GM Car Czar Bob Lutz doesn't know who we are (which is a shame since RF gave him the "Maximum Bob" moniker and we've named an award in his honor). GM's jeffe of press releases, Christopher Barger, doesn't want to admit he does. However, we know through our "inside sources" (i.e. server stats) that quite a few people in GM read TTAC. In spite of that, you won't find TTAC on GM's Fastlane blog's list of "Auto Links" and especially not in their list of "Blogs We Like." And we have never, not ONCE had a post or email or interview with a single GM flack. However, no one seemed to let GM Europe know of our pariah status. Yesterday, I was searching the web and ended-up on GM Europe's "Social Media Newsroom" web site. I scanned down the page to their Blog Roll. The list was in alphabetical order (after the GM blogs listed at the top, of course). And there, fourth from the bottom was The Truth About Cars. Clerical error? Secret admirer? Glasnost? No matter how you slice it, the Euro-blog (not bog) roll is the only GM part of the GM Empire that acknowledges TTAC's existence. Regardless of the reason, we challenge GM to show some balls and put us in the listings on all their other blog sites. After all, we put stuff about GM on our front page all the time. And remember guys: 800 words, unedited, whenever you like.

Last month, Ford released the results of a self-commissioned study claiming their initial quality is as good as Toyota's. Well, Toyota ain't gonna take it; no! They ain't gonna take! On their Open Road Blog, corporate mouthpiece Mike Michaels goes to great lengths to explain that the Ford survey isn't the J.D. Power survey– which places Toyota above Ford. However, Michaels points-out that all of these initial quality surveys "deal with problems that surface only in the first 90 days." They're "useful, maybe, if you're going to rent the car for three months" (and God knows how many times we've done that.) Michaels then proclaims that brand loyalty– where Toyota and Lexus rank at the top– is the only true indicator of quality. That's the only way to know "how your car will treat you long after that new-car smell is gone." It's also a great way to know which car company has the most effective brainwashing marketing or the most risk-aversive customers. But there's one question Mr. Michaels left unanswered: why should we believe a survey that placing Toyota over Ford is any more accurate than one placing Ford on the same plane as Toyota when the methodology behind both of them is clouded in smoke and mirrors? Enquiring minds want to know.

Remember back in 2004, Ford unveiled its new Focus and announced "The Year of The Car?" FoMoCo's cash cow was (and still is) a pickup truck. Clock FoMoCo's passenger car offerings four years later, and you'd be forgiven for thinking the auto show hyperbole was just that. But now it's here for real: the year of the car. In April, passenger cars outsold trucks in the U.S. new vehicle market for the first time in two decades. This is a truly amazing moment in U.S. automotive history, representing the roll-back of the SUV boom. With federal fuel economy regulations in the offing, it's unlikely that even a huge drop in gas prices can reverse the tide. Let's take a closer look at this watershed month. 

It should come as a shock to no one that the AP is reporting (via Yahoo! News) that GM has agreed to kick-in up to $200m to end the strike at American Axle. In "a government filing" today, GM said the money would go for bribes payments to make up for wage reductions for the employees, buyouts and early retirement packages. AA spokeswoman Renee Rogers said there's been no agreement between the UAW and AA. But the supplier is "hopeful that GM's financial assistance to help fund the buyouts, retirement incentives and buy downs… will facilitate an expedited resolution to the international UAW strike." In a separate filing, AA said GM's aid depends on how quickly the strike is resolved. Meanwhile, GM indicated they have enough money to "meet its needs," even though the strike has cut its liquidity by $2.1b. They didn't indicate from which bodily orifice they plan to pull the $200m.

Has BusinessWeek been reading TTAC? Writer Michael Frank's assessment of Saab and Volvo sounds extremely familiar… Frank places Saab's problems right where they belong, stating GM "hasn't let Saab do anything creative, let alone steer itself in any direction other than toward total irrelevancy, for a good decade." But what's wrong with Volvo? "[L]ike famously angst-ridden compatriot filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, Volvo fears sexy… its slammed and ultra-turboed R-edition cars… are, for all intents and purposes, neutered and dead [because] Volvo is worried about fuel economy." The biggest problem for both, though: they've lost their brand distinction. As we've pointed out, Volvo no longer holds the upper hand in safety. Turbocharging is no long a Saab distinction. He wants something new from both automakers but concludes, "Oh, right, neither Volvo nor Saab has a new story to tell. And until they do, neither carmaker will have much of a future." To which all we can add is "Amen."

