Buick's communication manager, Dave Darovitz, takes exception with TTAC's blog about the Enclave's sucky sales. We received the following message from Mr. D.:

Just so our buddy Frank has the correct information – that is your outlet claims to be about the "truth" – let me give you and Frankie a dose of it. The Enclave IS the hottest selling crossover in the industry. We've sold more Buick Enclaves in half a year of production than Mazda CX-9 sold in one full year. And, 90 percent of our Enclave sales are of the uplevel CXL model – the highest contented, richest model we offer. Nearly half of our Enclave customers are new to GM, and we've had a waiting list of paid customers since we started producing the crossover. Finally, customer and dealer demand for this standout Buick far exceeds what the plant can physically produce. So, if this "sucks", what's Frank's definition of success?

Well Davie, I'd like to know how you define "hottest selling." Even the Enclave's corporate-cousin Acadia far outsells it month after month, as does the Lexus RX and any number of other CUVs. The CX-9 hasn't been on the market for "one full year" — it went on sale in February. And with all the awards the CX-9 has gotten over the Enclave, they're getting a lot of free press which will drive sales up. Incidentally, you only sold about 4K more Enclaves than Mazda sold CX-9s. Can you sustain this, or will Enclave be like other GM models that tank once you satisfy the initial demand?

So what if the CXL model is the best-selling trim level? I don't know anyone who tracks sales by trim level. It's good you can pull some new buyers from outside GM, as Buick's traditional customer base is dying off with alarming regularity. How long do you think your "paid customers" will wait when they see other comparable vehicles readily available?

Finally, if demand is that high, why aren't you diverting production at this overtaxed plant (where they recently shut down the third shift) from the Outlook (which is busy gathering snow on dealer lots) to the Enclave and 1) bolster dealer morale and let them average more than five sales per month, 2) satisfy all these customers who are lined up money in hand, 3) help Saturn deal with their almost 100-day supply of Outlook and 4) drive up Buick's overall sales numbers and bottom line (which is never a bad thing)?

My definition of success? A car that sells well without artificially manipulating supply against demand and keeps on selling well even after the initial demand has been satisfied. So far Enclave has yet to satisfy either of these expectations.

Your serve.

As we mentioned yesterday, GM has bought a piece of Coskata, a bacteria-loving ethanol high tech start-up. Speaking to DailyTech, GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz described the process. "All the other companies use enzymes, which are incredibly expensive." Instead, Coskata grinds organic wastes into a powder which is "then exposed to plasma, which causes the organic powder to ferment, releasing carbon-chain gas." [NB: plasma is an ionized gas which would incinerate the material] This gas "rises into the air where natural anaerobic bacteria eats [sic] the gas molecules and excretes [sic] ethanol and water vapor." [NB 2: anaerobic bacteria can't survive "in the air"] Maximum Bob promises a pilot plant will produce ethanol this year. By 2011, they'll be cranking-out 50 to 100m gallons of ethanol per year. And get this: "The price per gallon to produce the fuel is approximately $1 per gallon." MB admits that overhead, profits, shipping, etc. will raise that price to around $2 per gallon. And they'll have to fight big oil to get their cheap fuel to the masses as "less than 1% of the pumps in the U.S. are ethanol-equipped." Here's a thought: why not give GM dealers with ethanol pumps? That would more than quadruple America's E85 outlets at a stroke. Sorry, Bob; make that "with one move." 

Bob Lutz sounded the alarm before, during and after Congress passed new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. The cost of compliance will add thousands to the prices of new cars and trucks! Investor's Business Daily (via CNNMoney) reckons he's right. They predict that the cost of satisfying the regulators will drive-up the price of new vehicles by an average of $6K or 21.4 percent. And that means unintended consequences. "The higher prices of cars will encourage consumers to keep their older, dirtier but cheaper vehicles for much longer. So the actual benefits will be less than forecast." The paper's eds pronounce Maximum Bob a presumptive prognosticator. "The new CAFE standards, as Lutz suggests, amount to a tax– a rather narrow and inefficient one that will neither reduce our reliance on foreign oil nor curb global warming." Bob Lutz, GM's canary in a coal mine. Of course, that doesn't actually change anything…

Finally, Tesla Motors can sell its eco-conscious customers something other than promises. The recently-opened Tesla Shop is now offering Tesla-branded shirts, hats, coffee mugs, key chains, luggage and wallets. Among the more interesting items: a "men's zero emissions tee" (won't sell many of those since there aren't many men who don't produce emissions), a $385 "angler's bag" (sounds fishy to me) and a $12 "desk mug" (darn – and I wanted a coffee mug). At least those who plunked down good money to get on (and stay on) a waiting list can dress the part while they're waiting– provided they pay. Might I suggest one more tee-shirt? It would have a pic of the Roadster with the words "What can be conceived can be created. In theory." 

