It’s BMW’s most efficient 3 series yet, which means it’s a brand-killer stateside Not to worry though, the new M5 will have 600hp. We’ll get that. Anyway, the two liter BMW oil burner gets 62.8mpg (52 miles per US gallon, non-EPA testing) and emits fewer than 120 grams of carbon per kilometer. Too bad it still starts at about $38K (in the UK). And takes 10.9 seconds to reach 62 mph. And since we’re in the realm of Euro-diesel fantasy, wouldn’t you just as soon cough up $40-42K for a 123d five-door? It may only get 50 mpg (41 US, etc), but it’s the first diesel to produce 100 hp per liter, and “a gem of an engine,” according to Autocar. Back in the stark reality of the American market though, that new M5 is going to have a twin-turbo V10. And in case that’s not enough, it will also boast a boost button based on the F1 KERS system. Good times.

While the faintest signs of economic turnaround have Detroit going back to optimistic prognosis mode, Toyota’s new boss isn’t ready to be caught guessing. Automotive News [sub] reports that Akio Toyoda is forecasting losses through March 2010, saying “we want to do everything possible to avoid a third consecutive year of losses.” Toyoda’s goal? Profitability using only 70 percent of his firm’s production capacity. Which means no plant shutdowns are planned. Keep breathing, San Antonio. Emphasizing the conservative approach is Toyota’s forecast of an $8.8 billion loss through March 2010. Analysts expect the loss to be closer to $5 billion, says AN. More autonomy for US operations and an emphasis on regionally marketed products are also major components of Toyoda’s revamp of the world’s largest automaker.

While Porsche has problems consummating the Volkswagen takeover, Volkswagen covets a smaller, but possibly juicy target: Suzuki. The German Manager Magazine has it on good authority that VW wants to get cozy with the Japanese maker of small cars. Buying, say, 10 percent of Suzuki would not be out of the question. Ulrich Hackenberg, head of VW’s R&D, had been in Hamamatsu, Japan. He came back impressed. “We are still in the sniff phase,” said a VW exec to Manager Magazine, no serious negotiations are being held—yet. Ferdinand Piech had praised Suzuki in May. Not that VW needs help building small cars. But they could need help where Suzuki is the market leader: In India, next to China the most promising growth market on the planet. Suzuki had a partnership with GM, but last year, all GM shares in Suzuki were turned into cash, so the coast is clear.

Summer 2005. My plans for a Vintage Car Rally Vacation evaporate. Rebuilding a very poorly rebuilt engine vacuums funds allocated for the purpose out of my wallet. What started as an odd knock became a horror show. My fussy ex-pat Yorkshireman mechanic in Chilliwack, B.C. removed the head and found the forensic remains of a car-related massacre not seen since Pol Pot rode around in his ’73 Mercedes. Just when I had given up on my dreams of a vintage vacation, the phone rang with an offer to co-drive an event in what many have called the world’s first supercar: the Mercedes-Benz 300SL. I accepted the offer faster than Mr. Fangio could frustrate Mr. Ferrari.

David Holzman writes:

There was a killer traffic jam on the way into the Holland Tunnel from the NJ [turnpike] last weekend. I covered a mile and a half in about 40 minutes. At the start of that jam, my 99 Accord (manual and 159k) began overheating. When the scan gauge said the temp was 231, I put the heater on full blast, and kept it there, which brought the temp down below 216. (In normal driving, the temp stays within a few degrees of 182.)

In Manhattan, I tried putting water in the radiator, but it only took about 2 cups before it was full. Leaving Manhattan, traffic was thick but not stop and go on the West Side, and the temp remained in the 190s-200s (I can’t remember if I had the heater on or not at this point), and once the highway was clear, the temp remained below 190 and mostly around 182 without the heater on all the way back to Boston–as it had been from DC to the Holland. Haven’t had any trouble driving around town since. Car has a 3 month old t’stat. I took it in, and they couldn’t get it to overheat. Any ideas?

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As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama made a campaign promise to have one million plug-in hybrids on America’s roads by 2015. That’s an ambitious plan, considering we didn’t hit the million hybrid milestone until eight years after the Prius was introduced. Back in April, GM’s Volt Man Tony Posawatz admitted to MSNBC that “it certainly is a difficult challenge to achieve that goal.” He went on to say that GM would have “tens of thousands” of Volts on the road by 2015. But, “it’s not readily obvious, based on the product plans that have been communicated, that the 2015 objective aligns with what is currently on the books,” he said. Would someone please tell Tony who pays the bills? Anyway, the tune has changed. “I can tell you we can definitely do the heavy lifting part of that,” GM’s Brita Gross tells Automotive News [sub]. “We definitely will lift up our end of that.” But how?

