Yesterday’s release of the Congressional Oversight Panel report on the auto bailout pointed out several fundamental problems with the government’s intervention in the auto industry, all of which stem from what the report termed the “mutually exclusive” goals of the Treasury in overseeing its investment in the industry. But that report focused entirely on the post-bailout management decisions by Treasury, ignoring the decisions made during the bailout itself. And though the White House has, in recent months, redefined its goals in bailing out GM and Chrysler to focus on the improved financial performance of the bailed-out automakers, this is clearly a recent recalibration of its political message. As I pointed out in my latest New York Time Op-Ed,

what Mr. Obama called his “one goal” — having Detroit “lead the world in building the next generation of clean cars” — is nowhere near being achieved.

And, as it turns out, the Administration’s actions in the bailout will inevitably come up well short of that goal in at least one important respect.
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Automotive News [sub] reports that Audi may be going against the wishes of its parent company by introducing a Wankel rotary range-extender for the trial version of its A1 E-tron EREV, which will begin fleet testing in Germany later this year. Volkswagen reportedly wants each of its ten brands to agree on a common EV strategy in order to cut costs, but Audi is looking for a more refined concept for its range-extender in order to compete with BMW’s forthcoming Megacity lightweight city car, a consideration which caused the luxury brand to settle on a rotary range-extending engine. The German press reports that Audi’s decision has left it “at odds” with its parent company, and they describe the situation as “anarchic.” An Audi spokesman, however, tells AN [sub] that

There is no problem between VW and Audi

But a Wankel engine is hardly the kind of cost-cutting move towards commonality that VW had envisioned for its concern-wide EV effort, and bosses from the firms corporate headquarters have not yet commented on the story. And considering that the Wankel-powered Mazda RX-8 was recently yanked from the European market for its gas-guzzling ways, it’s hard to see Audi making the Wankel work. Still, we’ll wait for VW to comment and for the results of the A1 E-tron’s fleet testing (which will determine if the concept is production-ready) before we pass judgment.

When I attended the launch of the Buick Regal, Buick’s product reps were anxious to talk all about the forthcoming Buick Regal GS, the high-performance version of the Opel Insignia-based sedan. At the time, the Buick Boyz were anxious for input; what, they asked, would enthusiasts prefer: a manual transmission or all-wheel drive. My answer: all of the above. Surely, I thought,  Buick would be bringing a rebadged version of the Opel Insignia OPC, with AWD and the GM 2.8T V6 from the Cadillac SRX Turbo and Saab 9-5 Aero. No, came  the answer. The 2.8T was not approved for use in a Buick. Stung by past oversharing between divisions, GM had decided that the 260-325 HP, Australian-built LP9 engine would be limited to applications in Caddys and Saabs. But now, it seems that GM may have penned some kind of deal with Saab, as GMInsideNews reports that the LP9 has been discontinued from its last remaining Cadillac application, the SRX Turbo.

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The EPA has not yet listed the 2011 Chrysler 200’s MPG rating at fueleconomy.gov, but based on this screen grab at Chrysler.com, the Pentastar boys know what to expect. Which is a good thing, because their claimed mileage numbers are definitely a bit confusing. For example, why does ChryCo’s 2.4 liter 4-banger base engine get the exact same rating (21/30) with a four-speed auto as with a six-cog slushbox? And while we’re at it, why does the “model overview” section of Chrysler.com show the 200 getting 20/31 MPG with the four-banger? Plus, how does the convertible have the same rating as the sedan? But perhaps the most confusing part of all this is the fact that the “new” four-cylinder 200 still gets worse fuel economy than Camry (22/32), Accord (23/33) and Sonata (22/35). The 200’s available all-new Pentastar V6 fares only slightly better, rated just below the Accord V6 (20/30) and Sonata Turbo (22/33), about the same as Camry V6 (20/29), and better than Malibu (17/26) and Fusion (18/27). In short, the aspects of the 200’s efficiency rating that aren’t confusing are just plain disappointing.

