Gasgoo reports that China's largest independent auto manufacturer is on the march. They've announced they're going to introduce 38 new models over the next five years: eight in 2008/2009, nine in 2010, 10 in 2011 and another 11 in 2012. When Chery's finished, they will have every major passenger car market segment covered, including minivans and SUVs. That's in addition to the small car they'll be building for Chrysler, and the Fiats and Alfa Romeos they'll assemble under a new agreement with Fiat. With so much development going on, you can bet they're taking American and European safety and emission standards into consideration. Chery has been China's biggest sedan exporter for the past five years; they aren't about to surrender that crown to no one, no how.

Martin Eberhard isn't the only one to get the boot from Tesla Motors. The Mercury News reports a number of employees, including "several senior executives" have been shown the door in what company founder Eberhard calls "firings," not layoffs. Daryl Siry, Tesla's vice president in charge of trying to convince people otherwise, said the "layoffs" were related to "performance management." The firings were outed by Eberhard which he called it a "bloodbath" on his teslafounders blog. Marty listed 26 people who've gotten the ax and warned of terminations to come. I got that information from another news report, because when I went to the site to read what he wrote, I found this:

This blog entry has been taken down at the strong request of Tesla's management. By taking it down, I am in no way admitting that anything I wrote was in violation of any agreement I signed with Tesla Motors, and I stand behind the truth of what I wrote.

But it was explained to me that Tesla and its financial backer(s) can spend far more than I can on a lawsuit…

Most of the comments on this blog entry have also be taken down; sorry for the inconvenience.

There was no mention of any of this on Tesla's site, where the last news release listed was about Eberhard's "transition" to their "advisory board." If GM fired 10 percent of their employees or a number of executives got the boot at Chrysler or Ford, their PR departments would be all over it to damage control and every major news outlet would have it on the front page. Yet Tesla wants its cull to fly under the radar. Oh well.

China is GM's Golden Child. The General currently holds 34 percent of a ménage à trois with SIAC Motor Corp and Liuzhou Wuling Automobile. Reuters reports that according to the Shanghai Securities News, GM is in talks with SAIC which holds 50.1 percent of their GM venture) about increasing their stake. The paper didn't say how much more GM wanted; GM's chief in China, Kevin Wale said they were "weighing their options." This deal would certainly bolster GM's bottom line and help cover their North American losses. However, SAIC builds cars under their own name. They are also GM's direct competitors in China, and they've publicly stated they want to expand their lineup. So how receptive they'll be to The General's entreaties is yet to be determined.

The newly-restyled Nissan Murano went on sale this week. The good news: the MSRP is $1500 lower than the previous model's. The bad news: someone let Subaru's stylists into Nissan's studios. Apparently pissed they had to give up the "flying vagina" on the B9 Tribeca, they surreptitiously altered the front of Nissan's CUV to show the next evolutionary step in the development of the infamous flying-v. While they were at it, they threw in a bunch of insectoid headlights under creased plastic covers. Then they moved to the rear where they designed a derrière that looks like a WRX hatchback with a fanny lift. The only logical explanation is that Nissan discovered their mischief too late to make any corrections and still make the planned intro date. At least I hope this wasn't intentional!

GM's come-up with a new use for OnStar: collecting data on test mules. The Detroit News reports that The General racked up 1m miles testing the Lambda CUVS and collected the test data via telemetrics. Since OnStar can't tell them when a body panel's buzzing or note that a radio knob just fell off, they also collect data from dealers. That's how they found out the Malibu's hazard light switch wouldn't pop out like it was supposed to; which resulted in an "engineering analysis" of the problem and an "engineering tool change." Perhaps they should do an engineering analysis of their PR department too. In the same article, the DetN also reports GM "has added a shift at its Lake Orion plant to build more" Malibus to meet demand. And this right after they attributed the shortage of Malibus to problems with their part supply chain. Looks like someone needs to get their story straight.

Environmentally-sensitive rental car customers can now drive someone else's vehicle with a clean conscious. Automotive News [sub] reports that Enterprise, National and Alamo are all set to sell "carbon offsets" with their rental contracts. The opt-in program adds $1.25 to the price of the rental. The money goes towards "carbon offset projects, such as wind farms, that reduce the amount of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere." TerraPass, which handles the credits, estimates that every 100k customers participating will offset over 30m pounds of CO2. We called TerraPass to ask how much of the fee went directly to projects (i.e. what percentage was "absorbed" by administrative costs). Their PR rep Samantha Weeks said "We're a privately held company. We don't disclose information like that." So now you [don't] know. 

The Steve Fossett World Land Speed Racing (LSR) Team is looking for a few good women. New Car Net reports they want to recruit a woman to pilot their jet-powered car to a supersonic land speed record. The LSR team thinks a woman would be "an excellent role model to inspire young women in all corners of the earth." Oh, and they think it would attract more sponsors. And, coincidentally, the cockpit of the car was "built on the small size" so they think a woman would be "ideally suited for the task." Not just anyone can apply though. They're looking for someone who has "reactions and judgment proven in the top ranks of professional racing, aerobatic and experimental test flight." Didn't their mommas ever warn them 'bout messin' around with fast women?

Forget SYNC. MSNBC reports Ford's next great contribution to automotive technology will be getting rid of the gas cap. Matt O'Leary, chief engineer for the F-150 explains: "People just don't like the cap. Anyone who drives a vehicle hates that." So in response to the outcry coming from gas stations across the country, they're taking the EasyFuel capless refueling system first introduced on the Ford GT– and currently available on the 2008 Explorer– and expanding it across their entire North American line. O'Leary is confident the idea will eventually spread to all manufacturers. GM's Mark LaNeve isn't quite as enthusiastic. "The removal of the gas cap never shows up like a problem in any of our research." Like, wow.

