Thomson Financial [via Forbes] reports that BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer has raised the specter of an all-electric Bimmer (Beemer?) for the U.S. market by 2012. Reithofer may be yanking our schnitzels; he says production of the theoretical EV could be outsourced to a "major US automaker." Raising the weirdness stakes even further, Reithofer asserts that "BMW will be considered a so-called large vehicle manufacturer in the US from 2012, [obliging them] to offer an ecologically compatible car." The prospect of an eco-friendly BMW with outsourced production reminds us more than a bit of the Isetta. Does this mean that the Bavarian bubblecar will make a revamped comeback a la MINI? We're not sure, but an Avarvarii photochop would certainly be a giggle.

At a press breakfast this morning, GM CEO Rick Wagoner dismissed Bob Lutz' comment that "global warming is a crock of shit." "The comments weren't coming out of our company," said Wagoner [via Detroit News]. "The data is pretty clear that the temperature on the earth is rising. There's all sort of debates as to why but we've clearly come down on the side it makes sense for us to put our business in a position where we can participate proactively in reducing the amount of (carbon dioxide) emissions." At the same time, Wagoners said the General would keep fighting to prevent California and 16 other states from eventually getting to impose their own strict tailpipe emissions standards. Such standards could force passenger cars to average 43.7 mpg by 2016. "I don't think it's the right thing for the country,"  Wagoner said. Wagoner went on to blame the gas – electric plug-in Volt's development "issues" on the fact that the United States "is way behind, way behind" in battery technology. That's right folks, GM blames the feds. What a crock.

Cerberus Capital Management has been building a name for itself by buying high-risk automotive assets like Chrysler and GMAC. Obviously Steve Feinberg's boys don't listen to analysts who say that Cerberus is already overexposed; the private equity fund is looking at sinking money into yet another troubled automotive enterprise. Forbe's reports that Dura Automotive, a supplier of door and seat systems and other automotive components is looking for loans to exit Chapter 11. A Dura spokesperson reveals that "Cerberus Capital Management's Ableco Finance LLC, [is] among the potential sources of Chapter 11 exit loans that are talking to the company." Dura needs a $150m first-lien term loan and an $80m second-lien loan to implement the Chapter 11 plan it filed Friday. This is Dura's second shot at exiting Chapter 11, having already failed to secure a larger loan package in December. Cerberus gave the company a $170m loan in January to defer foreclosure, meaning it may have no choice but to shell out the $230m Dura needs in order to protect its already considerable investment in the company. Preview of coming attractions?

The American Family Association has announced the end of its two and a half year long boycott of FoMoCo. OneNewsNow.com, which is owned by the AFA, brings glad tidings of the boycotts success in keeping Ford a good, old fashioned, bigoted company. Ford no longer gives cash incentives to homosexual groups based on the purchase of a vehicle, it has ceased to make corporate donations to homosexual organizations that engage in political or social campaigns promoting civil unions or homosexual marriage, it has stopped giving cash and vehicle donations or endorsements to homosexual social activities such as Homosexual Pride parades, and it no longer buys ads on homosexual web sites and homosexual media outlets. The AFA credits the 780,000 who signed the "Boycott Ford" petition with bringing about a change in Fords corporate philosophy. "During the time the boycott was going on, Ford averaged a drop of eight percent in sales each month," says AFA founder Don Wildmon. "Was the boycott entirely responsible for that?  No, but it did play a significant role." Forbes quotes Ford sources as saying  the automaker had "decreased overall charitable spending and advertising in recent years because of financial losses" and "its principles haven't changed and that it is committed to treating everyone fairly."  

As if Ford wasn't losing enough money, AP reports [via Forbes ] the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals today ordered Ford to pay a California woman $82.6m for injuries sustained when her Ford Explorer rolled over in 2002. A jury had originally awarded the plaintiff $369m. Like street cocaine, that number has been cut several times in course of the case. Ford had appealed the verdict all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the Explorer met all federal safety standards. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the 4th Circuit to determine whether or not their ruling was in line with a previous determination which overturned nearly $80m in damages awarded in a tobacco lawsuit. Today's decision blesses the plaintiff with $55m in punitive damages. The legal point: federal safety standards are not enough to shield automakers from legal liability. The scary bit: class action lawsuits will now fall like rain upon Ford's head. The Blue Oval Boyz have yet to publicly comment on the case, probably as they're busy talking to their insurance agent and trying to figure out what they're going to sell next.

