Creative Global Investments analyst Sabine Blümel takes on the Fiat-Chrysler marriage at just-auto.com [sub] and she seems unable to find anything positive to say about the deal. “A three-way alliance, also including GM Europe, and even better, also GM Latin America, would have given [Fiat Group] a full-range product portfolio and an extended and strengthened geographic footprint,” says Blümel. Take GM’s Opel or Latin American ops out of the picture, and you’ve got a nasty case of the not-so-muches on your hands. “We see little potential strategic benefit for the Fiat and our concerns regarding the benefits for Fiat from the alliance have, if anything, increased since the alliance plan was first announced,” is the verdict.

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This spot (which cribs the Allman Brothers tune that gearheads will recognize as the Top Gear theme) is part of what AdAge describes as the repair chain’s effort to attract customers from closing dealerships. After all, the service department is often where the real money is made at dealerships, and the race to snag shuttered dealerships’ business is on. Automotive News [sub] reports that CarsDirect is even offering free 60-day online listings for any dealership that is going out of business. “We hope this offer helps dealers sell more cars as they work to stay in business and remain fixtures in their communities during the transition,” says CarsDirect VP Ken Potter. Not to mention a little free publicity that comes with the charitable territory. Meanwhile, how are GM and Chrysler shoring up their PR after the nasty dealer shutdown debacle? According to a WaPo analysis, Chrysler is emphasizing product competitivity (huh?) and GM is emphasizing restructuring (why?). So much for putting the best foot forward.

GM has bowed to political pressure, deciding that it won’t use taxpayer money to import compact vehicles from China. Instead, Aveo II (a.k.a. the Chevy Viva) will be built at one of three existing GM plants. (Hello, DOE retooling loans!) Up for the contract are Michigan’s Orion Township, Tennessee’s Spring Hill and Wisconsin’s Janesville assembly plants, and GM’s Troy Clarke is meeting with workers and unions from the three locales in order to determine the best site for Viva production. Oh, did I say workers and unions? I meant congressional delegations. Because, in the post Barney Frank-gate environment, “(GM’s choice is) going to be based on pure business decision,” according to Rep. Gary Peters (D-MI). Would Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI) like to clarify? “We’ve been in the front line of pain and we very much believe that one of the factors that should be taken into account is the impact of other decisions,” Levin tells the DetN. Gosh, that sounds almost . . . political. Hit the jump to find out which congressional delegation is most likely to build the new generation of GM compacts.

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The European Commission has scrutinized care packages given to car makers by their governments. The Commissars find those programs highly objectionable. According to Reuters, “U.S. financial aid to carmakers and a number of stimulus packages adopted by other countries to fight the economic slowdown could distort global trade,” a (probably not very) confidential European Commission report says. Here are the EU commission’s main objections:

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Matthew 6:24: “No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.” Applying this biblical admonition to General Motors, it’s clear that the federal bailout will accelerate rather than retard its ultimate demise. The automaker’s corporate culture was dysfunctional before the feds took the reigns back when its over-compensated suits made sure that failure was impossible (and not in a good way). Now that GM employees must answer (at least in the theoretical sense) to both management and politicians, it’s twice as screwed-up. As I indicated in this morning’s Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, the political interference with the company’s operations is already underway. Well of course it is. And it will continue. As will GM’s descent into oblivion. Simply put, there’s no way GM can get its house in order when Uncle Sam is the landlord. SNAFU × 2.

The Cash for Clunkers (C4C) program is on its way to Senate approval, as your elected representatives have attached the bill to the $106 billion military spending bill. As the Detroit News reports, the C4C rider sallies forth into legislative battle in the same form as the House version: “Under the program, owners of cars rated at 18 mpg or less in combined highway and city mileage could turn them in for a cash voucher. Buying a new car rated at least 4 mpg higher would earn a $3,500 voucher; a 10 mpg improvement would earn a $4,500 voucher. Pickups would be eligible as long as the new vehicle has a mileage rating of at least 18 mpg and is at least 2 mpg higher than the old vehicle. A new truck rated at least 5 mpg higher than the turned-in vehicle would earn a $4,500 voucher.” One problem: the feds are not planning (i.e., budgeting) for success . . .

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A major credit rating agency yesterday released a report reinforcing a negative outlook on the financial stability of the toll road industry. Fitch Ratings analyzed the performance of forty US toll road facilities during 2007 and 2008. It predicted that the roads would not see a recovery from the recession until 2011 at the earliest and that motorists would be paying more money in tolls as a result.

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TTAC Spammer, goodluck.victorian, spams my inbox with:

Hello My name is miss Victoria. I saw your profile today on www.thetruthaboutcars.com and became interested in you. 