Mass SUV consumption may have been weaned over to car-based Crossovers, but pickup trucks are still hugely popular and a major challenge for automakers facing steep increases in government CAFE standards.The average 2010-model American pickup truck weighs nearly 5,000 lbs, making it some 22 percent heavier than its equivalent ten years ago. Thanks to that weight gain, average pickup truck efficiency has improved by a paltry two percent since 2000. This year, the fleetwide light truck fuel economy standard was 24.9 MPG, but by 2016 light trucks will need to average about 30 MPG to comply with already-set CAFE increases, and could face another sharp increase by 2025. As a result, it seems that the era of cheap pickups may be coming to an end. Though the Detroit automakers say hybrid and plug-in drivetrains will help, it’s clear that more than anything else, trucks need to lose weight. That’s where things start getting expensive…

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Nissan has partnered with the telemetry firm Carwings for years, but with the electric-drive Nissan Leaf, what was once a way to suggest efficient navigation routes and driving techniques has become a game. Yes, Carwings allows you to track every trip in your Leaf down to the last nauseating detail and helps prevent the creep of “range anxiety,” but it also ranks you against all other Leaf drivers in your region. In short, the Leaf isn’t just a car, it’s a competition for the “Platinum” Leaf Cup. The fanboys at MyNissanLeaf.com are all abuzz over the competitive feature, which Nissan hasn’t done much to publicize otherwise. But do the early adopters who buy Leafs need a competition to encourage efficient driving, or is this just going to turn the Leaf into a posterboy for antisocial hypermiling? Sometimes getting where you need to go on time is competition enough.

Still, based on the forum chatter, telemetry data is hugely popular among alt-fuel adherents and hypermilers alike. Carwings-style telemetry reporting will definitely be a significant trend in future automobiles… even if the Leaf’s competition aspect gets left by the roadside.

Speaking to CNN, former Shell Oil President John Hofmeister warns that, although American oil consumption may have already peaked, high prices at the pump could come back with a vengeance over the short and medium term.

The issues that gave rise to high priced gasoline in 2007 and 2008 are repeating themselves, except the world demands even more oil in the next several years than before. Asian growth is continuing, e.g. 17 million new cars per year just in China, and will demand more oil. U.S. economic recovery has brought demand back to where it was before. Economic growth means even more demand. But the U.S. Government is prohibiting expansion of U.S. domestic crude oil production which puts upward pressure on global crude oil prices… If we stay on our present course there is no question but that prices will rise to the $5.00 gallon level by 2012 in my opinion.

With profits returning to the auto industry in large part thanks to rebounding sales of large cars and SUV/Crossovers, this is the kind of warning that should ring out in the headquarters of the major manufacturers. Gas prices have been on a subtle upward trend since bottoming out at just over $1.60 in December of 2008, and the national average seems to be creeping up to the level it was at before it skyrocketed to over $4/gal in the Summer of 2008. Which makes you wonder: will the automakers be better prepared to deal with a spike in gas prices this time around?

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Despite the fact that current EPA testing methods fail to demonstrate the advantages of “stop-start” systems, which shut down engines at idle, Ford will begin rolling out the technology on 2012 model-year vehicles. Automotive News [sub] reports that “some” four-cylinder models will go idle-free starting with next year’s rollout of 2012 models, and that

Based on the European rollout, the most likely initial vehicles include the 2012 Ford Fiesta and Focus cars, Escape crossover, C-Max minivan and Transit Connect delivery vehicle.

By 2015, Ford will have joined Mazda as one of the manufacturers offering start-stop across its lineup (on manual and automatic models). There was, however, no cooperation between the two firms on their respective stop-start systems. Ford’s newest system can reportedly improve efficiency by ten percent in the city and five percent overall.

