Yes, Delphi CEO Steve "Take the money and then take some more" Miller is declaring mission accomplished. Automotive News [sub]  reports the generous self-assessment– considering the recent collapse of the bankrupt parts maker's bailout plan. Not-so-coincidentally, Miller indulged in the entirely unjustifiable double-jointed back patting at the Automotive Press Association launch of his [twice delayed] autobiographical biz book: The Turnaround Kid. (Kid? Who's kidding whom?) Just in case you thought Miller was the unassailable captain of the ship that his book paints him to be, Miller revealed "he's not a big fan of his book's title — chosen by the publisher — because it suggests a 'tinge of arrogance.' The first title suggested for the book was Not Worth a Buck, a reference to UAW criticism and his $1-a-year salary during the first phase of the bankruptcy" [emphasis added]. Anyway, after declaring Delphi's exit from C11 a done deal, Miller takes a deep breath and promises that, well, it will be. "We will get it done. It won't get done in weeks. It'll be months, but we will get it done." 

Yahoo! Finance reports that Ford's chief engineer for Research and Advanced Engineering will spend part of his day telling the Society of Automotive Engineers that his employer is counting on their EcoBoost technology– not hybrids– to meet and greet federal mpg standards and appeal to buyers. Andreas R. Schamel's speech will tout "volume-based, near-term actions… within the next five years." [In case you hadn't heard, EcoBoost combines direct injection and turbocharging some 20 percent better fuel efficiency, 15 percent lower CO2 emissions and "superior driving performance versus larger displacement engines."] Although Schamel will toss diesel and hybrid powerplants a rhetorical bone– "hybrids, diesels and technologies such as plug-ins and fuel cells have a role"– EcoBoost it is, starting with the cetacean-snouted Lincoln MKS. From there, The Blue Oval Boyz promise "A 4-cylinder EcoBoost engine with the capability of producing more torque than a larger 6-cylinder engine — nearly an entire liter larger in displacement." Sounds like a plan. [thanks to jthorner for the link]

Again, TTAC is not against junketing per se. Although invitations to manufacturer-sponsored events rarely cross our e-transom (for some unfathomable reason), we have tested cars on the carmakers' dime. All we ask is that automotive publications specifically declare any and all financial contributions towards any given editorial content, within eyesight of the relevant text. In other words, tell readers/viewers if you're drinking the corporate Kool-Aid. OK, now, you may recall that I recently wrote an editorial taking Ford to task for their new "Drive One" campaign. So it was with some interest that I read today's Autoblog post on that very subject. Scribe Jeremy Korzeniewski couldn't have been more an enthusiastic cheerleader if he'd waved pom-poms. "After spending a few days with Ford's main-marketing-man Jim Farley and his team, we can truly say that the excitement surrounding the company's new Drive One marketing strategy is palpable." Uh-oh. "They let us tag along so we could see what all the fuss is about, and the dealers we spoke to seemed pretty pumped about Drive One and felt that Farley's new team at Ford was finally listening to them and doing something with their input. Keep reading to find out what else we heard in Sin City." Or don't. But either way, somehow I don't think AOL picked-up the tab for this bit of reportage. We ask Autoblog to either categorically deny this logical assumption or add a suitable disclaimer at the bottom of their post.

UPDATE: Autoblog has added a disclaimer. We thank them for their rapid and appropriate response, and hope that full disclosure will become the website's standard policy.  

Yes folks, despite the drastic downturn in new car sales, the so-called credit crisis is now so bad that new car dealers are being forced to not to drown their customers in debt. The Cleveland Plain Dealer (of all things) reports this new, un-American disconnect between what people can afford and what they can buy. "People with decent credit aren't able to get the terms they think they should get," said Michelle Primm, managing partner of the Cascade Auto Group in Cuyahoga Falls and a special director of the National Automobile Dealers Association. Which raises an important question: was Elvis a NADA special director? Did he get a badge? Anyway, some dealers are welcoming this new sense of realism– now. "'When you have dealers that say they can get anybody a loan, they're selling financing,' said Pat O'Brien, owner of Chevrolet dealerships in Medina, Willoughby and Westlake. 'They're not selling the car.' He added that loan terms offered to people with poor credit were often so bad that they would have been better off not buying.'" Who knew?

A Brown University business professor once told me that one of America's greatest strengths is its ability to assimilate anything. While Bill O'Reilly rants on and on about our capitalistic society's moral degradation– like one of those nose hair-infested codgers who starts every sentence with "Back in MY day"– our profit-driven culture is actually extremely healthy. It takes the worst possible elements, sanitizes them and sells them into the mainstream. White suburban teens listen to gangsta rap while studying for their SATs. The gangstas end-up on Cribs, showing the world what's in their closet-sized Sub-Zero. SUVs are following a similar pattern. These planet-killas are gradually being domesticated into CUVs. The new Honda Pilot's obvious visual reference to its "no gallon of gas left unguzzled" SUV ancestors is just window dressing. I'm sure it's suitably frugal and considerably cleaner than Bill O'Reilly's phone calls. Of course, that opens a hole in the market for something "real;" a car that appeals to the street cred set. SUVs are done. Muscle cars are Avenged. What's next? Combat-styled EVs? Whatever it is, TTAC will be here to share the love. Whatever love is.

