It’s classic tale from the convoluted and mysterious world of the global supply chain. Crain’s Business [via Automotive News [sub]] explains how GM was forced to recall heated windshield washers not once, but twice. And we take a look at why GM took the extraordinary measure of blaming customers and GM technicians for “misdiagnosing” the problem, a strategy that makes for an interesting counterpoint to the recent Toyota recall hoopla. After all, like Toyota’s pedal problems, GM’s heated windshield washer woes are rooted in a complicated relationship with one of its suppliers… and one of its regulators.

Worried about the high MSRPs on most of the electric vehicles scheduled for launch over the next year? Don’t forget to include the cost of buying and installing a home charging station. Nissan reckons the charger for its Leaf will cost about $2,200, including a home electrical inspection [er, that’s a medical marijuana grow…] and installation. Oh, and it won’t be Nissan coming into your home: Aerovironment, a firm otherwise best known for its Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, has the contract to supply and install the Leaf’s charger. Coulomb Technologies supplies the home charger for Ford’s first EV, the Transit Connect EV, and according to Automotive News [sub], they’re partnering with Ford to give chargers away to the first 2,000 buyers of the electric-drive delivery van. But, as usual with good news in the EV sector, the charger giveaway is actually being funded by tax dollars…

Automotive News [sub] reports that GM has made a bold new request of its suppliers: to assume responsibility for 50 percent of all warranty costs. The move comes as GM overhauls its post-bankruptcy supplier relations, which includes previously-announced measures to share cost-savings between GM and its suppliers. The obvious question when that plan was announced was: how do you stop suppliers from cutting all the quality out of GM components? The answer to which is apparently “by making suppliers share warranty costs.” But the solution is by no means a done deal…

Ford is in-sourcing important parts of their hybrid-electric vehicles, and they are putting $135m behind the effort to bring the parts home and in-house. Currently, core parts are made abroad. Moving the making home to Michigan will create a whopping 170 jobs in Rawsonville and Van Dyke. But it’s a start. “I am proud of the tremendous success of the UAW and Ford in working together to keep good manufacturing jobs in the U.S.,” said Bob King, UAW vice president, National Ford Department.

GM’s OnStar division is preparing for a big push into new info-tainment and connectivity services, and it’s launching the effort at Google’s I/O conference starting tomorrow. First up is a new Google-maps-based navigation feature for Android phones running the Chevy Volt mobile app, featured in the video above [ presser here]. Though this new navigation system won’t be available at launch, but will emerge in a 2.0 version of the Volt mobile app, it hints at a new direction for OnStar, which traditionally markets itself as a safety feature. A senior (anonymous, sorry) source at GM took a moment to explain where this is all heading….

Congressional lawmakers are mad at Toyota. What has Toyota done now? Their sin this time: They may have harbored a secret “attack plan against congressional testimony.” This, says the Washington Post, has “drawn the ire of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.”

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how the world largest “ democracy” is being built up to a global small car hub. It seems the car world has even bigger plans for the Asian tiger cub. Business Week reports that Renault is planning to double the number of parts it gets from India. Sudhir Rao, COO of Renault’s India unit says that Renault will buy about €250m ($317m) worth of parts from the Indian subsidiary. Renault isn’t the only company that is looking to India for cost savings. Naturally, where Renault goes, Nissan follows. But Fiat and Ford are also interesting in using Indian parts.

Technology Review reports on Levant Power’s “GenShock” technology, which generates electricity by converting the kinetic energy of suspension travel into electricity. And electricity generation isn’t the whole story: the entire suspension is an actively-controlled, dynamic system that improves performance as well as efficiency in a turnkey package.

Levant has developed a modified piston head that includes parts that spin as it moves through the oil, turning a small generator housed within the shock absorber. To improve vehicle handling, the power controller uses information from accelerometers and other sensors to change the resistance from the generators, which stiffens or softens the suspension. For example, if the sensors detect the car starting a turn, the power controller can increase the resistance from the shock absorbers on the outer wheels, improving cornering, says David Diamond, the vice president of business development at Levant.

