Even The Detroit News had a hard time spinning GM CEO Rick Wagoner's gi-normous pay rise as anything other than a travesty. But you gotta give home town scribe Sharon Terlep credit for trying. (Or not.) Her report on Red Ink Rick's $14.4m 2007 compensation waits until all of paragraph four before defending the man whose administration of the American automaker hasn't seen a profit since 2004. Terlep turns to Wall Street analyst John Casesa to do the deed. "There's a broad recognition that you've got to pay someone a lot of money to do this job," Casesa prevaricates. And then the quote above. Ah, so Rick's bottom line performance has been hamstrung by uncontrollable factors… Terlep underlines the point. "Broad economic forces, from soaring oil process to the collapsing U.S. housing market, have slammed GM and the domestic auto industry as the companies work to execute sweeping restructuring plans." So GM's $38.7b loss during the time of Wagoner's $14.4m pay package isnt' really Rick's fault, is it? In fact, he's something of a bargain! "Apart from the labor deal, Wagoner has overseen structural cost cuts that amount to $9 billion a year in savings." So that's alright then. 

Awesome. No really. I'm in awe. At the very moment GM NA's cash flow has gone bye-bye (thanks to union strikes at American Axle and GM factories), just days before the automaker gives the world the gory details of its American cash conflagration, the General reveals that it's bumped-up– sorry, "restored" its top suit's salary. CEO Rick Wagoner's paycheck returns to its 2003 – 2006 levels, from the "reduced" $1.65m back to $2.2m. But don't get to feeling what the Hell, it's only a $570k jump, and it WAS his old salary. Automotive News reports that Rick's TOTAL compensation for '07 was $14.4m, or $39,452.05 per day (including weekends). Meanwhile, Car Czar "Maximum" Bob Lutz gets a nice little "thank you" for winning TTAC's Bob Lutz Award: a base salary "boost" from $1.3m p.a. to $1.75m (so much for "I gave at the office"). MB's total compensation for '07: $6.9m. Newly promoted GM COO (from CFO) Fritz Henderson gets $1.8m; total pay package $7.6m. Friends of GM are free to defend this pay-out (supply – demand), but I find the fact that these guys are raking in MORE money as 32 GM factories are off-line, as GM struggles for its survival, appalling. But you knew that…

I'm paraphrasing, of course, but it's hard to believe that anyone believes that the United Auto Workers (UAW) is on the cusp of organizing Toyota's Lexington, Kentucky factory. Least of all UAW boss Big Ron Gettelfinger. Or The Detroit Free Press. And yet the paper reports Gettelfinger's comments without any hint that the man is full of you-know-what. "'We don't have the people to cover all the calls we get,' Gettelfinger said of activity among UAW organizers based here [Lexington, KY]." Nah, C'mon. Really? "'It is amazing the number of workers who want to join the union,' he said in an interview… 'They may be having activity you don't know about.'" And… they may not. In fact, the only credible– the only interesting part of this story are the comments underneath. "All a worker at the Toyota plants would have to look at is how 'successful' the UAW represented plants are," opines commentator gonefromthemess. "They are already making similar wages and benefits, they build a much more reliable product and they are poised to become the largest selling auto company. And besides, who in those plants wants to pay extortion money to UAW "reps" to get them what they already have? Good luck Get. It ain't happening." Thank Al Gore DARPA God for the Internet.

