TrueDelta has released the August results of its Vehicle Reliability Survey. Among the models surveyed: the 2009 Nissan Murano, 2009 Jaguar XF, 2008 smart fortwo (no caps) and 2008 Saturn ASTRA (all caps). The Murano follows the Rogue in requiring fewer repairs in its first few months than Nissan's previous redesigns. The smart requires more repairs than the average car, but not too many more. That would be the Jaguar. Though the sample size for the new XF was small, the reported repair rate was nearly four times the average of a nearly new car. Most commonly reported… wait for it… electrical glitches. Finally, the most reliable of the three European-sourced models, with a require rate about half the average, comes from… GM. GM designs often require far fewer repairs in their second year of production. Following what used to be a common practice with new Japanese designs, the ASTRA also spent its first year overseas. So it comes to the U.S. nearly glitch-free. Full results at the link below.

The e-voting booths are closed and the votes are in. You've selected TTAC's Ten Best Automobiles for 2008. Five of the ten are repeat winners from last year– but only one of them stayed in the same slot. Three of our winners slipped in the ratings, and one moved up. GM, Mazda, Nissan and BMW all have two winners on the list. Honda and Audi each have one. There are sedans, sports cars and econoboxes. In fact, the only thing that seems to bind this group of cars together is the "fun to drive" factor (anyone who doesn't think that's important can click here). The rest of you can make the jump and help celebrate/kvetch about TTAC's Ten Best for 2008

If you want your brain to melt, ask a car designer to explain… anything. When it comes to torturing the English language and obfuscating meaning, these guys are the masters (these are not the Hoffmeister kinks you want). Ralph Gilles is different. Chrysler's freshly-anointed Design Chief is a man of the [Canadian] streets. OK, yes and an Art School grad. But when Ralph talked to Automotive News [sub] about his employer's new design direction (they have vehicles to design?), all we got, thankfully, was "We're done with the 'Edge' look." So it's in with "organic shapes." Like… the 300? Or those two-day-old moldering vegetables I no longer buy? I kid. Anyway, meanwhile, good luck getting that "monkey off our backs on interiors." And the following pledge (as reported by The Detroit Free Press): "With the Nissan project we're working on, we've got designers stationed there… and you'd never know it was based on a Nissan." Oops! I guess that cat's out of the bag!

With Chrysler’s slide well underway, it’s only a matter of time before Honda becomes America’s fourth largest automaker (behind Toyota, GM and Ford). Honda will then hold the same rank stateside as it occupies in Japan– behind Toyota, Nissan, and Suzuki. While Honda’s relative success in its home territory may surprise some American industry watchers, the automaker’s contrasting strategy in the Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) reveals a hidden “secret” to their U.S. success.

The outlines of the Japanese car market are simple enough. Toyota OWNS the JDM, with a 50 percent market share (GM at its 1960 level). Many automakers have tried to go head-to-head with ToMoCo. Mazda tried; Ford had to take over to bail them out. Nissan has been chasing ToMoCo for over 50 years. It almost killed them. Honda was Japan’s number two at that point. But once Renault got Nissan back in shape, Honda faded back to third (and recently fourth).

It should be remembered that Honda is Japan’s new kid on the block. Taking the top slot at home simply doesn’t hold the same thrill for them as it does for their older rivals (the motorcycle market is another matter.) Considering what has happened to the challengers, it’s probably a sensible decision. 

At the moment, the total Japanese market accounts for 3.2m units a year, equivalent to around 20 percent of total U.S. production. Honda's share: somewhere between 500k and 1m. It’s the breadth of Honda’s JDM lineup that's the most interesting aspect of its home market. Honda sells three sizes of Minivan, Kei-cars with engines that would embarrass motorcycles, station wagons, sedans, compacts, crossovers, you name it. 

