With its target of 800,000 sales still firmly in mind, Volkswagen is taking its next step towards achieving their goal, and the company is looking to their dealers for help, as they continue to roll out all new vehicles designed with American consumers in mind. With the new Passat and Beetle set to be launched...
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Somebody in Audi management is busting out the champagne and Hoyo Monterrey Excaliburs. This past March gave them a series of sales records, including the best March US sales and the best overall first quarter of all time. This was the third month in a row where Audi sales have set records, and in the...
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Despite higher gas prices and panic over Japan’s earthquake, and its subsequent effect on auto production, March 2011 was a positive month for the industry, with sales up 17 percent compared to the previous year. Among the Big 3, Ford managed to outsell General Motors for the first time in a year, with a 16...
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Hyundai‘s vice-chairman, Shin Jong-Woon unequivocally quashed rumors regarding a separate premium brand for Hyundai’s upscale vehicles, telling Automotive News “There are no plans for Hyundai to make a separate brand.” Hyundai spokesman Frank Ahrens elaborated on Jong-Woon’s comments, citing costs and branding difficulties as the main obstacles towards establishing a premium channel ala Lexus, Infiniti...
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The Toyota Prius, beloved of eco-conscious of buyers in California, is in short supply in the Sunshine State, as high gas prices and production disruptions due to Japan’s natural disasters have caused dealers to either run low on supply or be completely out of stock. Dealers, who report as little as a 14-day supply of the...
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Disregard the ads about the F-150 being the bestselling truck in 34 years: for only the second time in over a decade, Ford outsold crosstown rival GM overall, with 212, 295 vehicles, including some that aren’t pickups. Ford last outsold GM in February of 2010, but only by 471 vehicles. This time, however, the margin...
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New luxury vehicles tend to post exceptional sales within the first year or so of their introduction, only to taper off to more reasonable levels as the vehicle’s life cycle continues. Not so for the Porsche Panamera, a vehicle derided by Porsche loyalists that has gone on to be the brand’s best-selling vehicle. In 2010,...
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Having left Japan just one day before the tsunami-inducing earthquake wreaked havoc, a large shipment of Nissan LEAF Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) has just arrived in Long Beach, Calif. Nissan’s Luna Spirit vehicle-carrying transport ship was safely on the open ocean when a 500 MPH wave passed under it, at about 3-inches high. About a...
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The California New Car Dealers Association is accusing Chrysler of operating a factory store illegally in the Los Angeles area. The showroom, dubbed Motor Village L.A., was designed to boost Chrysler’s profile and show off their revised product lineup, as well as the new Fiat brand. The dealer group filed a petition with the California...
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While we won’t have final March sales numbers until Thursday evening, but for the first time since February of 2010, Ford looks set to beat GM in sales figures, with 210,000 units sold. GM won’t fare so badly, with a projected 208,000 cars and trucks moved in March. GM’s slump – and Ford’s success –...
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When dealing with an authoritarian state that exercises substantial government control of the economy, you generally know whose rules you’re playing by – and everyone from automakers to tech companies are happy to capitulate to the demands of the Chinese government, with car companies establishing joint ventures with local automakers for the sake of being...
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From the “Entirely Too Predictable” files, the ongoing crisis in Japan has spooked dealers wary of car shortages to raise their prices. Instead of the time-honored car buying traditions of haggling and deep discounts, buyers are paying sticker price on cars that may suffer from delayed shipments from Japan, such as the Toyota Prius, Yaris,...
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Hyundai may arguably be the hottest mainstream brand in the auto industry, but when it comes to dealer profitability, Hyundai dealers seem to lag behind their less popular rivals. In a report by Automotive News, the CEO of a large dealer group told the paper that Hyundai “not yet a good business equation for dealers”....
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BYD, China’s 4th largest automaker, has finally established a location in Southern California, although the digs are modest to say the least. BYD’s new home in America is an office within a used car dealership in Glendale, a Los Angeles suburb. According to reports, the dealership is being used to train BYD technicians, and BYD...
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With the recent earthquakes and tsunamis devestating Japan, automakers in the country are announcing a series of plant closures. Toyota, Mazda, Honda and Nissan have all announced plans to close various factories through the middle of March, although the plants could remain shuttered beyond that timeframe. Toyota led the pack by announcing that their plants...
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The Hyundai Sonata was on more buyer’s shopping lists than any other car, according to the most recent research by Kantar Media. More consumers looked at the Sonata than other car, including the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Ford Fusion. Available data is only for the month of January, but it shows that Hyundai is...
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Automotive News is reporting that the Chevrolet Corvette sales are on the rebound after being on a steady decline since 2006. At their peak 5 years ago, Chevrolet moved 36,518 Corvettes. By contrast, Chevrolet only sold 12,624 in 2010. The first two months of 2011 have seen a 13 percent sales increase compared to January...
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Audi can’t get ’em out the door fast enough. The comapny’s factories are running at full capacity to meet record demand for the A6 sedan and A3 hatchback, forcing buyers to wait an average of three to four months to take delivery. During normal sales periods customers usually take delivery of their cars within eight...
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Even though Toyota saw its dealerships and other facilities picketed by UAW members in 2010, Honda is taking a tough stance on any interference by the United Auto Workers, with John Mendel, Honda‘s executive vice-president, dismissing them in a speech made on Tuesday. “The union announced that they’re going to target the operations of international...
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Hyundai is looking to capture 5 percent of the U.S. car market in 2011, amid projections that show greater overall sales for new vehicles in the coming year. With Hyundai sales up 24 percent in 2010, and a market share of 4.6 percent, the new target is certainly reachable, especially with new products like the...
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Volvo‘s new S60 is an absolutely wonderful car, and our review (coming soon) will reflect that. We’re not the only ones either, as praise for the car has been unanimous. While there’s often a disconnect between what auto journalists like and what consumers actually buy. We’re glad to see that the S60 has gone from...
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Ford‘s quest to trim the fat from Lincoln‘s dealer network continues as the company aims to cut another 100 dealers in what it calls “major markets”, from 500 to 325. So far the brand is down to 434 as for December 31, 2010. With more roughly 4 times as many stores as other luxury brands...
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Although Lexus managed to snatch the U.S. luxury car sales crown away from its German rivals for the 11th straight year in 2010, the company is off to a slow start, already being outpaced by BMW and Mercedes-Benz. While Lexus sales are down 17 percent, Mercedes-Benz is up 11 percent and BMW is up by...
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The Ford F-150 and its 8-cylinder bretheren may have a lock on America’s auto market, but rising gas prices and improving technology have helped the once-pedestrian 4-cylinder engine dominate the automotive world, with 65.4% of cars built in 2010 powered by a 4-banger. About 18 percent of light trucks were similarly equipped. While we lost...
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