When the SS badge returned to Chevrolet, we were pretty excited. But then the double letter #19 made its way onto the last generation Malibu, and we were immediately and nearly permanently turned off. General Motors later turned up the heat with the turbocharged Cobalt SS and HHR SS, and while we liked those models very much, they in no way conjured up thoughts of 1960's and 1970's Impala and Chevelle SS models. And with more stringent fuel economy standards and government-mandated CO2 reductions, it appears that the SS moniker could well be relegated to the new Camaro. Or maybe not.

Mark Reuss, GM vice president of global engineering, recently told AutoWeek that the SS badge is alive and well. But instead of slapping it on anything and everything with elevated horsepower, the General will instead focus on a more selective process. In other words, we're guessing the ill-conceived FWD Impala SS won't happen again any time soon. Or at least we hope. And while Reuss doesn't hold the glitzy profile of a big-time player like Bob Lutz, the global engineering VP does have plenty of street cred. He worked in Australia to build the RWD Zeta platform that currently underpins the Camaro here in the States, and Zeta is one platform we're dying to see more of here.

So if the SS badge is only going to be considered on a case by case basis, our big question is.... what's next? Well, we have no idea which Chevy will next don the SS badge, but we're hoping recent rumors of a Volt SS are just that: rumors. Perhaps Reuss will convince his fellow executives to marry the SS badge, the Chevy Bowtie and his pride and joy Zeta platform to make a four-door counterpart to the Camaro. That's one way to get yourself Lutz-like notoriety.

[Source: Automotive News subs req'd]

Last month, General Motors raised some eye brows when it announced its 60-day satisfaction guarantee program giving customers the ability to drive their vehicles for 60 days and return them with zero minimal risk. A month ago, we told you that only one vehicle had been returned under the program, and that guy simply traded his manual tranny Corvette for one with a six-speed slush box. Now, a little more than two months into the promotion, the General has a still fairly insignificant 193 (out of 220,000 sales) customers who have returned their vehicle under the program, and GM says some of those customers decided to purchase different or better equipped GM models.

But while 193 appears to be fairly insignificant when compared to overall sales, it also represents 30 percent of the 653 people who actually opted for the 60-day option in lieu of a $500 discount. While some would say that the 30% number is very bad for GM, we'd say that it isn't much of a surprise given the fact that those 653 customers obviously weren't very sure about their purchase decision to begin with.

GM appears to be pretty pleased with the fact that so few vehicles have been returned during the program, but the automaker also plans to learn from those who were dissatisfied with their product. Vice President of Global Product Engineering Mark Reuss told the Associated Press that he and other executives plan to call customers who turned in their vehicles under the program, calling it "about the best unfiltered consumer feedback we've had" and according to the report, Chairman Ed Whitacre came up with the idea to make the calls. GM's 60-day guarantee promotion is scheduled to end on January 4, 2010.

[Source: Associated Press | Source: Joe Raedle/Getty]

We're still early in the holiday movie season, but the clear early winner is the blockbuster world-ending thriller 2012. The pic cleared $65 million in its first weekend in the U.S. and a stunning $265 million around the globe. If you have already seen the movie or if you've just checked out the five minute clip we showed you last month, then you know this disaster flick is chock-full of CGI destruction on a scale we quite frankly have never seen before. And our favorite scene stars a Lincoln Town Car limo that somehow manages to survive (like the Panther platform upon which it is based) while the virtual world quite literally crumbles around it. It makes us wonder how that scene was made to look so damn real.

Well, we didn't have to wonder for long, because YouTube has come to the rescue with video of how the scene was created. A company called SWAY Studio created a simulator/program called Drive-A-Tron that works like a virtual stunt driving machine with very realistic-looking results. The simulator features a real steering wheel, along with brake and accelerator pedals to capture the action in real time. SWAY reconfigured the machine for the big screen action flick so the program could interact with moving terrain, and since the system features true to life engine, suspension and even tire inputs, the final product looks pretty damn real to us. Hit the jump to watch how the Lincoln Town Car limo scene was created. Pretty interesting stuff.

[Source: Raging Artists]

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We're not so sure about the Honda Accord Crosstour. It's definitely a Honda, so at least from a marketer's perspective, that''s a big plus, but the big crossover/hatchback//wagon/thing isn't exactly what we'd call pretty, and worse, it isn't even as functional as its competitors. We're not alone in our criticism of Honda's latest, as the Japanese automaker has heard more than its fair share of Crosstour complaints on the Internets. Like it or loathe it, though, the Crosstour is upon us, and Honda dealers need to sell it. We were curious as to how Honda might try to ply such an odd duck, and we have at least a preliminary answer waiting for you after the jump.

