The EPA has just released its summary of the model year 2007 composite fuel economy ratings by manufacturer (or, in EPA-speak, "marketing group"). The average for all manufacturers was 20.2 mpg– no thanks to the SUV/truck-centric Big 2.8. Honda led the pack with an average of 22.9 mpg, squeaking by Toyota at 22.8 mpg. The other manufacturers slotting in above the industry average: Hyundai/Kia (22.7), VW (21.4), and Nissan (20.6). Falling below the average were GM (19.4), Ford (18.7) and DaimlerChrysler (18.3). GM has never managed to exceed the average, but they tied it three times, the last time in 1998 (20.1). Pre-Daimler Chrysler last placed above the average in 1984, bettering the 21.0 average by 0.1 mpg. Ford has never placed above the average; Toyota and Honda have never been below it. Click here for a graph showing a side-by-side comparison of the 2007 results.

In spite of UAW president Ron Gettelfinger's publicly stated confidence in his members' support for the new GM contract proposal, some of his union brothers and sisters aren't exactly happy with the health care component of the deal. The Soldiers of Solidarity (SoS) has been– and continues to be– opposed to the creation of a  union-controlled VEBA health care superfund. They claim VEBA stands for "Vandalizing Employee Benefits Again." In a statement on the SoS website that would bring tears (of joy) to Walter Reuther's eyes, three former UAW executive board members state "We believe it irresponsible by the parties to this negotiation to shift the burden of risk to the retired workers and their families and release General Motors from its commitment to the full and perpetual coverage of healthcare for the workers who built the wealth of the corporation in the first place." Not surprisingly, they're urging UAW members to vote against the new contract this weekend. If the signing bribes work members ratify the contract, the SoS' next move will most likely be a call for new union leadership.  

Detroit Free Press writers Katie Merx and Tim Higgns have reached new heights of hyperbole. After boldly proclaiming "A new U.S. auto industry emerges" because of the new UAW contract with GM, they tone down their rhetoric a bit– but not much. They speculate that the new agreement will make "GM more competitive against its foreign rivals." They also claim the contract has the "potential to shape a new Detroit auto industry that can compete on a more-level playing field with … foreign rivals not burdened by huge retiree legacy costs." But then they temper their enthusiasm by admitting "GM, Ford and Chrysler still face challenges to consistently develop vehicles that resonate with Americans, to slim down their dealer networks and to improve their image on quality." So what's it gonna be– a "more competitive" GM because they now have a "level playing field," or a return to business as usual before the ink is even dry on the contract? Watch this space (General Motors Death Watch 147 later today).

The strike is over. The United Autoworkers Union (UAW) has announced they've reached an agreement with General Motors which will lead to a new contract for their members. Everyone's gone back to work. Everyone is happy, and all's right with the world– at least until the full impact of the agreement hits the workers. At that point, they might realize that they gave up two days' pay and got practically nothing in return. Let's see how it adds up.  

After TTAC highlighted Chris Bangle's "axis of white power" verbal faux pas in a video on a BMW web site, Spiegel Online (German language site) has been looking into the incident. Calling the video a "PR disaster," they question how it ever made it through BMW's communication department. They then quote TTAC publisher Robert Farago: "English is Bangle's first language, he should be aware of such things." A BMW spokesman told Spiegel both the company and Bangle understand the criticism for the remark, and said, "Chris Bangle sympathizes in no way with any right-wing or racist positions… Bangle will make a personal statement on this topic on the BMW-Web-TV platform shortly". BMW removed the video from their site after the Spiegel interview; the link now takes you to a generic BMW PR video. Before they pulled it, a Google search on "chris bangle nazi" returned the link for the video. We may have raised the issue of BMW's obliviousness to Bangle's remark, but we sure as Hell know that ain't right. 

