New vehicle sales for August, to be reported by manufacturers on Wednesday, are expected to total 1.26 million units, a 14.4-percent decrease from August 2007 but an 11.4-percent increase from July 2008. "We saw a slight improvement in July, but don't expect to see a major recovery for the remainder of the year," said Jesse Toprak, Edmunds.com's executive director of Industry Analysis.

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Signaling fuel-economy concerns are making an impact in the luxury market, General Motors Corp.'s Cadillac division let it be known last week - in the midst of the snobby Pebble Beach Concours d' Elegance, no less - that Cadillac will be using four-cylinder power for its upcoming new entry-level model.

The use of four-cylinder engines is something of a line in the sand in the luxury market, an option consumers in the past have embraced with mixed results. And believing four-cylinder engines imply a frugality and dearth of "power" inconsistent with the nature of the beast, many luxury marques - in recent years of low U.S. fuel prices, at least - have steadfastly refused to cross the line into small-engine territory.

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Nissan paid its highest amount ever for incentives in July. The Total Cost of Incentives (TCI) on the Nissan Titan hit a record $5,286 for every one sold. Toyota also set a new record for incentives on the Tundra, surpassing the $5,000 mark for the first time, at $5,213 TCI.

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But their platforms diverge sharply where the rubber meets the road, according to an analysis by CSM Worldwide, a global automotive forecasting firm headquartered in Michigan but with offices spread globally.

"Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain have been focusing on pocketbook issues like $4 gas, global warming and security issues like energy independence. Now the auto industry's financial crisis has their attention," said CSM Senior Economist Charles Chesbrough. "It may seem like the candidates' positions are closely aligned, but they actually have radically different approaches to CAFE, the vehicle technologies they champion and the support they're willing to lend to automakers."

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MOSCOW - Tucked away in the very last hall at the Moscow auto show, which held its press day Tuesday, is the stand of Russia's biggest car manufacturer, AvtoVAZ. Its status eroding, AvtoVAZ, maker of Lada cars, still commands a respectable a 20 percent market share in Russia. But it is no longer the ruling force on Russia's roads or at this show.

Years ago, when the Moscow International Motor Show was held at the old Moscow Expocentre, the AvtoVAZ press conference was the show's biggest spectacle. Russian media gathered en masse to hear ambitious projections from AvtoVAZ managers, like Vladimir Kadannikov. Kadannikov is no longer around, the show is held at the shiny new Crocus Center and AvtoVAZ is being steered towards a brighter future by French automaker Renault.

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A record 10 vehicles in July recorded a Total Cost of Incentive (TCI) of more than $10,000. (TCI is Edmunds.com's proprietary calculation of all incentives on a volume-weighted basis.) Two were BMW models; the rest were General Motors vehicles wearing Cadillac, Saab or Hummer nameplates.

A record two models - BMW's flagship 7-Series sedan and Saab's 9-7X SUV - have averaged a $10,000 plus incentive for the entire year so far. In fact, the 7-Series is approaching the $20,000 mark.

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Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata has said he would consider moving the plant because farmers protesting they were unfairly displaced are jeopardizing the company's $344-million investment. The protests could cause cost increases and delays in the introduction of the Nano, billed as the world's cheapest car at $2,500 and planned for sale in India by year-end.

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"For sure, there has been interest from various parties within the Gulf ... there is a precedent in the cases of Aston Martin, Ferrari or Daimler and those kinds of solutions could be very realistic solutions," GM Middle East Managing Director Terry Johnson said in an Reuters interview.

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MOSCOW - General Motors has the kind of problem in Russia that automakers love to have anywhere: too few vehicles for demand.

The shortage of vehicles in this booming market, where people in the commodity-rich region are rushing to spend their new-found wealth on vehicles, was mentioned repeatedly by executives and dealers representing GM. Like other manufacturers, GM is hosting media, including AutoObserver, at this week's Moscow auto show and giving them a glimpse of their growing manufacturing and distribution presence in Russia.

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The research firm said General Motors' 100th anniversary employee pricing promotion likely will help sales in the closing days of the month.

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Nearly everything about the Tata Nano is on a smaller scale than other cars. From its tiny exterior dimensions to its ultra-low $2,500 base price, the Nano is the reigning champ of automotive frugality even before it goes on sale in October.

Stretching only 122 inches in length, the Nano is almost two feet shorter than a Mini Cooper. And with a curb weight of roughly 1,200 pounds, the Nano makes a lithe sports car like the Mazda MX-5 Miata suddenly seem like a candidate for Jenny Craig. The two-seat Japanese convertible weighs a whopping 1,200 lbs. more than the four-passenger Nano hatchback.

While the Nano's proportions are small, the Spartan city-car is causing full-size headaches for the folks at Tata Motors as production looms close. In fact, those problems are so large they could force Tata to postpone the introduction of the tiny Nano.

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MOSCOW - Except for China because of the Olympics, no country has drawn the world's attention more than Russia has of late over its battle with Georgia. The skirmish has triggered oil prices to spike again, drawn the wrath of the Western world and re-ignited threats of a returning Cold War.

Russia already has captured the attention of global automakers, who have been making a mad dash to import their vehicles into the country, forge partnerships with local auto companies and establish manufacturing bases to feed the vehicle-hungry consumers who are generating wealth from the world commodity boom.

Against that tense political backdrop, the Moscow motor show opens, holding its press day Aug. 26, Like China's shows of late, the Moscow show is gaining increased importance on the world stage with automakers holding significant reveals there, opens next week.

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General Motors' plan to sell assets to raise much-needed cash may be easier said than done.

In July, GM outlined a plan for cutting expenses and selling assets in an effort to conserve and raise cash, which it is burning through so quickly that one investment firm said Wednesday the automaker needed $7.3 billion in fresh capital to pay its bills through 2009.

But also on Tuesday, Navistar International backed out of a deal to buy GM's medium-duty truck unit. And, while GM says it has received much interest in Hummer Division, a number of expected suitors have said no thank you in a variety of languages.

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ANN ARBOR, Michigan - Its current top-of-the-line sedan isn't exactly lighting up the scoreboard, but that's not stopping Hyundai Motor America Inc. from forecasting a vastly better fate for its audacious new flagship, the Genesis.

Although Hyundai predicts this year will see it  move just 8,000 examples of the Genesis - which flaunts an all-new and briskly fluid rear-wheel-drive platform and an equally expressive clean-sheet 4.6-liter V8 - the company thinks it can move some 50,000 Genesis next year, said John Krafcik, vice president for product development.

That'll be a stretch if Hyundai's experience with its range-topping Azera is any indicator. According to data from Edmunds.com, through July, Hyundai sold 12,251 Azeras and just slightly more than 800 last month. In effect, the company expects the new Genesis flagship to double the performance of the Azera.

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