Growing up, I thought the Porsche 911 was hideous. Its bug eyes and lumpy lines made me wonder if the designer had accidentally knocked modeling clay off his drafting table and submitted the splatter. This notion persisted until I drove one. Some 130 mph later, I considered the 911 the most beautiful automotive form on earth. Driving the all-new 2009 Honda Pilot EX-L kinda sorta triggered the same type of perceptual realignment. Call it Zen and the art of "challenging" design.

The Detroit News reports that Ford and GM boffins have spent the last month or so discussing joint-development of engines and powertrains. The usual anonymous sources say GM approached Ford first, and that Dearborn's initial response was "mixed." But the Blue Oval Board of Directors authorized negotiations. The two firms' heads of powertrain development have met at least three times. Neither company has commented on the reports, but analysts point to a jointly-developed six-speed automatic transmission as a sign that I know it sounds crazy, but it just might work. GM is said to be "ahead of Ford on four-cylinder engine development," while the General could learn a thing or two from Ford's Ecoboost program. And then there's the wild card: the plug-in electric – gas hybrid Volt. "If GM is smart [hold the guffaws please], they will proliferate Volt technology," says featured analyst Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics. "Ford has more experience in getting the costs down, and that could really help GM." Or is it that Ford is five years away from a PHEV of its own, and will do anything to get on board GM's moonshot? Or it could be as simple as splitting a development bill or two. Either way, file this under "How the Mighty Have Fallen" and block your nose. This collaboration reeks of desperation.

Ford has canceled a Flex production shift, and the model's chief designer suddenly left the company. Still, as Berkowitz's review points out, the Flex isn't a horrible car. It's simply fighting for market share in the remnants of a burst (SUV) bubble. The Wall Street Journal scolds the whole segment for mediocre mileage, but blames the Flex flop on crashing SUV residual values. "With gas hovering around $4 a gallon, even the crossover category continues to show signs of slowdown, as many consumers looking to replace traditional trucks are experience falling resale value of their old vehicles, freezing buyers out of the crossover market and pushing them to look at options such as compact and midsize cars," says Brian Johnson of Lehman Brothers. Even so, Ford dealers are anxious to get a Flex on the floor. "Dealers think that the product can generate showroom traffic," Ford spokesman Jay Ward tells Automotive News [sub]. "[Customers] may not buy a Flex, but they may buy a Taurus X or an Edge." So the Flex is a highly-advertised vehicle that misses the mark but entices buyers into looking at other moribund models. In other words, the GT's replacement is the Windstar replacement. How great is that?

Volkswagen's newest Golf debuts at the Paris Auto Show in a few months.  Ahead of that blessed event, unofficially official images are surfacing around the web. Motor Authority has assembled the "leaked" images for your perusal, but there's not much to see. From the outside, the new Golf retains much of its previous form, with Scirocco-inspired headlights providing the only major contrast with the outgoing model. The Golf's taillights have also been refreshed. Although the whole shape seems lighter and more crisply styled, its bland visage and vacant gaze suggest a lobotomized Mk. V; while the rest of the car suggests… well, a regular Mk. V. If you've been obsessing over the new (Euro market-only) Scirocco for months, you'll probably love the Golf's new looks, and notice subtle similarities between the two. But as the Scirocco won't challenge the GTI for the hearts of American VW fanboys, most shoppers will probably think the Golf just got uglier. Which, until we see it in the steel, we're afraid to say it has.

The crossover– crudely defined as a SUV-styled car– hasn't fared well in the Great Sales Meltdown of 2008. The Wall Street Journal reports that the segment slipped 11 percent from last year. Thanks to a combination of high gas prices, atrocious SUV trade-in/resale values and generally high CUV prices, SUV owners are trading down to cars, rather than across to CUVs. Uh-oh. Carmakers were counting on larger profit margins on those CUV's to keep them afloat in these lean times. Even sales of small and relatively fuel-efficient CUV's (a.k.a. "cute utes") are lackluster. The Toyota RAV4 (12,006) is down 20.7 percent [unadjusted for sales days is how we roll]. Honda's CR-V (17,419) tumbled 15.3 percent. There are a few bright spots in the CUV market: the Nissan Rogue (6,525) and Subaru Forester (5,559). But their combined sales generated about the same volume as the RAV4. The Dodge Journey, at 3,306 sales last month and 26,180 for the year, is already is selling for thousands below MSRP. [BTW, the brand new Ford Flex barely edged its outgoing platform-mate Taurus X, 2,204 vs. 2,034.] Even with gas prices dipping, the CUV genre seems stillborn. GM identified the fourth Lambda-platformed Chevy Traverse (post-Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook) as the only key product launch in North America this fall. Not good on stilts.

