So GM wants to "spark a broader, global discussion" about the issues bedeviling The General. GMNext is their answer to the question how do we accept questions without [necessarily] providing answers? I'm no web designer (cough), but I like the look of the thing, and hey, it IS open source. Others in the biz aren't so sure. This from commentator filbrand on Slashdot: "The site is ugly. It looks like the marketing guys got into the buzz of Web 2.0 and told their Windows programmers that they wanted that for their site. The result? A .NET site with Wordpress knee-jerked inside. The site (as most of .NET crap) doesn't even validate [w3.org]. Even the blog, based on Wordpress, must have been so messed up that it doesn't validate [w3.org] either. And what an awful theme! Where do these guys get their webdesigners from? Although I think they still have a lot to learn about using open source, I have to applaud at least their try. Although it's one step back, it's two forward. :-)." TTAC's best and brightest, what say you? 

Contrary to popular belief, panic is a logical reaction to an external threat. When a cornered animal’s fight or flight responses are unavailable or exhausted, acting erratically is its only hope. GM has been showing signs of panic for some time: on-again off-again product plans, vainglorious boasts, mistimed marketing, ill-advised divestiture and more. Recent events indicate that the domestic automaker’s aberrant behavior is escalating; leading, I’m afraid, to extinction. But let’s start with the meta-weirdness and work our way back to specific inexplicability. 

After Altairnano's Eliminator dragster eliminated the world's record quarter mile sprint for an electric vehicle (EV), I called the company to ask them what it's like to own the "shit off a shovel" EV mindspace. During my podcast (below) with Bob Geobel, the company's Sales and Marketing Veep claimed his company's high density lithium-titanate battery is ready for hybrid passenger car prime time. "It's the low heat and low resistance of the battery that allows power to come out of that battery much quicker than standard battery technology. It can be charged quickly without thermal damage or overheating" And that means faster recharge times (four to five minutes using a 250 volt charger), more on-demand power and only a nine degree increase in the battery's temperature. So why haven't carmakers jumped on the zero emissions NanoSafe bandwagon? "While they're all looking at it, they've got it programmed in possibly in three to five years." That "possibly" doesn't include any contracts. If you're thinking why not Tesla, it seems the Silicon Valley start-up had their packaging requirements locked-in, and couldn't change gears. So to speak.  

The [literally] rivet counting debate over whether or not one should include the Scion brand in Toyota's sales totals– to determine whether or not Toyota's overtaken Ford as America's top automotive brand– seems to have sailed straight over the media's head. In the hangover morning after December's dismal new car sales results, the mainstream press has pronounced Toyota the new champ. The news ain't all good for ToMoCo. Reality has forced them to rein-in their previous '08 throw-down, where they predicted a three percent sales growth for '08. The Wall Street Journal reports that company spokesman Irv Miller told some industry types that a "confluence of factors," including a widespread credit crunch, high gasoline prices, a housing downturn and "critically fragile consumer confidence" has forced his employer to revise the number downwards. The Japanese automaker says it's now looking at a one to two percent gain for the year. Echoing GM's spinmeisters, contradicting most every gainfully employed financial analyst, Miller reckons sales will rebound in the second half of '08. Meanwhile, the Houston Chronicle says sales of Toyota's Texas-built Tundra fell short of the company's 200k target by 3,445 trucks. "Like the rest of the industry, the full-size pickup segment saw its fair share of challenges in 2007," said Toyota brand manager Bob Carter. Hell boy, you ain't seen nothin' yet. 

KY3.com reports that that Missouri Governor Matt Blunt is so deep inside the ethanol industry's pockets that he's using the lint for a pillow [paraphrasing]. The Gov wants The Show Me State's legislature to craft some new E85 pork barrel filler: $2m worth of tax credits for gas stations to re-equip with E85 pumps. As we've heard that it takes $200k to convert a gas station to E85itude, Blunt is either trying to fly under the radar or doing some symbolic showboating to appease the ethanol lobby. But wait, there's more! "Another of the governor’s proposals is for state income tax credits for people who buy E85. The credits would be 25 cents per gallon in the first year, 20 cents per gallon in the second and third years, and 15 cents per gallon after that, with a maximum of $500 per taxpayer per year." Blunt reckons that little deal would save Missouri's theoretical E85 [only] users an average of 70 cents per gallon over regular gas. Which  is just as well, considering that the corn juice is some 28.5 percent less efficient than non-E85 gas. 

"All in all, it appears that the production Camaro will retain more of the concept's flair than we thought, so kudos to GM for seeing it through." All in all, Autoblog is either deep in GM's pockets, completely bereft of taste or legally blind. Their spy pic demonstrates that the only thing more ghastly than the Camaro concept's interior is the production mule's interior. I mean, seriously, this has got to be the Pontiac Aztek of automotive interiors; a cabin so self-consciously designed yet so overwhelmingly cheap that I'm worried that this pic will turn TTAC readers to stone. Make that "stoned," and, as Frank remarked, it looks like a '69 Camaro on a bad acid trip. I love cars with stupid amounts of horsepower and serious exterior cool. But this… this makes me empathize with Oedipus Rex. In fact, one of our commentators recently remarked that he was waiting for the day when a member of the automotive press would boldly demand "WTF were they thinking?" Well, today's your lucky day. WTF were they thinking? 

