The Department of Energy's predicts that soaring U.S. gas prices will reach their zenith in June. After adjusting for increased ethanol use [gag], the DOE expects oil prices to decline to $110 a barrel this year, with a resulting drop in pump prices. That's $9 more than the agency's previous prediction– and down $11.84 from yesterday's price. As The New York Times points out, this supposed peak will occur just before the summer driving season begins. The aluminum foil hat-wearers amongst you might wonder how the price of anything can peak immediately prior to a large increase in demand (not to mention soaring foreign use), and play connect-the-dots with the American tourist industry/carmakers/presidential election, but I couldn't possibly comment. In any case, the Lehman Brothers reckon this is gonna hurt. “In the past, high prices could be offset by borrowing or making more money,” said analyst Adam Robinson. “It’s really when you have the triple bite — a weaker economy, less access to credit, and higher prices — that you see the consumer recoil.” Recoil? Maybe. Drive less? For sure. See lower gas prices? Not likely. The Old Gray Lady leaves us with "analysts’ forecasts for the price of gasoline over the next few years run as high as $7 a gallon."

Loooooook. Loook at the new FX! According to the PR people (who invented the Dark Side), Infiniti FX buyers are what they call “progressive independents:” consumers who like trendy styles and show a rebellious “hint of the dark side” in their personalities. Yeah, yeah. While the suits blow were busy blowing smoke up their own Powerpoint presentation, WardsAuto.com reports that Nissan's engineers tackled everything we didn't like about the old model— and more. Hard ride? Gone; [allegedly] banished by a more "refined" four-wheel independent suspension with front double-wishbone and rear multi-link. Sneaker styling? Toast; [supposedly] macho-ed by with a lowered, stretched platform with more forward front wheels, a longer hood and shorter overhangs. More complex toys that can break? Got 'em; especially a lane departure warning system. Some kind of compelling reason not to buy the smaller but almost equally-horsed variant? Done; FX50 gets 21" wheels, a 5.0-liter V8 and all-wheel drive; the FX35 "makes do" with a 3.5-liter V6 with optional AWD. As for that dark side thing, the FX is this writer's first choice for SUV/CUV on-road hoonery. I look forward to putting the FX50 through its paces come June. The force is strong with this one.  

TTAC commentator Bunter1 sent us a link to Design News: "Accelerating Engineering Innovation." And that's what GM's doing with its oft-delayed, highly-touted electric – gas plug-in hybrid Hail Mary (a.k.a. the Chevy Volt). As anyone who follows such things knows, it's the batteries, stupid. It's a point well worth repeating. "To an engineer, it looks obvious. Gasoline packs 80 times more energy per kilogram than a lithium-ion electric vehicle battery. It holds 250 times more energy than a common lead-acid battery. So, it’s a no-brainer. Batteries can’t possibly deliver the energy needed to power the future of the auto industry, right?" Readers tempted to shout "Right!" are, obviously, corrected. Scribe Charles Murray places the effort to create a commercially viable electric vehicle somewhere between implausible and very, very difficult. The big news is text-embedded: the director of the Materials and Processes Lab. at GM Research Labs is not cool with his bosses' 2010 timeline for Volt production. “The big risks we have to overcome if we expect to see widespread implementation are quality, reliability, and durability,” says Mark Verbrugge. “We’d like to get at least three to four years (of testing) on these batteries.” But won't. And what does THAT tell you?

Or any other U.S. industry for that matter. WardsAuto.com dropped in at the Consumer Bankers Assn.’s auto finance conference in mean old Frisco and reports that no one in the car world expects the election year sop to economically downtrodden voters to stimulate sales. Emily Kolinski Morris cites historical precedent to conclude that no one's gonna buy nothing with their refund money. “An estimated 25% of rebate checks were spent in 2001," Ford's senior economist declared. "And that is expected this time around, too." Which raises an interesting question, why'd they hold a conference, then? Meanwhile, Morris cited a more recent survey showing similar stats: 43 percent of today's Americans will use the refund bucks to pay off debts, 26 percent will save it and 24 percent will spend it. Apparently, "that leaves one banker at the conference torn. 'As an automotive lender, do I want people to take the money and pay off debt or take it and buy a car?' says Nicholas Stanutz, senior vice president of the Huntington National Bank. 'I have mixed feelings.'” Consumers saving money? Bankers with feelings? Strange times. 