What's the French word for chutzpah? Whatever it is, Citroen has it in spades. Following the furor generated by their Spanish ad that featured a less-than-flattering image of Chairman Mao, they've announced they're going to manufacture a new model in China later this year. Which model? The C4 of course, the same model featured in the controversial ad. China Car Times reports it'll be built by the Dongfeng Citroen joint venture which currently builds several other Citroen models for the Chinese market. The Chinese-built C4 will be substantially cheaper than the model imported last year, so it'll probably sell well in spite of its scowling disapproval by the Chairman.

Now that Toyota's co-opted the Camry to make the ES, hijacked the Highlander to make the RX, fine-tuned the 4Runner to make the GX and liberated the Land Cruiser to make the LX, Lexus is planning to pimp a Prius. Bloomberg reports that Lexus wants to add "something different, and that's highly-efficiency" to their current hybrid offerings, which currently emphasize performance over fuel economy. Market research has revealed that more than a third of the people who bought a Prius last year have a family income over $100k. Half of those top $150k. (Previously blogged by TTAC here.) Not surprisingly, Lexus sees gold in them thar' demographics! That said, I guess they've never heard of "reverse snob appeal" (a.k.a. slumming). And you gotta wonder how you can add upmarket appeal without adding weight. The Japanese manufacturers didn't release any details about the new hybrid– other than the fact it'll be added to the Lexus lineup next year.

What happens when you put one of the founders of Tesla and GM's Bob Lutz (is there another one?) in the same room and let them talk? It becomes a mutual admiration society. In his apostrophe-challenged Tesla Founders Blog, Martin Eberhard recounts his meeting in the Car Czar's "palatial office." Eberhard says the two execs "spent a good couple of hours talking about battery-electric vehicles." (He didn't say how many bad hours they spent talking.) And then Bob dropped the bombshell: "He started the Volt program in direct response to the Tesla Roadster." Wow! And here we were thinking the Toyota Prius had something to do with it. Anyway, after a few hours with Maximum Bob, Minimum Mark came away impressed "and willing to believe that the Volt might be a real program." After schmoozing with a few other people on the Volt program, Eberhard concluded that "the Volt Program is real." So the co-founder of Tesla is sold on the Volt. I guess that means we should now have equal faith in both.

America ad agencies aren't the only auto industry suppliers suffering from foot-in-mouth disease. Reuters reports that a Spanish Citroen ad has triggered quite a furor in China. The poster shows Chairman Mao looking down at a Citroen hatchback. The copy proclaims, "It's true, we are leaders, but at Citroen the revolution never stops. We are once more going to put in motion all the machinery of our technological ability, in order to repeat in 2008 the successes obtained in previous years." The picture of Mao is similar to one in Tianamen Square, with the the People's Republic founder's mouth distorted and squinting eyes. Once the ad hit the internet, the shit hit the fan. Chinese web slingers felt the ad was "not only insulting [to] Chairman Mao, but the whole Chinese nation… where Mao is greatly revered." Citroen immediately pulled the ad and issued an apology. What effect the faux pas will have on Citroen's Chinese sales remains to be seen.

The normally docile automotive press has panned every new Chrysler's interior over the past two or three years, slating the cabins for [the same] ugly interiors fashioned from cheap materials. As the Brits would say, Jim'll fix it. BusinessWeek reports the Chrysler Vice Chairman and President Jim Press has announced that his employer is lowering prices and improving content on 12 Chrysler vehicles. It's all part of some kind of "master plan" that the automaker's unveiling to their stores at next month at the National Auto Dealers Association(NADA) convention. The only details Press would provide: the Compass, Patriot and Caliber get the makeover. Meanwhile, Press reminded jobbing journos that Chrysler's already made 260– count 'em 260– upgrades to Chrysler vehicles' materials and appearance. Yes, well, as the old expression goes: first impressions last. Will the interior upgrades be too little too late? Watch this space. 

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy made a pronouncement that made a lot of people think he'd lost his mind: "We choose to go to the moon in this decade." According to GM's Vice Chairman of Global Product Development, Chevrolet's gas-electric plug-in electric hybrid is GM's moon shot. Wired magazine recently sat down with Bob Lutz and asked the Car Czar what would happen if the Volt doesn't succeed. "What if Kennedy hadn't pulled off the moon shot?" Bob wondered aloud. "If it doesn't work, it's not fatal. But if it does work, it will be sensational and it will have the same sort of symbolism." The U.S. put a man on the moon by the end of the decade, as promised. What are the chances the Volt will appear in a Chevy showroom by 2010?

A few days ago, the Wall Street Journal published an article about GM's "challenges" with the Volt's lithium-ion battery. Now GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz (a.k.a. God's gift to TTAC) wants to set the record straight: "All of the battery testing is going well." The Car Czar explained everyone was confused because of the various chemical combinations used in different batteries. For example, current technology uses cobalt (the element, not the Chevy) which can lead to "thermal runaway" (a.k.a, a virtually unstoppable fire). Instead, GM is looking into other strategies like nano phosphates and manganese. In fact, MB said taking a generic view of lithium-ion technology is "like saying (something like) ‘You know that beverages can cause alcoholism.' No, Coca Cola doesn't." Oh, and the Car Czar's most recent estimate of when GM will have something test-worthy has moved, from Easter to this summer. For now.