The AP [via Google] reports that NHTSA’s investigation of the pedals manufactured by CTS that were behind Toyota’s recent unintended acceleration recall has widened to include 2007 model-year Dodge Calibers. Dodge built 161,000 Calibers in the 2007 model-year, but according to Chrysler Group complaints of sticking accelerators only cover about 10,000 vehicles built between March and April of 2006… even though all 2007 model-year vehicles were built with CTS pedals. So what’s the difference between vehicles made in that five-week period and the rest of the 2007 model-year? According to Chrysler spokesfolks:

We have data that is telling us that there were a certain amount of complaints during that time period

Back in February, we took note of Chrysler’s “principled” stand on new-product secrecy, concluding:

Let’s face it: Chrysler needs buzz, hype, awareness, some kind of excitement surrounding its future generally and its forthcoming products in specific (if only in the irritating “teaser” format) almost as much as it needs anything else. Because as things stand right now,the baseline perception of Chrysler is of a dying company with nothing to offer. In this light, Chrysler’s principled rejection of hype is far more likely to be interpreted as keeping rushed semi-refreshes under wraps so they won’t be mocked to death by the time they go on sale. If that’s not the case, Chrysler has nothing to lose and everything to gain by building consumer awareness of new products. If it is, well, the truth will out sooner or later.

And apparently we’re not the only ones who think so. In fact, if the Detroit News is to be believed, literally everyone seems to think that Chrysler needs to start being more open, not only about its forthcoming products, but at every level of its business.

If there’s a single phrase dominating the imaginations of auto executives right now, it’s the infamous neologism of “too big to fail.” Whether executives justify their obsession with consolidation with their fear of a Chinese planet, efficiency-standard ramp-ups, or mere groupthink, there’s no doubt that consolidation is currently the name of the game. And it should be, not only for these reasons, but also because the last several years have proven that the car game is no industry for small companies. Nothing illustrates this quite like the US government’s “bailout” of auto industry supplier firms, which ended on April Fools Day.

In the TTAC Pedal Series “Toyota Gas Pedal Fix Simulated: Friction Reduced, But By Too Much”, I anticipated that the crude shim fix for the recalled CTS “sticky pedals” would result in an uncomfortable pedal feel at the least and quite possibly unsafe characteristics at worst. A quick refresher: a carefully controlled degree of friction (hysteresis) is essential in an e-pedal, otherwise smooth changes and maintaining steady states in throttle position become difficult if not impossible. I wrote: “Undoubtedly, Toyota’s intended degree of friction will be compromised by this fix, to one degree or another. And drivers may find the fix unpleasant or uncomfortable, also to some degree or another. Clearly, this fix is a band aid to fix the intrinsic limitations of this design.”

I’ve been counting the days until someone complained about the results of the pedal fix. Yesterday it came, from TTAC reader JAQUEBAUER:

My daughter took her 2009 Camry in to the dealer today for the Gas Pedal recall, and were very surprised and disjointedness with the “fix” that Toyota has chosen for this problem. We picked the car up, getting the keys and a copy of the repair order from the cashier. We were not told about any precautions to take or be aware of changes in the operation of the car. The Repair order indicated that the cars computer was reprogrammed, and some work was done on the gas pedal. I asked her to test drive the car in the dealers parking lot before she went home, to check for any problems.

There were 2 issues she found unacceptable, that I want to talk about here.

News that the FBI had raided three Japanese supplier companies in the Detroit area came in the middle of yesterday’s epic Toyota hearings, adding to the day’s chaos and misinformation. The FBI said clearly at the time that Denso, Tokai Riko and Yazaki were raided as part of an antitrust investigation, which we now know [via Reuters] involves alleged cartel activities in the wiring harness supply market, and involves European firms like France’s Leoni as well. Despite the fact that Denso and Yazaki are cooperating with investigators, and that the US raids appear to be in support of an EU investigation, Rep Mark Souder (R-IN) took the opportunity to connect the Denso raid with the Toyota recall hearings in shameless style. And all to help clear the name of the US-based supplier CTS, which has been blamed for the sticky pedal recall, which just so happens to be in Rep. Souder’s district. Full, mind-blowing quote after the jump.

As GM tools up for production of its Volt extended-range electric car, Automotive News [sub] has noticed something interesting: workers at GM’s new battery pack assembly plant are not represented by the United Auto Workers. Located in the heart of UAW territory (Brownstown Township, MI), the Volt battery plant represents the very jobs that local politicians and GM leadership hailed as the green future of the auto industry. When the plant opened, GM Chairman/CEO Ed Whitacre waxed eloquent about the opportunities:

The development of electric vehicles like the Chevy Volt is creating entire new sectors in the auto industry – an “ecosystem” of battery developers and recyclers, builders of home and commercial charging stations, electric motor suppliers and much more. These companies and universities are creating new jobs in Michigan and across the U.S. – green jobs – and they’re doing it by developing new technology, establishing new manufacturing capability, and strengthening America’s long-term competitiveness.

