Celebritycarsblog.com commentator sunbeam shows that the first cut isn’t always the deepest: “Cadillacs are for old people, or in the this case, maybe just people that are old news.” Ouch.

“I don’t see anyone bleeding to death,” Sergio Marchionne told reporters and analysts a week ago, when asked what he thought of Chrysler’s current dealer body. He might be about to change his tune. The US Treasury will stop guaranteeing GMAC’s floorplan loans to Chrysler Group dealers on the 21st of this month, and the bailed-out lender has marked over 100 dealers to be cut off. According to the Detroit Free Press, these dealers had all survived Chrysler’s dealer consolidation efforts in bankruptcy, indicating that their sales business is relatively steady. But because of huge investments made with Chrysler Financial loans at the height of the real estate market, these dealers owe more than their dealerships are worth. Chrysler Financial is winding down its business, and it refuses to give up the first right to the property as collateral. Because GMAC is now a bank holding company and requires more collateral on loans than it previously did, it wants land and buildings put up as collateral that are already securing old Chrysler Financial loans. Of course those old loans were for renovations made as part of Chrysler’s “Project Genesis,” which dealers had little choice but to participate in. If those Chrysler-mandated investments meant certain dealers were not going to qualify for floorplanning, they should have been culled during bankruptcy. Which is why NADA is appealing to Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne on behalf of the threatened dealers. And maybe if Marchionne takes a look into this meatgrinder, he’ll see a few dealers stuck between giant, bailed-out businesses, bleeding to death.

The single trim level is what tipped us off, and if we’d looked closer at its spec sheet, we’d have seen that its manufacturing location is listed as “Rüsselsheim, Germany.” Automotive News [sub] reports that Regal will be built in Germany for 15 months before production shifts to Oshawa. Which makes the Regal even more of an odd duck. In addition to being stuck into GM’s bursting lineup of Epsi-II midsize sedans, it’s also losing whatever profit it might have made on the dismal foreign exchange rate and the boat ride over from Europe. Or it will be just plain overpriced. Think of it as the love child between a Saturn Astra and a Pontiac G8. And another sign that some things never change.

When GM CEO Fritz Henderson promised Congress he would run the nationalized automaker with complete transparency, we knew he was full of shit. How could anyone expect New GM to do anything but lie, misdirect, prevaricate and obfuscate when the same Bozos that ran it into the ground were still large and in charge? Which GM dealers are canned? Which GM dealers have been resurrected? Why? Who is the GM executive (other than Fritz) who earns more than $500,000 per year—that the company refuses to name? What are the internal targets that GM says it’s meeting? Why did the company overestimate sales of some of its key models in its November press release? Why did Fritz and CFO Ray Young promise a 2010 GM IPO without the Chairman’s approval? And so on. To that list, add this from the AP: “But GM postponed the Cruze’s April build date about three months, said Mark Reuss, GM’s vice president of global vehicle engineering. The company, he said, wasn’t happy with the Cruze’s performance, especially with the six-automatic transmission. ‘No one was thrilled with where it shifted, how it shifted.'” Well that’s the first I’ve heard of that. And while it’s nice that GM is putting our money where it’s mouth is in its desire to ensure the Cruze’s “flawless launch,” what the hell happened? And why wasn’t anyone fired for it? Oh right, GM.

A lawsuit funded by a photo enforcement company succeeded yesterday in temporarily blocking the results of the vote to end red light cameras in College Station, Texas. Judge Suzanne Stovall granted a temporary restraining order preventing the city from ending its contract with American Traffic Solutions, despite the November 3 vote of a majority of residents demanding that the cameras come down. The law firm of Bovey, Akers and Bojorquez ostensibly filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Keep College Station Safe Political Action Committee (PAC), a group entirely funded by College Station’s camera vendor, American Traffic Solutions (ATS) and its subcontractors. Of the PAC’s $67,100 in reported funding, the largest chunk — $30,000 — came directly from ATS. Garry Mauro, a paid ATS consultant, gave $5000. Another $8000 came from Signal Electric, a Washington-based contractor that installs red light cameras for ATS. ForceCon Services, a Texas-based red light camera installation subcontractor, gave $5000. Questmark Information Management Inc, a company that prints citations for ATS, provided a $16,600 in-kind donation.

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GM’s John Smith, and a freshly minted GME CEO Nick Reilly went to Berlin to see German Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle, hat in hand, hoping for some Opel funds. They left empty handed.

“I expressed my expectation that General Motors should basically carry out the financing itself,” Bruederle said after the meeting.
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“China is a global driver of growth in the automotive market,” said Friedrich Eichiner, CFO of the BMW Group. “China will play a major role in the global automotive business, in the development of future technologies.” Then he signed off on a major expansion project. Together with joint venture partner Brilliance, BMW will be able to produce 175,000 Made in China BMWs, up from 30,000 units currently.
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China may be the world’s largest auto market until further notice. Its much feared auto exports however are nothing to write home about. In fact, China’s already measly car exports have declined for 14 consecutive months since August 2008. For the first half of this year, China exported only 191,000 units. This in a market that is expected to be good for 12m units domestically. Other countries, such as Germany and Japan, typically export the same number of cars they consume at home. A good deal of the few vehicles that are exported from China are commercial and utility vehicles, sold to underdeveloped markets.

