There's a Letter to the Editor in the current issue of Automotive News that encapsulates everything that's wrong with the North American automotive industry. It's even the letter of the week, boxed and highlighted in GM taupe, given special prominence and headlined “Why won't consumers buy Detroit cars?” The letter is from a third-generation Canadian Chevy dealer, a guy whose family has been selling GM vehicles for nearly 90 years. You'd 'a thunk he'd learned the basics during that almost-a-century. But no. “Our small car, the Chevrolet Aveo, fell 19.7 percent in U. S. sales in June,” Tom Wills of Wills Chevrolet writes. “Why? Surely this must be the right car for the times…. We have the best product we have ever had… Why aren't you buying our products? What have the imports got that we don't?” Here's a guy who not only flunked grammar but thinks a rebadged Korean Daewoo Kalos is “the best product we have ever had.” And because it has good mpg numbers 'Murricans should be required to buy it even though it's a stumpy little crapcar. What have the imports got? Let me count the ways: quality, performance, styling, resale value, reliability…oh, never mind. Wills didn't actually write this, but he might as well have: “We threw you this rotten bone and you won't chew on it, so you should be sent to the pound until you learn which cars we require you to buy.” Madness.

Autocar UK reports that Fiat's performance brand Abarth is developing a mid-engined sports car. The restyled next gen Lotus Elise will feature a next gen Fiat turbo-charged, direct-injection, air-valve four-cylinder engine with 240hp. So, where are we? Lotus makes several Elise variants, from the Exige (racer) to the Europa (chiropractor's best friend). The Elise also underpins Rinnspeed's sQuba, Tesla's Roadster and Vauxhall/Opel's VX220/Speedster. Meanwhile, Lotus is delaying the release of a new Esprit. Does this mean Hethel's shortchanging its own models to work on its 340 development projects for 147 clients? Hey, you can't argue with $4m profit– especially after years of losses. And with a zingy Italian engine, the Elise-based sportster could ascend from the perfect to the sublime. You know; if you can get in.

We reported earlier that new Jag and Landie owners Tata Motors want to take its once-proud luxury brands back upmarket. According to Auto Motor und Sport, boss Ratan Tata has suggested to investors that Jaguar could revive the Daimler brand to take on Bentley and Rolls. Daimler as in Mercedes? Nein. A little history… Gottlieb Daimler sold his cars in Germany under the Mercedes name. He also licensed the construction of his engine in England. Jaguar bought that company, known as Daimler, in 1960. By the time Ford bought Jaguar in 1989, the Daimler name had become [more or less] a Jaguar trim line, denoting the top level of XJ Sedans in every market but America (where it was called the Vanden Plas to avoid confusion with Daimler-Chrysler). Mercedes-Benz paid Ford $20m for non-exclusive rights to the Daimler name. Ford then sold the Jag, Land Rover and Daimler brands to Tata Motors. Now, for those of you who think think that reviving the storied Daimler name is a no-brainer for Ratan's mob, I have one word: Maybach.  

After Rick Wagoner's announcements this morning, GM Car Czar Bob Lutz was bubbling over with product news. Of course, Maximum Bob overlooked the fact that someone else's year-old warmed-over Pontiac leftovers may be nourishing, if they're seldom appetizing or appealing. Anyway, MB revealed that the Chevrolet Cobalt will be around for a lot longer than we'd been led to believe. It's "no where near the end of its life-cycle" and it's "finally coming into its own" (whatever that is). So what about the Cruze? It'll be sold eventually but not as the Cobalt's replacement. And then there's the news that's upsetting Autoblog's readers: the Beat won't go on, at least not in the U.S. Apparently, the small car that GM needs right now wasn't designed with federal crash and safety standards in mind (doh!). It would cost too much and take two years to fix that short-sighted screwup prepare the car for compact-loving 'Mericans. So when CEO Rick Wagoner said earlier today that GM has "a global operating framework that allows us to respond to changes in the U.S. market, a commitment to technology leadership, and an ever stronger and competitive product line-up," he wasn't talking about small cars. Except the Aveo and Cobalt. And the Pontiac-nourishing G3 and G5. 

Automotive News [sub] reports that the plug-in electric – gas hybrid Volt will be sold as a Chevrolet in the U.S. only. When they go on sale in Europe in 2012, they'll have different styling and wear Opel and Vauxhall badges– even though they'll be built on the same assembly line in Michigan. So why, with GM's push to make Chevy their "global" brand, are they rebadging the Volt for their Euro-brands? GM claims Opel and Vauxhall have larger dealer networks than Chevy. But let's face it… with Chevy's image as a bargain-basement brand in Europe and their current offerings of rebadged Daewoos, how many people would consider buying a high-tech, high-priced electric hybrid at a Chevy dealership in Europe? About as many as would consider buying a Corvette at one. Which is why Corvette is marketed in the Eurozone as a separate brand with Hummers and Cadillacs, and why Volts will become Opels and Vauxhalls. Stimt?