Our men on the scene have been duly chastened for not bringing us immediate news of yet another award given at the NAIAS by the over-capitalized ROAD & TRAVEL magazine: the equally over-capitalized HEART STRING award. This award attempts "to recognize how well automakers connect cars and consumers based on lifestyle and the emotional experience during ownership." "Rooms," a spot for the Dodge Caravan, scored this year's nod for being "the most emotionally compelling car commercial to appear on national television in 2007." I couldn't find the 30-second clip ROAD & TRAVEL judged worthy of such an honor (a 15-second excerpt on Youtube was as good as it got). As soon as I find the video, I'll post a link to it so we all can warm the cockles of our hearts. Or throw up.

GM claims the Buick Enclave is a success– even though they sold 26,286 units in '07. Compare that stat to the sales numbers for the big Buick's platform sibs, the GMC Acadia (72,765) and Saturn Outlook (34,748 ). While we're at it, in the same time frame, Lexus shifted some 73,246 RX models. GM attributes the Enclave's low sales to "limited availability." Yes, well, GM ended the year with a 98-day supply of Saturn Outlook. As they're built on the same assembly line, GM could easily divert that production to build better Buicks. The problem is no one seems to want them. Buick dealers averaged just five sales each in December, up one sale per dealer from November. That works out to three cars (Lucernes and LaCrosses) and two trucks (Enclaves, Raniers and leftover Rendezvous and Terrazas) per dealer. If Enclave was in as much demand as GM would like us to believe, they'd surely be pumping as many as they could out the factory door to bolster the dealers' numbers. Which leads to one of two conclusions: either the Enclave is a flop or they're intentionally starving Buick dealers out of existence. Or both.

Is Ford selling Mazda to GM? Although there's absolutely no indication it would ever happen, the United Press International seems to know something the rest of us don't. Their headline about the NAIAS Car/Truck of the Year Award proudly proclaims "GM wins car and truck prizes." Since we know the Mazda CX-9 won the truck award, it only stands that UPI has some insider information that the rest of us don't. Either that, or they need to hire some real automotive writers and quit letting their business writers write about things about which they have no clue. Just sayin'…

If you got it, flaunt it. Or, in the case of Toyota, rub GM's nose in it. While Rick Wagoner and his minions have been talking about their sooner-or-later plug-in electric hybrid vehicle (aka "Volt") at the Detroit Auto Show, Toyota is putting their money where Rick's mouth is. They're providing several honest-to-God here-they-are-right-now Prius plug-ins for "executive shuttle service" during the show (you can guess which company's executives won't be shuttling in them). The cars are "are early-development prototypes" used for "evaluation of real-world customer use and acceptance, ride-and-drives by regulatory officials and NGOs, and technical research and development." Oh, and also for firing a preemptive shot across GM's bow.

A GM tipster has told the China Car Times that the Malibu hybrid will be launched in China on January 22. Not only that, but GM's going to build the Chinese 'Bu in country. Since price is a prime consideration, the 'Bu 'brid will be the "mild" version with its alternator/starter/battery charger thingie, instead of a full-blown two-mode system. However, once GM gears-up their hybrid powertrain production line in the PRC, you can bet they'll offer the whole gas – electric schmeer. Once production begins, I reckon it's only a matter of time before they'll send the Chinese version of The Car You Can't Buy Ignore to American showrooms. Maybe the U.S. market will only receive the Chinese hybrid 'Bu to "test the waters" for wider Chinese exportation. But if GM's planned to build ALL its 'Bu's in China right from the start, it would explain the verrrry slow ramp-up of American Malibu production. It's either that or sheer incompetence. Or both. 

Subaru has a new motto: "The customer comes first." As proof of their dedication to this promise, they extolled the virtues of their new Forester. Apparently, it was the "first crossover"– even though the Japanese automaker's marketed the model for years as a SUV. The latest iteration of the slab-sided Subie is no longer so slab sided; it's longer, wider and taller. BUT a tighter turning radius makes it easier to park! Other changes include a larger rear seat (that reclines), more torque in both the regular and turbo engines and a new rear suspension. The only question left unanswered is this: if customers now come first, where the Hell did they fall in Subaru's previous hierarchy?

