Once again, GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz is shooting his mouth off, aspiring to TTAC's non-existent Stop Making Sense lifetime achievement award. Let's face it: it's one thing to say you don't give a shit about Toyota snatching your employer's "world's largest automaker crown" and then rescind the remark (as GM CEO Rick Wagoner did during a Russian plant unveiling in '07). It's another to say the same thing again. But those are the [non-fighting] words coming out of Maximum Bob's mouth in an interview set to be published tomorrow by the German auto industry newspaper Automobilwoche (via Reuters). "Good product quality, the company's image and the profit for shareholders are more important goals than the top position in volume." In that order, presumably. BTW. WTH does that quote actually mean? 

Who asked the Detroit News' Show Biz reporter to chime-in with his feelings about the 2008 North American International Auto Show? I mean Jeez; David Phillips is raining on a parade that his employer has been hyping since Buick was asking people if it was time for a real car (ready when you are). Then again, it's an itty bitty blog post, And I suppose that an entertainment writer is the most keenly aware when the stars of the show are off skiing in Park City. "Lexus, Acura, Nissan, Infiniti and Suzuki are taking a pass this year. Porsche is gone altogether. Aston Martin has quietly vanished from the Ford stand for obvious reasons." Which are… "the cost of doing business inside Cobo Center, an automaker's product cadence, the growth in overseas markets, other opportunities, venues and auto shows to showcase new product, etc." Hmm. I wonder if that cost has anything to do with some union or other, and whether Big Ron Gettelfinger could sort them out. (You gotta bend over like this. No, not me. You.) Phillips final remark shows how quick Detroit is to react to economic challenges. "Show organizers should be worried." Ya think? [thanks to starlightmica for the tip]

Nie-ass? Nay-ass? If you're going to change the name of a world famous American auto show– and why would you?– why would you settle on an acronym that sounds vaguely Scandinavian? What's more, NAIAS is another example of America's willingness to claim international importance for a national event (e.g. the World Series). I mean, does the North American International Auto Show have a heavy Canadian or Mexican presence– aside from all the cars and trucks and minivans and engines and transmissions and stuff built to service America's "domestic" car companies? Anyway, the 2008 NAIAS industry conclave marks the first time The Truth About Cars is attending. Sajeev Mehta and William C. Montgomery– our Texas dream team– will be blogging throughout the day. They'll provide the sort of no-holds-barred reportage you've come to expect from this website. Frank Williams and I will be coordinating their coverage from comfort of our garrets. If you could email your pistonhead pals and tell them to click on us for the web's best NAIAS coverage, I'd be most appreciative. Meanwhile, rest assured we'll do our best to stick it to the Man, TTAC style. That's Tea-Tack, in case you were wondering…

Martin Eberhard is the dot commer who founded Tesla Motors– and singularly failed to bring his vision to fruition. When Tesla's Bored of Directors gave Eberhard the old heave-ho, the man was pissed. Still is. In fact, Eberhard's newly-launched Tesla Founders Blog is laced with more venom than that Egyptian tomb where Indiana Jones freaked. "Okay, I said this blog is not going to be about criticizing Tesla," Eberhard writes. "But I just have to say something about the bloodbath going on over there right now, because it seems to be going largely unreported in the press." It's a highly ironic media dig, given that the press has reported his[former] company's vaporware with wide-eyed obsequiousness, and that Eberhard's blog is destroying that good will. Anyway, the list of 26 fired employees (roughly 10 percent of Tesla's payroll) must mean Tesla's new new production goal is toast. Could this be a total abortion? Nah. But according to Eberhard "axing nearly the entire executive staff, letting the world’s foremost EV motor engineer go, trimming down the service organization before the job of opening the first service center is done, ripping through the firmware team – and doing it by random firings on a daily basis – are all hard to explain." Well, how about this: they were all shit-canned because they failed to produce a car. In fact, it's a sign of Eberhard's arrogance that he can't draw any connection between his own incompetence and the employees fired in his wake. [thanks to everyone who sent the link]  

