By the time you read this, I’ll be under the knife, but I wanted to share with you my favorite Super Bowl ad. I don’t have any real profound insights, but I did get a real kick out of it, as I recalled my own prom night, an event that largely faded from memory.
Find Reviews by Make:
Latest auto news, reviews, editorials, and podcasts
The rightful winner
The year 2013 starts with a scandal in the usually buttoned-up circle of auto analysts at America’s brokerage and research houses. For more than a year, TTAC has graded the predictions of analysts, as published by Bloomberg, against (hopefully real) data published by OEMs a few days later. In all that time, we haven’t seen a drama like yesterday: For the second time, Bloomberg ruined the chances of an analyst. Now, the analysts fight back. (Read More…)
EV sales had shown minor signs of life in the last quarter of 2012, only to collapse sharply in January. “Sales of the Chevrolet Volt, the Toyota Prius Plug-In and Nissan Leaf each had deep dropoffs in January from December,” Reuters says. (Read More…)
Toyota, along with its Japanese peers, has wallowed in double digit minus territory in China, ever since cars were upturned and dealerships torched in September over a few uninhabited rocks in the East China Sea. In January, China sales of Toyota shot up 23.5 percent compared to the same month a year earlier. Are Japanese fortunes in China finally turning to the better?
(Read More…)
I got to attend the 2013 Abu Dhabi Golf Championship two weeks ago. Let me be blunt, I hate Golf. I don’t know if I hate because I am no good or I am no good because I hate it, but I do know it is slow, so I don’t play, and I certainly don’t watch it on TV. I would rather watch fishing. I watched McIlroy and Tiger not make the cut for a few holes and then headed to the vendors village to watch Cadillac sell cars to the Arabs.
Remember how you all mocked me for my earnest proclamation that the 2013 Ford Fusion would be a “game changer”? Well, January looks to be a promising prelude to my inevitable vindication, as far as sales goes.
Since we’ve been discussing Mazda the past few days, Timothy Cain, TTAC’s favorite indepndent sales analyst, has taken a look at how well the much-loved Mazda CX-5 is doing.
From Mazda’s point of view, the CX-5 has likely been a roaring success. But Mazda’s point of view doesn’t require success to be measured against other popular vehicles. Other than the 3, Mazda simply does not sell a high-volume product. Even the 3, which accounted for 45% of Mazda sales in the U.S. in 2012, sells once for every two-and-a-half Civics.
The U.S. new car market was up strongly in January. GM and Ford surprised analysts with double digit sales rates. Toyota, up 26.6 percent also surprised. (Read More…)
Back in my college days, it seemed like every single Chrysler commercial featured a car that would morph from the old model into the new model.
Minivan morph. Neon morph. Intrepid morph. The technological transitions were quite well done, and I always enjoyed a commercial that reminded me of the movie “Terminator 2.”
But then I had a few ideas of my own…
Hot on the heels of curated-Tweet advertising comes the news that the MKZ is so successful, sales are down!
TTAC readers, this is the one you’ve been waiting for; a fun-to-drive, lightweight, stick-shift sports sedan that doesn’t require a home equity loan to purchase. Now, the question is, will anyone buy it?
If anyone is hoping for a turn-around of the European car market, be it Opel, PSA, or Pch101, January definitely was not the month it happened. Some people, who get paid a lot of money for a very long-term vision, believe we have to wait years for the turn-around. The French car market dropped 15 percent in January, with “Volkswagen and U.S. carmakers leading the drop,” Reuters reports. Massive sales subsidies of 2,000 euros ($2,700) per car, reintroduced in October in Spain, could not reverse the Spanish market. It dropped 9.6 percent. (Read More…)
A new year started in Japanese auto sales, and the easy double digit up times while comparing with a disaster 2011 are over. It’s getting worse: This year, Japan’s new car sales compare to 2012 sales on government-speed: Japanese could collect hefty subsidies in most of 2012, no such largesse this year. In January, new car sales are not down 12.9 percent, as the Dow Jones News Wire make you believe. They are down 7.8 percent, as correctly reported by Reuters. But down is down. Please come to the tables. (Read More…)
Anyone attending the Geneva Auto Show will get to see a concept version of the Toyota 86 convertible, pictured above in a sketch. Enjoy it as you sip your 7 Franc lattes. We’ll have live shots for you starting March 5th, once the show is on. Maybe it will be warm enough to put the top down on the MX-5 by then…
It was one of the worst-kept secrets: Two weeks ago, Reuters reporters had picked up the scent of Daimler planning a big investment into China’s BAIC. This week, rumors started flying around in Beijing that it is true. Today, Daimler announces, as expected, that “Daimler AG is going to invest in BAIC Motor, the passenger car unit of BAIC Group, one of the leading automotive companies in China.” (Read More…)
Recent Comments