“This isn’t the same America that mustered the will and the fierce pride to counteract global evil in the Second World War. This isn’t the same America whose ‘blue sky’ thinking and unbridled creativity responded to a challenge and propelled the rocket age to new heights. And this isn’t the same America that once shared a common purpose and perspective on what this country stands for. Instead, this country has become a jaded and fractionalized nation of consumer sponges driven by the lackadaisical mantra of ‘whatever’ and ‘what’s in it for me?’ A nation whose people couldn’t be bothered with such esoteric concepts as this country’s eroding manufacturing base and the nation’s burgeoning inability to lead on the world stage.” Wow! It looks like Sweet Pete has gone beyond Shock and Denial, past Pain and Guilt, all the way to Anger and Bargaining. Yup. “At this juncture Detroit has only one move left, and that is to get through to the American consumer by building outstanding products that have no ‘ifs,’ ‘ands,’ or ‘buts’ attached to them. Machines that not only stand out, but stand above the rest.” What’s the hurry? Next up: Depression, Reflection and Loneliness.

So there we were, joining the speculation that Russian, uh, “oligarch” Oleg Deripaska was about to scarf GM’s HUMMER brand. While that turned out to be a journalistic damp squib, the Russian billionaire that the feds won’t allow on our shores (now that his $500k bribe to former Senator Bob Dole has expired) has found a way to join hands with The General. The Moscow Times reports the deal: “GAZ, billionaire Oleg Deripaska’s automaker, will partner General Motors in Italian engine maker VM Motori, after agreeing to buy the 50 percent the U.S. company does not own.” The Veep of GM Powertrain Europe is thrilled. “Our joint venture agreement with GAZ Group provides business opportunities to expand our diesel engine business with new customers,” Mike Arcamonet announced. To that end, “GAZ will gain the right to build the Italian producer’s light-diesel engines in Russia under license after acquiring the stake from Detroit-based Penske. This according to Yelena Matveyeva, a spokeswoman for Deripaska’s Russian Machines transportation division. Matveyeva “declined to disclose the financial terms” of the deal. I wonder why.

Surprise! As in none. In an article that sets new standards for brevity, Automotive News [AN, sub] reports that General Motors is extending its Employee Discount for Everyone (except GM employees) sale through September. The Wall Street Journal reports that the discounts now cover 80 percent of GM’s ’09 models. And if that isn’t a sign of desperate times– and it surely is– GM is luring existing leaseholders with “Targeted Lease Bonus Cash.” If they come out of their lease before January third (and not a day later), they get money to use towards a purchase or lease on a number of new (’09) GM vehicles. The ’09s included in the deal: Trailblazer ($6k), Tahoe and Tahoe Hybrid ($4k); Silverado/Avalance and Express ($3k); and Impala ($500). The bonus cash has dropped from $2k to $1k for the Corvette, Colorado, HHR, Aveo and C4500. Oh, and the $1k bonus bucks now applies to the Malibu four-cylinder and NOT the six (as before). Another, even bigger change: the bonus cash can be applied to a lease from ANY financial institution (not just GMAC). On the regular rebate side of things, the cash on the hood for the Enclave and Acadia has sunk from $1500 to $1000.  Oh, and GM workers hoping to cash-in on their $500 Farm Bureau Insurance discount are shit out of luck. The discount now only applies to non-GM employees.

GM Inside News reports that The General has spiked the successor to the Kappa-platform cars: Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky, Opel GT and Daewoo G2X. GM's financial perils are well known, and the market demand for impractical rear wheel-drive roadsters in the current economic climate is not so hot (as in ice cold). A dedicated Kappa factory (without flex assembly), the lack of the Kappa platform's adaptability, the current cars' cost (labor-intensive production, and expensive hydroformed frame rails and major body parts) all contributed to last week's decision to let the cars die on the vine. And why not? GMI reports a $10k loss on each vehicle built, which puts the real cost of a Kappa between $30 – $40k. By coincidence, that's the same price range of yet another car Bob Lutz is championing. Hopefully GM's learned a lesson about low-volume production here: it's best to build on a shared platform on a shared assembly line. You know; in case that whole Li-ion battery pack thing doesn't pan out.