With so much focus being put on electric, full-hybrid, and plug-in cars, it’s easy to forget that these kinds of lower-cost and widely-applicable (but less-sexy) methods of improving fleet-wide efficiency will have a much larger incremental effect on overall fuel consumption. Along with its commitment to technologies like gasoline direct-injection, downsized, turbocharged engines and dual-clutch transmissions, Ford’s introduction of start-stop systems should help America’s healthiest automotive manufacturer maintain a technological and environmental advantage over the competition for the foreseeable future.

When Chrysler re-launched under Fiat, its Five Year Plan called for the Italian automaker’s dual-clutch transmissions (known at Fiat as Twin Clutch Transmission, or TCT) to make their way to the group’s D-segment models by the end of 2010. But here we are, at the end of 2010, and the Chrysler 200 and Dodge Intrepid have not been equipped with the fuel-saving transmissions. So what’s the deal? The only news on the topic comes from InsideLine which reports

By 2013 this TCT gearbox will be offered with all inline-4 and V6 engines from Fiat and Chrysler in North America. The aim is to have C-plus and D-segment cars like the Chrysler 200, V6-equipped Jeep models, and future Alfa Romeo Giulia lead the way with the TCT gearbox here.

But starting when? And with what vehicles? With Ford already offering dual-clutch transmissions in the Fiesta (with more to come), and Hyundai about to bet big on dual-clutch boxes next year, Chrysler is on pace to lag two years behind the market leaders. For a brand in Chrysler’s position, that’s a recipe for perennially playing catch-up on a crucial technology.

Good on Chevy for making this video covering the Volt’s (relatively) complex efficiency calculus. Presenting the Volt’s mileage in a fair and accurate yet easy-to-understand manner has been a challenge for Chevy’s marketing (and its fellow travelers). It’s not as short or sexy as any of the Volt’s actual advertisements, but this video is Chevy’s best attempt to date at giving consumers a brief but accurate picture of the Volt’s real-world efficiency. For more accuracy (and inevitable complexity) check out Consumer Reports’ latest findings on living with the Volt in the real world.

For all the debate about strong sales of trucks and SUVs this year, American gasoline consumption is actually going down and may have reached an all-time high. Fox News may filed the AP story under “Disasters” but the worst news in the story is that

America will continue to burn more gasoline than any other country, in total and per capita, for decades to come. China is second in total consumption, but, despite its explosive growth, still uses just half of what the U.S. uses. Canada is second in consumption per capita but is on its own path toward a more fuel-efficient economy.

While America’s diminishing demand will temper global demand, it will be more than offset by rapidly growing demand in China, India, the Middle East and Africa. As a result, declining U.S. gasoline demand will not bring lower pump prices.

The AP gives most of the credit for the projected decline in gas consumption to demographic shifts and government policies like CAFE standards and ethanol blending credits. The coming of electric and plug-in vehicles is even given some credit as a long-term driver of lower gas consumption, but the success of alt-energy cars does seem to be dependent on the pump price of gasoline. And, in fact, if you look at medium-term historical gas prices it seems that unleaded is unlikely to ever cost less than it did in 2006, indicating that a gas tax would have been at least as effective as the convoluted CAFE and ethanol policies. Now that gas seems unlikely to ever drop below the $2.50/gallon mark, baby boomer demographics and complex government policies need not take all the credit.

Lotus has approved its Emas city car concept for production in 2013, giving the sportscar firm an in-house competitor to Aston Martin’s Cygnet rebadge of the Toyota iQ. The extended-range electric car was first shown at the last Geneva auto show,  when our own Martin Schwoerer praised its “enormous’ interior space, and well-engineered packaging. The Emas uses Lotus’s three-cylinder range extender, mated to an electric drivetrain with a peak output of 75 kW (101 HP) and 206 lb-ft of torque, and will be the only non-performance vehicle in the Lotus range. But it won’t be the cheapest bit of Lotus-branded kit you’ll be able to buy when the brand relaunches, as the NYT reports

Lotus will also put its name on an array of quotidian objects like key fobs, cellphone holders and laptop bags, which a Lotus publicist described as “cool, high-end pieces that provide an entry level to the brand.”