As long as they do so without UAW representation, apparently. Needless to say, if GM can get away with using non-union workers at a crucial plant that’s supposed to represent the firm’s future, things aren’t looking so good for our friends in organized labor.

One of the lingering concerns over the Toyota recall is whether Toyota’s “precision steel” shim fix to the recalled CTS gas pedal assembly will be a reliable long-term solution. Our analysis indicates that these questions might be well-founded, and we’re not the only ones concerned about the viability of Toyota’s proposed fix. In an interview with Toyota’s Jim Lentz yesterday evening, NPR asked why Toyota was using a redesigned pedal for new production, but only offering the shim fix to existing customers. Lentz insisted that the repaired pedals would be as good as the redesigned pedal, that the costs of repair and replacement were about the same, and that the main reason Toyota was repairing rather than replacing recalled pedals was the desire to “get customers back on the road… as quickly as we possibly can.” That’s when NPR went for the jugular.

According to a PR Newswire release, a class action suit has been filed against Toyota and supplier CTS, alleging “inherent design defects,” specifically a “lack of failsafes” in Toyota’s ETCS-i (Electronic Throttle Control System-intelligent), in use since 2001. As in not the pedal assembly. A similar suit was filed in the US last November. Today, Toyota’s Jim Lentz was emphatic that electronics were not the issue with the ongoing recall, but shortly after the US suit was filed, Toyota quietly announced that an electronic brake override system would be installed on certain vehicles with automatic transmissions. Is that as good as an admission of guilt? You can bet the lawyers are already saying so. The full release is available after the jump.

The Obama administration either decided that Toyota has been sufficiently maimed and weakened to give its wards of the state some breathing room (a theory rising in popularity amongst some conspiracy buffs), or Toyota has definitely found the definitive cure for UAS (unintended acceleration syndrome). Be it as it may, the NHTSA has approved the shim fix, says Reuters. If the Wall Street Journal got it right, recalled Toyotas may also get a re-flash, and a feature amiss in most American cars.

Kudos to Edmunds Inside Line for throwing up pictures of two Toyota gas pedal assemblies. The recalled unit, made by CTS, is shown above in a 2010 Camry. The non-recalled Denso-produced unit is after the jump.

Supplier CTS, who produced the gas pedals now under recall from Toyota, tells Automotive News [sub] that it “built parts to the automaker’s specifications and says it has no knowledge that its parts were responsible for any accidents or injuries.” Sources at CTS tell AN that although they are working on a fix with Toyota and that new pedals have been tested and are shipping to Toyota plants, “this is their recall.” That would seem to contradict the facts of the case, as Denso, Toyota’s gas pedal supplier for Japanese-built models, has not been involved in the recall. According to Inside Line, the issue with pedal return damping that has plagued CTS-supplied, US-built Toyotas has not turned up in Denso-produced gas pedals.

Collisionrepairmag.com reports that AzkoNobel, a chemicals company from the Netherlands, has teamed up with Toyota to create Sikkens Autoclear LV, a scratch resistant, self healing clearcoat. The product has been approved by Toyota for use on the Lexus LS range as an aftermarket clearcoat to be used at Toyota dealerships and Toyota affiliated collision repair facilities around the world. According to the article, “Sikkens Autoclear LV Exclusive is highly resistant to scratches, and holds up extremely well after repeated washings, but it truly differentiates itself from other clearcoats with its outstanding self-healing characteristics when a vehicle is nonetheless damaged. With extraordinary “re-flow” properties designed into the coating, small scratches virtually disappear in minutes when exposed to a heat source at temperatures ranging from 40-80 degrees celsius–and even exposure to the sun will initiate the healing process.”

After years of spurning lithium ion batteries in favor of Nickel metal hydride cells, it seems Toyota might changing their mind. The Wall Street Journa l reports that Toyota Tsusho Corp, which is 21.8% owned by Toyota Motor Corp., has secured the loans it needed from the Japanese government to buy a stake in a lithium project in Northern Argentina. The article states that “people with knowledge of the matter” (read in to that what you will), values Toyota Tsusho’s investment somewhere between $100 million and $200 million.