Those finance guys trying to pressure you into buying an overpriced extended warranty with your new car are just the tip of the iceberg. PRNewswire brings information about a new (dis)service from Auto Service Agreement: "a new online product application that allows auto dealerships to sell an extended warranty to their customers after the car has been sold." That's right folks, even if you manage to escape the dealership without buying a needless warranty, they can now hound you by email to buy one. The service "will help auto dealerships offer service agreements to their customers, with no additional work on the dealers' part" and "without having to communicate directly with the buyer." It also "eliminates the middleman, saving their clients time and energy and offering users the convenience of buying auto warranties online." What's worse, "the new application can also be sold directly to consumers, banks, credit card companies, repair facilities, and online auto dealers such as eBay." You can run, but you can't hide!

While the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) haven't greeted the United Auto Workers (UAW) action against GM with a sympathy strike, their plants are just hours away from shut down. Speaking to CBCNews, CAW union president Buzz Hargrove asserts that "by the end of this week we could have anywhere between 80,000 and 100,000 people unemployed." Hargrove said a lack of parts will starve GM's Oshawa plants assembling Impalas, Grand Prix and LaCrosses/Allures by the end of the day shift today. The truck plant had enough parts on hand to keep running about three days. Needless to say, Buzz lays the blame for the UAW strike at GM management's feet. "GM is going to try to make the UAW members and their families and communities pay [for the] troubles they're experiencing because of imports and the transplant production that doesn't make the same commitment in terms of investment and jobs in Canada and the U.S." Based on what Buzz has heard from UAW president Gettelfinger, Hargrove predicts "this thing's going to drag on for a while." The CAW starts it own contract negotiations with GM next year. Depending.

Nigeria's automotive industry is facing extinction. After the demise of Steyr and Volkswagen Nigeria Limited, about all that's left is the Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Limited (PAN). Starting with three shifts producing 240 cars per day, PAN now has only one shift producing 22 cars per day. AllAfrica.com places the blame on a number of factors: prices beyond the reach of most Nigerians, high production costs, "inadequate patronage of locally-assembled automobiles" and substandard performance by suppliers. PAN's chairman Alhaji Sani Dauda contacted Nigerian president Umaru Yar'Adua asking the government for help. The president "assured them that he would intervene in the sector, stressing that the automobile industry the world over enjoys the support of government." Nigerian auto industry experts feel unless the government steps in, "the nation's automobile industry would lapse into oblivion with all its attendant implications" such as layoffs of thousands of workers, and "the country's automobile market risks being consigned to the whims and caprices of non-Nigerian vehicle importers." They want the government to take several actions, including lowering the customs duties on knocked down vehicles intended for assembly in the country to one percent while raising the duties on completely assembled cars to fifty percent. Good luck with that.

According to the Mercury News, in 2005, California officials entered discussions with GM on how to integrate flex-fuel (read "E85") vehicles into the state's fleet. This in spite of a then-three-year-old policy prohibiting the purchase of such vehicles because the fuel wasn't available. Several months later, the state and GM entered an agreement for a "small pilot project of 50 to 100 vehicles"– without allowing other automakers a chance to bid on the contract. Not long after that, the state bought a fleet of 1300 flex-fuel Impalas and Silverados totaling $17m, as only these vehicles qualified for purchase. Now for a few inconvenient truths: The 2002 policy prohibiting flex-fuel vehicles was conveniently eliminated "at the last minute." California has state laws requiring officials to seek competitive bids on large purchases; it's illegal to hold private meetings with one supplier to set the specifications. GM has contributed more than any other automaker to Governor Schwarzenegger's charitable and political causes. State contracting manager Rita Hamilton stated the E85 vehicles were added to the fleet "per the Governors (sic) request." On top of all that, the Mercury News reported in July, "the alternative fuel fleet was running exclusively on standard gasoline because high-grade ethanol has never been widely available in California." State senator Dean Florez has launched a legislative investigation of the contract, which could lead to a criminal investigation by the state's Attorney General. 

According to a survey by NEWCARNET, 87 percent of British drivers want to see the demise of "sleeping policemen" (a.k.a. speed humps or speed bumps). Introduced in 1991, these "traffic calming" measures range in size from 75 to 100mm high (three to four inches for the metrically challenged). The survey claims sleeping policemen are responsible for damage to cars and buildings, increased road noise levels and injuries to drivers with bone conditions. Their detractors also consider them a dangerous distraction that slows emergency vehicles, and oft times diverts heavy traffic onto less suitable roads. The speed bumps safety value is also a matter of debate. When Barnet City Council removed all of their sleeping policemen in 2005, accidents had dropped by 14.9 percent. Despite all this– and an anti-sleeping policeman petition that garnered 6,622 signatures– don't look for their extinction any time soon. The UK government has proven itself almost entirely unresponsive to public objections to road safety measures.

