A short overview of what happened in other parts of the world while you were in bed. TTAC provides round-the-clock coverage of everything that has wheels. Or has its wheels coming off.

Congress sends Asian stock market to crapper: When Asia heard of the Detroit debacle in Congress, everybody called their broker and placed sell orders. Hong Kong was down 5.5 percent. Tokyo stocks fell 5.56 percent. Hardest hit were autos with Toyota down 10 percent, Honda lost 12 percent, The Nikkei (sub) reports. Investors fled the dollar for the safety of the Japanese Yen. The greenback fell to a 13-year low versus the yen Friday afternoon. This doesn’t make exporters happy, as their wares get more expensive in dollar terms.

Changan stock halted, pending “unprecedented” news. Changan, Ford Motor’s China partner, said on Friday it will continue to suspend trading in its shares “pending announcement of a major issue,” Gasgoo reports. In a statement, Changan did not specify the nature of an “unprecedented” issue, which it said the company’s management was still discussing. Its A shares, traded in Shenzhen, were suspended on Oct 10, a day after news of a possible purchase of Ford’s Volvo unit hit the wire.

Sweden bails out Volvo and Saab: At least for the time being. Sweden’s government approved a care-package of $3.4b for the two formerly Swedish makers, das Autohaus reports. They also reiterate: “Both brands are for sale.” Most of the money will be loans by the European Investment Bank, guaranteed by the Swedish government. Sweden’s finance minister Borg rules out a takeover by Sweden’s government.

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TTAC’s Best and Brightest have spoken. TTAC has listened. You’ve asked for less negativity and more car passion non-death stuff (to use the technical term). So I’m cancelling the Tesla Death Watch. The Silicon Valley company has delivered its 100th Roadster– or so they say– and, well, how great is that? I still believe Tesla doesn’t have a hope in Hell of staying in business. But it will take a while for that to play out. We’ll continue to cover Tesla as and when the situation merits. But TTAC won’t be hovering over Elon Musk’s minions vulture-like, waiting for the latest insult or injury. I made my point: they’re a company fuelled by tree-hugging hype rather than solid engineering or accountability. Tesla Death Watch out.

The New York Times is reporting that the auto bailout bill passed by the House “appears dead in the Senate” today. Opposition from Republican senators is well summarized in an op-ed by Senator Bob Corker in today’s Detroit News. But another reason the bill might fail has emerged only recently, as the Times also reports that the House version of the bill was packed with pork shortly before passage. A provision in the bill asks the government to help municipal transit agencies by guaranteeing the economics of a complex tax shelter known as SILO (Sale In, Lease Out), despite years of efforts by the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service to shut it down and collect billions of dollars of unpaid taxes, interest and penalties. SILO involves buying and then leasing back depreciation rights and assets at the transit agencies, in yet another poorly-understood derivatives scheme. According to the Times “Many of the deals are faltering because of the credit crisis and have put the agencies at risk of having to make large payments to banks and insurers. Last month, the agencies asked the government to back their role in the deals. The I.R.S., which banned the shelter in 2004, offered a so-called amnesty in August to more than 45 corporations that engaged in more than 1,000 Silo deals involving municipal property.” The House bailout bill also includes a cost-of-living pay increase for Federal district judges, reports the Wall Street Journal. In lieu of (what might be an all-too obvious) editorial commentary, let me simply say that if and when this bill fails, the world will not end. The American economy is incredibly resilient, and real opportunities will arise from the creative destruction of a GM reorganization. It won’t be easy, but it couldn’t be more necessary. Good afternoon, and good luck.

..although some US dealers might be nice! Indian firm Mahindra and Mahindra showed this tasty little neo-Willys at the recent Bologna auto show. The the 12-foot long, 1.5 ton off-roader concept sports a 2.5 liter diesel four, making 108 hp and 250 Nm. And since it is just a concept, that’s about all the info that Auto Motor und Sport could dig up.

