Is TTAC’s influence spreading like butter on toast? David Welch of Business Week seems terribly underwhelmed by GM’s “Facts and Fiction” website. He believes that, in theory, it’s a good idea. In practice, he gives GM a right, royal kicking. “But the site itself is mostly unconvincing.” he writes, “In one entry, GM scoffs at the notion that the company ‘still doesn’t make cars that people want to buy’. As proof, GM cites that sales for cars like the Chevy Cobalt are up 10% this year. Malibu sales are up 32%. Yawn. Most of the company’s new vehicles have won praise from the motoring press. Why not refer to a good review in, say, Car and Driver?” Ouch! But wait, there’s more! He then questions GM’s version of events, ass-kicking style. In the “GM didn’t anticipate the shift towards fuel efficient vehicles” section, he points out that while the Saturn Aura and Chevrolet Malibu are good cars, they came to market AFTER the fuel jumps. “When GM got in trouble in 2005, it spent extra money to rush its large SUV’s to market, not its cars.” Even Toyota get an honourable mention, “And the company didn’t make a push to get advanced hybrids to showrooms until it had lost the technology image game to Toyota. That’s reaction, not anticipating.” His pièce de résistance: GM’s so-called evidence to support their claims. “There are five of them (websites and blogs) and all come from the company’s PR staff.” It’ll be interesting to see Bob Lutz’s reaction to all of this. “Business Week? It’s a crock of shit!”

Despite the gloomy economic outlook in the NA car market, VW is surprisingly chipper. VeeDub’s convinced that the demand for the diesel Jetta may be higher than the forecast. “It certainly met and probably exceeded our expectations,” claims Mark Barnes, CEO of VW NA. August sales of totalled 2,417 units, 11,217 year-to-date. One reason for the cha-ching: the diesel Jetta qualifies for a $1300 federal tax credit. That put its “diesel premium” at just $770 over its gas-powered sib. VW CEO Martin Winterkorn sees the Jetta’s success as the particulate end of a NA wedge. Marty predicts a U.S. “diesel trend” based on the current oil burner’s robust powertrain and high resale values. Mike Omotoso is equally bullish. “We expect the diesel market to grow and actually overtake the hybrid market over the next seven years,” J.D. Power’s “engine analyst” remarked. Never mind the forthcoming release of the Chevrolet plug-in electric – gas hybrid Volt, the Mississippi-built Prius and the increasing popularity of frugal fours. In other words, in your dreams boys.

Hyundai appears to be drawing up its own version of a constitution. The first on the list was “Quality shall be paramount” (moderately successful) and the second on the list is now “We shall work together with suppliers”. Hyundai’s corporate mothership has announced that it has signed a “fair trade agreement” with its 2368 suppliers. “The deal has paved the way for Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group to establish a fair trade order with partner companies and promote mutual growth through co-existence and cooperation,” said a company spokesperson. They also added that this is the first time a single company has agreed on a fair trade pact such a large number of firms. Before we break out the record books, which the “fair trade” aspect might possibly be fresh, the notion of positive, longstanding closely-knit relationships between industrial firms in Asia are a big part of the region’s manufacturing history. While I commend Hyundai for some serious long-term planning, how much of this was ethically motivated and how much was damage control? Sure Hyundai is promising transparency now. After their chairman stole $100 million for a secret bribery slush fund, and then received a pardon from the South Korean president, a former Hyundai executive.

Paul Ingrassia, former Detroit Bureau Chief for The Wall Street Journal (and current biz guy for same) is not happy with “the Detroit situation.” Ingrassia warns that backing Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae deal with public funds encouraged management to make “reckless investments that have backfired badly.” He then scolds Detroit in a decidedly TTACian way. “The Detroit Three got into their current quandary by making decades of bad decisions, with some help from the United Auto Workers union,” with a special shout-out to lavish management bonuses and the UAW’s jobs bank. Ingrassia believes a company should only be bailed out if “its demise would wreak havoc on the entire economy.” Detroit doesn’t pass the smells bad test. “Even if Ford, GM and Chrysler were to go out of business — and it’s highly unlikely that all three will simply cease to exist — there will be plenty of good cars for Americans to buy. And many will be made in America, even if they carry foreign nameplates. Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Hyundai and other foreign car companies have expanded greatly their U.S. manufacturing operations in recent years. They’re doing so because Americans are buying their cars.” OK, so it’s no means no, yes? No. “All this said, if Detroit’s short-sightedness and political expediency make a bailout inevitable, let’s make sure taxpayers stand to get rewarded for their risk.” Illogically enough, offerring the re-tooling loans to ALL automakers is Ingrassia’s biggest string. “But if developing fuel-efficient and alternative-energy cars is deemed worthy of taxpayer subsidies for public-policy purposes, it’s just common sense not to put all our eggs in Detroit’s basket.” Bailouts for all? Go figure.

