at-each-corner stance, facilitated by Toyota's newly developed differential, flat underfloor gas tank and angled rear suspension. By maximizing interior space, the Toyota will offer back row seating: room for three adults and one child or bag of groceries. The iQ is nearly two feet longer than the SMART, making it both more commodious AND better-proportioned. The small-but premium Toyota was caught in camouflage, but it's not hard to imagine the Geneva showcar's production-ready sheetmetal on this car. Toyota expects to sell 100k iQs per year, after launching the model into the teeth of the European city car market later this year. If it succeeds there, if gas prices continue their precipitous climb, don't be too surprised if the iQ shows up stateside, possibly in micro-ute Urban Cruiser form. We'll let you know.

Chrysler has released the pricing on the new Challenger pony car, one of the worst-timed cars since, well, the first time they introduced the Challenger. The 250hp base SE model will start at a very modest $21,995 including destination. Also modest: the four-speed automatic transmission, likely accountable for the lackluster 18/25 rating, but probably perfectly sufficient given the nature of the V6 car. For that low entry price you also get 17" real alloy wheels and side curtain airbags (side torso not available, of course). The next model up the chain: the Hemi-powered R/T model for a much more expensive $29,995. That puts it right on point with the Charger R/T, not to mention Pontiac's G8 GT. The Challenger R/T packs 370 horses and 394 lb ft of torque, and gives a fairly reasonable and expected 15/23 mpg. It's equipped much like the Charger R/T, including a standard five-speed automatic (a six-speed manual is a $995 option). So, overall, some solid prices at the end of the neo-muscle journey– especially when you factor in the likely $1500 – $2500 rebates that are likely at some point in the next six months (if the company lasts that long).

Saturn is dead. Despite a thoroughly refreshed line-up– including a mild hybrid, a Lambda-dancing CUV, a sexy sports car and a cute ute– the brand can’t get wood. In fact, Saturn’s sales are the very definition of flaccid. Year-to-date, they fell 19.9 percent. In May, sales sank 32.7 percent. In this process of final dissolution, the once autonomous upstart GM brand has become an irrelevant Opel outpost. Saturn’s Spring Hill, Tennessee factory is now in Chevy’s hands. Plastic body panels and unique designs have been swapped for rebadged leftovers from the GM parts bin. Saturn’s slow homicide is more than a shame. It offers a discouraging glimpse into General Motors’ dysfunctional culture.

Just when Detroit thought it was safe to go back into the red ink-stained waters, the Teamster's union has stolen their swimsuits. (Or something like that.) Automotive News [sub] pinged-us with news of a strike at the nation's number two car delivery hauler: Performance Transportation Services (PTS). "The action comes after a bankruptcy court judge gave the suburban Detroit company permission to cut the pay of its union drivers by 15 percent. PTS is operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in three years." This time 'round, it ain't just The Big 2.8 who could get slammed by a strike. PTS delivers an unknown percentage of its four million cars shipped annually to Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Toyota dealers.