Category: New Cars
Today, I’m here to tackle one of the most insidious lies in the auto business: the notion that “there are no bad news cars on sale today.” But I’m not here to dump on the usual easy, safe targets like the Mitsubishi Mirage or the Smart Fortwo. Because, the low end, mainstream cars on sale today are actually pretty good. These days, the real crap has risen to the top.
The upcoming Lexus GS F retains the IS-F’s intense shade of blue, but lacks the bulging fenders, giant wheels and other visual cues that scream “please take me seriously as an M3 competitor”.
On the back of a record year for auto sales, the Honda Civic hung on to its Canadian sales crown for the 17th straight year.
The next Renault Samsung SM5 has debuted in Korea, giving us a preview of Mitsubishi’s next entrant in the D-segment.
The Toyota Camry was America’s most popular car in 2014, the 13th consecutive year in which the Camry has led all passenger cars. The Camry ranked fourth among vehicles overall, trailing only three pickup trucks.
• Camry volume represents a six-year high
• Accord volume shoots up to seven-year high
• Corolla leads all small cars
Camry volume rose to a six-year high in 2014. With a 5% increase in the lead-up to a MY2015 refresh, the Camry outsold its nearest rival, the Honda Accord, by 40,232 units. (The Accord trailed the Camry by 41,806 units in 2013.) Accord volume, at 388,374 units, improved to a seven-year high.
Despite reporting record-high U.S. sales, the Nissan Altima fell from third place in 2013 to the fourth spot this year. Altima volume increased in each of the last five years.
American Honda grabbed its third consecutive best-selling SUV crown with the increasingly popular CR-V in calendar year 2014. The CR-V’s lead over the next-best-selling Ford Escape grew to 28,807 units (about one month of sales for the CR-V) in 2014 from 7911 units in calendar year 2013.
• CR-V leads SUVs & crossovers in seven of the last eight years
• Seven of the ten best sellers post record U.S. sales
• Explorer is America’s best-selling three-row vehicle
The CR-V was alone on top, but it was not alone in its ability to achieve record-high U.S. sales volume. Along with the CR-V, the Ford Escape, Toyota RAV4, Chevrolet Equinox, Nissan Rogue, Jeep Wrangler, and Subaru Forester all sold more often in 2014 than in any prior year.
In the time honored buff book tradition of pitting supercars against military aircraft, Road & Track and the Drive network managed to procure a Hellcat for a drag race against an F-16.
Auto sales in the United States grew nearly 11% in December 2014, a fitting ending to a year of impressive growth for the overall auto industry. The biggest leaps forward in December were achieved by three volume brands: Chrysler, Kia, and Ram. Scion and Cadillac continued to spiral. Volkswagen reported a modest increase for the third consecutive year in comparison with what was a disappointing fourth-quarter in 2013.
• Ford led all brands in U.S. sales in 2014
• GM is the top-selling manufacturer with its four brands
• Maserati’s 171% year-over-year improvement led all automakers in 2014
• Jeep and Ram combined for 303,190 more sales in 2014 than in 2013
The market supported more than 16 million sales for the first time 2007 with strength rising most particularly in the SUV/crossover sector, but also from top-selling cars. Toyota’s Camry, the best-selling car in America, climbed to 428,606 sales. The Nissan Altima set an annual sales record. The Honda Accord reached a seven-year high.
One thing you can be sure of: when a Japanese auto maker releases a “concept” you can bet that the production version will be pretty close to it.
With fuel prices continuing their downward spiral, one would think EVs and hybrids would become the new Hummers and Escalades to be left to rust in the backlot of the dealership. Not quite.
Here it is folks. The 2016 Chevy Volt revealed at CES.
Back in the spring of 2013, our sources told us that a CD-based Taurus was under development, but promptly sent to the garbage dump after its design bombed its consumer clinics. Marketing brass at Ford decided to kill the Taurus, due to dissatisfaction with the way it looked, and the shrinking mid-size car market. But the large sedan will live on in China.
As I sit here and ponder on the year gone by, quite a few salient facts spring to mind. In fact just-auto.com has just written a little ditty that offers some numbers that confirm my observations offered to TTAC readers first. The highlight of the auto year in Brazil is no doubt, the emergence of the New Brazilian Consumer.
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