Chrysler doesn't do well outside it own backyard, or play well with others. The American automaker's attempts to expand globally in the early ‘60s ended with Chrysler selling their European operations (Rootes Group, Simca and Barreiros) to PSA Peugeot Citroën. In the 70's, Chrysler off-loaded their Australian subsidiary to Mitsubishi. ChryCo's last U.S. partnership with a Japanese manufacturer (Mitsubishi again) ended on less than cordial terms. The "merger of equals" with Germany's Mercedes-Benz almost [may actually have] killed it. So why would Chrysler entertain the idea of another off-shore partnership? And why would Nissan ever want to partner with an automaker as moribund as Chrysler?

When is enough, enough? GM has to be asking that about their former subsidiary Delphi. The AP [via Forbes] reports that The General has agreed to lend the parts maker another $350m "so Delphi can maintain a minimum level of liquidity." That brings GM's financial stake in the company they thought they'd dumped spun-off to $900m in loans. And that's on top of the $3.6b they paid out to cover Delphi's UAW pension liabilities. Delphi has been in Chapter 11 since October 2005. Their bankruptcy original plan included exiting Ch 11 this past spring with an equity deal and massive loans. When Appaloosa Management and other investors backed out of a $2.55b equity deal at the last minute, Delphi had to go back to square one. Last week, bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain ruled that Delphi can file a lawsuit against Appaloosa and the other investors. Until that's settled (and assuming the lawyers don't eat up whatever settlement they get), it looks like GM will continue bailing out their largest supplier. The question is, who will bail out GM?

The Detroit News' Scott Burgess describes Ford's 2009 model lineup as a "stop-gap." That means Ford's just treading water and hoping to hang on until that most magical of all years, 2010. That's when they'll finally introduce their turbocharged EcoBoost engine; we'll see a new Focus; the Escapariner gets a six-speed automatic with a new four-cylinder engine; a redesigned FusilanKZ goes on sale (complete with a hybrid model); and they introduce a redesigned Mustang. We can also expect the new Fiesta and restyled Taurus. "Fortunately, the 2010 lineup starts early next year and that has all of the makings of an All-Star Team." All they have to do is limp along for one more year and hope they can keep their head above water until then. But with all the new stuff in the pipeline, they may have problems selling the lame duck '09s.

Not only has the GM BOD not kicked Rick Wagoner out on his ass, they seem to actually, well, love him. "I can assure you that the board is unanimous in its support of Rick Wagoner and the management team to get through these difficult times. We truly feel we have the best management team to get this job done," board member George Fisher told the Detroit News. He also said the management team was "dealing with many problems they hadn't created." Uh… isn't this the same management team that's worked nowhere else but GM (save Lutz)? And hasn't Slick Rick has been in charge for the past eight years? Regardless. Fisher's confident that they have the answer. Just not right now. "The world is going to have to wait and see that we're right on this issue." When asked by the Detroit Free Press "how long a head coach can survive a string of negative results" he told them "until you're at a point when you don't think he's doing the job." So let's see… hundreds of billions of dollars down the toilet over the past few years, selling off everything that's not tied down, plummeting sales and market share– at just what point will they have their epiphany?

Toyota is beginning to feel The Big 2.8's pain. The world's largest automaker released their first quarter financial results. No question: they got dinged. While ToMoCo's books are not in the same universe as GM or Ford, the Japanese carmaker's operating profit dropped 39 percent to "only" $3.8b. That's just over half of the $6.2b they showed for the same quarter last year. Toyota Exec VP Mitsuo Kinoshita attributes the losses to a number of factors, including the weak U.S. dollar and the soaring price of raw materials. He's not too concerned over lease residuals and dropping used car prices, though. "With Toyota's traditionally prudent approach in lending, together with its efforts to further strengthen the credit control and collection system, the percentage of credit losses has shown some stability. As for residual values, Toyota will continue to keep a close eye on the used car market and set suitable values in a timely manner." This is the second consecutive quarter their operating profit has dropped. [source: Toyota Press Release]

Click here for First Quarter Operating Results and First Quarter Financial Summary

July's temperatures may have been hotter than Hell, but U.S. new car sales were in Hell. Rising gas prices have thrown the entire American auto industry into turmoil, flooding the market with used SUVs and pickups, cratering residual values and trapping millions of consumers in light truck limbo. At the same time, automakers can't ramp-up production quickly enough on those fuel-sipping models that are leaving the lots. Incentives aren't moving the metal, but NOT increasing them would be worse. The downturn is widespread. And despite what the automakers say, it's going to get worse. Soon. For now, here's the damage report. 