Honda Japan offers most of the models familiar to North American buyers, but often in strange configurations (e.g. all-wheel drive Odyssey minivans and Civic sedans and hatchbacks). Only the Pilot is notable by its absence; the boxier and cheaper (than the CR-V) three-row “Crossroad” serves in its stead. 

In stark contrast, the most interesting thing about Honda’s North American offerings is what the brand doesn’t offer. Compared to most of its competition, Honda is missing several sizes of vehicle. Other car companies moving the metal in The Land of the Free sell four sizes of car. Honda has three. Other makers have two kinds of two-row S/CUVs. Honda has one (in three varieties). Even little Mazda has three different mini-vans. Honda NA has one.

A glance at Honda’s oversea website shows that the Japanese automaker produces the vehicles it needs to match the competition, model-for-model. So why hasn’t Honda they brought reinforcements from the land of the horse chestnuts? The answer lies within Honda NA’s option lists.

As far as conventional options go, Honda follows the classic “Japanese import” option path. Every model has two or three basic trims that differ mostly in terms of cosmetic and “convenience” items (CD-changers, moon roofs, alloy wheels etc.). Electronic Stability Control (ESC) is standard across most of the range. Honda's only real “factory” options are satellite navigation and driven wheels (2WD/AWD for the S/CUVs). 

The CR-V, Honda’s perennially popular CUV slash wagon, is available in two-and-a-half trims, plus a pair of “niche-y” cousins. They all come with the same four-cylinder engine (Acura gets a turbo-charger) and two rows of seats. Almost all its rivals offer a V6 engine; several (including Toyota), and provide an optional third row. Despite this supposed deficit, the Honda CR-V has outsold the Toyota RAV-4 for a decade, and looks to be thriving in a bad market (sales on target for 200k).

Minivans? Same deal. Toyota will sell you an AWD mini-van, Honda NA doesn’t. And yet the Odyssey out-sells the Sienna.

This lack of choice is the "secret" key to Honda's success. And it's aimed– rightly– at Honda dealers, rather than the brand’s U.S. customers. By limiting options, Honda keeps it dealers focused on making volume sales, rather than gorging on limited editions. Keeping the models distinct also prevents new vehicles from eating the old. Witness what the Nissan Rogue is doing to the Murano.

Honda’s policy points up its strength (premium prices) and weakness (lack of capacity) in the NA market. Honda sells vehicles that use either 80 to 90 percent or 10 to 20 percent of their production line’s capacity. There is little “sharing.”  Filtering in additional models and variants would increase sales, but it would take a larger percentage of capacity (flexible manufacturing or no).

Honda’s is not the only formula for success in NA. BMW makes plenty of profits by selling dozens of variants of a handful of platforms, with expensive options aplenty. But then, the Bavarians play at a different price point. Selling generic (if loaded) vehicles works well in the American mass market. And no one seems quite as focused on that task as Honda, regardless of their market share here, or at home.

All car manufacturers would like you to believe they're turning their back on fleet sales. It simply doesn't pay to be known as a "pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap" automaker– even if that's exactly what you are. Hence manufacturers' quarterly reports that highlight models whose rental sales have fallen. I repeat, rental. Lest we forget, companies and government agencies are also significant bulk buyers. So, BS aside, who leads the pack in the fleet sales that all carmakers say they don't rely upon to drive up their numbers and keep the factories humming?

Surprise! Chrysler is the admiral of the fleet. Statistics for the first half of the year reveal that fleet sales make up 35.6 percent of their total 2008 sales. Of those, fully 75.1 percent went to the rental companies. Jeep's fleet sales are low, but if you look at the Dodge division, 39.4 percent of their production went to fleets, led by the lame duck Magnum (75.4 percent) and Avenger (65.5 percent). 

That's nothing compared to Chrysler Division, though. Just under half— 44.9 percent – of their '08 model year cars have gone to fleets, with 63.8 percent of PT Cruisers and 66.1 percent of Sebrings at the head of that line.

