NB: Chrysler 200 sold 3787 in August 2010, and Kia Optima sold 1714.

Well, it’s that time again TTAC fans: the Midsized wars roll on with Camry retaking the top spot to extend its advantage in YTD sales. Altima continued its consistent year with a second place showing, and improving over its August 2010 number better than any nameplate besides… the Chrysler 200? Yes, Chrysler’s updated Sebring stopgap outsold the freshly-chic Optima on the month, and passed it in YTD sales. Meanwhile, the Hyundai Sonata may still have been 10k off the Camry’s pace, but its August volume was a mere 37 units from tying Mazda6’s YTD volume (through August). All in all though, this wasn’t an incredible month for midsizers, as half of the best-selling nameplates failed to improve on their year-over-year numbers. But what this segment lacks in volume growth it makes up for in drama, as a falling Accord runs the very real risk of being passed by Malibu and Sonata. Camry may be back in control, but the fight for the rest of the podium is as tight as ever.

Here’s an open secret: the Mazda3 is the auto-journo’s cop-out. “Hey,” inquires the prospective punter, “I’m actually kinda/sorta in the market. What do you recommend?” Nine times out of ten, the sporty little ‘3 is gonna get a plug. Tenth guy wants a truck. Now around here, obviously that’s not the case. Ask the TTAC […]

Bob Lutz admitted in his book Guts that he “possesses a certain duality of mind,” and he ain’t kidding. After all, how could someone spend a career in an industry built on “the industrial logic of scale” (to borrow a phrase from Sergio Marchionne) while trying to connect new vehicles with the lust centers of the human brain without developing a certain amount of creative schizophrenia? But, as anyone who has ever driven a Pontiac Solstice knows, sometimes compromises are made between the conflicting pulls of lust and practicality… and when those compromises must be made, Lutz tends to err on the side of lust. I confronted him about this tendency in our recent conversation, and rather than accept the criticism, he doubled down on his premise that lust-worthy design is more important than practicality. And he illustrated his point by telling the tale of a long-forgotten concept and its troubled path to production.

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Employees of Saab will soon collect unemployment benefits from the Swedish government instead from Victor Muller. They can find solace in the fact that they are not alone. It looks like former media darling and wunderkind BYD is hitting the skids.

Except here, people are not kept around for months doing nothing . They are fired. This is China, not socialist Sweden. According to  Chinacartimes, BYD announced that it will cut up to 1,800 members of staff, including underemployed 1,000 members of its sales team. (Read More…)

The American market wasn’t kind to compact Buicks, so none have been offered here since 1997. But, with Pontiac gone, and the Chinese far more interested in small Buicks than Americans ever have been, GM is giving a small (but at about 3,300 pounds not light) Buick another go. Pricing for the 2012 Verano has now been released…officially this time (test pricing leaked back in December). How close has Buick ventured to the stated fancy brand competition? And how far from the closely related (but not a panel or piston shared) Chevrolet Cruze?

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Our Chinese sales oracle has spoken, and it says that sales of cars in China are good. August sales numbers released by General Motors today indicate that China has left the doldrums behind and is revving up to its old double digit self. Sales of GM China and its Chinese joint ventures set an August sales record and rose 13.4 percent (compared to August 2010) to 205,885 units. (Read More…)

This market has ceased to make sense. 

$7300 (plus auction fee) for a 2003 Honda Accord EX coupe with 220k and a bad rear bumper.

$8800 (plus auction fee) for a 2003 Chevy Tahoe with 102k and scrapes along the side.

$23,800 (plus auction fee) for a 2003 Corvette Z06 with 16k and some really crappy plastic add-on’s.

Keep in mind that last price was well over two grand higher than on Ebay. Same miles. No Wal-Mart quality chrome add-on’s. No interior detail needed.

What the hell has happened to the car market?

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Yesterday, Bloomberg poured gasoline into the smoldering embers that used to be a Volkswagen-Suzuki relationship. Bloomberg said that Suzuki doesn’t want to talk to Volkswagen. The trouble is: Bloomberg most likely is wrong.  Bloomberg and the world at large became a victim of Lost in Translation. (Read More…)

Chris writes:

For years, my wife and I have enjoyed the carefree enjoyment of running around without a care in the world. Then we had a baby, who is soon going to go from an only child to a big sister. The wife has owned the same car that she bought new when she graduated college: 2000 Honda Insight. Regardless of which side of the hybrid fence you are on, as a car guy, this car continues to amaze me with almost 230,000 miles and no major problems. I have on the other hand gone through a few more cars: Saab 9000, Saab SPG, Ford Bronco, VW Jetta, Nissan X-Terra. My current ride is the X-Terra chiefly bought so I could arrive on muddy construction sites and be taken a little more seriously than my European sports car driving bosses.

