As any sales-watcher knows, volume isn’t everything. Fleet-retail mixes, incentive spending and transaction prices are all important considerations for putting volume numbers into context. As usual, we’ve assembled Edmunds’ True Cost Of Incentives index as well as TrueCar’s Transaction Pricing and Incentive Spending forecasts, for a complete picture of these important metrics… and after the jump, we’ve added a few notes on the discrepancies between the two firms’ numbers.
Randy writes:
Dear Sajeev, I’m a middle-aged man in love with a cranky mistress. My 1999 Concorde LXi has developed a thumping sound from the right front going over bumps with the wheel slightly turned to the right. It currently has around 94k miles on the ticker. I enjoy this car for no other reason than it is a large fwd American sedan that can cruise the interstate all day long and returns decent mileage with the 3.2 liter engine.
I bought it three years ago from an elderly couple in Topeka. They claimed it didn’t run well and I being slightly mechanically inclined determined the belts were bad and a failed a/c compressor was the main culprit. At that time it had 36k miles on the odometer. It looks good, no rust, original paint and wheels. I have had all the services done including the timing belts, tensioners and water pump replaced for preventative care. The transmission fluid has been changed twice now under my care.
With a new entry-level Maserati prancing about, presumably based on the Dodge Challenger’s shortened version of the LX platform, news of a new Alfa-Romeo sports coupe initially had us thinking that we were about to see more fruits of the Fiat-Chrysler Alliance. But not so, as Automotive News [sub] reports that the forthcoming 4C GTA will be a lightweight sports coupe developed on a platform from a little closer to Turin. Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM provides the basis for the 4C GTA in the form of its X-Bow trackday special, which was designed by Italy’s Dallara racing team, the firm that is also developing the 4C for Alfa. AN [sub] reports
Dallara developed a carbon fiber cockpit for the 4C GTA, which features front and rear aluminum sub-frames to house the engine, as well as carry the pushrod suspensions and to absorb deformation in crash tests….
Thanks to an innovative construction method, which combines carbon fiber and aluminum, the 4C GTA will be very lightweight. Alfa is targeting an 850kg (1,784 lbs) curb weight for the car.
The 4C GTA would have an impressive power-to-weight ratio below 3.5kg/hp despite being powered by the 1.8-liter, four-cylinder gasoline direct-injection engine offered in the Giulietta with the horsepower boosted to more than 250 hp from 235 hp.
That would give the €40k 4C GTA, due out in late 2012, a power-to-weight ratio greater than the Porsche Cayman S. Alfa envisions 20k-25k units of production for the in-house-styled 4C GTA, but for now
A Fiat spokesman confirmed that Alfa is working on a concept car, but said its unveiling at the Geneva show is still uncertain because of “delays in the concept model construction.”
Needless to say, this is exactly the kind of car that would have us abandon our concerns and welcome Alfa to the US with open arms. We will be watching this car closely.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety spent all of yesterday touting its report on the effectiveness on red light cameras as if it were the most “comprehensive” study available on the topic. The group emphasized the effects cameras would have had on one hundred of America’s largest cities, but the report itself only looked at accident numbers in fourteen out of the 500 jurisdictions that have active photo ticketing programs. Industry researchers did not even know how many red light cameras were in use in the locations studied.
“Attempts were made to obtain historical information on the number of red light cameras in the study cities, but information on the scope of red light programs could not be obtained for many of the cities,” the IIHS study explained (page 9).
Going through my old 2X2X2 35mm stereo slide pairs for posting on Cars In Depth (I’ve been messing around with twin-film-camera 3D for about 15 years now), I came across some shots of the ever-varied fleet of late-80s/early-90s Japanese subcompacts I owned during the heyday of San Francisco’s notorious City Tow car auctions. (Read More…)
Remember Oleg Deripaska? The Russian oligarch that had been under suspicion of money laundering and organized crime activities? The very same Deripaska GM did not want to have close to Opel for fear of losing their precious intellectual property ? Yes, him. GM just handed him the blueprints and the tooling for the Chevy Aveo. (Read More…)
Porsche is known for fleecing is customers for extras. Now, they give them away. Porsche sells two special editions of the 911 Carrera and the Boxster, filled with a lot of extras for the price of a base model. Or thereabouts. „A special edition at Porsche is as common as a total eclipse of the sun in Europe,“ writes AutoBild in Germany. Why the sudden generosity? (Read More…)
To develop a new car takes a lot of cash, with unsure payback in some 5 years. During carmageddon, most large automakers delayed or stopped development of new cars. These new cars are missing now, especially at GM and rival Toyota.
