The WSJ reports that GM will draw “north of $2.5b” from its government escrow account to fund its own bailout of its major supplier, Delphi. Considering GM has committed $1b in debt assumption, $2b in forgiven claims and $1.75b in investments, we can assume the amount will be well north of $2.5b. But how much is left in that escrow account anyway? Estimates at the time of GM’s exit from bankruptcy were that some $20b was left to draw upon. And we’ll know exactly how much is left when GM discloses its government-money expenditures to the SEC by the end of this week. GM sources claim the money has not been used to cover operating shortfalls, and CEO Fritz Henderson has even gone on the record to say GM will not need further government assistance. Considering GM’s cash burn over the last four years was in the $10b/year range, let’s hope that claim isn’t entirely based on the assumption that a planned IPO next summer will be a rousing success.

GM-volt.com‘s Lyle Dennis finds out that being one of the first 500 Americans to lease a MINI E has its downsides. Especially at $850/month lease cost. At around 5,000 miles, the troubles begin (OK, continue).

As the car is technically a mule or prototype, it is not production-ready and has had some issues. A month or two ago it began popping loudly into neutral whenever the accelerator was floored. The power electronics control unit was replaced and after that it almost never happened (it happened one more time). So I’m gentle with the accelerator.

The other day I was driving to work and went over an unexpected construction zone pothole. The car was jostled and suddenly it went into neutral. After that it could no longer be put into drive. Despite turning it on and off and moving the shifter in and out of drive neutral and park several times, that was it, dead. A tow truck was called and off it went to the dealership for a MINI “flying doctor” to come and repair it. After a few days I found out it was the power electronics control unit again which was again replaced.

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Edmunds‘ analysis shows that only 125k of the nearly 690k vehicles sold during Cash For Clunkers were incremental. Divide the three billion the government spent by that number, and you’re left with a $24k per-vehicle subsidy of additional sales. Which Edmunds admits were largely pull-forward anyway. Edmunds’  research also shows that fewer consumers would have traded in gas guzzlers had the stimulus not existed. As a result, “that may give some credence to the environmental claims, but unfortunately the economic claims have been rendered quite weak,” according to Edmunds analysts. All hail the Potemkin Economy!

Bob Lutz savors his morning cup of Maximum, as he contemplates a wet, foggy day of racing at Monticello. Competitors will get five laps of the 3.5 mile track… assuming all those ponies at the rear wheels don’t leave Cadillacs scattered across the infield. Early practice video shows a CTS-V shouting at the devil on the main straight, but in these conditions the corners are the issue. Updates will be posted as they come in from our man behind the wheel, Mad Jack Baruth.

We’re not public yet but we will be and if we do our job that stock is going to have real value. We thought it was fair. We thought it was thoughtful

GM CEO Fritz Henderson comments on Pay Czar Kenneth Feinberg’s decision to dock his salary to a flinty $950,000. The AP reports Henderson’s total compensation could be worth $5.5m, apparently based on some unfathomable projection of GM’s IPO value. But Fritz is going to work for it. When asked if he’d read Steve Rattner’s magnum opus calling GM management “stunningly poor” and “perhaps the weakest finance operation any of us had ever seen in a major company,” Fritz’s responds in the affirmative…

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[via South Park Studios]

Reading a long-term test of a stripped-and-slammed Renaultsport Mégane R26.R in evo Magazine, I couldn’t help but chuckle. In true enthusiast style, the author simultaneously bemoans the disappearance of such factory-racer hot-hatches and attempts to argue that they’re not really that impractical. Between the picture of the author’s bicycle sharing hatch space with a bright red racing cage and his amazingly sincere insistence that driving without a radio is more zen exercise than deprivation, the picture was clear: enthusiasts are absolute nutters. We’re willing to make ludicrous defenses of cars that are as light and stripped-out as possible, while the mainstream begs for ever more weight, comfort and isolation. As at least one commenter in today’s Honda product thread noted, automakers would be nuts to listen too hard to enthusiasts. Unless there were ways to reduce weight without making a car totally unappealing to the appliance fans. Could it be possible?