A strong team is only as good as its weakest link, particularly in the automotive industry. Treat your suppliers well and they’ll play fair by you. Try to screw them and they’ll collapse leaving you with serious production problems. Detroit ( Chrysler in particular) had the worst reputation for treating their suppliers badly, but the Pentastar brand now claims to be trying to change all that.

Battery firm Ener1/EnerDel, which recently brought the EV firm Th!ink back from bankruptcy, has lost the battery contract for Fisker’s Karma luxury EV. According to Schaeffersresearch, Ener1 “decided it would be better pursuing higher-volume battery supply deals when larger automakers begin rolling out their versions of electric cars.” Says Ener1 CEO Charles Gassenheimer, “we have some capacity constraints on our side. We’re interested in high volume programs in the future.” The public story is that due to Ener1’s Th!nk tie-up, Fisker’s October sales roll-out was too much, too soon. The real story illustrates the complicated relationships emerging between EV firms and battery suppliers.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard the word “buyout” echoing out of Detroit, as 2008 marked the year in which auto industry employees finally started to be fired like everyone else: without a hefty severance kiss-off. Ford, on the other hand, did not get a shot at free house-cleaning in bankruptcy court, so it’s bringing back buyouts. According to Market Watch, the Blue Oval is offering blue-collar employees a $50,000 lump sum payment and a $25,000 voucher for a new vehicle or another $20,000 lump sum, as well as six months of health insurance coverage. There’s even an extra $40k for workers of “a certain age.” But this being Detroit, employee benefits are either feast or famine. While Ford’s workers are being offered cash for their jobs, the former Ford parts division Visteon announced today that it is seeking to dump pensions for 21,000 retirees in bankruptcy, following Delphi into yet another stealthy yet popular form of indirect automaker bailout.

The Freep reports that creditors in Visteon’s bankruptcy are investigating Ford’s relationship with its spun-off supplier, implying that the Blue Oval could be responsible for its financial downfall. The creditors have requested the release of documents relating to Ford’s 2000 spin-off of its parts maker, and financial transactions between the two firms since then. They’re hoping to show that Ford forced losses onto the supplier, possibly securing better claims for creditors. The creditor committee motion explains:

Since the spin-off transaction, there has been no semblance of arm’s length bargaining between Visteon and Ford. Ford appears to have utilized its insider status to control Visteon to Visteon’s detriment.

As the world recedes, South Korea grows. First Hyundai registers double digit growth in the United States and now other automakers want a piece of the South Korean action. The Korean Times reports that Renault-Nissan announced that they will increase the amount of their South Korean parts suppliers from 28 to 100 by 2013. 108 major subcontractors took part in a conference along with officials from Renault-Nissan’s purchasing organisation.

“There must be increased access to capital through the entire supply chain — from the largest tier one to the smallest family-owned firm,” Dave Andrea, vice president of industry analysis and economics at the Original Equipment Suppliers Association told the Senate Banking Committee [via The Freep]. “Without assistance this country will needlessly lose manufacturing capacity, technology development and jobs.” Which is about what suppliers have been telling congress since bailout mania struck. What the Freep fails to properly explain is that the supplier bailout passed earlier this year was an unmitigated disaster for suppliers and their relations with OEMs.

The Detroit News reports that nastiness between Chrysler and its former overlords at Daimler could prevent the much-needed (by ChryCo) launches of new versions of the 300/Charger and Grand Cherokee/Durango. Apparently production of these new products can’t take place until Daimler and Chrysler agree to terms for Daimler-supplied components. Chrysler needs to resolve its legal differences with Daimler within 20 days in order to prevent delays to the roll-out of the Grand Cherokee/Durango. If the conflict continues, Chrysler admits it won’t be able to find a new supplier until January 2011. The Grand Cherokee/Durango and 300/Charger are planned to be Chrysler’s only 2010 debuts.

Any hippie will tell you what Chrysler is finding out as it tries to kick-start its product development to life: karma’s a bitch. In the pre-bailout era, Old ChryCo held the dubious distinction of having the worst supplier relations in Detroit. Now, for some odd reason, suppliers aren’t wanting to shoulder the cost of developing components for new Chrysler vehicles. The Wall Street Journal reports Chrysler isn’t making any production volume promises for future products (an ominous sign in its own right), which means cash-strapped suppliers aren’t rushing in to spend their money developing parts. “Why would we want to tie ourselves to Chrysler when GM and Ford are a known factor?” asks one interior-component supplier. “We’re already financially strapped so we have to be more choosey in where we will spend our money.” Meanwhile, this supplier recalcitrance is making it hard for Chrysler to plan anything.

