Automotive News [sub] interviewed Jerry York, former Chrysler CFO, GM board member and, most importantly of all, Kirk Kerkorian's man about Motown. Now that Captain Kirk owns five percent of FoMoCo, 'Jer's handing-out advice on how to fix The Blue Oval Boyz. York says he's "very confident that (Mulally's turnaround plan) is the answer." But then the Lion's cub demonstrates how much he really knows about the business: he says Ford should sell Volvo and Mercury. OK, we're with you on Volvo, although I'm not sure how you'd separate all the Volvo/Ford products (Ford Taurus/Sable, Lincoln MKS, Ford Taurus X, Ford Flex, Ford Galaxy, Ford S-MAX, Euro Ford Focus just to name a few). But York's suggestion for "selling" Mercury has to be some kind of joke. Selling Mercury would be like GM selling the Chevy LTZ models and keeping the LT/WT/1LT/2LT models. One can only hope York meant Ford should sell the name. But who in the world would buy it? Perhaps Mr. York should stick to selling Ford, er, I mean, selling Fords. You know; the actual cars. To real customers.

Now that Ford has ditched… er, sold Jaguar and Land Rover they're turning their attention to their Swedish marriage from 1999. It seems that Volvo's North American sales slowdown has finally rippled across the pond. Volvo is reporting an 80-day supply of certain models. As a result the Swedes have decided to idle the factory in Uddevalla (a joint venture with Pininfarina) that produces the C70 for two weeks while Ford decides what to do. In addition, the factory in Torslanda will be idled for one week to get inventory down to their target level of 60 days. Obviously they don't have to deal with the UAW.

Not content with redefining built-it-yourself furniture, the Swedes have decided it is time to redefine driving. Since Sweden has the highest car-sourced CO2 emissions in the EU (mostly due to their love of huge Volvo wagons), the Swedish EPA (SEPA) has announced that anyone obtaining a new drivers license in Sweden must take eco-driving lessons. Added to the already lengthy licensing process in Sweden are class-based sessions as well as behind-the-wheel instruction on lugging your engine shifting to the highest gear as soon as possible, coasting whenever possible with the goal to avoid using your brakes. SEPA claims this process reduced fuel consumption by 10 percent (two – three MPG for most cars). According to Emilie Lundros (preparing to take her final test next month), students who don’t ecodrive fail the new tests. Catching ‘em early seems to be the key. “I only drive eco” says Lundros, “That’s the only way I have been taught, it was easy to get the hang of it and feels natural and comfortable… My parents? They think it’s a bit boring really.” So there you go, our future lies in the hands of the young saving 10 percent and having 10 percent less fun in the process. Parking lot hoonage? Det är strikt förbjudet nu.

Yet another example of what is wrong in Detroit has been released by Ford: the Euro-only Ford Focus hardtop convertible. Yes, that apple of American pistonhead desires, the European Focus, has yet another svelte form. With excellent interior quality, clean lines and crisp handling, this Pininfarina-built coupe looks to be yet another gem for Ford Europe. Sadly, we’re left out in the cold on this side of the pond; there's no market for a great compact car/coupe/convertible in America– or so Ford says. Or if there is, they can't build it here (as in Mexico) and sell it at a profit. Still, you can console yourself that you can get your cretaceous-era American Ford Focus with Sync. But even that may not make you as happy as the Mazda3 driving next to you. That Verve better be good…

Back in the 90's, VW tried to compete against Chrysler’s minivans. Compared to Chrysler's mommy-mobiles, the Eurovan was too big, too expensive and too slow. In 2003, VW gave up. Five years later, VW reckons if you can't fight 'em, join 'em. The "Route-Ann" (at least officially) is little more than a reskin of Chrysler’s latest minivan. VW buyers get the same lackluster and inefficient Chrysler engines (4.0-liter and 3.8-liter V6s), same mechanically suspect Chrysler transmissions and same not-so-fantastic Plastech plastic. The Routan's interior seems to feature a Passatish theme blended with Chrysler build quality (frightening isn’t it?). The VW folks didn’t even spring for a new tiller or ICE. The lowlights don’t stop there. For the time being, Routan intenders are denied access to Chrysler's fancy seat options and back seat satellite TV. How in the world VW could sell this cynical rebadge instead of their universally praised Microbus concept shown seven years ago at the Detroit Auto Show is a mystery as deep as the decision to keep the ill-fated Phaeton on life support. VW: Lost.