Well, it only makes sense. You build cars in former communist countries a stone's throw away from the world's most militant (and deeply entrenched) labor unions and it's only a matter of time before the union boys show up and the term "low cost" no longer applies to your Eastern European factories. After reporting the end of the 19-day strike crippling Renault's Romanian Dacia plant, the Financial Times says Eastern Europe's wage inflation mirrors the majors' Spanish/Portuguese experience. "In the mid-1970s… Ford, General Motors, Renault, Peugeot-Citroën, Volkswagen and Fiat all established operations or joint ventures in the Iberian peninsula. But by the late 1990s, Spain had priced itself out of the market as a result of demands for higher wages and improved benefits from car workers and labour unions. A similar pattern seems to be spreading in eastern Europe – with one worrying difference. If it took roughly 20 years for the low-cost cycle to run its course in Spain; the current one looks like it will last only 10 years in eastern Europe." [thanks to starlightmica for the link]

Part of the fun of this job: remembering what people said. For example, exactly one month ago, the Detroit Free Press was all about "in-sourcing." "'Due to recent UAW concessions,' [Merrill Lynch automotive analyst] John Murphy wrote in a recent note to investors, 'these tasks [parts design and manufacture] can now be sourced to internal workers at comparable costs and without significant investment in infrastructure… We are convinced that an insourcing trend is emerging.'" Anyone who's been watching the domestics rush to send work abroad– from Chinese-made engines in Chevy's Equinox to Indian programmers taking over Chrysler's IT work— would be forgiven for calling bullshit. And now the Freep's sister paper (The Detroit News) reports that "Auto suppliers will shoulder a bigger burden of research and development costs as automakers look to shift some of the billions of dollars in costs of developing high-tech features in future vehicles, executives said Monday at SAE International's 2008 World Congress." In fact, our man Don Walker of Magna, friend of the little guys, reckons auto suppliers' share of the carmakers' total R&D spend will jump from 40 to 60 percent by 2012. 

Speaking to The New York Times, Republican Senator Charles E Grassley made no secret of his contempt for "foreign officials" at a Washington conference on food prices. Grassley says biofuels are not to blame for recent food price spikes and the resulting political instability (e.g. Haiti's riots). "He questioned why they were not also blaming a drought in Australia that reduced the wheat crop and the growing demand for meat in China and India. 'You make ethanol out of corn,' he said. 'I bet if I set a bushel of corn in front of any of those delegates, not one of them would eat it.' Equally unsurprising (if slightly more conciliatory), the president of The National Corn Grower's Association says ethanol production has a minor impact on food prices and supply. "There’s no question that they are a factor," admits Ron Litterr. "But they are really a smaller factor than other things that are driving up prices." Yes, well, the Old Gray Lady reports that "a fifth of the nation’s corn crop is now used to brew ethanol for motor fuel, and as farmers have planted more corn, they have cut acreage of other crops, particularly soybeans. That, in turn, has contributed to a global shortfall of cooking oil." So ethanol might not be "the" problem, but it's "a" problem. And that's going to get… better?

I don't pretend to know the inside dope about the U.S. car industry. O.K. I do. But there are times when the suits' statements leave me wondering if I inhabit the same universe of cause and effect as these highly paid execs. To wit: the co-CEO of Canadian-based parts maker Magna stood up in front of the Society of Automotive Engineers and told them that the feds they should change U.S. bankruptcy laws so failing automotive suppliers can't get domestic automakers by the short and curlies. True story. Automotive News [sub] reports that Don Walker doesn't want Plastech-type failure to end up "crippling the car companies." As Justin says, that's batshit crazy. First, why should we re-write federal law for The Big 2.8? Second, why would The Society of Automotive Engineers care about bankruptcy law? It gets weirder. "Walker said the growing industry pressure has caused automakers to be more cautious in selecting suppliers. The car companies are more leery of awarding contracts to companies without a strong balance sheet or without a strong business model." So that would favor suppliers like… Magna. I thought I was wise to the ways of man. Can someone please explain this to me?

KatiePuckrik had me all a dither yesterday. The TTAC commentator sent an email asserting that "I like TTAC, I really do, but I think it's starting to lose its way." God I hope not. Sure, we may have lost a bit of edge here and there. Maintaining our current output AND editorial quality is a daily make that hourly challenge. But it's kind of hard to "lose your way" when the name of your website is The Truth About Cars. I never have to wonder, hmmm, what should we cover today? And whenever we write about something– from a story about the auto industry to a used car review– there's never any doubt how to play it. We stick our tongue in our cheek, speak from the heart, call it like we see it and let the chips fall where they may. The Truth About Cars is who we are AND what we do. In addition, I promise you this: we will never take ourselves too seriously or take your concerns lightly. If you've got a beef with us, follow Katie's lead and let us know. Your vigilance and passion makes us stronger, and there is always room for improvement.   

