“This isn’t the same America that mustered the will and the fierce pride to counteract global evil in the Second World War. This isn’t the same America whose ‘blue sky’ thinking and unbridled creativity responded to a challenge and propelled the rocket age to new heights. And this isn’t the same America that once shared a common purpose and perspective on what this country stands for. Instead, this country has become a jaded and fractionalized nation of consumer sponges driven by the lackadaisical mantra of ‘whatever’ and ‘what’s in it for me?’ A nation whose people couldn’t be bothered with such esoteric concepts as this country’s eroding manufacturing base and the nation’s burgeoning inability to lead on the world stage.” Wow! It looks like Sweet Pete has gone beyond Shock and Denial, past Pain and Guilt, all the way to Anger and Bargaining. Yup. “At this juncture Detroit has only one move left, and that is to get through to the American consumer by building outstanding products that have no ‘ifs,’ ‘ands,’ or ‘buts’ attached to them. Machines that not only stand out, but stand above the rest.” What’s the hurry? Next up: Depression, Reflection and Loneliness.

In the run-up to a $50b taxpayer-sponsored handout, Detroit is beginning to fret about congressional oversight/investigation (as detailed in our latest General Motors Death Watch). Detroit News Auto Editor Manny Lopez sees the danger. “GM, Ford and Chrysler are not charitable organizations though they’ve acted like it in the past with everything from labor contracts to benefits and executive salaries. They cannot afford to let that continue. They’re lobbying hard for direct government loans to help bring them out of their automotive abyss, but that can’t happen until they plug a few more holes in the proverbial belt and tighten it even further.” Notice the weak language: “a few more holes.” Yes, while Lopez praises Detroit for tightening-up on (i.e. suing) a handful of employees for violating employee discounts regs, and chides an unnamed automaker for serving non-proverbial “hand-battered pecan crusted whitefish” in its executive dining rooms, he only makes the previously mentioned passing mention re: executive compensation. Hello? Rick Wagoner banked $15.5m last year. Lopez’ half-hearted call for reform tells us that Detroit has more to worry about than it expects. A quick email to your senator would help in that regard.

So there we were, joining the speculation that Russian, uh, “oligarch” Oleg Deripaska was about to scarf GM’s HUMMER brand. While that turned out to be a journalistic damp squib, the Russian billionaire that the feds won’t allow on our shores (now that his $500k bribe to former Senator Bob Dole has expired) has found a way to join hands with The General. The Moscow Times reports the deal: “GAZ, billionaire Oleg Deripaska’s automaker, will partner General Motors in Italian engine maker VM Motori, after agreeing to buy the 50 percent the U.S. company does not own.” The Veep of GM Powertrain Europe is thrilled. “Our joint venture agreement with GAZ Group provides business opportunities to expand our diesel engine business with new customers,” Mike Arcamonet announced. To that end, “GAZ will gain the right to build the Italian producer’s light-diesel engines in Russia under license after acquiring the stake from Detroit-based Penske. This according to Yelena Matveyeva, a spokeswoman for Deripaska’s Russian Machines transportation division. Matveyeva “declined to disclose the financial terms” of the deal. I wonder why.

Ten weeks before the Tet Offensive fatally undermined American support for the Vietnam War, General William Westmoreland embarked on a publicity tour to “sell” the ongoing military campaign. In a televised news conference, Westmoreland famously declared that he could see “the light at the end of the tunnel.” In the same sense, GM’s executives continue to express their faith in the automaker’s “turnaround.” This much is to be expected– especially when The General is lobbying for tens of billions of dollars in public funds. But the mainstream automotive media’s complicity is unconscionable.

Many years ago, while riding a water taxi in Venice, I asked the pilot if he ever went onto the Terraferma (mainland) – and if so, if he needed a car. His answer? Yes and no. In the canal parts of Venice, you don’t (and can’t) have a car, but in his case, driving was purely for passion and fun. On Sundays, my friend would travel to the mainland and pull his Ford Focus ST 170 out of a garage. And then he’d drive the hell out of it. “Why not a diesel?” I asked daftly. “Because I’m driving for fun! Not best l/km!” Yes, our nation depends on them to get from A to B, especially when the bus-train-bicycle doesn’t do it for some reason. But for me, driving is about fun first and foremost. That’s why I put up with unreliable new cars (my GTI) and unreliable old cars (just wait a few weeks till I announce the new member of my car family). That’s why Liebermen ended today’s podcast by saying he was going to go out and enjoy the Pontiac G8 GT he’s got this week. And now it’s my turn.

Chrysler LLC’s first month without car leasing went just fine, thank you. Okay, maybe not. The beleaguered automaker’s sales are down 34% last month and 24% for the year, with the second number going down 1 percent in each of the past 3 months. There were few bright spots, the biggest being the Town & Country minivan, up 15% and Charger up 3% (*cough* fleets). The Dodge Journey continues to sell well at 4,587 CUV’s sold this month, and everything else was petrified from too much time on the lots. The smaller Jeep Patriot was down 21%, which wasn’t as bad as its hideous fraternal twins, the Compass (down 56%) and Dodge Caliber (down 57%). Most other vehicles are again in negative double digit territory. Dodge Durango didn’t do quite as badly this month, up to 1,430 from 384 in July. The Durango Hybrid (DuH) hasn’t gone on sale yet, so we’ll wait for the numbers to bump next month. Or not.

