Is there anyone Chryslerberus isn't trying to strike up a deal with? According to Reuters, Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper claims Chrysler is in "quite advanced" talks with Fiat to produce Alfa Romeo cars in the U.S. using Chrysler's factories. The newspaper cited "industry sources" (can you  be any more vague?) as saying "the talks are moving forward." Hang on; isn't that Toyota's tag line? Anyway, Fiat had no comment on the rumor. Chrysler's spokeswoman called the story speculation (ya think?). But she admitted what everyone in Christendom already knows: "there could be other partnerships with other automakers." The questions yet to be answered: will Alfisti accept an Alfa that doesn't come from Lo Stivale? Who has the worse reputation for quality? And why didn't anyone use the date 2010 in this story, except us?

TTAC's monthly By The Numbers editorial tracks everything from fuel-sucking SUVs to the gas-sipping Prius. In this month's report, the sales stat were bleak almost across the board. Almost, but not quite. Economy car sales are, as you'd expect, relatively robust. To bring a little joy to readers fed-up with a steady stream of bad news, I decided to chart new car sales for subcompacts and compacts from the "Big 6:" Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Nissan and Toyota. The stats run for all of '07, and year-to-date. Here's how the so-called bottom of the automotive food chain is looking, with review links and inventory levels thrown-in for good measure…

Subcompacts

Honda's Fit is giving the competition fits. Sales of Jonny Lieberman's favorite sub-compact are up a whopping 61.4 percent over last March. Annual sales are even more impressive: jumping some 77 percent over last year. Hard to believe, but the Toyota Yaris did even better on the month, clocking-in with a 70.1 percent increase. The car RF said "isn't a pig to drive" didn't do quite as well on the year, rising "only" 58.3% over the first three months. Nissan's Versa is picking-up steam too. It was up 24.6 percent for March and 20.5 percent for the year. The good news ended at Chevy dealers' doors. The Korean-built Chevy Aveo's sales were way down– a 45.6 percent drop from last March.  Annual sales of PJ's whipping post are down 19.2 percent from this time last year.

The inventory levels for these mighty mites reflect their sales show. Chevy started April with a 113-day supply of Aveos. Honda only stocked enough Fits to last 27 days, and Nissan's supply of Versas would last 53 days. Toyota doesn't break out individual models in their inventory numbers, but they started the month with a 51-day supply of cars and trucks.

Compact

Compact sales look equally robust, with a couple of surprising exceptions. The Dodge Caliber went up 10.1 percent in March and is 15.2 percent ahead of last year. Ford's Focus is in SYNC, with a 24 percent jump in March and a 23.2 percent gain over 2007 year to date.  The Honda Civic finished the month 10.2 percent ahead of last March and up 13.8 percent on last year. The compact-in-name-only Nissan Sentra had a strong showing, increasing 12.8 percent in March and 20.5 percent for the year to date.

The surprises: the Chevy Cobalt and Toyota Corolla. Both showed sales decreases in March. Sales of the car Chris Paukert called "a solid set-up man" (back in 2005) dropped 23.8 percent. The Corolla fell even further, down 26.9 percent. For the year to date, Cobalt's still holding its own, with a 14.5 percent increase over last year. Corolla's sales so far this year are down 24 percent.

As with the subcompacts, inventory levels of the compacts reflect the monthly sales. April began with a 48-day supply of Calibers and a 54-day supply of Foci on dealers' lots. Honda dealers started the month with a 52-day supply of Civic. The Sentra started the month with the ideal 60-day level. Chevy faced April Fool's Day with a 75-day supply of Cobalts. Just like with the Yaris, the inventory level for the Corolla wasn't available.

The Future

You'll see a flurry of activity in the subcompact and compact segment over the next few years, particularly from the American manufacturers. They've all but ignored these markets while chasing truck profits, with two not even playing in the subcompact segment. And now it's coming back to haunt them. With the 35-mpg CAFE standard looming on the horizon, The Big 2.8 have put their small car skates on.

Ford's decision to make SYNC an option on the Focus (rather than limiting the technology to their more expensive vehicles) and the forthcoming importation of the new Fiesta reflect this new priority. Chrysler's deal with Nissan will give them a Japanese-built small car in a couple of years; their partnership with Chery should bear fruit soon. GM's focusing a lot of attention on GMDAT, their corporate small car nexus. 

While they play catch-up, China and/or India could well send a bevy of small cars to our shores. And Toyandasan and friends aren't aren't sitting back watching by the market segment they dominate lip away. They'll keep improving their products to maintain their lead. The end result: an American small car renaissance. It is, in fact, the silver lining.

