For all the praise and positive comparisons he earns, Ford’s Alan Mulally still refuses to man up and acknowledge that at least one of his firm’s brands is as meaningful to the American consumer as Kaiser or Cord. And it’s not like Mulally can just ignore the brand’s slide into ignominy: after all, people notice when you never introduce new products for a brand that was wholly comprised of cheap rebadges in the first place. Well, Inside Line noticed, and they cornered Mulally at the Washington Auto Show to get his take on the brand with no purpose.

“The plan right now is (to develop) Ford, Lincoln and Mercury,” Mulally answered.

He said Ford is working to more effectively position Mercury with smaller vehicles that occupy the void between the mainstream Ford brand and Lincoln, which directly targets the luxury-premium market. “That’s our plan — to continuously improve the Mercury and Lincoln brands,” Mulally said.

But after a little more discussion, Mulally felt compelled to reiterate: “That’s the plan right now.”

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Based on these teasers for Dodge’s much-anticipated 60-second Super Bowl ad, we’d have to say they’re still working it out. One thing is for certain: if the point of spinning off the Ram brand was to broaden Dodge’s appeal, the new ad wizards aren’t trying hard enough. The ad above, like most of the latest tranche of Dodge ads, is from the old-school, knuckle-dragging, truck-alike, gender-role-based marketing school. In short, the new Dodge is nothing new…
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Toyota’s decision to halt sales of eight models in connection with the ongoing unintended acceleration debacle was made at the order of the NHTSA, reports the Detroit News. “Toyota was complying with the law,” NHTS reps tell DetN. “They consulted with the agency. We informed them of the obligations, and they complied.”According to the DetN, Toyota was legally required to halt sales when it announced its latest recall five days ago. Why didn’t Toyota halt sales then? NHTSA isn’t saying, only going as far as to say “at this point, you need to talk to Toyota about those decisions. We’ll be continuing to work with Toyota and having conversations.”

It’s been a looooong wait and lots of nail biting for Saab employees and Saab enthusiasts around the world, but GM and Spyker have reached a preliminary agreement on a Saab sale. The deal includes amongst other things the rights to the Saab brand of course, the Trollhättan production facilities (which was important to Spyker – more on that in a bit), the rights to produce and sell the existing 9-3’s, the new 9-5 and 9-4x models. Former Saab CEO Jan-Åke Jonsson, who was let go when the liqudation of Saab started, will be reinstated as CEO. He, and Spykers CEO Victor Muller have been named the heroes of this deal – Jonsson for his endurance and stamina “He didn’t walk out the back-door as liquidation started – instead he started nightly negotiations, writes Aftonbladet.se in a tribute to Jonssons’ role. And Spyker’s Muller’s charm and persistence have also been mentioned as a crucial part in securing Saab from GM.
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Retro cars sell on looks. Take the Chrysler PT Cruiser as an example – automotive perfection it wasn’t, and yet it sold like iPods on a Black Friday. Others, like the Mini Cooper, proved that retro cars can look like the past and drive like the present. But worth driving or not, almost every retro […]

Toyota’s decision to suspend production and sales in North America of eight recalled models is sending shock waves through seismically sensitized Japan . Tokyo’s Nikkei [sub], usually not prone to sensationalist reporting and strong language, says today that “the fiasco is likely to have unfortunate consequences for the automaker’s image and earnings.”

According to the Nikkei, the eight models recalled for sticking accelerator pedals accounted for about 60 percent  of Toyota’s North American sales last year.  The production freeze will affect five North American plants. “A prolonged halt would inevitably influence Toyota’s bottom line,” warned an analyst at one major securities firm.

According to the Nikkei, “it is rare for an automaker to suspend production and sales because of a recall.” A Toyota spokesperson pointed out that this is not the first time for the company to make such a move. However, they acknowledged that the scale this time is unusually large. (Read More…)

The nightmare continues for Toyota. Full press release after the jump.

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We’ve spilled a few pixels on these pages over Hyundai’s dedication to direct injection (DI) technology, even going as far as to crown Hyundai the “new Honda” of motor technology. But DI technology isn’t without its downsides, and Hyundai tells Automotive News [sub] that the technology isn’t likely to appear on future engines with less than two liters of displacement.

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Now here’s a well-preserved flash from the past. VW kits of every possible permutation were the rage in the seventies and into the eighties. The Beetle’s construction lent itself superbly to the task. A few bolts released the body from the platform, which could also be quite easily cut and shortened. The resulting short bed pickup variation makes the perfect little hauler, like this one. Ride and handling? Don’t ask. Although this profile shows off its best side, there’s a bonus or two or even three in the other shots: (Read More…)

It’s one thing to say “the electrification of the car is inevitable” (Bob Lutz) when you’re buying the motors from suppliers. But GM is putting (somebody’s) money where their oracle’s wandering mouth is, and getting into the electric motor building business. The General has announced that $246 million dollars, of which $105 million came from a DOE grant (not loan), will be spent on facilities to build lighter, smaller and more efficient electric motors for the next generation of their two-mode hybrid system and rear-wheel drive applications. Looks like a “slim-Jim” version is being developed for a “future range of rear-drive cars”. Hmm… (Read More…)

Who would have thought, after the eulogizing and pessimistic reports? GM has just announced that they have reached an agreement to sell Saab to Spyker. GM did not disclose financial details. Reuters asked its “source familiar with the matter.” The source said Spyker would buy Saab for $400m. A paltry $74m is in cash, the rest is deferred shares. The deal is not completely clinched: It is subject to a Swedish government guarantee on a €400m ($564m) loan from the European Investment Bank. Sweden told GM, it is looking into the matter. GM’s press release is after the the jump. Meanwhile, we’ll try to find out what it took to bring Lazarus back from the dead. Or how likely it is to really happen this time. Haven’t we been here before? (Read More…)

Reading the book “Winning: The Racing Life Of Paul Newman” last night, I realized that there were several connections between Paul and today’s featured Curbside Classic. Newman raced Zs successfully for the Bob Sharp team in the seventies, having started his career in a Datsun 510. And they’re both celebrating birthdays: The Z arrived in the US forty years ago, and Newman would have been 85 today, had he not passed away last year. I’ve praised the coming and eulogized the passing of the 240Z in the CC, but I’d like to give a moment’s tribute to my life hero: (Read More…)

It goes without saying that it’s always good news for a business to be able to raise hundreds of millions of dollars on the financial markets. Just as important as the financial boost, such capital-raising also raises the profile of the company, presenting it as a viable investment and implicitly endorsing its underlying business plan. In the case of Project Better Place’s recent $350m funding boost however, the benefits might be largely limited to the firm’s balance book. Heavy participation by HSBC, Lazard and Morgan Stanley do help raise Better Place’s profile, but HSBC and Lazard are the only new investors in this most recent round of financing: Morgan Stanley, IsraelCorp, VantagePoint and other previous investors make up the rest of the round. This speaks to a fundamental challenge underlining Project Better Place: broadening, rather than deepening its appeal and support.

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The Mazda6 Wagon, long the only “real” station wagon in an American market that’s crossing over from SUVs to CUVs, has been updated… but not for the US.