Cars.com tackles the tough question of domestic content in its latest “American Made Index,” and comes away with a surprising result: Toyota’s Camry is the most “American” car on the market. Of course, making these distinctions in a global industry is fraught with difficulty. Though percentage of domestic parts content is tracked by the NHTSA for American Automobile Labeling Act compliance (PDF), those numbers count US and Canadian parts as being “domestic”. So Cars.com has created its own list which requires US assembly, at least 75 percent US-sourced parts content, and factors in sales numbers because “they correlate to the number of U.S. autoworkers employed to build any given model and to build the parts that go into those same cars.” Taking out vehicles that are being canceled with no clear replacement, the following vehicles make up their top ten “most American” automobiles.

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Consumers have a hard enough time keeping all the brands and nameplates in the US market straight; trying to keep track of the myriad suppliers that make up the bulk of the industry is nearly impossible. Even here on TTAC, our well-informed commentariat often throws up its hands at the first sign of supplier coverage. But the fortunes of suppliers to US auto firms have been fading for years now, as Detroit’s misery slides downhill through the various tiers of suppliers. And despite repeated calls for a supplier bailout (and their use as OEM bailout bait), aid has been either misappropriated or rejected. And the bankruptcies show no signs of slowing.

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Ford CEO Alan Mulally, speaking at the Detroit Economic Club’s National Summit, expressed his concerns about the health of the auto industry’s supplier base. “The most important thing that we do now is help them consolidate because we have this overcapacity,” Mulally is quoted as saying in Automotive News [sub]. “Everybody is going to be really careful that we do that and that we don’t topple the supply base.” Too bad the White House doesn’t agree, and suppliers have been screwed over since the bailouts began. Mulally also admitted that US automakers have a long way to go in convincing Americans of the value of their businesses. “Some things have happened, disappointed a lot of people, but we’ve got to really polish the value of what business brings to mankind,” he said. “We’re fighting for the soul of design and manufacturing in the United States.”

The WSJ reports that the Treasury has turned down an $8-$10 billion request by the OEM Supplier Association for aid to struggling auto supply firms. Department of The Treasury spokesfolks refuse to shed any light on the issue, but OEMSA President Neil De Koker tells the WSJ that PTFOA member Ron Bloom spiked the request because “they felt that unless we see chaos or a disorderly situation arising where have assembly-line shutdown due to lack of ability to get parts or stuff like that, then we would relook at this sitation, but that at the present time we believe everything is working.” The Journal goes as far as to credit this with decision with signaling “that the Obama administration wants to draw the line on how much taxpayer money it will spend on the U.S. auto industry.” That, or they know that supplier bankruptcies have been part and parcel of the US car biz for years now, and they’re keeping the powder dry for future OEM requests.

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Speaking at the Automotive News [sub] Manufacturing Conference, GM global manufacturing and labor relations honcho Gary Cowger (remember him?) had a “by Jove, we’ve got it!” moment that placed him in instant contention for the “Minimum” prefix recently vacated by Chrysler’s Bob Nardelli. Even the hosting publication couldn’t keep the scorn from dripping off its nut graph. “General Motors thinks it has created a method to build small vehicles profitably in North America and calls it interbuildability. Competitors know the concept as standardization.” Can you feel the love (in the air tonight)?

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The Original Equipment Suppliers Association is requesting an additional $8-$10 billion in TARP money, reports Automotive News [sub]. Because the first round worked so well. But two factors nearly guarantee that the request will be approved: first, the recent announcement that ten banks will be able to pay back some $68 billion in TARP money and second, the forthcoming resumption of production at GM and Chrysler when they emerge from bankruptcy. Oh yeah, and the fact that practically no TARP requests have been denied so far.

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that GM supplier Delphi will emerge from its three-year bankruptcy by selling itself to L.A.-based private equity firm Platinum Equity, for $3.6 billion. The bad news? Delphi will terminate its salaried pension plan, which covers 20,000 workers and retirees.The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp will take over Delphi’s pensions, a move which will “cap the annual payments to $54,000 a year for salaried retirees age 65 years or older.” Delphi’s hourly retirement fund “will be addressed by GM.” Or not. Whichever.

Sent to us from a member of our Best and Brightest, who’s been following former GM parts maker, and bankruptcy-stuck, Delphi’s implosion at an unsafe distance:

One bit of news last night, and two old known facts, that may be the tip of something bigger. 1. As expected, yesterday, Judge Drain extended the hearing on Delphi’s emergence plan until Tuesday, the day after the GM C11 2. The PTFOA [Presidential Task Force on Automobiles] has never said, and still won’t say, what price they are paying for the five US Delphi plants. 3 Platinum Equity has been sticking their nose in here [Delphi] trying to get to FMV for Delphi’s stuff. The first two on this list don’t make sense. The Platinum thing does. Here’s what could be going on . . .

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Parts maker Visteon’s US operations have filed for bankruptcy. No surprise there. In the nine years since FoMoCo spun off its vehicle climate systems, interior parts, lighting and electronic systems maker, Visteon has never posted an annual profit. After losing $663 million last year, Visteon warned a few weeks ago that they may have to file if the creditors would not agree to concessions. Nobody conceded. Visteon filed along with some of its US subsidiaries in the US bankruptcy court in Delaware. None of its overseas subsidiaries or joint ventures outside the US are part of the filing. Not that they need any help with it: In March Visteon’s main UK subsidiary filed for reorganization.