Let's recap. Chrysler builds pickup trucks for Mitsubishi. Chery is working on a U.S.-market subcompact for Chrysler. Chrysler is selling a rebadged Chery as a Dodge in Mexico. Volkswagen is selling Chrysler-built minivans in the U.S. Nissan is building small trucks for Suzuki to sell in the U.S. and Versas to be sold as Chryslers in Brazil. Chrysler has been talking with Great Wall Motors in China about something. Now, just in case all these relationships aren't confusing enough, The Detroit Free Press reports that Chrysler and Nissan announced Chrysler will build a version of the Ram pickup in Mexico for Nissan to sell in the U.S. In return, Nissan will build a North American-bound small car in Japan for Chrysler. In a way, all this makes sense, particularly the Chrysler-Nissan deals. After all, Chrysler has a well-established presence in the truck and van market while Nissan and Chery specialize in small cars. All they're doing is capitalizing on each other's strengths. However, the more Nissan and Chrysler snuggle-up together, the more it seems that Nissan is testing the waters for establishing an American partner– something Carlos Ghosn has promised, eventually. Don't be surprised if in the next few years you hear that Chrysler's building vans for Nissan or that Nissan's supplying Altima drivetrain components for the Sebring/Avenger. And when Cerberus starts the flip 'n strip with Chrysler, Nissan will be right there to pick up the pieces. You heard it here first.

The breathlyzer ignition lock has been around for years; several courts have mandated a "blow in" device for convicted DUI offenders' cars. Automotive News [sub] reports the web site www.dadss.org (DADSS = Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety) is soliciting ideas from technology developers for a passive system that will prevent the car from starting if it decides the driver's alcohol level is high enough to cause impairment. The automakers are already looking in that direction; last year Nissan featured a concept car with various air sniffers, sweat sensors and a facial monitoring system to deactivate the car's ignition if the driver had one too many. Obviously there's still a lot of work to do on the concept but experts estimate such a system could save 9k lives annually. They hope to have working prototypes within five years.

Automotive News [AN, sub] reveals the results of an "unscientific online survey" of "more than 400" U.S. new car dealers. AN paints a predictably bleak picture– for the domestics. "Among dealers who sell Detroit 3 domestic brands, nearly one-third say their dealerships are in the red. The only argument you'll get from a lot of them is whether this is the worst business climate dealers have faced in 20 years, in 35 years — or ever… 'The future is quite bleak,' says a veteran Ford dealer… 'Many dealers are looking for the exit.' But matters are far less dismal for Toyota, Honda and Nissan dealers. Nearly all say their dealerships remain profitable." Reaffirming that [unscientific] result, AN says half of the [participating] Detroit dealers have less staff than last year, while a third of Toyota, Honda and Nissan dealers have added personnel. "And half of the Detroit 3 dealers surveyed said most of the new-vehicle customers they now see are 'upside down,' owing more on their trade-ins than the vehicles are worth." Meanwhile… "Life in Toyota-land is good," says Dan Luneau, owner of Handy Toyota in St. Albans (VT). 

I've always greatly admired Hennessey. Any tuner that even thinks about boring-out a 500hp Dodge Viper mill to 9.5 liters gets my respect. And one that straps a brace of  turbos on the result– boosting horsepower from a "mere" 800 to a Veyron-beating 1200–gets what Sajeev insists on calling mad props. According to Motor Authority, the Texas-based tuner is now turning its tuning talents towards Japanese metal. Specifically, the two hottest cars to come from the Land of the Rising Sun: the Lexus IS-F and Nissan's world-beating GT-R. While I have a slightly different opinion of the IS-F than Mr. McCombs (I friggin' love it), I think we can both agree that the last thing the lunatic Lexus needs is more power. So naturally Hennessey is going to bolt on a supercharger and fit the beast with headers, exhaust and a new intake. No word on the power, but you can bet it will be, "adequate." And by adequate I mean seven kinds of bonkers. Look for it later this year. As for Godzilla, it won't show up until 2009. I'm thinking the sky [line] will be the limit. Either that, or there won't be any limit whatsoever. The No Limits GT-R. Sign me up.

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.

Nissan is switching production at its Canton, MS factory from the Quest minivan and Infiniti QX56 SUV to light commercial vehicles (LCV). USA Today reports that the commercial-grade trucks will start rolling off the line in 2010, and that Nissan has yet to decide if the outgoing Quest and QX56 will be replaced. "When we get to the end of each vehicle's cycle, we look at the market" and decide the fate of each vehicle, says Nissan spokeswoman Frederique Le Greves. "The decision has not been finalized. The intention is to continue them, but we don't know where we will manufacture them." Parse the PR-speak, and you get "maybe we'll replace them if minivan and SUV sales pick up." Canton will continue to produce Titan pickups and Altima sedans, while the $118m production switchover takes place. New LCVs will be built for the US market in the eight-ton gross vehicle weight class, powered by 50-state emissions control compatible Cummins turbodiesel engines.

