From Germany to China, and from Brazil to Korea, TTAC’s staff spans the globe to bring you the best automotive content on the web. What we don’t have, however, is a staffer in France, so we can’t tell you exactly what is going on in this video promo for the forthcoming Mercedes SLK. What we can tell you is that we never expected a Mercedes to be sold using French sensuality. It just goes to show that you never know what to expect…

Hyundai has been working its way out of the low-cost, low-quality basement for some time now, but even with the introduction of its Genesis luxury sedan, the brand has maintained a certain amount of working-class value appeal. That image has served Hyundai well over the last several years, when an economic downturn has sent record numbers of customers to Hyundai dealerships in search of a deal. But with a new upscale-looking design language transforming solid but uninspired offerings like the Sonata into memorable designs, Hyundai wasn’t likely to remain the scrappy, more-for-your-money underdog forever. And sure enough, Hyundai tells Automotive News [sub] that it’s getting away from the solid values of quality and practicality, and moving into the tenuous world of “premium” brand placement. Executive Vice President for global marketing Cho Won Hong explains

In the past 10 years, we have been very successful in building an image for quality. From now on, our direction will be defined as new premium or modern premium. We have been doing quite well in building good functional quality. But we still have some room to improve our emotional quality, and that is related to our brand strategy. That’s why we set modern premium as the brand direction for the next five to 10 years

For the last several years the 300C has been Chrysler’s band of Spartans, fighting off the apathy and irrelevance that has threatened to overwhelm the brand. And it didn’t just keep Chrysler clawing onto relevance, but it also revived an art form that was also circling the drain: the large, RWD American car. As Cadillac moved towards a sharply-tailored, Euro-fighter positioning, the 300 became the ride of choice for everyone from traditionalist suburbanites to ghetto CEOs. And now it’s back, and like its Charger cousin, the new 300 is a subtle, delicate thing compared to its rough-hewn, unabashedly Bentley-aping predecessor. But has a more sophisticated look actually improved the 300’s appeal? Will concessions to aerodynamics and originality inspire fans of the 300, or is progress a fundamental problem for a car that seems to live in the past? One thing is certain: Chrysler needs its 300 now as badly as it ever did. [Please surf over to Motor Trend for more non-official pictures]

It’s probably a bit of a stretch to call the 1947 Tama a “Nissan.” This lead-acid battery-powered two-door was developed in response to post-War oil rationing by the unemployed aircraft engineers of Tachikawa Airplane Company, a firm that later renamed itself the Tokyo Electric Motorcar Co. That company later became the Prince Motor Company, which in turn merged with Nissan, making the Tama a tenuous but real part of Nissan’s EV legacy. When tested by Japan’s ministry of transport, the Tama beat its claimed performance, going 96.3 km on a single charge and reaching a top speed of 35.2 km/h from its 36V motor. Tamas were sold until 1950, and were used mostly for taxi service, although a pickup truck version was made as well. With Nissan rolling out its Leaf and generally betting its shirt on EVs, we wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see the Tama pop up in future Nissan ads and promotional materials. Let’s just hope they leave out the “born from jets” angle…

It seems that yesterday’s optimism about a possible end to the ethanol “Blender’s Credit” may have been somewhat premature, as Senate Budget Committee chair Max Baucus has now proposed extending the 45 cents per gallon tax credit at the lower rate of 36 cents per gallon. The ethanol industry has expressed disappointment, but says it will accept the proposal. Which, given the fact that the Blender’s Credit is opposed by groups as diverse as Friends Of The Earth and FreedomWorks, seems like the reasonable step. And because the 36 cent per gallon extension is only good for a year, even if it is approved, this battle will rage on.

VW claims its working on a new MicroBus, but there’s only one sliding-door VW that currently inspires real lust. With a Haldex 4Motion system, 30 mm of extra ground clearance, beefy rims, all-terrain tires, skid plates and an interior that puts the spar in spartan, the Transporter Rockton may have a silly name, but it’s ready to road trip to the most exotic and poorly-paved sections of the world. And with 180 and 140 HP versions of a two-liter diesel available, you’ll make efficient if somewhat slow progress. The only problem: prices start at €34,545 ($45,600+). Good thing you didn’t have time for that third-world road trip anyway…

Don’t you hate how modern crash test standards and bunker-inspired design trends conspire to make it impossible to see out the back of most vehicles? So does the government agency that requires those crash-test standards. According to a new proposed rule [full proposal in PDF here]:

NHTSA is proposing to expand the required field of view for all passenger cars, trucks, multipurpose passenger vehicles, buses, and low-speed vehicles rated at 10,000 pounds or less, gross vehicle weight.  Specifically, NHTSA is proposing to specify an area immediately behind each vehicle that the driver must be able to see when the vehicle’s transmission is in reverse.  It appears that, in the near term, the only technology available with the ability to comply with this proposal would be a rear visibility system that includes a rear-mounted video camera and an in-vehicle visual display.  Adoption of this proposal would significantly reduce fatalities and injuries caused by backover crashes involving children, persons with disabilities, the elderly, and other pedestrians.

But how many of the 228 annual fatalities blamed on backover incidents in light-duty vehicles would really have been solved by a backup camera, and how many were caused by plain stupidity or negligence? After all, even NHTSA admits that the proposed fix might not make a difference…

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When Lamborghini told the press that it would not be building a production version of the Estoque “four-door coupe” the reason the Sant’Agata firm gave was that

“the timing and market conditions are just not right for an additional model line.”