One of the reasons TTAC writers have a take-no-prisoners attitude: they know they're going to die. If you have a strong sense of morality, and accept the fact of your mortality, you realize you might as well make some noise before your time is up. To paraphrase Adlai Stevenson and Dylan Thomas, it's better to light a roman candle and curse the darkness than go gently into that good night. I never met Glenn Swanson face-to-face. I wouldn't have recognized him if I'd passed him on the street. But as writer, he was one of us. Glenn's sense of humor, passion, cynicism and perfectionism qualified him for duty. On Friday night, Glenn died of leukemia. He's the first of our writers to shuffle off this mortal coil. Obviously, he will not be the last. Meanwhile, Glenn will be missed. His spirit and work will be remembered by those who are not afraid to tell the truth about cars, and those who are willing to listen.

I like in-game advertising about as much as I like dealer-pimping license plate holders and badges. In the same way I'm happy to advertise my car dealer if he's wiling to fork over some cash for my personal automotive real estate, I'm all for in-game ads if the electronic entertainment's free, or at least heavily discounted. But no. While Grand Theft Auto keeps it real (by keeping product placements unreal), Midnight Club LA reveals that Rockstar is a complete whore, ready to sell my eyeballs to corporate America and charge me full whack for the privilege. OK, the extra money [allegedly] helps the game's designers make a better product. And I don't have to buy Midnight Club LA if I don't want to. Yada X 3. But I'm pissed that I can't prise the ads from the videogame or swap it out for a revenue neutral version. And I figured you might want a heads-up that DUB, TIS Modular (Wheels), Pizza Hut, Zaxby's (more fast food), The Coffee Bean, Pioneer, Quiksilver and BVLGARI are all supporting Rockstar's unconscionable advocacy of anti-social behavior. And that's just in this clip. And yes, that last bit was a head fake. It's all in good fun! Until someone puts an e-eye out. 

If brevity be the sole of wit, Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli's latest email to his troops is a particularly humorless e-missive. Although ours is to question why (whether they do or die), it's the weekend. So I'll leave the parsing to TTAC's Best and Brightest. Suffice it to say Bob's commemoration of Cerberus' Chrysler purchase is a curious blend of woo-hoo, uh-oh and hey ho, let's go! We'll be sure to update our Chrysler Suicide Watch soon. Meanwhile, here's the text in full…

Journalism professors counsel aspiring scribes to avoid deploying numbers in the first paragraph. It’s a sensible prohibition. Although statistics (a.k.a. facts) give journos the imprimatur of authority, nothing’s more narcoleptic than naked numerology. Which is just as well. My math skills are only slightly better than my ability to pilot a Gulfstream IV. But I know a man who regularly rides in the back of one of these airborne ego-carriers, and he’s an accountant. And the CEO of GM. For the weekend, anyway. The question is, who’s next?

Oil shock version three-point-something is roiling the global economy. SUVs are doing a fair imitation of the dinosaurs in Fantasia. As the U.S. auto industry undergoes a rapid, convulsive, paradigm product shift, I feel a slight pang for T-Rex: the Chevrolet Suburban. I hope this example of the species pulls through. The SUV segment appears to be history, but the Suburban IS history.

