CBS' Sunday Morning program has joined the caravan of love for Tesla Motors' not-ready-for-prime-time electric car and GM's not-ready-for-prime-time electric car. New York Times correspondent David Pogue's report leads with the usual "gas sucks" mantra, and then gets down to business: repeating Tesla's oft-repeated (never proven) claims for their LiIon-powered electric roadster. Ah, but doesn't the electric car simply shift the energy problem to powerplants? The recently demoted Martin Eberhard demures: "If you do the math, you'll find that an electric car, even if you use coal to make the electricity, produces less pollution per mile than burning gasoline in the best gasoline-powered car." After gasping at the Tesla's sticker, Pogue trots out GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz, who promises a user-friendly price tag for the Volt: "My personal target still is to bring this car into the market at, you know, nicely below $30,000." Yeah, well what about the EV1? "Now, it turns out that from a PR standpoint probably the dumbest move we ever made," Lutz said. "It was done for all the right legal reasons, but PR-wise it was dumb. So, now I'm getting e-mails saying, 'I hope you rot in hell.'" After revealing that the first Teslas will hit the streets this fall and promoting the forthcoming film "Who Saved the Electric Car?" (really), Pogue gives Maximum Bob the last word. "…I think the future for electrics is absolutely unlimited."  At least the PR is.

The Committee of Demanders of Women's Right to Drive Cars will petition King Abdullah this week to remove the blanket ban on women driving. Although the petition has a snowball's chance in Riyadh of receiving acknowledgement– never mind consideration– it highlights the lack of anything remotely resembling democracy in The Land of The Two Holy Mosques. As the Associated Press reports, Saudi Arabia's prohibition against women driving is not based on secular or Islamic law. It's down to fatwas issued by senior Islamic clerics, who claim driving "creates situations for sinful temptation." Automotively aspirational women have attempted to overthrow the ban before– without success. "In November 1990, when U.S. troops were in Saudi Arabia following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, some 50 women got behind the wheel and drove family cars. They were jailed for one day, their passports were confiscated and they lost their jobs." And these are our allies against Islamo-fascists? 

I'm sure many of you share "the one that got away" syndrome. You know: the car you should have bought for peanuts and stashed away. My two four-wheeled pangs are a neighbor’s Dino and my old man's Mercedes Benz 300SEL 6.3. I know both of these cars were/are hideously expensive to maintain, and that time has this way of making cars you haven't driven in twenty years seem like great cars when, in fact, a Volkswagen GTI could run rings around them. Well not so fast Mr, Bond. I had the pleasure of driving a 6.3 in England before the country's anti-speeding jihad lead to the existence of more speeding cameras than ear, nose and throat specialists. It was just as fun steering that bad boy with my right foot. It was still a blast watching puff of blue smoke as the points cleared themselves at rock steady triple digit speeds. And it still smelled wonderful. As for the Dino, a properly restored (rebuilt?) model proves the old saw about having more fun driving a slow car fast than a fast car slow. It's wonderfully balanced and incredibly charismatic. If I looked around today for cars I would stash if I could stash cars, I'd go with my Boxster S (3.4-liter, 19's), the E55 Mercedes station wagon and, get this, a Corvette-engined Chevrolet SSR. Which you can still buy new.  

If you ran one of Volvo's two ad agencies, would you team-up with the other guys and sell the brand's internationally-famous reputation for safety? Of course you would, but you don't, and the people who do consider Volvo's safety shtick "a ladder to something else" and "felt being a family car was limiting the brand's appeal." Prepare to enter the world of the Armani-clad ad folk of Nitro (London) and Arnold (Boston). The companies interviewed car valets around the world– validated their insights with quantitative studies– to reveal that "89% of Volvo drivers put a premium on togetherness and sharing, while competitive model owners see their cars as an extension of themselves and more likely to pursue individual interests." Advertising Age reports the result: six global TV spots based on the theme "Life is better lived together." Just in case the touchy feely message didn't fly with Volvo's lame duck owners, Volvo's director-global advertising linked the new spin with the old spin. "Volvo is not a cold, rational brand," Tim Ellis opined. "Safety is about enhancing the quality of life for people inside and outside the car." Not to sound like spam, but how many of you non-Volvo drivers feel suitably enhanced? 

When TTAC revealed its Ten Worst Automobiles Today (TWAT) awards for 2006, the Jeep Compass "won" the second slot. "A pox on their house for building the Compass," William C. Montgomery wrote in his summary. It's "an ugly, gangly, underpowered, mud-aversive half-breed… turning all who see it– or God forbid buy it– into grotesque, bobble-headed morons." China Knowledge is reporting that Chrysler is now sharing this transformational tragedy with consumers in The People's Republic of China. In fact, they plan to sell 50k of them to unsuspecting Chinese. BTW, the move was initiated long before America received tens of millions of lead-painted toys. 