Bentley CEO Franz-Josef Paefgen had a little kaffee und kuchen with the Financial Times Deustchland, kicking things off with a representative combination of Germanic bluntness and English understatement. "I loved the car and the company, but if you saw the scale of the challenge and the inexperienced workforce, it was a bit of a challenge." Und now? Bentley's racked-up €107m profit in the first nine months of this year. But Paefgen warns that Bentley's endive days are over. "You should not expect another 15 per cent growth now with all the basic models now in place. The growth will be more moderate and the business more stable – not exploding as it was over the past five years or so." Responding to Bentley's "growing exposure as a fashion brand," Paefgen's glad not all his customers are "football stars and other trendy people," and claims Bentley's protected by its "very strong connection with our traditional brand values." Amongst which fuel economy does not rank, and that's a BIG problem. "'If everyone is going to reduce CO2 emissions by 20 per cent, we have to do at least 20 per cent, or maybe more. This is accepted. There is no problem.' But he admits that if particularly stiff limits on CO2 emissions were imposed 'there will be no Bentley any more.'" Oh dear.

Thank you United States Congress, for not clarifying who has the ultimate authority when it comes to setting fuel economy standards. And thank you President Bush, for not holding Ms. Pelosi and Co.'s feet to the proverbial fire on this point re: the new Energy Bill– as you'd promised when you sent the bill's framers back to highlight and delete taxes on the oil industry. 'Cause here we are at the inevitable result: California and its 15 clean air groupies (Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington) suing the EPA to claim the right to regulate automotive CO2 emissions and, thus, fuel economy. According to the Governator (via The New York Times), the EPA refusal to grant The Golden State the necessary waiver is, as Californians like to say, some heavy shit. “It is unconscionable that the federal government is keeping California from adopting new standards." Arnie's apoplexy inspired Gloria Bergquist, vice president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, into double negativity. “Congress approved an energy bill that will result in 30 percent reduction in carbon dioxide over the next 12 years… So it isn’t a question of California not having a reduction.” It isn't?

As Bloomberg reports, it all comes down to this: do you count Scion sales in Toyota's sales totals or not? If you do, Toyota can– and will– claim bragging rights as America's best-selling car brand, topping the '07 sales charts. If you don't count Scion, Chevrolet reclaims its title from Ford; an honor Chevy last earned in 2005. "Through November… Toyota sold 2,101,804 cars and light trucks, for a 35,524-unit advantage. Without Scion's 121,237 vehicles, Chevrolet would be on top by 85,713." Argument for Scion's inclusion: "Toyota spokesman Xavier Dominicis: 'We've always counted it that way, and it's sold only at Toyota dealerships.'" Supporting logic: Lexus products aren't considered Toyotas because they're sold in discreet dealerships. Autodata includes Scion in its Toyota-brand total. Argument against assumptive Sciontology: "'I don't think for a second that Scion is a Toyota vehicle; it's clearly its own brand,'' said Tom Libby, an analyst for J.D. Power and Associates. 'You might as well count Pontiac vehicles as Chevrolet sales if you think Scion's a Toyota.''" Supporting logic: Libby's employer and Ward's Automotive separate Scion from Toyota in their tallies. To its credit, Bloomberg plays the GEO card; the now-defunct brand (R.I.P. 1977) brand sold through Chevy dealerships. Back in the day, GM combined GEO and Chevy's sales totals. Ah, but according to Chevy flack Terrance Rhadigan, GEOs wore the Chevrolet bow tie, while Scion's aren't branded Toyota. We report, you decide.  

There's more than a little fact-glossing in a USA Today article on disappearing domestic-tied car dealers. "Having shuttered factories and eliminated hundreds of thousands of automaking jobs, Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM) and Chrysler are now turning their attention to weeding out weaker dealers in bigger metro markets. They make fewer vehicles, so they don't need as many places to sell them." Translation: "weeding out weaker dealers" = paying off some of their dealers before the franchisees starve to death. "They make fewer vehicles" = losing market share like an hourglass loses sand. Although it's a tough job making people feel sorry for a car dealer, Chris Woodyard's tale of Keystone Ford's terminal illness gits 'er done– without dwelling overmuch on Detroit's culpability. Thankfully, there's some good old fashioned hard news here: the paper's [unattributed] Big 2.8 domestic dealer tally. "GM has reduced its dealerships by 229 to 6,807 in the past year; Ford had shrunk by 139 to fewer than 4,140 as of July; and Chrysler had eliminated 142 to 3,607 as of October." Compared to Toyota's roughly 1500-store U.S. dealer network, Detroit's numbers indicate Motown's still wearing a bloated albatross around its neck. So to speak. 

