VenSeattle
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Yep, that's Jeremy Clarkson talking up the Chrysler Sebring convertible in his column for The Sunday Times today. What, you expected anything less than a wholesale evisceration? Clarkson weighing in on the astoundlingly sub-par Sebring is pretty much the motor-journalistic equivalent of using a Stinger missile to take out your kid's SpongeBob birthday piñata. It didn't stand a chance.
The laughs come early and often as the Chrysler gets mercilessly worked over like one of Mike Tyson's sparring partners in the '80s, but be forewarned: by the time Jezza puts down his pen, America's Number One Fan has managed to work in AIG, Lehman Brothers and the Iraq war as he slips in his obligatory jabs at the country, which the Chrysler becomes symbolic of.
The way Clarkson sees it, quality sucks in the Sebring and other American cars because we Americans have no sense of history and are thus incapable of planning for the future (by making something built to last). Whatever -- he's entitled to his opinion. Speaking for myself, I can deal with the crappy Sebring in the grand scheme of things; that's a miniscule tradeoff for having something to celebrate on July 4th. Besides, it's not all tea and cookies in the former motherland, anyway...
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Jeremy Clarkson Review: Chrysler Sebring Cabriolet 2.7 V6
From The Sunday Times - October 5, 2008
Link to Article
Many people imagine when they rent a convertible in America that they’ll be thumping down Highway 1 under a blazing sky in a throbbing Corvette or an evocative Mustang. Yum yum, they think. Freedom. Sunshine. A V8 bass line. Engineer boots, leather jackets and tight blue jeans. The American dream.
Sadly, however, most tourists end up with a Chrysler Sebring convertible, which is almost certainly the worst car in the entire world.
My journey in this automotive horror story began in Wendover. Famous for being a base used by the Enola Gay back in 1945, it lies on the border between Utah and Nevada. So half the town is full of man mountains emptying what’s left of their savings into MGM’s shiny and very noisy slots. And the other half is full of Donny Osmond. As you can imagine, I was in a hurry to leave and so I piled, along with my Top Gear colleagues, into the rented Sebring and set off for Denver.
Immediately, I was annoyed by a nonstop whining sound from the back. This turned out to be Richard Hammond, who, despite being 8in tall, claimed that he had never been so uncomfortable in his life, apart from when he was being born. “Only that,” he said, “was more spacious.”
After several hours of continuous moaning, he changed his tack. I’d selected a “classic vinyl” station on the car’s satellite radio and this did not meet with his approval. As a fan of Westlife and Girls Aloud, he didn’t see why James May and I were air-drum-ming our way across the salt flats to a nonstop selection of brilliance from Supertramp, Yes and the Allman Brothers. Eventually, Hocus Pocus by Focus drove him into such a frenzy of whingeing, we could take no more and drowned him out by turning up Steve Miller to the max.
I can only presume that when Steve went from Phoenix, Arizona, all the way to Tacoma, he was not at the wheel of a Sebring, or the song would have been rather different. “I went from Phoenix, Arizona, to the other side of the city and then I went home again.”
Certainly, we only got as far as Salt Lake City in our rented car before we ditched it and resorted to the services offered by Delta. It had been 120 miles of abject misery, and not only because of the unswervingly pissed-off Richard Hammond.
Let us look, first of all, at the car’s only good point. The boot is bigger than the hangar deck of a Nimitz class aircraft carrier. However, the drawback of driving a car with an aircraft carrier on the back is that it doesn’t look very good. No. That doesn’t cover it. It looks terrible. Hysterically awful. Anyone thinking of drawing up a list of the ugliest cars ever made will be forced to put this one at the top. I have seen more attractive boils.
And disappointingly, if you push the button that lowers the roof - and then push it again because it isn’t working properly - you will find that a) all of the carrying capacity is lost, and that b) with no roof in place, everyone can see you at the wheel. This is very bad. Some, for sure, give you pitying looks. Mostly, though, they point and laugh.
So how much do you have to pay for the privilege of being a laughing stock? Well in the US, it’s around $29,000 (£16,400). You could buy a clown suit for less and achieve much the same effect. Here, however, a 2.7 litre drop-top Sebring is £25,100 and at that price, I simply don’t know how the salesman keeps a straight face.