Volkswagen went through carmageddon relatively unscathed and never stopped developing. Actually, they approved a record R&D budget of $71 billion for vehicle development and to boost production capacity from 2011 to 2015.
A preview of what all that money can buy will be given at the Geneva Motorshow, to be held from March 3 through 13th. (Read More…)
Throughout the month, TTAC tries to go back to recent sales numbers in hopes of providing greater context for the industry’s day-to-day decisions. On the first of each month, however, we get so overwhelmed with volume numbers, we thought we’d take this opportunity to explore the price-volume frontier. Inspired by recent rumors of a 120k unit production goal for the $41k Volt and the ensuing discussion of the BMW 3 Series’ unique position on the price-volume frontier, we thought we’d feel around the data for this mythical plateau. Sadly our unsophisticated graphing software (and overworked editor) didn’t allow for a more full exploration of high-priced vehicles reaching near-mass-market volumes, so we put together a “basket” of higher-priced, strong-selling models. And though we obviously cherry-picked a little, we did use four manufacturers to indicate an approximate “delta” between price (base MSRP) and volume (2010 numbers). Are there outliers to our “price-volume frontier”? Possibly. Did we leave out the most interesting area of the graph (the mass-market vehicles) Definitely. But in the process we have hopefully proved that selling over 100k units of a vehicle costing $40k or more is not a goal to be taken lightly.
Hyundai’s sales were up 22 percent last month, driven by huge growth for Sonata (13,261 units) and Elantra (9,659 units). But, rather than spend the whole press release [PDF here] trumpeting sales data alone, Hyundai upped the transparency bar on its competitors by announcing it would
begin reporting monthly sales-weighted Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) results to provide journalists, policy-makers and consumers with additional data to promote more meaningful dialogue on the feasibility of future fuel efficiency targets for the industry…
For January 2011, Hyundai’s sales-weighted CAFE level was 34.7 miles per gallon, with a model year mix for the month of 86 percent 2011 and 14 percent 2010 model year vehicles. This is a significant increase from Hyundai’s most recent official CAFE level for the 2009 model year of 31.7 mpg.
By publishing both its fleet mix (12%) and CAFE average, Hyundai is proving that marketing is a million times easier when the facts fit the message. At 34.7 CAFE, Hyundai is a single MPG away from complying with the 35.5 MPG 2016 proposed CAFE standard, and just a whisker away from meeting its corporate commitment to meet 35 MPG fleet by 2015. Which is all fine and dandy, but as a blog that’s forever digging for obscure information about the car industry, we’re even more excited about Hyundai’s decision to take the lead on transparency. TTAC encourages all automakers to release both sales-weighted CAFE numbers and full fleet-mix numbers (and any other relevant data) with their monthly sales reports. The truth, as we say around here, must out! [Hyundai and Kia sales breakouts after the jump]
My home state of Oregon has the unfortunate distinction of pioneering the practice of pay-per–mile taxation, having studied the GPS tracking approach to road taxes in a pilot program back in 2005-2007. Originally, the track-and-tax scheme was envisioned as a replacement for the gas tax, but now it’s being raised as a way of taxing motorists who go without gasoline altogether. The Eugene Register Guard reports
A bill before the Oregon Legislature aims to deal with the government’s potential beefs with a growing fleet of cars and trucks that never stop for fuel at a gas station: that they don’t ever pay the gas tax that helps cover the cost of state and local road construction and maintenance.
Under House Bill 2328, those drivers would pay a “vehicle road usage charge,” starting with model year 2014 electric vehicles and plug-in gas-electric hybrids.
Proponents say the bill will build on lessons learned from the pilot testing, and avoids the legitimate concerns about pay-per-mile which were first raised by the pilot project’s report. But does taxing EVs actually make sense, or is this just the politically-palatable first step towards an Orwellian nightmare of GPS vehicle tracking? Meanwhile, doesn’t the State of Oregon give up to $750 in tax credits for EV purchases? Mixed messages much?
