| Jim Wangers Productions | February 3, 2012
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Hagerty predicts future classics
I am constantly asked to predict what current production cars are likely to become Collector Classics in the future. Using the proven formula that serious, sporty "ultra-high performance" models are usually the most likely candidates. Certainly this has been true for products of the great muscle-car era of the 1960's Classic-car insurer, Hagerty has just released a list of their choices. Interestingly they have made the conclusion that the cars original sticker price must be less than $100,000. Check out their list, you will find it rather surprising. JW
 AutoWeek | January 31, 2012
Classic-car insurer Hagerty released its latest Hagerty Hot List last week, highlighting today's cars that are expected to be future classics. This comes on the heels of Arizona auction week, where record-breaking sales take place yearly. Read more... |
2012 Toyota Camry SE: Autoweek Autofile car review
As we all know, the Toyota Camry has been the best selling new passenger car in the US market for several years. Only the 1/2 ton pick-up trucks from Ford and Chevrolet have outsold it. AutoWeek magazine has recently tested the 2012 Camry to determine whether it will maintained its lofty sales position for 2012. In spite of increased competition, they have concluded that the "reinvented" new model will succeed in holding on to the industries top spot. They describe it as "A perfectly good car that does everything it should, well."
As you might appreciate this Toyota success has been a real "bitter-pill" for the domestic carmakers to swallow. Even though Ford, Chevrolet and Chrysler plan mid-year introductions of dramatic new models, the AutoWeek editors still support the Toyota Camry for that coveted number one sales slot. JW
 AutoWeek | January 31, 2012
Toyota sold more than 308,000 Camrys to U.S. buyers in 2011, allowing it to retain its spot as the best-selling car on the market-by a long shot.
Yet the cynic in us would bet that if you asked any 10 Camry owners about their engine's displacement, eight of them would be hard-pressed to come up with the answer. Read more..
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Volt sales cool following government probe
January sales results reveal a serious setback for the EV Hybrid Chevrolet Volt. Only 603 new Volts were registered during the month.
GM sales experts blame this virtual "collapse" on the recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigation into potential fire in the Volt's battery-pack assembly. As you might imagine this has exacerbated an already sluggish consumer appeal for the Volt as well as the other EV entry, the Nissan Leaf.
Add to this, the fact that electric vehicles have significant compromises in their performance, particularly mileage in extreme cold weather, all of which adds up to disappointing sales results. It appears that only "time" will repair this image compromise, as GM has taken steps to recall all vehicles and reinforce the steel protection around the battery pack hoping to prevent any more fires. To examine numbers, GM predicted sales of 10,000 Volts in the 2011 model year. Only 7671 were sold. JW
 Automotive News | February 1, 2012
DETROIT -- Chevrolet Volt sales dropped steeply in January -- a sign that negative publicity from a government safety investigation might have doused demand for the plug-in hybrid. Read more...
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Wheel Turns: Chrysler May Be Fiat Savior
From the WSJ (2/1) an interesting appraisal of Italy's Fiat takeover of Chrysler. The bottom line is, the dramatic recovery of Chrysler products (Dodge, Chrysler, Ram, and Jeep) in the US market has produced enough revenue to "save" parent Fiat in the declining European car market. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne revealed recently that Fiat's loss in Europe in 2011 was close to $700-million.
While Fiat has gained increased ownership in Chrysler, the acceptance of the Fiat nameplate and modest product presentation has not been as successful.
Marchionne blames over capacity as the main culprit for Europe's failing automotive industry, also concluding that their more than satisfying success in the US has been extremely invaluable. Somehow it seems like " the tail is wagging the dog". JW
Wall Street Journal | February 1, 2012
Now that's what you call a Fiat currency. By merely sending a letter to the U.S. Treasury last month promising to build the fuel-efficient Dodge Dart in 2013, auto maker Fiat triggered the transfer of another 5% of Chrysler onto its books, bringing its stake to 58.5%. Read more...
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BMW fails to outpace Mercedes in January U.S. sales
The apparent struggle for "bragging rights" between MB and BMW is taking on a "comic" face. After BMW moved aggressively to claim Luxury-car sales leadership for the 2011 model year, they end up finishing a rather disappointing second in sales for the very next month, January. MB delivered more than 20,000 units during the month besting BMW by over 4,000 vehicles.
Third place Lexus fell further behind dropping to little more that 12,000 unit sales. Germany's Audi increased their registrations to over 9,000 vehicles, besting domestic Cadillac and Lincoln.
Does anybody really care? JW
 Automotive News Europe | February 2, 2012
Southfield, MICHIGAN -- BMW failed to keep its lead over Mercedes-Benz in January U.S. sales, getting some payback after December's sales push to seal its place as 2011's top-selling U.S. luxury brand. BMW brand deliveries rose 3.1 percent to 16,405 last month in the United States, the automaker said Wednesday in a statement. Read more... |
Chrysler, Hyundai set pace as industry sales rise 11%; SAAR hits 14.2M
A few comments bout January 2012 new vehicle sales. While January is typically the poorest month of the year it is interesting to note this year has reversed that trend as every manufacturer with the exception of GM has posted increases.
GM's modest performance can be rationalized somewhat by comparing their January 2011 performance which was highlighted buy unusually high sale incentives. It is also worth considering that January is usually a modest month for Fleet sales.
If you have interest in numbers I have provided them in the attached link. JW
Automotive News | February 1, 2012
DETROIT -- Chrysler Group, Volkswagen Group, Hyundai and Kia set the pace as U.S. light vehicle sales rose 11 percent in January from a year ago, signaling the industry's recovery is gaining traction. Chrysler's sales advanced by 44 percent last month, and volume climbed 40 percent at the Volkswagen Group. Read more... |
Domestics gained market share in California last year
More as a humorous observation is learning that the year 2011 marked the first year in more than a decade that the Domestic carmakers outsold the Import carmakers in the sate of California.
Most analysis's will predict that it is only a temporary result, blaming the disaster related product shortages by two of the leading Japanese manufacturers...Toyota and Honda. California, a hugh new car market was on of the first to reject domestic entries, setting the pace for what became a national habit. Japanese car makers Toyota and Honda, the number one and number two sales leaders in the state both suffered significant losses, because of inventory shortages, allowing domestic makers GM and Ford to pick-up enough sales to gain leadership.
It's almost funny! JW
Automotive News | January 30, 2012
DETROIT -- Domestic automakers gained in the California new-vehicle market last year as Japanese automakers suffered disaster-related product shortages. Read more...
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