Wheelies: The German Hotcakes Edition Volkswagen of America announced on Wednesday a new record for annual sales of the Passat sedan, which was redesigned for the 2012 model year. According to the automaker, American dealers sold 77,524 Passats from Jan. 1 through Sept. 19, beating the previous record for annual sales, set in 2001, in under nine months. Volkswagen Japanese automakers are girding for more protests in China outside their plants and dealerships. The protests, which devolved this week into rioting in some areas, were prompted by a territorial dispute between China and Japan over islets in the East China Sea and led some automakers, including Toyota and Honda, to suspend operations at plants in volatile areas. A report by I.H.S. Automotive estimated the closures have cost Japanese manufacturers $250 million in revenue. Edward E. Whitacre Jr., the former chairman and chief executive of General Motors who was appointed by the Obama administration to lead the bankrupt automaker in 2009, called on the federal government to sell its remaining shares in the conglomerate. The government retains a 26 percent stake in G.M., stemming from its bailout of the company under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. In an editorial published in The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Whitacre wrote that G.M. spent "an awful lot of time checking in with the people who administer TARP over everything from hiring to executive compensation and management. For a global company, that adds up to a lot of distraction. A worker at Chrysler's Jefferson North assembly plant in Detroit was stabbed and killed by a co-worker on Thursday, according to multiple reports. The suspect was later found on Belle Isle, dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The plant suspended its second shift as a police investigation continued. Police are expected to issue a statement on the incidents on Thursday afternoon. The Detroit News On The 6th Floor, David Carr writes about a visit to the ranch owned by Neil Young in Northern California, during which the two tour the premises in Mr. Young's 1951 Willys Jeepster. The ranch is populated by old, rusting relics of the American Century, Mr. Carr writes, which Mr. Young keeps on hand for spare parts. The 6th Floor