Only three lawmakers in the entire Mississippi state Legislature are willing to put themselves on record in support of red light cameras and speed cameras. Without opposition, the state Senate passed legislation yesterday that would put an immediate halt to the plans of several municipalities interested in implementing new photo ticketing programs. The vote followed last month’s 117-3 passage of a similar ban in the state House. State senators, however, did not believe that the House language went far enough.

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An overview of what happened in other parts of the world while you were in bed. TTAC provides round-the-clock coverage of everything that has wheels. Or has its wheels coming off. This column will be filed from Berlin until further notice – if & when time allows.

We are the German government, and we are here to help you, Opel: The German government is still waiting for Opel to hand in a solid business plan that could be the basis of financial assistance. What Opel has submitted so far has been found inadequate. Finance Minister Steinbrueck today put Opel on notice that without solid information there will be no money decision. Volker Kauder, head of the CDU faction said: “It looks like they need help to come up with a concept. We’ll help ’em.”

Saab? Volvo? Bu yao! Chinese automakers Dongfeng and Geely said that they have not held any talks over a possible bid for General Motors’ Saab brand, Gasgoo says. A Dongfeng spokesman as unaware of any interest by his company in bidding for the Saab brand. A senior Geely executive, when asked about his company’s possible acquisition of Saab or other brands, told reporters: “No, we did not. We’re not interested in Saab or the other brands out there.” Media reports have also said Geely was in preliminary talks with Ford Motor about the sale of the US automaker’s Volvo car unit. This was likewise denied by Geely. This comes on the heels of the Chinese government warning their automakers to buy overseas assets.
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Appearing in front of the Wall Street Journal’s typographically-challenged ECO:nomics conference in Santa Barbara, California (where else), Ford CEO Alan Mulally predicted that electric vehicles will represent a “major portion” of FoMoCo’s lineup by 2019. OK, maybe 2021. I know what you’re thinking: big NSFWing deal. GM was predicting flying cars for its next model year less than a year ago. And Big Al will be sucking down Stoli martinis in Aruba by then. So what about, you know, now? How can The Blue Oval Boyz warm-up the AGW crowd (so to speak)? Automotive News provides the answer, such as it is. “Mulally said Ford was committed to shifting away from its recent reliance on light trucks for 60 percent or more of its sales so that more fuel-efficient passenger cars dominate. ‘We can now make cars in the United States and we can do it profitably.'” Question: does the United States include Mexico?

GM CFO Fritz Henderson and Euro-CEO Carl-Peter Forster have confirmed TTAC’s recent, union-fed suspicions that Vauxhall’s UK factory is facing extinction. The Daily Express reports that Fritz and Pete are using the same extortion tactics on the UK and European governments that proved so . . . lucrative in the U.S.

GM Europe’s chief operating officer Fritz Henderson said that governments across Europe, including the British, should step in immediately with cash to prevent the loss of 300,000 jobs. Mr Henderson said GM Europe needed a £2.9 billion injection to stave off collapse and finance the separation of Vauxhall and Opel from the beleaguered parent company. GM Europe’s chief executive Carl-Peter Forster said the closure of Vauxhall’s plants in Luton and Ellesmere Port on Merseyside would have to be considered if there was no support forthcoming from the Government.

“The next step would be the complete closure. Obviously that’s what we try and avoid. But if we don’t get support from the Government we will have to close down.”

Please. Don’t get to worrying about Rick Wagoner’s finances. First of all, Rick still made $5.4 million in ’08, the year that GM threw itself at the mercy of the US taxpayer (in their own arrogant, extortionist kinda way). And, as we reported some three years ago, GM’s CEO has a bankruptcy-proof pension. So when the artist formerly known as the world’s largest automaker finally sinks into the abyss of its own making, Rick’s OK. That’s assuming Wagoner hasn’t pissed away the $100 million+ he’s banked since ascending to the top rungs of the only company for which he’s ever worked. Meanwhile, in any case, what’s wrong with this juxtaposition [via Bloomberg]: “Wagoner’s [2007] compensation included a salary of $2.1 million and he wasn’t paid a bonus, the Detroit-based automaker said in a regulatory filing today. The largest U.S. automaker lost $30.9 billion last year, the second biggest shortfall in the company’s 100-year history.” Verecundia afflictus.

GM’s auditors have looked at the books and made their determination: “our recurring losses from operations, stockholders’ deficit and inability to generate sufficient cash flow to meet our obligations and sustain our operations raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.” The filing with the SEC is refreshingly blunt, in a carefully coded way. “Sales volumes may decline more severely or take longer to recover than we expect . . . and if they do, our results of operations and financial condition and the success of the Viability Plan will be materially adversely affected.” I wonder how many billions of dollars lie between the terms “affected,” “adversely affected” and “materially adversely affected.” The Detroit News finally makes the transition from cheerleader to smokin’ hot crime scene investigator—at least for this piece.

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For the last 20 years or so, I’ve been fighting traffic tickets in the New York area. My business is not “normal.” No matter how easy I make the process, no matter what the outcome, half of my final client conversations contain the words “I hope I never see you again.” (It’s OK, I understand. You came in with a “gun to your head.”) While the client kiss-off never changes, my ticket defense work fluctuates with the level of traffic enforcement. Weather, gas prices and terrorism alerts (post 9/11) all impact the number of tickets issued. I’ve survived a few up and down cycles. And with a steady client base and wide professional contacts I can draw a few conclusions. The recession is here. Government budgets are under threat. The word has gone out: write tickets!

