All three Detroit automakers got better at pleasing customers during the past year, according to the 2009 American Customer Satisfaction Index. Tom Walsh reports that Ford did the best, with its approval rating jumping 5% for the year and 10% over the past four years. Chrysler's overall satisfaction scores jumped 4% and General Motors' by 2%. Claes Fornell, a professor who heads the National Quality Research Center at the University of Michigan, which does the ACSI study, says that consumers are finally recognizing that Detroit has narrowed the quality gap with its foreign rivals. Another factor is that …

Sony Electronics will announce today that star quarterback Peyton Manning and start crooner Justin Timberlake are teaming up in a humorous holiday campaign designed to move products like camcorders, digital books, TV sets, Blu-ray disc players, notebook computers and cameras, Stuart Elliot reports. The ads expand on a campaign launched last fall that features celebrities such as Manning, writer Amy Sedaris and Academy Award cinematographer Dion Beebe. The company could use a little humor, Daisuke Wakabayashi reports in the Journal, given that it's delaying the launch of a new ultrathin model until the TV division returns …

Sears and Kmart are offering a Christmas Club holiday card that allows consumers to save for the holidays and get an additional 3% on top of what they contribute from now through Nov. 14. They can activate the card with a $5 contribution anytime before Oct. 31, Elaine Wong reports. A study by Kelton Research finds that 58% of Americans are more concerned about funding their annual holiday shopping spree this year, which is bad news for retailers, of course, who generally see up to a third of annual sales during the period. Sears Holding spokesman Tom Aiello …

Other chain restaurants may be offering value meals and free eats for kiddies, as we re-reported yesterday, but Panera wants to have its bread and have its customers pay a premium, too. Julie Jargon says that Panera has been bucking conventional industry wisdom during the economic drought by testing such gilded-age delicacies as a $16.99 lobster sandwich in 50 New England outlets. If the lobster flies, the $8.50 that the average Panera customer spends for lunch is sure to go up. Panera CEO Ron Shaich says that the 1,400-outlet chain has been focused on improving the quality of its …

The long-rumored Dell smartphone -- or at least a "proof of concept prototype" of it -- has surfaced in China at the Mini3i show in Beijing, Kirk Ladendorf reports straightforwardly in the company's hometown newspaper. It was unveiled by China Mobile Communications, which has 450 million subscribers. Dell spokesman Matt Parretta acknowledges that the company is indeed developing a mobile product for China Mobile, but he declines to say whether that device will closely resemble the smartphone that was on display Monday, Ladendorf writes. Let's hope that it doesn't, Priya Ganapati implies in Wired, …