Anyone fancy a Lexus? Now’s a good time to saunter over to their swanky digs; October sales at Toyota’s luxury division are off by 37.6 percent. With Toyota sales down 24.2 percent, call it a combined 25.9 percent decline. Some notable [non] performers: Camry (down 12.8 percent), Prius (-13.6), Highlander (-29.2) Tundra (-65.4). So what’s up? Corolla (+2.2 percent) and the Sequoia (of all things), up 16.3 percent. Notable from Toyota’s press release: any mention whatsoever of the U.S. economic climate. It’s all business with these guys.

Automotive News [AN sub] reports that The Blue Oval Boyz are getting that sinking feeling. And how. October sales sank 32 percent, “as the industry braced for what may be weakest monthly sales report in 25 years.” AN is, of course, parroting the party line. To wit: “An economic gauntlet, the likes of which haven’t been seen in more than two decades, could not deter Ford’s best-selling F-Series truck,” FoMoCo PR writes. “Ford dealers celebrated Truck Month by delivering 43,324 F-Series in October.” Truck month? Who knew? In Ford’s world, the October sales decline merits a single sentence: “Ford, Lincoln and Mercury sales totaled 129,121 in October, down 29 percent compared with a year ago.” Yes, well, unlike our headline, that’s adjusted for sales days. Anyway, if you think that’s bad– and why wouldn’t you– Volvo sales fell 52.1 percent. Make the jump for some specific examples of bad juju.

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Our guys on the front line tell us that GM has just launched a nationwide coupon program called “Garage Mate.” The General has mailed an unspecified number of consumers a $2k-off coupon good for every 2008 AND 2009 vehicle The General sells (including the Pontiac G8). The two grand is on top of any and every other available discount. More info as it becomes available.

From GM PR: “Record-setting sales performance in GM’s Latin America, Africa and Middle East and Asia Pacific regions during the third quarter of 2008 helped General Motors sell more than 2.1 million vehicles globally during the third quarter 2008. Compared with the third quarter of 2007, GM’s total sales were down 11.4 percent, reflecting continuing economic pressures in the U.S. market, which pushed North America sales down 18.9 percent, and growing pressure in Europe, where sales were down 12.3 percent. Sales of 1.286 million vehicles outside the U.S. accounted for nearly 61 percent of GM’s total global sales volume compared with just over 56 percent a year ago.” And that’s how you spin ’em boys. Meanwhile, every one of GM’s eight U.S. brands cratered, big time [all stats Q3 losses, year-to-date]: Buick (-19.1), Cadillac (-15.6), Chevrolet (-15), GMC (-19.3), HUMMER (-46.4), Pontiac (-14.7), Saab (-31.9), Saturn (-16.9). Take fleet sales out of that mix, consider discounts relative to profits… There’s blood in the water folks.

“Yes, the auto industry is big. And important. But Congress shouldn’t dole out more taxpayer dollars to save firms that missed opportunities to help themselves.” And so begins The Dallas Morning News‘ editorial advising its readers that Motown should be left to its own devices. The News is home to one of automotive journalism’s genuine gems: writer Terry Box. Box has always been loyal to his readers’ best interests; this editorial has his fingerprints all over it. Be that as it may, Motown may wish to point out that Texas is home to Toyota’s massive– and now underutilized– Tundra factory. Of course, it’s also the state where you’ll find GM’s Arlington plant, once-proud maker of the GMC Yukon, GMC Yukon XL, Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe and Cadillac Escalade. No matter how you slice it, The Lone Star state has at least one dog in this fight. Make the jump for the rest of the ed [thanks to peakwarehouse for the link].

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I was wondering why this morning’s Automotive News [sub] was revisiting the story on GM’s product development cutback. True: it was THE story of last week. And the new quote from analytical superstar John Casesa is pregnant with foreboding. “It’s really the last resort and underscores how dire the liquidity situation has become.” And now, the money shot: “According to one informed estimate, GM may have about $17 billion in cash left. Since the company needs $11 billion to $14 billion on hand to maintain normal operations, it may face a cash-flow crisis this winter.” MAY? GM’s burning through a billion a month. Without special write-offs or cash calls, The General will run out of liquidity by January.  As with Chrysler, even approaching a cash conflagration flame-out puts the ailing American automaker in dire straits. Suppliers, who are busy going to the wall, may demand cash up front, whittling GM’s “pad” down to, well, nothing. If there’s a “run on the bank,” GM’s suppliers could throw GM into C11.