Desperate times lead to desperate measures, and Chrysler is about as desperate as they come. Or is that deceptive? First, the facts as we know then: ChryCo's just announced a new sales incentive program in "response to direct customer feedback citing the prospect of rising gas prices as a top concern." So now, anyone buying a "new and unused" Chrysler product in the U.S. can enroll in the "Let's Refuel America" promotion. They'll receive a gas card that lowers their price for gas to $2.99/gallon for three years. Participating customers will receive a card (with a PIN number) for deployment "at an eligible gas station." The card's good for regular gas, E85 or diesel fuel. After fueling is complete, the customer's personal credit card is billed at the rate of $2.99/gallon. The promotion runs until June 2, 2008. There's more fine print, but here's the big kahuna: Chrysler buyers get the card in lieu of "other incentives." Do the math, compare gas cash saved over three years vs. money not saved by discount, and, as the bard once said, "things are not always what they seem; milk can masquerade as cream." Anyone want to make any guesses on how much this deal will end-up costing Chryslerberus? Oh, and don't forget depreciation. Once ChryCo files for C11 the cards will be worthless. Of course, at that point, trade-in values won't be anything to write home about either…

GM dodged the bullet when the American Axle strike threatened to shut down the Malibu plant in Kansas City. (Found some! ) But the automaker's luck just ran out. Automotive News [sub] reports the members of UAW Local 31 walked out at 10 AM this morning after GM failed to come to terms over seniority and job security in their local operating contract. Although there was only a 31-day supply of Malibus in dealers' hands at the end of April, the situation isn't as dire as it would seem. The plant in Orion Township, MI where they also build Malibus (and Pontiac G6's) already has a local contract and will continue production. This is the second GM plant where workers are striking over their local contract; the Delta Township plant where they screw together the Lambda CUVs has been on strike for almost three weeks. Although UAW president Ron Gettelfinger said the union shouldn't expect GM to get involved in settling the American Axle strike, some analysts think that's the reason behind the local strikes against GM. With 61 other plants yet to sign local contracts, things could get a lot dicier for the General before they get better.

The strike at Alliance Interiors, where they make carpets for GM's Lambda CUV triplets, is over after 16 days. The Detroit Free Press reports the new contract was approved by 96 percent of the workers and includes pay increases and 401(k) retirement accounts. However, the workers can't go back to their jobs yet, as another strike at the Lansing Delta Township plant where they build the Lambda mom-mobiles means GM doesn't need any of their carpets right now. Union officials think the GM strike will also be settled soon. Meanwhile, the AP [via Mlive.com] reports that the strike at American Axle may be nearing resolution. Workers say local officials have given them some details: shutting down forge operations in Tonawanda N.Y., $11/hour wage cuts for production workers and $6.50 cuts for skilled trades and $90K bribes buydowns spread over three years (to help workers ease the transition to the lower wages). If a worker agrees to sever all ties with the company, they'll get $140k over two years. Workers will probably approve the deal, as many of them are feeling the financial stress of the two-month-long strike. 

In the quarterly conference call to offer excuses discuss the latest financial report– the one where GM lost $3.5b in Q1— CFO Ray Young reassured someone that GM has no plans to kill any of their eight North American brands in North America. Advertising Age [sub] reports he's standing behind the recent reorganization that divvied-up the brands amongst four marketing chiefs. Young called it it "the right way to go." However, the CFO termed their North American operation's losses last quarter as "unacceptable." (Yeah! Someone should be fired! Oh wait…) GM's North American market share is now down to 21.7 percent, compared to 22.5 percent a year ago. In the global market, The General's share dropped 0.5 percent to 12.5 percent. Without North America's numbers, their share went up 0.1 percent to 9.6 percent. So, instead of addressing the problems at GMNA, the General will "beef up" its overseas activities and put "our foot on the accelerator… and jam it through to the floor" in emerging markets like Russia and India. They'll probably succeed, too. After all, it's a lot easier to peddle utility grade beef to someone who's starving than to discerning diners in the restaurant district.

In 1970, gas was cheap, horsepower was king and Dodge introduced a slightly stretched rebodied Barracuda they called Challenger. It offered huge engines that delivered pavement-scorching acceleration. After just four model years of poor sales, The Dodge Boys pulled the plug. Fast forward 38 years. Gas is expensive; the average car buyer is more interested in fuel economy than horsepower. Dodge has introduced a slightly cut-down Chrysler LX they call the Challenger. It offers a huge engine, pavement-scorching acceleration and they've pre-sold the first 6.4K. The Detroit News— and practically every other automedia outlet– have lavished the Challenger redux with praise. But then again, the media loved the big-engined 1970 model when it first hit the market. I predict the same rapid demise for the new Challenger. There are just so many baby-boomers wanting to relive their 20s; a 34-year gap means the model has no relevance to younger buyers. Even with a V6, demand will be extremely low. In fact,should Chrysler avoid C11, I give the Challenger two years. Good for collectors, bad for Chrysler. They failed to learn from Ford's "re-imagined" Thunderbird and direct their time, talent and money into developing a small car– instead of trying to recapture past glory they never really had. Next up: the Camaro!