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It’s been a long road for Jaguar’s long-awaited sub-XK sportscar, as fans have been holding their breath for something small, tossable and decked out in Ian Callum sheet metal since the 2000 F-Type Concept. And though this C-X16 is technically a concept, it’s been approved for production and according to Autocar its supercharged V6 hybrid drivetrain is

expected to appear in other Jaguar Land Rover vehicles before the end of next year.

Unfortunately, between the hybrid drivetrain and a platform that will also be used on the next-gen XK, the C-X16 isn’t as light as the new 911 it benchmarks. I’m not a huge fan of the interior either, which Jaguar calls “1 + 1.” But with Carrera performance, high-tech toys like a KERS regenerative braking system, and about 3,500 lbs of kerb weight, the C-X16 has a lot of the things people look for in a premium sportscar. Besides, once Porsche’s “Baby Boxster” comes out, perhaps Jaguar will follow it closer to “true Roadster” territory…

The Washington Court of Appeals yesterday delivered a big win to American Traffic Solutions (ATS), the photo enforcement firm that has fought hard to prevent the public from voting on red light cameras and speed cameras. A three-judge panel overturned last month’s decision by Whatcom County Superior Court Judge Ira Uhrig that had found the ATS suit was specifically crafted to block public access to the ballot.

The appellate judges sided with ATS, which argued Bellingham residents have no right to decide whether or not automated ticketing machines can be used in their city.

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It’s been a bit of a meta-critical and navel-gazing week or so here at TTAC. We’ve been reviewed and discussed by other media sources, we’ve reviewed and discussed a few media sources ourselves, and we’ve even had a delightful piece by Brendan McAleer which sort of reviews our own reviews of someone else’s review of us.

It’s safe to say that we will probably be taking a break from this sort of thing for a while so that we can bring you some more of the authentic TTAC content you’ve come to know and love. Clinical, yet strangely erotic, descriptions of trunk space. Callous disregard for human decency in the last of the Ford full-sizers. Chinese business news. That sort of thing.

Fortunately or unfortunately, however, we will continue to encounter “content” from our colleagues in the business which is mendaciously conceived, shamelessly produced, and incompetently edited. Which leads me to my question:

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Yesterday, Sweden’s Dagens Industri reported that Saab would seek court protection today. We did not report it, because honestly, we are tired of the story.  On the other hand, there were signs that things are heading to the court: Saabsunited tried its hand again on amateur spin and wrote that bankruptcy, should it happen, wouldn’t be all that bad: “It does NOT mean that SAAB is in any way dead tomorrow!” Glad this is cleared up.

This morning, employees of Saab were woken from sleep (they’ve become used to sleeping in since April) and called for an all hands meeting at 12 noon.  At the meeting, they heard: (Read More…)

After checking the telemetry, and posing for a group shot, it’s official: The Lexus Nürburgring-enhanced LFA did the now common 20.6 kilometer “sport auto” lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife in seven minutes, 14.64 seconds. That’s a hair better than the Donkervoort D8 RS, which completed the same course in 7:14.89 – 5 years ago. It is also the best time amongst the bona-fide production models. Better than the Nissan GT-R (7 min 24 sec), better than the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (7 minutes 19 sec), better than the Porsche 911 GT2 RS (7 minutes 18 seconds). (Read More…)

In Part 10, the Hell Project Impala got Fiat scoops on the hood and hit the I-5 trail again. By late 1993, the car looked more or less the way I’d planned when I started the project and had become a surprisingly good daily driver (thanks to more modern brakes and a reliable, HEI-equipped 350 engine). I still planned to do some suspension and horsepower upgrades, once the early 1990s recession relaxed its grip enough for me to land a decent-paying job, but the setup I had was fulfilling my driving needs very well. Then, in the spring of ’94, Richard Nixon died, and I decided to take the Nixon-hood-ornamented car down to his birthplace and mingle with the mourners. (Read More…)