When Alan Mulally arrived at Ford Motor Company three years ago, the Blue Oval was in bad shape. New product wasn't exactly pouring in and the company's cash hoard was steadily shrinking. And word on the street is that the corporate culture at Ford was in as much trouble as the product lineup, making change difficult. Now in 2009, it appears Mulally has done the near impossible, turning around Ford's product lineup while supposedly positively altering FoMoCo's corporate culture.

For all of Mulally's success, there is one problem: he's 64 and can't continue to run the company forever. And although Mulally has given no signals of separating from Ford any time soon, industry insiders are already speculating on who will become his successor. The four names that continue to come up are Ford Americas President Mark Fields, global marketing boss Jim Farley, manufacturing whiz Joe Heinrich and Ford Europe savior Lewis Booth.

The Detroit Free Press feels the early money is on Fields. The Harvard grad has been with Ford for 20 years, and he's lead some high profile success stories. He turned around Mazda and is currently piloting Ford North America in the midst of what appears to be a substantial product renaissance. Farley has an advantage in that he came to Ford from Toyota/Lexus and is seen by many as a real up and comer.

By many accounts, Heinrich is a bit of a manufacturing genius. The Harvard Business grad came from General Motors, where he became the company's youngest ever Plant Manager at age 29. Booth has the longest resume and arguably the most examples of success. He appears to have consistently met and exceeded expectations everywhere he has been, including Mazda, Ford Asia Pacific and Ford South Africa. Booth is different from his fellow executives in that he is the only one who isn't in his 40s.

We have no earthly idea who would become the next head of Ford, and we're guessing that we're at least a couple years away from finding out. We're OK with that, because this Mulally guy appears to know what he's doing.

[Source: Detroit Free Press | Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty]

While the majority of Toyota's jobs are still in Japan, the auto juggernaut has also accumulated a 34,000-employee empire here in the U.S. as well. Those jobs are scattered among ten manufacturing facilities and three main office complexes in Michigan, Kentucky and at the company's North American headquarters in Torrence, California. But the downtrodden auto industry and Toyota's recent losses have prompted the Japanese automaker to find ways to cut costs, and the company's California headquarters may lose some workers as a result.

The Detroit News is reporting that Toyota is relocating product planning, accounting, travel and data services jobs from California to its engineering and manufacturing headquarters in Kentucky and its technical center in Michigan. Toyota is neither confirming or denying the report, but the company did say it isn't going to exit California like Nissan did earlier in the decade, adding "Emphasis has been placed on finding new efficiencies, shared services and enhanced collaboration to address the changing economic conditions and prepare Toyota for the future automotive market environment." Toyota currently employs 10,700 workers in California, a number that will drop if this report proves true.

UPDATE: Toyota has released a statement that it isn't planning any "significant geographic relocation of personnel" at this time. Hit the jump to view the short release.

[Source: The Detroit News]

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Mitsubishi already plans on selling its little MiEV electric car in the U.S. within the next 18 months, and it appears that we may get a gasoline powered version of the roomy micro car as well. Automotive News is reporting that Mitsubishi is mulling the idea of putting petrol power in charge of propulsion of some i models, giving dealers a higher volume line that can compete with the Smart Fortwo. The automaker already sells a gasoline powered i in Europe, but Mitsubishi Motors North America VP John Koenig reportedly told AN that the Euro model's turbocharged 660cc motor would likely be swapped out for the same Mitsubishi-sourced 1.0-liter three-cylinder model that powers the Smart.

If Koenig wants to bring the gas-powered i to the States, he estimates that he'll have to prove that dealers can sell 1,000 models per month in order to get the parent company to pull the trigger. That sounds doable to us considering Smart sold 20,000 Fortwo's in the first 10 months of production – in spite of the fact that the unique-looking micro mini is premium-priced and only has two seats. The i can comfortably seat four and it can probably be sold for close to the Fortwo's $11,990 starting price. The typical i sells in more small car tolerant Europe for $16,000.



[Source: Automotive News - subs. req.]

