While the official debut at the Paris Auto Show isn’t set to take place for a few days, yada yada yada, photos of the X1 are now available on the internet. I think it looks like a modern BMW crossover thingy, which means it looks awful (reference X3, X5, X6). It looks dangerously close to the out-of-date X3 in size, and the platform is some kind of 1-Series/3-Series crossbreed, meaning it can likely accept every engine those two cars offer. Unfortunately, it’s likely that the production X1 will look a lot like this. Worst part: the name reminds me of the awesome Bell X-1, the plane that broke the sound barrier.

If there’s a poster car for wholesale heaven, the Mercury Milan is it. No surprise in my neck of the woods. The oft-forgotten sibling of the Ford Fusion is flogged by a dealer network dwarfed by Ford’s name brand Goliaths. More to the point, around Atlanta, it seems like Lincoln/Mercury dealers are either closing shop, changing brands or giving-in to the white flag of consolidation. I saw over 50 Milans today. Only 10 sold. The number of Lincoln Mercury dealers buying? Zero. The Toyota Prius, on the other hand, is on fire. I saw a low-end 2004 model go for $15,800. When you incorporate the auction’s fee, that equates to a $2500 premium over a similar Prius on Ebay’s completed items section. Near-new Priora are following suit. Low-mileage 2008 examples were only going for around $21k a few weeks back. Many of them are now selling in the $23k to $25k range. When the Prius factory comes on-stream in ‘Ole Miss, prices should ease. But will they? A rising tide may lift all boats, but the Volt begins life seriously outgunned.

The Citroen GT, new Lamborghini, BMW X1, and Ford Mustang have all been “featured” in a series of teaser photos and videos over at some “other” automotive websites. They show nothing. A wheel, part of a bumper, a section of a taillight. The goal is to get the car into the news and readers’ minds, and it’s successful from a PR standpoint at doing that. But it’s also successful at pissing me off. The teasers don’t really give an indication of what a car is going to look like, which leads me to find them completely useless. I’d blame the manufacturers, but since they all do it, that’s totally futile. Rest assured, however, that when all these cars make their proper and full debuts, we’ll have pictures for you – including many shots from the Paris auto show, which begins in just a few days, thanks to our European correspondent Martin Schwoerer.

Meta media mining can make one a bummed-out blogger. I know I kinda lost it with the AutoWeek/Danbury pimpatorial. But I have this deep-seated sense of fair play that I can’t shake any more than an Amish person and their booty. If you want to know the engine propelling this site’s editorial, it’s my conviction that people deserve the truth. I’m not saying they want the truth. If there was a great hunger for unvarnished automotive editorial, we’d be one of many websites devoted to skewering four-wheeled sacred cows– despite the malevolent influence of automotive PR. Of course, that would also mean that we’d have less meta media mishegos to mine for our… minions? No, the Best and Brightest. We here at TTAC never forget the first part of that title. We know that the majority of our readers are motivated by a personal morality that compels them to do, see, discover and discuss the right thing. In these dangerous times for our economy and society, we must continue to tell the truth about cars, car making, car selling and car buying. And let the chips fall where they may.

Toyota begins assembling its Prius hybrid in Tupelo, MS sometime late in 2010, and you can expect this development to spawn some form of flag-waving PR from ToMoCo. After all, repositioning itself as an “American” company has been the central project of Toyota PR for a solid decade. But Automotive News (sub) reports that the Prius’s top supplier Denso has no plans to initiate production of hybrid components in the US… or anywhere else, for that matter. “Components used for hybrid vehicles are now experiencing very dramatic change and advancement,” says Denso CEO Nobuaki Katoh. “Given this timing, I still think the activities of development and production of the hybrid components should be concentrated here in Japan for the time being. After that, we may have to consider local production of components in overseas countries.” Quality, it seems, is the rallying cry keeping high-value hybrid component manufacturing jobs in Japan. With new lighter, smaller and less costly components being developed for the next-generation Prius, Katoh insists that Japanese production processes must be refined before they can be exported. Though an obsession with quality and process refinement has launched ToMoCo to its current dominant position, capitalizing on its early hybrid investments require driving costs down and production up. America has bought every available Prius for years now, and establishing top-to-bottom NA production of the Prius as soon as possible has got to be a priority for Toyota.

