Forbes reports that Peugeot/Citroen is shifting their hybrid diesel strategy. The French automaker planned on developing a mass-market diesel hybrid in partnership with Continental, Bosch, Valeo and Thyssen-Krupp for a 2010 release. To meet its goal of developing a diesel hybrid with a price point of under €2k euros, the €471m project had relied on €100m in loans and subsidies from the French Agency for Industrial Innovation. Amidst competitive concerns raised by the public funding scheme and an eighteen month delay (surprise), P/C abandoned the project altogether– in favor of an in-house premium-line diesel hybrid. P/C says their diesel hybrid won't be available until 2011– which is a lot better than "eventually."

Perhaps hoping to forestall the inevitable )read: Gunnar Heinrich's "Whither Maybach" editorial), the double-M luxury marque has announced a new Landaulet model.  It's aimed squarely at those of us rich enough to want a car that demonstrates the cavernous class divide between ourselves and our chauffeurs. Set to retail at a cool €900k, the Landaulet is based on the 612 horsepower Maybach 62S. It's Unique Selling Point (other than monumental depreciation): a retractable soft top that allows passengers to enjoy a pleasant breeze through their perfectly-coiffed hair. To ensure that the owners of expensive hairpieces need not suffer undue humiliation, Maybach has equipped its Landaulet with an automatic wind diffuser which deploys at about 45 mph. Is the Landaulet worth the nearly half-million premium over a standard 62S? Of course not… and Maybach is a little disappointed that you would even ask such a vulgar question.

[Pixamo gallery here].

So there's this big deal panel of "independent experts" from the National Research Council that advises the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) re: federal mpg standards. The last time the Council got together, they deemed diesel engines too dirty and hybrids as "too niche" for inclusion in their final report. Flash forward seven years and the Council finds that diesels could deliver 30 to 40 percent improvement in fuel efficiency over comparable gas engines. This time 'round, full-electric and fuel cell-powered vehicles didn't make the cut; "the committee does not expect commercialization of fuel cell vehicles or widespread marketing of all-electric vehicles before 2020." Although Congress insists that regulations must focus on gas engines– as these represent the vast majority of vehicles on the road– the inclusion of diesels in the new report may presage regulations allowing a new era of European-sourced high-efficiency oil burners in the U.S. Provided, that is, California doesn't trump the feds again and tighten their particulate standards, again…

In the world of hybrid-drive technology, far-sighted development can pay huge dividends. Just ask Toyota, whose sales of Hybrid Synergy Drive-powered vehicles passed the global million-unit mark last year. While Nissan is licensing Toyota's Synergy Drive for its Altima Hybrid, GM has passed on proven success in its pursuit of two-mode hybrid technology with BMW, Mercedes and Chrysler at their joint Hybrid Development Center in Troy, Michigan. Smooth move or just another example of GM throwing good money after bad? Yup, you guessed it.

Auto Motor und Sport (AMuS) has it from "well informed circles" that GM is working on not one but two more versions of the new Saab 9-1. To get a feel for what GM should produce, AMuS commissioned Mark Stehrenberger. The design savant imagineers the first model as an aggressive two-box vehicle with a narrow greenhouse that looks a lot like MINI Clubman with a Saab grille (although maybe I've just seen too many Saab grilles grafted onto other people's designs). The second sketch shows us a weird little Saturn with Chevy Nomad-style removable roof elements. Word has it that the car could be built on either the Alpha or Kappa rear wheel-drive (RWD) platforms, and sport a Pontiac or Buick (cough crash cart cough) badge. Which means either A: GM is bringing a RWD hot hatch to the American market and badge engineering it to death or B: It isn't.

[View GM 1-Series fighter Pixamo gallery here.] 

Ford was late breaking into China's red-hot car market, and it's paying the price. Detroit News reports that Ford's share of the of the Chinese pie grew from two percent to 2.1 percent last year– falling well short of FoMoCo's internal 2.4 percent target. This in a year where car sales spiked 20 percent. Ford was late developing manufacturing infrastructure in China; it opened its first factory some 18 years after longtime China sales leader VW, five years after GM. Ford's only top-ten hit in The People's Republic: the Focus. Due to the large number of Focus parts sourced from outside China, the model still generates less profit than its competitors. Perhaps more worrisome for Fords long-term efforts: its inability to put together an attractive, coherent brand for the Chinese market. Ford's Asia/Pacific division chief John Parker blames Ford's "big car" image. Meanwhile, Mazda is taking up the slack. Of Ford's $244m pre-tax profit in the Asia/Pacific region, Mazda accounts for $204m. Ouch.

Cerberus Capital Management had to know it was taking on risk when it picked up Chrysler and GMAC at cut-rate prices. After all, Chrysler had tried its level best to drag Daimler down during their brief, unhappy marriage and GMAC is hardly a low-risk proposition given the current credit market dyspepsia. But private equity firms are big and loaded, right? Cerberus will weather the storm, right? Andrew Sorkin of the NY Times' Dealbook blog reckons it might not, and predicts dire consequences for all of private equity-dom. Noting Cerberus' founder Stephen Feinberg's disdain for publicity in the wake of its purchase of the terrible twins, Sorkin figures the fund is in for some more bad press in coming days. He calls the purchases "perhaps the riskiest bets at the peak of the buyout boom," and points to Chrysler's $18b in pension and health care liabilities as a potential cause for a Cerberus meltdown. If such a meltdown were to occur, it would certainly have Sorkin running for his superlatives thesaurus.

