Archive for July 1st, 2010

Filed under: MPG, Mazda, Green Daily

Mazda chief executive officer Jim O’Sullivan believes that the company’s timing for the launch of the Mazda2 couldn’t be better. Despite low gas prices and platform-mate Ford Fiesta rolling onto the scene at the same time, Mazda remains confident that its new B-segment car will be a hit. As Mazda CEO Jim O’Sullivan told Ward’s Auto:

I’m glad we’re launching now vs. year-ago. A year-ago, we would have launched in the abyss of the market and the economy caving in and all the distractions. When the economy recovers, commodities start to be in greater demand globally. Fuel prices are going to be up over $4, closer to $5 a gallon, so we want to get in before the market gets to that level.

Even though O’Sullivan believes that the Mazda2′s timing is perfect, we’re led to believe otherwise. As the economy rebounds, buyers have slowly turned towards more upscale models. And with low gas prices, sales of SUVs and truck have risen once again. Even though the Mazda2 is the most fuel-efficient vehicle the company has ever offered in the U.S., gas prices well below the $3 mark (well, maybe not) may hamper its initial success. Not to worry though, Mazda’s smallest zoom-zoom offering readies the company for the inevitable day when gas prices skyrocket once again. Plus, we hear it’s pretty darn fun to drive.

[Source: Ward's Auto - Sub. Req'd]

Mazda2 will prepare company for looming gas price hikes originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Via Autoblog Green

Ford’s Mustang outsold the Chevrolet Camaro in June, giving the Mustang its highest market share in the segment since May 2009, now at 33 percent. Camaro had consistently beat Mustang in the musclecar wars since its production levels caught up with demand late last year. Ford’s victory was dramatic. Mustang outsold Camaro last month by 1,434 units, proof that the kind of constant updates and refreshes (plus Mustang’s new engines) that Ford Motor Company’s Alan Mulally promised can pay off, especially in the mercurial sports coupe segment.

The Dodge Challenger also bit into Camaro’s market share.

Both GM and Ford claimed major victories in the full-size pickup market. GM said its large pickup truck sales rose 27 percent in June, compared with June 2009, with Chevy Silverado up 25 percent, GMC Sierra up 27 percent and Chevy Avalanche up 48 percent. Ford F-Series (including heavy duties) rose 29.5 percent. These are impressive numbers, especially since analysts for both automakers say June 2010 sales are proof that we’re in an economic recovery, but it’s a particularly slow one. Trucks shouldn’t be selling well considering how slow job growth and home sales remain. If you stretch monthly sales into an annual trend, the Seasonally Adjustable Annual Rate (SAAR), 2010 is an 11.3-million unit year, up from 2009′s 10.6 million.

How important is SAAR as an indicator? Not very important. It’s a one-month snapshot, and could go up or down next month. Based on the trends, however, GM expects production overtime for such hot models as the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain will end in October or November.

The year-over-year monthly increases don’t look as impressive as they were last spring, though. Percentage increases for the next couple of months will slow even more, as they’re compared with the same months last year that included the Cash for Clunkers program.

And so, to the numbers.

GM: 195,380, up 10.7 percent.

• Chevy sold 7,540 Camaros, off 19.1 percent. Ford sold 8,974 Mustangs, up 17.6 percent. Dodge sold 3,086 Challengers, up 125 percent.
• Both Chevy Equinox and Traverse were very strong. Equinox was at 11,490, up 179.7 percent, and Traverse was 11,371, up 56 percent. More than 80 percent of Equinoxes are sold as four-cylinder models.
• Chevy Malibu was up 80.7 percent, to 20,720, beating Ford Fusion and Hyundai Sonata.
• Impala took a 3.2 percent hit, to 14,451.
• GMC sold 4,603 Terrains (up from just 1 in ’09), and about 60 percent are V-6s. At 15,974 combined, Equinox and Terrain are still 2,767 units behind Ford Escape/Mercury Mariner.
• Buick LaCrosse outsold Enclave, and was up 173.7 percent over the old model, with 5,376 sold.
• Enclave was up as well, a 20.9 percent increase to 4,561.
• Cadillac CTS reversed a trend and was up 31.3 percent, to 4,193.
• Escalade was off, though, 3.4 percent to 1,008. Escalade ESV was off 40.8 percent to 607 and EXT fell 20.1 percent to 147.
• GM says if you slice out the four core brands from June ’09′s sales, this June was up 36 percent, and first-half sales are up 32 percent. While GM was entering bankruptcy this time last year, it had a large selldown of Pontiacs just after it announced the division’s end.
• Last month, GM sold 303 Hummers, 137 Saturns, 112 Pontiacs and 0 Saabs.

 Ford-Lincoln-Mercury: 170,900, up 15 percent.