Which made us wonder why Lambo didn’t take the opportunity to say something like

“Lamborghini refuses to build bland, uninspired vehicles in a faddish niche just because several competitors are”

But now that the Estoque is reportedly back on for production, that would have been a bit of a self-sabotaging move. Or at least it would be if the Estoque didn’t already sabotage Lamborghini’s brand equity by being a bland, me-too entry into an already played-out niche. Which is a pity: Lambo saw the four-seat supercar niche coming  decades ago, and built one of its most distinctive designs ever to fill it. And say what you want about this Estoque, it’s certainly no Espada. But hey, it could have been worse…

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The ethanol industry might have enjoyed a small popularity bump when NASCAR switched to E15 (15% ethnol blend) gas, but it’s facing one of its biggest tests yet, as the so-called “blender’s credit” draws within a month of its expiration date. And the signs aren’t looking good for the most important subsidy in the ethanol playbook. Bloomberg reports that 17 Senators from both parties are pushing to end the 45 cent-per-gallon tax credit for ethanol blenders (and 54 cent-per-gallon import duty), and they’re opposed by only 13 Senators openly pushing for renewal. Plus, they’ve got a pretty strong argument:

If the current subsidy is extended for five years, the Federal Treasury would pay oil companies at least $31 billion to use 69 billion gallons of corn ethanol that the Federal Renewable Fuels Standard already requires them to use. We cannot afford to pay industry for following the law

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Opel has let it slip to the European media that it will build a new Calibra coupe based on the Opel Insignia (Buick Regal)… and that a convertible is in the works as well. The hardtop will hit German dealers in 2012, with a convertible coming in 2013 alongside a planned OPC/VXR version with 325 HP and AWD. We definitely won’t get that version because GM won’t let Buick play with its 2.8T V6, but a big Buick coupe and an accompanying convertible would sure be a good way to cap off the brand’s recent renaissance (provided the Epsilon II platform feels renaissance-quality in three years). Since GM’s Nick Reilly says the coupe will be inspired by the Opel OPC concept, we’ve included a few images for the Buick faithful to photoshop the Trishield onto. Then there’s just the small issue of whether this midsized FWD coupe is worthy of becoming the next Riviera….

The IIHS’s latest bid for relevance comes in the form of an entirely unshocking revelation: crash a car and an small SUV together, and the car will be more expensive to repair. I know, I know… mind-blowing stuff. And it would be goofy enough if the IIHS had performed these crash tests simply for the data, but in fact the results gave them cause to exhume one of the most asinine crusades in the history of automotive regulation: regulating bumper height. Because, as the IIHS’s Joe Nolan puts it

We picked vehicles from the same manufacturer because we think automakers should at the least pay attention to bumper compatibility across their own fleets. The results show that many don’t.

And why not? Well, maybe because the odds of hitting a vehicle made by the same manufacturer that made your car are so astronomically unlikely that testing “bumper compatibility” let alone calling automakers to task for not paying enough attention to this meaningless metric is the height of self-important stupidity. But of course the IIHS wasn’t going to just leave things there…

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Tyler Durden over at ZeroHedge reports on the untold story of GM’s increasing delivery numbers: they’re sitting on lots.

Hidden deep in today’s disappointing GM November sales release is a number that all GM longs may want to quickly forget, or else pay serious attention to. But first, earlier today, GM reported slightly disappointing sales numbers: the newly IPOed company sold 168,739 cars in November, a 11.4% increase to November 2009, which came in below expectations of a 13% rise. That’s mostly noise. What isn’t, however, is the linear rise in GM’s auto inventory safely stashed away at dealers, i.e., unsold….

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As of last December, GM’s pension accounts faced a $17b shortfall, raising a real concern about the long-term viability of the bailed-out automaker. With its IPO put to bed, GM is now announcing that it will pay $4b into its salaried and hourly pension accounts, and plans on adding another $2b in stock to the accounts by year’s end. That roughly approximates the $5.9b that GM will have to pay by 2013, which still leaves a $6b minimum payment due by 2014. Add that to the billions likely required by its Opel and Daewoo divisions, as well as the billions needed to pay back taxpayers, and it’s clear that GM’s dwindling cash pile still faces considerable demands. But at least the firm isn’t pretending like its pension shortfalls don’t exist.

Bloomberg reports that the world’s cheapest car, the Tata Nano has seen its sales drop from the point where it had to hold a lottery to choose buyers for its first 100k units to last month’s all-time low of only 509 units sold. Tata has raised the price twice this year, bumping the MSRP by 4 percent in July and then adding another $200 to the price in October. This, in addition to the Nano’s fire-related issues and the inability of Indian consumers to secure financing for the microcar is being blamed for the sales drop. Says Mahantesh Sabarad, an analyst with Fortune Equity Brokers (India) Ltd:

The product has had a difficult time in terms of its perception ever since those fire incidents came in. A lot of people bought the car in the initial sales period for its novelty factor and didn’t go for loans

Tata’s response: hire more sales staff and work with banks to secure loans for Nano customers. After all, the Indian automaker has 250k annual production capacity assigned to the Nano, so sales had better start picking up soon.

Even when marketers are locked in an epic struggle for the hearts of consumers, they still treat each other with a basic level of respect. After all, the competition is just competition; the real enemy is the consumer. But the competing impulses towards ruthless competition and collegial courtesy can often just cause more confusion. Take this spot from Hyundai, which makes a big joke out of a problem that isn’t especially widespread, and yet refuses to actually land the punch. What Hyundai is trying to do here is mock Chevrolet for coming out with a special “Eco” version of its Cruze that gets 42 MPG highway, and then using that claim to advertise all Cruzes with just an asterisk to remind buyers that the Eco model costs extra. Which is an interesting approach, except that we haven’t been able to find much evidence of this tactic… in fact, it seems that at least some Cruze ads cop to a 36 MPG, and the asterisk only references that the number is from the EPA. Did Hyundai jump the gun on this one? If so, the brand’s decision to break out sales of every 40 MPG vehicle it sells should help get things back on track.