The commercial starts off with about 15 seconds of oddly animated polygon characters playing some smooth, Cosby Show-style jazz. Between 15 and 20 seconds we see the band's instruments fitting in the Crosstour's hatch (though oddly, they don't play up the car's chief storage trick, its hidden storage box). At the 20 second mark, we finally see the Crosstour in the flesh, and the spot wraps up with a few words from actor Kevin Spacey as always. We're far from convinced, but you'll want to hit the jump to judge the 30 second spot for yourself.



Photos copyright ©2009 Chris Paukert / Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Honda]

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Freya Svensson feels like she's getting screwed. According to her blog postings, she owns a still new-looking Volvo XC70 that has had more than its fair share of problems: a faulty transmission and an internal coolant leak that could have been caused by a cracked cylinder head or head gasket. To make matters worse, Svensson says the transmission, cylinder head and motor mounts (twice) have been replaced by Rusnak Volvo in Pasadena, California. Svensson further claims that when the transmission was replaced, she told Rusnak that it still didn't feel right but the dealership allegedly wouldn't take a look at it again. Now that the supposed defective tranny is out of warranty, the dealership wants to repair it. None of this tale is funny, odd, or different from some of the dealer/warranty horror stories that we hear about all the time. So why are we bothering to report on this one? As you might have guessed from the viking helmet and acoustic guitar show above, Svensson has no issue in pulling out all the stops in order to get her message across. She's even got t-shirts. This amuses us.

For starters, Svensson started up her own website, Rusmackedvolvo.com, which details her problems with Volvo North America and Rusnak Volvo. She took to Facebook to friend Volvo North America President Doug Speck, offering to help him add to his paltry friend total of 24 in exchange for free repairs to her Scandinavian lemon. To add a little flair, Svensson then took to YouTube to provide a video play by play of what is going on with her cursed wagon. The blonde haired, blue eyed Svensson plays up the Swedish connection by even singing an original composition, "O Rusnak Volvo" in her native tongue. Hit the jump to watch the clip, and don't worry if you don't speak Swedish – Svensson has been thoughtful enough to provide English subtitles.

[Sources: Rusmackedvolvo.com; YouTube]

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With all the trials and tribulations General Motors has endured during the past year, we almost forgot that the Detroit, MI-based automaker nearly got itself tied up with Renault-Nissan. Back in 2006, the two companies discussed joining forces to become a singular global automotive juggernaut, but in the end, GM felt it was in its best interests to go it alone and face the quickly disintegrating global automotive market by themselves.

While GM's situation ultimately improved via bankruptcy and a $50 billion helping hand from the U.S. government, Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn still thinks the partnership would have been "without a doubt" in everyone's best interests. Ghosn reportedly made the comments during a meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations, adding that "there was a possibility to create something that would be extremely competitive."

Ghosn then went on to say that he wasn't happy the two companies didn't end up working together after GM nearly collapsed because "when you see the disaster and the waste of energy and skills and talent, nobody can be happy." The charismatic CEO also said that Renault-Nissan was very concerned about GM's precarious position earlier in the year due to the fact that his company uses many of the same suppliers. If GM had gone down, it would have probably taken more than a few suppliers with it, and Ghosn says that as a result, Nissan wouldn't have been able to make a single vehicle in North America.

While we can definitely understand why Ghosn would have preferred that the marriage of his company to GM was consecrated, we still don't see how it would have helped The General in the long run. GM still would have been in a very uncompetitive cash situation, and Renault-Nissan doesn't have much in the way of technology or platforms that the General doesn't already the equivalents to.

[Source: The Detroit News | Image: Raveendran/AFP/Getty]

A quick glance at recent Consumer Reports or JD Power data shows that the Pentastar has a big problem on its hands, but the new Chrysler says that will change in a big way by the end of 2012. Chrysler is planning to be a quality leader in only three years by dramatically increasing staffing levels in its quality team while working to dramatically clean up its engineering processes. Just one year ago, there were only 200 staff members on the quality team. Chrysler is now hiring 200 additional workers and shifting head count to beef up its quality team to over 1,700.