I will also like to know more about you, and I want you to send a mail to my email address so that i can give you my picture for you to know whom l am. I believe we can move from here. Remember the distance or colour does not matter but love matters allot in life. 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONCERN.  YOURS VICTORIA

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GM LETTERHEAD

June __, 2009

VIA Federal Express

[DEALER ENTITY CORPORATE NAME] 

[DEALER ADDRESS] 

To All GM Dealers in the US Who Received a Participation Agreement:

First and foremost, thank you for your continued support and efforts on GM’s behalf in these difficult times.  As we indicated when we sent you the June 1, 2009 letter agreement (the “Participation Agreement”), GM wants your dealership to be part of GM’s future and our whole focus is to try to improve, together, the GM dealer network.  We are gratified that, through Monday, June 8, we have received ______ signed Participation Agreements, indicating broad dealer support of our objectives for the dealer network.  

We have, however, received thoughtful and insightful questions and comments from individual dealers, the NADA and the National Dealer Council (the “NDC”) regarding the Participation Agreement. In response, we have had discussions with the NADA and the NDC. As a result of those discussions, we are writing to provide clarity on several points addressed in the Participation Agreement, as well as to amend certain terms and conditions of the Participation Agreement. Again, our whole focus here is to work with GM dealers to insure that both GM and the dealer body are best positioned to compete in this challenging environment and more importantly in the future.

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I am turning to the B & B for some new (used) car advice. My current bad weather bomber is a 2004 Jeep Liberty (I ride a bike on any and all good weather days). While it’s served me well, the commute is becoming Novocain for my soul. That and summer trends for higher prices at the pumps is a pain. I’ve narrowed my search down to two finalists: 2002 BMW 325Ci or a 2002 Subaru WRX wagon. The bimmer appeals to my inner snob, while the subie to my inner hoon. Both have around 200k (km’s not miles) but both pack a 2-year warranty. With the Subaru I get the AWD for Toronto’s increasingly snowy winters and the convenience of a wagon for schlepping just about anything I want. The 3 Series was/is the ultimate driving machine. Both run on premium juice, but beat the Jeep hands down for fuel (and fun) efficiency. The WRX has a $2K price advantage, too, but lacks the leather lap o’ luxury the Bavarian boasts. Feature for feature, it’s BMW all the way, but the toys all come at a high price (of maintenance). So what say TTAC’s panel of experts? Test drives start tonight!

The worldwide car market contracted in the first five months of 2009 by about 20 percent. And what did VW do? Last month, all brands of Volkswagen actually edged out a little growth, 1.5 percent over May 2008. The core VW brand increased 10.2 percent in May, says Automobilwoche [sub]. For the first five months, all VW brands were down 7 percent worldwide, way above the -20 percent world average. Why? VW is strong, and they are strong in strong markets such as China (+ 45.2 percent), Germany (+36 percent) and Brazil (+4 percent). In the US, VeeDub can only do better. Their market share in the U.S.A. was an anemic 2.1 percent in May.

The German government is sending strong signals to GM to move on the Opel deal with Magna — or else. Their message: “Get on with it, or Opel will be Chinese.”

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TTAC reached 10,000 posts on Wednesday!

We couldn’t have done it without the 12,000+ subscribers, 1,000,000+ unique visitors (monthly), numerous contributors, and the 250,000+ comments made so far.

Here’s to 10,000 more posts!

I’m honored that the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has decided to publish my Op-Ed on GM’s political entanglement in tomorrow’s paper and online. [link here] I trust the piece will bring TTAC some fresh eyeballs. But it’s not the most important aspect of the deal. This website didn’t get to 1 million visits per month through powerful links (thanks, Instapundit), media showboating (shukran, Al-Jazeera) or celebrity journalism (oy, Yates). We did it by providing you, our Best and Brightest, with a steady diet of no-holds-barred automotive news, rants and reviews. The most thrilling bit of the WSJ publication: it will confer legitimacy on our collective mission. Meanwhile and in any case, thanks for your patience with our recent technical troubles. TTAC’s new owner, a Canadian outfit called VerticalScope, is gradually cleaning up some of the, uh, challenged back end software. Our new tech guy, Jonathon Marshall, is a creative, methodical and tenacious bastard. Kinda like us. And you. Cue the “Barney” song. Or better yet, not.

And I predict Ford CEO Alan Mulally will be proven wrong. Of course, I could be wrong about Mulally being wrong. I mean, I’m the not-so-proverbial nutter in the attic. Big Al’s probably got an entire building full of MBA-owning sales analysts doing nothing but crunching numbers (and hanging out by the water cooler talking about how TTAC talked about them hanging out by the water cooler). I base my false dawn dismissal on three main facts. First, Detroit’s been blowing smoke up the media’s ass since The Boston Americans beat the Pittsburgh Pirates by two runs to clinch the inaugural World Series. If not before. I don’t trust a word they say. Second, same again, only this time not discounting the fact the automakers may actually believe their own delusions. Which is some deeply scary shit. Still. And third, housing starts.

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