Last month I posted that noted hoon, auto journo and buddy of mine Jack Baruth predicted that the GT-R would be a non-starter. Guess who was wrong, at least in Old Blighty? Right, not you. Motor Authority is authoritatively reporting that UK dealers placed orders for 700 GT-Rs in a 48-hour period once Nissan gave them the OK to do so. And they need more. Since Godzilla's seemingly nuclear-powered mill is hand-assembled, the factory boys in Japan can only build so many– just 1,000 examples per month as it turns out. That's 1,000 engines per month for the entire world. Meaning that Tokyo drifters, Google janitors, extended Emirates families and sicko European Anime fetishists all get their Skylines from that same factory. And how can we forget teenage Russian billionaires? Exactly, we can't. As UK drivers seem to get bent over and reamed routinely these days, the worst part is that even with the massive pre-order, British Gran Turismo 5 Prologue fanatics won't be getting their 480 hp (at least) monsters until March of 2009. And by March we mean May. And if Red Ken has his way, London-based potential GT-R owners will be charged £25 an hour for daydreaming about their future rides. In semi-related news, a little birdie informed me that Universal Nissan — our nation's largest Nissan dealer across the street from Universal Studios — will be charging "only" $40K on top of MSRP. Maybe there's hope for Jack?

In America, the Rogue is Nissan's compact crossover. The Qashqai (nicknamed Kumquat by Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear) is the Rogue's overseas fraternal twin (shared DNA with some substantial differences). Nissan is rolling-out a long wheelbase, seven-passenger version of the Cash Guy in the near future; pictures have hit the Internet. Does this development portend a rogue Rogue coming to the U.S. in a stretched version? Probably. Toyota's RAV4 offers a seven-passenger option; or reasons I can't quite grasp, American consumers seem fairly hung-up on the notion of three row vehicles. Nissan, of course, has made no official announcement re: the Rogue. The spinmeisters would probably tell you there are currently no plans to sell a stretched Rogue in North America and that it's always looking at new market segments. Admirers of Turik nomenclature are advised to watch this space.

[Click here for Photobucket Gallery]

In GM Death Watch 171, Mr. Farago contends that GM suffers from corporate-grade Attention Deficiency Disorder (ADD). He’s probably right. However, some ADD may be a good thing, if not a necessity, in an automobile company’s culture. Any carmaker operating in this period of uncertainty– recession, 25 percent higher Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, high fuel prices, CO2 emission concerns, and more– would be foolish NOT to invest the time and energy into developing as many alternative solutions as possible.

Yes, GM is definitely moving in several different directions at once. However, I’d also argue that the mandated fuel economy improvements over the coming years (both driven by federal regulations and demands of the marketplace) will require a multi-pronged approach to improving fuel economy/reducing fossil fuel dependence. I don’t think there is any one correct answer about how to get GM’s fleet to 35 miles per gallon.

In addition to fuel cells, hybrids and diesels, GM will also have to do work on lightening its relatively porcine vehicles and improving the economy and refinement of their traditional gasoline-powered engines. Pruning the remaining four-speed automatics from the lineup and replacing them with six speeds, CVTs or DSGs would also incrementally help both fuel economy and performance. Adding gasoline direct injection technology to more engines could also improve both economy and hydrocarbon emissions.

Each little piece of the puzzle gets them a little closer to the magic 35 miles per gallon figure (or 50 mpg if California gets its way).

GM has been (rightfully) criticized in the past for not bothering to make longer-term investments in technologies such as hybrids. Such failure to invest in advanced technologies during the SUV boom of the 1990s in large part led to GM’s need to play catch-up to Toyota’s hybrid juggernaut. Nobody knows exactly what form our personal transport will take in the next decade or two. It seems prudent for GM to try a few different technologies, so they're not left in the dust of a company that was lucky or smart enough to pick the right one to invest in.

General Motors is also a victim of its own historical fits and starts; engineering by press release rings hollow after a few years.

Car enthusiasts are tired of hearing about the Camaro and Volt, neither of which can be purchased, yet are prominently featured in press releases, websites and even advertisements. Nobody believes GM when it says that it will be an environmental leader; how can the same company that builds the Hummer H2 and more full-size pickups and SUVs than any other company on the planet say that with a straight face? 

Because the automaker has very little environmental credibility, it feels the need to overcompensate with five-page advertisements in auto rags about their alt-fuel initiatives, while spending precious R&D resources on future technologies that may or may not come to fruition. But they really don’t have any choice, especially if they want to a) remain viable in a world of $5 gas and b) attempt to change perceptions.