Autoweek's (AW) Special Earth Day Double Issue starts with an opt-out– "'Environmentally friendly' means different thing to different people"– and goes downhill from there. Surprisingly, AW didn't hype GM's next Next Big Thing: the Earth-friendly (providing you overlook the CO2 emissions at the power plants) plug-in Chevy Volt. OK, obviously, they did lavish ink on GM's gas – electric hybrid. Only it was a relatively small article called, get this, "Charged Up." Scribe Greg Migliore held GM's feet to the fire re: the Volt's 2010 deadline. Just kidding. AW hands its main advertiser a "get out of PR jail free" card in the last line. "As Roland Matthe, E-Flex engineering group manager put it, 'It's not a done deal. This project is not normal in regard to risk in the automotive industry.'" So much craven journalism, so little time. Where was I? Roger Hart's "Resurrecting the dinosaurs" road-tripping with the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid to GM ethanol acquisition Coskata? No. "Another Kind of Town" road-tripping the GMC Hybrid to NYC? Nope. Right! "The Believer," a profile of Larry Burns, GM's Veep of R&D. We learn "I personally brought four hybrid proposals before the board in the 1999-2002 period, and all were rejected. It was because of the business case. We just didn't get the courage to lose money on Gen 1." So now you know. 

I know what you're thinking: he grabbed the New York Times' columnist's most ridiculous assertion and repeated it out of context. If so, you need to read "Bring on the Right Biofuels," 'cause this Roger Cohen guy is the MR. Context Manipulation. After listing the charges against bio-fuels, Cohen says "hogwash and bilge"– and then admits he was somewhat wrong about ethanol's critics being somewhat wrong. "I’ll grant that the fashion for bio-fuels led to excess, and that some farm-to-fuel-plant conversion, particularly in subsidized U.S. and European markets, makes no economic or environmental sense. But bio-fuels remain very much part of the solution. It just depends which bio-fuels." So, on to [theoretical] production of ethanol from switchgrass, wood chips and garbage, right? Wrong. Cohen is too busy pinning the blame for rising food prices on oil prices and rising standards of living in third world developing nations. "They’re eating twice a day, instead of once, and propelling rapid urbanization. Their demand for food staples and once unthinkable luxuries like meat is pushing up prices." Perhaps. Anyway, what's to be done about ethanol? Remove the tariff against Brazilian ethanol! And? And that's it.

"Peak Oil"– the theory that the planet is in imminent danger of running out of oil– is not, as yet, a mainstream media shibboleth. But God knows they're flirting with the idea. After all, it jibes nicely with the dare-I-say-it liberal idea that American is an arrogant gas/oil hog whose energy/foreign policy chickens are coming home to roost. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman provides an excellent analysis of the Peak Oil perspective, outlining the three possibilities: nonsense (it's speculation), maybe (it's the market catching-up with growing worldwide demand) and yes (we're fucked). Krugman's eminently sensible argument takes a swing to the left when he cites billionaire political activist George Soros (of all people) for the speculation theory. From there, it's a short trip to yup, we're screwed, and, by implication, still screwing others. "Rich countries will face steady pressure on their economies from rising resource prices, making it harder to raise their standard of living. And some poor countries will find themselves living dangerously close to the edge — or over it. Don’t look now, but the good times may have just stopped rolling." Damn! That sucks. 

When The New York Times hired Detroit News writer Bill Vlasic, they acquired one of Motown's most enthusiastic cheerleaders. To be fair, Vlasic has raised his game. Today's tribute to Ford Marketing Maven Jim Farley is an epic hagiography that all but nominates the RI high school grad for sainthood. The lead paints Farley as a tortured (as in deeply caring) soul: "Yet as he sat in an empty conference room before his keynote speech, Mr. Farley was introspective. 'How am I doing? You know, I can’t answer that question, how am I doing,' he said. 'It’s too complicated.'" Not for Vlasic it isn't. Farley's doing great! "A mop of tousled brown hair and a boyish smile lend a disarming youthfulness to a 45-year-old executive who has already put together an enviable track record during his 17 years with Toyota. Despite that unassuming demeanor, Mr. Farley is zealous, driven to resurrect Ford’s image in the American marketplace." Vlasic puts one barb in his love letter: the then-Toyota exec's reaction to GM's criticism of Scion. “I couldn’t care less about Detroit,” he said in 2003. “My prediction is that they will follow us.” Pysch! It's a set-up for Farley's Road to Damascus moment. "'What do I want to be?' he recalled thinking. 'What do I want my legacy to be? Do I want to spend two weeks in Japan debating the price of a new Lexus, or do I want to make a real difference?'" And, lest we forget, real money. But hey, I'm cynical. After reading this four-page puff piece, you would be/will be too.