Volvo is finally coming to grips with the fact that the brand doesn’t stretch much beyond wagons. Reflecting this new/old reality, rumors abound that Volvo’s about to axe their range-topping S80 sedan in favor of an upmarket V100 wagon. Add in a recent Consumer Reports’ study showing that American consumers still rate Volvo number one for safety, and you begin to understand the importance of the new V70 wagon. As wagons are what keeps Volvo’s ost on their smorgasbord, “getting it right” was essential. So, did they?

So Ford’s taking Volvo upmarket. Never mind why. How? On the face of it, the Swedish brand is as suited to life at the top as Volkswagen, whose mighty Phaeton died for their premium-priced aspirations. Volvo owns the sensible, safety-oriented, “car for life” mindspace. While it’s become a full-line automaker, Volvo’s station wagons best exemplify the underlying ethos. And here comes the all-new XC70, and extremely pricey people mover. If Volvo can take their station wagon upmarket, well, Ford might be onto something…

When Chryslerberus announced their new "lifetime warranty" last July, the fine print revealed that the security blanket only covered the vehicle's original owner. It also stated the hot-to-trot SRT models were exempt. Fair enough; these highly-horsed Hemis are likely experience a bit more than "normal" wear and tear. That said, Chrysler seem to be playing Three Card Monte (Find the Lady for our British audience) with that particular rider. The Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8 sitting on the company's LA Auto Show display stand proudly proclaims its lifetime warrant-age. If you look closely– just below that sticker– there's a line that's so small it looks like a row of dashes. It states "Not available on SRT…" When confronted about this declarative discrepancy, Mr. Lawence Oswald of Chrysler LLC agreed that we'd identified a mysterious automotive anomaly. "That's a good question." So how about a good answer?

Kia continued their trend of creating uninteresting and nearly identical concept cars at the LA Auto Show today. The lime green RND 4 concept is about as exciting as any of their former attempts and oddly enough looks just about the same as well. The company line is the same as everyone else: its the UAV (urban activity vehicle) for the ever-elusive metrosexual or occasional babe in hard hat and high heels. Kia: wannabe Japanese cars based off of wannabe Japanese concept cars. Maybe someone should have told them this wasn't what they had in mind when they were giving out the Green Car of the Year award.

With Subaru taking the WRX down to Camry-like levels of boring, potential buyers of cheap performance from the Land of the Rising Sun now have reason to rejoice: Mitsubishi released the Lancer Evo X at the LA Auto show today. With 291 hp and a road-warping 300 ft-lbs of torque from its 2.0L four-banger, this baby is set to scoot. Transferring that torque to the pavement is a reworked version of Mitsubishi's fantastic AWD system, now coupled with a VW-style double clutch robotic manual. When asked about performance, Michael Evanoff of Mitsubishi told me "0-60 times are expected to closely follow the Japanese official times of low 5 seconds." If fit and finish in the production models are this good, the plain-Jane WRX STi doesn't stand a chance.

With all this talk about green machines (both real and imagined), the LA Auto Show is in danger of boring the snot out of the average driver. And with GM and Chrysler busy hyping hybrid SUVs, those red-blooded American who like driving big ass trucks may be thinking the red dot of political correctness and emissions regulations is trained on their V8-stuffed whips. Leave it to Toyota, the maker of the chattering class’ favorite ULEV fuel miser, to understand that selling vehicles– not press releases– is the name of the game. And so I give you the new bigger (yes bigger) and badder (yes faster) Toyota Sequoia. SUV lovers can now order their supersized ToMoCo truck with an all new 5.7-liter V8, boasting 401 ft.-lbs. worth of bass boat-schlepping, ass-kicking torque. The Sequoia finally joins Lincoln’s Navigator by offering an independent rear suspension, with optional air support. The Sequoia's cabin interior is also longer, wider and taller than afore– making it suitable for eight genuine adults. Fuel economy's up by 12 percent. There’s more. Suffice it to say, the previous Sequoia couldn’t quite match the ‘Slade and Navi for comfort, style or performance. This one looks like it can. Who ARE those guys?