Ding ding! Round 2! The title of “Heavyweight Ego of the World” took a new twist today. VW’s powerful works council will summon thousands of employees to protest against Wendelin Wiedeking at a VW supervisory board meeting today. Herr Wiedeking has already has to put up with rumours in the German media that he would be ousted as head of Porsche. The Financial Times (UK) reports that Bernd Osterloh, Volkswagen’s head of works council, had lashed out against Porsche’s management, saying they were “amateurs” and “arrogant upstarts”. But Mr Wiedeking has also fanned the flames by criticising Volkswagen’s management for some of their decisions. Relationships between Martin Winterkorn (head of VW) and Wendelin Wiedeking are cool to the point of frozen. Welcome to the Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston of the auto world!

USA Today reports that by (could it be? Yes, it is!) 2010, half of GM’s 181 manufacturing sites around the world will be “zero landfill.” In other words, The General’s factories won’t send most their industrial waste to the dump. Instead, GM’s plant trash will be recycled, sold for scrap or incinerated. “Ten GM plants, including an engine plant in Flint, Mich., already are landfill-free, and GM will have about 80 more producing little or no waste within 20 months, according to a source who would not be named because the announcement has not been made. GM had no comment.” Well, in fact, GM issued a press release on this, but I guess the whole Watergate meme is better when it comes time for that USA Today reporters’ pay review. Anyway, the EPA and GM are tighterthanthis, apparently. “The Environmental Protection Agency has worked for more than a decade with GM and other companies to cut waste through its WasteWise program. ‘The success of General Motors in creating zero-landfill facilities shows that zero-waste goals can be a powerful impetus for manufacturers to reduce their waste and carbon footprint,’ says Latisha Petteway, a spokesperson for the EPA.” And it sure won’t hurt GM’s PR campaign for their share of that $50b pot of gold at the end of the low-interest federal loans for re-tooling rainbow…

FIAT and Tata have been cosying up to each other for some time. Ratan Tata was elected to the board of Directors at FIAT at Sergio Marchionne’s request, FIAT are looking to supply engines for Land Rover and Jaguar (A Jaguar XK with a Ferrari sourced engine? Fancy that!) and their joint ventures in India. But it seems, FIAT want a slice of Tata pie now (no, dirty jokes, please). The Economic Times of India reports that FIAT want to launch their version of the “world cheapest car” by 2010. However, Sergio Marchionne (FIAT’s CEO) didn’t disclose the price of the car. I’m no Sherlock Holmes, but I’m guessing it’s got to be less that Tata’s $2500 for the Nano, if it’s to qualify as “the world’s cheapest car”. Marchionne also didn’t say how it would be built, where it would be built, how much would be shared with the Nano, or how many Bothans died to bring us this information. Meanwhile, doesn’t Tata need to sort out its own production issues first?

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the factory… As per normal, a contract is running out on an auto manufacturer and the UAW are planning on striking. But what makes this story unusual is that Detroit aren’t the auto maker in question. Mitsubishi are. Workers at Mitsubishi Motors’ only North American plant in Normal, Illinois, were instructed to pick up their picket times at the union headquarters, whilst negotiations were continuing. If an agreement is not reached by 23:59 on Friday, then, the strike will commence. Curiously, the union are playing their cards cautiously. Union bargaining chairman, Fred Morisette “couldn’t comment on negotations” and last month, the union held a strike authorisation vote, but hasn’t made the outcome of that vote public knowledge. 4 models are in jeopardy, the Eclipse, Endeavor, Galant and Spyder. But there’s little cause for concern. In August 2008, Mitsubishi Motors posted a 29.3% drop in sales (9200 units compared to 13020 units in August 2007). So they need to ramp down production little, don’t they?

While, GM, Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi are getting their electric cars ready within the next few years and new contender has emerged and is aiming to beat them all to the punch. Tata motors, in conjunction with a Norwegian firm, plans to launch an electric car themselves. Reuters reports that the car will be based on the Tata Indica and be launched in Norway within one year. S. Ravishankar, senior general manager at Tata Motors’ engineering research centre, says that the car can run for 175 km (110 miles) to 200 km when fully charged with a “two-pack” battery, but mileage could vary according to the battery used. There’s little doubt that, if successful, Tata will use the Jaguar/Land Rover global dealer network to sell these cars and wouldn’t that be an image? “Could I interest sir in a Jaguar XJ? A Supercharged Range Rover sport? A Tata Nano? or an Electric Tata Indica?”