The New York Times (NYT) is reporting that contract negotiations between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and GM "appeared on the verge of collapse Sunday night." On the other hand, "the tenor of negotiations can change rapidly" and "despite the deadlock, a walkout at G.M. did not seem likely." In other words, the NYT doesn't know jack. That said, Michelle Maynard’s speculation "inside sources" seem spot-on about one of the major sticking points: "Mr. Gettelfinger also was pushing for G.M. to put more cash in the health care trust, called a voluntary employee benefit association, or VEBA." We concur with the concept: the UAW wants the health care superfund funded with as much cash as possible, GM doesn't have cash (and getting more would be ruinously expensive) and the union isn't exactly wild about taking most of their payoff in GM stock (despite the expected surge in GM's stock price once the deal goes down) because they're not convinced GM can stave off Chapter 11; leaving their members without health care. They'll eventually settle on a mix, and GM will [re] guarantee a certain number of union jobs. Hey, if you're gonna speculate…

Obviously, we're translating fairly loosely here. But it's clear that USA Today car reviewer James R. Healey is no fan of Buick's new luxury CUV. Although Healey's article pronounces the badge-engineered Enclave "a truly different vehicle" than the near-identical GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook, he concurs with this writer's opinion that it's one ugly ass vehicle. "The styling is overdone and the details undercut what appeal it has. Enclave tortures the slim, straight elegance of Outlook and Acadia. Enclave's detailing — the faux portholes, the overlarge grille (so thin and flexible on the test vehicle that it twisted in your hands when the hood was raised), the sloping side windows and inexplicably ovaled rear window — harass the eye and reduce what already was limited rear visibility." And THEN the Enclave's power seat moved in fits and starts, the autobox hunted for gears like a truffle-crazed pig with a cold (as reported on TTAC) and the fuel economy sank to 14mpg. (All the The General horses and all the General's men couldn't raise the Enclave's fuel economy again.) Despite his obvious distaste for the model, Healey couldn't quite bring himself to deliver the coupe de grace: "Overall:  Poor rear visibility and overwrought styling make the mechanically identical Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia seem like better machines." And in comparison to its REAL competition? Or is that it?

A debadged Ford Falcon blasts down a country road in what seems like a new car ad– and then fishtails and somersaults into a ditch. For some reason, Ford isn't exactly enamored by the New Zealand government's latest anti-speeding TV campaign. Ford claims the $2m (NZ)  TV spot is a riff on their ad for a Falcon XR6 aired three years ago. What's more, the new Falcon's stability control render the crash depicted in the ad "highly unlikely." Well, that's part of the argument Ford's lawyers will use in a high court petition if LTZN doesn't yank the ad inäianei. The New Zealand Herald reports that Ford Spokesperson Clare Ponton gilded the rhetorical lily by suggesting that a number of concerned customers contacted Ford about the ad, "indicating the car is easily identifiable as a Ford." And that some Falcon owners completely missed the point of the government's anti-speeding message. 

I'd love to produce a TTAC TV program. Can you imagine? Now, try to imagine a network that accepts automotive advertising putting us on the air. It behooves fans of Top Gear to remember that the program is a BBC production. In other words, it's aired on a non-commercial channel funded by a mandatory TV tax that's enforced by roving cat loony TV detector vans. There's no way the egomaniacal Mr. Clarkson could bully his co-hosts and pontificate on the crapitude of crap cars (or the sexual pleasures of fast ones) with such ill-mannered, bombastic, no-holds-barred abandon if his cart and pony show aired on American commercial TV. Realistically, the only U.S. media outlet that could/would air a TTAC TV show would be PBS or one of the paid cable channels. While we're ready to go on our end, I'm not actively pursuing such a venture. No time. Which reminds me: we're looking for an intern. No pay, lots of responsibilities, work from home. Applicants must suffer from at least mild auto-related OCD and have a basic command of the English language as she is spoke. Drop an email to robert.farago@thetruthaboutcars.com. Oh and no major ego issues please. That's my purview. 

We've said it here time and time again: there is no perception gap between what The Big 2.8 build and how the public perceives it. Or, a little more generously, it's a level playing field. If GM, Ford and Chrysler are reaping what they sowed, so are Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche and every other automaker on planet earth, And yet today's Wall Street Journal confers renewed legitimacy upon this pathetic excuse for losers. "'Building a better car and assuming people will buy it doesn't work,' GM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner told reporters at this week's Frankfurt Auto Show. GM, he said, 'can do a better job' marketing its vehicles." So GM has better vehicles and their $2.9b ad spend ain't getting it done. Same old, same old. But the article's intro is by far the worst piece of diss-information. It reveals that CNW research takes a Toyota Camry, removes any identifying logos and tells consumers it's a new model from one of the U.S.-based auto makers. "If they think it's an American car, the perception of the vehicle falls dramatically," said Art Spinella, vice president of the Bandon, Ore.-based firm. "Detroit really gets a bum rap in the U.S." Or not.