• (See GM entry for Mustang sales.)
• F-Series was the national bestseller, at 46,502, up 29.5 percent.
• Fiesta officially goes on sale Friday, but Ford already has posted 1,028 sold.
• Fusion was down 0.8 percent, but very strong at 18,412 a year after the new model’s launch.
• Flex continues to fall far behind Chevy Traverse, with 3,350 sold, down 30 percent.
• Ranger was up 3.4 percent, to 5,490, but compare that with F-Series and consider why this segment is dying.
• Econoline/Club Wagon, another potential economic indicator, was up 1.6 percent, to 10,192.
• Ford brand was up 16.2 percent, to 155,332, but Lincoln was off 11.5 percent, to 6,318. Mercury was up 26.2 percent, to 9,250.
• Milan was up 14.1 percent, to 2,726. MKZ was off 14.9 percent, to 1,800.
• Ford Taurus was up 191.3 percent, to 6,607, and Lincoln MKS was down 24.6 percent, to 1,029.
• First-half sales are up 30.2 percent over ’09.

Toyota-Scion-Lexus: 140,604, up 6.8 percent.

• Camry was up 7.7 percent, at 28,435, retaining number one in the segment.
• Corolla was stronger, up 9.7 percent, to 21,876.
• The new Avalon was up 32.8 percent, to 2,833.
• Prius fell 15.4 percent, to 10,998.
• Lexus ES was off 14.1 percent, to 3,366.
• Lexus sold 603 HS models.
• Tundra was up 48.8 percent, to 7,717.
• Total sales rose 10.6 percent for the first half, with GM and Ford solidly ahead for the year so far.

American Honda (includes Acura): 106,627, up 6.2 percent.

• Acura had an impressive 30.9 percent increase, to 10,839 units on the strength of TSX and MDX.
• Acura TSX was up 32.8 percent to 2,510. MDX was up 63.6 percent, to 3,847.
• Honda sold 26,792 Accords, up 11.8 percent.
• Civic was just behind at 26,474, up 26.3 percent.
• The outgoing Odyssey fell 36.8 percent, to 9,271.
• Insight was off 28.3 percent, to 1,491.
• Honda is up 12.6 percent for the first half.

Chrysler LLC: 92,482, up 35 percent.

• Jeep Wrangler regained some ground, up 86 percent, to 8,923.
• Dodge Avenger was up 177 percent, to 6,400. Note that Chrysler was producing few cars at this time last year, and the mainstream midsize cars especially suffered.
• Chrysler Sebring was up 127 percent, to 3,978.
• Charger was up 144 percent to 8,508; Chrysler 300 was up 13 percent to 3,304.
• Town & Country was up 34 percent, to 9,595 and Caravan was up 49 percent to 8,658.
• Dodge Journey was up 4 percent, to 3,964.
• Ram pickup sold +10 percent, to 15,864.
• Chrysler is up 12 percent for the first half.

Nissan North America (includes Infiniti): 64,570, up 10.8 percent.

• Nissan division was up 8.2 percent, to 56,266.
• Altima was off 2.6 percent, to 15,920.
• Frontier was up 43.4 percent, to 2,920, and Titan was up 24.3 percent, to 1,604.
• Infiniti was up 31.7 percent, to 8,304, largely on the strength of the new M sedan, up 75.4 percent, to 1,196.
• Infiniti G sedan, up 33.1 percent, to 3,613 and G coupe, up 10.8 percent to 1,493, are still the core models.
• The lame duck Nissan Armada rose 116 percent, to 1,350.

Hyundai: 51,205, up 35 percent.

• If they were combined, Hyundai-Kia would be sixth-largest in the U.S., at 83,111 total.
• Sonata was up 49 percent, to 17,771, just 641 short of Fusion.
• Elantra was up 119 percent, to 14,245.
• Tuscon was up 207 percent, to 3,382.

Kia: 31,906, up 18.9 percent.

Subaru: 23,667, up 35 percent.

• Outback was up 124 percent, to 7,630.
• Legacy was up 19 percent, to 3,586.
• Tribeca fell 66 percent, to 226.

BMW Group: 23,331, up 11.9 percent.

• BMW brand was up 14.6 percent, to 19,182.
• Mini was up 1.1 percent, to 4,149.
• 3 Series sales dropped 13.8 percent, to 7,195.
• 1 Series was up 25.4 percent to 1,312.
• 5 Series was up 40.2 percent, to 3,865.

 Volkswagen of America: 21,051, up 10.6 percent.

• Throw in Audi, and the total would be 29,652.
• Golf/Rabbit was up 187 percent, to 1,507.
• Jetta still rules, but was off 12.8 percent, to 9,085.
• Tiguan was up 84.8 percent, to 1,678.

Daimler AG: 19,574, up 20.3 percent.

• Mercedes was up 25.4 percent, to 18,997.
• E-Class was up 74.9 percent, to a healthy 4,865 units.
• smart sold 577 cars, a 48.3 percent freefall.

Mazda: 18,238, up 32.8 percent.

• 6 was up 84.2 percent, to 3,388.
• Happy summer — MX-5 Miata was up 24.4 percent, to 638.