General Motors has stopped production of the lion's share of their 2008 truck line-up. Automotive News [AN, sub] reports that GM's told its dealers that "the allocation volume for the Dealer Order Submission Process cycles beginning May 8, 2008, and May 15, 2008, have been canceled." Translation: the American automaker will no longer fill orders for the vehicles listed above. The General blames the shutdown on the ongoing United Auto Workers (UAW) strike at American Axle, which has caused a paucity of parts. The situation could be worse for GM, but it's hard to see how. Even thought the strike and resulting shutdown provide a convenient excuse for GM to cut production on an entire genre of vehicles– vehicles that can't be sold at a profit, or, indeed, sold– GM's cash burn demands some kind of cash flow. From one perspective, there is no end in sight to General Motors' North American profit drought. "If the [American Axle] strike continues, there might be additional production cuts," GM spokeswoman Susan Garontakos admitted to AN. From another perspective…

eBay Motors is a great site. Although our resident sharp end guy Steven Lang has, uh, moved on, he still reckons there's no better gauge of a car's worth than the completed items section. And these guys are serious about providing a safe place to buy and sell an automobile over the internet– an inherently dicey proposition. As Automotive News [sub] reports, eBay has 2k– count 'em two thousand– staffers who "handle complaints and investigate sham auctions and dishonest sellers." OK, now, in February, eBay announced they were going to list GM's Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles (CPO) on the site. All sorts of alarm bells went off. Knowing GM as we do, it seemed obvious that eBay would make it difficult (if not impossible) for consumers to cross-shop the price of these CPO-mobiles against the same cars sold independently. To its discredit, eBay still refuses to provide details of the agreement. In fact, eBay now says they're talking to "other automakers" about replicating the deal. We call on eBay to disclose enough information about this arrangement to reassure its base– the hundreds of thousands of people who buy cars via the service– that eBay's not going to sell the end users down the proverbial river by firewalling CPO and non-CPO vehicle sales.  

When The Robb Report decided they didn't want to work with me anymore (surprise!), the Managing Editor cited my unauthorized off-road excursion in a Cayenne as one of the prime reasons I was persona non grata. Of all the shit I'd got up to, this was my cardinal sin. Huh? What red-blooded American doesn't harbor a deep-seated urge to not do what a bunch of heavily-accented Germans tell him to do? And what automotive journalist who's been on a meticulously-timed press launch doesn't understand the compulsion to leave the "designated route" for, somewhere, anywhere else? And it's not like I broke the thing– although, at the time, I thought I had. I'd simply embedded fist-sized rocks into the Cayenne's tires in my [ultimately successful] attempt to rock the SUV free of knee-deep mud, that I'd mistaken for a hard surface. Still, I genuinely liked Robert Ross, and miss working with him. I appreciate real talent, and understand the stresses that serving two masters can put on a man. I broke my Porsche IWC watch that day, clearing the mud away from the tire with my bare hands. Somehow, I can't bring myself to fix it. Go figure. 

Autoca reports that the new-to-Europe Infiniti brand wants to compete with the BMW 1-series and the Audi A3s of the world in the hot "premium compact" segment. But don't expect a carbon-copy of the German whips, as Autocar hints that Nissan's luxury marque will unleash an entirely unique model on the segment. Speculation has centered around a baby-SUV model (rendered here) that would slot under the new EX35, currently the smallest Infiniti model. But wait, it might be a coupe-cabriolet with a folding hardtop. Actually, Autocar has no idea what the model will look like. But they do know that it will launch in 2010 (as will everything) at a price point around $40k. We'll be checking out forthcoming Infiniti concept cars for hints at the final design of the "Infant-iti." And here's hoping it's not a "small, high-end SUV crossover." 

