BMW was once known for the elegant simplicity of its vehicle lineup, but no more. Now the Boyz of Bayern must spend as much time imagining lifestyles and creating vehicles for them as they do developing new platforms. After all, if you can tweak a few chassis to reflect the infinitely variable lifestyle statements of postmodern life, why would you actually work on making your model line more broadly diverse? You wouldn't if you like profit like BMW likes profit. Accordingly, Auto Motor und Sport has spy photos of the latest BMW why-mobile, the "Progressive Activity Sedan" or PAS. What exactly are we looking at under the black camouflage? A fastback version of the five series, which will offer four-door coupe looks with better rear-seat room than say, a Mercedes CLS. Sound familiar? That's because it basically takes the X6 formula and plops it on the next-generation five series. Within a year or so of the PAS's 2009 launch (no word yet on American availability), BMW will sport no fewer than four four-door utes (X1, X3, X5, X6) and five four-door sedans (1, 3, 5, 7, and PAS series) in its European market lineup. In fact, Bimmer nearly went for a tenth model, the X7 (hilariously imagined as an extended model here), but AM und S says that it's been canceled. And if you think Norbert Reithofer's decision to can the X7 means BMW is aware of its bloated four-door lineup, think again. The weak dollar and high gas prices get all the blame. And shopping for a four-door BMW just got a tiny, tiny bit easier.

So, the Bugatti Veyron is an expensive buy at over a million bucks per. Buy it as a limited-edition model retouched by Hermes or some other fashion house and you'll have to phone Zurich to free-up another half-million plus. While you're liquidating your assets to buy your own piece of 1k hp heaven, consider for a moment that your Veyron investment isn't properly projecting your considerable status when it's sitting in the garage. Which will likely be most of the time. What's a plutocrat to do? Luckily, Bugatti is more than happy to sell you a whole line of clothing, luggage and accessories to remind the unwashed just how exquisite your taste is. Of course, the Bugatti Collection requires the same commitment to relentless status projection as the Veyron to justify its head-spinning price list. Want an official Bugatti keychain? That will be 99 Euros. An umbrella sells for 279 Euros, while clothing sells from 119 Euros for a Polo shirt to 399 Euros for a quilted jacket. The cheapest officially-licensed Bugatti gear to be had? A baseball hat for 39 Euros. Oh well, the Bugatti program has to make money for its Wolfsburg overlords somehow. God knows it's not making profit on the Veyron.

In July, GM, Toyota, Ford, Honda and Chrysler accounted for almost 73 percent of new vehicle sales in the U.S. But individually, how are they doing? To answer that I'm going to start tracking their overall market share and comparing them to each other, plus trending their market shares for 2006, 2007 and 2008. In July, GM held onto 20.5 percent of the market and has a 21.6 percent average market share year to date. Toyota's nipping at GM's heels, though, with 17.4 percent of sales in July and is averaging 16.9 percent of sales so far this year. Ford slipped below Toyota in April, but they're managing to keep Honda at bay so far. Ford's share for July was 14.2 percent against Honda's 12.2 percent; year to date Ford hangs onto 15.3 percent of the market. Honda's 10.8 percent average market share so far this year is still below Chrysler's average 11.4 percent share, but Honda passed Chrysler in May and is well ahead of Chrysler's 8.6 percent share in July. Where will it all end up? Hard to say with today's volatile market, but we'll keep our eyes on it and let you know as and when the music stops.

In the beginning,TTAC had its TWAT: Ten Worst Automobiles Today. In the interests of positive PR, we changed the name of our reader-selected "award" to the "TTAC's Ten Worst." The re-christening worked out well; the mainstream media picked-up on the TWA. Much linkage ensued. And now it's time to choose TTAC's Ten Best Automobiles Going. Yes, that's TBAG. Well, it was TBAG. And then we changed THAT to Ten Best Autos (TBA). Which is almost as bad as TWA. So, people, we need some help. Yes, I know; you're about to do the coffee-through-the-nose thing with some extremely witty acronyms. Or some left field choices (the El Caminos?). By all means, fire away. But we seriously need some help with this. What can we call our awards that isn't boring OR offensive? OK, not THAT offensive. 

