Motoramic Dash for Thursday

What we're reading this morning about GM's good news, GM's bad news and a dumb move by Smart:
Cadillac to offer 2-liter turbo in new ATS/Buick teases Encore SUV [GM x 2] Detroit auto show pre-leaks from GM tout Cadillac's 270-hp, 2-liter turbo for the upcoming ATS sedan, and a shot of the corner of the Buck Encore, a five-passenger SUV. Of the two, the ATS sedan engine news is less important for its details than its larger meaning: GM leading with a performance message on the sedan it very much wants to position as a BMW 3-Series alternative.


Former Chrysler chief LaSorda joins Fisker as vice chairman [AutoNews] First, Fisker raises the price on its Karma plug-in hybrid to more than $100,000. Then, it hired former Ford and Jaguar exec Richard Beattie to run global sales and marketing. Yesterday, it lured former Chrysler chief Tom LaSorda to be a vice chairman -- typically a title for non-executive board members -- who will also give advice to Fisker on building cars at volume, something it hasn't mastered yet.
Opel profits to take $1.3 billion hit in 2012 [Reuters] German magazine Capital says General Motors' Opel unit faces a $1.3 billion shortfall next year, and the latest plan for fixing the company -- spending cuts, cheaper materials and perhaps a plant closure or two -- resembles every failed plan GM and Opel have come up with for fixing the brand over the past several years. Opel builds more expensive vehicles than it can sell, and the brand's seen as a rental-car special in Europe. What's that word again for doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting different results?
GM to restart Cruze production [Detroit News] Crisis: Averted.
How the Scion FR-S almost never happened and why Subaru thought it was a bad idea [AutoGuide] A good look by AutoGuide at how Subaru was so doubtful of Toyota's abilities to build a real sports car that it turned down the idea of the Subaru BR-Z/ Toyota GT 86/Scion FR-S trio at first — until Toyota proved it was serious, and even then let Subaru handing the heavy lifting.
Mel Gibson's Smart car fresh start [Destination Smart] "He may not have had an awful lot of good publicity recently, but we can certainly say that Mel Gibson is doing the right thing where his choice of automobile is concerned," says the official Smart fan page in Britain, which ran a recent shot of Gibson touring Malibu in a gray Smart ForTwo. Much like Smart's tagline of "uncar," Mel Gibson is the very living definition of "unsmart."
Top Photo: 68-year-old Björn Waldegård caught in his winning run of the 1,242-mile East Africa Safari Classic last month in a Porsche 911. He had finished fourth the last time he ran the rally -- in 1978.