TTAC’s monthly sales coverage rolls on with a look at Chrysler, which saw sales rise 22 percent last month. The volume increase, driven by the Jeep, Dodge and Ram brands, was the second bit of good news Chrysler announced this week, following up its water-into-wine 2010 financial results. Like Ford, Chrysler Group’s problems remain with its “luxury” brand, Chrysler. The eponymous brand fell 7%, although a 45% increase in T%C volume helped mask deeper drops in other models like 300 (1,329 units), PT Cruiser (342 units) and 200/Sebring (1,482 units). Though 200 and 300 sales should increase due to their current production changeovers, Chrysler still has a lot of work to do to make the Chrysler brand relevant again. Jeep, on the other hand, is rolling, with sales up 47%. Grand Cherokee led the way again, up 130% to 7,612 units, Wrangler and Liberty added over 30% each, and Patriot was up 75%. Dodge saw Caliber, Avenger, Journey and Charger lose volume last month, but big increases in Caravan, Durango and Challenger helped bring the brand up 22%. On the truck side, Ram was up 22%, while Dakota dropped to 823 units.
Yes, everyone loves to hate on the BMW 3 Series’ success… but nobody loves to hate it like the Mercedes C63 AMG. And with a new version for 2012, Benz’s Bavarian-burner has about as good a shot as anything else on the market of convincing Mr Prospective Sports Sedan Buyer out of an M3. Meanwhile, it also serves as a stern, 481 HP warning to Jaguar, Cadillac and the assorted Dreier-chasers: when you’re chasing such a coveted market segment, you have to go big or go home [nauseating technical details for the 2012 C-Class can be found here].
Poor Ford. As the latest sales data shows, its lone luxury brand Lincoln is one sick puppy. Lincoln’s best-selling vehicles are its entry-level models, the MKZ and MKX, indicating that killing Mercury still has yet to bring higher-end buyers to Lincoln showrooms. Higher-end products like MKS and MKT are dead in the water, failing to crack 1,000 monthly units combined in January. Pull out the dying Town Car and Navigator, and Lincoln moved less volume last month than the subcompact Fiesta. And though Ford acknowledges that it has a problem at Lincoln, managers have hardly been forthcoming about what it plans to do to fix the problem. Which, as far as TTAC is concerned is fine… Ford doesn’t have to convince us that Lincoln is coming back. It does, however, have to convince Lincoln dealers to stay on board… and because they’re playing with their own money, that’s a trickier task. Ford’s Jim Farley tells Automotive News [sub] that
My experience is that if you cannot show concretely that you have to spend x amount of resources and you get this out of it in terms of volume, margin and profit, they’ll never invest, no matter how much credibility we have
But will they invest without seeing product? Ford has announced that it won’t be showing new Lincoln products when it pitches dealers on the brand’s future at the upcoming NADA convention. But isn’t product the problem? Hasn’t product been the problem at Lincoln for years? Even if Ford commits significant resources to the problem, dealers have no way of knowing what that investment will actually yield. Need we mention the LS experiment?
Since Ford won’t make a solid pitch for the future of Lincoln, we’ll send the task over to you, our Best and Brightest. Short of mocking up prototypes, what products and promises does Ford need to make to get Lincoln out of the luxury cellar?
Ford Motor Company sold 127,317 units last month for a 13.3% increase in volume, despite weak a performance from its Lincoln brand and a 95% drop in volume from the dead Mercury brand. Lincoln effectively has two viable products in its portfolio, the MKZ (1,574 units) and the MKX (1,546 units)… nothing else moved more than 1k units last month. And of all its products, only MKZ saw a year-over-year sales increase last month, up 17.5%. With Mercury gone (but for a few hundred Grand Marquis sales), Lincoln needs to get its act together before Ford becomes a one-brand outfit. Still, If Ford did cut back to a single brand, the Blue Oval would still be in decent shape. Ford-branded vehicle sales jumped 21 percent to 121,511 units last month. Focus fell slightly f(13.2%) to 9,014 units, but Fiesta is coming on strong with 4,270 units. Fusion saw a modest sales increase, as the midsized contender moved to 14,346 units. Taurus and Mustang fell by 23% and 33% respectively. Edge and Escape were up 42.8% and 30% respectively, and the new Explorer looks to be a hit with sales jumping 71% to 7,351. F-Series kept growing as well, with 35,806 units sold, and Transit Connect rose to above 2k monthly units while Ranger slid 31%.
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