Tonight. On World’s Most Extreme Detroit Apologists… Move over Jerry Flint! Forbes’ ancient and once venerable scribe thinks GM CEO Rick Wagoner hasn’t raped stockholders by pocketing more than $100m in executive compensation. But The Detroit Free Press‘ Justin Hyde and Brent Snavely are willing to go even further. While their most recent mega-apologia predicts the end of Wagoner’s misguided management, the writers are happy to give the floor to analysts who suggest that Wagoner’s done- and is still doing— a great job. “Erich Merkle, an analyst from Crowe Horwath LLP, said Wagoner inherited years of bad decisions from previous managers that have limited his options. ‘You almost need to put Roger Smith on the hot seat, and I know he’s dead,’ Merkle said of the CEO who led GM from 1981 to 1990. ‘They were setting the company up for disaster later down the road. The business model that was created and the way that the contracts were structured were such that they were just not economically viable.'” Mea culpa be damned. And you can be damned sure that Merkle isn’t the only one blind to Wagoner’s cataclysmic effect on GM’s business…

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Here’s it comes. Here it comes. Here comes Detroit’s nineteenth nervous breakdown. Will it be their last? Obviously not. But just in case you thought there was a hope in Hell that GM won’t transform itself into American Leyland, sucking taxpayer cash into a black hole for years to come, the Detroit News’ reporter/cheerleader Alisa Priddle presents “Analysts: Big 3 woes imperil U.S. economy.” Otherwise known as rapper 2 Big 2 Fail’s ode Obama’s Your Mama. Priddle assembles the usual chorus of backup singers. “Every direct job at an automaker in the United States creates five more jobs, said Sean McAlinden, chief economist and vice president for research for the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor. Two of the five are related to suppliers or dealers; the other three are spinoff jobs at businesses where auto industry workers spend their paychecks… By contrast, one Wall Street position creates a total of about 2.5 jobs, yet Congress expedited aid to the financial services sector this year.” Yeah, fuck them banker bitches and their $700 bil. “Declining auto sales have contributed to the nation’s economic downturn, but that hasn’t diminished the industry’s importance, said Charles Chesbrough, senior economist for CSM Worldwide in Northville, an automotive market research firm. ‘We won’t see a turnaround in the economy as a whole,’ he said, ‘until we see improvement in the auto industry.'” As Mad Max said, “If it’s all the same to you, I’ll drive that tanker.” Hang on; what’s this? A dissenting voice?

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In October 2006, celebrity stock picker Jim Cramer reacted to GM’s cratering stock price by telling his viewers to buy shares in the ailing (not to say doomed) American automaker. And then again in February of this year. Perhaps Cramer’s over-compensating for missing the boat (as in Titanic). The Detroit News reports that the Mad Money maven used the airwaves to argue against subsidizing the GM – Chrysler merger (a bit late on that one Jimbo). “He slammed the idea of government help to make a General Motors Corp.-Chrysler LLC merger work,” the DetN reports. “Because that would result in a ‘bailout’ to Cerberus Capital Management LP. He called that ‘a crime’ that would bring a ‘big backlash.'” Sounds about right (for a change). So what’s the DetN’s problem? Uh, class warfare? “‘They’re just rich people,’ Cramer said, adding that if Cerberus didn’t lose money on its investment it would send the message that it ‘pays to be reckless.’ He said the government should support automakers to protect employment, but only if current auto shareholders ‘were wiped out.'” Not getting it. “Sounds like someone needs a little anger management counseling,” the hometown paper concludes. Or not.

Gooooooooood morning U-A-W! In case you were wondering where the United Auto Workers stood during this, Detroit’s End of Days, we can now report [via Reuters] that the union is, finally, bellying-up to the billion-dollar (for a start) bailout buffet. “Alan Reuther, legislative director of the United Auto Workers, said in an interview that the group is proposing lawmakers approve up to $25 billion in new loans for General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Corp and Chrysler LLC. Reuther said the aid would cover pledged contributions to a retiree health care trust, the Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association [VEBA], which was negotiated last year with the companies.” As odd as that sounds, the UAW bailout bypass makes a certain amount of sense– if a bailout it must be. If the automakers’ call on the public purse is designed to protect jobs, jobs, jobs, why not call their bluff? Or not. “If the companies get the assistance that makes it easier for them to do other things,” Reuther said. “I think the financial markets would look at that and say that helps lift a significant liability and that’s a good thing.” “Other things?” Such as… build cars people want to buy at a price that will make GM enough profit to pay off all its debts and liabilities? Good luck with that.

The Detroit Free Press breaks its self-imposed embargo on genuine reporting on Motown’s End of Days with a startling piece of investigative journalism. The Freep reports that the Bush administration (remember them?) has appointed U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez gatekeeper to the federal teat. For some reason, scribes Hyde and Higgins (how Dickensian is that?) begin their piece with not one but two sneering references to Gutierrez’ background as the former head of Battle Creek-based Kellogg Co. And no wonder. Other than a couple of “we like this guy” quotes from an “industry leader” and an analyst, they got nothin’. So… let’s quote Bloomberg then. “GM told its U.S. dealers Friday the company was only halfway to its October goal for sales to consumers with just one day left in the month, Bloomberg reported. The so-called retail sales totaled 89,961 vehicles through Thursday, compared with a target of 175,989, the company told dealers.” Hey guys, how about a little context there? No. OK. So… we’ll quote Bloomberg then. “The automaker hasn’t increased annual U.S. sales since 1999.”

Drifting Hovercraft