The highly leveraged Australian toll road giant Macquarie Group continues to struggle as the global economy remains soft. On Wednesday, the firm’s toll road subsidiary, Macquarie Infrastructure Group (MIG), lashed out at Indiana state House Speaker Pat Bauer (D-South Bend) for suggesting that the company has been “performing poorly internationally” and that the Indiana Toll Road might be sold off to another company as a result. MIG blasted Bauer in an unusual statement to Australian investors. “In line with previous disclosures, MIG’s sound financial position is well documented,” the company’s press release stated. “Of note, MIG currently has approximately A$900 million of cash on its balance sheet and no corporate level debt.”

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TTAC commentator psarhjinian writes:

Thanks to the terrible economy, I’ve recently been given the opportunity to pick up a project car on the (very) cheap. The catch: the project car is a Caterham SV, sans powertrain. Googling around has given me all sorts of options, from four-cylinder Zetecs to small-block Chevvies to Hayabusa powerplants. I’m sure some madman has shoehorned a Prius’ drivetrain in there, but thus far I haven’t turned up the requisite Youtube video of it.

To say “I don’t know where to start” would be an understatement. What I’m trying to figure out is what kind of powertrain would be good, given a perfect storm of cheap, quick and easy for someone with not a lot of tools, experience and time to work on.

Oh, and I do have young children. So as not to invoke my life insurance policy, I think we can skip anything that’s too far into “Death Car” land.

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Bloomberg is quoting “two people familiar with the plan” (now it’s three) that Toyota’s pulling the plug on their joint venture with Old GM. “The company will negotiate the timing of the closing with Motors Liquidation Co., an entity responsible for the disposal of the assets GM shed in bankruptcy, said the people yesterday. They declined to be identified because the information wasn’t public.” But but but . . . it IS public. You know; now. Anyway, three days ago, ToMoCo was angling for government “assistance” and union “flexibility,” telling the world that it hadn’t made a decision on whether or not to terminate the project once and for all. Toyota’s North American chief executive  Yoshimi Inaba said the decision “depended on possible aid from California lawmakers, labor contracts for the factory’s union workers that expire in August and NUMMI’s financial viability.” As Toyota is not known for, uh, lying, I reckon the jury is still out.

Back in roaring 20s (or thereabouts), TTAC highlighted American automakers’ tendency to use fleet sales to keep expensive factories running. The practice eroded vehicle quality (why bother making better fleet fodder?), eroded margins (a little profit on a lot is better than nothing!) and corroded brand equity (badge it up and send it out!). As The Big Three became The Big 2.8, as GM headed for bankruptcy, we gave the automakers grief for claiming they were abandoning fleet sales to address these issues when, in fact, the fleets were abandoning them. Point of clarification: the “look at us we’re so responsible” BS was a bad thing, even though fleet reductions are a good thing—provided the automakers switch to retail-competitive products, meaningful brands and, thus, larger margins. Which hasn’t happened. And the domestics’ fleet sales continue to disappear. In other words, whichever way you look at the fact that Detroit’s share of fleet sales has slipped from 80 percent to 48.4 percent, they lose.

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Autocar reports that Honda is fast-tracking an upgrade to the its Insight “dedicated hybrid,” which debuted this year to mixed reviews. After much hype, Honda’s derivative hatch is off to a weak start in the US and falling behind in Japan (where it now sells worse than the Fit). But don’t expect the Prius Lite to go from “biblically terrible” to “Clarksonian.” Catching up with 3rd-gen Prius efficiency levels and sorting the low-speed ride quality are said to be the areas of focus. While I’d agree that the latter needs improvement, you know that when even Consumer Reports cries for more power, boosting efficiency alone probably isn’t the answer.

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Start saving those pennies, kids! Fiat CEO Sergio “Mad” Marchionne tells the Wall Street Journal that “the true value of Chrysler could emerge when the company would be listed, but this will take a while — not sooner than 2½ years.” Better yet, Marchionne suggests that Chrysler will create “healthy profit margins” if the market has recovered to a 13-14m unit SAAR. Can you dig it? In the meantime, Fiat will be loading up even more debt, offering $1.8 billion worth of bonds at 9.25 percent. Although this rate is lower than the 9.75 percent guidance, it still sent Fiat credit default swaps up six points. Fiat’s second quarter losses hit about $240 million, which is worse than analysts expected. And as Forbes explains, debt, not earnings is the real challenge for Fiat. But as long as things keep chugging along, there might be a Fiat Nano in it for you (especially if you live in Latin America). Which would probably be a better investment of your saved pennies anyway.