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Forbes, number one on the top ten list of top ten list purveyors, has published their list of “Ten Cars That Changed the World.” It contains vehicles “that were the first of their kind and that influenced the design and performance elements of the entire industry” and that have “staying power.” Or so they say. While some are no-brainer picks as history-changers (Ford Model T and VW Beetle), some are kind of strange (c’mon . . . the AMC Eagle?). And I know a few million Corvette fans who will dispute their statement that the Porsche  911 “has the longest production run of any sports car sold in the U.S.” Forbes‘ complete list is after the jump. Alternative suggestions welcome.
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China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is unhappy with Tengzhong buying Hummer. The agency “is likely to reject Sichuan Tengzhong’s bid to buy the Hummer brand from bankrupt General Motors Corp,” Chinese state radio said today according to Reuters. Chinese state radio, being Chinese state radio, usually doesn’t report stuff that runs contrary to Chinese government intentions.

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By all accounts, the refreshed Ford Taurus is an excellent car. Easy-to-drive, economical, well-built, comfortable, capacious and handsome. As a sign of its pre-launch success, the vehicle’s critics are focusing on its sticker price. As a firm believer that something is worth exactly what someone will pay for it, it remains to be seen if Ford’s priced the refreshed Taurus out of the market. Meanwhile and in any case, Taurus Gen 6 won’t “save” Ford like the 1986 model. The 2010 Taurus may be a singular automobile, but it is not a signature automobile. To survive in today’s crowded, shrunken, hyper-competitive new car market, Ford needs vehicles that clearly differentiate the brand from the competition, and marketing to match. Ford recognizes the problem, but fails to rectify it.

The Ventura County, California, Grand Jury on Monday slammed the city of Ventura for using a short yellow light cycle to trap motorists at at the intersection of California Street and Thompson Boulevard. The intersection’s red light camera snaps $1.5 million worth of tickets each year. Of the city’s eighteen automated ticketing machines, only the one located at that intersection consistently tops the charts. In just three months, Australia’s Redflex Traffic Systems red light camera installation issued 825 tickets worth $435 each, or a total of 9.3 tickets per day. In comparison, a camera located at Mills Road and Main Street only issued 49 tickets over the same period. When taking traffic volumes into account, that means the California and Thompson camera issued citations at a rate one hundred times greater than Mills and Main (9.3 tickets per 10,000 passing vehicles compared to a rate of 0.09). And now we know why.

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Or is that regulatory purgatory? Automotive News [sub] screams “Dealers decide who gets discounts,” confirming that America’s very own scrappage scheme is not going to be the quick eco-nomic (geddit?) stimulus the fans predicted. Of course, AN was getting a bit histrionic; the headline was just their wacky way of explaining that NADA is advising dealers to wait for regulations to publicly endorse the deal. The big news is the regulations. Now that the congressional pomp is over, the folks behind Government Motors are finding that the incentive game isn’t always easy. In fact, “It’s complex and not like anything we’ve ever run before,” admits the NHTSA’s Rae Tyson. “We’re starting from scratch.” What could possibly go wrong?

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We’ve said it before: both Chrysler and GM have been using GMAC as their “bag man”: withdrawing credit from dealers to kill them without messy political blowback. This despite the Small Business Administration’s new federal loan guarantee program for beleaguered car dealers. The Wall Street Journal reports that where the feds giveth, GMAC is still taking away. “GMAC LLC is suspending wholesale financing for certain Chrysler Group LLC dealers it considers to be too risky to lend to, GMAC and Chrysler confirmed Wednesday. The move could ultimately push more Chrysler dealers out of business and hurt the company’s ability to sell vehicles.” That last bit’s pretty funny—providing you’re not a Chrysler dealer. Anyway, the WSJ runs the numbers or at least tries . . .

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After a few seconds in the Mindset, I was thinking: Whoa, this thing is fast. And Goddamn, it feels good. And then I remembered a movie I hadn’t thought of in a decade, and it struck me: this doesn’t seem like 2009, this is more like Gattaca. You know: the sci-fi movie starring the Studebaker Avanti, Rover P6 and Citroen DS Décapotable—all running with electric motors. They are breathtakingly, inimitably beautiful cars. In the movie, they only make a whirring noise. It’s all very 2030, and somehow, it works. Of course, if you had an electric droptop DS at your disposal, then why would you drive a Swiss-made, electric Mindset? But I’m getting ahead of myself. So, what is this car about?

You may have been wondering—as I have—why Chrysler Ford and GM are restarting production, given that sales are down by over 30 percent. The answer’s buried in a recent report from notre amis a Credit Suisse. To wit: “Much has been made over the last several weeks about the production increase that should take place from Q2 to Q3. Indeed we expect output to increase more than 50% sequentially at the Big 3, and about 27% for the industry. But most of this is being driven by underbuild relative to demand in Q2, such that inventories should be below normal by June 30.” I know what you’re thinking: has it really come to the point where I understand/care about this kind of Inside Baseball stuff? If the answer is [a secret] yes, welcome [again] to TTAC’s The Best and Brightest! Which also means you’ll be interested in the rest of the report . . .

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