If there's one thing I can't stand (which is a lie, obviously) it's a made-up quote. It's easy enough to do. First, analyze some industry trend using your informed insight and common sense. Then, make up a quote, attribute it to an unnamed source and call it news. Edmunds' Inside Line [allegedly] shows us how it's done. First, the warm-up. "Supplier sources familiar with the product cycle plans at Chrysler tell Inside Line that the automaker is 'trying to move investment up' in the effort to improve the Sebring, Avenger and Sebring Convertible even earlier than originally planned." And then, the pitch! "'The interiors are too cheap,' said one highly placed industry source. 'We call it 'the Sebring problem.' That vehicle is dying on the vine and it's only a year old. They got cheap on everybody and said 'the customer doesn't mind hard plastic and ugly grain [in the cabin].'" Anita claims these same sources say Chrysler is considering dumping the Viper to pay for the Sebring, Avenger and Sebring Convertible fix. (Which Autoblog reports as gospel.) How about either doing the hard work of proper journalism or just fess-up to your own analysis?

It's a Hell of a good question. Strangely, few Western media outlets have tackled it. While TTAC's take is forthcoming, The Liverpool Daily Post's Alastair Houghton casts his beady eye on Tata's prospects with the damaged British brand. It may be painful for Jag fans to reconsider the fate of the ill-fated X-Type and re-scan the arterial spray or red ink dogging the cat, but they'll be heartened to read Houghton's historical analysis of the Indian conglomerate's success with other British concerns. The story surrounding Tata's entry into the steel market is especially resonant. “Do you mean to say Tata proposes to make steel rails to British specifications?" Frederick Upcott, Chief Commissioner for Indian Railways reportedly remarked at the turn of the last century. "Why, I’ll eat every pound of steel rail they succeed in making.” Last year, Tata ate Corus, the company that had eaten British Steel. Equally reassuring (to "traditionalists"), the chief executive of the UK India Business Council doesn't see any branding issues. “If you look at Tetley [tea], you don’t see the Tata brand on it at all," Sharon Bamford says. “They put the interests of the brand and the community they serve at the forefront. The process we’ve seen appears to be a typical Tata deal.”

"All in all, it appears that the production Camaro will retain more of the concept's flair than we thought, so kudos to GM for seeing it through." All in all, Autoblog is either deep in GM's pockets, completely bereft of taste or legally blind. Their spy pic demonstrates that the only thing more ghastly than the Camaro concept's interior is the production mule's interior. I mean, seriously, this has got to be the Pontiac Aztek of automotive interiors; a cabin so self-consciously designed yet so overwhelmingly cheap that I'm worried that this pic will turn TTAC readers to stone. Make that "stoned," and, as Frank remarked, it looks like a '69 Camaro on a bad acid trip. I love cars with stupid amounts of horsepower and serious exterior cool. But this… this makes me empathize with Oedipus Rex. In fact, one of our commentators recently remarked that he was waiting for the day when a member of the automotive press would boldly demand "WTF were they thinking?" Well, today's your lucky day. WTF were they thinking? 

According to a New Year's PR greeting from ToMoCo Prez Katsuaki Watanabe, Toyota is going so damn green you'd be hard-pressed to find it in a field of clover. Just before I nodded off (sorry), Watanabe pledged to "contribute to the sustainable development of society and the earth in the future" in three main areas: research and development, manufacturing and social contribution. Yada, yada, "sustainable mobility," "cellulosic ethanol," "planting trees" and "hands-on environmental education at the Forest of Toyota." And now for the real news: Toyota wants to achieve "hybrid vehicle sales of 1 million units annually as soon as possible in the early 2010s," and put a Synergy Drive (possibly lithium-ion equipped) into every one of their models (hybrid Tundra?). As for those pesky quality issues dinging their brand rep, Watanabe is so committed to rectifying the situation he's quoting himself: "I am always saying that 'without improving quality, Toyota cannot expect to grow', and I believe that quantitative growth is the result of improved quality. For this, we understand well that corporate management must achieve growth that maintains a balance between corporate activities and environmental preservation, as well as between volume and quality." What, a pragmatic approach to multiple demands rather than seamless spin and endless hype? Where's the fun in that?

Whatcar.com says Porsche's on-again/off-again cute-ute is on again. And if further diluting the Porsche sportscar ethos with a mini-Cayenne isn't bad enough, the aspiring VW owner has trademarked the Roxster name– meaning it'll show up on something eventually. (We would have gone for Paprika.) The newest anti-Porsche will be based on the upcoming Audi Q5, ostensibly to do battle with the BMW X3. Wait… isn't that what the Q5 is supposed to do? Anyway, the photochopped speculation on its appearance in the link shows something that looks like a cross between a Cayenne and a RAV-4. It's not due for at least two more years. Here's hoping Porsche's brass will use that time to come to their senses before they're forced (by whom we're not saying) to commit Hara-kiri with a Porsche Design Chroma Type 301 kitchen knife.