Ford has canceled a Flex production shift, and the model's chief designer suddenly left the company. Still, as Berkowitz's review points out, the Flex isn't a horrible car. It's simply fighting for market share in the remnants of a burst (SUV) bubble. The Wall Street Journal scolds the whole segment for mediocre mileage, but blames the Flex flop on crashing SUV residual values. "With gas hovering around $4 a gallon, even the crossover category continues to show signs of slowdown, as many consumers looking to replace traditional trucks are experience falling resale value of their old vehicles, freezing buyers out of the crossover market and pushing them to look at options such as compact and midsize cars," says Brian Johnson of Lehman Brothers. Even so, Ford dealers are anxious to get a Flex on the floor. "Dealers think that the product can generate showroom traffic," Ford spokesman Jay Ward tells Automotive News [sub]. "[Customers] may not buy a Flex, but they may buy a Taurus X or an Edge." So the Flex is a highly-advertised vehicle that misses the mark but entices buyers into looking at other moribund models. In other words, the GT's replacement is the Windstar replacement. How great is that?

Last month, I brought you the shocking news that local Dodge dealers were marking-up Charger SRT/8's by $10K, or more. I recently revisited the same OK (as in the state) dealer, after a tip-off that they had several pre-delivery Challengers on the back lot. Sneaking on scene with sets of "borrowed" Challenger keys, I passed the same two SRT/8 Chargers that were gracing the showroom floor 30 days prior. They'd painted "Hail Sale!" on the windscreen. A large hail storm had turned their sculpted rears into cellulite infested thighs. You can now pick one up for $38K or so, and 0 percent financing (but no leases). As for the Challengers, seeing them in the metal changed my opinion. They're a sight to behold, with menacing faces and near perfect proportions. The seats are incredibly comfortable, the dash sports soft touch plastic. And the bad news: the  build quality sets new lows, even for Chrysler Corp. The paint on the rear bumper didn't match the fender. The metallic grain flopped in numerous places, and the panel gaps were uneven on the trunks and passenger doors (on all three models). So I guess the Challenger is the most faithful rehashing of the 70's muscle car yet. Stay tuned for a full Challenger review; Sajeev Mehta has his own insiders. And yes, they marked up the Challengers by $20K.

Why would anyone gloat about The Great American SUV's spectacular fall from grace? Why wouldn't they? As for San Francisco Chronicler Mark Morford's gleeful epitaph, the main question here is, "Dude! What took you so long?" Whatever your take on the topic, you gotta admit MM dances on the SUV's grave with pugnacious panache. "Who didn't note the beginning of the end when, five years ago, the world's worst consumer vehicle ever took its place as the poster child for all that went wrong with the condescending American ethos, the oil-sucking war-drunk Bush-mauled mind-set? Ah, the Hummer H2. Has any consumer product embodied our misguided arrogance better? The ridiculous scale, the horrible handling, the contemptible road manners, the false machismo, the Cro-Magnon design, the ability to traverse 60-degree rockslides in a hurricane even though all you ever really needed to do was run over those little concrete bumps in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Dude! Righteous!" And here's the really scary part: Detroit Free Press' Matt Helms' po-faced, mea culpa response. Has Motown's mauling put it into a terminal funk?

WSBTV.com seems somewhat surprised by a J.D. Power study that shows the obvious reveals a new trend: sporty crossovers appeal to younger women. Roger that. Women are generally attracted to the appearance of sportiness (witness the VW Tiguan's 61.7 percent female ownership and relatively dismal performance). J.D.'s mob says they also go for utility. Also "revealed:" women like 'tried and true' safety features (newer technological safety advancements tend to come with high price tags– something more 'rational' women tend to avoid when purchasing vehicles. No doubt crossovers appeal to women who are a bit gun-shy on a gas-guzzling SUV, but still want space, a higher riding position and the eventual child-hauling ability (yes, some women do think that far in advance). Another non-stunner: 90 percent of Corvette and Porsche 911 purchasers are men. Mid-life crises? What mid-life crisis? The real surprise: automakers still aren't marketing to women. J.D. reckons women account for about half of all auto purchases, and influence 80 to 90 percent of all auto-purchasing decisions. You'd think they'd be marketing something more than Beetles and Mercuries to the ladies by now…

The WTF factor out of GM simply knows no bounds. The AP reports Saab's decision to reduce warranties for 2009 and later model year vehicles. Saab already is in a sales tailspin and is losing GMAC lease support. It seems to me that if a vehicle is designed, built and maintained properly there should be very few powertrain failures between the four year, 50,000 mile "new" Saab warranty and the five year, 100,000 mile warranty in effect for 2008 model year vehicles. True enough, most of Saab's competitors offer warranties similar to the new Saab plan… but Saab is very much the underdog is this market and needs some kind of persuasive selling point. Why exactly does ANYONE buy a Saab instead of a Lexus, Infiniti, Acura, Audi, BMW, Mercedes or even Volvo? GM spokesperson Joanne Krell "said lower costs and a more competitive edge over other importers were factors in the decision." Apparently Saab expects a lot of powertrain failures between years four and five, otherwise there wouldn't be much cost savings to be had. As to the "competitive edge", WTF indeed.