Ford claims decreased fleet sales is one of the main reasons their sales are down this year. Yet 32.7 percent of their ‘08 sales sailed with the fleets. As Crown Vic and Town Car sales are restricted to taxi and livery use, only 41.5% of Ford's fleet sales have been to rental companies. 

Breaking it down by division, the Crown Vic is the undisputed leader, with 94.2 percent of production serving fleet duty. Taurus and Taurus X are next, with 48.1 and 54.8 percent respectively, accounting for 34.1 percent of the nameplates' total sales. Bulk buyers scarfed 55.3 percent of Grand Marquis sales. And that helped drive 31.5 percent of Mercury's sales to the fleets. There is some good news for FoMoCo. Even with 59.9 percent of Town Car production sold for fleets, Lincoln's overall fleet share is only 23.4 percent of production

GM may have cut fleet sales, but over a quarter (26.4 percent) of their production found its way into fleets. Over half of those (57.8 percent) went to rental companies. Excluding models built specifically for commercial use, Chevy's Impala led the parade; 49.9 percent of total production sold to fleets. Trailblazer (39.6 percent) and Cobalt (38.7 percent) were next. Even though GM says the new Malibu is going great guns, 33 percent of the ‘08's went to fleets. Overall, 31.5 percent of Chevy's production ended-up in the fleets.

Pontiac is GM's hands-down fleet champion. Four out of every ten ‘08 Pontiacs ended up in the hands of fleet managers. They're loading the fleets with Grands Prix (64.6 percent of production), G6's (44.8 percent) and G5's (30.5 percent). The other GM divisions averaged less than 15 percent fleet sales.

Most of the imported nameplates also averaged below 15 percent total fleet sales. Kia led the imports, with 34.3 percent of U.S. cars going to fleets, the majority of which went to rental companies.  Sedona and Rondo are almost tied with 46.2 and 45.6 percent fleet sales respectively. 

Mitsubishi was the second most popular fleet queen amongst the import brands. A bit over one quarter (25.7 percent) of Mitsubishi's sales were to fleets, almost exclusively for rentals. The Galant the most popular (45.3 percent). Endeavor was a close second (42.6 percent). 

Mazda was close third, trailing Mitsu by 0.4 percent (25.3 percent). Like Mitsubishi, almost all of the fleet sales ended up in rental lots. The Mazda6 and Mazda5 were the most popular models, with 59.5 percent of 6's and 47.7 percent of 5's available for daily use at a nominal charge.

Hyundai used the fleet market to sell 23.9 percent of their vehicles, again with almost all going to rental companies. Forty percent of Sonatas and 25.3 percent of Azeras were fleetward bound. 

As for the other transplants, there were a few interesting data points– even if the manufactures didn't show anything surprising overall.

Toyota (who says they restrict sales to fleets) unloaded 25.6 percent of their Avalons in that manner, mostly to rental companies. Volvo found fleets to be a good dumping ground for S40 (48.9 percent) and S60 (45.5 percent). And although the overall sales numbers are low, 20.2 percent of Jag X-types joined them. 

There may be some real interesting results once July and August's figures are posted. For example, Nissan's inventory of Titans dropped from a 400+ day supply to just over 100 days in July. Toyota and other manufacturers have huge numbers of full-sized pickup trucks they also need to off-load, stat. Anyone fancy a Tundra for a company car?

The Wall Street Journal reports that "Chrysler LLC will aggressively pursue partnerships with other auto makers to expand its global reach–" Hang on; "expand its global reach?" Don't you mean get something into Chrysler's American showrooms that customers will actually buy so we (Cerberus) can finally sell someone this turkey? No? OK. Carry on. "and its president dismissed the idea that joint ventures may damage the value of Chrysler's own brand." Well exactly! How could rebadging/reengineering someone else's product possibly hurt Chrysler's brand? (What brand, you say?) Especially when ChryCo Co-Prez Tom LaSorda promises "every joint venture will either produce an entirely new vehicle not already in Chrysler's lineup or it will be limited to a slightly modified car or truck made or designed by the partner but that doesn't compete with an existing Chrysler model in the same market." What's more, LaSorda says everyone should be doing it! "Partner early and partner often, because more strategic alliances and joint ventures are on the way. And the best time to partner with a company entering your market is before they enter." So let's see… Chrysler's cutting or trying to cut deals with VW, Nissan, Fiat, Great Wall, Chery, Mahindra and one Russian carmaker to be named (or not) later. Is there anyone "The New Chrysler" won't sleep with talk to?

