Honda has started Japanese production of their spiffy-looking, highly-hyped hydrogen fuel cell-powered Clarity. And while the Clarity's a high tech halo machine destined for 200 carefully-selected customers, the same could be said of Tesla's EV Roadster. Of course, when Honda says production's begun, production's actually begun. More to the point, both companies are delighted to point-out their vehicles' zero emissions; and neither is particularly interested in discussing the full environmental impact– as in where does the power come from to charge the batteries or create liquid hydrogen? "Fuel-cell vehicles, which don't use fossil fuels and don't produce carbon dioxide, are necessary for the environment. We would like to make them more popular," Honda Chief Executive Takeo Fukui told Reuters. Methinks the media doth protest too little. "Fuel-cell vehicles are widely considered the ultimate longer-term alternative to today's conventional cars as they run on an inexhaustible and cheaper source of fuel — hydrogen, have no harmful tail-pipe emissions, and do not compromise driving performance." But here's the real news. "Among the first five customers for the FCX Clarity [who cleared the exhaustive qualification process] are actress Jamie Lee Curtis and U.S. filmmaker Christopher Guest." It's a sad day for Ed Begley Jr. and his wife, the over-spelled Rachelle Carson. 

When the going gets tough, the tough amp-up the ads. As the Detroit News reports, that's certainly the philosophy behind GM and Toyota's increased ad spend. In the teeth of the perfect storm (or dead calm) afflicting new car and truck sales, the automakers upped their first quarter ad budget by 13 and 8.4 percent respectively. That's a not-inconsiderable additional $535m for The General and $291m for the world's largest automaker. On the uh-oh side, cash-strapped Chrysler decreased their ad spend by a full 42 percent (-$186 million) while Ford sliced their ad outlay by 31 percent (-$292m). Ford mouthpiece Jim Cain provided the necessary piercing glimpse into the obvious: "The economy and vehicle sales do affect total spending." However, the DetN points out that "Ad expenses also fluctuate depending on when the Dearborn, Michigan-based company is introducing new and redesigned models." So the fact that Ford's launching the Flex in the first quarter means… what? Meanwhile, once again, Chrysler says… nothing.

Breaking up is hard to do. It's even harder when you aren't even ready to move on. Automotive News [sub] reports that GM is "breaking up" with "Big Oil" in a series of new advertisements set to debut in June. "Dear Oil," begins the McCann-Erickson spot. "We've had this great relationship for many years. We think we will both be a lot happier and healthier if we see less of each other." GM's corporate marketing director Katherine Benoit says the ad "addresses the oil-price issue head-on, albeit with a tongue-in-cheek twist." By which she clearly means not at all. You see, GM has been attempting the hugely popular "green branding" approach for some time. The only problem being GM has basically nothing particularly green to market. GM has tried to conceal this discrepancy by touting its E85 FlexFuel vehicles. But with food prices up and ethanol enduring a much-deserved run of bad press, GM is back to square one. And so GM simply asserts it's "done with oil." Benoit thinks that someone will take the "break-up" seriously, saying "You have to make sure that the story you tell plays out." Sadly for this misguided marketing attempt, the GM-Oil relationship has less of a boyfriend-girlfriend dynamic than a junkie-heroin vibe. The [still] truck=heavy manufacturer doesn't need a break-up; it needs a 12-step program.

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.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Michael Jackson is joining a growing chorus shouting "take your medicine." No it's not MJ handing a can of Coke to a young fan. It's the CEO of mega-dealer AutoNation, who thinks "high gas prices are good for the U.S. auto industry." Just as Scott McClellan trash-talking the Bush administration, Jackson is biting the hand that feeds. "We are highly skilled at selling size, horsepower and speed at a premium price, and giving away fuel efficiency," Jackson opines. "Now, going forward over the next 10 years we are going to have to convince consumers why they should pay more for a smaller engine, or some new technology, that is going to give them a tremendous benefit on fuel efficiency." Surely it's a new day in the US of A when the top car salesman in the land embraces the challenge of selling fuel efficiency. Who's bad?