It looks like everyone wants a piece of the burgeoning Chinese auto market. The latest player: the Iran Khodro Industrial Group (IKCO). The Iranian conglomerate has joined forces with Chinese busmaker Jinhua Neoplan to build vehicles in China, according to China Car Times. IKCO is Iran's primary auto manufacturer; they assemble cars in Iran under license from PSA Peugeot Citroen and trucks under license from Mercedes-Benz. They also build cars under the Iranian brands Samand, Sarir and Soren. There's no word on whether IKCO's Chinese vehicles will be existing models or new ones, or whether they're destined for the Chinese market or export to Iran and/or other markets. So far IKCO's invested over $60m in the project, looking to sink another $140m into the venture in the near future.

The UAW could become a major player in the stock market. CNNMoney speculates if the union-administered VEBA health care superfund proposed by The Big 2.8 come to fruition, the UAW could have $60 to 70b to manage. The windfall would give them "newfound clout to push its agenda" on Wall Street. To keep the VEBA healthy, the UAW would have to make investments which will return enough to cover whatever percentage of the total bill the money transferred from the automakers won't cover. AND they'll need to grow their nest egg to keep up with rapidly rising health care costs. So which stocks will they invest it? Will the UAW show solidarity with their active members and invest in GM, Ford and other unionized companies? Or will they do what's best for their retirees' health care fund and invest in healthy companies that actually turn a consistent profit, regardless of union affiliation?

USA Today reports that two average-sized adults and their weekend luggage put a Corvette or MX-5 over its certified weight capacity. Pile your teenage son and five of his football teammates in your Grand Caravan and you're good to go– provided they each weigh less than 165 pounds and leave the gear at home. That's because their manufacturers use a federally-mandated maximum loading formula that sets a minimum average weight of 150 pounds per passenger. While manufacturers are free to increase that figure as they deem appropriate, many don't. It's a CYA tactic in the aftermath of the Firestone tire fiasco, where overloading was "considered a factor" in tire failure and subsequent accidents (and lawsuits). Honda spokesman Sage Marie says if you exceed their vehicles' limit, "we can't be responsible for the vehicle's dynamic characteristics." According to GM's energy and drive quality director, "when we put a label on a vehicle, we need to be conservative."

Now that Ford has hocked everything but Mark Fields' mullet, el Presidente de las Americas says they could step-up cost cutting efforts to meet their financial goals in '08 and '09. The Wall Street Journal quotes the Blue Oval's Master of the Obvious as he explained, "there's more risk than there is opportunity going forward" and "if we see weakness on the revenue side, we have to take up the slack on the cost side." Never one to waste a convenient excuse, Fields echoed GM's mantra that their decline in monthly sales was due to cutbacks in fleet sales. Fields' comments came at the launch of the "all new" Focus which features a redesigned exterior and interior on top of the same old eight-year-old chassis. It seems that some of their cost-cutting efforts are aimed at the wrong target…

After listing everything from the "Top 10 Summertime Toys" to "10 Cars that Could Get a Computer Geek Laid" (not really), Forbes gives us the "Top 10 Things To Never Say To A Dealer." At the risk of denying Forbes a couple of dozen unique visitors, the eds say these words should never pass through a car buyer's lips: I'm ready to buy (ka-ching!), I can afford this much (over twelve years then), Yes, I have a trade in (let the games begin!), I'm paying cash (we HATE you), I'm not sure what vehicle I want (we know EXACTLY what we want to sell), I've wanted on of these forever (SUCKER), I'll take the popular options (yum!), What's the lowest price? (and we can't go ANY lower), Sure I'll look at the numbers (step into my parlor said the spider to the fly), I think you can do better than that (**** you!). Forbes doesn't say what you should say to car dealer. We'll start the bidding with "Stiff me and I'll kill you."