The United Auto Workers (UAW) just lost their bargaining power in their strike against American Axle. When the strike shut down the plants supplying GM's truck and SUV plants, the union thought GM would put pressure on AA to settle quickly– so the automaker could get the lines running again. Not so. GM used the shutdown as an opportunity to purge its supply pipeline of a glut of slow-selling trucks. Then they "found" axles elsewhere to continue production of their better-selling models. Even after two months, GM still isn't feeling much pain from the strike. Instead, they've announced they're going to cut truck production drastically, meaning American Axle's Mexican operation can produce enough axles to [almost] meet their need while other suppliers take up the slack. To use an old military saying, the UAW has shit in their own mess kit. Even if they accepted all of AA's demands for salary and benefit cuts, there won't be a job for many of them to go back to. Looks like Ron Gettelfinger will have a lot of 'splaining to do, especially as they make a push to organize Toyota's operations.

Consumeraffairs.com reports NHTSA is investigating complaints of rust producing "fist-sized holes" in the subframe on Hyundai Sonatas, resulting in suspension failure. So far the problem has occurred in 1999 – 2002 model year Sonatas. The rust weakens the subframe to the point where it causes "wheel collapse or separation, half shaft detachment resulting in sudden vehicle disablement and or steering anomalies" according to the NHTSA web site. Most of the reports are from states where salt is used to control ice in the winter. Several accidents have been reported, and one car was rusted so badly the insurance company totaled it. If you have a Sonata, you may want to check under it to see if yours is affected. The car comes with a seven-year, unlimited mileage warranty against rust through; depending on how old yours is, you may need to move fast. Or slowly. Or both.

AutoWeek reports GM's downsizing models to meet the new federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regs. Buick is thinking of a Corolla-sized "Buick luxury car" to be based on China's Buick Excelle. The baby Buick would be built somewhere in North America on the rear wheel-drive Alpha platform currently under design in Germany. Given Buick's past history with badgineered small cars (Apollo, Skylark, Skyhawk) and the Beyond Precision people's current three cars per month dealer average, this one is doomed. Doomed I tell you. Doomed. A more interesting prospect: an "economy" Hummer smaller than the H3 called the… wait for it… H4. Since the H3 is already built on the smallest truck GMNA offers (Colorado/Canyon), upon what platform will Hummer (or its designated hitter) build this bad boyette? The HX concept supposedly previewed the H4– but we all know what happens in the Journey from concept to reality. Will the H4 end-up a testosterone-laced Theta (Equinox/Vue)? Or will our 2006 prediction come true: a tricked-out Aveo-based super-economy SUV?

In a classic "pay no attention to that investor behind that curtain" diversion, Ford sent out not one, not two, but FIVE press releases about the debut of Shelby GT500KR in rapid-fire succession. The first piece of KR PR gives the uber-'Stang's specifications (330 cu. in./5,409 cc, 540 hp @ 6,250 rpm, 510 lb.-ft. torque @ 4500 rpm, 6,250 rpm redline and Roots-type supercharger, air-to-water intercooler with Ford Racing cold air intake, if you're curious). The second brags about its handling and aerodynamics ("Our computer model predicts a four-tenths-of-a-second zero-to-150 acceleration effect from the aero alone. That makes the horsepower go farther."). The third praises– I kid you not– how it sounds ("Hearing the new KR just gets your blood flowing. It's a rumble that true enthusiasts will love and competitors will dread."). The fourth waxes eloquent about the carbon fiber hood ("The hood is a sculpted work of art, with the right science under its skin to deliver real performance impact."). And the fifth points out it's "the most powerful production Mustang ever." None of them mentions the price or how much dealers will jack it up. Now, let's see what's happened with Tracinda…

Is GM abandoning hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle hype development in favor of battery-powered electrics? Newly enriched Car Czar "Maximum" Bob Lutz seems to be hinting in that direction. In an interview with PetroZero.org, the Volt's godfather indicated The General is considering building a Volt. No seriously. Building a Volt "without engine and all the plumbing" to meet California's new Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) mandate. The engineers responsible for the test fleet of hydrogen-powered Equinox will be delighted to learn that Max Bob "agreed" that "pure EV was the most sensible route [to meet the ZEV requirements] compared to expensive hydrogen powered fuel cells." But MB didn't stop there. (As if.) He concluded if GM builds an EV Volt, they'd have "a pure electric with more range." More range than what? The EV1? And does this indicate that GM's already working on an all-electric Volt, or is Bob just putting his bid in for next year's Bob Lutz Award? Or both? But definitely not neither.