If you're looking for a reason to be hopeful for strong sales of Pontiac's forthcoming G8– an imported Australian Holden by any other name– News.com.au's got a story for you. The news agency reports that sales of Holden's V8-engined cars down under are up 183 percent year-on-year. Of course, we're talking about absolute numbers so small they wouldn't even twitch the sales needle for GM. "We look like we'll sell between 11,000 and 12,000 V8 Commodores and Caprices," John Lindsay revealed. Still, "People seem to be adjusting to higher fuel prices. It's also important to remember that modern V8s are more economical than those of the past." The article points out that all may not be as it seems; sales of Ford's V8-powered cars are flat (the last of the great V8 Interceptors?) and overall Ozzie sales were up for the period. Still, it's true that V8s haven't reached a commercial or technological dead end. And the idea that consumers prefer rorty V8s is a nice thought for Motown denizens who [still] share GM's Lutzian perspective on the average consumer's desire for maximum horsepower. 

Volkswagen releases gas in the general direction of CAFE standards! CEO Martin Winterkorn has confirmed the company is working on an ultra-high-mileage car that will get 235 mpg, according to Greencar.com. The VeeDub hypermiler is a tandem two-seater with a Cd of 0.159 and an estimated range of 400 miles on its 1.7 gallon fuel tank. The engine is a single cylinder diesel displacing 300 – 500cc, attached to a six-speed DSG transmission. Thanks to lightweight materials like carbon fiber, magnesium and lightweight alloys, the entire vehicle weighs in at 639 pounds. VW says a limited production version could be offered by 2010. Unless VW hacks Tesla's "customer" list, the chances are the complete vehicle won't make it to market. But look for a carbon fiber wing mirror on the next GTI.

Automotive News [AN, sub] reports that Pininfarina is slated to build an "electric car" for the US, European and Japanese markets. The legendary Italian design house will partner with French battery maker Bolloré to build the plug-in electric. The partnership claims that the as-yet-unnamed new car will be a four-seater with a range of 155 miles of city driving. The batteries can be fully charged from "a standard home electrical outlet" in roughly five hours. (A five-minute recharge would get you enough for a 15-mile trip, according to the report.). The pack's designed to last for more than 124K total miles. Current plans call for building some 15K cars per annum, sold under the Pininfarina name. While pricing isn't mentioned, the article ends on a hopeful note: "Let’s just hope it has all the good looks that other Pinanfarina produced cars have with pricing that won’t make you mortgage your house." Amen.

GM Car Czar Bob Lutz sat down with journo Jerry Flint for a major chin wag. Forbes' finest asks Maximum Bob about his employer's two-mode hybrid system; Flint wonders if the system costs costs more than $10k per vehicle. "Well, at least," Lutz admits. "And we're not selling it for that." Oops! So will the inherently unprofitable technology help GM achieve its federally-mandated 35mpg by 2020 fuel economy targets? Nope. "Even with that, we get a full-sized Tahoe sport utility to 22 miles per gallon, which is 50% to 60% better than anyone else [?], but is still only 22. So where are we going to get the other 13 [mpg]? We don't have a clue, and throwing another 10,000 bucks at it isn't going to do it either." As for GM's next Next Big Thing, the electric – gas Chevrolet Volt, Lutz backpedals so hard he falls over. Flint bears the bad news: "On a scale of 1 to 10, he says his confidence level is a 9.5 that GM can build the Chevy Volt. The production date is another matter; Lutz's confidence drops to a 5.5. 'We're holding people's feet to the fire for the very end of 2010 into 2011. But that can slip, depending on how the development goes.'" In short, "It probably won't be a flawless launch." So, it's business as usual at GM.

Back when Toyota first toppled GM from the worldwide sales charts, The General's General dismissed the historic milestone as no biggie. When the markets growled at Rick Wagoner's ho-hummer, the American CEO eventually declared his intention to defend the company's honor. While it's down to the wire for '07, Toyota is already announcing its intention to snag the sales title in the New Year. According to The New York Times, ToMoCo plans to sell 9.85m vehicles worldwide in 2008. In fact, despite a U.S. economic downturn, Toyota is set to increase American sales by one percent.  So what does the 76-year worldwide sales champ have to say about its own plans for world domination? Nothing. "G.M. has not given a forecast for the number of vehicles it expects to produce or sell in 2008." Just in case you missed the contrast in corporate cultures, Credit Suisse auto analyst Koji Endo reminds us that “These are targets Toyota is giving, not forecasts, and so they are reasonable." Oh, and Toyota also says it will begin mass-producing lithium-ion batteries for its low-emission vehicles in '09. And so it goes.

I remain resolutely skeptical that the new Energy Bill's mpg mandate will fully fulfill its 35mpg by 2020 promise. Once the National Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) tweaks the "attribute based" fuel economy calculations, once the manufacturers figure out how to trade credits to share the "burden," there's every chance that the changes we'll see will be mildly evolutionary, rather than revolutionary. But I could be wrong. Perhaps the environmentalists are right. Maybe we'll all be driving right-sized plug-in hybrids fashioned from lightweight materials, and telling tall tales of the days when SUV roamed the fruited plains (before the sainted tree huggers sent them all to Hell). In any case, Wired assumes the best (worst?), counts the cost of meeting the new standards and suggests all the ways automakers will do their civic duty (as opposed to paying the fines and calling it good). The fact the article features a photo of a SMART gives me the heebie-jeebies, but what the Hell. I cordially invite TTAC's best and brightest to survey this technological conundrum and place your bets on the future of high mileage motoring. Aluminum, magnesium and lightweight steel? Direct injection? Diesel? We report, you deride.