First the good news. AFP reports that GM's joint venture Chinese sales rose 18.5 percent in 2007, clocking-in at 1.03m vehicles. That's 548,945 units with SAIC-GM-Wuling and 479,427 vehicles through GM-SAIC. In a written statement, GM China Group President and Managing Director Kevin Wale rang-in the glad tidings. "Despite growing competition across the board, demand remained robust for our established products such as the Buick Excelle and LaCrosse and the Chevrolet Lova," Wale said. According to the statement, GM snagged the title of sales leader in the PRC– amongst global automakers– for the third straight year. Yes, well, Dow Jones Market Watch puts a different spin on the story. DJ restricts the stats to '07 passenger cars, and says Volkswagen's Chinese production outstripped GM's by 431,064; putting VW's increase at 28 percent. It also points out that GM's 18.7 percent rise represents slowing growth, when compared to the previous year's 26.8 percent gain, or the overall market's 20.7 percent expansion. Bloomberg fingered the usual reason: product. "GM's expansion in the world's second-largest auto market slowed as customers opted for Volkswagen's Skoda Octavia and the Ford Focus over the Buick Excelle." As China's domestic automakers break free from their foreign "partners," the boom times may soon be at an end. 

Back around the time Chrysler was liberated from its German overlords, the automaker declared that it would make a $3b investment in launching new engines, complete with a fuel-efficient, dual-clutch transmission by Getrag. As we reported yesterday, the plan is now in limbo, as Getrag has stopped construction of a new facility designed to build 700k Chrysler-bound transmissions. Meanwhile, the Globe and Mail reports that New Process Gear– formerly owned by Chrysler, currently owned by Magna International– is laying off 1,650 workers at its suburban Syracuse, N.Y. transmissions parts factory. The newspaper tells the story as a union deal: "Magna has told the union it cannot afford to keep the factory open with its current cost structure and it plans to close the plant." But it's also likely that Chrysler is pulling back on ALL its transmissions suppliers to meet falling demand. Lest we forget, pre-sale, Chrysler was slated to sell Chery a complete assembly line for building automatic transmissions. So, is Chrysler's "Powertrain Initiative" dead, moribund, outsourced or some combo thereof?

TTAC's Samir Syed has already discussed the revolutionary nature of Tata's new Nano. Just-auto [sub] reports that Automotive News Europe [sub] is reporting that Tata Motors is looking to spread the love. At the new car's launch, Tata Motors' group chairman Ratan Tata said his company will export their "people's car" into the Eurozone. Eventually. Tata will restrict Nano sales to India for the first two years– or more– before starting exports. To Africa, Latin America and southeast Asia. After that, they'll shoehorn in some bigger engines (the base Nano has a 33hp 624cc two-cylinder powerplant) and add some more "advanced features." Hang on. Can the new "people's car" meet strict European emissions and safety regulations? "When we go to Europe, we will conform to all existing regulations," insisted Girish Wagh, head of the 500-member Nano product development team. Responding to a question, he added" "Yes, I said when."

Inside INdiana News reports that autoparts supplier Getrag has suspended construction of a $530m DSG  (dual sequential gearbox) transmission plant in Tipton County. Starting in 2009, the factory was set to produce 700k transmissions per year and employ some 1400 people. Indiana was in deep too; the Indiana Economic Development Corporation stumped-up $8.75m worth of performance-based tax credits and offered up to $500k for training grants. The state was on the hook for $3.4m for local road improvements. Getrag Human Resource Director Randy Cyman told the News that the plant is on hold "indefinitely" while Chrysler and Getrag work out a supply agreement. "He says the two parties are meeting daily to try to iron out some unspecified issues. Cyman says he does not believe the project is in jeopardy. He says both parties realize the value of the new state-of-the-art transmission plant." Let's assume that Getrag had a clear contract with Chrysler before starting to build the factory. So, did Chrysler try to squeeze Getrag's profit margins and Getrag balked? Is Chrysler trying to walk away from an expensive project? TTAC is investigating…

While you might think that a savvy American automaker would stay well away from the political fray, the Buloxi Sun Herald reports that GM is still catering to its republican "base." After hooking-up with conservative talk radio hosts Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh last year, GM has now secured itself the honor of being the Official Vehicle Provider for this year's G.O.P. convention in Minnesota. And yes, I'm aware that this is not new news. "GM and the Republican National Convention have enjoyed a strong partnership for the last seven conventions," revealed convention President and Chief Executive Officer Maria Cino. "We look forward to working with GM once again to keep our convention moving smoothly." But this time they'll also be moved cleanly; GM's G.O.P. fleet will consist "primarily: of flexible-fuel and hybrid models. "This is an outstanding venue for a great number and variety of people to see first-hand how GM is leading the way with more products with more fuel and technology choices for consumers," said Ken W. Cole, GM vice president for Global Public Policy and Government Relations. Somehow I doubt the public education will include a Cadillac Escalade Hybrid.