Quality boss Doug Betts, who was hired from Nissan during the Cerberus acquistion, tried to address quality before the automaker descended into bankruptcy, but Chrysler's woeful money situation led to the postponement of the Pentastar's long overdue quality renaissance. With bankruptcy in the rearview mirror and Fiat's full blessing to dig deep to fix Chrysler's competitive disadvantages, Betts now has the tools needed to make drastic changes. And some progress has already been made.

For starters, Chrysler has cut per-vehicle spending by $240 million, and warranty spending is down 30 percent to an all-time low. In 2008, 75 percent of all quality problems were design issues, and that number has reportedly dropped to 50 percent this year though better engineering. The factory floor is also receiving attention, as Chrysler is adopting Fiat's "world class" manufacturing system.

Chrysler has also made several departmental shifts to give workers more autonomy to make changes faster. In the past, problems were shifted from one department to another, resulting in an average delay of 71 days to fix a problem. Now cross-departmental teams are organized by 14 vehicle groups, like brakes or transmissions instead of by model alone. Many of the quality fixes will occur as Chrysler unveils new or heavily updated products between now and 2013. The Detroit News reports that 75 percent of all models will receive heavy duty attention within the next 14 months, and all vehicles will be updated by 2013.

[Source: Detroit News | Image Source: Bill Pugliano/Getty]

We have to wait a couple more weeks before we're officially "in the know" about the 2011 Ford Mustang, but it appears FoMoCo's secret information dam has a few cracks in it. Ford recently released its fleet distribution news bulletin and it offered some insights as to when the refreshed Mustang is coming and the new variants on offer. The bulletin states customers will be able to order their 2011 Mustang on January 18, 2010, with Ford's favorite stallion tentatively entering production on March 15, 2010.

The alleged news bulletin also mentions some of the new model variants on the way, including the return of the California Special. There will also reportedly be an SVT Performance package, three available 19-inch wheel options, an available six-speed automatic transmission and a Brembo Brake package. The SVT package includes 19-inch wheels, an RR spoiler, "Over the Top" stripe delete and a 3.73 limited slip. The order form also appears to confirm that the 2011 Shelby GT500 will continue to use the 5.4-liter V8 engine, which we hear will be of the all-aluminum variety. We'll learn a lot more about the 2011 Mustang when Ford reveals its vastly updated pony car at the LA Auto Show in early December.

[Source: GMInsideNews via Mustang Heaven]

The Toyota "unintended acceleration" issue has been a hot-button topic for nearly two months, with the Japanese automaker working closely with the National Highway Traffic Safety Association to come up with a permanent solution to the growing problem. Toyota recently published a statement to address the issue, stating it would "take a closer look at the potential for an accelerator pedal to get stuck in the full open position due to an unsecured or incompatible driver's floor mat."

Inside Line and Kyodo News are reporting that Toyota may be close to announcing that they will shorten the gas pedal of the four million vehicles affected by the recall.

The alleged fix would be performed by Toyota dealership employees at no charge to the customer. The report doesn't mention whether the floor mats would be secured in addition to the pedal shortening, but we're assuming Toyota and Lexus dealers will kill two birds with one stone. Swapping out four million accelerator pedals will probably be a pricey endeavor, but Toyota claims it has saved up $5.6 billion over the years in its recall kitty for just such a rainy day.

[Source: Inside Line]

Two weeks ago Fiat and Chrysler unleashed an ambitious five-year plan to return Detroit's number three automaker to financial and product health. The plan called for 14 all-new models based mostly on Fiat platforms and ten more vehicles which will receive much-needed attention. While Senator John McCain isn't so sure Chrysler will survive the next few years, Obama Auto Task Force Chief Ron Bloom likes what he sees.

Automotive News is reporting that Bloom says the Pentastar plan shows "a huge sense of urgency. We see a huge dedication and commitment, working extremely hard." Bloom also added that he agrees with CEO Sergio Marchionne when he said that team Pentastar has their work cut out for them.

Considering that the US government spent billions bailing out Chrysler, Bloom's confidence means a lot. But while the government saved Chrysler, the United Auto Workers is the company's biggest shareholder. The union currently owns 55% of the new Chrysler, and that won't change until the Auburn Hills, MI-based automaker goes public and pays off its pension obligations. Marchionne has said that the public move could come as early as 2011, but Bloom says that time line could be premature. Either way, we're sure Chrysler will go public at the earliest possible time, but that time won't come until the stock-buying public sees some new products coming from Auburn Hills via Italy.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req. | Image Source: Bill Pugliano/Getty]