In its C11 filing, Visteon listed assets of $4.58 billion against debts of $5.3 billion. This as April sales to Ford, Visteon’s biggest customer, fell 40 percent. Automotive News [sub] reports that the company’s creators will be there for their progeny. “Visteon said Ford has committed to ensure long-term continuity of supply and to support debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing for the restructuring efforts. Ford is still Visteon’s biggest customer and accounted for about 31 percent of its $1.35 billion of sales last quarter.” The question is, can Ford afford another mouth to feed? And with all those bailout billions flowing towards all the other local suppliers, can Ford resist dipping-in for Visteon? If Visteon suckles, does that taint Ford’s non-bailout (Ford family control related) political purity?

With initial ($5 billion) attempts at bailing out struggling auto suppliers failing miserably, Reuters reports that Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm is calling for another $8 billion in supplier aid. Granholm says the aid will be especially important if (when) GM files for bankruptcy. “We need to provide the (auto) suppliers with the means to get through the next 60 to 90 days,” says Granholm. And then? Meanwhile, despite reports that (at least some) GM creditors will not be crammed down, MI Rep. Sanders Levin fired a shot over GM investors’ bows at the same press conference. The Chrysler experience proved to lenders that “bankruptcy doesn’t provide any more relief and maybe less,” said Levin. “We’re also hopeful that bondholders of GM have also got that message.”

American-owned supplier firms, not so much. Automotive News [sub] reports that Fiat’s plans to replace Chrysler’s entire “car lineup” with its own models creates an opportunity for Italian supplier firms to steal business from their American competitors. You know, the ones which would have created a “death ripple” in the American economy if Detroit were not bailed out way back in December. Chrysler’s last merger was “a catalyst to bring more German suppliers to North America,” says Michele Vannini, North American head of Italian engine maker VM Motori S.p.A. “The same thing can happen for Italian suppliers with Fiat and Chrysler.”

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The Ford-as-Survivor meme has properly taken hold in the mainstream media. But how much of the cheerleading is wishful thinking? Matt Debord of thebigmoney.com figures there’s no reason to get to excited about Ford’s $300 million stock offering, and indeed Ford’s stock is down considerably today. But Ford’s troubled supplier Visteon turned a $2 million Q1 profit, insists the Freep. The first quarterly profit since 2006! What you have to read in the whole piece to find out is that the profit comes courtesy of Visteon’s spun-off and bankrupted UK facilities. Meanwhile, Automotive News [sub] reports that Visteon financial filings admit the firm’s “ability to continue operating as a going concern is, among other things, dependent on the success of discussions with the lenders.”

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The $5 billion bailout of Detroit’s suppliers has “flopped” according to Automotive News [sub]. Even though the bailout funds were made available in mid-March, money has yet to be disbursed even to firms which have been blessed with OEM approval. Problems seem to be traceable back to the decision to use Citigroup to manage the funds. “All our paperwork has been in for weeks,” says one supplier CEO. “But Citibank does not return phone calls or e-mails.” With reports of Citi being “overwhelmed” by supplier applications (aka anyone owed money by GM or Chrysler) and rampant government red tape, what do Citi, GM, Chrysler and the Treasury say about the unfolding boondoggle? Nada. “A Treasury spokeswoman said the government has no information on how the car companies have disbursed the money or to whom. She referred all questions to GM and Chrysler.”

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We got a few “so what’s” a couple of wild-ass days ago when we whispered that Chrysler would be launching a new ad campaign using government funds earmarked for struggling parts suppliers. But setting aside the supplier screwing (yes, advertisers “supply” Chrysler, and with no production, why worry about components?), this means we will be treated to the launch of yet another New Chrysler. This will mark the second such dawning in just about a year. AdAge (via Automotive News [sub]) confirms the rumor, reporting that the responsible ad firm (BBDO, Detroit) also just happens to be Chrysler’s second-largest unsecured creditor ($58.1 million). And Judge Gonzalez still gets to decide whether the Mad Men will be paid out by the government’s “critical vendor” program. Anyway, the new campaign is being termed “educational,” with Chryco spokesfolks explaining “companies in this kind of situation need to communicate more rather than less.” Because sometimes having the President for a pitchman just isn’t enough.

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Bloomberg reports that if Chrysler fails to secure a deal with Fiat and rapidly exit Chapter 11, some 38,500 jobs could be lost in a liquidation. According to one of Chrysler’s lawyers, anyway. But an Automotive News [sub] story says that, in addition to Chrysler’s plant idling during bankruptcy, no fewer than eight of its factories will be permanently closed by December 2010. The best part? According to Chrysler sources, the proposed Fiat deal would allow ChryCo “to retain substantially all our employees.” Huh? “Any employee displaced by the bankruptcy will be given an opportunity at other Chrysler facilities,” explains spokeswoman Dianna Gutierrez. Not only did Chrysler deny that shutting eight plants would cause the negative impacts (job loss) that government billions were supposed to prevent, it went as far to suggest that the Fiat alliance would add about 5,000 employees to the payroll. In fact, if you believe the Pentastar line, there are only two victims in in the Chrysler plan: Sebring and Avenger.

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