The Atlantic boasts a lengthy article on the Chevy Volt containing some pretty eye-opening revelations from author Jonathan Rauch. "And how, I ask [Volt chief engineer Andrew Farah] over coffee early one February morning in Detroit, is it going… The car, he says, is 10 weeks behind the original schedule. Any more slippage, and the 2010 deadline will be history. Even if no more time is lost, he will have only eight weeks to test the underbody, the car's structural base. Is that enough time? He answers indirectly. In some cars, he says, testing the underbody can take a year." And the mood permeates the entire program: "At the end of February, when I returned to the technical center, the picture looked different. December's ebullience had given way to a sense of strain that was evident even to a tourist. 'We currently are at the limit of our stretch,' one senior battery engineer told me." None of this seems to bode well for the timely arrival or reliability of what is arguably the most advanced automobile ever offered for sale in the U.S. Or for the company that's attempting to pull the miracle out of its ass hat.

CNN Money's editor at large, Paul LaMonica, thinks GM should be kicked out of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. He argues that GM's poor performance, their plans to ditch HUMMER and the current 0% financing offer are all indicators that GM is in trouble. (If I were a cynic, I'd ask where he was when GM dumped Oldsmobile and had their "anyone with a pulse" financing deals.) What does LaMonica suggest to replace GM in the Dow? It "can still have an automotive component… GM is continuing to lose share to Japanese rivals Toyota (TM) and Honda (HMC). While the editors at the [Wall Street] Journal have maintained that the DJIA is only for American companies, I think that's a view whose time has passed." He concludes GM's just one of several companies "that are just not as relevant as they used to be, such as Sears, Eastman Kodak and U.S. Steel… GM's time has come." Ok — enough is enough. What took you (and everyone else) so long to figure this out?

When Kirk Kekorian's mouthpiece Jerry York said Ford should get rid of Volvo,few commentators thought the deal would go down this quickly. Even though a Ford spokesman insists "we have been consistently saying since the end of last year that Volvo is not for sale," Automotive News [sub] reports that Ford is negotiating with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) to sell their Swedish division. SAIC currently has joint ventures with GM and VW to build and sell cars in China. They also own the rights to Rover; they're branching out with their own vehicles based on Rover cars under the Roewe brand. Buying Volvo would give SAIC a strong inroad to the European and American markets and/or another brand to play with in China. If this deal falls through, an unnamed Russian investor is rumored to be interested in buying Volvo. A word of caution to the brand's suitors: Gott lära av andras fel, eftersom man inte hinner begå alla själv.

Sajeev can breathe a sigh of relief. The Detroit News reports that the Blue Oval Boyz are considering offering the Ranger demi-pickup for two more years. Originally slated for the scrapheap in 2009, along with the Twin Cities Assembly Plant, the new plan puts a hold on the factory closure and extends production of the market's most fuel-efficient compact truck to 2011. That's when the "global" Ranger model hits the streets. Of course, Ford will neither confirm nor deny the reports. Spokesman Said Deep: "We do not discuss future product plans for fear we'll have to change our minds again competitive reasons." FoMoCo will build the global Ranger outside of the U.S. South Africa gets the nod, exempt as it is from the "chicken tax" on imported pickups. Now if they'd just start marketing the Ranger (when was the last time you saw a commercial for one?), they might just have a hit truck on their hands. You know; relatively speaking.

In the latest GM Death Watch, RF points out that GM is dancing on the point of a spear. The LA Times puts it into a different perspective. After the stock market closed yesterday with GM down 6.4 percent from Friday's closing, the company that was once the largest and most profitable in the world is "now is a less-significant business than Starbucks Corp., Gap Inc. or computer game retailer GameStop Corp." GM's total market capitalization is currently $7.3b, down from $14.1b on January 1. Starbucks, on the other hand, "still has two digits before the decimal point: Starbucks' shares are worth $11.9 billion in all." And as if to rub salt into wounds, they point out "you could fit nearly 17 GM's in Coca-Cola's $124-billion market cap." How the GM board can sit idly by and watch this unfold is anyone's guess, and why they keep the current impotent leadership around defies logic. GM's workers, suppliers, dealers, stockholders and customers deserve better than this.