GM is not unique in its shotgun approach to improving fuel economy. Ford, Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Honda (among others) are either considering or introducing diesels in their trucks (Ford, Nissan and Toyota) or cars (Acura TSX, Mitsubishi), while still developing hybrids (Ford, Toyota and Honda) and hydrogen fuel cells (Honda FCX). The differentiator may be management talent (or a lack of) among these companies. 

The better-managed car companies will manage to juggle all of the irons in the fire successfully, and the others won't.  From that standpoint, I share Mr. Farago's concern.

GM has not yet proven to me, or many others, that it has the capability or resources to follow through on the development of many of these projects.  However, it knows that it has to get the Volt out the door someday at some price, the light duty truck diesel’s development is finished, the two-mode hybrid is on the market, and the company now offers modern six-speed automatics on most of its vehicles. 

Other than the Volt, still left on the to-do list: taking some mass out of its vehicles without sacrificing comfort and safety and continuing with either hydrogen fuel cell development or further electric vehicle (E-Flex) development.

I believe that in the coming years, we’ll see each manufacturer taking a different approach to the issue of reducing CO2 emissions and fuel consumption. The creative ones that execute their strategies successfully will own the market. Those who bet on the wrong technologies will be left gasping for air. I don’t think we’re at the point where we can say that GM is trying too many different things, because we just don’t know what combination of GM’s projects will earn its keep. And then some.

OK. So it turns out computing monthly auto sales is somewhat akin to doing taxes– it depends on who's doing the figuring. Using Automotive News' [sub] numbers (which we also use for the "By the Numbers" analysis), and ignoring the accounting slight-of-hand known as "sales days," Chrysler's March sales sank by 19.4 percent compared to last March, to 166,386 vehicles. GM's sales dipped by 18.7 percent, to 280,713. And Ford moved downwards by 14.1 percent, to 226,448 units. As you'd expect in these gas-conscious times, light truck sales (or lack thereof) account for the lion's share of the losses (down 15.5 percent in GM's case). As these vehicles also account for the majority of the domestics' profits (or lack thereof), that's gonna leave a BIG mark on their balance sheets. And don't get to thinking that "at least they're maintaining their market share." Although Toyota took a 10.3 percent hit in March, Honda and Nissan each dropped only 3.2 and 3.8 percent respectively. In a generally lower market (down 12 percent), they're eating someone's lunch. 

New car sales in Japan have dropped for the fifth straight year, to their lowest level since 1975. Thomson Financial (via Forbes) cites a Japan Automobile Dealers Association study which points to high gas prices as the prime culprit in recent sales losses. Even Japan's 660cc kei car category is feeling the hurt, dropping for the twelfth straight month. Japanese automakers have been fighting sliding sales aggressively, rolling out new models and pouring money into marketing gimmicks like Toyota's Auto Mall . But there's nowhere to run in such a saturated market. Honda, Nissan, Subaru and Suzuki posted modest sales gains in March, while Lexus dropped nearly 18 percent, Isuzu dropped 12 percent, and Mitsubishi lost nearly 14 percent of sales. The biggest losers? Truck manufacturers, who saw between 12 and 27 percent losses. If economic misery loves company, America and Japan could be best of friends.

Michigan-based ForeSee Results has set a new record for weirdest company name developed the first Automotive Website Satisfaction index, which shows that online car purchasing has plenty of room for improvement. The Detroit Free Press reports that Honda's website logged the best score among the six top brands in the 2,000 respondent survey, scoring an 80 compared to an industry-wide average of 78. The index uses methodology from the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index and measures how effective the sites are in giving consumers the information they want, getting them into dealer showrooms and driving sales. With the the Detroit three, Honda, Toyota and Nissan all rating between 80 and 76, there's not much to differentiate between them, but there's plenty of opportunity for all six to improve to the 88 scored by Amazon.com. "You walk away from these Web sites feeling like they were designed by a committee," says Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee Results. "There's a lot of noise on them."

As the "R"-word unfolds and American car demand plummets, Nissan will be idling Mexican production of its Versa and Sentra models. Reuters reports that the Nissan factory at Aguascalientes was shuttered last Friday, and will remain offline for seven days this month. The plant built an average of 26,000 vehicles per month last year, but will scale back work relative to American demand. Automobile manufacture is a mainstay of Mexico's industrial sector, and weakness in American car sales are expected to have a major impact on the Mexican economy. Although Mexican production grew rapidly in the first quarter of this year despite sluggish demand, plant idlings can be expected throughout the rest of the year, as the American economy goes through what is expected to be a particularly rough patch. Of course, if you own a '98 model year vehicle, you might still be able to get a factory trade-in…