BMW wins big in this year's International Engine of the Year Awards, garnering six first places. Winners in all categories are:

International Engine of the Year:
BMW 3-LITRE TWIN TURBO (135, 335, X6

Best New Engine of the Year:
BMW 2-LITRE DIESEL TWIN TURBO (123D)

Green Engine of the Year:
TOYOTA 1.5-LITRE HYBRID SYNERGY DRIVE (PRIUS)

Best Performance Engine:
PORSCHE 3.6-LITRE TURBO (911 TURBO, 911 GT2)

Sub 1-litre:
TOYOTA 1-LITRE

1-litre to 1.4-litre:
VOLKSWAGEN 1.4-LITRE TSI TWINCHARGER

1.4-litre to 1.8-litre:
BMW-PSA 1.6-LITRE TURBO

1.8-litre to 2-litre:
VOLKSWAGEN/AUDI 2-LITRE TURBO FSI

2-litre to 2.5-litre:
SUBARU 2.5-LITRE TURBO (FORESTER, IMPREZA, LEGACY, OUTBACK)

2.5-litre to 3-litre:
BMW 3-LITRE TWIN TURBO (135, 335, X6)

3-litre to 4-litre:
BMW 4-LITRE V8 (M3)

Above 4-litre:
BMW 5-LITRE V10 (M5, M6)

Full story here.

Here's Inside Line's take: BMW 3.0-Liter Twin-Turbo Dominates 2008 International Engine of the Year Competition

In the latest incentive to move vehicles off dealer lots, Chrysler has introduced their "Let's Refuel America" plan, in which Chrysler will pay for part of your fuels for the next three years.

They will lock in a price of $2.99 for that time span. That's what you the customer will pay. Anything over that Chrysler picks up the tab. For owners of diesel-powered Dodge Rams, it could mean a savings of $3000 or so over that time span.

Full story here.

Here's AutoObserver's take: Chrysler Unveils New Gas-Price Guarantee Incentive: “Let’s Refuel America”

Suzuki too
It looks like Suzuki is jumping on the free fuel bandwagon too, at least for three months. No word yet from the other automakers.

It's the first annual 2008 Inside Line Readers' Most Wanted Awards.

You get to choose the cars, trucks, SUVs and minivans you think are the best of 2008. There are 15 categories organized according to vehicle type and price range.

We'll post the winners on June 2.

Vote now.

Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor

 

While Honda and others are reaping the benefits from selling loads of smaller cars, the makers of big trucks an SUVs are taking it it on the chin. In it's latest move GM will cutting one shift in all four of their factories that make full-size pickups and SUVs. The cuts will occur at Pontiac, Flint, MI;  Janesville, Wis; and Oshawa, Ontario.

States GM North America President Troy Clarke: “With rising fuel prices, a softening economy and a downward trend on current and future market demand for full-sized trucks, a significant adjustment was needed to align our production with market realities.”

Full story here and here.

Dodge Ram hurting too
AutoObserver points out that Chrysler LLC is spending more than anyone on truck incentives in order to move Ram trucks off dealer lots.

Dodge Ram: Spending Most for Incentives

Same with Toyota
High inventories of Tundras and Sequoias are hurting the "Big T."

Image: Patricia Beck / Detroit Free Press

Just the other day while out driving it seemed like at just about every other corner or block I was seeing a new Accord. I was thinking to myself that Honda must have struck gold with this latest makeover.

Well, it looks like I was right, as the new Accord outsold every vehicle—including the F-150, during the month of March. Perhaps a bigger surprise is the V6 model is selling in higher numbers than what Honda expected, even with the high gas prices.

Here's AutoObserver's take: Honda Accord Is the Best-Selling VEHICLE in March; Will a Car Win the Top Spot Again in April?

UPDATE: "What we have here is (a) failure to communicate..." Ah, yes, the famous quote from the 1967 film, Cool Hand Luke.

So, here's the scoop: Edmunds groups the Accord sedan, the Accord hybrid and the Accord coupe as one figure, because the vehicles are all marketed as "Accords." Toyota, on the other hand breaks out the Camry sedan (and Camry sedan hybrid) from the Camry Solara, because they are marketed as different vehicles. So with Toyota, you get two sets of numbers, one for the sedan and one for the coupe.

So with this "new" news, it appears that the Accord sedan probably (?) did not outsell the Camry sedan. As to the actual figures of the individual models, I don't have that info at hand.

Fresh off nailing down the Jaguar/Land Rover deal; there are rumors that Tata is interested in getting a stake in both MV Agusta, the hyper-performance Italian motorcycle maker; and Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina.

It's interesting to note that both VW (VW and Ducati?) and now Tata, are interested in getting an exotic motorcycle brand under their large umbrellas.

As for Pininfarina, Tata is aiming to take a minority holding in the firm, partnering up with the French industrial group, Bollore, with up to a 100-million euro capital increase. It's expected that Tata and Bollare will cut down the Pininfarina family's share from 55-percent to 30-percent.

Full story here and here.

Feeling the increasing pressure of social responsibility, AMG, Mercedes-Benz's in-house performance arm, will no longer be chasing just ultra high horsepower numbers. Instead they will be balancing high performance with a degree environmental restraint with their future powerplants.

Their current top engines, the 6.2L V8 and the 6.0 V12 twin-turbo engines will eventually be replaced with a smaller 5.0 V8 twin-turbo. The 6.2 engine reportedly get miserable mileage under full throttle, and has less low-end power than the previous supercharged 5.5L unit.

Full story here.

The man is back and is now dancing with Ford. Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda just announced the Ford stock purchase, signaling that he's not through with dabbling in the domestic auto industry. It's also a signal that maybe Ford is doing something right, as under CEO Alan Mulally, the corporation is showing some signs of recovery, and this Tracinda is more a vote of confidence than anything.

So after two episodes of "Dancing with the [automotive] Stars," Chrysler and GM; he's back with a new dance partner. Will the third time be a charm?

Oh, one more thing: Kerkorian may not be finished yet, as he has hinted at buying up to 20 million more shares. Stay tuned, as this could be more fun than watching judges Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman sniping at one another.

Here's AutoObserver's take: Kerkorian's Tracinda Builds Stake in Ford

Here's Inside Line's take: Kerkorian Makes It a Clean Sweep of Detroit

VW is making a couple of significant changes to the warranties of all their 2009 models. One is good and one is bad.

Good: VW will be offering a new maintenance service plan called the "Carefree Maintenance Program." It's a no-charge program that will cover (pay for!) scheduled maintenance for the life of the new-car warranty, which three years or 36,00 miles. Also, the scheduled maintenance intervals are now stretched out to 10,000, 20,000 and 30,000 miles; meaning there will be fewer needed stops to the dealer during that course of time.

Bad: VW has reduced the warranty from 4 years/50,000 miles to 3 years/36,000 miles.

Full story here.

Here's Inside Line's take: VW Rolls Out "Carefree Maintenance" Program for 2009 U.S. Lineup

A while back Straightline posted a couple of blogs on the crisis that coachbuilder Bertone was facing (Bertone sold to Gruppo Prototipo and Italian coachbuilder Bertone in financial trouble). Well Bertone is not alone here, as the entire world of automotive coachbuilding is up in the air.

AutoObserver has an excellent editorial outlining the history of this niche industry, and what has happened over the years to this industry—and it's not good.

Niche-vehicle Producers Face Uncertain Future