Power? There isn’t any. Spec sheets show that in Britain, a 2.7 litre V6 will do 121mph and 0-62mph in 10.8.
But 10.8 what? Years? Let me put it this way. It develops 185bhp, which is pretty much what Volvo can get these days from a 2.4 litre diesel.
I’m afraid I have no idea which engine was fitted to my rental but I can tell you that all it did was convert fuel into noise. Put your foot down hard and after a while of nothing happening, the gearbox would lurch down a cog and the volume would increase. That was it.
Sadly, there’s more bad news. Turning petrol into motion, as we know, is an expensive business, but turning it into sound is even worse. We managed just 18mpg. Quite why anyone would buy this rather than, say, a Volkswagen Eos, I simply do not know. You’d have to be so window-lickingly insane that you’d be banned from handling anything other than crayons.
A Sebring can do nothing well. It was hopeless in crosswinds and the only option you need on a twisty road are sick bags. I n t e r e s t i n g l y , however, while the ride is very soft, the suspension still manages to crash about like a drawer full of cutlery when it is asked to deal with a small pothole.
And of course, being an American rental car, it came with a warped disc brake and steering that was so out of whack it kept making a beeline for Wyoming. But the worst thing was the overwhelming sense from everything you touched that it had been built by someone who was being deliberately stupid or who was four years old. Life inside that bag of crap plastic gave me some idea of what it might be like to be a boiled sweet.
We see this with so many American cars. Dynamically, some of them are pretty good these days. One or two are even a match for what the Chinese are doing. And by and large they are still extremely cheap. But there’s a very good reason for this. They are simply not built to last.
I spent most of my time in America this time in a new Corvette ZR1. It is a fabulous car. Mesmerisingly fast, good looking and amazing value. But after three days the damn thing was beginning to disintegrate. It made me growl with annoyance and despair.
But I think I know the problem. Because America is a new country, the people who live there have no sense of history. And if you have no concept of “the past”, it is extremely difficult to grapple with the idea of “the future”.
If you think a bar established in 1956 is “old” then you will not understand the idea of next week. So why bother building for it?
We see this short-termism in everything from the average American house, which falls over whenever the wind gets up, to the way chief executives are treated. In Japan, you are given 25 years before you are judged on whether you’ve turned the company around. In America, bosses are given two months. And if there’s been no financial about-turn, they are fired.
AIG and Lehman Brothers got caught out because they were being run by people who live only in the here and now. They couldn’t see that it would all come crashing down in the future because there’s no such thing.
I suppose eco-mentalists would use this argument as a stick to beat the pickup driving masses. But how can Hank and Billy-Bob think about the world ending in a thousand years when everything they know, everything they are, began a week last Tuesday?
And this brings me on to the war in Iraq. They went in there, knowing that pretty quickly they could depose Saddam Hussein. But nobody in power stopped for a moment to think about what might happen next. And there you have it. The insurgency problem in Baghdad and the wonky gearlever on the Chrysler Sebring. They are both caused by exactly the same thing.
And the only cure, frankly, is time. Give them 2,000 years and they might just start to understand what I’m on about. Until then, do not buy a Sebring. Do not rent one either. Close your eyes, hum and, hopefully, we can make it go away.
THE CLARKSOMETER
ENGINE 2736cc, six cylinders
POWER 185bhp @ 6400rpm
TORQUE 188 lb ft @ 4000rpm
TRANSMISSION Six-speed auto
FUEL/CO2 26.9mpg / 248g/km
ACCELERATION 0-62mph: 10.8sec
TOP SPEED 121mph
PRICE £25,100
ROAD TAX BAND G (£400 a year)
RELEASE DATE Out now
Clarkson’s verdict
All that’s missing is the clown suit Chrysler
Sebring Cabriolet 2.7 V6
(No stars) -
I always read that GMDAT had a substantial role in the development, with some input from GME.