That's a lot of billions. Of course, GM camp followers will do the usual math, discounting "one time" charges to paint a more palatable picture of pissed-away profits. The New York Times does the math for those so inclined. "According to the earnings statement, the loss included $9.1 billion in one-time charges, $3.3 billion of which was for employee buyouts… Included in the results, the statement said, was $1.3 billion in write-offs that reflect the drop in value of trucks and sport utility vehicles in GMAC Financial Services’ portfolio…  Excluding one-time charges, G.M. had a loss of $6.3 billion or $11.21 a share, compared with income of $1.3 billion or $2.29 a share in the same period last year." And still the spin is spun. "We have the right plan for G.M., driven by great products, building strong brands, fuel-economy technology leadership and taking full advantage of global growth opportunities," GM CEO Rick Wagoner asserted. His optimism is based on this startling stat: "North American sales were down 20 percent, or 236,000 units, while sales outside of North America grew by 10 percent or 116,000 units. A record 65 percent of G.M.’s sales for the second quarter were outside the United States, the company said, while global market share was 12.3 percent, down 0.9 percent because of the weakness in North America." GM Death Watch later today.

Click here for a copy of the GM press release 

GM wants you to know the not-so-very-new-anymore Chevy Malibu's total sales were up 79 sales-adjusted percent in July. The penalty box known as the Chevy Aveo was up 17 percent. The Saturn Aura was up 24 percent. And Cadillac CTS sales were up 38 percent. Those are the adjusted numbers they put in the bold print right at the top of their July sales press release. However, the real story: overall sales were down 26.1 percent (unadjusted). The auto side's overall 12 percent decrease was exacerbated by a whopping 36.4 percent drop on the truck side. Something else that's easy to miss is the word "total" in front of some of the sales numbers (like Malibu above). When GM's spinmeisters talk about great "retail" sales of some models, that's a sure sign that fleet sales made up the bulk of the "total" sales mentioned for other models.

Click here for GM sales press release

(Note:  The numbers in the press release are adjusted for sales days, so they will vary from the unadjusted numbers reported here.)

The July sales numbers are starting to come in and they're not encouraging. Toyota's overall sales dropped 11.9 percent from last July.  As you can probably guess, trucks were responsible for the largest chunk of Toyota's dismal numbers; passenger cars were down only 5.7 percent while trucks plummeted 29.5 percent. If Toyota's turning in numbers like this, it's going to be scary to see everyone else's reports. We'll post 'em as we get 'em.

Click here for Toyota sales press release

[NB: The numbers in the official press release are adjusted for sales days; TTAC reports the unadjusted numbers.]

TTAC newcomer Ken Elias reckons his most excellent Chrysler Suicide Watch 37 flushed Auburn Hills' proverbial grouse from its metaphorical heather. Whatever the cause, ChryCo to reassure the world that it's not about to swan dive by revealing some of its financials. Automotive News [sub] reports that the ailing American automaker claims "operating income" of $1.1b for the first half of 2008. Jim Press, Chrysler co-president, said the $1.1 billion was Chrysler's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Chrysler also had $11.7 billion 'in cash and marketable securities.'" CFO Ron Kolka claimed the number included $2.3b in "restricted cash" and excluded $2.3b in Voluntary Employee Benefits Association assets. The overall number is higher than a lot of analysts expected, but it includes the $2b ChyrCo borrowed recently. The main question: is Chrysler playing silly buggers with the books?

Not unexpectedly, Chrysler's results once again tumbled into terrible. The ailing American automaker's sales fell 28.8 percent overall. Sadly, the sales breakdown doesn't look much different than last month's. But that should come as little surprise; absolutely nothing has changed. Thanks to ChryCo's uninspiring and truck-heavy product mix, the sales chart again lists a whole bunch of double digit percentage drops.  Overall, cars were down almost as much as trucks:  28.2 percent for cars vs. 29 percent for trucks. The minivans have switched places – T&C up a few thousand, GC down a few hundred. Dodge's big hair van (the Journey) is selling slightly better than the brand-new Challenger. The smallest cars are again underperforming, with only the Jeep Patriot in positive territory, up a paltry 4 percent. A gaggle of discontinued vehicles– Chrysler Crossfire and Pacifica, and Dodge Magnum– are down in minus 80 percent territory. The Durango, which has not been discontinued (yet), due for Lame Duck Dual Mode hybridization, is also down 84 percent. Just 384 trucks left the lot. Chrysler's Project D fuel-sipping mid-size sedan can't come soon enough. Literally.