Pity the poor analysts over at Resource Investor. How do you measure current and projected oil importation and consumption in a country as enormous, secretive and chaotic as China? Still, this is one of the best reports on the subject I've seen. It includes a look at the country's rush to build new oil refineries and an explanation of the effect of "teapot" operations on supply. The bottom line's at the bottom: "Vehicle ownership in China is expected to double to about 55 million vehicles over the next five years, as falling prices encourage consumers to purchase cars… The ever increasing number of vehicles in China will help sustain the growth in both oil demand and transportation, driven by the country's rapid economic growth. Moreover, this will offset any efforts by the Chinese government to curb oil demand and imports." So rising international oil prices then? Depends on the supply, obviously. If the peak oil prognosticators are right… uh-oh.

Ladies' Home Journal, Parenting, Better Homes & Gardens, In Style, Cookie Magazine, Cooking Light, Domino, Health, Home, Nick Jr. Magazine, Pregnancy, Self, Working Mother and Babytalk. In case you were thinking Mr. Karesh's review of the new all-new Dodge Caravan indicated that Chrysler is targeting its Man-Van at a male demographic, those are the mags that will feature ads for the people mover. And yet, this Sunday, right in the heart of NFL TV time, The Dodge Boys are running ads showing Man-Van family bonding (with Dad at the helm) to entice "young families" into their Caravan of love. Is Dodge having problems with its sexuality? Perhaps. Remember the brouhaha about the Dodge Caliber, the fairy and the [alleged] fairy? Another clue: at the same time it's rolling out it's Man-Van, Dodge is introducing their new tagline. They're trading "Grab Your Package And Drive a Muy Macho Dodge You Horny Bastard" (or something like that) to the deeply androgynous "Grab Life." Yes, and then what?

Whatever you think about the evils of apartheid, the transition from Rhodesia to Robert Mugabeland has seen one of Africa's wealthiest, best-organized free market economies slide into corruption, shortages and misery. To wit: allAfrica.com's report on the Minister of Energy and Power Development's remarks at the opening of a National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim) service station in Matshobana. "The country is facing critical fuel shortages," Mike Nyambuya admitted "As [the] government, we encourage all Zimbabweans to reduce the number of cars on the country's roads and walk to save the scarce fuel we have." No surprise there; the shortages have been ongoing since 1999. As Mugabe has frozen gas prices and awarded Noczim exclusive rights to import fuel into the country, nothing much is about to change. But just in case you thought Nyambuya was expressing solidarity with Zim's long-suffering motorists, he played the class warfare card. "In most developed countries, especially in Western countries company executives wearing expensive suits use public transport or walk to work but here in Zimbabwe one person wants to have 10 cars on the road each day." Fat chance.

The Detroit News reports that Chrysler is setting-up a mean, green "skunk works" team. Their mission: accelerate the automaker's [previously non-existent] efforts to produce brand spanking new hybrid vehicles. Chrysler's spokesman confirmed our suspicions that the ADD-speak name of the new unit– ENVI– reflects an ongoing lack of focus at the Crisis Corportation. "It's always been our position that we have our fingers on everything," Nick Cappa revealed, continuity-wise. "It's important to have a lot of resources in all the technologies, especially something as hot as hybrids." Just so. Chrysler will also continue its push for diesel powerplants, and roll-out two-mode hybrid versions of the decidedly Dodgy Chrysler Aspen and its Durango donor. So how soon will ENVI's cardinal sins hit the market? Cappa will only say that product development will be "fast." No joke; the clock is ticking. 

India's Economic Times is reporting that automaker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has decided not to buy the British bits of Ford's floundering folly, the Premium Automotive Group. According to The Times, unnamed "investment banking executives" say concerns about Ford's ability to supply competitive powertrains for future Landies and Jags gave the Indian suitor cold feet. In other words, new EU CO2 regulations will force the companies to ditch their current engine lineup for more efficient powerplants. This increasingly central concern suggests that Land Rover and Jaguar would be safer in the hands of an automaker ready to make the switch than the former FoMoCo-led private equity groups looking to buy the Brits. That could only be India's Tata Motors, whose partner FIAT says it's ready to provide "technical support" for Tata's overseas adventure. Still, at the end of the proverbial English day, Ford will most probably sell its damaged brands to… the highest bidder.