Since the $25b bailout is a done deal, it’s tempting to think of the “debate” as a fait accompli. Not so. The Department of Energy (DOE) still has to meet with lobbyists study the bill and write-up the regs. Although RF reckons the DOE won’t be rushed (that much), Motown’s white hot for the green, encouraging bailout backers to fire-off warning salvos even before the President’s signature clears the cash. As Green Car Congress reports, Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee chair Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) is pre-threatening his pals at the DOE.

I have been told there may be some confusion about the terms of the loans as the provision creating the loan program references the “activities” that are the subject of a grant program also authorized in the same section of EISA. The grant program is limited to 30 percent of the costs of a facility. This is a fairly typical cost share for grant programs. Some have raised a question as to whether this 30 percent cap should also apply to the loan program. That is not the way I read the language of the law and was certainly not our intent in writing the provision.

Moreover, I would argue that it would dramatically limit the effectiveness of the program as it would require companies to go to tight credit markets for 70 percent of their financing, precisely the problem we were seeking to remedy with the creation of the loan program. While I don’t expect the Department of Energy to take this limited view of the program, I wanted to go on record here to help alleviate any confusion that may exist. I look forward to working with the Department to aid them in getting this program up and running.

TTAC has a longstanding policy of exposing the sordid connection between mainstream automotive manufacturers and the mainstream automotive press. We feel compelled– compelled I tell you– to do so. A car is the average consumer’s second largest purchase. Propagating the myth that “there’s no such thing as a bad car,” or simply spinning spin on the spinmeisters’ behalf, is against the interests of the audience these publications pretend to serve. We’ve taken AutoWeek to task for their pro-everyone bias many times. But it’s a nuanced sort of deal, easily defensible by those who make their living riding on the carmakers’ gravy train. Except when it isn’t. The September 29 issue [print] has a full page, cardboard tear-out for the Danbury Mint’s ALL NEW! 1971 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda Convertible model. Pages 24 and 24 of Autoweek are headlined “Newly Minted,” cataloguing (literally) four new Danbury unlimited edition replicas, Shouldn’t that be freshly minted? Anyway… “While we usually offer a glimpse of scale models from a variety of manufacturers,” the subhead announces. “this time, we’re focusing on the latest offering from the Danbury Mint.” Storm in a teacup? Obviously. Indicative of a wider journalistic malaise? Absolutely.

Yes, the sound of Rice !!!!!

Warren Buffet’s recent investment in BYD has conferred a new legitimacy on a dual parallel-serial hybrid drivetrain, which combines features from both systems. And now VW has revealed its own PHEV third way called “TwinDrive.” Ohne transmission, VW’s concept car uses a small electric engine– powered by a 350 lbs. Sanyo lithium-Ion battery pack under the trunk floor– to launch its Golf testbed to 30 mph. (At which point the gasoline engine kicks in.) Electric acceleration helps overcome the limitations of a single high gear; reverse is electric-only. And drivers can engage an EV-only mode. Motor Trend reports that VeeDub’s testing the TwinDrive system with diesel engines, but gas-powered TD’s are destined for production. Production ICE is said to be a 100hp  turbocharged 1.05-liter turbocharged triple. A smart navigation-based system will calculate energy use priorities, saving battery capacity if urban driving appears ahead on the planned driving route, thus ensuring battery depletion at the destination and keeping the TwinDrive away from gas pumps unless absolutely necessary). The basic components of plug-in hybrid systems seem to have become fairly standardized. But concepts like the TwinDrive show that there are more development options than simply parallel or serial configurations.