After our post on the “ 1000-DAY BIG THREE PLAN” to save the domestic automakers, TTAC commentators have been wondering about the man behind the website supportthebigthree.com. I’ve just got off the blower with site founder Sid Taylor who, it turns out, is the CEO of an automotive supplier named Set Enterprises. Scanning the site, it turns out the campaigner who would have Americans buy only Chrysler, Ford and GM products has a contract with Toyota. When asked about the apparent contradiction, Mr. Turner said the money involved is so small as to render the contract meaningless. “If I didn’t have Toyota it wouldn’t have any impact on my business.” Besides . . .

While GM touts its less-than-revolutionary “interbuildability” scheme, Ford is approaching global product rationalization from another direction: on the backs of suppliers. Automotive News [sub] reports that Ford is requesting that its suppliers turn over component information to other firms if they are unable to supply a given assembly plant. These so-called “transfer agreements” involve handing over specs and technical drawings to other suppliers, which would then assemble the parts designed by the original supplier. Ford’s supply firms are understandably nervous about the initiative, arguing that it would allow Ford to use competition to squeeze suppliers on price. Also, the possible transfers to overseas firms could allow them to remarket the original suppliers’ designs and other intellectual property to other firms.

The situation in the collapsing French parts industry is turning explosive—literally. Workers at bankrupt French car parts maker New Fabris threaten to blow up their factory if they do not receive money from Renault and Peugeot, Reuters reports. The workers are occupying the New Fabris factory at Chatellerault, near Poitiers in central France.

Their ultimatum: Renault and PSA had better pay €30,000 ($41,800) to each of the 336 laid-off workers at the factory, a total of around €10 million. If they pay, they get the remaining stock of parts and the tooling. If not . . .

Cars.com tackles the tough question of domestic content in its latest “American Made Index,” and comes away with a surprising result: Toyota’s Camry is the most “American” car on the market. Of course, making these distinctions in a global industry is fraught with difficulty. Though percentage of domestic parts content is tracked by the NHTSA for American Automobile Labeling Act compliance ( PDF), those numbers count US and Canadian parts as being “domestic”. So Cars.com has created its own list which requires US assembly, at least 75 percent US-sourced parts content, and factors in sales numbers because “they correlate to the number of U.S. autoworkers employed to build any given model and to build the parts that go into those same cars.” Taking out vehicles that are being canceled with no clear replacement, the following vehicles make up their top ten “most American” automobiles.

Consumers have a hard enough time keeping all the brands and nameplates in the US market straight; trying to keep track of the myriad suppliers that make up the bulk of the industry is nearly impossible. Even here on TTAC, our well-informed commentariat often throws up its hands at the first sign of supplier coverage. But the fortunes of suppliers to US auto firms have been fading for years now, as Detroit’s misery slides downhill through the various tiers of suppliers. And despite repeated calls for a supplier bailout (and their use as OEM bailout bait), aid has been either misappropriated or rejected. And the bankruptcies show no signs of slowing.

The WSJ reports that the Treasury has turned down an $8-$10 billion request by the OEM Supplier Association for aid to struggling auto supply firms. Department of The Treasury spokesfolks refuse to shed any light on the issue, but OEMSA President Neil De Koker tells the WSJ that PTFOA member Ron Bloom spiked the request because “they felt that unless we see chaos or a disorderly situation arising where have assembly-line shutdown due to lack of ability to get parts or stuff like that, then we would relook at this sitation, but that at the present time we believe everything is working.” The Journal goes as far as to credit this with decision with signaling “that the Obama administration wants to draw the line on how much taxpayer money it will spend on the U.S. auto industry.” That, or they know that supplier bankruptcies have been part and parcel of the US car biz for years now, and they’re keeping the powder dry for future OEM requests.

Speaking at the Automotive News [sub] Manufacturing Conference, GM global manufacturing and labor relations honcho Gary Cowger ( remember him?) had a “by Jove, we’ve got it!” moment that placed him in instant contention for the “Minimum” prefix recently vacated by Chrysler’s Bob Nardelli. Even the hosting publication couldn’t keep the scorn from dripping off its nut graph. “General Motors thinks it has created a method to build small vehicles profitably in North America and calls it interbuildability. Competitors know the concept as standardization.” Can you feel the love (in the air tonight)?

