Tesla Motors says it's taken 350 deposits for their Lotus Elise-based, lithium ion-propelled, $92k Roadster. Despite this success, Tesla's hyper-exotic may offer more hype than hope. The company won't allow expert evaluation of their product until it's "ready for market." Even before they've delivered a single Roadster, they're promising two additional, mass market electric vehicles– whose enabling technology is, at best, under-developed. Meanwhile, they've raised $60m in venture capital and secured $20m in state subsidies to build a New Mexican factory. To find out if the Tesla Roadster is keeping it real for planet Earth, or DeLorean/Tucker redux, we sent our man Shoemaker to Tesla for a "test drive."

The Truth About Cars (TTAC) has consistently criticized domestic automakers for some pretty basic mistakes: lack of focus, glacial product cycles, bland design and poor customer communications. I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t admit that this website suffers from these problems. But it is my full intention to address ALL of these challenges, so that we can keep faith with our basic brand promise. So, here’s where we’ve screwed-up and here’s what we’re going to do about it. Provided, that is, you agree.

As far as I’m concerned, Jaguar died the day the suits killed the F-Type. Jag’s prototype Boxster beater had it all: sexy looks, the promise of phenomenal performance and a decent chance of hitting the right price point. But oh no, the American owned company decided to spend its time and money building… diesels. And a badge engineered Ford Mondeo called the X-Type. And estates— sorry, “sportwagons.” So, seven years later, I found myself behind the wheel of Jaguar’s perfect storm: a diesel X-Type Sportwagon. Or, as the Brits say, the dog’s breakfast.

Is it any wonder GM announced another deadbeat deal and cash incentives the day after they reported their long-delayed fourth quarter and year end financial results? Whatever else you can say about GM, you can’t fault their news management skills. If the automaker had revealed the package before the accounts were released, the discounting would have [rightly] be seen as a sign of desperation. Coming hard on the heels of a fourth quarter profit and a reduced year-on-year financial loss, the sale seems part of a successful turnaround strategy. Only it isn’t.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: GM Car Czar Bob Lutz is a gift. To the media– not GM stockholders. The General’s Vice Chairman of Global Product Development feels free to make it up as he goes along, paying scant regard to the current state of the world market or his own company’s plans. Lutz proved the point, again, at his Swiss birthplace. Speaking to reporters at the Geneva auto salon, Lutz outlined his vision for Cadillac. Unfortunately, Cadillac’s General Manager was at the same show. 

As I closed the rear door of the top spec Cadillac DTS, I watched the side light above my head literally sputter and die. And there you have it: proof positive that the bean counters have been hard at work on The General's luxury brand. You want the lights to slowly fade up and down? Why? Anyway, we don’t have that part. What else you do you need? Actually, despite the death by a thousand cost cuts, the DTS has almost enough upmarket mojo to make it. Only luxury carmaking isn't horseshoes or hand grenades. Almost doesn’t count.

GM CEO Rick Wagoner was once the automaker’s Chief Financial Officer. So why has GM twice delayed filing its 10-K financial statements (reporting their earnings for the fourth quarter and the ‘06 financial year)? You’d think that they’d be ship shape by now. "These are big complex businesses,” Wagoner told a reporter in Geneva yesterday. “When you do transactions at the end of the year it adds additional complexity." Fair enough. But Wagoner’s no dummy. The real reason for the delay is a fight over cash.

OK, here it is. And it's already evolving. Our web gurus, Mark Madden and Kyle Morton, are on the case. We've increased the font size. They're going to decrease the column width within the Review pages (as already bitched about). The search box will be restricted to selecting makes (the current search engine is basically worthless). The stats and stars arrive tomorrow. There will be lots of tweaks in the days ahead, as we move towards integrating True Delta data and adding video and, well, stuff. Now, before you let rip, try to keep in mind our goal: to make the site user-friendly for mainstream car buyers while maintaining our full editorial and review mojo for the faithful. OK, the floor is yours.

Whenever a new medium appears, it frees the old one to reinvent itself. When TV arrived, radio dropped soap operas, fragmented its audience and developed new formats (e.g. talk radio). Now that the internet’s here, magazines are free to evolve. Only someone forgot to tell the magazines. Take Car and Driver (C&D) and Road & Track (R&T). Someone should. With sinking circulation and disappearing ad dollars, the car mags (and their buff book brethren) are up against the wall. Rather than pursue creative reinvention, their owners have embarked on a by-now-familiar strategy: whoring themselves.  

At some point in the not-so-distant future, one or all of The Big 2.5 will go bankrupt. It will not be the end of American automaking. The company or companies involved will finally be free to jettison terminally ill brands, abandon onerous union contracts and trim their bloated dealer network. It will be a new dawn for the U.S. car industry. Or not. The same bureaucratic forces responsible for Detroit’s current decline and inevitable fall may continue to cling to power, until, like TWA, even the company name disappears into the mists of time. To avoid that ignominious end, management must use bankruptcy to change the 2.5’s culture. These are the principles they must live by.

Since the General Motors Death Watch began, GM employees, dealers and customers have emailed me their perspective on the General’s general degradation. Obviously, financial analysts are important (and confidential) contributors to this mix. While their info provides invaluable insight on the automaker’s slide into bankruptcy, their language can be daunting. So when I read this simple declarative statement in a recent investor briefing, I was shocked. “GM and Ford retail sales should continue their precipitous decline."

According to the Consumer Federation of America, most large insurance companies rely on computer programs like "Colossus" and "Claims Outcome Advisor." These spreadsheets calculate how much money an insurer can save if they deny ALL their customers’ claims. The companies then set an acceptable claim approval rate and instruct their adjustors to “delay, deny and defend.” Readers with children will recognize Mr. Incredible’s fictional employer Insuricare. Readers without sprogs should recognize DCX.

Our man Mehta recently ran into a GM PR flack at an industry event. When Sajeev revealed TTAC as his spiritual home, the GM underling shook with rage. Still, it being the South and all, pleasantries were exchanged. After sweet talking the spinmeister, Sajeev promised I’d call and oil the troubled waters. During the ensuing conversation, I [once again] offered GM the right to reply– unedited– and promised to correct any factual errors. And then, quite out of the blue, she lost it. “Why do you hate domestic cars so much?” she demanded.

“You’re not like other adults. You’re like a big kid.” My nephew made this observation after I’d guided my Porsche C4 through an impossibly tight corner, accompanied by a rebel yell. Max’s assessment of my temperament was not entirely correct. In my forty-seven years, I’ve met a few souls who also experience frequent bursts of child-like enthusiasm. In fact, one of the main reasons I love cars is that I love people whose love of cars keeps them young. Of course, the flipside of that ‘tude is that it can kill you dead.

In the Brave New World of electronic automotive journalism, The Truth About Cars (TTAC) squares up against some heavy hitters: KBB, Edmunds, MSN Autos and more. Separately and together, the industry leaders generate more page views than Senator Mark Foley– and us. In truth, there’s an exponential gap between their site traffic and ours. To take on these giants, to pay our writers real money, TTAC must change. Yes, we’ve broken our advertising cherry. But we need to break out of our e-ghetto. So here’s the plan.