Analysts tell the Wall Street Journal that the low end of the classic car market is getting hammered (so to speak) by sagging real estate values. "Home equity was the ATM out of which a lot of people were withdrawing money to have fun,"  says McKeel Hagerty. The CEO of Hagerty Insurance Agency says the market for mass produced "enthusiast cars" in the $30k to $50k range has tanked by two-thirds in the last two years. Another factor: age. Apparently, the people who pined for cool-but-not-collectible American iron of the 50's and 60's during their youth are getting older and less interested. The president of Hyman Limited Classic Cars claims the high-end of the market remains unaffected by the credit crunch; as collectors who buy hand-built, limited edition classics don't need to mortgage the mansion to pick-up a toy or twelve. Wordsmith Dan Carney would like to leave you with the impression that today's depressed low-level market makes it a good time to buy a classic, but we remember the price crash of the late 90's and reckon the down economy will sink the market even further.   

The Register reports that MIT scientists have unveiled a new, "stacking vehicle" concept which will "reinvent urban mobility." The concept is based on stacks of small vehicles which fold up to stack together into small racks which would be located near subway stations or bus stops. The vehicles would be powered by "wheel robots:" tiny, self-contained, digitally controlled reconfigurable electric motors in each wheel. In theory, the system provides all-wheel power and steering, easy navigation of urban areas and best of all, sideways parking. The vehicles would charge while folded on their racks; the user would "simply take the first fully charged vehicle from the front of the stack." The concept's website states that "The City car is NOT a replacement for personal vehicles, taxis, buses, or trucks; it is a NEW vehicle type that promotes a socially responsible and more effective means of urban mobility." That doesn't conform to automotive safety standards. Never mind. Team leader architecture professor Bill Mitchell say he'd like to see the system in production in three to four years. Team member Christopher Borroni-Bird is a little more skeptical. "What we have is a very intriguing concept. It is certainly a very promising idea," GM's Director of the Advanced Technology Vehicle Concepts said. "but I don't want to say it is ready for production… there's still a lot of work yet to take it from concept to production." This from the people who champion E85, the Volt and two-mode hybrids.

The Windsor Star reports that fire fighters have extinguished a blaze at Chrysler's Windsor, Ontario plant (Chrysler minivans). The fire appears to have started the plant's paint shop, also the source of a recent fire at Porsche's Zuffenhausen factory. The fire was noticed at about 12:30 local time, as smoke and flames rose from the roof of the factory. According to CAW officials on site, was evacuated without any injuries to workers. "The evacuation system worked," said CAW Local 444 President Ken Lewenza. "Everybody's out of the workplace. We're now in the process of getting the plant operating." Officials estimate that the plant will return to normal production by later today. We've received no confirmation of rumored sightings of Cerberus executives with gas cans and copies of insurance contracts in the area.

AMG is the world's largest purveyor of $100k+ automobiles. Daimler says the average Mercedes AMG buyer has an annual household income of $348,854. So… The Chicago Sun Times is reporting that Mercedes has decided to semi-transform its in-house tuner AMG into a semi-separate automotive demi-brand. Announced at the launch of the new C63 AMG, the spin-off is an attempt to raise the profile of AMG as a super-premium. Uh, that's it.  No wait; performance brand. Starting in the second quarter of this year, seven pilot AMG Performance Centers will begin offering sales and service for the blistering-fast, mondo depreciating uber-Benzs. The goal: 30 such centers in the U.S. by year's end. The new dealer network– attached to the old dealer network– will offer a number of marketing features aimed at luring buyers away from BMW's M, Lexus' F, and Cadillac's V-line. We're talking a traveling roadshow, a new website and an ad campaign. While the seriously rich are still… seriously rich, Daimler is launching the AMG demi-brand straight into the teeth of the worst automotive market for over a decade. Good luck with that.

Fiat is [still] planning on reintroducing its Alfa Romeo line to the United States "sometime after 2008." To ensure profitability in the face of a weak reputation for quality dollar and a strong Euro, Reuters reports the company will/would have to manufacture at least some of its cars outside Europe. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has indicated that Mexico is at the top of the list, although a Confederate tax break deal may be doable. Eventually. "We can think of producing [in the Americas] in the medium-long term," Marchionne opined. Which Alfa models would be produced or sold stateside remains equally unknown (unknowable?). The tasty 8C is likely to lead the charge; it's just about the only Alfa whose price premium can overcome the exchange rate. Meanwhile, big changes are in the air at Alfa. New CEO Luca De Meo says he hopes to "restore Alfa Romeo's place among premium brands by the time of its 100th anniversary on June 25, 2010." With new versions of Alfa mid- and full-sized sedans set to appear around that date, we reckon that's when we may see the Italian automaker's wares stateside. Or not. 