GM has stated publicly and repeatedly that they're fully committed to cutting back on incentives. Unfortunately, as the saying goes, what they're doing shouts so loud we can't hear what they're saying. Automotive News [sub]  caught wind of a conference call between GM dealers and Marketing Maven Mark LaNeve. GM's [non-PHEV] volte face starts tomorrow, when the ailing automaker will offer 0 percent financing for 72 months on "most Chevrolet and Buick-Pontiac-GMC products." On a $30k rig, that’s about $8100 in savings versus a standard 9 percent rate. If you're buying instead of leasing, The General will add in another $500 in bonus cash (they have to clear the lots before the 2009s start rolling in with their 3.5 percent price increase). And yet, with so many lightly used trucks and SUVs on the market– many with a great GM warranty– even this offer may not move the needle. GM's facing disaster; some analysts reckon their sales could tumble by 28 percent in June. Hence the fact that the special financing will run until they sell something June 30. Or longer. Meanwhile, LaNeve also revealed that his employer's hired Citibank to help it "complete their study" on HUMMER and they're open to "all options" for the brand. Except incentives? Go figure.

With inflation around 30 percent, interest rates over 20 percent and fuel at all-time highs, auto dealers in Sri Lanka are facing worse times than their American counterparts. (And that's saying something; ChyrCo's U.S. sales are down 19.3% year-to-date, 25.4% in May.) One dealer is trying a time-honored tactic to move the metal: a buy-one-get-one-free promotion. Lanka Business Online (LBO) reports that Diesel and Motor Engineering company (DIMO) is offering a free Tata Xeta when you buy a new Jeep 4×4 or Chrysler Grand Voyager van. Chryslers aren't selling in Sri Lanka because of "their high prices and maintenance costs and consumer preference for cheaper rival brands." LBO also points out they have lower fuel economy ratings than other cars, because "Chrysler is a US firm, where fuel has been lightly taxed compared to the rest of the world." DIMO said the promotion should also "help liquidate the stock of older models of the Xeta." Perhaps U.S. Chrysler dealers should try a reverse tactic: buy a Caliber, Sebring or Compass and get a Durango, Aspen or Commander free.

Earlier this year, GM Car Czar Bob Lutz announced that his employer was [theoretically] set to build about 10k plug-in electric – gas hybrid Volts in the car's first year of production, "so we can deal with any issues before we really crank up for high volumes." In an email to the Detroit Free Press, GM's Chairman of Vice confirmed the initial 10k run in 2011, and then set a number for 2012: 60k units. Considering that GM is what's commonly called a "volume automaker," and the fact that Toyota has sold 79,765 Priora so far this year, that seems like mighty small beer. Which just got smaller. Maximum Bob admitted that the production stats are "notional targets." GM may offer even less Voltage in the model's first year "to ensure that all vehicles built are safe and high quality." Oh yeah, and "the actual number [built in the first two years] is highly dependent on electrical component supplier capability and battery experience." So there you have it. GM will produce 10k Volts in the first year. Or not. And produce 60k Volts in the second year. Or not. But they definitely will produce Volts. Or not.

You say you have a class reunion coming up and just can't show up in your eight-year-old Corolla? Well, cheer up Bunkie– that's what rental cars are for. And since anything worth doing is worth doing right, Gotham Dream Cars has just the car for you. For a mere $4000/day (plus insurance) you can make your grand entrance in a Saleen S7. However, if you want one of the supercars, you'll need to plan ahead– Gotham expects a six week (or longer) wait list. They'll have one in both their New York and Miami locations but to rent one you have to be a "returning GDC customer" or member of their "exclusive DreamShare exotic car club." You can also bet there'll be some bodacious restrictions on far you can take it or what you can do with it. Hmmm… I can get a direct flight from Atlanta to NYC or Miami reasonably cheap, and a membership in their DreamShare club can't be that much, can it? RF, how much money do we have in the road test budget????  (Hat tip to gizmag )

With fuel expenses that rival Joan Rivers' botox bill, a lot of smaller towns are feeling the budget crunch. USA TODAY reports the Holly Springs, Georgia, police department is doing something about it. No, they're not switching to biofuel or putting their officers on bicycles. Starting July 1, if you're stopped for speeding in this Atlanta suburb, you'll be charged a $12 "fuel surcharge" for the gas the po-po used to catch you. (They didn't say if they'd increase the surcharge by the number of cars used to run you down.) Police chief Ken Ball expects the surcharge to add between $19.5k and $26k to the city's coffers. Looks like Atlanta's next; Monday, the  city council approved a proposal to add $10 to $15 to tickets for speeding and other moving violations within their borders. Don't smirk if you live elsewhere, though– Ball says he's been "inundated" by calls from other cities wanting a copy of the ordinance.