Yes, Delphi CEO Steve "Take the money and then take some more" Miller is declaring mission accomplished. Automotive News [sub]  reports the generous self-assessment– considering the recent collapse of the bankrupt parts maker's bailout plan. Not-so-coincidentally, Miller indulged in the entirely unjustifiable double-jointed back patting at the Automotive Press Association launch of his [twice delayed] autobiographical biz book: The Turnaround Kid. (Kid? Who's kidding whom?) Just in case you thought Miller was the unassailable captain of the ship that his book paints him to be, Miller revealed "he's not a big fan of his book's title — chosen by the publisher — because it suggests a 'tinge of arrogance.' The first title suggested for the book was Not Worth a Buck, a reference to UAW criticism and his $1-a-year salary during the first phase of the bankruptcy" [emphasis added]. Anyway, after declaring Delphi's exit from C11 a done deal, Miller takes a deep breath and promises that, well, it will be. "We will get it done. It won't get done in weeks. It'll be months, but we will get it done." 

Yahoo! Finance reports that Ford's chief engineer for Research and Advanced Engineering will spend part of his day telling the Society of Automotive Engineers that his employer is counting on their EcoBoost technology– not hybrids– to meet and greet federal mpg standards and appeal to buyers. Andreas R. Schamel's speech will tout "volume-based, near-term actions… within the next five years." [In case you hadn't heard, EcoBoost combines direct injection and turbocharging some 20 percent better fuel efficiency, 15 percent lower CO2 emissions and "superior driving performance versus larger displacement engines."] Although Schamel will toss diesel and hybrid powerplants a rhetorical bone– "hybrids, diesels and technologies such as plug-ins and fuel cells have a role"– EcoBoost it is, starting with the cetacean-snouted Lincoln MKS. From there, The Blue Oval Boyz promise "A 4-cylinder EcoBoost engine with the capability of producing more torque than a larger 6-cylinder engine — nearly an entire liter larger in displacement." Sounds like a plan. [thanks to jthorner for the link]

Speaking to The New York Times, Republican Senator Charles E Grassley made no secret of his contempt for "foreign officials" at a Washington conference on food prices. Grassley says biofuels are not to blame for recent food price spikes and the resulting political instability (e.g. Haiti's riots). "He questioned why they were not also blaming a drought in Australia that reduced the wheat crop and the growing demand for meat in China and India. 'You make ethanol out of corn,' he said. 'I bet if I set a bushel of corn in front of any of those delegates, not one of them would eat it.' Equally unsurprising (if slightly more conciliatory), the president of The National Corn Grower's Association says ethanol production has a minor impact on food prices and supply. "There’s no question that they are a factor," admits Ron Litterr. "But they are really a smaller factor than other things that are driving up prices." Yes, well, the Old Gray Lady reports that "a fifth of the nation’s corn crop is now used to brew ethanol for motor fuel, and as farmers have planted more corn, they have cut acreage of other crops, particularly soybeans. That, in turn, has contributed to a global shortfall of cooking oil." So ethanol might not be "the" problem, but it's "a" problem. And that's going to get… better?

After Rob Diel read a Detroit Free Press article about the automaker's Indian outsourcing, the Chrysler contract information technology worker posted CEO Bob Nardelli's telephone number and email address in the comments section. It wasn't long before the suits descended on Diel's desk. "They said unlock your laptop and come with us," Diel told TTAC. "When they show up doing that, it's not a good thing." Today's Free Press says "Diel, who expected to lose his job at the end of May, said he made several postings on the Web site under the name 'Chryslerworker,' including: 'Boycott Chrysler. If Chrysler is going to screw all the American workers, than (sic) it is only fair that America screws Chrysler. E-mail Nardelli and tell him what a great job he is doing.'" The Freep has since removed Nardelli's information. Meanwhile, Diel says Chrysler's Indian IT operators wouldn't know how to respond effectively to a glitch in the company's production computers, increasing the likelihood of delays. Diel also says morale in his former department is "just horrible… Nobody cares about doing anything. People are just wandering around; they just go for walks and stuff 'cause it's just so depressing." BTW: you can contact Mr. Diel at tripower428@hotmail.com. [apologies for the low audio levels]

