• December sales might have been even weaker if not for a hefty slug of fleet deliveries at GM. GM’s overall sales were down 31%, which topped our forecast decline of 34% to 36%. But within that total, GM’s retail sales were down a sharp 41%, while fleet deliveries were about flat year-to-year. If GM’s fleet sales were down roughly in line with the industry average (mid-30% range) the SAAR [Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate] would have been closer to 10.0 million, or perhaps 9.9 million, we estimate.

• The outlook for sales in 1Q09 is no brighter than the 2008 exit rate. Both Ford and GM suggested that sales could run in the 10 to 11 million range in the first part of 2009, with somewhat of a (stimulus-driven) recovery in the back half of the year (has a familiar ring, doesn’t it?).

• GM slashed its production plans throughout the rest of the world, with Europe now set to fall 44%, Latin America 34%,and Asia pacific 27%, versus 1Q08.

• At the end of December, we find Big 3 dealer stocks to be about 31% above normal, which is about where they ended November. The truck mix headed higher again in December, and combined with weak industry sales to leave cars about 75% overstocked. Light trucks were about 12% overstocked.

• We estimate Chrysler to be the most overstocked of the Big 3, with dealer stocks about 45% above normal. Trucks are about 80% overstocked, while cars are about 37% overstocked.

• Ford ended the month overstocked by about 22%, with passenger cars a sharp 83% above normal, and trucks about 2% below normal.

• GM was about 29% overstocked at the end of December, with cars 70% overstocked, and light trucks about 9% overstocked.

• A look at days’ supply of foreign brand vehicles also shows a severe overstocked situation. For example, Honda dealers had 96 days of car supply in December, up from 50 days in the year-ago month; Toyota had 94 days of car supply, up from 42 days a year ago; BMW had 57 days of car supply, up from 22 days in December 2007.

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When I read Autoblog’s post on the one-month delay to production of the new Camaro, I decided not to blog it. AB said a notice had been sent to Bow Tie dealers pinning the delay on their desire to assure quality control. I manually lowered my arched eyebrow and got on with the other business of the day. But now, scanning Automotive News [AN, sub], it seems that the delay isn’t quite as straight forward as I thought it wasn’t. “It’s due to a variety of factors that I’m not going to get into, but it’s nothing to be concerned about,” [GM spinmeister Terrance “I’m not a Dickens character”] Rhadigan said. “We’re still going to build every one we can, and we’re excited to get them out.” In a strange turn of events, AN fingers a previous flagged supplier “issue”– despite GM’s denial. “Automotive News reported in late December that GM is suing Cadence Innovation, a supplier of interior parts that is liquidating, to get machines and parts needed to make the Camaro. GM provided equipment to the supplier to make the Camaro parts, a standard industry practice. GM has said if it didn’t get the production equipment back by Jan. 12, the start of Camaro production would be delayed. Rhadigan said the postponement isn’t connected to the Cadence dispute.” So why mention it? Is AN beginning to lose patience with GM?

Two hours after President Bush announced he’d reversed his position– tapping into the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)– to bailout Detroit, United Auto Workers boss Ron Gettelfinger announced his intention to get the incoming president to remove the wage parity provisions included in the deal. Why wait? Reuters reveals that “Legislation proposed on Friday to tighten the sweeping U.S. corporate bailout program omitted specific targets for labor concessions that were a key feature of last month’s Bush administration rescue of distressed automakers. A portion of the bill proposed by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank sought to codify the auto bailout with terms, that with two exceptions, basically mirror those imposed by the White House when it extended $17.4 billion in emergency loans to General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC.” Meanwhile, “Frank’s plan also seeks to formalize oversight of the auto bailout under a trustee or ‘car czar.'” Bottom line: no UAW haircut (a.k.a. business as usual) unless the Senate reinserts the original language. And a Big Stick wielder to make sure that GM and Chrysler realize Congress’ green dreams. I mean, return to profitability. Don’t I?

Kids rule, telecoms drool. In this case, AT&T figures pester power will entice car owners to stump-up $1299 and $28 a month for an in-car satellite TV system. That and installation charges for a roof-mounted antenna pod thingie that will do for automotive aerodynamics what the Olsen twins did for the food pyramid. AT&T calls the service “Cruisecast,” ignoring the obvious connection to the Al Pacino movie and lifestyle choice known as Cruising. And what’s with that satellite following the car? Anyway, “A final channel lineup is still being developed,” PC World reveals, quoting this morning’s press release. “But AT&T says it will include lots of family-friendly entertainment, including Disney Channel, Disney XD, Discovery Kids, Animal Planet, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network Mobile, USA, COMEDY CENTRAL, MSNBC, CNN Mobile Live and CNBC.” I know what you’re thinking: HOW much? And if you’re geeky, you’ll wonder how AT&T TV can keep on keeping on when it’s out of sight of the company’s birds. All hail its “breakthrough buffering technology keeps the show going even when you’re under a tunnel or other line-of-site obstacle.” Just in case that doesn’t fly with car buyers/owners, Avis and Budget car will offer Cruisecast in some of its rental cars for $9 a day or $63 a week. Or you could just toss a couple of iPhones in back.

