The Jalopnik Morning Shift

So whatever happened to that whole "value pricing inititative" at the General? They must not have been talking about lease incentives, because they're leading the way in 'March Madness' lease deals. Makes me wish that maybe I should have waited a couple of months before picking up my new lease. [WSJ]

Chrysler plans on spending $1 billion to upgrade the Toluca, Mexico plant. The plant builds the unaffectionately UAW-nicknamed PT "Pinto" Cruiser. [Edmunds]

GM continues its direction away from the much-touted "alliance strategy" of the 1990's by cutting its stake in Suzuki. GM expects they will net $550 to $750 million from the sale. When asked why they sold a huge chunk of the partnership, GM responded "We need the dues". [The Car Connection, NYT]

Eiji Toyoda learned all there was to know about the assembly line from a short visit to Ford Motor Company in 1950. He went home to Japan and turned his small Toyota Automotive into the Toyota Motor Company. That didn't go so well for Ford, who has now been surpassed by Toyota. The New York Times seems to think they may not have learned from that mistake. We tend to agree, but did you have to lambast the ENTIRE city of Detroit to point it out? [NYT]

Expectations are that Toyota will be announcing production of Camry sedans at the Subaru plant in Lafayette, Indiana. Toyota is expected to receive $94 million is state and local incentives to retool the plant. Five bucks to the first person who can tell me how many times the word "Hoosier" will be used in the press conference. [Bloomberg]

DaimlerChrysler's Annual Report states that the "US economy is increasingly dependent on the inflow of foreign capital to finance its rapidly growing current-account deficit" as a source of "considerable risk". You mean deficit spending is bad for the economy? Really? Huh. We SO never would have guessed that. [DaimlerChrysler, The Car Connection]

Ford is an "Ikon" no more in the South African car market. But fear not loyal Ford of India employees, they'll still be selling the pick-up version in Cape Horn. [Financial Express]

Saturn workers adapt to the "layoff atmosphere" in Tennesese. Auto workers around the US respond "Welcome to the party" [Tennessean.com]

Kia, not to be confused with their corporate baby-daddy Hyundai, is opening up a plant set to create 5,500 jobs in West Point, GA. Which is good, because now people won't be confusing this West Point with the other West Point. So remember, the West Point in Georgia makes value-based South Korean autos and the one in New York...well, they will still make the leaders of the finest military force known to humanity.[AP, Macon Telegraph]

So let me get this straight. The problem isn't that automakers aren't hiring minority designers, but that the schools aren't producing them? [Detroit News]