If you live in Massachusetts, and you're among the roughly one in a million Americans that drives a hydrogen-powered car, you can refuel it without crossing state lines. The The Lowell Sun reports that PowerTap in Billerica, near Boston, is now open for biz, courtesy of Nuvera Fuel Cells. The hydrogen station opened just in time to replenish a parade of H-powered cars on a 13-day cross-country cavalcade from Portland, Maine to LA. The cross-country parade included a Honda Clarity, VW Tiguan, Toyota Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle, Nissan X-Trail, Merc S-Cell and BMW H7. Speaking to your intrepid reporter, the Director of Technology and Communications for the National Hydrogen Association revealed that these and other H-powered vehicles can fill-up at 62 stations nationwide (25 in California, 'natch). Serfass also proudly pointed out that the hydrogen provided by these stations is produced entirely via renewable energy or natural gas, although he doesn't know what percentage comes from which source.

As you may or may not have seen, Nissan is building a convertible Murano. OK, so… besides the obvious question (what were they drinking?), I'm starting to see the 4-door crossover drop top as a good idea. A few reasons why. I recently drove the new Murano. It was so dull that not only do I barely remember spending a week with it, but the TTAC governing body told me to not even bother with a review (it would have been a Second Take, granted). Besides looking like a moon buggy, the 17 mpg soft-roader has nothing going for it. Hacking off the roof could only help. Additionally, as an American loving American, I proudly stand behind all 4-door convertibles. No other cars so perfectly capture our fading but still proud space race zeitgeist. And since the domestics aren't building one, go Nissan! Finally, one of my least favorite rental cars — the PT Cruiser — is improved by at least 500% once the top comes off. You?

It's never a good idea to let journalists loose on a prototype. Even the tamest of the breed feels obliged to point out the vehicle's deficiencies. In this case, AutoWeek's Hans Greimel flew to Japan to test Nissan's gas – electric Infiniti G35. Needless to say, it didn't fail to disappoint. "During a prototype test drive for journalists last week in Japan, the hybrid car suffered awkward lags when the engine kicked in to help the electric motor. Deceleration also was jerky because of battery regeneration. 'We still have a few issues with this development vehicle,' says Tatsuo Abe, manager of Nissan's hybrid engineering unit." News-wise, Nissan hasn't decided which Infiniti to hybridize, but it won't try to out-mpg the Prius. "Toyota is the current leader, and one of our intentions is to approach hybrids from a different angle," Product Veep Atsushi Shizuta told AW's Man in Japan. "This is as much about power assist as it is about fuel economy." Hans sees the flaw in that one. "Honda pitched the performance of its Accord Hybrid sedan but dumped the model at the end of the 2007 model year after lackluster sales. Honda is now planning a hybrid Fit small car, which should achieve excellent fuel economy." 

TTAC's Best and Brightest have spoken. You provided us with 81 nominations for our Ten Best award, from the Aston Martin Vanquish to the HUMMER H2. From this cornucopia of cars, our ever-eager writers selected the short list of 20 finalists. As you might expect, the final list leans heavily towards vehicles notable for their performance and driving excellence. Half of this year's contenders were also finalists last year [indicated by an asterisk]. So here they are, along with some of your more "colorful" comments. Once you've had a look, please step into the e-voting booth and choose TTAC's Ten Best.