University of Minnesota's Center for Excellence in Rural Safety (CERS) has unveiled a new web site using Google Maps to display 2006 NHSTA motor accident data. SafeRoadMaps.org's widget lets you search the accidents by state or street address. [NB: The site's just been launched; it's a bit slow and kludgy.] The data shows the type of vehicle involved, whether or not a seatbelt or helmet was used, the presence or absence of alcohol, and speeding. CERS is hoping to "create greater levels of awareness, commitment, and informed decision making at all organizational levels, contribute to a change in thinking about the nature of the problem of road traffic injuries and what constitutes successful prevention, and strengthen institutions and create effective partnerships to deliver safer road traffic systems." Whew! But why the emphasis on rural safety? "Half of the 42,000 crash-related fatalities in the United States each year occur on two-lane rural roads."

Well, finally. The Blue Oval Boyz promised to unveil a new product plan for their Mercury brand on the same day their financials were revealed. Nope. I guess FoMoCo didn't want to steal the "thunder" of the press release re: the 2010-or-bust-and-maybe-even-then Mexican-built (but Euro-style) Ford Fiesta and Focus. Anyway, enough scene setting (it was a dark and stormy car market). Here's Mercury's new theme song, as sung by Derrick Kuzak, Ford's global product chief, [via The Detroit News]: "Ford Motor Co. will reposition Mercury as an entry-level premium brand that will support Lincoln [which] will no longer get any smaller vehicles, as had been planned, while Mercury will only get smaller cars and crossovers." In practice, the Sable dies, the Mercury Mariner and Milan live (with hybrid versions) and the brand gets a new, new-Focus-based sedan as and when. MA Lincoln Mercury dealer Chris Lemley responded to the revelations from the bowels of the Faint Praise Department. "Not only is some product news better than no product news, but some Mercury strategy is better than not having one." How great is that?

A clever TTAC commentator scanned internet archives and found this little gem. It's the script for aspiring actors looking to apply for GM's CPO ambush ads. As anyone who's ever watched the carefully-planned spontaneity of reality TV knows, it's no surprise that GM decided how to embarrass private sellers before they embarrassed them, and used professionals. But it's still a bit queasy-making to see the non-pro sellers' replies pre-established on paper. And there are still a few questions about Ambush-gate that I'd like answered. Were the ambushees given a heads-up before taping? Were they given the script? How many sellers did they film who refused to sign a release? How much did GM have to pay to get people to agree to this? How much did this campaign cost? [thanks to AW for the tip]

Click here for PDF of script

GM's press release begins with a rhetorical question: "What would happen if you turned more than 20 undercover film and surveillance professionals loose to show the potential drawbacks of buying a used vehicle that is not manufacturer certified?" And then, without a trace of irony, "the results were not at all surprising." The General dispatched actors posing as car buyers– complete with hidden cameras and release forms– to "ambush" [their words] and embarrass [ours] private sellers with "questions that private party used-vehicle sellers often don't want to hear." During one close encounter of the heinous kind, the actor asks an unsuspecting seller if he can install a phone in the seller's home so he can call for roadside assistance any time, day or night. Other private sellers were harassed about "things like financing and courtesy transportation." "We even bought one of the cars and then tried to return it a few days later with a three-day, 150-mile guarantee," bragged copywriter Jim Hagar. 

[Click here to go to GM's usedcarambush.com] 

Just kidding. Toyota wouldn't say that, what with Motown's implosion about to force the transplants to paint themselves as nativists. But even if they aren't saying it, they're doing it. The Nikkan Kogyo [via Automotive News, sub] reports that the Japanese automaker is shifting non-Prius production out of its Tsutsumi plant to build as many gas – electric vehicles as they can (presumably without working their employees to death). No question: ToMoCo's going Hell for leather. Last year, they sold 281,300 Priora. With these changes, they'll be cranking-out at least 480k units. By the time a single example of GM's Hail Mary-shaped plug-in electric – gas hybrid hits the streets, Toyota will be building their fuel-sipper stateside. ToMoCo will have amped-up (so to speak) worldwide Priora production to 1m unit p.a. Whilst shunning the grammatical consensus on Prius pluratization established by TTAC's Best and Brightest, AN reports that Toyota built "320 Priuses in China last year." What's that all about?