With Kia’s first US plant pumping out hot-selling new Sorentos, the Korean brand has been desperate to stake its claim to the transplant patriotism that has helped the Japanese automakers rise to dominance in the US market. In this latest ad for the new Sorento, Kia leaves the viewer with no room to doubt where the Sorento is made… and it’s already the second ad to feature Kia’s new West Point, GA factory. So, how does this all play back home in Korea? Hit the jump for the answer…
(Read More…)

First of all, start burning that front fascia into your memory. Chevy’s new Caprice PPV is somehow even less distinctive than a Crown Vic, giving cops something of an edge until speed demons start recognizing it as an unmarked police cruiser rather than a strangely-modded G8. Speaking of which, GM still refuses to build a civilian Caprice, despite previewing what it might look like with this “Detective Duty” version of the new police whip. Because the only thing worse than getting a speeding ticket is getting a speeding ticket from an officer driving an inexpensive, V8-powered, RWD car that you can’t even purchase.

[UPDATE: carenvy.ca cites a “very, very reliable source” as confirming that the Caprice will in fact be sold to civilians in North America. We remain highly skeptical of this claim, and we will follow up on it].

Third quarter North American auto production is headed for the 11.8m mark, even as analysts at IHS Automotive revise their sales projections downwards to 11.5m, once again raising the specter of oversupply which haunted Detroit for much of the last decade. GM, which is forgoing a Summer plant shutdown this year, is expected to increase its Q3 production by 32 percent over last year, as its market estimate ranges from 11.5 to 12m units according to Automotive News [sub]. Though that’s on the high end compared to the IHS number, and though GM’s market share has been anything but stable, the firm is keeping a steady hand on the tiller to maintain a sense of normalcy headed into its forthcoming IPO. And with inventories in far better shape than they’ve been in years, automakers reckon they can always get rid of extra cars when the market rebounds next year. In the meantime, however, the risks of overproduction are very real.

(Read More…)

The last-ever PT Cruiser rolled off the line last week, decked out in the “Couture Edition” trim shown above. After 11 years on the market, familiarity has bred its fair share of contempt for the old PT, but the old Neon-based hatch certainly had its uses. For one thing, by classifying the compact-based Cruiser as a truck, Chrysler was able to keep the CAFE wolves at bay. It also gave rise to at least 15 different “Special Editions,” from the Dream Cruiser series to the Street Cruiser Pacific Coast Highway Edition (not to mention the $38k “Brazilian Edition“. The PT Cruiser Convertible in “amble mode” was, according to one Robert Farago, “Hakuna Matata in-car-nate.” Hell, in merry old England, the PT Cruiser is nothing short of a cultural exchange icon. In short, it may not be the greatest car any longer, and it probably should have died with some dignity a while ago, but the PT Cruiser was undeniably one of the more influential cars of the 2000s. Having shuffled off this mortal coil, it certainly deserves a moment of remembrance.

24/7 Wall Street seems to believe that Hyundai’s junior brand could go away in the next year and a half, as it named Kia to its “Ten Brands That Will Disappear in 2011” list. This despite the fact that Kia’s first-half sales were up 15 percent over the first half of 2009, and Kia’s rolling 12-month sales are over 22 percent higher than its performance in the previous 12 months. So, why does 24/7 Wall Street see Kia disappearing?

Kia Motors Corporation is one of the two car brands of Hyundai of South Korea. It has always been a marginal brand. Its stable mate, Hyundai USA, has a reputation for high quality cars like the Sonata and Genesis. Kia sells “low rent” cars and SUV nameplates like the Sorento and Rio. As GM and Ford have already discovered, it is expensive to maintain multiple brands and storied car names, including Pontiac, Saturn, and Mercury, are disappearing. Most Kia cars sell for $14,000 to $25,000. Hyundai has several cars in the same price range. Hyundai’s Sonata has quickly become one of the best-selling cars in America, and its Genesis flagship model competes with mid-sized BMWs and Mercedes. The parent company will take a page from several other global car companies and dump its weakest brand.

