The seventh generation of Volkswagen’s venerable and best-selling hatch, the Golf, has barely been launched in Europe, and Volkswagen is already looking into producing it abroad. Volkswagen aims at two regions that usually prefer cars with trunks: China and America. (Read More…)
16,290 people were killed in road accidents from January through June, says the NHTSA. For the first time since 2006, deaths are up. The NHTSA does not know why fatalities are up, but the usual suspects have already been rounded up. (Read More…)
TTAC Commentator robstar writes:
Hello Sajeev+Piston Slap Audience,
A few weeks ago I saw something strange with my lightly-used-never-abused 2005 Subaru WRX STi — A “R. Diff Temp” started flickering on the dashboard. (Read More…)
The fortunes of small cars used to be tied to gas prices. Sales of compacts rose when gas prices shot up, when gas came down, big was beautiful again. Sales of small cars are up strongly in America, but this time, it’s different, think two of the US motor industry’s most senior executives. They believe that the trend won’t reverse, and that sales of small cars will go further up. (Read More…)
| Rank | Analyst | GM | Ford | Chrysler | SAAR | SAAR Diff | OEM Diff | Overall |
| 1 | Jessica Caldwell (Edmunds.com) | 1.9% | 0.7% | 8.4% | 14.4 | 3.6% | 4.5% | 8.1% |
| 2 | Jesse Toprak (TrueCar.com) | 2.5% | 1.3% | 8.1% | 14.6 | 2.3% | 6.0% | 8.3% |
| 3 | Peter Nesvold (Jefferies) | 3.7% | 2.2% | 6.1% | 14.5 | 2.9% | 10.1% | 13.0% |
| 4 | Rod Lache (Deutsche Bank) | 1.0% | 1.6% | 4.4% | 14.4 | 3.6% | 9.5% | 13.1% |
| 5 | John Sousanis (Ward’s) | 4.6% | 4.3% | 8.1% | 14.6 | 2.3% | 11.1% | 13.4% |
| 6 | Joseph Spak (RBC) | 4.0% | 4.9% | 8.0% | 14.5 | 2.9% | 11.2% | 14.1% |
| 7 | Patrick Archambault (Goldman) | 2.2% | 4.2% | 4.8% | 14.6 | 2.3% | 11.9% | 14.2% |
| 8 | Brian Johnson (Barclays) | -1.5% | -1.4% | 5.5% | 14.3 | 4.3% | 10.2% | 14.5% |
| 9 | Alec Gutierrez (Kelley) | 4.0% | 1.7% | 5.6% | 14.3 | 4.3% | 10.4% | 14.7% |
| 10 | Emmanuel Rosner (CLSA) | 3.3% | 2.0% | 4.4% | 14.4 | 3.6% | 11.2% | 14.8% |
| 11 | Chris Ceraso (Credit Suisse) | 5.0% | 4.0% | 6.0% | 14.5 | 2.9% | 13.3% | 16.2% |
| 12 | Adam Jonas (Morgan Stanley) | NA | NA | NA | 15.0 | 0.4% | 300.0% | 300.4% |
| 13 | George Magliano (IHS) | NA | NA | NA | 14.5 | 2.9% | 300.0% | 302.9% |
| 14 | Jeff Schuster (LMC Automotive) | NA | NA | NA | 14.5 | 2.9% | 300.0% | 302.9% |
| 15 | Alan Baum (Baum & Associates) | NA | NA | NA | 14.5 | 2.9% | 300.0% | 302.9% |
| 16 | Ryan Brinkman (JPMorgan) | NA | NA | NA | 14.4 | 3.6% | 300.0% | 303.6% |
| Average | 2.8% | 2.3% | 6.3% | 14.50 | ||||
| Actual | 1.5% | -0.2% | 11.5% | 14.94 |
The public may have been surprised by the very strong showing of the market and the not so strong showing of GM and Ford when the September sales came in yesterday. Jessica Caldwell of Edmunds and Jesse Toprak of TrueCar weren’t surprised at all. They called the market with high precision. Separated by only 0.2 points, Caldwell made first, Toprak second, followed far behind by Peter Nesvold of Jefferies. (Read More…)
September saw big gains for Volkswagen and Honda, two brands that have been pilloried by the motoring press for apparently sub-par products, while Chrysler led the Big Three in gains, if not volume.
Want a quick, agile, fun-to-drive vehicle you can stuff a bunch of kids into? Ford has what you’re looking for. Just one catch: you’ll have to move to Europe. Not that Ford sees no market here for a swift seven-seater. They do, just not for one like the S-Max. Instead, for 2013 we receive the […]
Just-Auto is reporting that Honda will cease UK production of the Jazz (aka our Fit)
“to benefit from production economies of scale and fully [use] Honda’s global production resources”.
So, where are they going to come from?
George writes:
Hello again, Steven,
You may recall our email last March regarding our 1992 Lexus SC300 5-Speed. Thanks for the reply; guess the timing was bad for you with tax time coming up. As you may recall, the car is all original, black with gray interior, looks and runs great, and has slightly less than 25K miles. Here’s the back story: (Read More…)
Renault-Nissan already has Dacia as its “low-cost” brand, to compete with vehicles in the $10,000 range, the auto maker is moving forward with plans to introduce a new car that costs as little as $3,000.
The Mazda/Alfa Romeo sports car collaboration was best described by one industry reporter as “the first slow dance, where they leave room for Jesus”. Now it looks like Fiat is definitely trying to cop a feel.
First September sales reports are coming in, and they are a mixed bag. Chrysler says it had the best September since 2007 with sales up 12 percent. GM’s sales are up only 1.5 percent , while Ford reports zero percent growth.
Volkswagen sold 36,339 vehicles in September, up 34.4 percent. Toyota’s sales are up a whopping 41.5 percent to 171,910 units in September 2012.
Watch this space for more sales coverage throughout the day.
Are you a short seller who is on the hunt for companies that are worse off than European carmakers? Look for parts makers that are also in the contract manufacturing business. OEMs may lose sales, but contract manufacturers lose whole contracts when manufacture is brought in-house by OEMs. Magna is likely to lose the contract with BMW to build the next generation of Mini cars, says Reuters. (Read More…)
I don’t think Bertel would have gone for my original headline:
It Seemed Like A Gouda Idea. Colby Was A Dip But Knew He Curd Build The Car. He Was Not A Whey Nacho Man Nor A Whiz At Car Building As His Wife Brie Reminded Him On Those Nights She Got Grilled On Kahula And Cream While Sitting On A Brick In Front Of Their Swiss Cottage In Monterey, Jack Baruth Being Her True Love. Colby Was Becoming A Basket Queso In His Quest To Get His Kraft In Front Of Auto Writer Csaba Cheddar: Utah State Students Build Car Powered By Cheese Waste
Sales won’t be the only thing up when September new car sales are reported today. (Keep an eye on TTAC.) “”Transaction prices in September are the highest in years,” said Jesse Toprak, research chief of TrueCar.com. (Read More…)
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