Writing for Reliable Plant magazine (how appropriate is that?), Lean Enterprise Institute founder Jim Womack offers insight into Toyota's management style. Womack sats that ToMoCo solicit workers' opinions on job-related problems– like a lot of companies. But Toyota doesn't the kvetching at face value. "They challenge the employees and enter into a dialogue about what the real problem is. (It’s rarely the problem showing on the surface.)" The semi-confrontational style continues through the search for solutions and a measure of success. "The manager challenges the employees every step of the way, asking for more thought, more facts and more discussion, when the employees just want[s] to implement their favored solution." Apparently, this shows Toyota's "respect" for its workers. Semantics aside, a comparison between two distribution centers lies at the heart of Womack's analysis. In plant A, "management was focused on controlling the workforce through individual metrics. Employees were told to get a given amount of work done but given considerable latitude on just how to do it." In plant B, "the management had worked with employees to create standard work for every task and had introduced visual control with status boards so everyone could see how everyone else was proceeding with their work." Guess which one was run by Toyota, and how and why Womack found it superior. 

Would a new car buyer opt for a Ford just to get a $350 voice recognition system for their iPod (or similar) and Bluetooth-enabled phone? When Ford launched the national ad campaign for their in-dash Microsoft gizmo– selling the "new" Ford Focus entirely on its SYNCopation– the automaker revealed their faith 'n SYNC's ability to move the metal. Cynical observers might say the strategy is a desperate eHail Mary (lousy cars? syncing sales?). But credit where credit's due: it's a welcome move away from selling Fords based on price. And guess what? It's working! At least according to Cars.com. "Ford insists the 12 SYNC-equipped Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles now offering it are moving off dealer lots twice as fast as those without it." Hang on. That assertion doesn't mean Ford sales are improving; it simply says Ford customers want a SNYC-equipped FoMoCo product rather than one without. Question: do Ford dealers have enough SNYC-equipped models? Are they having to discount non-SYNC models? Cars.com ignores these and any other interesting issues. But if it's hard numbers you want… "Ford says a survey of SYNC buyers found 80% say it was easy to learn and use and 90% would recommend it to others." That's not necessarily a good thing. Ford's got an 18-month exclusive on the system. After that, it's anybody's game. 

Do this job long enough and your BS detector gets quite the workout. But rarely does an article telegraph the discrepancy between PR plans and the incipient rush of cold reality in such obvious terms. Lisa Taylor is the testy spinmeister in question: spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Agriculture. Or the U.S. Department of Transportation. Either way, she's promoting a pilot project that will allow Kansas gas stations to install pumps that dispense a variety of ethanol blends and "let consumers choose what blend they want." Yup, you heard right; a Sunflower state motorist will be able to choose between E10, E20, E30, E50 or E85 depending on, well, who the Hell knows? Anyway, as the Kansas City Star rightly reports, it's just a theory. The state is simply lowering regulatory hurdles, rather than subsidizing the "pour your own" ethanol pumps. In fact, only 28 stations in Kansas sell E85, and not a single one of them is a deep-pocketed nationally-branded franchisee. So, as you might expect, The Star reveals that "so far no sites for the test have been announced." Which triggered Ms. Taylor's ire. We're betting she doesn't get the last laugh on this one.

Reuters reports that French "vandals" (where are the Goths when you need them?) celebrated the New Year by torching 372 cars. More specifically, Parisian miscreants transformed 144 cars into autos flambée, while pyros in the rest of France set 228 cars alight. Apparently, this is something of a result, law and order-wise. Last year, 397 cars served double duty as New Year's Eve sparklers. Hey, when in France… "Cars are burned fairly regularly in France and the image of vehicles in flames in poor suburbs became symbolic of riots in 2005 when angry youths set fire to thousands of cars." To cope with the new trend, French authorities have taken to banning the sale of gas in containers during public holidays and periods of public unrest. The Reuters article made no mention of insurance fraud, but you gotta wonder…

According to a New Year's PR greeting from ToMoCo Prez Katsuaki Watanabe, Toyota is going so damn green you'd be hard-pressed to find it in a field of clover. Just before I nodded off (sorry), Watanabe pledged to "contribute to the sustainable development of society and the earth in the future" in three main areas: research and development, manufacturing and social contribution. Yada, yada, "sustainable mobility," "cellulosic ethanol," "planting trees" and "hands-on environmental education at the Forest of Toyota." And now for the real news: Toyota wants to achieve "hybrid vehicle sales of 1 million units annually as soon as possible in the early 2010s," and put a Synergy Drive (possibly lithium-ion equipped) into every one of their models (hybrid Tundra?). As for those pesky quality issues dinging their brand rep, Watanabe is so committed to rectifying the situation he's quoting himself: "I am always saying that 'without improving quality, Toyota cannot expect to grow', and I believe that quantitative growth is the result of improved quality. For this, we understand well that corporate management must achieve growth that maintains a balance between corporate activities and environmental preservation, as well as between volume and quality." What, a pragmatic approach to multiple demands rather than seamless spin and endless hype? Where's the fun in that?