The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA)—the ethanol producer’s bestest best friend—is in a fight for its life. As the Wall Street Journal [sub] reports “The Environmental Protection Agency dealt a big blow to the ethanol industry earlier this year when it decreed that the corn-based fuel doesn’t have a much better carbon footprint than gasoline made with crude oil.” While the RFA lobbies the hell out of congress to subvert/get an exemption from the EPA’s final decree on the subject, they’re “counting the angels on the head of a pin” (quoth RFA CEO Bob Dinneen). Less poetically, what if peak oilers are right? If the supply of easily-extracted light sweet crude dries up, then it’s oil shale for us! And if you compare corn/theoretical sawgrass for fuel, well, then, huzzah! The RFA just happens to have a study that proves that ethanol beats the snot out of shale, carbon footprint-wise [download pdf here]. Unless you count the carbon needed to produce the tires of the tractor harvesting the corn. Unwind that!
Daimler’s mob have filed a patent with the IPO re: a three-seater smart [download German language pdf here]. CNET connects the [dipping] dots: “Obviously drawing inspiration from the McLaren F1 supercar, the rumored Smart will feature a 1+2 layout with a centrally positioned driver’s seat flanked by two passenger seats mounted slightly behind. To facilitate easy entrance and egress, the driver’s seat looks like it should be able to rotate slightly and slide on rails toward the door. Also, depicted in the patent drawings is a trick fold-flat pedal, which should clear the footwell when seats start sliding.” Yes, well, who wants a three-seater anything? McLaren amusement park ride or not (anyone remember the UK accident where a test drive turned fatal?), are we looking at TWO backseat drivers?
Legendary talk show host Jay Leno views speed cameras as one of the reasons the UK no longer feels like a free country. Appearing Sunday on the top-rated BBC show Top Gear, Leno suggested that as a visitor, the number of cameras in England is overwhelming. He also suggested that US drivers have a much less tolerant attitude toward photo enforcement. “See in L.A., people would say, ‘why not just shoot them out?'” Leno said. “In L.A., a day doesn’t go by you don’t see a styrofoam cup stuck over the lens of the speed camera.” The line about shooting speed cameras drew both laughter and great applause from the crowd. Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson even appeared momentarily surprised at his counterpart’s suggestion of vigilantism.
Wall Street Journal had a little post-BOD meeting chinwag with New GM’s federally-appointed Chairman of the Board. Clearly, Edward E. Whitacre Jr.’s busy not kicking ass and not taking names. Whitacre told the WSJ that “GM’s business plan needs to be ‘tweaked.’ Among areas he cited as needing rapid improvement are advertising, revenue and net income.” Do you have any idea how hard it was not to substitute the word “nipples” for “business plan”? Anyway, “Gaining market share is ‘right there at the top’ of his agenda for Chief Executive Frederick ‘Fritz’ Henderson, Mr. Whitacre said. ‘You clearly don’t want to be in a position of losing market share.'” Thanks for the [unintentional] hat tip to the U.S. taxpayer, but didn’t Eddy get the memo about GM bankrupting itself in the single-minded pursuit of market share? No, he didn’t. Make the jump for the most worrying corporate jingoism since, well, all the other GM BS.
Back in 1937, who could have predicted Toyota would replace GM as the world’s largest automaker? Does that make Toyota the new GM? Perhaps. Meanwhile, after today’s sales stats, I reckon Hyundai is the new Ford. GM’s the new Hyundai. Lexus is the new Buick. Scion is the new Pontiac. Your suggestions below.
The Detroit Newsreports that New GM’s latest buyout offer to its [old] employees has been, as the Brits say, a bit of a damp squib. In fact, New GM wants to cut 21,000 hourly jobs (code: union) this year. So far, just 13,000 have headed for the door. Once again, still, the DetN puts a brave face on the bad news. “The total, announced Monday morning, helps GM cut hourly costs, close the gap in pay with foreign automakers that build vehicles domestically and could clear the way for GM to eventually hire lower-paid workers. Since 2006, about 66,000 U.S. hourly workers have accepted buyouts and early retirements.” Yes, well . . .