A jacked-up A4 with a slightly longer wheelbase, a soft top and an even more hideous rendition of their gaping Billy The Big Mouth Bass front grill. While we're happy that Audi didn't unveil the truncated version of their mutant version of Porsche's inbred Cayenne (which is significantly less attractive than its VW variant), this is not what we'd call "bringing the noise." Saying that, the concept's got the latest Gee Whizzery. We're talking a GPS system that incorporates Google Earth. And the car is listening; on-board microphones pick-up all four occupants' voices and blatt the blather through the B&O sound system– so the driver can tell the passenger to stop snoring when blasting at 155mph, top down, on the German Autobahn. Anyway, the concept makes us long for the equally jacked-up, now Euro-only Audi Allroad estate (a.k.a. station wagon). They're still sought after on the used car market. In fact, we reckon Ingolstadt would have found some upmarket SUV refugees if they'd hung tough and hadn't sent the last model year over in V8-only trim, without rear-facing seats. Oh well. 

Chrysler has finally joined the hybrid party (symposia?) with the Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango Hybrids. The slow-selling platform partners share the two-mode gas- electric hybrid system developed with partners BMW, Daimler and General Motors. On the surface it looks like Chrysler LLC is ready to give the tree huggers some love. As it turns out, the operative word is "some." Early in the unveiling at the LA Auto Show, Chrysler reps said the two-mode system would yield a 40 percent improvement in city mileage and 20 percent better highway mpgs. In practice, the extra batteries boost the TTAC Ten Worst-winning twins' expected mileage from 13/18 to 18/19. If Chrysler thinks that's the difference between sale/no sale, with a premium to pay to boot, they're kidding themselves. That said, the Durango Hybrid has the increasingly familiar HYBRID stencil across the bottom of the doors and the best hybrid gauge we've seen, nestled in that Lego plastic dash. This year's designer accoutrement?

Lincoln introduced their MKS "flagship" sedan based on the Five Hundred Taurus platform at the LA auto show today. A day late, two cylinders and at least 60 horses short and sporting a prow that would look more at home on a 4-8-2 Mountain Type Steam Locomotive, this Towncar replacement represents the status quo more than the Way Forward. Fit and finish is higher than the standard Ford fare but the beancounters in Dearborn are still well employed, making sure that not all the plastics are tactile rewards. We might excuse the ill-fitting exterior panels and parts installed backwards (assist handles were not installed the same in the two cars shown, so one must be wrong) if this were a prototype instead of the cars they're using to strut their stuff.  Unfortunately, though, it looks like business as usual in Detroit.

Last month. we broke the news (to the English-speaking world) that Toyota's Hilux pickup truck failed Sweden's now infamous Älgtest (Elk test). News flash from the frozen north: Toyota has admitted the problem and is taking drastic if limited action to correct it. According to Teknikens Värld, Michel Koch of Toyota Europe confirmed that the Japanese automaker is halting sales of the Hilux with 16" wheels. Although the Swedes found that a Hilux shod with 15" wheels Elk-tested just as poorly as one with 16" wheels, ToMoCo "does not consider the 15" version to perform dangerously." When faced with the same issue re: their new A-Class, Mercedes fit ESP to the car, and retrofitted a few thousand customer cars at the company's expense. While Toyota has the technology to add stability control to the new Hilux, given the vast number of Hilux that have already hit the highway (hopefully not literally), the money needed to retrofit existing Hilux would make the A-Class expenditure look like pocket change. The extra (some say needless) expense would put the product at a competitive disadvantage/dramatically lower Toyota's profits. But this could be the start if a general move towards stability control on pickups– as U.S. federal law is already mandating the systems for SUVs.