The inventory levels and average sales per franchise (SPF) numbers as of August first are out and almost everyone looks good on the car side of the inventory sheet. Trucks are a whole ‘nother matter, though.  Dealers are doing whatever they have to– including half price sales– to move body-on-frame trucks but inventory is still piling up. Just how bad is it? Well, let's take a look… 

Chrysler has fewer vehicles sitting around than at the same time last year, but sales are so bad that "abysmal" would be an optimistic appraisal. In July, Chrysler sold only seven vehicles per franchise (SPF). Jeep was marginally better with eight SPF, while Dodge sold 20 vehicles per franchise. High inventory numbers reflect those low sales. Jeep dealers have to contend with a 168-day supply of Liberty, a 156-day stock of Wrangler and 118 days' worth of both Compass and Grand Cherokee.

Dodge is even worse. While their passenger car inventories are at manageable levels, they have enough Rams for 111 days, enough Journeys for 132 days, enough Nitros for 224 days and– get this– enough Durangos to last 354 days. Chrysler franchisees don't have a lot of room on their lots, either. The 300 inventory represents 116 days of sales, and they have enough Town & Countrys and Aspens to last 111 and 158 days respectively.

Ford dealers are faring better, moving 37 units each. Lincoln and Mercury peddlers didn't fare so well, selling six and four vehicles each respectively. FoMoCo inventories looked pretty good on the car side, with only the MKZ and Milan into three digits (102 days for both). Ford's car-based CUVs are doing well– except for the Flex's 134-day supply. Dealer stock of body-on-frame trucks– F-Series (107 days), Explorer (111 days) and Expedition (125 days)– are piling up. The stalwart Ranger is looking good, with a mere 68 day supply.

Saturn leads the GM dealer hit parade with 41 average sales per franchise, followed not too closely by Chevy dealers with 34 sales each. After that, GM's SPF stats drop it like its hot. GMC franchisees managed to sell just 12 trucks each. Hummer dealers somehow got 11 units each out the door. Pontiac dealers averaged 10 vehicles. Cadillac and Saab dealers tallied nine sales each, while Buickmongers only eked-out three sales apiece in July. 

With a few exceptions like the LaCrosse (121 days), Lucerne (125 days), and Corvette (145 days), GM's passenger car inventory looks pretty good. But, like everyone else, traditional trucks are available in abundance. The three Escalade models average 152 days. Every Chevy truck with exception of Tahoe is in the triple-digit club, with Avalanche leading the parade at 156 days. The Tahoe barely escaped membership with a 98-day supply on the lots. All of the GMC SUVs and pickups are well over the hundred-day mark. 

The Big 2.8 aren't the only ones sitting on oodles of trucks. Honda dealers have a 111-day supply of Pilots and a 127-day supply of Ridgelines to unload. Acura dealers have a similar excess of MDX (120 days) and RDX (113 days). On the positive side, Honda dealers managed to sell 81 cars and 42 trucks per franchise, while Acura dealers moved 30 cars and 18 trucks each.

For some reason, Toyota won't break their inventory down by model. All we know is that Toyota/Scion dealers started the month with a 29-day supply of cars and a 99-day supply of trucks, while Lexus dealerships had 42 days' worth of cars and enough trucks for 60 days. Toyota placed first in sales per franchise, moving 94 cars and 49 trucks each in July. Even with the economic downturn, Lexus dealers averaged 60 cars and 40 trucks each.

Nissan follows the same inventory trend as the rest of the industry. The only Nissan cars exceeding the ideal 60-day inventory level are the Maxima (62 days) and 350Z (182 days). The inventory report also shows 600 GT-R's in the U.S…. somewhere. Trucks look surprisingly good, too, except for Murano (134 days), Armada (143 days) and Titan (down from 489 to 144– does anyone else smell massive fleet sales?). Nissan's 47 cars and 34 trucks SPF placed it fourth overall, behind Toyota, Honda and Lexus.