Sent to us from a member of our Best and Brightest, who’s been following former GM parts maker, and bankruptcy-stuck, Delphi’s implosion at an unsafe distance:

One bit of news last night, and two old known facts, that may be the tip of something bigger. 1. As expected, yesterday, Judge Drain extended the hearing on Delphi’s emergence plan until Tuesday, the day after the GM C11 2. The PTFOA [Presidential Task Force on Automobiles] has never said, and still won’t say, what price they are paying for the five US Delphi plants. 3 Platinum Equity has been sticking their nose in here [Delphi] trying to get to FMV for Delphi’s stuff. The first two on this list don’t make sense. The Platinum thing does. Here’s what could be going on . . .

American-owned supplier firms, not so much. Automotive News [sub] reports that Fiat’s plans to replace Chrysler’s entire “car lineup” with its own models creates an opportunity for Italian supplier firms to steal business from their American competitors. You know, the ones which would have created a “death ripple” in the American economy if Detroit were not bailed out way back in December. Chrysler’s last merger was “a catalyst to bring more German suppliers to North America,” says Michele Vannini, North American head of Italian engine maker VM Motori S.p.A. “The same thing can happen for Italian suppliers with Fiat and Chrysler.”

The Ford-as-Survivor meme has properly taken hold in the mainstream media. But how much of the cheerleading is wishful thinking? Matt Debord of thebigmoney.com figures there’s no reason to get to excited about Ford’s $300 million stock offering, and indeed Ford’s stock is down considerably today. But Ford’s troubled supplier Visteon turned a $2 million Q1 profit, insists the Freep. The first quarterly profit since 2006! What you have to read in the whole piece to find out is that the profit comes courtesy of Visteon’s spun-off and bankrupted UK facilities. Meanwhile, Automotive News [sub] reports that Visteon financial filings admit the firm’s “ability to continue operating as a going concern is, among other things, dependent on the success of discussions with the lenders.”

The $5 billion bailout of Detroit’s suppliers has “flopped” according to Automotive News [sub]. Even though the bailout funds were made available in mid-March, money has yet to be disbursed even to firms which have been blessed with OEM approval. Problems seem to be traceable back to the decision to use Citigroup to manage the funds. “All our paperwork has been in for weeks,” says one supplier CEO. “But Citibank does not return phone calls or e-mails.” With reports of Citi being “overwhelmed” by supplier applications (aka anyone owed money by GM or Chrysler) and rampant government red tape, what do Citi, GM, Chrysler and the Treasury say about the unfolding boondoggle? Nada. “A Treasury spokeswoman said the government has no information on how the car companies have disbursed the money or to whom. She referred all questions to GM and Chrysler.”

We got a few “so what’s” a couple of wild-ass days ago when we whispered that Chrysler would be launching a new ad campaign using government funds earmarked for struggling parts suppliers. But setting aside the supplier screwing (yes, advertisers “supply” Chrysler, and with no production, why worry about components?), this means we will be treated to the launch of yet another New Chrysler. This will mark the second such dawning in just about a year. AdAge (via Automotive News [sub]) confirms the rumor, reporting that the responsible ad firm (BBDO, Detroit) also just happens to be Chrysler’s second-largest unsecured creditor ($58.1 million). And Judge Gonzalez still gets to decide whether the Mad Men will be paid out by the government’s “critical vendor” program. Anyway, the new campaign is being termed “educational,” with Chryco spokesfolks explaining “companies in this kind of situation need to communicate more rather than less.” Because sometimes having the President for a pitchman just isn’t enough.

Bloomberg reports that if Chrysler fails to secure a deal with Fiat and rapidly exit Chapter 11, some 38,500 jobs could be lost in a liquidation. According to one of Chrysler’s lawyers, anyway. But an Automotive News [sub] story says that, in addition to Chrysler’s plant idling during bankruptcy, no fewer than eight of its factories will be permanently closed by December 2010. The best part? According to Chrysler sources, the proposed Fiat deal would allow ChryCo “to retain substantially all our employees.” Huh? “Any employee displaced by the bankruptcy will be given an opportunity at other Chrysler facilities,” explains spokeswoman Dianna Gutierrez. Not only did Chrysler deny that shutting eight plants would cause the negative impacts (job loss) that government billions were supposed to prevent, it went as far to suggest that the Fiat alliance would add about 5,000 employees to the payroll. In fact, if you believe the Pentastar line, there are only two victims in in the Chrysler plan: Sebring and Avenger.