The GMT900 platform is by far the highest volume chassis General Motors has here in the States, as it underpins the Chevrolet Silverado, Tahoe, Avalanche and Suburban, the Cadillac Escalade/Escalade ESV, and the GMC Sierra, Yukon and Yukon XL. We never had any doubt that GM would continue to build body-on-frame trucks in the future, but with demand for SUVs shrinking quickly, some thought the body-on-frame SUV would soon be a thing of the past. Maybe not.

Our friends over at Pickuptrucks.com are reporting that the next generation of the GMT platform will be produced by Magna International's Cosma in Canada and Mexico – and that new platform will underpin the next-generation of GM SUVs along with the GMC Sierra and Chevy Silverado. Pickuptrucks quotes Magna spokesperson Scott Worden as confirming that the next generation of GM's large SUVs will come with the body-on-frame architecture. This sort of chassis tends to add weight versus a unibody platform, but it also adds capability for towing and payload at lower cost.

We're not really all the surprised that GM will continue to build BOF SUVs, especially when considering that the General sold a combined 200,000 copies of the Suburban, Yukon, Tahoe and Escalade last month alone. And last we checked, these are still relatively expensive vehicles that bring in quite a bit of desperately needed profit. And if customers are interested in a family hauler with better interior packaging and fuel economy, we're sure GM dealers will be happy to get them into a Buick Enclave, Chevy Traverse or GMC Acadia.



[Source: Pickuptrucks]

The first Porsche Panameras are on their way to dealers as we speak, but the trek from Germany to the US is taking longer than expected due to a reported problem with the key software which is bring fixed at the ports. That leaves 195 expectant Panamera owners without their new German sports sedan for a little while longer, and Porsche thinks it has come up with a nice way to make up for its gaffe.

Autoweek reports that Porsche will give each of the 195 waiting Panamera owners a set of custom luggage for their troubles. And not just any luggage, either. The price tag for this custom Porsche-branded luggage set is reportedly $3,580, or more than many of us paid for our first car. And while we're sure the wait has been painful, it appears the agony will soon subside. A Porsche spokesman reportedly told AW that 72 Panameras have finally reached the dealer and the other 123 will arrive by November 30. Not exactly in time to show off the new Porsche at Thanksgiving, but if you're flying out of town for Christmas the Porsche luggage should come in handy.



[Source: AutoWeek]

In an effort to spur lagging sales, Chrysler has reportedly cranked up incentive spending on nearly all of its models by $1,000 to $1,500 while also offering 0% financing on many of its models. Chrysler is also said to be offering lease incentives of $500 to $1,000 on minivan leases and financing deals on leftover 2008 and 2009 Dodge Vipers.

The move towards additional rebates comes as incentive spending has been down for crosstown rivals General Motors and Ford. And Chrysler was already spending more on incentives than the industry at large – Edmunds says the typical Chrysler, Dodge or Jeep sold had $3,219 on the hood versus an industry average of $2,486. Chrysler is in a tougher position than its Detroit contemporaries, because the Auburn Hills, MI-based automaker has seen its sales slide by 39% on the year – more than any other major player in the U.S. market. One thing Chrysler does have going for it is that dealer inventory is largely in check and Automotive News is reporting that 88% of its vehicles are 2010 models.

Chrysler's latest round of incentives is good now through January 4, 2010.

[Source: Automotive News - subs req'd | Image: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty]

We'll tell you exactly why, because it's a lot of fun. We know, because we had a similar experience in late adolescence, but we used GI Joe vehicles (even the awesome hovercraft) and firecrackers. But what we didn't have back then was a 600 fps camera, but lucky for us, people do now... and they have YouTube to share it with the rest of us.

After the jump is video of diecast cars getting blown sky high with what appears to be some relatively large explosive. What makes this little experiment so much fun is that our mini pyrotechnician friend captured the carnage 20 times slower than conventional video, giving us a crystal clear picture of every blast. And to make the one minute video that much more entertaining, the creator cut his masterpiece to one of the best pieces of music any aspiring video editor can use in a disaster sequence; Ode To Joy. Hit the jump to watch the video for yourself, and keep in mind that blowing things up can lead to blowing off fingers and shrapnel in the eye, so don't try this at home!

[Source: YouTube]

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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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