Detroit’s Big 3 American automakers account for roughly half of new car sales in the United States. So how do you explain that they hold almost two-thirds of all the new car dealerships in the country between them? The automakers themselves recognize the problem, and have been closing dealerships faster than you can say “foreign competition”.

The Automotive News Dealer Census shows that, as of the start of this year, GM, Ford and Chrysler had 14,199 dealerships across the United States, 621 fewer than at the start of last year. The closures reflect a growing trend of reduction in the number of dealerships and franchises. Today U.S. carmakers have nearly 5,000 domestic dealerships fewer than they did in 1980. The closings began in earnest five years ago when the Big 3 closed 256 outlets in 2003. Of the 513 dealerships that closed last year in the United States, 484 were for American automakers. While GM continues to lead with the most outlets in the country, it closed 238 dealerships and 227 franchises itself last year. Ford closed 214, while Chrysler closed 164. Both GM and Chrysler are also campaigning for its dealerships to consolidate between brands: The General is aiming to combine Pontiac, Buick and GMC into single dealerships, with luxury dealerships focusing on Cadillac, Saab and HUMMER, while Chrysler LLC is undertaking Project Genesis to consolidate Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep franchises into single outlets.

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Okay, it just hit us: eccentric. That’s what the Maybach 62 Landaulet is, in a word. In fact, you could apply that to the whole Maybach venture. Like Dennis Hopper said in the Keanu-tastic action flick Speed, “Poor people are crazy, Jack. I’m eccentric.” Daimler is evidently hoping that there are enough “eccentric” people in the United States to warrant bringing over the head-scratchingly-strange Maybach 62 Landaulet to the American market.

With trepidation and a considerable measure of revulsion, we’ve covered the emergence of the Landaulet from the initial rumor, through the preview before the car’s unveiling in Dubai (where else), the first video footage, its North American debut and its eventual production confirmation. It’s been a long and crazy wind-tousled process, and now comes confirmation that it’s coming our way. Oh, and the price? Ultimately confirmed at $1.35 million. That’s not a typo, and it’s higher even than the highest estimates we received previously. In case you, like us, are wondering who would spend that kind of money on a convertible version of a car that ordinarily costs (an already exorbitant) $433,750, ask Hans-Dieter Mulhaupt, the VP in charge of the Maybach program: “The Landaulet is for a superrich individual who wants something that is extremely extraordinary and enjoys being driven in a car with acres of sky above them.” There you have it: “extremely extraordinary”, for a million-dollar premium.

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Truckers are like motorcycle riders in the way that they invariably customize their rides. It’s probably just as challenging to find a bone stock tractor as it is an unembellished Fat Boy. When you’re plying the roads as much as the big rigs do, why not have some fun and stand apart from the rest of the crowd and their mudflaps decorated with conformist chrome silhouettes of questionable taste. International’s new LoneStar truck will be factory trickable with a new line of Navistar accessories called DoubleSix Customs. While the Autoblog Garage isn’t quite big enough to hold an 18-wheeler, we did dedicate the better part of an hour to International’s website designing the perfect vehicle for hauling our tricked out fleet of Zastavas.

With International’s online configurator, you can start with a basic truck and add a splash of color, a dollop of flames, lots of chrome, and nearly as many lights as Vegas. The DoubleSix name takes its inspiration from the mother road, Route 66, which International is hoping still resonates with those who keep our economy rolling. Our only problem? Lack of the proper license. Try it yourself, you can even upload logos and graphics to design your perfect LoneStar. Press release after the jump.

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March 2008 was the first month of sales for the Jaguar XF, and while we haven’t seen any around town yet, the Hail Mary sedan from Coventry is selling extremely well… at least by Jaguar standards. The Jaguar brand has consistently been losing sales month over month since we began reporting sales numbers in our By the Numbers posts. In February 2008, the brand sold just 1,063 units. As you’ve already seen, March 2008 sales numbers have been released, and the XF by itself sold 1,161 units, a number that’s sure to grow as the sport sedan penetrates the media and its marketing campaign gets off the ground. Because of the XF’s sales performance last month, the brand sold 1,752 units in March 2008, its best performance since July 2006 when it moved 1,997 units. If Jaguar does rebound on the back of the XF, it’s too bad Ford won’t be around to enjoy the fruits of its investment.

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Apparently all is not kosher in corn country. BMW of Lincoln, Nebraska posted an auction on eBay for a brand new M3 Sedan for $60,000. Perhaps they were hoping for the kind of eBay madness that would push the price to six figures (something other dealers are doing right on the show floor). If that’s what they were after, well, they didn’t get it. The car was won by a gentleman in California for the listed price: $60,000.

The problem is that the dealer doesn’t want to give him the car. Not long after the auction ended, the winning bidder got a call from BMW of Nebraska telling him the auction was “a mistake,” and that he couldn’t have the car. In spite of the fact that the dealership changed the Buy It Now price twice — and so was paying attention to the auction — and eBay rules that make it clear that if someone wins the auction then you must complete the transaction, the buyer is still trying to get someone to give him the car he won at the winning bid price.

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GM has promised us that it would no longer abuse the SS name, and one of the first examples of that pledge is the Cobalt SS. The turbocharged coupe carries a wallop with 260 hp, and all that power can be used to propel the Cobalt SS to 60 in 5.7 seconds or get you around the ‘Ring in a very respectable 8:22. Those are very solid performance numbers, and with a starting price of $22,995, the Cobalt SS delivers a pretty strong value statement, as well.

Besides a toned-down rear spoiler and an improved 2.0L turbocharged powerplant, standard features include air conditioning, stability control, OnStar and XM Satellite Radio. If you’re into Cobalt luxury, you can add a sunroof, high-wing rear spoiler, audio system, and limited-slip differential and still keep the price under $26k. We’re looking forward to seeing for ourselves if the Cobalt SS is worthy of the Super Sport name, but at $22,995 we can already say the price of entry is competitive.

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We’ve been getting reports from all over that the 2008 BMW M3 Coupe has begun to arrive in U.S. dealerships. Dealers, however, have also begun taking advantage of the high interest in these Bavarian über coupes by marking up the price. Since we couldn’t just take everyone’s word for the extreme mark ups, we had to wait until someone surfaced with proof, which came today. Dragtimes.com is hosting an image of a brand spanking new M3 sitting in an unidentified California dealer with a window sticker displaying the car’s $70,720 MSRP plus a $30,000 mark up. The extra monies demanded by the dealer is labeled as a “Dealer Market Adjustment” on the window sticker, which makes it seem like a special options package with heated seats and an extra cup holder. Rather, it’s the reality that this dealer and many others know that someone out there will pay that much for a new 2008 BMW M3 Coupe. But as good a sports car as it the new M3 undoubtedly is, would you pay over $100,000 for it? Thanks for the tip, FikseGTS!

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