No one… yet. But GM’s chief engineer for the Corvette believes his meisterwerk is doomed. "High-performance vehicles such as this may actually be legislated out of existence," says Tadge Juechter. According an AP report published by WTOP, the GM engineer thinks cars such as the ZR1 “may be the last in a long tradition of Detroit performance cars.” With CAFE standards set to increase to 35 mpg by 2020, at least in theory, Juechter reckons cars like the ZR1 “could really be an endangered species.” Global Insight analyst Aaron Bragman says Juechter’s being a drama queen [paraphrase]."GM wants to sell big, high-performance, fun cars. And typically that's what Americans want to buy." Bragman thinks future muscle cars “may be powered by smaller engines or electric motors; but they won't die.” Well thank God for that.

Props to The Car Connection (TCC) for pointing out that the Energy Bill President Bush will sign later today won't resolve the key issue bedeviling U.S. automakers: who controls fuel economy standards? Although TCC misses the fact (as did we) that the 35mpg by 2020 target is an industry-wide standard, they correctly identify California's air quality ambitions as a major threat to the Energy Bill's mpg mandate. Apparently, a "senior GM executive" told TCC that the California initiative– classifying CO2 as a greenhouse gas they can limit– amounts to a 43-mile per gallon fuel economy standard. And, ladies and gentlemen, THAT standard is REAL; although there are generous E85 credits it contains no industry average targets or "attribute based calculations" and phases-in four years earlier than the federal target. The GM exec [supposedly] told TCC that his employer can "probably offset most of the impact from the new CAFE legislation by selling '300,000 or 400,000 Volts' and some hybrid SUVs, there is no way to meet the California standards without a dramatic downsizing of vehicles that would reach across the entire vehicle lines." It's too bad TCC feels obliged to end their insight with a cheer leading quote about the Energy Bill. "It… will reduce its global warming pollution by the equivalent of taking 28 million cars off the road," Phyllis Cuttino, director of the Pew Charitable Trusts Campaign for Fuel Efficiency asserted. "There's nothing underwhelming about that," she said.

According to the official website, the Coates Spherical Rotary Valve System creates "a quieter engine with higher specific power output and longer life than conventional poppet valve engines due to better 'breathing' capability and higher speed capability." In fact, it's "the single most significant development in engine technology in the past thirty years." Not being the most mechanically-minded pistonhead on the planet, I asked Sajeev Mehta to check it out: "Its a logical extension of innovations like roller rockers: reduced friction, more power, efficiency etc. The general feel I got from people who know more than me: sealing a spherical valve isn't gonna work for a production car. Today's engines have to last over 100k miles without any trouble, and engine "blow by" will be even worse here… and don't even think about pressurizing these valves with a turbo/supercharger/ Good night! As for their claim of their valves not needing oil. Strap on an A/C compressor: sit in traffic in 100 degree weather on a heat-soaked hunk of tarmac and those valves will be begging for extra lubrication. The big red flag for me: their they compared it to a regular engine without an EGR valve. That's like challenging Carl Lewis to a 100m race and making him do it barefoot on hot asphalt. Everyone uses EGR valves for a good reason; they reduce NOx (the third row on their chart) emissions by something like 70% or more. "On the exhaust stroke the poppet exhaust valve stems allow "back" pressure through the valve guides into the engine casing. This pressure is then redirected through the fuel induction system and in turn is reburned in the engine creating yet more hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide." Except that happens on high mileage motors with worn valve guides/springs (valves snap shut plenty fine when new). It took 150k miles for my 5.0 Ford to get weaker/slower/dirtier from valvetrain age. Newer engines are even better at valvetrain durability for many reasons. I seriously question if the Coates engine will fare much better after that type of punishment. I'm skeptical, but would change my tune with better info. EPA-style tests that carmakers do wouldn't hurt." 

The LA Times reports a growing rift between supporters of plug-in gas – electric hybrids and fuel cell fans. In fact, it looks like we're headed for pistols at dawn. "Proponents of the two most hyped technologies… are vying for publicity, manufacturer acceptance, favorable regulation and, especially, funding for research and investment in infrastructure and marketing. The battle has been simmering for several years, but with the technologies coming tantalizingly close to commercial reality, the stakes are higher than ever.' And from the Why Can't We Be Friends Department: "'It's just unfortunate that there has to be so much infighting,' said Patricia Monahan of the clean vehicles program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, which calls itself 'agnostic' on which technology holds more promise. 'Sometimes it seems almost personal.'" Seriously. Plug-in hybridistas have taken to calling their rival's technology "fool cells;" claiming the hydrogen production process makes the propulsion system inherently inefficient. Hydrogen hypers counter that batteries can't offer sufficient range, and they get their power from electricity plants that burn fossil fuel. So there, nuh.