Problem: the Toyota Camry is being outsold almost 2-to-1 by Dodge's Avenger among black customers. "Here's this nameplate that's ubiquitous," said Monica Warden, account director for Burrell, Toyota's agency of record or African-American advertising. "But for an African-American woman, it's not even in her consideration set. Our preliminary testing found they think of it as suburban, not urban; as solid but boring. And for this woman, she doesn't see herself as boring." To raise sales of its best-selling dullard, Toyota hired the company responsible for the intriguing (at least to us fanboys) The Dark Knight (movie) viral ad campaign. The result this site: If Looks Could Kill. It features a subtle sales pitch, serial web movies and who knows what else. The Dark Knight campaign had fanboys running around the San Diego Convention Center in Joker facepaint; we'll see what curious activities will arise from ILCK.com.

I know that's waaaay too easy a headline, but how else would you describe this ad for the Ford Flex, launched this weekend? The TV spot gives the crossover a SteadyCamaroscopy and a 360-degree website spin (or eight) to the tune of the song "Son gonna rise" by Citizen Cope. So the unique selling point is… style. I mean it must be, as there's no strapline revealing its Unique Selling Point, no voiceover announcing its arrival, no nothin'. Ah, but there's another ad [click here]. This one touts the Flex as an "agile, 24mpg crossover," then proclaims– both in narrative and in mescaline-tinged imagery– its drug-like ability to warp-your mind. "Suddenly, everything looks a little different." In fact, "Discover Flex" is as trippy a tagline as I've heard in some time. Like, wow Scoob. 

VW has released the pricing for the Jetta Sportwagon. The base S version, with a 170hp 2.5-liter five-banger is $18,999. For that price, you get power everything and a stick. For an automatic (six speed auto, not DSG), tack on a whopping $2k. The next version up the ladder: the $21,349 SE, complete with and leatherette, an upgraded sound system, standard alloys, and a whole lot more "available" luxury options. Again, add two grand for the autobox. If you really want to throw resale to the wind, you can get the Sportwagon with the beloved 2.0T engine with 200 horsepower. That'll set you back a staggering $25,990 for a manual version or $27,090 for the DSG automatic. In addition to the superior powerplant, the 2.0T SEL version comes pretty much fully loaded. Doesn't currency fluctuation suck? Still no word on the TDI version, set to go on sale in late summer or the fall. (Source: VW)

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.)

Two hours.  Thats how long I spent detailing the engine in my Hummer H3 from Budget Rent-a-Car. I spent another 2 hours detailing the rest of the car and discovered how dirty rental cars really are (how old ARE those M&M's?). In the summer, when I'm not racing my Porsche Boxster S, I'm at a car show, showing it off with my other racer friends and their BMW/Audi's. Replete with racing numbers, sponsor decals and helmets, we put on quite a different show from the normal pristine examples of automobilia from decades past. However, due to my Porsche being in the body shop, I was left without a car for last Sunday's Car Show in Oklahoma City. Over coffee, I came up with the brilliant idea to RENT a car at the airport, detail it, and see how it would do against all the other vehicles there, just for fun. At the Will Rogers International Airport, I was presented with three options, a Mustang V6 Coupe, a Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder, or a Hummer H3. The H3 was the cleanest, so $75, rental insurance and a distorted sense of reality and I was in with a chance! $25 in cleaning supplies later, I had the most pristine rental car in the MidWest. Several hours later, I was holding a plaque declaring my Hummer H3 had received first place in the truck category at the show. So if you want an award winning show car, call up Budget in Oklahoma City, they have one for rent…

The DAY AFTER a team of Honda-promoting skydivers performed a formation for a live UK TV advertisement, the plane used for the stunt has crashed. The accident killed the pilot and a skydiver. According to The Daily Telegraph, a total of ten skydivers attempted to exit the stricken plane as "one of the aircraft's wings snapped off and it plunged to the ground, where it burst into flames." The paper also reports that "Honda and Channel 4 said they did not believe any of the skydivers involved in the accident had taken part in the filming of the advert." Clearly, our warning that the stunt could prove a human and PR catastrophe had a firm basis in reality. Whether or not the tragedy will prevent future live stunts remains to be seen.