When a big storm comes, even the best-prepared boats get knocked around. But while the Big 2.8 take on water like a sieve, Toyota has managed to gain market share by simply avoiding double-digit losses. Unsurprisingly ToMoCo’s trucks are doing worst, dropping 17.6 percent but improving over July’s dismal performance. On the car front, the Yaris is booming with 20 percent higher sales than last August, and Camry is up 3.3 percent. But sagging Corolla sales drag Toyota’s overall car sales down 3.4 percent from a year ago. Scion’s skid has leveled off, recording almost exactly as many sales as in July. Lexus follows the ToMoCo trend of hybrids up, everything else down, with a 9.8 percent decrease in cars and a 7.8 decrease in trucks sold in August. Between its brands, Toyota now sells nearly twice as many hybrids as it does Scions, with 19,529 sold in August and 185,051 sold on the year to date. The only way to boost sales there is to increase production. Again. Still.

Car Guy: 1. A person that lives and breathes cars; can tell you not only the make and model of every car on the street, but the displacement and power ratings as well. 2. A car enthusiast that values performance over practicality, comfort, reliability and efficiency (see Alfa Romeo Owner). For today’s QOTD purposes, lets stick with definition number two. Good? That said, I’m fortunate enough this week to be blasting all over Los Angeles in a Pontiac G8 GT (that’s the one with the 6.0-liter 361 hp V8 — more later). In my eyes, the Pontiac from down unda is a car guy’s car. Potent, fairly crude, not so hot on gas and a genuine thrill to drive. This morning (doing about 90 mph up a 6% grade) I passed a New Beetle Convertible. It had an orange top and matching orange rims. My gut, reptilian brain reaction was to smash it off the road. Who would drive such a dorky buggy? But is the Bug that J Mays penned any less of a car guy car than a Toyota Corolla/Camry? What about a (perish the thought) minivan? Or, the press car I traded last night for the G8, a Lincoln MKX? Yeah, the Ford Edge with 50 Cent’s teeth. I’m going to stick with the sherbet New Beetle. You?

Honda, the poster child for “Why Can’t Motown be More Like a Transplant?” was not immune from the U.S. auto industry’s August doldrums. While sales of the new Pilot rose 18.6 percent (11,276 units), and sales of the miserly Civic increased by 5.3 percent (30,052) units, Honda’s Fit ran out of puff. August sales sank 25.1 percent. Year-to-date, Fit sales are up 54.9 percent– indicating the run-out of the old model/anticipation for the new one. Meanwhile, the plentiful, new(ish) Accord is also struggling, down 7.9 percent, ceding the top sales spot to Camry by 991 cars. Needless to say (these days), light truck sales dragged Honda’s numbers down. CR-V sales dropped by 14.3 percent, the Odyssey took a 19.6 percent dive and the Ridgeline (the what?) was 14.4 percent off its previous pace. Even with the Pilot’s ascent, Honda’s truck sales were down a combined 10.6 percent. That’s not bad, you know, considering.

Cars.com’s Kickingtires blog has a question: “With consumers so concerned about fuel economy, why is General Motors waiting two years to bring out the Chevrolet Cruze, the replacement for the compact Chevy Cobalt?” Of course, we would ask the question with more of a “if the Cruze isn’t being sold for two years, why is GM hyping it now?” slant. Either way, even Kicking Tires is saying something’s gone wrong, horribly wrong, here. But no matter, Bob Lutz has the answer. “We’re waiting on the new world car because that gives us time to develop the 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder for it,” explains the man of maximum. And the way Lutz tells it, the Cruze’s new 1.4 turbocharged four-banger will be worth the wait. “The 1.4-liter is going to be more high torque than high horsepower,” explains the Car Czar. “High torque at the low end for power takeoffs and quick acceleration while still getting high mileage… We expect to get more than 40 mpg highway, better than with some hybrids.” Well, that sounds worth the wait, right? Well, in yet another Lutzie-worthy performance, Maximum Bob shoots his argument in the foot by revealing that “The 1.4 liter goes on sale in Europe in a couple weeks.” So then why is the Cruze not available until the mythical land of “late 2010?” Instead of waiting for the engine, is it possible GM’s waiting for, say, low-interest government loans for retooling factories to build more fuel-effiecient cars? Bet on it.