A little insight into Rattner’s past, his high stakes poker with Chrysler’s bondholders and his fall from grace (a fixer too far). New York magazine presents at least one interesting factoid. Apparently, the Presidential Task Force on Automobiles (PTFOA) was deadlocked at “4-4 on the issue” of whether or not they should save Chrysler (page five). Huh? I was under the impression it was a twenty-five member mob. So assuming the Quadrangle guy was part of a quorum, it was Steve “Chooch” Rattner, Ron Bloom (now head of the PTFOA) and who else?
You can argue with The American Thinker’s politics, but they’ve got a point: there’s a spooky parallel between Robert A. Heinlein’s “The Door Into Summer” and the current Cash for Clunkers (a.k.a. C.A.R.S.) program. [thanks to fincar1 for the link] Grok this:
The job I found was crushing new ground limousines so that they could be shipped back to Pittsburgh as scrap. Cadillacs, Chryslers, Eisenhowers, Lincolns—all sort of great big, new powerful turbobuggies without a kilometer on their clocks. Drive ’em between the jaws, then crunch!smash!crash!—scrap iron for blast furnaces.
Analysts (this armchair pundit included) are busy re-calibrating their expectations of the U.S. new car market post-Cash for Clunkers (a.k.a. C.A.R.S.). The big question hanging over the proceedings: has Uncle Sam [re]created a new car bubble? And, if so, what happens when it bursts (as bubbles are wont to do)? And if so, when? Meanwhile, we’re getting answers to some of the other ponderables, such as who benefits most from taxpayer largess? In a nutshell, not the domestics. Credit Suisse First Boston weighs-in with their take on the C4C tsunami.
The Alliance of Automotive Manufacturers has declared the $1 billion-and-counting Cash for Clunkers (a.k.a. C.A.R.S.) program a success. The org doesn’t want any prospect of limited government (the “where do you draw the line” argument) to derail the four-wheeled gravy train. In fact, the Alliance wants the feds to re-up like a coke addict wants that third line. No surprise there. Still, there’s some interesting new info in their latest press release:
Automakers and automobile dealers have seen a significant increase in vehicle sales and dealership foot traffic since the launch of the CARS or “Cash for Clunkers” program. This increase in vehicle sales is generating important tax revenue for communities where in some cases roughly one-quarter of sales tax revenue is dependent on receipts from auto sales. And while the program has provided much need economic stimulus to the auto industry, it has also yielded significant energy security and environmental benefits.
Amongst Alliance members Ford reports a 9 MPG increase from trade-in vehicle to new vehicle purchase; GM reports a 54 percent increase in small car sales since the CARS program was launched; 57 percent of Mazdas sold so far under the program were highly fuel-efficient Mazda 3’s; 78 percent of Toyota’s CARS sales volume consists of the following vehicles — Corolla, Prius, Camry, RAV 4 and Tacoma, which average a combined 30 MPG; and Volkswagen reports over 60 percent of its CARS sales are clean diesel Jetta TDI’s which get an EPA combined 34 MPGs.
The Associated Press provides an update on the fallout from the 2007 Ford Explorer rollover suit. When all’s said and done, the plaintiffs’ lawyers received $25 million for their time. The clients, not so much. “In exchange for dropping the lawsuit that alleged rollover problems unfairly diminished the resale value of Explorers, Ford customers could receive a $500 discount coupon toward the purchase of a new SUV or a $300 coupon to buy another Ford vehicle. Consumers had until April 29, 2008 to apply for the coupons . . . A report filed with the court in June showed just 75 coupons have been redeemed for a combined $37,500.” Ford spokeswoman Kristen Kinley said the settlement prevented the company from discussing the case. “We are pleased to have finally settled this case with the plaintiffs and to finally put this behind us,” Kinley said. “We are also pleased to hear that some people took advantage of the vouchers to purchase a new Ford Explorer.” I bet they are. Ford dodged a $500 million bullet, back when $500 million was real money. [thanks to The Walking Eye for the link]
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