According to the Journal, one of the dealers said, “A man van won’t generate huge sales, but it’s one of those vehicles that gets people talking and heads turning.”

So what’s the man van going to look like? Well, rather like the Dodge Grand Caravan R/T concept displayed at the 2008 SEMA show, this would have exterior and interior details that would help to differentiate dad’s minivan from mom’s. Examples include bespoke stitching on the seats and steering wheel, but the body trim has yet to be finalized.

This announcement closely follows news of two other minivans which are being pushed as family-friendly: Honda’s 2011 Odyssey, which features 15 cup holders and an integrated trash receptacle, and Toyota’s 2011 Sienna, which is being marketed with a “Mommy Like” commercial campaign.

The transmission itself is courtesy of German manufacturer ZF. It’s their 8HP model, versions of which are currently being used in the Audi A8 and the Rolls-Royce Ghost. This will be Chrysler’s first foray into 8-speeds; their current line has no more than six forward ratios.

The initial allotment of the transmissions will be sent to Chrysler from ZF’s plant in Saarbrucken, as a precursor to the transition to licensed production here in the United States by 2013. Car and Driver theorizes that this plan suggests the transmissions will be available in Chrysler vehicles before then.) In order for manufacturing to proceed, Chrysler will be spending $300 million to prepare the Indiana plants.

At this time, Chrysler isn’t revealing which of their products will be sporting the eight-speed gear box, or when any such vehicles will arrive, but it is known that the technology will be offered across the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram Truck vehicle lines, and it’s rumored to offer greater fuel economy than any of the company’s current offerings, boosting the company’s average fuel efficiency by 25% by the year 2014.

The survey, which was conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, rated Honda, as well as Ford, Nissan, Chevrolet, Toyota, Hyundai and Chrysler. 1,700 consumers, representing a nationally representative sample of adults with at least one vehicle in their household, were interviewed via phone calls, and asked to share their perceptions of customer service and quality commitment.

Honda scored at the top – overwhelmingly so – in both categories, scoring 71% and 73% respectively, with Ford and Nissan in the second and third positions. In fifth place (surprisingly high, considering the woes the Japanese automaker has been going through) was Toyota, with Hyundai and Chrysler trailing the others by a large margin.

Here’s an image of the actual survey results:

Customer deliveries begin in India next month and company chairman Ratan Tata is already talking American — optimistically parring the timetable down to maybe two years and six months. (A version of the Nano will appear in Europe in 2011.) In addition, the automaker is working on alternative fuels vehicles, including diesel, biofuel, and electric powerplants.

The Nano is a four-seater that returns 65 mpg and in appearance is reminiscent of the Smart ForTwo. India’s cheap labor pool has helped to keep the price low, although protests over the proposed site of a manufacturing plant delayed the car’s debut. A lottery system will be used to select the first 100,000 owners.

Yesterday, while caught in traffic, I was looking at the cars around me and in addition to spotting one of the Smart cars now on Fort Worth’s streets (there’s a dealership in Dallas), I noticed three Honda Fits. Although dwarfed by the still prevalent SUVs and my own Odyssey minivan, I couldn’t help but look at these trim, efficient small cars as pioneers. A year from now, I have a feeling they will be in the majority in the traffic jam and the SUVs will look more and more like the dinosaurs they are rapidly becoming.

(Uh, excuse me, but it begs saying. Duh?)

Six of AutoNation’s GM dealerships were among the 1,124 slated for closure and Jackson said, “It’s going to be an exceptional time for consumers,” but that the situation will further depress the commercial real estate market in the United States, which is already 20% behind its 2008 levels. “It could have an impact on commercial real estate,” said Jackson. “This is single-purpose real estate that has to change use now. So there will be a lot of that coming at one time.”

That’s pretty much how this recession seems to be going. We get improvement in one area while harming another. But what about all that vehicular inventory?

Chrysler has already said that it cannot afford to buy back the 40,000 vehicles sitting on dealers’ lots and those dealers have just a few weeks to get rid of those Chryslers, Dodges, and Jeeps. After June 9, the dealers can’t sell the cars because they’ll no longer be affiliated with the company. At that point, Chrysler will “redistribute” remaining inventory. The dealers are going to lose money, and now the question is how much? The more inventory they can move in the next three weeks, the more they can blunt the coming blow. (GM dealerships have more time at the present, but that could change.)

So, given the situation, is it a good time to buy? Probably, but every consumer has to weigh their individual financial situation and degree of need. One of the best pieces I’ve seen examining the issues is, “How Owners of Chrysler, GM Vehicles Could Be Affected” by Martin Zimmerman from the Los Angeles Times reprinted in the Baltimore Sun. The piece looks at manufacturer warranties, unpaid liens on trade-ins, vehicle repair history, financing, sales perks, and buying a car from a dealer going out of business. Read up, weigh your options, and remember — for Chryslers, at least — you have three weeks to make a decision.

Carmakers are working on a new generation of trucks that are more like cars, built on unibody platforms and utilize front-wheel-drive. Right now leaders in this genre include:

- a concept from Toyota called the A-BAT,
- Ford’s Explorer Sport Trac, which seems poised to go fwd unibody,
- two planned pickups from General Motors,
- and potentially an offering from Chrysler as well.

As we’ve seen with the recent proliferation of clean-diesel vehicles, these ideas tend to snowball through the world of automakers. You can almost hear it, “They’re building a WHAT? Okay, we gotta build a WHAT too.”

So, what are the hallmarks of lifestyle pickups as we see them now?

- less hauling capacity
- drive quality similar to a car
- smaller engines
- better miles per gallon

Beyond that, the genre is wide-open. It’s going to be an interesting segment to watch, much like crossovers have evolved over the past year to 18 months. In my opinion, something has to come along to take the place of the SUV, a behemoth whose demise I won’t mourn. Smaller, more flexible, more efficient pick-up “crossovers?” Now that intrigues me.