A study by Edmunds on the buying habits of millennials shows that 2013 was not a particularly good year for young car buyers. Despite making good headway in 2012, 2013 saw those gains practically eroded, as a weak job market and rising home prices helped stymie any growth in market share for automotive consumers aged 18-34.
From the Blade Runner future in Dubai to the shores of Tripoli, Ford aims to launch an aggressive campaign in the Middle East and Africa markets through the creation of a fifth business unit that will consolidate the Blue Oval’s operations in the two regions.
An obscure story in the Azerbaijani press this past summer may be the tip of a much larger iceberg involving General Motors, PSA Peugeot Citroen and the Western World’s current bete noir: the Iranian regime currently embroiled at the heart of a controversial nuclear program, which is subject to economic sanctions by the United States government, including those that specifically target Iran’s automotive industry.
Citing reports from Iran’s Mehr news agency, an Azerbaijani news outlet reported that an unspecified number of brand new Chevrolet Camaro RS 2LT convertibles were imported by a division of Iranian conglomerate Iran Khodro. According to the report, the Camaros were sent from Miami to Paris, and then from Paris to Tehran via a Qatar Airways plane. The report also states that US Customs and Border Patrol documents list the final destination as the Aras Free Trade and Industrial Zone.
It’s been a year-and-a-half, and the Toyobaru twins have not lost their luster. Proximity has not made the heart grow less fond. American sports car consumers still want to buy the Scion FR-S and the Subaru BRZ.
With an 18,000-unit sales improvement in October, America’s pickup truck market again grew at a slightly quicker pace than the overall industry.
In the new $29,900 CLA coupe’s first full month of U.S. sales, Mercedes-Benz sold 4,895 units in October, helping the brand post a 25% increase over last October’s sales and double it’s lead over BMW, the number two luxury brand in this market.
AutoSpies’ Big Don has hundreds of photos from the SEMA show. The man has an eye for what you want to see at the show, if you know what I mean, and I think you do. To check it out, click here.
For a couple of my favorite shots, click the jump for “TTAC After Dark” (it’s 10PM in Ohio, dontcha know). Warning: NSFW in most places.
Nissan. Cadillac. Chevrolet. All brag about being the Lord of the ‘Ring, upsetting the German automakers to no end. Yet, one of them may still have the last laugh through the act of saving the Nürburgring from certain doom.
If you want to see the future of Holden in Australia, this is it. Yes, it’s the same car that Jack Baruth took to the woodshed in today’s edition of TTAC, but it’s also a harbinger of things to come for the iconic Australian marque, with the announcement that Holden’s Elizabeth, Australia plant will be tooling up to produce the first ever front-wheel drive Commodore. And even that looks doubtful.
1974 Audi photo
The United States was supposed to be an important part of the Volkswagen Group becoming the world’s biggest automaker by 2018, with sales of 800,000 units in the U.S. by then, but it’s finding the U.S. market a tough nut to crack. “We understand Europe, we understand China and we understand Brazil,” VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech told Bloomberg this month. “But we only understand the United States to a certain degree so far.”
Spurred by tax breaks, free recharging stations, free parking and other benefits for EV drivers worth up to $8,100 (about 6,000 euros) a year per car, electric cars are doing very well in Norway. Reuters reports that Tesla’s Model S was the best selling car in Norway in September and Nissan’s Leaf was the market leader in October. Last month 716 Leafs were sold, a 6% market share, beating out the Toyota Auris and the VW Golf. For the year, the Leaf is the fourth best selling car in Norway with 3.2% of the total market. Read More >
| Manufacturer | Month (A) | Previous year (B) | A / B (%) | This year total | Previous year total | Year-on-year (%) |
| Daihatsu | 194 | 241 | 80.5 | 1939 | 2303 | 84.2 |
| Fuji Heavy Industries | 13121 | 11851 | 110.7 | 99888 | 76721 | 130.2 |
| Hino | 5524 | 4704 | 117.4 | 34737 | 32041 | 108.4 |
| Honda | 39398 | 26186 | 150.5 | 238177 | 365294 | 65.2 |
| Isuzu | 8259 | 6915 | 119.4 | 47349 | 46223 | 102.4 |
| Mazda | 16669 | 15531 | 107.3 | 131909 | 136678 | 96.5 |
| Mitsubishi | 4194 | 3550 | 118.1 | 31980 | 40397 | 79.2 |
| Mitsubishi Fuso | 3803 | 2988 | 127.3 | 26533 | 26569 | 99.9 |
| Nissan | 47534 | 48502 | 98 | 362177 | 371501 | 97.5 |
| Perch | 6908 | 7289 | 94.8 | 61243 | 72230 | 84.8 |
| Toyota | 140228 | 124025 | 113.1 | 1166595 | 1295876 | 90 |
| UD Trucks | 1024 | 856 | 119.6 | 6672 | 6886 | 96.9 |
| Imported car | 37459 | 35841 | 104.5 | 257873 | 233609 | 110.4 |
| Total | 324315 | 288479 | 112.4 | 2467072 | 2706328 | 91.2 |
With a sales tax increase of 3% looming next year and the Japanese economy on an upswing, October retail sales of cars and light trucks in Japan were up over 17% from the same month last year, with both regular and mini “kei” cars doing well. Honda led all companies with a 50% increase from 2012 and Toyota taking first place in overall sales with a little over 140,000 units sold, up 13%. Read More >
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has noted on occasion — as recently as last month — that the price of his company’s stock was overvalued, particularly in the short term. Seems Wall Street got the hint, bestowing upon the automaker the biggest one-month loss of market value in October since the last such occurrence in December of 2010.
2016 will be a pivotal year for Holden’s Commodore-based Ute. Declining sales and shifting production capabilities could mean that the traditional Aussie Ute could become extinct, as both the Commodore and Ford Falcon Utes die off.
Toyota remains the number one auto maker by volume, but the gap between it and its main rivals is closing quickly.
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