Two months ago, Zhao Hang, President of the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, blamed quality and after-sale service problems for the underwhelming performance. He also said that Chinese auto exporters lack knowledge of overseas demand, government policies, regulations and certification.

The Chinese government can’t stand it any longer.
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The American version of a Chinese rebadge of a German sedan to be built in Canada will be available at your local Buick dealer starting in the second quarter of next year. According to GM’s presser, the new Regal will initially be offered with the direct-injected 2.4 Ecotec, making 182 hp. Which, you gotta say, doesn’t sound like luxury-level motivation for a 3,600 lb car. A 2.0 turbocharged version with 220 horsepower will be offered later next summer. There will be no manual transmission option (both get 6-speed autos), and in a weird turn towards the Acura side of life, only one trim level (CXL) will be available. Accordingly, the 2009 Acura TSX and Volvo S60 are shown as competitors, although the 2.4l Buick comes up short of both in standard horsepower and rear headroom. In the real world though, GM picked some pretty safe competition: the S60 sold under 9,000 units in 2008 while the TSX sold just under 32,000 units. The Regal competition that Buick should really be worried about is its slightly-larger, more-optionable Epsilon II platform-mate, the LaCrosse.

GM spokesfolks tell Automotive News [sub] The General is “in the process of re-establishing select points in certain markets around the country as part of our ongoing analysis of our dealer consolidation efforts.” Don’t hurt yourself thinking too hard about that though, because it’s one of those “we must destroy the village to save the village” things. GM is apparently contacting certain former dealers and inviting them to open new dealerships, having already forced them out of business once in bankruptcy court. According to the Committee To Restore Dealer Rights, former dealers in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Colorado and Massachusetts have been contacted to open new dealerships, in urban and rural markets. Some culled dealers located in areas GM has targeted for new dealerships were not invited by GM to submit proposals, and the CTRDR considers this a play by GM to drive a wedge within the ranks of the culled dealers. Negotiations between GM and its aggrieved former dealers resume tomorrow, and news that GM is re-opening dealers less than a year after it shut down 1,300 won’t be good for their political popularity. And yes, that matters. Meanwhile, details on how many dealerships are being opened are still forthcoming from General “Transparency” Motors.

The catalyst for all this was the EU saying you only made the money available to one investor. The board did what they should have done and revisited the issue… It’s been a confusing decision, but I don’t think it was handled badly. The circumstances changed from the time this started. The financial part of the business got better. Conditions have changed.

GM Chairman Ed Whitacre on the decision to keep Opel. Financial? Better? Because EU regulators said so? How anyone can see the Opel situation as a “sign of change” is beyond me. GM never wanted to get rid of Opel, they just didn’t want to pay the $8 bil, er, $3 billion to keep it. Too bad German Economics Minister Rainer Bruederle says it’s actually going to cost a cool $5b to restructure Opel. Which GM will just be cannibalizing with Chevwoos anyway. Is any of this not sounding like Old GM?

Ryv asks:

Whenever I read a TTAC car review or read comments I see nothing but complaints of hard plastics and ill fits. It made me wonder, is there some ideal vehicle interior out there being held as the standard to all others? I sat in a Lamborghini Gallardo at last years NAIAS and thought the suede covered dash looked ridiculous – but thats probably the opposite of the hard plastics people complain about. Maybe I am just interior challenged that I don’t notice these things but unless my dash is peeling, and as long as it’s pretty intuitive control wise, it’s appealing. So what is the benchmark interior, the standard that all interiors should strive towards?

Although Toyota was a 50% stakeholder in the NUMMI facility in Freemont, California, it may end up carrying 100% of the closure costs. The LA Times reports that Liquidation Motors, the company which took over GM’s assets won’t fund any of the severance pay or other expenses to the closure of NUMMI. “Motors Liquidation is not contributing at all” (to the closure costs), said Tim Yost, a spokesman for Detroit-based Motors Liquidation Corp., “We don’t believe there will be a requirement for us to do so.” Paul Nolasco,  a Toyota spokesperson in Tokyo said that “Although we cannot provide any figures at this time, it is something for which we plan to make allowance in our earnings report.” Toyota was planning for a smaller-than-expected loss for this financial year, and the addition of these extra costs (should they happen) will affect the company and its stock price. On the other hand, it also puts Toyota in the exact same boat as the American taxpayers.

It’s hard finding the sweet spot with the CC Clue. I made it harder on Monday, and sure enough, not one right guess. All right, I’m going to make this one super easy! Big picture, lots of details and resolution. No need for Google Images. Way too easy. Quick; what is it?

Customers in this segment want emotional appeal, sporty design and dynamic driving properties. The S60 has it all. We are convinced that it will be one of the strongest contenders around

Volvo CEO Stephen Odell explains in the press release for the new S60 why people who buy 3 Series sedans don’t cross-shop Volvo… and why he wants to expand his brand so that someday they might. But leaving aside the sad fact that every luxury brand wants to build “the new 3 Series,” we’re having a hard time figuring this move out. Considering that Volvo is about to get a Chinese-style upscale overhaul, expect the “dynamic driving properties” part of the “what does Volvo stand for this week” exercise to fall off the radar with haste. And really, Volvo makes a lot more sense as a Euro-tinged, safety-forward alternative to Lexus and (in China) Buick than a BMW wannabe.