But with so much emphasis being placed on turning Lotus into a “lifestyle brand,” there’s a major cloud hanging over the whole project: though Lotus is one of the quintessentially British brands, the firm says it will shift production to a supplier on the European continent (think Valmet and Magna-Steyr) if the British government doesn’t make with a £40m ($62m) Regional Growth Fund loan to support a new factory in Hethel. Which means that if the British government doesn’t take a huge gamble on a firm that even Bob Lutz thinks only has a 60 percent chance of success, Lotus will not only no longer be a true British brand, it won’t even build is own cars. But  should British taxpayers bankroll such a risky play at a luxury niche?

Ever since four-door coupes became a dime a dozen, the European auto industry has been looking for a new niche, and for much of the past year or so, it seemed that the next big thing would be “small premium.” Inspired by the MINI, European automakers from Alfa to Audi have been trying to get consumers to spend big money on tiny, plush cars. But with Audi’s A1 starting at €15,800 ($20,873), it seems that even the efficiency-happy Germans aren’t willing to pay the price of entry for this new niche. Audi built capacity for 100k A1s at its Brussels plant, but since introducing the car in August, Audi has sold only 20k of the pricey subcompacts. And yes, the slow sales do seem to be tied to the exorbitant pricetags.

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Toyota may have won a near-monopoly on modern hybrid drivetrains over the last decade, but at least until recently its Hybrid Synergy Drive has been limited to use in car and crossover applications. Sensing the vulnerability, GM, Chrysler, Daimler and BMW collaborated to develop a large V8-based hybrid system capable of powering large light-duty trucks. The resulting “Two-Mode” hybrid system has largely proven to be a bust, as BMW and Mercedes have limited its use to one-time X5/X6 and ML Hybrids. GM and Chrysler have tried to sell Two-Mode versions of their full-sized trucks and SUVs with little success over the past several years, as relatively low fuel prices and high MSRPs conspired against the hybrid truck segment. Now Toyota may be targeting the hybrid pickup market, as its Hino truck unit has begun testing a hybrid drivetrain for light-duty trucks that it hopes to commercialize by net year.  Greencarcongress.com reports:

The hybrid system, which features a clutch between its engine and motor, offers an all-electric drive mode for the truck. Internal Hino testing showed an improvement in fuel efficiency of a diesel truck by about 50%.

Testing by the Japanese postal service, and several private firms should give a better sense of the efficiency benefits of this system, but that will still leave the question of price. And gas prices. And America’s willingness to buy pickups from Toyota in Detroit-like numbers. On the other hand, it’s not safe to underestimate any Toyota hybrid. If this new drivetrain can do for trucks what Hybrid Synergy did for cars, things could get interesting…

The Compass has long been Jeep’s answer to the Cadillac Cimarron, failing to live up to the brand’s ideals while simultaneously cannibalizing its platform-mate(s). But apparently the refreshed anti-Jeep is about to get a dose of Jeep’s signature marketing: Trail-Rated status. According to the rarely-wrong-about-these-kinds-of-things Allpar.com

the 2011 Jeep Compass with Freedom Drive II will be Trail-Rated, the first time a Compass has achieved that designation. To accomplish this, the Compass moved the rebound springs to the same architecture as the Grand Cherokee, and raised the height by one inch for models with Freedom Drive II.

And if a Patriot can be “Trail-Rated,” why not a Compass? On second thought, why invest in a new Compass at all, Trail-Rated or not? Either way, we’re tits-deep in irony considering Dodge’s Ralph Gilles recently “revealed” that Dodge’s outgoing models all rode higher than the competition, and that

Lowering the car looks better. It looks a little bit smarter. It handles better. And more important is the fuel economy

Or, as Ripley doubtless said with his dying breath, not.