In his seminal work "The Origin of Competitive Strength," former Toyota chief of Product Planning Akira Kawahara claimed that platform-sharing was a main source of early strength for Toyota. As proof that Kawahara-san's strategy of multiple brands on similar platforms still holds favor at ToMoCo, According to Automotive News [sub], the Japanese automaker is considering launching a new Prius brand. Executive VP for R&D Kazuo Okamoto confirms that Toyota is developing plans for an entire Prius range, as "Prius recognition levels [are] rising." Calling the development "a reasonable direction," Okamoto admitted that Toyota may use the Prius platform for coupes, wagons and sedans. Having already invested in a Scion dealership network which is seeing sagging sales, Toyota could leverage some considerable synergy (pun intended) with the introduction of a Prius brand alongside its ostensibly "youth-market" brand. Then again, if Toyota marketers are to be believed, criminals with hearts of gold just want a Prius with a bigger trunk.

In recent years, Ford has sold off valuable assets, including Aston Martin and Hertz Rentals. They're currently flogging Land Rover and Jaguar to India's Tata Motors (fingers crossed). Although Ford's got plenty of cash for the time being– having mortgaged itself up to the eyeballs in '06 for $23b– the American automaker's just about out of stuff to sell. So is Ford is going to have to face the music and… start selling cars? Analysts quoted in the International Herald Tribune say you got that right. John Casesa claims Ford couldn't get diddly squat for Mercury (who?), Ford Financial or Volvo. That's because "interest from private equity companies had pushed takeover prices sky-high, but the credit squeeze that began last year has made it harder for those companies to borrow, forcing asset prices down." Oh, and Ford Financial is staring at a credit meltdown and Volvo isn't making any money. In fact, Ford wrote down about $2.4b of the Swedish brand's value in January. So there really is nothing left for Ford to do but make and sell profitable vehicles in the North American market. What are the odds? (Hint: check the stock price.) 

When Chrysler went to court to retrieve tooling from their bankrupt supplier Pastech, the automaker's Director of Interior Purchasing dissed their former "partner's" quality control. Douglas Doran testified that Plastech components had triggered 450 "quality issues" in 2007. Doran drolly described the defect rate as "more than the average supplier." According to The Detroit News, Plastech execs have finally fired back. They claim that parts quality had improved steadily since 2006. What's more (or less), company data shows that there were five times fewer quality issues in the fourth quarter of 2007 than in the same period in 2006. In January of this year, a month before declaring bankruptcy, Plastech reported 26 problems per million parts. While Plastech's suits figure that's below industry targets, analysts counter that it also isnt industry leading. With the only proof of financial malfeasance by Plastech coming from an auditing firm staffed by former Chrysler flacks who refuse to answer our questions, it's beginning to look more like Chrysler squeezed on price, then whined about quality.

Focus magazine [via The International Herald Tribune] says leaked Porsche internal planning documents reveal that Porsche Holdings is secretly (well, not now) aiming for a 75 percent share in Volkswagen. Analysts point out that a more sizable share would give Porsche access to VW's cash flow through a "domination and profit transfer agreement." (That's a far cry from a "collegial partnership," but hey, who's listening?) To get their hands on VeeDub's cash, Porsche would have to up its $15b deal by an additional $35b. Apparently, Porsche's got the finances to git 'er done. BUT… The German state of Lower Saxony is unlikely to surrender any part of its 20 percent VW stake, which "safeguards" 82k jobs withiin its jurisdiction. Furthermore, much of Porsche's controlling family oppose the deal; they're not in love with either VW's risk or VW chairman Ferdinand Piech. Porsche denied the Focus Magazine story this morning, saying Piech is the anti-Christ. No wait; the deal "overlooks the realities of VW's shareholder structure."

Nobody can accuse Daimler of ignoring the green marketing craze that is sweeping the industry. They've shown high-tech lithium-ion-based diesel and mild hybrid concepts in near-production models (in contrast to other automakers' futuristic flights of fancy). A "BlueEfficiency" package will be available across its Mercedes-Benz model line by year's end, bringing lower weights, reduced rolling resistance and 10 percent better efficiency. None of these efforts will be particularly profitable, but unlike other companies, Daimler is willing to admit it. According to Automotive News [sub], Daimler research chief Thomas Weber says the company isn't expecting its green initiatives to make it any money. "We have to make sure that we keep an eye on the profit situation," said Weber. "Our strategic goal is not to make a lot of money with this, but also not to lose a lot of money with this." What, no mention of how eco-oriented vehicles help the German automaker bank the bucks by meeting new Euro and U.S. CO2/mpg regs, so they can sell high-profit gas guzzlers? Hey, glasnost only goes so far.