I'm keenly aware that some readers believe that I'm a spinmeister's evil twin, viewing all stories involving The General through a Death Watch prism. But I know it's possible to read this story from Automotive News [AN, sub]– detailing a shift in GM's design responsibilities from the rest of the world to Motown– as a sign that the artist formerly known as the world's largest automaker is finally rationalizing its sprawling, overlapping, inefficient infrastructure. At first, it seems that way. "We have had a couple studios where some projects have been canceled," Ed Welburn, GM's design vice president, told AN. "We have other studios that are totally overloaded. We just need to level that work around the globe." But then… GM's small-car programs are based at the Adam Opel R&D center in Germany and GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co. in Korea. With the change, vehicles for Daewoo, Holden, Opel or Vauxhall may be styled in Michigan. So what the Hell happened to GM's "regional centers of excellence" idea? 

Fresh from the quality gains made in recent surveys (some of which they bought and paid for), Ford isn't resting on its laurels. The Detroit News reports that The Blue Oval Boyz have committed to training seventy hourly workers from each of its United States' factories to become masters in six sigma, the "gold standard" in quality proficiency. "They are doing it during pretty hard times," says Harley Shaiken, a labor expert at the University of California-Berkeley "This would be an easy thing to cut." Don Lowery, a plant worker on the six sigma course, is a believer. "Before, I was just putting on car parts. Now, I get to deal with the finished product." Just for perspective, Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli was a GE-trained, Six Sigma uber alles kinda guy, and we all know how that turned out…

This email was sent to us by a Ford employee, who wishes to remain anonymous: "Ford is a great place to work because of the people and resources. You won't find a more technically competent, innovative, and well-equipped organization. Unfortunately, the public won't see the majority of our work because of the poor management and product planning we're all so accustomed to. I know from my former job at a supplier that GM and Chrysler are no different: limitless engineering capability held back by cost-cutting and incompetent management. I think Detroit's best bet is a mutiny of the engineers and designers. We'd storm the Glass House (RenCen, CTC), tie-up the suits, and start doing what we do best: cranking out awesome cars that the public wants." [TTAC is happy to provide space for any official Ford rep rebuttal.]

GM spinoff Delphi has been struggling to exit bankruptcy for over three years. The Wall Street Journal reports the supplier is in danger of being liquidated completely. At the heart of Delphi's problems: $14.5b in pension liability, underfunded by $3.3b. Under the terms of its spinoff, General Motors retained responsibility to fund those pensions– an agreement that has cost GM $11b in cash and writedowns. A tsunami of red ink prompted the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp to press GM to take over $1.5b of the liability next month. GM CFO Ray Young says basta! "[Delphi has] to understand there is only so much that we can do. They're going to have to do their own form of self help here." Self-help or self-destruction? If Delphi's pension fund fails, the PGBC has an $8b lien against Delphi's [profitable] foreign business, which wouldn't prevent cuts to retiree benefits. Meanwhile, the supplier's struggling U.S. plants would likely be "spun back" into GM. Delphi is, as always, committed to crafting a new reorganization plan. But if they can't pull it off, this could be the straw that breaks GM's back. To say nothing of Delphi's 159k employees. 

Speaking at a now-standard new model private press preview (our invite got lost in the mail), GM Car Czar Bob Lutz tried to put the kibosh on speculation that his employer was going Tango Uniform (as above)– even as he's pimping for federal loan guarantees. Automotive News [sub] reveals that Maximum Bob reckons "I do think the American automobile business is deserving of government loan guarantees because the financial institutions in the U.S. are so stressed out right now." Lutz said that Wall Street's "stress" led to a lack of financial support, obviating "a competitiveness that we may well need." At the same time, Lutz thinks federal loan guarantees are no biggie. "We are not accepting government money," Lutz insisted. In fact, "the last time the government backed a loan for an automaker — for Chrysler Corp. in 1979 — it made millions because Chrysler paid the loan off early." Millions? Bob Lutz makes millions. (Frequently.) Meanwhile, The Detroit News reports that Republican Rep Joe Knollenberg called President Bush's top economic advisor, Keith Hennessey, urging the president to support up to $50 billion in direct loans for automakers. Bipartisan support, eh?