If there's one thing I can't stand (which is a lie, obviously) it's a made-up quote. It's easy enough to do. First, analyze some industry trend using your informed insight and common sense. Then, make up a quote, attribute it to an unnamed source and call it news. Edmunds' Inside Line [allegedly] shows us how it's done. First, the warm-up. "Supplier sources familiar with the product cycle plans at Chrysler tell Inside Line that the automaker is 'trying to move investment up' in the effort to improve the Sebring, Avenger and Sebring Convertible even earlier than originally planned." And then, the pitch! "'The interiors are too cheap,' said one highly placed industry source. 'We call it 'the Sebring problem.' That vehicle is dying on the vine and it's only a year old. They got cheap on everybody and said 'the customer doesn't mind hard plastic and ugly grain [in the cabin].'" Anita claims these same sources say Chrysler is considering dumping the Viper to pay for the Sebring, Avenger and Sebring Convertible fix. (Which Autoblog reports as gospel.) How about either doing the hard work of proper journalism or just fess-up to your own analysis?

Nobody other than the Trollhatten Saab (and probably not them if they were honest) seems happy with what happened with Saab's design direction since GM bought the Scandinavians. The General replaced the aeronautical roots of the original 9-something models with a cheap, cost-effective farrago born from Subaru, Opel, Chevrolet (!) and/or other shared-components from GM’s scrapyard. Luckily for the few remaining SAAB fans, faith smiled on the brand in 2006, when they got to see the Aero X concept. The X is a very subtle blend of aeronautical inspired elements and pure SAAB DNA, packed in a modern (but somehow immortal) shape. The Aero X resurrected the spirit of the brand. Unlike most show cars, many of the Aero X' styling elements are fit for production– especially if we consider the sportier vehicles of the brand, like the 9-3 Cabrio. Here I tried to mix some Aero X touch lines with the requirements of a convertible, keeping in mind that the vehicle should be producible in the current GM environment. Is there any life in the old girl? Thanks to the Aero X, if there's the will, there's a way.

[For more Avarvarii photochopistry, click here.]

As TTAC scribe Megan Benoit wrote in her Enclave review, when better Buicks are built, they'll be built in China. And so it is. GM has released this press shot of the designed-in-China Buick Riviera concept, headed for the (TTAC-attended) North American International Auto Show. Just in case you didn't get the message that the storied Buick brand is now [more or less] a foreign nameplate, note that the gull-winged, carbon fiber-clad concept car debuted at the Shanghai Auto Show. Although GM says the Riviera is supposed to showcase Buick's forthcoming global design language, I reckon all that means is that the portholes and the Paul Weller grill stay. It's a shame that GM didn't look for the same kind of Euro-American design genius that informed legendary designer Bill Mitchell's first Buick Riviera, but at least they didn't call it the CX10.  

Despite the potential (if not actual) cratering of the U.S. new car market, Toyota reckons it will rack-up seven percent more sales abroad in '08 than '07. CNNMoney reports that Toyota '07 sales rose six percent to 9.37m vehicles. Sniffing big business in the expanding Russian and Chinese markets, Toyota reiterated its previous forecast for a big boost in total global sales in 2008, heading for 9.85m new car sales. Although Toyota's doemstic (i.e. Japanese) sales fell four percent in '07, down to 2.228m vehicles, their soothsayers say the market has stabilized, and will remain flat for '08. Whether all this will be enough to (once again?) wrest the "world's largest automaker" crown from GM remains to be seen; GM is also doing land office business in China, South America and Russia. But if we're talking profitability, well, Detroiters may not want to go there… 

While GM STILL hasn't made up its mind whether or not to build a rear wheel-drive Impala (or anything else for that matter), Ford has declared its intention to reclaim the big ass rear wheel-drive (RWD) American sedan market, once dominated by the brand's Panther platform. Automotive News [sub] reports that FoMoCo CEO Alan Mulally broke the news while breaking bread with journalists in "suburban Detroit" (Grosse Point blank?). "It’s important going forward,” Big Al admitted, with enough understatement to shame a British peer. Did I say American sedan? "Executives acknowledge they can build the vehicles using a new global rwd platform being developed in Ford’s Australian operations." So, are we looking at a GM-like imported Aussie Pontiac G8-type deal? Not necessarily. “There are good reasons not to: currency, freight,” said Joe Hinrichs, Ford group vice president of global manufacturing. Uh huh. No word yet what, when or where, but we sure as Hell get the why.