[Reported by Sajeev Mehta] 

At BMW's Detroit Auto Show PR bragfest and new vehicle unveiling, the truth was spinning as fast as the propeller that inspired the corporate roundel. In spite of their perpetual payments for EPA fines, BMW wants you to know all the good things they're doing for the environment. Did you know they've led the way in CO2 reduction in the U.S.? At least that's what all their signs said (just in case you missed them actually saying it). But let's face it– if BMW hadn't had such high emissions to start with, they couldn't have dropped them that much. Teh German automaker also didn't bother to address what impact the quart of oil their V-10 engines consume between oil changes has on the environment. But they did say their first hybrid, due in 2009, will use 20 percent less fuel than "other cars." Somehow I don't think Toyota or Honda will be losing any sleep over any of this.

[Reported by Sajeev Mehta] 

BMW has unveiled the production model of their neither-fish-nor-fowl X6 "sports activity coupe" (SAC) at the North American International Auto Show. The high-rider all-wheel-drive hatchback features less passenger space and less cargo room than a normal SUV, at a much higher price. Bimmer's planning a hybrid version, along with diesel variants. Meanwhile, BMW is still touting their SAC as a "first," but the model joins an illustrious group of jacked-up AWD passenger cars like the AMC Eagle, the Eagle SX4 and the Subaru Outback sedan. And we all know how successful those were, don't we?

Click here for more TTAC photos of the X6

In an attempt to keep a blue oval on America's best selling vehicle, Ford rolled out a fancy new F-150, due to hit the market in 2009. The top-line Platinum Edition will feature real brushed aluminum trim with an interior who luxe-ness negates the need for a Mark LT clone. The interior of all F-150s will feature softer plastics with fewer panel gaps. Outside, the new model will boast a tailgate step à la Super Duty and a side step, so you can get things out of the bed from the side. (Suggestion to Ford: make the damn bed sides lower already, so customers don't need stilts to reach their stuff.) Each of the four models from el cheapo work truck to blinged-out Platinum Edition will have different grilles; big spenders' egos will be flattered appropriately. The only really discordant design feature: the girly-looking headlights copped from the Edge. What was wrong with the macho design used on the Super Duty? Now that everyone knows what improvements the 2009 model offers, Ford's biggest challenge will be keeping their market share from dropping even more precipitously during the lame-duck 2008 model year.

Click for more TTAC photos of the new F-150  

[Reported by Sajeev Mehta] 

Although the odds were stacked in their favor, GM didn't sweep the North American Car and Truck of the Year Awards as many expected. Of the six finalists (Cadillac CTS, the Chevrolet Malibu, Honda Accord, Buick Enclave, Mazda CX-9 and Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid) four were from The General's stable. But a dark horse stole one event. Oh right, sorry. I know the tension's killing you. Right. The North American Car of the Year is the car you can't buy: the Chevrolet Malibu. The NA Truck of the Year is the crossover that thinks it's a truck the Mazda CX-9. There was a bit of murmuring about Malibu getting the award over the CTS, since the Malibu is essentially a reskinned Aura and the Aura won last year. But the judges seemed to think the new Malibu was such an improvement over the previous dismal piece of shit that it deserved recognition. (Apparently the CTS wasn't that much of an improvement.) How the CX-9 made it over the media darling Tahoe Hybrid is still a mystery– although it pays to keep in mind (so to speak) that Mazda is a Ford brand. Meanwhile, the event planners spent most of the opening ceremonies this morning patting themselves on the back, congratulating themselves on what a fine job they think they did this year. Fair enough?

[Reporters: Sajeev Mehta and William C. Montgomery]

The Chrysler brand is going global, but not the way you'd think. While GM and Ford ramp-up operations under their corporate names around the world, Chrysler is pimping itself out. Dodge is already building trucks for Mitsubishi. Chrysler has a deal for Chery to provide a small car to Dodge in Mexico; they're also developing a small car with Chery for North America. Volkswagen's Canadian Chrysler-built minivan starts production later this year. Nissan wants Chrysler to build large trucks for them for the U.S. And now Reuters reports Nissan will make Versas to be sold as Chryslers in South America in 2009. Confused yet? Trust me– it's going to get worse (better?) as Cerberus does whatever it takes to keep Chrysler's head above water long enough to get what they can when they finally get down to the strip and flip part of the program.