Say what you want about Detroit, it still has some class. The media may already be counting the bailout billions, but the once-big three will be waiting until after Labor Day to visit Washington, hat in hand. Per Emily Post's corporate welfare etiquette, natch. The Wall Street Journal also reports that the Detroit three will speak with a single voice during upcoming meetings with federal loan officers. As in no screwing over Chrysler for a better deal. Of course that means the projected $50b will have to be split three ways. And then there's that damn CAFE ramp-up to worry about. In fact, Detroit insiders are already saying that 2011 compliance alone could take up the whole $50b. Why, it's almost as if Detroit might need even more money! But with political season in full swing and the economy emerging as a major issue, Detroit knows it has only to ask. Posturing representatives will hand out loans for the electoral feel-good, and before you know it there'll be a Volt in every pot. And billions of dollars in taxpayer liability for three spectacularly failing enterprises.

ChyrCo's procurement Veep wants the company's suppliers to understand that they're part of the Chrysler family, which ain't goin' nowhere. Capice? (So wait for your God damn money, OK?) The Bradenton Herald spills the beans on Joe Campi's charm offensive. "On Friday, Campi said the 160 suppliers visited Chrysler's headquarters Thursday to hear from the automaker's chief financial officer, the second time in about a month that suppliers were brought in for such a presentation. 'We did a complete financial review, balance sheet, earnings performance, you name it, we covered it,' Campi said. 'Not too different from what I've seen in legit publicly traded companies. I think the mood was very upbeat.'" Or so they told Campi. Anyway, if that wasn't enough to quell suppliers' queasiness, Don Campi had a blunt message for all those "friends of ours." "I am not looking to kill suppliers," he asserted. "But there are some I can't save." Sam Giancana couldn't have said it better. 'Cause they would have thrown his ass in jail. 

The same suits who said GM's GMT900 SUVs were going to be the bomb have watched SUV sales implode. And so they've cut back on GMT900 SUV production as fast as they can; which hasn't been very fast 'cause how can it be what with the UAW and all. Meanwhile, the communities that depend on GMT900 production for jobs and tax revenue are saying, what the Hell are we going to do now? The answer is, of course, nothing. There's nothing they can do. But politicians have got to be seen to be doing something. So Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher of Ohio heard of GM's cutbacks in Moraine (1000 jobs lightly toasted) and did the right thing — at least as far as getting re-elected is concerned. Fisher offered GM $56m worth of tax credits and grants to "encourage" The General to crank-out SUVs that nobody wants to buy. "The proposed assistance announced Wednesday consists of a $54 million job retention tax credit," The Chicago Trib reports. "And a $2 million 'rapid outreach' grant." Rapid outreach? Is that like "rapid reach-around' without the "around?" Anyway, fat chance. Pony-up $25b to $50b like the feds and then we'll talk. The Trib says "a message seeking comment was left for GM." Can you imagine the response? "GM is fully committed to its Ohio work force. Sorry about the no-sales-due-to-gas-prices thing, but it's not our fault. Thanks for the offer. We'll get back to you on that. Expect to hear from us sometime around, say, never."

Automotive News [AN, sub] reports that Ford execs are prowling the halls at The Democratic National Convention, drumming-up support for "A Bailout Plan By Any Other Name Would Still Look So Green" low-interest federal loans. Leading the charge (in every sense of the word): Ford Purchasing Chief "Motown" Tony Brown and his company's duly elected representative, Debby Stabenow. So, guys, how much taxpayer money do The Blue Oval Boyz need to buy some more time to hide their incompetence, draw their million-dollar paychecks and help put Barack Obama in the White House; and why the Hell should hard-working Americans give it to them when there's a perfectly good private banking system in this country? (Just kidding about the second part, unfortunately.) "We're still dimensioning," Brown told AN. Stabenow was equally forthcoming. "Stabenow said she doesn't know what the total amount should be. She indicated it may be necessary to press for some this year and more next year. 'We need to do something now.'" What do you mean we, white woman?