Automotive News China [sub] managing editor Yang Jian has a column warning Chinese firms not attempt to buy Volvo anytime soon. Yang considers the Shanghai Automotive Industry Works (SAIC) and First Auto Works (FAW) as the most likely suitors for Ford's Swedish division. They alone have access to the state-controlled bank financing needed to make the deal happen. Never mind that, Yang says, there are a wealth of lessons that China is still not ready to buy-up western car brands. The first-ever Chinese purchase of a western brand, Nanjing Auto Group's takeover of MG, led to an overleveraged NAG being bought up by SAIC. When SAIC bought Korean firm Ssangyong, it had to endure labor walkouts over plans to shift production from Korea to China, followed by a slide into unprofitability. As a friend of Yang's at SAIC puts it "SAIC certainly won't consider buying (Volvo) since we know how much hassle an overseas acquisition could create." So it turns out that a booming market isn't enough for Chinese firms to overcome their unfree-market disadvantages. 

Fiat makes some really wonderful small cars. But as always, it's more fun to do it with someone else! And so Fiat likes to take lovers, much like the Italian Prime Minister does (e.g. former topless model/current Minister for Equal Opportunities Mara Carfagna, Ministers of Parliament Gabriella Giammanco, Micaela Biancofiore and Nunzia De Girolamo and Venezuelan Model Aida Yespica). Consider: The Fiat Panda and 500 share a platform with the upcoming Ford Ka. Fiat partnered with PSA Peugeot-Citroen for the (these are real names) Fiorino, Bipper, and Nemo small vans. In Europe, Fiat sells the car us North Americans know as the Suzuki SX4 as the Fiat Sedici. And Fiat has been rumored to be talking to Tata about accessing Jaguar's RWD platforms for future models. And now, BMW! Automotive News reports that Fiat is looking to hook-up with BMW for future platform engineering and powerplants. In particular, BMW and Fiat may co-develop the next gen Fiat 500 and MINI. Considering the 500 is reported to be not the most phenomenal car to drive, this would be good news for the Italians. For its part, BMW realizes the importance of collaboration. The current MINI Cooper's 1.6-liter mill was co-developed with PSA Peugeot-Citroen, which also makes a home in a number of small French car-things. And BMW has declared that future BMW branded 4-cylinder engines will be shared with PSA. So how long is it, really, before there are just two car platforms in the world: one RWD, one FWD, with 30 different badges?

When GM announced the Traverse, they insisted the new Chevy was different enough from the GM's three Lambda-platformed CUVs that it wouldn't cannibalize sales. It looks like they were right; there won't be anything left to cannibalize. GMINsidenews is reporting that neither the GMC Acadia (the best-selling Lambda flavor) nor the Saturn Outlook (the worst selling) will make the cut. That'll leave only the Buick Enclave and the Traverse to carry the Lambda Gen 2 banner. GM's answer to the slow-selling Honda Ridgeline, the Lambda SUT (due in 2011-2012) will also lose the GMC variant; the Chevy SUT will be GM's only entry in the almost-but-not-quite-a-pickup-truck market. All this leaves only one new GMC product in the pipeline: the GMC version of the Pontiac version of the Chevy version of the Theta CUV (Equinox). Clearly, GM's decided to starve GMC to death. The question is: do they have enough time? 

Parlare con CAR, VW design guru Walt de'Silva admits he isn't exactly thrilled about VeeDub's current design direction. Pensare? The Jetta looks like a Corolla and the Passat looks like a bar of soap. So VW’s styling will "return to simple design language that’s easy to understand – a clear hierarchy of grilles and rear-end treatment." Scribe Adam Towler says "Expect the next generation of VWs to have spiritually more in common with the late 1990s range of cars rather than the current set." For those of us that have long lamented the descent of VW into aspirations of ascent, this is fantastic news. The biggest question: where will this makeover leave the Volkswagen brand in the European market? When Ferdinand Piech decided to take VW into Mercedes territory, matching the Mercs models for model, Skoda and Seat filled VW's cheap and cheerful, honest and robust, everyday car remit. Maledetto! It sounds like someone has too many brands. 