GM has been heavily advertising its bailout bait (a.k.a. Chevrolet Volt) since the concept car was unveiled at the North American International Auto Show on January 7, 2007. Strangely, I haven’t seen a single TV or print ad featuring the new, less chop-topped bodywork. Where was I? Oh yes… From a PR perspective, GM’s electric – gas “extended range EV” has been a singular success (literally). So it’s no surprise that a Canadian power company looking to greenwash its image is jumping into bed with The General to get a Jolt from their Volt™. Ontario Power’s press release reveals that they’ve launched a two-month ad campaign that “features a 30-second TV commerical showcasing the environmental benefits of plug-in electric vehicles. The TV ads are supplemented by print, billboard and internet advertising that feature the upcoming Chevy Volt Extended Range Electric Vehicle.” In case you were wondering, that’s an EV with a “range extending power source– a small gasoline engine– that will engage seamlessly to recharge its batteries.” Only, uh, it doesn’t. Anyway, look for this “let THEM pay for it” ad deal to be replicated at a power company near you. [thanks to emro for the link]

This morning, Bloomberg took a look at Renault’s epic implosion in the past year. Financially, the big French carmaker saw its stock nosedive 55% in the past twelve months. Sales are down, and Renault’s European market share has fallen from 9.7% in 2005 to 7.7% so far this year. And Renault’s traditional strong market segments (i.e. mini-minivans) have been taking a beating from other companies, including French rivals Peugeot and Citroen. To make matters worse, VW is about to come out with a new Golf three weeks before Renault releases its new Megane, and the Golf gets better fuel economy than the Megane across the board. Nissan – of which Renault owns 44% – is at huge risk in the US economy (goodbye Murano, Pathfinder, Xterra, Armada, QX56, FX35, and Quest sales). Oh, and Renault’s big hope for making their estimates for the year is a €160 million royalty payment from Russian manufacturer AvtoVaz for licensing the design of the supercheap Dacia Logan. And speaking of which, Renault is facing declining sales for the Dacia Logan as the global economy gets crappier and people in places like Eastern Europe and Latin America have less money to spend on a new car. With all this in mind, Ghosn – once considered Nissan’s savior – may have to step down from the CEO position at Nissan as a bargain with irate shareholders so that he can keep his Renault job. And you thought things were bad for Chrysler.

Jim Dollinger (a.k.a. Buickman) never met a windmill he couldn’t tilt at. Our kinda guy really. We’ve already chronicled the dealer’s battle with GMInside News (GMI). When the site’s administrators grew tired of Jim’s front line reporting and corporate criticism, they banned him from posting (later rescinded as a “technical problem”). The recently GMI-re-enabled Buickman has just informed us that he used his access to post Ken Elias’ General Motors Death Watch 201 over on the website’s forum (careful with that copyright, Jimbo). It was immediately deleted. We here at TTAC don’t mind fan boy sites, but just like the corporation it covers, GMI needs to step up and take it like a man.

It find it more than a little ironic that the animation on GM’s Volt media website offers an embed code that doesn’t work. Thankfully, GM is web enough to give the average car nerd access to its propaganda, so you can click on over and see what all the fuss is about (hit the little higher res button under the image). The cartoon in question– complete with the kind of background music you’d find at a Lebanese restaurant– clearly indicates the Volt will not recharge its batteries until its owner plugs it in. So, are we to assume that once Chevy’s hybrid depletes its battery to about 30 percent of charge, after a [maximum] of 40 miles (downhill, wind at your back), the Hail Mary’s 1.4-liter ICE mini-mill will sustain the generator sufficiently to maintain something other than really crap performance? Good luck with that.

China’s Build Your Dreams (BYD) is something of a dark horse in the hybrid/EV game. BYD has leveraged its status as a major manufacturer of NiCad and Li-Ion batteries to create what it calls a unique hybrid drivetrain, shown in a number of derivative concept vehicles, The system purports to offer a Prius-like parallel hybrid mode, a Volt-like serial hybrid mode AND an EV-only mode. Without independent verification, the firm has invited accusations of vapor-mongering. Automotive News [sub] reports that the thinking man’s billionaire Warren Buffet has cast aside such concerns and dropped $230m on a ten percent stake in BYD. “(BYD founder) Mr. Wang Chuanfu has an extraordinary managerial record, and we welcome the opportunity to work with him,” said Buffett in a statement announcing the purchase by MidAmerican Energy Holdings, a unit of his Berkshire Hathaway financial juggernaut. This development gives BYD exactly what it needs: legitimacy. Buffett is well known for investing purely on a firms business fundamentals; his vote of confidence lifts BYD from unknown quantity to potential, yes that word again, game-changer. Meanwhile my home town of Portland, Oregon has been reaching out to BYD in hopes of landing a local production deal. Hope rain doesn’t short-out these things…