The NAB selectively quoted from Toyota's merger comments in a letter they sent to the FCC, and Toyota apparently is not happy about it, calling it a "mischaracterization" in a letter to the FCC.

Toyota's July 9th filing stated "with a finite bandwidth for both XM and Sirius, it may be difficult for a combined entity to deliver more content while maintaining or even improving audio quality."

The NAB took this to mean that Toyota "expresses doubts whether the merger is a good idea." (The letter in question of course, is the famous "sow's ear" letter.)

But Toyota said no such thing, and never meant to express any such doubts about the merger. An attorney representing wrote in a response to the FCC that "Toyota wishes to clarify any confusion that may result from the NAB’s mischaracterization of our comments."

"Toyota intended to reiterate that satellite radio bandwidth continues to limit audio quality," wrote Toyota's attorney. "This is a concern irrespective of the number of satellite radio providers, and was not intended to suggest that the problem would be worse with a single provider should the merger be approved."

"Toyota’s comment should not be read to suggest that this concern raises any doubts for Toyota as to whether the merger is a good idea."

[Read Letter (PDF) via SiriusBuzz]

We got a hint of this announcement from XM's "Coolest Car" promotion last week, but now its official: the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti is the first Ferrari to come with XM Satellite Radio and XM NavTraffic factory-installed.

Arguably, you can say that this is first supercar to come with satellite radio factory-installed, but that is a distinction that Porsche and Aston Martin may dispute. And even the Audi R8 may hold rights to the 'supercar' moniker. But there's no arguing that Ferrari is the definitive supercar, and by including both the satellite radio - and traffic data component - there's a "first" somewhere in there.

The Ferrari 612 Scaglietti will come equipped with both XM Satellite Radio and XM NavTraffic as standard features and will be incorporated into the vehicle’s advanced audio and navigation system (which includes voice recognition and a built-in Compact Flash card reader).

Ferrari will also include 3-years of XM and XM NavTraffic service with each vehicle. Though considering the clientèle, I don't think the word "free" really makes a difference. It's quality that holds all the weight, and XM just earned some serious street cred with both Ferrari and Porsche under their belt. (Lamborghini has yet to tie up a relationship under the Sirius/Vee-Dub deal, though Bentley and Roll Royce ain't too shabby.)