In invite the Best and Brightest to send me examples of big discounts on new cars for publication, from any brand. Send jpegs to robert.farago@thetruthaboutcars.com. BTW: I saw a TV ad today advertising Chevy Malibus for $18k. The fine print (which I barely caught): one owner cars. Desperate times.

A friend of mine just bought a brand new Dodge Ram (V8, power windows/locks, crew cab, 6-speed stick) truck for $16,000 from a local dealer. I thought the 50% savings was only on single cab, V6 strippers. Turns out, this truck was a leftover 2007 model. (not 2008)  We pulled about 2 ft of string wrapped inside the pivot point in the side view mirror.  This rig obviously had many, many balloons tied to its mirror as it waited for a new owner.  The new owner wisely insisted the fluids get changed before he took delivery of the truck.  Which brings me to this picture: I’ve been driving by another Chrysler dealership since March and the scene has not changed. (I took this picture on Tuesday)  There must be over 30 Crossfires, always sitting on the front row. I believe they stopped making Crossfires over a year ago. Maybe this isn’t newsworthy, but there’s no better sign of the times than these two outsider recent snapshots into Chrysler’s miserable sales.

I don’t even know where the 0-60 mph metric came from. Sounds like it was something Brock Yates would’va dreamed up after the Federal double knickle went into effect. But, it’s older than that. Anyhow, I bring this up because I relied on that chestnut pretty heavily for my WRX review. Why? Well, if I had to encapsulate the 2009 WRX into a single sentence it would go like this, “Everything’s worse than the 2005-2007 WRX, except that it’s so damn fast I love it.” But you know, when Farago says 800 words, he means 800 words. But I want you to understand my point. The good thing about the WRX is how freakishly it accelerates. No one records 0-75 mph times. But, we have an endless supply of 0-60 mph data for every car ever built ever (basically). So my choice was to either compare it to other fast cars you’re (hopefully) familiar with, or dig into the old metaphor bucket (Faster than Marion Jones on fresh dope. Faster than a speed freak on a roller coaster where both the speed freak and the roller coaster are on speed.). I chose the former, and man are y’all hammering me! And I can take it. Thick skin, broad shoulders, decent bench press at one point, etc. In fact, the barbs provide fodder for my QOTD, so I thank you. And so yeah, that’s my question. Is 0-60 mph a useful metric when reviewing cars. I say yes because who the hell gets to ever run a car flat out for a quarter of a mile? On public roads? But up to 60 mph? No prob. You?

Sure, Autocar. Jaguar’s gonna finally build an F-type roadster. And just in time for a “end-of-recession” 2011 launch too. Look, I’m just not ready for more pain. Weren’t you there? Didn’t you drool over the XK180 concept as far back as 1997? Didn’t an F-Type concept make you weak in the knees in 2000? And weren’t we told it would hit production? Remember that? That was nine years and five days ago. Ratan Tata thinks he can just pry that wound open, does he? “Putting exciting projects on the back burner is the thing we should not do,” eh? Ratan? Fine. Just do it already, then. And make it look like this one.

I think it’s great to get excited about new cars, announcements from manufacturers, spec sheets, press kit photos, and concept cars. I’m a jerk, but I’m not a jerk made of stone. With my mea-culpa qualification out of the way though, I do find it frustrating to see what I think of as undue enthusiasm. If you jump, you can see my five TTAC-spirited assessments of the product announcements of the week.

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Automotive News [sub] reports that Ford has less than $15b in cash, and a burn rate of “somewhere between $1.3 billion and $2.57 billion” in the fourth quarter. CEO Alan Mulally had earlier indicated that Ford had a solid $15b to work with, but a spokesman now reveals that his number is off. Ford has not closed the books on the fourth quarter yet, says Mark Truby, “however, our cash position will be lower than $15 billion. It would be premature to say anything more.” Ford is sticking by its earlier guidance that cash burn was reduced in the fourth quarter, but that’s not saying much considering the Blue Oval torched $7.7b in the third. In addition to the “under $15b” cash on hand, Ford has access to $10.7b in credit. But with nothing else to borrow against, survival until the brand’s Euro-revival takes hold could come down to a requested-but-unapproved $9b government “emergency line of credit.” Or magic. Never stop believing in magic.

The Truth About Cars: they’re hideously complicated devices that must be able to serve duty in every sort of meteorological condition. The controls required to help keep their owners comfortable in this huge and ever-changing range of temperatures and climatic conditions are subject to neglect, abuse and constant use. Not to mention simple human nature, which is simple, but not so easy to satisfy in any meaningful bio-mechanical way. So hats off to the designers, engineers and assembly workers who delivered unto us, the driving public, a sane, sensible way to control our own personal micro-climate. I present to you, gentle readers and humble auto industry-types, TTAC’s Top Ten HVAC controls 2009, with comments by our very own Best and Brightest. [Gallery below. Printed list and comments after the jump.]

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