Nissan’s two divisions did well in August 2008, thanks to a heavy dose of incentives. Nissan division sales were up 14.2% over last year, but car sales flat at plus 0.6% Altima is outselling all other Nissan cars combined and was barely off the pace at 25,298, down just 0.5% still up 9.2% year to date. Versa sales finally took a breather for the first time in months at 8,015, down 5.2% for the month, but still up 15.7& for the year. Trucks/CUVs did well, up 22.7%, with another 6637 Rogue CUVs sold and double-digit percentage sales increases of the Frontier (55.5%), Xterra (76.9%), and Quest (64.4). Those gains are a complete U-turn from whopping drops just 2 months ago. The Rogue jump certainly makes sense, cannibalizing the Murano and probably getting some mileage out of its relatively high MPG ratings (for the segment, at least). The larger new Murano CUV continues to sell off the pace, down 22.9% , and Titan down 15.9%. On the luxury side, Infiniti sales rose 8.0% over last year. A 7.7% drop in G35 sedan sales were offset by a 27.3% rise in FX CUV sales, but that’s just 300 vehicles either way. If anyone’s counting, Godzilla GT-R sales are 484, and 631 in 2008 – and guess what: no factory incentives needed.

Ford’s August sales numbers are in. Following the now-familiar pattern, Ford’s put a brave face on what can only be described as the tragedy part of that weird ass dual mask drama companies use on their programs. “FORD FOCUS, ESCAPE REMAIN STANDOUTS IN A CHALLENGING MARKET,” FoMoCo’s press release proclaims. Gas misers must truly in vogue, as non-class-leader Ford Focus sales rose 23 percent. Escape sales also escaped the August drought, ascending by 17 percent.  OK, now the bad news… All three Blue Oval Brands took in on the chin, year-to-date-wise: Ford (-14.7 percent), Lincoln (-18.8 percent) and Mercury (-23.6 percent). While the general car scene wasn’t all that rosy (-5.1 percent), but the SUV picture was a desert (trucks down 20.1 percent).

[Click here for Ford’s August sales stats]

Volkswagen released its August sales numbers today, and somehow they are miraculously not down. They’re up 2.9%, which in this automotive market is like finding a trillion dollar bill in your pocket. What accounts for the growth? The Jetta and the introduction of the Tiguan. For the past 15 years, this has been Volkswagen’s single most important product (perhaps when the New Beetle debuted, it stole the limelight for a year or so), and the Jetta accounts for roughly 50% of Volkswagen’s US sales. So with an increase of 1600 Jetta sedans versus August of 2007 and some 867 Jetta wagons sold (not available last year), VW has been able to offset falling numbers for pretty much everything else. The biggest news is the Rabbit, which is down 35.9%, as well as the Passat sedan, down 35.5% The introduction of the Tiguan also helped – maybe. While VW was able to move 1031 examples of the Golf-based cute ute, it’s troubling in two ways. First, that’s almost exactly the number of sales the Rabbit is down compared to last August, making this writer think cannibalism might be at work. Secondly, selling 1000 Tiguans a month puts it deep into niche territory; compare it to the Saturn Vue, selling 8000 units per month. Still, Volkswagen seems to be able to keep themselves consistent, even if their sales are a fraction of a big player’s … and their US/Canadian product lineup is like Europe’s dumber, less attractive brother.

“Oil at $80 a barrel?” asks BusinessWeek.com. Surely that’s not possible. After all, the world’s running out of oil, isn’t it? China and India have pushed global demand to untenable levels. Wells in Russia, Mexico and Saudi Arabia are running dry. High fuel prices are here to stay! We must have alternative energy… Bring on the EVs stat… Need more hybrids… Must have wind energy now… Ahhhhh!!! Yet Joel Fingerman, a Chicago-based energy consultant, has the nerve to forecast, “This is start of a fall to $80 crude by the end of the year, maybe as early as September.” And Oppenheimer senior energy analyst Fadel Gheit explains, “Oil prices are dropping because they are inflated. You cannot sustain an artificial price forever.” Hrumph! So did ya trade in your favorite SUV for an itsy bitsy gas miser? That’s too bad. Stephen Schork, editor of a daily energy newsletter, says, “A lot of the strength [in oil’s price] was hype and hot air.” Gee, where have I heard that before?

If you want a preview of how your elected representatives are going to approach the $50b Detroit bailout (a.k.a. “Retooling for Tools”), you could do worse than read this Washington Post diatribe by economist Steven Pearlstein.  “The Road to a Bailout They Don’t Deserve” begins by giving The Big 2.8 a right royal pasting. “Even before top industry executives arrive in Washington later this month to lobby for their program, General Motors’ vice chairman, Robert Lutz, who never misses an opportunity to put his foot in his mouth, was telling reporters in Chicago last week that the industry ‘deserves’ government loans because of all the challenges that have been inflicted upon it. In fact, it’s hard to imagine an industry less deserving of government help.” Other barrel: “Here are three companies that for decades failed to produce cars that were well designed, well produced and exciting to look at, that fought tooth and nail against efforts to require greater fuel efficiency and, until recently, did too little to bring wages, benefits and retiree costs in line with competitive realities. And while they whined for years that it was unfair trade that put them at a disadvantage, Toyota, Honda, BMW and other foreign transplants came along to prove that it is possible to produce quality cars at affordable prices in U.S. factories while offering decent wages and benefits.” And just when you think Pearlstein’s going to lower the boom, he says giving Detroit the money is “probably the wise thing to do.” Probably? How great is that?