It might change later, but as of this specific moment in human history, it is, officially, a slow automotive news day. While I'm sure this German court order will trigger a class-action lawsuit– call D'Olivera and Sons on the Hurtline now— I can't help but think there's a bigger car story out there, somewhere. So to speak. Anyway, meanwhile, here's the guitas [via, get this, The Earth Times]: "A German judge has ordered a Volvo dealer to compensate a man with big feet because there was not enough space around his new car's accelerator pedal, a court spokesman said Monday. The man, a travelling salesman, sought and won a 5-per-cent reduction in the price of his Volvo C70 coupe by arguing that his leather shoes, European size 47 for a foot 29.4 centimetres long, did not fit beneath the dashboard." Beneath the dashboard? Either that's a very small dashboard or my European shoe size converter is on the fritz. So… "Under a court-supervised settlement, the buyer obtained a 1,700- euro (2,650-dollar) refund to pay for a snug pair of sneakers that just fitted into the space, as well as his time changing back into street shoes each time he got out of the car to meet clients." Jesus! Is that what a pair of sneakers costs in Germany? And what's this guy's billing rate, anyway? And doesn't the clock start when you meet the client? "A judge in the court at Wiesloch in Baden-Wuerttemberg state said size 47 was not abnormally large and the Swedish-made car should have catered for big feet." Would you like your foot massage now, Mein Herr?

Manufacturers' blogs are a terrific development. Not because anyone other than OCD automotive journalists, company flacks and devoted fanboys actually read them (check out the number of comments on GMNext or the quality of the [pre-screened] criticism on Bob Lutz' GM Fastlane). No, the cod web 2.0 carmakers' sites are valuable because they reveal their originators' view of themselves. So when I encountered a video blog entry on GMNext titled "That's a Saturn!", I clocked the spear (a.k.a. exclamation mark) and reckoned it was boilerplate PR. Pressing play revealed Saturn's brand managers had aimed a camera-shaped nine mil at their feet. The company debadged a Saturn Astra, parked it in the locus of American car culture (the California coast line), and asked a carefully edited selection of passers-by to identify the brand. Guess what happens GMNext? "The interior looks like some of the newer Toyotas." "I feel like it's a Toyota." "Looks like a Mazda." "Either a Honda or a Toyota." "I'd go with Honda." "Honda." "Actually I changed my mind. It's a Dodge." When the actual brand is revealed, the interviewer asks "Does it look like your run-of-the-mill Saturn?" Ouch. Meanwhile, one wonders what comments got left on the cutting room floor (It's an Opel Astra) and why in the world anyone would ever want their product mistaken for a Dodge. [NB: We're going to add a Whiskey Tango Foxtrot award to The Bob Lutz Award TTACNext time out.]

To say motoring-related police enforcement and green-justified taxation has driven a wedge between the average UK citizen subject and Her Majesty's government would be an excellent example of British understatement. Literally every day we hear news of another "us vs. them" story, whereby motorists face new charges and/or the police punish them for what is, let's face it, normal behaviour (a.k.a. speeding). To wit: one in three of all licensed UK drivers have points on the license. And the hits keep happening. The Daily Mail reports that "a leaked memo has revealed that rank-and-file officers in the Norfolk force have been told that incidents such as car vandalism should not be classed as an offence when there is 'no idea how it happened.'" From the memo: "We appear to be making things difficult for ourselves by 'criming' things which aren't actually crimes. One example is where a car window is found to be damaged, no entry to vehicle, no witnesses and no idea how it happened. This has been recorded as criminal damage, even though there is no evidence to suggest it fits the definition. If there is no evidence of someone intending to destroy or be reckless then there is no crime." In other words, Norfolk crime figures are getting a bit of Shiatsu. I know what you're thinking. "The Association of British Insurers said claims for criminal damage would not be affected if police refused to issue crime numbers." So, if a 'scrote pushes a tree onto your car in The New Forest, does your car really exist? 