Audi: 8,601, up 14.3 percent.

• It’s keeping ahead of Nissan’s Infiniti division.
• A4 dropped 13.8 percent, to 3,142.
• A5 was up 121.1 percent, to 1,404.
• A3 rose 83 percent, to 485.

Jaguar/Land Rover: 4,408, up 53 percent.

Mitsubishi: 4,198, off 3.8 percent.

Suzuki: 2,035, off 5 percent.

• Sold 717 Kizashis, up 51 percent compared with May.
• Kizashi’s catching bestseller SX4, which is off 27 percent, to 828.

Via MotorTrend Magazine Blogs

At this year’s Busan Motor Show in April, Hyundai gave us our first viewing of the stylish new Elantra sedan (Avante in South Korea). However, Hyundai only showed the exterior as the display model’s windows were heavily tinted.

Now, Hyundai is teasing us with a theoretical image of the Elantra’s/Avante interior that, like the exterior, promises a striking overhaul compared to the current model. Judging from the drawing, the 2011 Elantra’s/Avante cabin design will continue the same “sculpted” theme.

The Elantra/Avante is expected to go on sale in South Korea with a new 140bhp 1.6 litre direct-injection gasoline engine during Autumn. While Hyundai has yet to confirm a launch date, recent reports from South Korea claim that the new Elantra will be built at Hyundai’s Montgomery, Alabama plant starting from April 2011.

U.S bound models are moving into final testing stages, which has been spied by our boys in Death Valley, CA. Notice that the U.S market Elantra has an extended front bumper, likely to help it in meeting U.S crash regulations.

Hyundai has yet to decide what engine should go under the hood of the 2011 Elantra. While the 1.6 GDI is a little underpowered for U.S tastes, a direct-injected version of Hyundai’s Theta 2.0 litre petrol engine seems like a possible candidate. Whatever the engine, Hyundai is most likely to offer a 6 speed automatic, seen in this pre-production prototype.

A photo of the interior that shows the tidy combination of a factory-installed satellite navigation system, plus a smart set of gauge binnacles. The Elantra will go on sale late 2010/early 2011 as a 2012 MY. An official unveiling at the LA Motor Show in November is expected.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2011 Hyundai Elantra spy pictures and 2011 Hyundai Avante/Elantra comparison:
 

Via Cars Of The Future® Blog

Filed under: Convertible, Coupe, Performance, Misc. Auto Shows, Ferrari, UK, Racing

Ferrari always shows up big for the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and this year will be no exception as a roster of factory and private entries fill out the Prancing Horse stables on the run up the Earl of March’s front yard.

Both the 458 Italia and the 599 GTO will be making their British debuts at the event, but arguably more intriguing is the specially-prepared California that will be joining them. The two-tone roadster is decked out in a Argento Nurburgring hue, offset by a black roof and pillars similar to the treatment which Ferrari gave to various versions of the 599, including the XX, GTO, HY-KERS and China editions. Other optional extras like 20-inch matte-black rims and special interior stitching set this example apart from the standard model, but the question is – with some saying the body-toned roof helps the California’s unwieldy shape – does the blacktop treatment do it any favors?

Along with the 458, 599 GTO and California, the Scuderia will also be fielding last year’s F1 car piloted by factory test driver Marc Gené, while a range of vintage road and race Ferraris will also be on hand, all of which you can read about in the press release after the jump.

[Source: Ferrari]

Continue reading Special two-tone California to lead Ferrari fleet at Goodwood

Special two-tone California to lead Ferrari fleet at Goodwood originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Via Autoblog

Filed under: Hybrid, Hatchback, Chevrolet, Electric

During a live video webchat this afternoon, Tony DiSalle, marketing director for the Chevrolet Volt, announced the production volumes for the first two years. General Motors plans to build 10,000 Volts by the end of the 2011 calendar year, with another 30,000 units coming in 2012. There will be a relatively slow production ramp up during the first year as the automaker learns to build the Volt as well as well as picking up lessons from cars in the field.

Chevrolet dealers will have to meet some minimum qualifications in order to sell the Volt. For instance, every dealer authorized to sell the Volt will have to maintain at least one demonstrator vehicle in stock so that potential customers can test drive it. Those same dealers will also have to install a 240 volt home charging station so that the cars have a full battery and customers can try it out. Beyond the dealers that sell Volts in the initial retail markets, GM will also assign dealers in other parts of the country to service the Volt if needed.

Unlike the Nissan Leaf, customers will not have to get pre-qualified to buy a Volt by having access to 240 volt home charging. Anyone can walk into a Volt authorized dealer and buy one (assuming they have the money!) even if they live in an apartment. Of course, getting the most out of a Volt will require access to a plug, but that is the customers’ choice.

[Source: General Motors]

BREAKING: 10,000 Chevrolet Volts in 2011, 30,000 in 2012 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Via Autoblog