CarMax prides itself on creating a dealership experience unlike any other. Well, now that Saturn is going Tango Uniform. CarMax emphasizes no haggle pricing, easy financing, and a process that involves only one person. No more having your salesperson go back and forth between you and “Bubba” (or “Cowboy” if you are Dodge). You’re greeted warmly, shown any car you like, and guided through a completely transparent transaction, with nothing hidden. That’s the theory. How does it hold up in practice? In true TTAC tradition, I offer a personal critique of one of our biggest sponsors.

Dow Jones [via CNN Money] reports that FoMoCo and Ford Credit are prepared to drop precious cash to coax debt holders into converting their notes into Ford stock. Gory details of the deal are below the fold, but numerous sources are confirming that this debt restructuring is a condition for VEBA to accept company stock per its recent agreement. Plus it’s kind of an awesome PR move, in an “eat the weakest first” way. Ford is out doing all the things GM and Chrysler should have done: going to the mats with the UAW and restructuring long-term debt. The two firms actually receiving bailout money dither it away while playing catchup. Of course this doesn’t mean Ford is out of the woods yet, as $10.4B is less than half of Ford’s $25.8B pile o‘ debt. Plus, nobody has actually accepted the offer yet either.

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Without billions of bailout bucks filling the supposedly-Swedish brand’s corporate coffers, in the middle of a massive market correction, Saab’s a liability looking for one of those “born every minute” types. To that end, Saab’s CEO is doing a very bad job of convincing anyone that anyone wants to take the keys to Trollhättan from GM’s cold, dead hands. “There are about five [buyers] we want to talk to,” Managing Director Jan-Åke Jonsson Automotive News Europe. Huh? Would that be four? Or six? “There are a couple more we are also looking into.” Wait, that’s what? Something between six and eight? Wow! They love Saab! They really love Saab! Note to self: play poker with this guy as soon as possible. And when will Jonsson reveal his cards? “We should see which candidates are serious in the next week and a half.” Automotive News [sub] reveals the reason for all the Saab, lies and bankruptcy talk. “Sweden’s government has offered to consider loan guarantees for Saab if the brand can find a new owner to underwrite its business plan.” Sign here, we get the money, you get money. Sign me up!

For the past few car shows, Hyundai has been displaying mock-ups of a future Tuscon light-SUV. Boring enough one might say, except that the concepts have been so swoopy/gorgeous that even my SUV-hating girlfriend gets wanna-have pangs for what she calls the J-Lomobile. Here in Geneva, Hyundai is showing what they now call the ix-onic, a lower-case technical whiz kid. It has a 1.6L turbo gasoline engine, 170 hp, but emmissions of only 149 g CO₂, a DSG transmission and all kinds of other technical gobbledygookery. We can expect it for 2010 with few changes to the highly atractive concept except for the usual smaller wheels and lower chrome content. But what about the name? A Hyundai spokeman said all future 4WD models will use the ix-nomenclature, as in “ix-1”, “ix-2”, etc. That’s a relief—I was almost expecting something along the line of an upcoming Hyundai ix-otic, Hyundai er-otic and Hyundai ex-tatic (the latter being a sports car, of course). Tu-tonic plays with words, I know . . . .

Last year, here in Geneva, the Tata Nano was the sensation, and not only for those who thought a two thousand dollar car for the developing-country masses was world-changing. This year, the sensation is that the Nano is for the rest of us, too—at least for those of us with empty pockets and miniscule automotive requirements.

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No, you are not hallucinating. Germany’s February car sales are out. Bottles of champagne will soon follow. Unbelievably, German cars sales rose in February by 21 percent. This is what the Verband der Automobilindustrie (VDA) told Automobilwoche [sub]. 278.000 units were moved. “These are the highest February sales numbers in the last ten years, ” VDA-President Matthias Wissmann said at the Geneva auto show. “For the first time in six months, registrations are growing. We expect that domestic sales of the complete first quarter will be above prior year numbers,” Wissmann said. It’s getting even better, much better:
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Think bankruptcy might be an option worth exploring for General Motors? Worried that the Volt might have been a tad too ambitious? Clearly you must be sick in the head. Reasonable people just don’t think that way. After all, why listen to bankruptcy lawyers and university researchers when you can get the truth straight from GM. You think those eggheads know more about GM than GM? Think about it. And while you’re suspending your disbelief, head down to GM’s Fastlane blog. You’ll get your facts straightened out faster than you can say “Stockholm Syndrome.”

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An overview of what happened in other parts of the world while you were in bed. TTAC provides round-the-clock coverage of everything that has wheels. Or has its wheels coming off. This column will be filed from Berlin until further notice – if & when time allows.

Forster plays the—usual—jobs card: Opel will have to slim down its workforce, says GM Europe chief Carl-Peter Forster, “hopefully not more than 3,500 jobs.” That according to Automobilwoche [sub]. How many and where exactly is unclear—and will depend on how much money which government will fork over. Forster said in Geneva that Opel has surplus capacities of 30 percent.

Sumimasen, can you spare some billions? Japanese automakers are keeping up with the Joneses, or make that Tanakas: Japanese automakers are turning to government lending to secure operational funds, the Nikkei [sub] writes. Honda is considering borrowing from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Toyota is negotiating a five-year loan of about 200 billion yen, also from JBIC. Mitsubishi Motors has applied for a low-interest loan from the Development Bank of Japan. Honda intends to seek tens of billions of yen in dollar-denominated loans from JBIC for its US financing arm, American Honda Finance Corp. The carmaker aims to build up more cash for auto loans and leases. Toyota Financial Services Corp. has also approached JBIC to procure funds for its US financing unit, Toyota Motor Credit Corp. Nissan is double dipping—at the very least. They applied for a roughly 50 billion yen loan with the DBJ as well as a low-interest loan from the US government. It is also considering tapping JBIC loans.
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