Coming on the heels of Chrysler’s Chapter 11 announcement is word that after the company emerges from bankruptcy Chief Executive Bob Nardelli will be leaving, according to Automotive News.

The answer is Fiat. And so with that, the Italian auto giant is buying into not the Chrysler of today, but the one that will emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, possibly in a matter of weeks.

The Pontiac Division, once a brand known for high-performance models such as the GTO and Formula Firebird, has died after a long illness. It was 83. Pontiac is survived by four brothers, Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC; and three cousins, Saturn, Saab and Hummer. Services are pending.

The common utterance of loyal subjects of a monarchy applies as readily to General Motors changing of the guard as it did when being King of the Britons meant something. Out is GM lifer Rick Wagoner, in is GM lifer Fritz Henderson. Mr. Henderson is charged with pushing another restructuring boulder up the hill and keeping it from rolling off.

Automotive parts suppliers can now take their turn at the bailout trough. The Treasury Department has opened the spigot to the tune of $5 billion. Companies rejoiced. The backdrop, however, is much darker; more like a game of musical chairs with the lights turned off. A week before the parts-maker bailout was announced, an analyst with Grant Thornton warned that 500 auto suppliers were at serious risk of failing, and with them much of the supply chain.

Much has been said the past week about a proposal from the California Air Resources Board that some excitable types say would ban black cars. The snap judgment ignores the real goal to decry an erosion of freedom. It’s about saving fuel by reducing the amount that motorists use their air conditioning by requiring paint and glass to be more reflective. Black paint wouldn’t be banned by name, but it could be banned by nature.

You can add roof strength to the tests performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and with it comes another rating that consumers can use to evaluate their choices when shopping for a vehicle. To kick things off, the institute tested 12 small SUVs. The results are not pretty.

Volkswagen has decided to drop the Rabbit nameplate and return to calling its hatchback the Golf. All part of a global naming strategy, the company says. Rabbit was the name from 1975 until 1984, when the Golf name was first used as part of a global naming strategy.

Over at SpeakingofCars.com, my former Autobytel/MyRide.com colleague Keith Buglewicz has taken his automotive Veg-a-matic to myriad technologies that grace the 2010 Toyota Prius.

… but the XOF1 solar car and driver Marcelo da Luz reached the Arctic Circle along the way to setting a world record and clocking more than 12,500 miles powered only by sun light since leaving Toronto on June 12, 2008.