I got to spend some face time with Kia’s Soul at the Portland Auto Show this weekend, and the more I see of it, the more I think it will be a solid hit. A slightly Americanized version of the Mk 1 Scion xB, the Soul seems to hit a small car sweet spot. It’s more spacious and flexible than an xD or Fit, without sacrificing style or efficiency (à la the current xB). And the quality will make you forget every bad Rio experience you’ve had. The only weak points to be found from a clamber around the stationary Soul are poor rear-quarter visibility (an epidemic problem among stylish small cars) and tiny, hard-to-read guages up front. Otherwise, it’s looking like small-car nirvana with houndstooth upholstery. Still, I’m not sure it means Kia should be seriously considering a production pickup version based on the Soulster Concept. And yet, according to Automotive News [sub], they are.

GM’s “different kind of car company” is furiously trying to forge a future amid plummeting sales and little outside interest in buying the brand.  Saturn’s Franchise Operations Team has been meeting with GM executives in hopes of creating some kind of strategy for the brand’s dealer network. According to Automotive News [sub] the options were narrowed down at a meeting last week, and after further refinement they should be presented to Saturn dealers later this week. When asked if this spelled the end for the Saturn name, Franchise Operations Team member Todd Ingersoll told AN “everything is fluid. You can’t commit to any option.” But he also indicates that “you don’t need four options to kill a brand.” So what’s really going on?

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Remember the “worst case sales scenario” in GM’s viability plan? It predicted 11.5m annual sales in the US. Unless a turnaround arrives sometime this year, there’s no chance that sales will hit that number. According to Automotive News [sub], annual sales expectations for 2009 have dropped to 9.8m units. But there’s still a surprising amount of unfounded optimism among Detroit’s spinners and marketing mavens. Specifically, Ford’s execs say that retail sales have “stabilized” over the past four months. Too bad, then, that they’ve stabilized at an abysmal rate of 8.5m units per year. “We’re heartened to see it stabilize — although stabilizing at an awful level,” said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president of U.S. sales and marketing. Heartened? Seriously? But enough of the maudlin posturing. There are scapegoats to blame!

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According to SEMA, legislation has been introduced in the Oregon House of Representatives at the request of Governor Ted Kulongoski to ban aftermarket parts if alternatives are available that “decrease greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles.” In reality, Oregon H.B. 2186 (pdf) merely states that the “Environmental Quality Commission may adopt by rule the following to help this state achieve the greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals.” The specific option that SEMA is steamed about states that “Restrictions and prohibitions on the sale and distribution of after-market motor vehicle parts, including but not limited to tires, if alternatives are available that decrease greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles,” may be enacted.

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While Honda preps a beefed-up, AWD Venza-alike for the US market, this is the Accord Wagon that Europeans get to look forward to. The Type S comes with a 2.2 liter turbodiesel that makes 180 hp and pulls 280 factotums of torque [Ed. ha ha] at 2k RPM. Not your typical Honda screamer, eh? Anyway, while Europe yawns at the coming of the Acura brand and the US version of the Euro Accord gets the dismal reception it deserves, Honda seems set on playing me-too with a crossoverized version of the Accord wagon. To which I say fiddlesticks. Even if a diesel isn’t in the cards for the US, just bring us this freaking wagon. Have you seen Acura’s CUV sales?

Ford has released a study (via PR Newswire) that shows its proprietary (for now) SYNC system reducing the amount of time spent looking away from the road while performing tasks that probably shouldn’t be done while driving anyway. Want to find a new song on your iPod while doing 65 on the freeway? Ford says that without SYNC this task can take 25 seconds of crash risking attention from the road. With SYNC, the task is done in a mere two seconds. Reading a text can take 11 seconds, but Ford claims that SYNC’s text-to-speech output can reduce the task to two seconds. “We know people want to stay connected in their vehicles, so Ford is continuing to deliver that connectivity for them responsibly and safely, says Susan Cischke, Ford’s group vice president of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering. But unfortunately, their study used subjects who were already regular SYNC users. If you’re still getting used to the system, fiddling with it could return your in-car cell phone use to DUI-levels of danger. After all, how hard is it to wait for a light (or heaven forbid, suffer through a song you don’t like) before messing with your iPod? Luckily, if you do crash while playing with SYNC on the go, Ford has added an Onstar-like 911 feature to rush rescuers to your mangled Focus. Or if you want OnStar-like features from a non-Detroit OEM, that might be in the cards as GM is in talks to license its in-car Big Brother.

OK, so the latest GM Fastlane PR exercise is actually entitled “What Is GM Doing With The Money?” Defensive much? Anyway, coming from Fastlane, there’s obviously no mention of giving Cadillacs away. Or throwing cash down the Delphi hole. Or paying Brazilian workers to sit on their hands. No, having received $13.4b, GM’s Steve Harris reveals that GM’s plan is to (wait for it) comply with the terms of the loan! In other words, “prove that we can repay the loan, achieve a positive net present value, and meet federal fuel efficiency and emission requirements, and manufacture advanced technology vehicles in the U.S. ” And with the federal money, GM is “making progress,” says Harris. How? By building concepts like the Cadillac Converj. And announcing vehicles like the 2010 Equinox (Saturn Vue cannibalism!) and the 2012 Spark and Orlando (which debut after the loan is due). Hallelujah!  And though Harris mentions the UAW Job Bank shutdown and “discussion” of plans to reduce dealers by 400 per year, his effort to “do a better job of communicating our successes (and) how we will be changing going forward” leaves out all the interesting bits.