Well how do you like that? My very first editorial for TTAC took GM to task for spending (at least) a quarter of a billion bucks on its overly complex Two-Mode hybrid drivetrain. Way back in February 2008, I noted that “the chances increase daily that BMW will join Mercedes in washing its hands of two-mode technology entirely.” And guess what? It’s looking more likely by the day. Automotive News [sub] reports that Two-Mode co-developers BMW and Daimler will probably end their participation in the ill-fated alliance by year’s end (Chrysler is AWOL). BMW will launch a Two-Mode X6 globally and Daimler will bring a Two-Mode ML stateside this year, and then . . . basta. “None of the other hybrid development work in our company is based on the two-mode technology,” say BMW sources. Well that was a cool billion (split four ways) well spent. At least they got Automobile magazine’s “Technology of the Year” award.

No, we’re not talking about stalking women of a certain age. To my summer flu-addled mind, this Focus-based softroader should be on the US market already, cashing in on one of the few successful segments left here. We hear it’s going to be built in Kentucky, but when?

No big surprises in the excruciatingly slow bidding for who will finally take over Opel with the blessing and money of the German government. AFP reports that China’s BAIC has been kicked out of the sluggish race. The field of suitors has been whittled down to Magna and RHJ.

Officially, the race is open and fair. However, it is an open secret that GM favors RHJ, while the German government roots for Magna. GM hopes to be able to buy back a washed, rinsed, and refinanced Opel from a compliant RHJ. Berlin hopes to build a Ribbentropian German/Russian automotive power pact. Says AFP: (Read More…)

More testimony over the fate of GM and Chrysler’s culled dealers yesterday revealed possible compromises, although consensus is still elusive. Chrysler VP and Associate General Counsel Lou Ann Van Der Wiele told the House Judiciary Committee (via the NYT) to ignore the pleas of Chrysler’s 789 slashed dealers, explaining that dealer reinstatement would be the end of Chrysler as we’re getting to know it. “Legislation aimed at reversing some of the painful but necessary actions taken during Old Carco’s bankruptcy will simply take Chrysler back to the future that Old Carco faced not long ago—and this time, without the option of a purchaser for substantially all of its assets. Complete liquidation, with all of its dire consequences, could follow.” But then, “complete liquidation with all its dire consequences” could follow if The New Chrysler ate the wrong tuna sandwich.

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Very funny, guys. We get it. The Truth About Cars takes you to task for your shoddy “investigative” report into the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA). You respond with an editorial called “The Truth About Cars and Cellphones.” Inside joke or not, we stand by our condemnation. First, conflating cell phone use with other distractions—excoriating drivers who “juggle hot coffee and a Mc-whatever or attend to personal grooming in the rearview mirror”—is both lazy AND stupid. Second, repeating your dubious charges—that the NHTSA bent to political pressure instead of faithfully discharging its duties—does not make them so. And third, semantics are the second-to-last refuge of a scoundrel. To wit:

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The supervisory board of Volkswagen met in Stuttgart today, a symbolic act that documented the occupation of formerly enemy territory. The board of Porsche had pulled an all-nighter before and prepared everything for the surrender: A capital increase was approved, facilitating the entry of another party. A deal with Qatar was sanctioned. The heads of Wiedeking and Härter were presented to the victors on a titanium platter.
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Jon Lauckner, New GM’s Vice President of Global Program Management, picked up the FastLane webchat-a-phone and confirmed that he can’t confirm a final price for its tire-squawking (true story!) Hail Mary hybrid. This despite the fact that the Volt—or at least a small squad of hand-built prototypes—is due at the Chevy showroom—or at least down at the steps of Congress for the next ’round of bailout hearings—by the end of 2010. “Hi Dan,” Lauckner says, greeting the e-interrogator daring GM to whip out its sticker. “We typically do not lock in on pricing until about 3-6 months prior to start of production. The reason is primarily so we have an opportunity to take a look at the market, competitors and other factors. So stay tuned.” So to speak, ’cause that issue ain’t sorted out neither . . .

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Speed camera vendor American Traffic Solutions (ATS) next month will use its automated ticketing expertise to run a litter camera program for Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Under first-of-its-kind initiative, city workers will drive around photographing neighborhoods with special cameras hooked into a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite tracking device. The workers will be looking to capture homes that might have litter, weeds or trash on their lawn so that a hefty fine can be imposed.

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