Semantics! What do you call the Flex? Ford thinks the mini-van label is taboo. So is a FWD Flex more of a CUV than an AWD Sienna? What’s the Mazda CX 9? I happen to think the Journey is a replacement for the discontinued short-wheelbase Caravan. Does it really matter? Chrysler is still dominant, especially when the Journey is included. The Odyssey is the bestselling single nameplate, but obviously the Chrysler twins have it beat. But the Chrysler off-shoot VW Routan is croaking. And the Flex is not exactly flexing any serious sales muscle. And I included the Mazda CX 7 here to confuse you further because I forgot it with the CUVs. Rather than argue about it, let’s just come up with a new name for the whole category that included CUVs and MPVs. Chart follows: Read More >

The Lexus RX, the originator of the genre, held the lead in November sales. With the help of strong Venza sales, Toyota is the manufacturer leader of this category overall. The Chevy Traverse is the sales leader YTD. The category showed strength in November, as part of the overall shift back to larger vehicles after the crisis and C4C driven spurt of smaller cars in previous months. I have also included vehicles that are not typically considered CUVs, like the Grand Cherokee and the Explorer, because they certainly compete for sales in this category, in their current softy incarnations. Chart after the jump: Read More >

There are some cars that no one will appreciate… but the owners. A bad brand name. Fatal and expensive defects from times past. Even a body style made of a designer’s frump can turn a brilliant vehicle into a showroom relic. This week I majored in buying unloved cars. Seven cars. Seven sins. More than likely seventy-seven plus days on the pavement.

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GM’s new European Viceroy, Nick Reilly, surprised and astonished the participants of a Saturday conference call by saying that German aid, or no German aid to Opel, “it won’t make any difference to our restructuring plan, so it will not lead to more layoffs in Germany or less layoffs.”

Now what’s that all about? Wasn’t the line before “you either pay us, or you pay unemployment benefits, anyway, you’ll pay?”
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Honda’s CRV continues to lead the cute ute category. Combined sales of Subaru’s two variations on the theme  (and the new taller Outback realistically is a CUV) would put it in striking distance of the number two spot. Hyundai’s just announced new Tucson may help it improve the sagging outgoing model’s sales. (Wobbly) chart follows: Read More >

NB: Our numbers are straight from the various companies’ media sites. There may be discrepancies between them and those from other sources, because some may be be NA (Canada too) and other US only.

We are currently researching purchasing an automotive sales analysis data base from a supplier. Our goal is to provide timely, accurate information and analysis. That has never been done before consistently at TTAC. Stay tuned for an announcement.

Toyota is also leading in the compact segment with it’s perennially popular Corolla. The Cobalt is shriveling away in its last year. The Caliber has imploded, rather spectacularly at that. And the new Kia Forte is off to a strong start. Chart follows: Read More >

NB: Our numbers are straight from the various companies’ media sites. There may be discrepancies between them and those from other sources, because some may be be NA (Canada too) and other US only.

We are currently researching purchasing an automotive sales analysis data base from a supplier. Our goal is to provide timely, accurate information and analysis. That has never been done before consistently at TTAC. Stay tuned for an announcement.

Let’s take a closer look at the top-selling mid size “Camcordia” class sedans for November and YTD (year to date). Keep in mind that one month does not paint much of a picture. A new incentive or a push in fleet sales can distort short term sale substantially. Speaking of fleet sales, some industry watchdogs have suggested that the Hyundai and Nissan upturns in November were well-fed by fleet sales. Read More >

A San Diego Sheriff’s Dept. investigation into the fiery crash of the Lexus that killed four has revealed that the same car experienced similar gas pedal entrapment a few days earlier, with a better outcome. A story in the San Diego Union reports that the prior driver warned the dealer of the problem, but it was not addressed:

Frank Bernard, 61, said he told a receptionist at Bob Baker Lexus El Cajon that the gas pedal on the ES 350 had been “stuck in wide open position.” He reported becoming anxious because the woman did not seem to understand what he meant and he thought it was important.

“I think the mat caused it,” Bernard said in the report, which also quotes him alerting the receptionist: “You need to tell somebody.”

Bernard tells of his experience and how he brought the Lexus to a stop: Read More >

Well, I didn’t exactly say it was the truck’s propulsion engine. But take a good look at this picture, especially the cab of the truck way down in front and low, in order to get the proper scale of the payload on this mover of prime movers. More info on this mammoth straight-eight and the world’s largest diesel engines as well as the Eugene variation on this theme after the jump: Read More >

We’ve looked back at a boxy old International, so how about we gaze into the future? Aerodynamics is overarching key to improved transport fuel efficiency, since hybrid and other advance propulsion technologies have limited impact on long-haul trucks. This proposal by European truck maker MAN slips though the air with a 0.29 Cd (coefficient of drag), instead of the more typical 0.57 Cd. That represents a dramatic potential improvement in economy, but at the expense of an irregular-shaped cargo trailer. That’s going to be a big impediment to the trailer and cargo-handling standardization predominant in the industry. But it shows the potential available. More details on this and some early efforts at truck streamlining after the jump: Read More >

Welcome to Truck Saturday at TTAT. I know a few of you might not be too keen about old trucks, but they are such perfect CC material: they’re old, still hard at work, lots of patina, and highly picturesque. How can anyone not just love this International Travelette PU? It’s just oozing with authenticity and testosterone; none of that sissified cushiness of its modern successors. And in case you’re wondering about the Travelette name, it’s International’s moniker for a double cab; a play on the name of its popular Travelall proto-SUV. Now there’s history with that name and style, because the Travelette was the first production double cab pickup in the land. Sadly, International bowed out just as double-cabs were finally becoming to catch on. Read More >

If we look to the development of cars in general, and put that in a historical context, there are two things that follow each other like hand in glove. A cycle of oil crisis with drastically increased prices in gas, followed by a surge for smaller, more fuel efficient cars. Read More >

Today’s Nikkei [sub] agrees with the TTAC commentariat that Suzuki is overripe for a takeover. “Now that Suzuki has dissolved its joint venture assembly plant with General Motors Co. in Canada, the Japanese automaker, with its long presence in emerging markets and strength in subcompacts, appears an attractive partner for an alliance.”

No kidding. As it has been pointed out by TTAC’s Best & Brightest, Suzuki has what other makers need, and Suzuki needs what other makers have.
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GM (probably with a little prodding from their buddies and new Chinese overlords at SAIC) realizes where the real value at Opel is: At the Opel Engineering Center in Rüsselsheim.

After yesterday’s press conference in which he had announced the ties with a stronger SAIC in China and India, Reilly spoke to 9,000 employees at Opel’s Rüsselsheim headquarters, Reuters reports.

The good news: 548 engineering jobs at the engineering center, formerly slated to be eliminated, will stay. The bad news?
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Toyota had slammed hard on the brake when it came to capital expenditures. So hard that ToMoCo (and Sony) were rapped on the knuckles by the Japanese Ministry of Finance for hobbling Japan’s economy. Suddenly, Toyota starts pouring concrete and installing machinery again. Not because of newfound faith in the auto market in general. Two factors made them do it: The Yen has become so expensive that manufacturing in the USA is cheaper. And China is gobbling up cars faster than Toyota can make them.

According to the Nikkei [sub], a Toyota plant in the US and one in China will increase ToMoCo’s annual output capacity by 200,000 units before the Japanese 2010 fiscal ends on March 31, 2001. The construction will cost Toyota a little over $1b, depending on the vagaries of the greenback and its pegged follower, the Chinese Yuan. Here are the blueprints:
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