As Mark Phelan pointed out, GM would dearly love to unload the unloved HUMMER brand on some overseas sucker investor. The rumor mill is gristing the idea that India's Mahindra and Mahindra may scarf the tree hugger's least favorite vehicle of all time, ever. It seems only natural; the company's been building the AXE, a Humvee knockoff, for the Indian Army. Just-Auto cites an anonymous "senior official at M&M" who told them "Mahindra is very keen on acquiring the Hummer, because of many reasons, but I can't go into all of them but for one it is the most seen vehicle on TV in any country, these days at least the military version of it. It is still too early to talk of prices and timeframes but we are in the process of designing a civilian version of the Mahindra AXE and owning the vehicle it was modelled [sic] after would make a lot of sense." Not only that, HUMMER would give them a well-known premium brand to compete against rival Tata's recent Land Rover acquisition. Analysts think the HUMMER brand could put about $750m into GM's coffers. Or not.

They say hope dies last, and GM's damned-to-strategic-review HUMMER brand certainly doesn't have much else to run on. Accordingly, HUMMER GM Martin Walsh has posted a reality-efficient, truth-sipping take on his brand's beleaguered fortunes to GM's Fastlane blog, utterly confirming that website as the place bad spin goes to die. Anticipating "speculation" about HUMMER's future, Walsh wants us to know that in his opinion, "the HUMMER name, and it's line-up of iconic vehicles, will still be purchased and enjoyed by customers around the world." In fact, Walsh seems to think the overseas market will rescue HUMMER. "Outside the US, where the world has been living with high fuel prices for the past decade, 2008 sales through April were up 34.8% compared to 2007." Yes, well, as Bloomberg reports, these sales spikes are the result of recent introductions of the brand to countries like Japan, complimenting a steady trickle of sales from gas-subsidizing countries like China and Russia where HUMMERS are still nouveau-riche icons. Walsh trots out every possible reason to think HUMMER isn't completely effed– truck mags love HUMMERS, there's a HUMMER biofuel concept, etc. He finally concludes that he "wholeheartedly believes that HUMMER can have a bright future." So is Walsh trying to stimulate pity-purchases of H2 and H3s, or is this just brand inflation leading up to a sale to Mahindra or Tata? Or is this just empty reassurance to HUMMER dealers that their recent million-plus dollar GM-mandated dealership upgrades were not complete wastes of money? Hand the guy some jam. HUMMER is toast.

This is just prurient, base, vulgar car lust in action. I have no cutting analysis to offer you, no insightful realizations, not even a regurgitated press release from a manufacturer intent on wowing you with numbers. Nope, it's just the sounds of Ferrari's new California model. OK, a couple of stats. The engine giving pistonheads eargasms is a fresh 4.3-liter V8 with direct injection, making 460 horsepower, routed to a seven-speed dual clutch transaxle. I think the Ferrari California is a good looking model but it's not breathtaking, and the folding hardtop is the kind of embarrassing mainstream compromise that should be outside of Ferrari's brand profile. Nevertheless, it's coming. (Make your own damn pun.)

GM Daewoo (GMDAT) builds cars in South Korea, and then sells them as a number of different brands around the world. In most markets they're rebadged as Chevrolets– in an attempt to make Chevy into GM's "global" brand (excluding the Corvette, which is a standalone brand in Europe). In South Korea, Daewoos are Daewoos. Blogging Stocks reports that GM is considering introducing the Chevrolet brand in Korea. If they do, what cars will they sell as Chevys? Do they change the "home team" GM Daewoo brand into an "import" brand? Do they introduce Daewoo-built models not currently sold as domestic models under the Chevrolet name? Or do they import cars built elsewhere to carry the brand? Who knows… maybe they'll introduce Korea to American full-sized pickups and finally have something to with that four-month inventory of Silverados they're sitting on.

Edmunds' Inside Line quotes Lexus's corporate product planning manager as saying the price of the new Lexus LS-F price will "begin with a 2." We're guessing the V10 supercar won't be $29,995. In honor of this news, I've hit up the thesaurus: brainsick, off, daft, absurd and whack. See also: dismal failure, stillborn. Newsflash to Lexus. You're not Ferrari. This won't be a performance halo car (reference Acura's NSX and the amazing effects it had on making people think the RL was sporty). Also, people buying summer Sunday cars for $200k aren't motivated by factors like "reliability," especially when this hand built carbon fiber monster will likely not maintain the brand's hallmark reputation for non-breakage and low maintenance. And, because I especially don't care for this LF-A supercar, here's a list of cars that cost half as much with better looks (extrapolating), heritage or fun: Porsche 911 Turbo ($135k), Nissan GT-R ($70k +  ?), Corvette Z06 ($77k), Corvette ZR1 (estimated $100k), Ford GT (slightly used, $150k), Ferrari F430 ($175k), Aston Martin DB9 ($175k), and BMW M6 ($100k).