Other manufactures show similar numbers. Mazda has a 46-day supply of cars and a 108-day supply of trucks. Mitsubishi follows suit, with 65/125-day averages.  Hyundai and Kia dealers are sitting on a 42-day supply of cars and a 61-day supply of trucks. Hyundai dealers sold an average of 52 vehicles each, while Kia dealers pushed 43 units out the door in July. Mazda moved 33 vehicles per franchise while Mitsubishi dealers managed 19 sales each.

You can expect these inventory numbers to fluctuate quite a bit over the next few months, as manufacturers continue to adjust production mixes to cut back on trucks and increase cars. Sales per dealership seem to remain fairly constant, moving maybe one or two places in either direction from month to month. As always, we'll keep an eye on them and let you know what happens.

Thanks to the folks over at Edmunds Inside Line , the embargo is broken and pics are out of the 2009 Acura TL. It's a 28th century wedge of cheese. Acura is really taking their cyborg design theme to the extremes (they call it Keen Edge Dynamic), and while I don't like the general styling, it may look better here on the new TL than it does on the recently debuted Acura TSX. The TL's grill is all ready to plow your snow. That should be a fairly easy job thanks to the optional AWD, included on the higher priced 3.7 liter V6 models. The base 3.5 liter V6 puts out 280 horses through the front wheels only. Both engines route power through a 5-speed automatic: no word if a stick will be available, sorry to friend that like using the left foot. Like in the TSX, the interior on the TL is another Acura buttonfest – an ironic and sad development from the Honda folks that used to build ergonomically pleasant cabins. Since brands without an identity are now trying to sell themselves as the high tech gadget companies (Acura, Lincoln, Ford, Tesla, Nissan), the TL will be loaded up with bluetooth this and alphabet-soup that. Another one bites the dust? How will it stack up against arch rivals like the fellow front wheel drive, automatic only Nissan Maxima? We'll wait to drive it of course, but the TL is off to an ugly start.

                                          Pixamo Gallery

Chrysler doesn't do well outside it own backyard, or play well with others. The American automaker's attempts to expand globally in the early ‘60s ended with Chrysler selling their European operations (Rootes Group, Simca and Barreiros) to PSA Peugeot Citroën. In the 70's, Chrysler off-loaded their Australian subsidiary to Mitsubishi. ChryCo's last U.S. partnership with a Japanese manufacturer (Mitsubishi again) ended on less than cordial terms. The "merger of equals" with Germany's Mercedes-Benz almost [may actually have] killed it. So why would Chrysler entertain the idea of another off-shore partnership? And why would Nissan ever want to partner with an automaker as moribund as Chrysler?

Chrysler has inked an agreement with Nissan whereby the Yanks will build a full-sized pickup to replace the transplant's dead-in-the-water Titan. Should the deal come to fruition, Nissan will be "free" to stop producing their four-wheeled Dodo. They can then convert their Mississippi Titan plant to produce more commercial, commercial vehicles.

In return, Nissan will build a small car for Chrysler. And now, even as Chrysler says they have "no new alliances" to announce, the media suggests that Nissan will also build some version or another of their Altima midsized sedan for Chrysler dealers. Although the move transforms the much-touted "Project D" into "Project Dead," the automotive "outsourcing" would save Chrysler tens of millions of precious dollars in product development. Oh, did I mention Chrysler's contract with China's Chery to produce a subcompact for Dodge? Same deal.

Connect the dots and you have the meta-strategy outlined here before: Chrysler as K-Mart. It's only a matter of time before ALL of Chrysler and Dodge's products would be, in effect, store brands: other people's products labeled as Chryslers/Dodges. IF it has the time, Chrysler will maintain factories for their truck lines (operating at a reduced capacity) and get out of the automobile manufacturing business entirely. 

So what's in it for Nissan? A line of rebadged Nissans may sound like just what the doctor (Z) ordered for Chrysler, but what chance does a Nissan badged Ram have?