Ford's PR machine is working overtime. Before 10 AM, FoMoCo sent out seven press releases. The first missive trumpets the fact that the 2009 Focus will be available in a SEL trim line with a lot of standard stuff that's optional on other Focii. And all Focii will now have electronic stability control (standard on the Hyundai Elantra). The next release tells the world that $1,995 buys you a glass roof panel for your 2009 Mustang. Release three: The Blue Oval Boys are moving up the introduction of an "industry-first innovation" (the Blind Spot Mirror) by a year, and making it standard on the 2009 Edge. Release number four reveals the pains to which FoMoCo goes– "driving, shaking, baking and freezing the vehicle"– to keep the Flex from living up to its name. Another news flash! The Lincoln MKS is available in luscious White Chocolate, Sangria and Cinnamon (dieters can delight in Tuxedo Black Metallic, White Suede, Brilliant Silver Metallic, Smokestone, Light Ice Blue and Dark Ink Blue). The penultimate press release brags that the MKS "outsold the Acura RL, Infiniti M35 and Cadillac STS" in July, thanks to "unique marketing and education efforts underway since the vehicle was introduced in November." Finally, Ford wants us to know that their powertrain lineup "underscores four key pillars of the company's 'Drive one' communications effort: Drive Green, Drive Smart, Drive Quality, and Drive Safe." Interestingly it says nothing about driving me crazy. And the day's not over yet…

Ten Best Nominations Are Now Closed

The truth hurts. But not always. Sometimes the truth about cars is the key to genuine insight and automotive ecstasy. This is one of those times, when TTAC's Best and Brightest select their annual Ten Best automobiles. In other words, this is your chance to help the wider world discover genuine automotive excellence, and reward those who produce it with a much-deserved hat tip. The name of this collective endeavor changes, but the rules remain the same: you nominate the cars, our writers narrow your selection to 20, then you get the final say on the Ten Best [more details below]. But before we get stuck in, here's a recap of last year's winners…

In July, GM, Toyota, Ford, Honda and Chrysler accounted for almost 73 percent of new vehicle sales in the U.S. But individually, how are they doing? To answer that I'm going to start tracking their overall market share and comparing them to each other, plus trending their market shares for 2006, 2007 and 2008. In July, GM held onto 20.5 percent of the market and has a 21.6 percent average market share year to date. Toyota's nipping at GM's heels, though, with 17.4 percent of sales in July and is averaging 16.9 percent of sales so far this year. Ford slipped below Toyota in April, but they're managing to keep Honda at bay so far. Ford's share for July was 14.2 percent against Honda's 12.2 percent; year to date Ford hangs onto 15.3 percent of the market. Honda's 10.8 percent average market share so far this year is still below Chrysler's average 11.4 percent share, but Honda passed Chrysler in May and is well ahead of Chrysler's 8.6 percent share in July. Where will it all end up? Hard to say with today's volatile market, but we'll keep our eyes on it and let you know as and when the music stops.

GM wants you to know the not-so-very-new-anymore Chevy Malibu's total sales were up 79 sales-adjusted percent in July. The penalty box known as the Chevy Aveo was up 17 percent. The Saturn Aura was up 24 percent. And Cadillac CTS sales were up 38 percent. Those are the adjusted numbers they put in the bold print right at the top of their July sales press release. However, the real story: overall sales were down 26.1 percent (unadjusted). The auto side's overall 12 percent decrease was exacerbated by a whopping 36.4 percent drop on the truck side. Something else that's easy to miss is the word "total" in front of some of the sales numbers (like Malibu above). When GM's spinmeisters talk about great "retail" sales of some models, that's a sure sign that fleet sales made up the bulk of the "total" sales mentioned for other models.