Residential Capital (a.k.a. Rescap) is GMAC's mortgage-finance company. GMAC's owned jointly by GM and Cerberus (the private equity firm that also owns 80 percent of Chrysler). Now, on Monday, ResCap announced it "might not be able to meet debt obligations" unless it secures an additional $600m by the end of June. Translation? "Rescap's cramming its debt on its bondholders. It's now a game of chicken. They're offering to convert unsecured debt into secured debt– but not all creditors get even money. Some will be forced to take a hit. And if you don't agree early, you may really get hit with a loss. Of course, there's a lot of lawyering going on to figure this out. (Keep in mind that this is mostly a paper for paper deal.) Meanwhile, the company's problems have not gone away. The question is how much GMAC will contribute to Rescap to keep it afloat. Do the bondholders want to see it meltdown and pursue recoveries through court, or go along with the plan and delay what may be inevitable anyways. Effectively, Rescap is admitting its bankrupt but trying to find a solution to stay out of court – which is an expensive process and subjects loss of control of the company to creditors. The point is that GMAC's valuation keeps going downhill and its own credit situation worsens as it throws money at Rescap. At some point the music will stop."  

Credit where credit's due: Ford was the first automaker to risk afflicting their customers with the blue screen of death and install the Microsoft SYNC system in their products. Not only did Microsoft's in-car multiple device Bluetooth-enabled voice-activation thingie not serve-up a code 10, but Ford put it in their entry-level models AND milked it with plenty o' marketing. But Bill Gate's mob let it be known from the start– as did responsible members of the media– that SYNC was heading into rival products after an 18-month "window of exclusivity." And so, at the end of the year, Ford's bragging right will be defenestrated by none other than Korean budget car maker Hyundai– a Ford wannabe if there ever was one. Yup, Hyundai is next to SYNC up. The New York Times reports "Windows Automotive will first appear in Hyundai vehicles in North America in 2010, said Martin Thall, general manager of Microsoft’s automotive business unit. Subsequent versions will give drivers voice control over navigation systems and video entertainment, in addition to cellphones and digital music players." There was a brouhaha recently when rumors circulated that Ford would allow Microsoft to use SYNC for advertising, which they vigorously denied. Or at least didn't confirm. Yet. What's the bet Kia/Hyundai show similar restraint? 

No, it's not Heidi Fleiss talking. It's a different kind of prostitute: Florida Governor Charles "Charlie" Crist. I kid, I kid. But that's Charlie's ultimate justification for hopping on the summer gas tax holiday bandwagon (there's got to be a Cliff Richard joke in there somewhere). Speaking to the The New York Times, Charlie says he's been "struggling" to cut 10 cents a gallon from the Sunshine State's gas taxes. And yes, he knows it doesn't mean shit, moneywise. But that's not the point. "'It’s about trying to serve the people and trying to understand and have caring, compassionate hearts for what they’re dealing with at the kitchen table,' said Mr. Crist, a Republican." Wow! A Republican said that? And now a word from the Law of Unintended Consequences. "Since 2000, four states have enacted gas tax holidays: Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Indiana. In general, retailers did not pass on all of the intended savings…  During the last gas tax suspension in Florida in 2004, people hoarded gasoline, driving up demand and prices." D'oh! And, to conclude, a little not-so-subtle Bush bashing. "Several drivers, even in Republican strongholds, blamed President Bush for high gasoline prices because of his support for oil companies and the war in Iraq. Others suggested consumer sacrifices like a return to the national speed limit of 55 miles per hour, which would conserve gas but have little immediate impact on prices." Several? Others? Oh brother. 

When I was growing up, my father constantly reminded us that his customers put food on our table– both literally and figuratively (he had a weakness for Mercedes). The man who was THE alpha in my life was no such thing in front of his customers. He was polite, attentive, deferential and charming. At the tender age of 48, I think I've mastered attentive. But I learned the general lesson well. I never forget that you, dear readers, don't have to spend your time or talents here. I work hard every day to earn your patronage. I never take it for granted, or assume I know better than you– about anything. I fully consider all your criticisms and do my level best to fix bugs as and when they're brought to my attention. I'm never too busy to answer your emails. OK, I am. But I do it anyway. Because without you, nothing. And whenever I'm at a bookstore, I introduce myself to buff book readers and discuss their literary and internet habits. I'm constantly asking car owners I meet on the street what they think of their "ownership experience." If Chrysler thinks that they're going to be a better company if 300 execs talk to one customer each per day, they deserve to go out of business. And will. It's as simple as that.