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No, Honda’s Accord-based Crossover sin-against-nature hasn’t been canceled, but it is being cannibalized (sort of). Acura has announced [via Autoblog] that a TSX Sportwagon will be offered beginning with the 2011 model year. In short, if you begged Honda to bring a Euro-spec Accord wagon to market, your pleas have been answered… as long as you’re willing to shell out at Acura prices. More information as it becomes available… meanwhile, notch up another promising sign in the Honda column.

Oooh, look! It’s another official VW sketch of its North America and China-only, Passat-replacing New Midsize Sedan (NMS). Never mind product strategy, on a clear day will you be able to see out those windows? Hit the jump for the old official sketch. For contrast. Ish.

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Chrysler’s product and business plan is leaking like a neglected radiator, leading up to next week’s announcement. The latest tidbit: an Alfa-badged version of the new Jeep Grand Cherokee. Alfa Romeo has been hunting after an SUV platform for some time, because as Luca DiMeo put it back in ’08,

We need an S.U.V. for America. Not everyone in the company agrees, but this would be the only practical Alfa Romeo and we will be able to design the sportiest, sexiest and most exciting S.U.V. in the world.

It’s important to note though, that this quote predates the revelation that the Alfa SUV would be a Grand Cherokee reskin, effectively replacing the unlovable Chrysler Aspen as ChryCo’s luxury ute.

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Honda has been getting flack on these pages for some time now for succumbing to size and weight bloating, a criticism that carries a special sting for an automaker that clawed its way into the mainstream by offering inexpensive, efficient models. And it seems that a little bashing may have helped. Automotive News [sub] reports that Honda has “torn up” its old product plan, and is refocusing on less expensive, more fuel-efficient offerings.Honda CEO Takanobu Ito explains:

We are taking more time to rethink the new Civic and all our models. We had to revisit our development work and planning to comply with the change in the environment

And Ito isn’t referring to changes in the polar icecap either, but rather to the post-credit crisis consumer environment. Prior to the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Ito says Honda was developing a V8, an RWD platform and a larger successor to the Civic. Now it seems that the financial crisis that has been blamed for everything from declining sales to the bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler is yielding the kind of results that a decade of plenty couldn’t.

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If we’re learning anything from the twists and turns leading into GM’s Cadillac V-Series Challenge, it’s that a good stunt is hard to stage these days [unless you have access to China’s rich reserves of stunt drivers, as shown above]. Jaguar’s US PR boss Stuart Schorr has informed us that his firm’s legal and safety advisers have put the kibosh on the XF-R’s planned entry into the event. Because Jaguar was previously the only manufacturer to enter the race, the pullout leaves TTAC, Jalopnik and the New York Times’ Lawrence Ullrich without an OEM-backed ride. As a result, the media challengers (as we’re being called) will go mano-a-mano with Bob Lutz in… a CTS-V. Which makes the event a bit more of “may the best man win” than “may the best car win,” but then that’s not exactly our problem, is it? [Don’t miss the literal Chinese fire drill at 1:56]

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Imagine, for a moment, how different this Curbside Classic would be if Honda actually built this little electric neo-600.

Fans of oil-burners, brace yourselves. Dodge is confirming [via Detroit News] that a hybrid Hemi version of its light-duty Ram pickup is in the works. A diesel option, however, is still being reviewed. And its prospects aren’t looking good. When Chrysler senior vice president of engineering Scott Kunselman confirmed that the hybrid would be a reality, the only thing he would say about the diesel option is that he “isn’t convinced there is enough of a market among recreational buyers,” who buy light-duty trucks. His argument is that recreational light-duty buyers don’t see the long-term reliability of diesels as being worth the extra price of admission, a perspective which reflects both the classic “Detroit knows best” attitude and a resignation on Chrysler’s part to doing business from Consumer Reports’ cellar. Especially considering Chrysler’s partners in developing its two-mode hybrid appear to be walking away from the technology. And since 85 percent of heavy-duty rams are bought with the diesel engine, you’d think it would make a certain amount of sense to offer a Cummins option in the mass-market model. But it’s looking like that train will not be coming back to the station. Meanwhile, has anyone seen Mahindra lately? We’re starting to worry…