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CNN Money reports that Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) has pulled the “Clunker Culling” proposal from the economic stimulus plan making its way through Congress. The provision would have provided up to $4,500 in tax credits for scrapping a used vehicle with under 18 mpg and replacing it with a new car. The bill would have cost taxpayers up to $16b, according to CNN, which notes that lack of support from Republicans doomed the bill. Why? Apparently, “the provision required that the [new] vehicle be assembled in the United States.” Who knows, maybe common sense even had anything to do with it. President Obama did not take a strong position on the Clunker provision according to the Detroit News, but he is vocally backing $2b in battery development spending and a $600m purchase of fuel-efficient cars for the government fleet.

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The vocabulary used to classify hybrid drivetrains has been lagging considerably behind new developments, as Wikipedia’s article on the matter proves. The old parallel, serial, mild and plug-in hybrid categories do little to illuminate public understanding of the underlying technology, and much to confuse it. Enter the BYD Dual-Mode, VW “Twindrive” and, now, the AVL “Turbohybrid”. With cooperation from BMW, Bosch and LuK, AVL has developed a mild-ish hybrid drivetrain. The consortium claims it’s cheaper and more fun to drive than a “full hybrid” while offering nearly the same efficiency. Care to deep dive?

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Or is that Fortefied? Anyway, the forthcoming Spectra/Forte/XK (neé Koup) has been caught with only a little camo by the guys at Kia-World. And by the looks of things, it will be a Koupe-tacular little partner to the US-bound Soul hatch.

According to a study by the Consumer Federation of America (PDF), relatively low gas prices haven’t done much to change consumer trends towards more fuel-efficient vehicles. This revelation comes amid claims that small car demand was artificially inflated by high gas prices and increased truck production from General Motors. The survey asked respondents to rate the importance of gas prices, global warming and US dependence on Middle East oil over the next five years, with 76 percent reporting “great concern” for gas prices and energy independence.

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An increasing number of media reports are indicating that instead of a single “car czar,” Obama will appoint a team to oversee the auto industry turnaround effort. Current reports indicate that Democrat fundraiser Steve Rattner will likely take the top oversight position, but his total lack of (non-political) qualifications for the job is considered an issue. Which is where Stephen Girsky comes in. “They clearly need an adviser who knows the industry,” former Chrysler president Thomas Stallkamp tells Bloomberg. “Girsky certainly knows the industry, and he was close to both GM and the union.” And though I have questioned whether Girsky’s UAW affiliations are best described in the past or present tense, this 2004 presentation (PDF) to Original Equipment Suppliers Association is decidedly prescient. Especially for 2004. And this December 2008 presentation to UAW Local 14 seems to indicate that his recent advising stint with the UAW was a mission of truth and reconciliation rather than one of conniving and obfuscation.

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The Detroit News reports that GM’s Political Action Committee has temporarily halted political donations. And you might be tempted to think that this is a move of propriety, so as to not run afoul of Obama’s standards on lobbying by TARP recipients. But you’d be wrong. “As we have done in previous years following an active election cycle, we are holding off on making contributions in the first quarter as we replenish employee contributions,” says GM’s Greg Martin. But this isn’t a normally scheduled stop for GM’s busy DC operatives. According to the DetN, it’s the first such halt in six years, but “GM, like the other automakers, has cut its salaried ranks by thousands of workers, losing many donors to its political action committee.” And let’s not forget that those who are still there are being paid by federal bailout money. A look at GM PAC’s 2008 contributions and expenditures helps explain why a bailout happened at all (they gave money to everybody), but a few interesting questions also arise. Like why did Bob “Crock of Shit” Lutz donate over ten times as much as CEO Rick Wagoner and other executives? And how are so many of those Detroit-hatin’ southern Republicans on the payroll? Probably because the old standbys no longer have the clout they once did. Besides, now that the public is invested in GM, the chances that congress will cut GM loose to go bankrupt are slim.

Same as it ever was. Green Car Congress covers a DOE report (pdf) to the U.S. Congress on its $1.2b Hydrogen fuel cell development caucus, and the conclusion is clear: keep waiting. The DOE had harbored a shockingly naive hope that OEMs would be able to field 100k fuel cell vehicles by 2010, but the new report seems pretty clear on the chances of that happening. According to the report, “a 2008 independent study estimated that the high-volume manufacturing cost of automotive fuel cell systems (using current technology and assuming 500,000 units per year) would be $73/kW, which equates to almost $6000 for an 80-kW system. This current technology would be more than twice as expensive as internal combustion engine systems. And, based on the highest demonstrated durability to date, fuel cell systems would have a lifespan of approximately 1900 hours, which equates to about 57,000 miles and is still substantially lower than today’s estimated vehicular lifespan of 150,000 miles.” Sound familiar?

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