Hiroshi Kobayashi, deputy chief operating officer for Japanese sales operations for Honda, reckons that they will easily achieve its sales forecast of 640,000 cars (down from revised figures such as 800,000 and 700,000) in Japan. “A lot depends on market conditions, but we should be able to easily reach that target at the current pace,” he said. With cars like the Honda Fit and Civic on sale, it’s hardly surprising. Kobayashi carried on, saying that the figures could have been higher if there was more supply of the Fit around and its Freed compact minivan. Unfortunately, Issac Newton was right. For every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction. Increase in Honda’s smaller cars has led to a decrease in more profitable higher end cars such as the Step Wgn and Elysion minivans. This also means plans to launch the Acura marque in Japan are cooling. Honda are still pushing their hybrids and plan more models But they’d better work on their profit margins for these cars, as they’ll be selling a bit more of them in years to come.

The market for diesel technology just got a little more interesting. Nissan, who initially snubbed hybrid technology in favour of diesels, have announced they’ve become the first Japanese car maker to launch a diesel car in Japan for 6 years. The X-Trail 20GT SUV has an engine, co-developed by Nissan’s partner, Renault, which is billed as the world’s first “clean” diesel to meet Japan’s new emissions standards, due to kick in by October 2009. These standards are said to be the strictest in the world. The only other diesel car available in Japan is the Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI sedan at a cost of 8 million yen ($73,510) (far more than the 3 million yen ($27,710) Nissan are asking for the X-Trail 20GT). Other car makers aren’t far behind, Volkswagen, Honda, Mitsubishi and Subaru are planning to offer “clean” diesels in the next few years in Japan. The curious part to this story is the notable absence of Toyota. They have pulled all diesels from their line up in Japan (the last being the Land Cruiser Prado, in July 2007) and are agressively pushing hybrids. With the government planning on giving consumer incentives on models which meet the new standards and Toyota & Honda’s hybrids car set to fall in price, it looks like an old fashioned showdown is in the works. Soon, Japanese car enthusiasts can have their own arguments about whether diesel or hybrids are better. Lucky them.

The United Kingdom is an oil exporter. Due to falling supplies, that could well change. In fact, by [that most magical of years] 2010, The Land of Hope and Glory is set to become a net oil importer. And so the UK government has issued a record 97 new licences to 54 applicants for onshore oil and gas exploration. (Five years ago, only eight licences were granted.) Companies from the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom are ready to sink their bits. Speaking to The BBC the managing director of Egdon Resources, an exploration and production firm that operates an oil field in the Lincolnshire Wolds, says it might be done in snap.  “If we find oil, it’s quick and easy to put in small, low-key production facilities and then tanker the oil out to refineries.” Strangely, not everyone is happy at this prospect. The director of the South Downs Society, says the drilling would lead to the destruction of trees and hedgerows. (Go figure.) Yes, and the visual impact of the drilling tower and its lighting would be “inappropriate.” “It’s very quiet, full of wildlife when you walk along the footpaths,” Jacquetta Fewster insists. “You’ll often come a across a deer.” Mamby-pampby NIMBY?

The Detroit News reports that Volvo CEO Fredrik Arp is the third Ford big boss in the last month to fall/get pushed from power (after Canada and Australia’s suits). Arp has handed the reins to Stephen Odell, a former Ford Europe exec. Odell’s got a full proverbial plate: massive layoffs (1200 workers), rising raw material costs, a weak dollar, a weak sales in their core market (that’s you Yanks), the dud S80, the D.O.A. C30 and falling demand for SUVs (e.g. the XC90 and soon-to-be-released XC60). Leaving those issues aside, Ford’s Executive Vice President exchanged the usual PR pleasantries. “Fredrik has decided that now is the right time to hand over to a new president and CEO,” Lewis Booth pronounced. “Who will lead the Volvo team through the next stage of its recovery.” The next stage of recovery? What recovery? Doesn’t Booth mean the next stage of Volvo’s sale? According to Ford’sofficial profile, Stephen Odell’s speciality is sales and marketing. Who better to prep Ford’s ailing Swede for sale?

I prefer to buy my shopping from a company in the UK called "The Co-op." It's an ethical supermarket, which invests its profits into schemes which benefit society (says them). This got me thinking, would you NOT buy a car from a company for moral reasons? Henry Ford I was a raging anti-Semite, Toyota overwork their staff, Nissan are bullying a small company to relinquish www.nissan.com (despite Nissan computers traded as "Nissan" back when Nissan was Datsun) and Volkswagen was borne of a brutal dictatorship. Maybe you can't bear the thought of your money going to GM to fund their outrageous executive pay schemes? Or maybe there's a company who you LIKE to buy from because they support a cause you like? Do morals or some other personal belief come into your car buying habits?