Click here for GM sales press release

(Note:  The numbers in the press release are adjusted for sales days, so they will vary from the unadjusted numbers reported here.)

The July sales numbers are starting to come in and they're not encouraging. Toyota's overall sales dropped 11.9 percent from last July.  As you can probably guess, trucks were responsible for the largest chunk of Toyota's dismal numbers; passenger cars were down only 5.7 percent while trucks plummeted 29.5 percent. If Toyota's turning in numbers like this, it's going to be scary to see everyone else's reports. We'll post 'em as we get 'em.

Click here for Toyota sales press release

[NB: The numbers in the official press release are adjusted for sales days; TTAC reports the unadjusted numbers.]

Never mind what they said before. GM is joining Chrysler on the huge-incentives-for-2008-trucks bandwagon. Starting today, they'll bump the rebates on GMC Yukons, Yukon XLs, Chevy Tahoes and Suburbans from $2k up to $6k. And get this– the Hybrid models are included. Envoys and Trailblazers will get the same $6k discount, with another $2k tossed in as a lease "pull-ahead" bonus. Avalanches and crew cab/extended cab trucks have $5k cash on the hood. In lieu of the rebates (or in addition to, in some cases), they're also offering low-to-no-percent-interest financing. On the car side, Chevy's offering 0 percent financing for 48 or 60 months on Corvette coupes (including Z06) and convertibles, respectively. Pontiac is bribing offering buyers a $1k bonus on the G8 sedan. Other GM models offer varying interest rate and/or nominal cash back offers. However, according to Automotive News [sub], GM spokesman Pete Ternes warns these figures could change "after GM releases its [Q2] earnings." If anything, you can probably expect them to sweeten the deal in a last ditch, damn-the-profits attempt to clear the '08s from dealer lots.

Gourmet restaurants and McDonalds both serve salads. Both establishments offer greens, vegetables and some kind of dressing. Setting aside Mickey D's portion-controlled, polymer-intensive presentation, I doubt anyone would confuse the two salads based on appearance or taste. But what of a "proper" premium sedan and the Kia Amanti? It's an intriguing idea: an upmarket midsize sedan at a family sedan price. Cutting out a badge-related price premium is always tempting… but seldom worth it.

Much to GM Car Czar Bob Lutz' chagrin, hybrids are a bit more than the flash in the pan he predicted . A study from RCNOS titled "Global Hybrid Car Market Forecast to 2010" (reported by Research and Markets) predicts global hybrid sales will experience a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12 percent in the next six to seven years. They also prognosticate that the hybrid battery market will grow by 10.4 percent between 2010 and 2015. From 2008 – 2012, the hybrid component market will increase at a CAGR of 17.4 percent. The U.S. is the top market for gas – electric vehicles. RCNS says American hybrid sales should crest the 1m mark by 2012. At the moment, there are only a few major (i.e. remotely credible) players in the hybrid game. But with the Koreans and the Chinese busily developing their own hybrids, the playing field could become crowded in a hurry. And since competition drives prices down, the consumer will be the overall winner. Not to mention air quality and CO2 emissions. 

While Chrysler and GMAC are cutting out leasing altogether, Ford is just raising lease prices on its sucky-residual trucks and SUVs to make them "lease proof." The Wall Street Journal reports Ford officials sent a memo to dealers Monday that said "due to extreme losses Ford Credit is taking on off-lease vehicles, it will be necessary for Ford Motor Credit Company to adjust residuals mid-quarter on the following vehicle lines." The memo specifies the Ford F-150 and Super Duty pickups, and the Ford Explorer and Sport Trac SUVs. They're raising lease prices so high customers won't agree to the terms. [NB: We've predicted this de facto exit from leasing for GM.] Last week, Ford revealed that average auction values for 24- and 36-month lease vehicles were down $2.7k and $2.4k each, respectively. In its recent financial statements, FoMoCo wrote-off $2.1b for leasing losses.