Just a few weeks ago I wrote about the Pontiac G8, one of my favorite cars, and how the prices for lightly used examples are getting rather low. Back in November, a V6 model with around 10,000 miles was $20,000. Cars with the big V8 were landing around $24,000. Now they’re even cheaper. The V8 models have hit the $20,000 mark on several have been offered below it. A Cuyahoga Falls, OH Pontiac dealer offered a 12,000 mile car for $19,994 (didn’t sell). That same dealer was, however, able to move a 361 hp G8 GT with 11,000 miles for $18,994. AutoTrader, too, is jam packed with 8-cylinder Pontiac G8s for just under $20,000 and some even have under 10,000 miles on the clock. If you are willing to get the V6 version with some 260 horsepower (though with the V8s so cheap, I’m not sure it makes sense even now), a Houston reseller was offering a 10,500 mile G8 V6 for a hair under $16,000. If the G8 is your cup of tea (and I realize that for many folks it’s not), these are stonking good deals. The question is where they will bottom out. Assuming the warranties stay intact (whether GM stays around or the government does an FDIC-style arrangement), I would think about $16,000-$17,000 is the absolute lowest a low-mileage 8-cylinder G8 could cost. That would be 50% of the original MSRP, but it remains to be seen.

The meltdown of America’s automakers has frayed its fair share of nerves in the autoblogosphere lately. Which is fairly understandable. Folks who used to get paid for online automotive PDAs are now being forced to confront the fact that their advertisers beloved domestic firms have been failing for years and are desperately trying to survive on federal handouts. And this isn’t easy. From Autoblog’s Comic Life captions (must. not. dignify. with. snark.) to Jalopnik’s ongoing “Carpocalypse Now” series, autobloggers are desperately trying to turn the sad news into good old intarweb lulz. And few walk the tortuous line between credibility (calling Detroit’s woes as they are) and goof-tainment with more schizophrenic abandon than Jalopnik’s Ray Wert. The former Jennifer Granholm staffer just can’t escape his Detroit apologist roots, but his pro-bailout spin is generating enough centrifugal force to launch a Ford Excursion into the stratosphere. And it appears to be taking his already-tenuous definition of the term “irony” with it. Having already inexplicably defended the leadership of Rick Wagoner, and termed the bailout bill “Bankruptcy Lite,” Wert is causing more head asplosion this morning by hailing the House passage of said bill with a Ronald Reagan “Morning In America” campaign video. Dude, check it out: Reagan believed in markets. He would not have seen this unconscionable waste of of taxpayer money as “Morning In America.” And before you even claim that somehow the video is “ironic,” I want you to stop and brush up on the concept. Doing something idiotic and then claiming irony whe you are called out doesn’t make it clever. Irony is found in intellectual tension, not asinine non-sequitors. But by all means, bash back.

Post-Jet-Gate morality is sweeping through the RenCen unabated, as a new spirit of (perceived) austerity has General Motors ditching its corporate pastime: luxury boxes. I mean baseball. GM “may be trying to exit or renegotiate the lease for its luxury suite at Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers,” reports CNN Money. Tigers suites rent for $120,000 to $130,000 a year, and include seating for 18 people, free parking, a private restroom, interior and exterior television sets, a computer with Internet access, pre-game batting practice sessions with ex-Tigers pitchers, and a full catering menu (highlights: market fresh crudite, chilled king prawns, and black pepper and garlic-crusted beef tenderloin). In short, it’s understandable that GM is “carefully evaluating all sponsorships – sports and other – as we look for opportunities to reduce costs during this economic recession,” as spokeswoman Kelly Cusinato puts it. And while the Tigers “try to be as flexible with (GM) as possible,” the General is definitely ditching its sponsorship of the Pittsburgh Pirates, according to the AP. That deal included another luxury box (available for five-year leases at $150k-$275k annually) with undisclosed amenities and menu items. GM spokesman Pete Ternes said the company “is looking at” other Major League Baseball sponsorship contracts that expire at the end of the year, as part of an effort to cut the company’s promotional and advertising budget 20 percent.

Mercedes will debut new “DualView” technology on its S-Class, when the luxobarge receives its 2009 face lift, reports Motor Authority. The system, developed by Bosch and Blaupunkt, allows driver and passenger to view different content on the same screen. The eight-inch display has touchscreen functionality for the driver side only, while the passenger side is controlled by a mini remote. Passenger audio can also be routed through headphones, so your pride and joy can watch Dora the Explorer in peace while daddy swears at the GPS. No word on pricing yet, but it’s an option on an S-Class. If you have to ask, it ain’t gonna happen.