The print edition of Auto, Motor und Sport (March 13, 2008) carries an interview with GM Car Czar Bob Lutz. Regarding February sales, Maximum Bob told the German car mag “everyone was down strongly, including Toyota;” forgetting that Nissan and Honda were both up for the month. MB also “reveals” that GM’s hybrids are selling “increasingly better” and “the mild-hybrid system in the Malibu and Vue are selling well;” forgetting that GM sold just 577 hybrids in March, less than 30 of which were gas – electric ‘Bus and Vues. Lutz also says “Hybrids are not an economic or practical solution. Driving with two power sources leads to higher costs that the buyer can never recoup;” forgetting that the Prius can recoup its premium in less than five years. Note to Bob: the truth will set you free.

This clip from GNTV is almost 18 minutes long. I love Maximum Bob's "poor, pitiful misunderstood GM" schtick for the first five minutes. Then the winner of TTAC's 2008 annual Bob Lutz Award goes into a rambling rant about blogs in general and how important his is (in specific). At the 10 minute mark, Lutz addresses his "global warming is a crock of shit" comment; he was wronged because it was "off the record." MB didn't think it was that big of a thing until the print media picked it up– and they only found out about it because he posted his "here's what I really meant" backtrack in Fastlane. At the 14 minute mark Bob's asked how GM will make use of "social media" in the next few years. It gets seriously boring as he pontificates on the evolution from bulletin boards with notices tacked up on them (which he refers to as "fiberware," whatever that means) to blogs. Maximum Bob never really passes on any usable information, but it's an interesting excursion into LutzLand. I'm disappointed that he never mentioned the Deathwatch series. And I have to wonder what this guy did to get him to do this, and what he cut from the final vid. Think we could get Bobbo to agree to doing a video for us?

So, radio funny guy Adam Carolla let the world know that he's one of the presenters of the new American Top Gear. And we can now, finally, confirm the rumor that drift king Tanner Faust is the Tiff Needel of the team. But the big news here is that NBC execs pulled L.A. Times auto writer Dan Neil from the U.S. show after a viewing his audition tape– despite a signed contract with the Pulitzer prize-winning critic. Neil says he's "very disappointed" with the network's decision, but understands their motivation. "They couldn't handle my heat," he joked. "Seriously. It's probably because I'm not very good on TV." The clock is ticking on finding Neil's replacement. Anyone heard anything?

Well, that's what happens when your employer pays you 80 cents on the dollar for your health care, and says here, you guys sort it out. The Detroit News reports that U.S. District Court Judge Robert Cleland considers Chrysler's $10.3b health care compact with its United Auto Workers (UAW) members "fair and reasonable." Under the terms of the agreement (a.k.a. health care VEBA), 170k active Chrysler workers, retirees, spouses and dependents will face new charges for their doctors' visits. In the short term, Chrysler retirees will now pay an $11 monthly premium and a $159 annual deductible. After that, a new 11-member supervisory board (six court appointees, five union reps) will ensure that the fund makes up the $8b shortfall AND makes enough money to cover soaring health care cost inflation, WITHOUT raising deductibles or further limiting patient choice OR allowing union members to plunder the fund OR letting cronies (lawyers, hospitals, etc.) get sweetheart deals OR waste precious VEBA funds. Meanwhile, Chrysler's lawyer says the VEBA's a good deal because her employer might go out of business. "We do believe in the light of the uncertain environment that Chrysler is operating that this settlement is the best for all parties," Nancy Ross pronounced. Ready for that summer vacation yet Nance?