Analysts are predicting auto sales in June will drop below 13m units for the first time since 1992. The Detroit News reports the shift from trucks to fuel-efficient cars is hitting the truck-heavy Big 2.8 the hardest (ya think?). Ford market analyst George Pipas provided the auto industry understatement of the year: "Unfortunately, the consumer demand for [trucks and SUVs] is very low." Equally disturbing, "The inventory for products which are in high demand is very low." Even the transplants are feeling the pinch; their production can't keep up with demand for fuel efficient cars from buyers willing to all but give away their gas-guzzlers. What happened to those pre-May prognostications from the D2.8 that the sun will come out in September? *crickets chirping* Meanwhile, even as American automakers struggle to shut off truck production, they still don't have desirable small cars and hybrids anywhere near the production end of the pipeline. It's 1973 all over again. 

"When will the [economic] pain go away?" That's what Newsweek asked their "Business Roundtable Experts," including GM Car Czar Bob Lutz. Maximum Bob begins by affixing blame: it's big oil's fault. Rising oil prices affect the price of everything because oil "goes into making virtually everything." Fair enough. And then Maximum Bob's off, talking about the "short-term disruption in [GM's] growth caused by rising oil prices." Growth? Seems Bob's suffering from half-zeimer's, conveniently overlooking the fact the GM started losing market share and sales long before oil prices rocketed upwards. Anyway… "Fortunately… we are a global producer, and we're well positioned in the rapidly growing economies of China, Russia, India and Latin America." Yes, despite GM's cash flow problems and mounting debt, "we're going to increase our R&D spending to expand alternative fuel solutions and advanced technology solutions to lessen and ultimately eliminate everyone's dependence on petroleum." [emphasis added] Of course, Mr. Lutz doesn't mention where they'll get the energy to generate all of the electricity or produce all the hydrogen and ethanol for these "alternative fuel solutions." But at least these remarks put him at the front of the pack for next year's Bob Lutz Award.

Yesterday, Cardomain bragged told their tribes that they were having dinner with GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz. They asked readers what questions they should demand (in a sycophantic sort of way) of the winner of TTAC's first annual Bob Lutz Award. Cardomain received all of 15 responses, most of which were pretty lame. However, there were a few good ones. "Why is it so easy for foreign GM divisions in Australia and Europe to make great cars, and so hard for GM in America to make them?" We haven't been invited to dinner with anyone (and aren't holding our breath until an invitation shows up in our mailbox). But still, it's an interesting question– one that our own RF answered with "Is your pension bankruptcy proof?" So now, we're giving you, TTAC's Best and Brightest, the chance to play fantasy asshole. If Bob Lutz' handlers suddenly suffered a total breakdown in judgment and invited us– OK, you– to a one-on-one dinner with their head of Global Product Development, what would you ask GM's car guru?

As Mark Phelan pointed out, GM would dearly love to unload the unloved HUMMER brand on some overseas sucker investor. The rumor mill is gristing the idea that India's Mahindra and Mahindra may scarf the tree hugger's least favorite vehicle of all time, ever. It seems only natural; the company's been building the AXE, a Humvee knockoff, for the Indian Army. Just-Auto cites an anonymous "senior official at M&M" who told them "Mahindra is very keen on acquiring the Hummer, because of many reasons, but I can't go into all of them but for one it is the most seen vehicle on TV in any country, these days at least the military version of it. It is still too early to talk of prices and timeframes but we are in the process of designing a civilian version of the Mahindra AXE and owning the vehicle it was modelled [sic] after would make a lot of sense." Not only that, HUMMER would give them a well-known premium brand to compete against rival Tata's recent Land Rover acquisition. Analysts think the HUMMER brand could put about $750m into GM's coffers. Or not.

Despite Tesla Motors' March 17th (of this year) declaration that they've put their lithium-ion-powered Roadster into production, nothing. While we wait for a single customer car to hit the streets, we thought we'd fill the time by talking about Savannah Sampson. According to Wikipedia. Ms. Sampson was born Natalie Oliveros in 1966 in Rochester New York. After training in ballet, she became an exotic dancer. From there, it was a quick chassé to the world of adult films. For the past eight years, Sampson's starred in a variety of movies such as Rocco Meats an American Angel in Paris, Big Blowout, Best Deep Throat on the Planet and Patient, Patients, Patients. Although we can cannot corroborate Wikipedia's citation, she's reportedly filming a reality-based TV show for Showtime called M.I.L.F. Sampson's acting awards include an AVN award for Best All-Girl Sex Scene for The Masseuse (2004), an AVN award for Best Group Sex Scene (2004, 2005) and a GayVN Award for Best Non-Sexual Performance (in Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita, 2007). It's not known what kind of car Savannah drives, but it could, in theory, eventually, at some point, be a Tesla Roadster– provided she could fit her ample… uh… superstructure into the rather small cockpit.