(Read More…)

The best-selling nameplates in America may still be pickup trucks, but for the first time in nearly a decade, cars and car-based crossovers are outselling the body-on-frame competition. The shift occurred in the second half of 2007, as gas prices built to their Summer 2008 peak, and despite more reasonable energy prices, consumers do not appear to be going back to large trucks and SUVs en masse. And, as Automotive News [sub] reports, the downsizing of America’s buying tastes is doing more than just putting a fork in the SUV fad.

(Read More…)

Kia’s Soul didn’t have the most electrifying launch sales-wise, but with the release of its second buzz-worthy ad, the funky little box is becoming a major player in our A/B/Small Hatch segment. The Nissan Versa is clearly the dominant player here, selling nearly twice as well as the Soul. Meanwhile, there’s a tight pack of offerings that have moved at least 20k units this year, that ranges from the aged HHR to the MINI Cooper. Look for a big shake-up in this segment once Ford’s Fiesta production hits high gear.

With commentary on today’s Acura TL review struggling to move past the sedan’s jarring styling, this seems like a good time to discuss alternatives to the TL… or, at least the alternatives to that jangly beak. Remember, even if you like your TL enough to get past the “distinctive” looks, the rest of us still have to look at it. Here, for your consideration, are a number of ways to improve the looks of the TL, starting with Acura’s official cure, the “Full Nose Mask.”
(Read More…)

Ford was the best-selling brand in America over the first half of 2010, outselling second-place Chevrolet by over 70k units. Sadly, we don’t have the fleet sales breakdown for this data, because both Ford and Chevy have been dogged by indicators of heavy fleet-sales reliance all year. And volume means very little if it’s hurting resale and eroding a brand. Speaking of brand erosion, did you know that the zombie brand Saturn sold better (6,480 units) since January than Jaguar or Saab? With Hyundai-Kia headed for a combined million-sales year, there’s a new pack forming behind the Korean brands, composed of Subaru, VW and Mazda. Neither true mass-market brands nor premium players, these three brands will be interesting to watch over the next several years.

Mid-to-large unibody crossovers are a large segment covering a wide variety of prices and capabilities, but the competition is tight as can be. Ford’s Edge joins its Escape sibling in bringing the second 2010 YTD crossover sales award back to Dearborn… but only barely. And not if you count the Enclave and Acadia to GM’s Traverse numbers (Lincoln MKX sold only 10,289 YTD, MKT moved 3906, keeping them both off this chart). Once again, we have more proof that the Ford brand is plenty strong, but that Lincoln is still badly enough wounded to keep Ford from hanging with The General. Meanwhile, Hyundai, Kia and Subaru are charging into this segment with guns blazing, and the Toyota Highlander seems to be taking much of the hit from the new competition.

Ford’s Escape wasn’t the best-selling compact crossover in June, but it only needed to cruise to an easy victory as the best selling compact crossover in the first half of 2010. Honda and Toyota’s offerings are still over 10k units behind the mighty Escape on the half, with the Equinox claiming fourth place, and Rogue and Forester neck-and-neck for fifth.

One of these cars is two years old and has a base price of £19,365 in the UK (it is not sold in the US), while the other is brand-spankety new and starts at £88,325 in that same UK market (it arrives stateside this fall). Which is which? And, since this is an easy one for the crazy car-identification ninjas that prowl this site, is this much family resemblance good or bad for Mercedes?

Because we are halfway through the year, we’re mixing things up a little by comparing June sales to six-month totals instead of to June 2009 sales.

Toyota takes the C-Segment crown with the one-two punch of its mixed Corolla/Matrix sales. A breakout here would be nice, but since Toyota’s not offering, we’ve included the HHR with Cobalt and the Jetta with Golf to even things up a little. Credit the Focus for selling with the best of them without a hatchback platform-mate, and note that the Elantra’s monthly number has improved considerably relative to its six-month average.