Filling-up the Odyssey the other day, I was surprised when the wallet-drainage started slowing down at $48. Of course, I knew what wasn't coming: anything more than $50 worth of gas. As an a tax paying member of the world's most pampered people, I found it incredibly annoying that I had to restart the entire sales process for an additional $8. As a free marketeer, I found it bizarre that a large corporation (Shell) would make it hard for me to spend MORE money. Turns out it's the credit card companies– Visa and Mastercard– who are limiting millions of gas purchases to $50 in some states, $75 in others. As USA Today points out, even $75 won't do it for many fuel hungry behemoths. "At $4 a gallon, $75 buys 183/4 gallons. A 2008 Toyota Sequoia SUV's tank holds more than 26 gallons, a Chevy Avalanche sport pickup totes up to 311/2 gallons, and a 33-foot or longer Winnebago Adventurer RV hauls 75 gallons." While environmentalists may have little sympathy for the Devil, the credit card companies claim the limits protect their customers from fraud. Sure, in the same way they write-off fraud rather than upgrade members' card security with photo-embedded plastic or thumb print biometrics. Profits before people? No way.

[Can anyone tell me if their TTAC RSS feeder is working?] 

Apparently the GMC dealer unknown writer posting on the Commercial Auto Dealers web site had a change of heart about hybrids. After warning everyone about the dangers of driving a too-quiet, electromagnetic-field-generating deathtrap, now he wants everyone to know that "GMC is the leader in hybrid vehicles if you're looking for trucks or full-sized SUVs." He goes on to brag "during the first quarter of 2008, the automaker sold nearly 850 hybrid vehicles and about 80 percent of those were large trucks." I'm assuming by "the automaker" he means GM, not GMC division, as the only hybrids GMC sells are monstrous Yukons and pickups. So let's see… they sold a total of 850 hybrids in three months. That works out to an average of what, 293 hybrids per month, 234 of which were trucks? In the month of April, Toyota sold twenty-one thousand Priora. Not fair, you say? Ok, let's look just at trucks. Try 1,624 Lexus RX 400h's. Or 2,578 Highlander Hybrids. Ford even sold 1,682 Escape Hybrids. All in one month. If, as he claims (citing Eric Fedeva without identifying exactly who he is or why what he said is important), "GMC is going to be a serious contender in the hybrid market in the next few years," someone at GM better get serious and produce a full hybrid the average buyer can afford. Oh, and that won't bombard its hapless passengers with the "type of magnetic field [that] has been linked to leukemia in children."

Every year, the California-based whack jobs at Strategic Vision announce their "Total Quality Index" (TQI) with some headline-grabbing conclusion. Each year, the media swallows it hook, line and sinker. Each year, we point out that Strategic Vision's methodology is from Planet Claire and their client roster indicates a greater conflict of interest that Gerald R. Ford's presidential pardon. This year we get "Ford vs. Toyota, The Battle for Total Quality Intensifies." Yes, “Ford is back, establishing its vehicle quality in the hearts and minds of its customers,” proclaims Alexander Edwards, president of Strategic Vision’s automotive division. Not to mention Mercury, whose Sable (what the Hell's a Sable?) scoops SV's best large car. And if that isn't enough to discredit these Bozos highly-paid market researchers, ALL the winners are Strategic Vision clients. (Still.) HOW they won is anyone's guess– unless you can envision a way to create a point system measuring "consumers’ motivational hierarchies, including the values that shape perceptions and capture the customers’ emotional responses and drive behavior." Yes, once again, we're ready for someone else to cut down Strategic Vision's "Tree of ValueCentered Knowledge." Please.

Exclusivity is as integral to Ferrari's branding strategy as blistering performance. Since the 1950's Ferrari has turned its cars over to a number of coachbuilders who have wrapped the Scuderia's finest in unique, emotive designs. Over the years, the relationship between Ferrari and its coachbuilders has evolved, and the design of recent factory Ferraris has been handled by traditional partner firms like Pininfarina. Recently limited-edition coachbuilt Ferraris have been making a comeback, as evidenced by such offerings as Pininfarina's $4m Enzo-based 612 P4/5 and 612K, and the Vandenbrink Design 599 GTO Mugello. But Motor Authority reports that Ferrari doesn't want to be left out of the tiny market of folks with the commitment to one-upmanship exquisite taste to pay millions extra for a wholly unique version of their favorite Ferrari model. Accordingly, the Scuderia will collaborate with its three favored design houses, Fioraventi, Pininfarina and Zagato to create a range of factory-approved one-off custom designs. Initially only the F430, 612 Scaglietti and Enzo will be eligible for the Italian design treatment, although if the program meets with sufficient approval, the newer 599 Fiorano and California may become eligible as well. Expect the well-dressed supercars to begin appearing in the second half of this year, led by a Fioraventi-designed offering.