Automotive News [AN, sub] reveals the results of an "unscientific online survey" of "more than 400" U.S. new car dealers. AN paints a predictably bleak picture– for the domestics. "Among dealers who sell Detroit 3 domestic brands, nearly one-third say their dealerships are in the red. The only argument you'll get from a lot of them is whether this is the worst business climate dealers have faced in 20 years, in 35 years — or ever… 'The future is quite bleak,' says a veteran Ford dealer… 'Many dealers are looking for the exit.' But matters are far less dismal for Toyota, Honda and Nissan dealers. Nearly all say their dealerships remain profitable." Reaffirming that [unscientific] result, AN says half of the [participating] Detroit dealers have less staff than last year, while a third of Toyota, Honda and Nissan dealers have added personnel. "And half of the Detroit 3 dealers surveyed said most of the new-vehicle customers they now see are 'upside down,' owing more on their trade-ins than the vehicles are worth." Meanwhile… "Life in Toyota-land is good," says Dan Luneau, owner of Handy Toyota in St. Albans (VT). 

After Rob Diel read a Detroit Free Press article about the automaker's Indian outsourcing, the Chrysler contract information technology worker posted CEO Bob Nardelli's telephone number and email address in the comments section. It wasn't long before the suits descended on Diel's desk. "They said unlock your laptop and come with us," Diel told TTAC. "When they show up doing that, it's not a good thing." Today's Free Press says "Diel, who expected to lose his job at the end of May, said he made several postings on the Web site under the name 'Chryslerworker,' including: 'Boycott Chrysler. If Chrysler is going to screw all the American workers, than (sic) it is only fair that America screws Chrysler. E-mail Nardelli and tell him what a great job he is doing.'" The Freep has since removed Nardelli's information. Meanwhile, Diel says Chrysler's Indian IT operators wouldn't know how to respond effectively to a glitch in the company's production computers, increasing the likelihood of delays. Diel also says morale in his former department is "just horrible… Nobody cares about doing anything. People are just wandering around; they just go for walks and stuff 'cause it's just so depressing." BTW: you can contact Mr. Diel at tripower428@hotmail.com. [apologies for the low audio levels]

We've reported that extended warranty scammers (boiler room operations taking thousands of dollars for zero actual coverage) have invaded the Internet and pissed all over the national "do not call" list (at 4am). According to Automotive News [AN, sub], the extended warranty grift is giving franchised dealers conniptions. "Paul Broome, a Cadillac dealer in Independence, Mo., hears from about 10 customers a month who complain about his dealership's high-pressure sales of service contracts. But Broome has nothing to do with the disputed contracts or their marketing. Instead, some peddlers of third-party contracts tap vehicle registration data to reach customers of dealerships such as Broome's by telephone, e-mail and direct mail." The AN article focuses on Missouri, whose Attorney General is pursuing the miscreants. But the scam is sweeping the nation. Still. Question: why haven't dealers and manufacturers sent a pro-active warning to their customers? 

"Ford on a good day is always about the people," declared Jim Farley, group vice president of Ford marketing and communications. Like many of these pre-digested pronouncements, Farley’s seemingly innocuous, feel-good assertion is fraught with unintentional meaning. What does Farley mean by “Ford on a good day?” What’s Ford about on a BAD day? Is Ford bi-polar? Manic depressive? Does it forget to take its meds? And what about the contradiction between “on a good day” and “always?”  And, most damning of all, Ford is NOT about the people. It’s about the product.

Not vanquished; I remain bloodied but unbowed. I mean tired. OK; web surfing, blogging, editing, emailing and trying to keep the lights on isn't as physically demanding as, say, anything involving physical activity. But, uh, where was I going with this? Oh right, fatigue. So I'm going to cheat… here's what the Brits (and slackers) call a potted version of an article headlined "Curb for pensioners scooting too fast." Oh, and Brits spell curb "kerb;" so don't get to thinking the Telegraph's editors are clever clogs. "'Mobility scooters are used by elderly and disabled people, so we are not talking about young joy riders,' he [Chief Insp Bob Musgrove] said. 'They are not designed to go fast in the normal sense of the word, but if they collide with someone they can cause a serious injury.' Although this issue has been raised in Rugby, the message is the same throughout the county. People riding mobility scooters should be aware of other people and should slow down in crowded areas. 'Those who consistently ride irresponsibly could face court action.'" Pistonheads rule! [NB: TTAC does not condone irresponsible scootering. Always wear your scooter cape in inclement weather. And thanks to JJ Daddy-O for the link.]