Greg Shotwell is my kinda guy. He’s a GM employee, United Auto Workers member and the founder of the Soldiers of Solidarity pressure group. I don’t agree with half of what he says, but man does he know how to say it. “When the tantrums are over, President Bush will appoint a ‘Car Czar’ to strong arm the ranks into a marching band for martyrdom-layoffs, plant closings, bank-ruptured dealers,” Shotwell writes in an advance copy of his next polemic, attained by TTAC. “It’s uncanny how heavy handed politicians are with irony. A Russian title for the federal agent assigned to dictate demands to the auto industry? What next? Hammers and sickles for hood ornaments? But don’t worry, Wagoner, Nardelli, and Mullaly won’t be hawking their options at the low end. They’ll fleece the cons and field dress the union. Before you know it, they’ll be bitching about taxes and regulations and clearing their nostrils with Ben Franklins.” Shotwell is just warming up his rhetorical Howitzer. And the jobs’ bank is in the crosshairs..

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Talk of the UAW getting a seat on the board of General Motors in return for “concessions,” has Automotive News [sub] executive editor Edward Lapham thrilling at the idea of a UAW-run GM. Read only the title of his latest piece “UAW should get on board,” and you might assume it to be a call for more substantive UAW concessions to match the imminent bondholder haircut. You’d be wrong of course. “Nearly three decades ago, Doug Fraser, who was then president of the UAW, got a seat on the Chrysler board until the union recouped the wages and benefits it gave up so the automaker could get loan guarantees,” writes Lapham. “But this time, the union should do more.” Really? More? “Imagine what would happen if the UAW beat its sword into stock shares and invested its $1 billion strike fund in GM,” challenges Lapham. But there’s no need to imagine, because Lapham breaks it down for you. “It would effectively usher in an era of industrial peace and labor cooperation,” he figures. Not to mention the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. And with GM’s market cap treading water at $3b, the UAW could just snap up nearly a third of the company and get several seats on the board. Not only would this “send a loud, clear message to Congress and America that the UAW believes in GM’s chances to survive and thrive,” figures Lapham, “If you believe in the upside, it could be a spectacularly lucrative investment.” Or not. The relationship between the UAW and its employers has been defined by abuse, parasitism and disregard for the perogatives of competition. And it seems like even Lapham understands this, concluding his piece with the dire-but-fun-loving admonition to: “think of all the fun the UAW directors could have. Especially around contract time.” And you think GM is in bad shape now.

Autoblog Green has all the info on the “all new” 2009 Zap Xebra. The good news? Bye-bye fiberglass, hello steel construction. The bad news? It’s still a freaking Zap Xebra. Oh yeah, and nothing was done to improve the range or power, according to ABG.  But, according to a statement from Zap found in the EETimes test drive (key bits: “quite rudimentary,” “struggle to get comfortable,” “somewhat unsettling,” and “noisy and bumpy”) all this was done without the benefit of a federal bailout. Hallelujah! All hail our new green car champions! Or not.

The young woman in a Corolla had the slows, yet was swerving as if drunk. When I pulled alongside of her at a stoplight, I saw that she was texting. As we took off, after the light changed, she continued to text and swerve and text and swerve. Two years ago, University of Utah professor Frank Drews told me that an estimated 60 percent of teen drivers text while driving. Activities such as texting, with multiple steps that take your eyes off the road for more than two seconds, are far more dangerous than talking on the cell phone. This according to the 100 Car Study by Virginia Tech researchers, in which video cameras recorded drivers over a year. For example, dialing and talking were responsible for equal numbers of cell phone-related mishaps and near mishaps, despite the fact that far more time is spent talking than dialing. And now, there may be a technological fix…

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“We thank the House and its leadership for their bipartisan vote to support America’s domestic automakers at this most critical time for the nation’s economy. The House vote brings us closer to saving jobs and to creating a more competitive U.S. auto industry in order to maintain America’s economic vitality. We encourage the Senate to act soon so that we can continue at full speed on the restructuring and advanced technologies plans that will form a stronger, more viable GM.”