E85 ethanol is methadone for America's oil addiction; it lets us believe we're kicking a bad habit. Which is fine if we could exercise our judgment as consumers. As taxpayers, E85's a done deal, on both the federal and state level. The Bradenton Herald reports that Florida politicians have already shelled-out some $25m in taxpayer-funded (who else?) grants to "alternative fuel developers." The "Farm to Fuel" initiative is set to throw tens of millions more in the same direction. As a member of the National Steering Committee of 25×25 (25 percent of America's fuel farmed by 2025), Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson is leading the pigs to the trough drive towards U.S. energy independence. From his taxpayer funded website, Bronson makes a Wall Street-style pitch for ethanol: "In the past decade, there have been great strides in biofuel technology and manufacturing facilities, substantially improving the efficiency of this fuel source. Florida will be the site of great advances in the development of fuel and energy alternatives, which is why we are pushing our 'Farm to Fuel' initiative so aggressively." In case you were wondering.

In the wake of eco-criticism for daring to offer a cheap car to India's lower classes, Tata Motors has been busy greenwashing. The Economic Times looks in the reportorial mirror and quotes "industry sources" who assure us that Tata really does love green long time. There's talk (talk, and nothing but the talk) of a 47mpg hybrid Indica model (yeah, yuk it up stoners), blended-fuel vehicles and hydrogen fuel cells. As if to confirm the air of desperation surrounding Tata's "green technologies programme," the Financial Times tells us that the Indian automaker has signed an agreement with French firm MDI to develop a car that runs on compressed air. That's right, the world's first zero-emission, zero-fuel car would operate on the same principle as a cereal box balloon car. In theory, MDI's compressed air car would max-out at 30 mph. Tata Managing Director Ravi Kant declared that "it's a very exciting concept, this way of running a car. We hope something will come out of it." Speaking of which, MDI claims the new car's exhaust will be cold enough to double as air conditioning; a guaranteed selling point for subcontinental motorists. Not to mention the fact that it stops us from dismissing the idea as nothing but hot air.

Judge Phillip Shefflerly has ruled that Chrysler does not get to strip parts supplier Plastech's factories of tooling, effectively forcing Chrysler to continue buying parts from Plastech. Shefferly's conceded that his decision may take a bite out of Chrysler's short term bottom line. But he decided that Chrysler has "numerous options" on the table, whereas Plastech would be staring at eight plant closures in the next nine months (were Chrysler to seize the tools). Shefferly's decision scrupulously avoids any indication on which party is "in the right." No word on the validity of (former Chrysler honcho-staffed) auditing firm BKK's findings of Plastech malfeasance. Nor any mention of the several bailout agreements, in which Chrysler forked-over cash for the rights to its Plastech tooling. So, is Plastech lucky or good? In any case, the ball's back in Chrysler's court, with big, expensive choices looming. Which begs an even more important question. With bankruptcy rulings favoring "successful reorganization" over financial commitments, how long before other suppliers take Chrysler down bankruptcy lane? By the same token, now that Cerberus management is crowing that it "doesn't have to be heroes with Chrysler," how long before Cerberus pulls the trigger on a Chrysler filing?  

Buried in an AdAge.com interview with Toyota GM Bob Carter: a quote that brings to mind the bon mots of GM Car Czar Bob Lutz. After Mr. Carter lauds Toyota's hybrid domination– an 80 percent U.S. market share with a supply-restricted 67 percent growth rate— the Maximum Moment™ arrives. Carter declares that "it's not our position that the hybrid is [the] solution to the future. We're looking at high-efficiency gasoline, clean diesel, fuel cells and the plug-in hybrid." While it's an ostensibly sensible position, Carter's remark must come (or will come) as something of an eye opener to ToMoCo's Veep for Drivetrain Development. Back in May, Masatami Takimoto told the Motor Authority that hybrids will be the Japanese automaker's standard drivetrain by 2020, 'cause synergy driven vehicles would be "no more expensive to produce than a conventional vehicle." So, does Carter's cautious climb down make him "Minimum Bob?"

With the Fiat 500 Abarth and 500 Abarth SS set to debut at the Geneva International Motor Show in March, e-Fiatisti have been eagerly awaiting the inevitable internet sneak peek leak of the scorpion-branded Toppolinos. Andiamo! Autospies.com brings us this official (if photochopped) image of the "small but wicked" Abarth. With its 1.4-liter turbo four making 135 horsepower at 5,500 rpm, Fiat's mighty midget is only stage one in Abarth's twisted scheme to make Europe's Car Of The Year speziato. Stage two? The 500 Abarth SS, which Auto Motor und Sport reckons could stump-up 180hp. If so, that's a full eight horsepower more than the Euro-pocket rocket standard bearer, the MINI Cooper S. Which is, methinks, the point. In any case, it remains to be seen if the Abarth's TTC (Torque Transfer Control) kills front wheel-drive helm squirm and/or makes the Italian [toy] stallion a better steer than its Germano-British competition. TTAC central command has charged our man Schwoerer with that particular piece of investigative journalism. Bastardo. [TTAC welcomes Edward Niedermeyer, son of contributor Paul Niedermeyer.]

[Pixamo slide show of new Fiat 500 Abarth here.]