History says not much. In the ‘90s, Ford assembled and sold the first generation Nissan Quest minivan as the Mercury Villager. Splat! After 2002 Ford and Nissan went their separate ways. In fact, American-badged versions of imported brand vehicles have always sold poorly, especially compared to the original. Think Quest/Villager, Matrix/Vibe, Eclipse/Talon, Corolla/Prizm.

Likewise, the import-branded version of American trucks have been sales zombies. Chevy Colorados did nothing as Isuzus. The Ford Ranger goes nowhere as the Mazda B-series. The Dodge Dakota sells even more poorly as a Mitsubishi Raider. A Nissan Dodge Ram might do better than the Titan, but that says nothing good about either truck.  

One can only surmise (as many have) that Nissan's simply testing the waters, trawling for the remnants of Chrysler's production capacity, easing the eventual hauling-up of same. One can also look at history and see why Nissan would consider cozying-up to Chrysler: the company's [once and sole remaining] "crown" jewel. Jeep.  

Obviously, DaimlerChrysler/Chrysler has done much to damage the iconic brand. Jeep sales are down 21.2 percent year-to-date (YTD). The Commander (down 54 percent in July) and the Compass (down 45.9 percent in July) are disasters. And yet the not-so-great Jeep Patriot is up four percent last month. The model offers proof– if proof be needed– that Jeep remains a powerful brand with excellent potential.

European and U.S. fuel economy regulations or no, with Nissan's connections in Asia and Renault's presence in Europe, a Nissan-owned Jeep could become a world-wide brand. Yes, Jeep's cursed; every company that's bought it has gone to the wall or belly-up at some point. But the brand still sings its siren song, all these years later.

The question is, of course, can Cerberus hang on long enough to strip and flip Chrysler/Jeep outside of C11? Moody's just downgraded ChryCo deeper into junk bond territory and bestowed B2 status on Chrysler Financial. Cerberus isn't in the habit of losing money. They'll have to do something soon. Selling off Chrysler NOW seems to be the best way to stop the cash hemorrhage.

Nissan isn't stupid enough to swallow Chrysler whole (especially bits and pieces can be had for pennies on the dollar). Nissan would end up with unneeded production capacity, outdated factories, the UAW, segment-trailing models and an executive staff that seems to excel at losing money. Other than the full-sized truck lines and Jeep, everything else would be surplus to requirements. Any thought of taking Chrysler back upscale would run headlong into Infiniti.

Nissan's supposed production agreements with Chrysler give Cerberus more credibility (i.e. time) with its financial backers. They also give Nissan a chance to see what's under the hood before the auction starts. It's a win – win situation– until someone loses. Whatever happens, that won't be Nissan. 

This website has long argued that automakers should spend the majority of their resources nurturing existing autos. Introducing new models on a regular basis, constantly reinventing the wheel to follow fads and fashion, is an inherently expensive and dangerous game. Nissan's 350Z proves the point. It's a four-wheeled personification of not fixing what isn't broken. Better yet, it's a proper Nissan sports car at a price that shames the Ebay-adjusted, oversexed GT-R. Thankfully, the Z is still crazy after all these years.

RF just shot me a press release that claims a Peugeot survey discovered that drivers use their owner's manuals now more than ever. According to their findings, 79 percent of customers have consulted their handbook and learned about features on their cars that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. Some 93 percent of drivers have read or do read their handbook. Fully 82 percent feel it necessary to have a paper copy of the handbook rather than access the info electronically. The entire story sent alarm bells off in my head. I mean, the last time I used an owner's manual was when my 2000 Nissan Sentra's engine warning light started flashing at me (it meant my gas cap was loose). And, that's it. OK, in the interest of Truth, I did thumb through the Jeep Wrangler's book to try and figure out how to remove the top, the doors and the windscreen. But I put it down when I came across an image of a rubber mallet. You?