I just performed a search on our site - here's a post from griffon:
A detailed development timeline for the Chevrolet Delta 2 was leaked some time ago—it is being developed in Korea using the European-developed architecture... -
So now they're claiming Delta II was developed by GME and not GMDAT?
I thought GME developed the Delta II architecture and the Epsilon II architecture.
The GAMMA architecture and the micro-cars are being developed by GMDAT. Correct?
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Very nice actually. The 2LT/RS sounds like it could be a very comfortable daily driver. This could end up being more of a Chevrolet premium coupe and possibly cross-shopped by those looking at Accord or Altima coupes. It definitely wins in the style department.
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Toyota finally admits a segment defeat.
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Especially since it's two days before Christmas and those families will not have a joyful holiday (thinking of the children). How could GM be so cruel???
If they receive the buyouts offered before (as mentioned in the article), they'll probably have a very nice Christmas. They'll eventually have to find new jobs, but the bills will be paid for quite some time.
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I found this pic of a Cadillac/Buick-Pontiac-GMC dealership in Vancouver WA. What do you guys think?
Going forward, do you think this type of efficient bundling of brands would allow the brands to remain distinctive?
I actually do. That's providing the dealership features separate entrances for the brand showrooms and separate service advisors/areas for Cadillac owners & BPG owners. The backend would benefit by using the same lot, management, including the service/technician dept and facilities.
The distinction would remain but make it convenient for BPG shoppers to "browse" Cadillac and eventually trade-up. It would also allow Cadillac to move more towards a unified global line-up leaving the GMT900s with GMC and dropping the GMT900-based Escalade lineup.
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Highway Bribery
Toyota Joins The Discount Fray
Tom Van Riper, 10.03.08, 3:32 PM ET Forbes.com
You know the outlook is bleak for the auto industry when Toyota jumps into the inventory clearance game that Detroit has monopolized for the past couple of years.
Just a short time ago, industry powerhouse Toyota was gobbling up market share by charging close to full price while truck-heavy General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford were stuck bribing buyers with heavy discounts. Industry analysts harped on the reputations of Toyota and, to a lesser degree, its Japanese counterparts Honda and Nissan, for reliability and fuel efficiency. Consumers didn't need big incentives to visit their showrooms and drive out with a car.
But with the economy slowing down, consumer confidence dropping and credit for auto loans tight, suddenly everyone needs to give away cars.
Toyota announced Friday that it will begin offering 0% financing for 11 models this month, some for up to 60 months. And it's not just on the company's big trucks and SUVs like the 4Runner, Tacoma and Tundra. The popular and fuel-efficient Camry and Corolla are being cleared out on the cheap, too.
"Sales coming in at the September rate would have been worse than stimulating them," says Burnham Securities auto analyst David Healey. Toyota suffered a 32% drop in vehicle sales last month from September 2007, similar to the declines at Chrysler, Ford and Nissan. Honda, with a 24% drop, fared just a little better. GM managed to limit its sales decline to 16%, though it needed an average incentive of almost $4,000 per vehicle to do it.
Unlike the domestic Big Three, Toyota at least has the balance sheet to absorb a clearance sale with little trouble. The company made $17 billion during its latest fiscal year, which ended March 30, and sits on over $17 billion in cash.
Still, it's a landmark move for Toyota, which hasn't offered these kinds of incentives since a limited flirtation with 0% financing shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to Edmunds.com analyst Jessica Caldwell.
"Toyota, for the first time, will have to deal with the economic environment," she says.
Not that the Japanese automakers are at Detroit incentive levels just yet. Toyota spent an average of $1,481 per vehicle on them during September, while Honda averaged just over $1,000, according to Edmunds.com data. That compares to $3,696 in per-vehicle incentive spending at Ford, $3,972 at GM and a whopping $4,705 at Chrysler.
But the gap is narrowing: Toyota's incentive costs are up 78% from the $830 per vehicle it spent in September 2007. And the new 0% plan will push it up even more.
Even as auto industry execs pushed Washington to pass the financial bailout (which it did on Friday afternoon), hoping to get car loans flowing again, they know there's no quick fix. Ford CEO Alan Mulally recently told a Paris trade show audience that he doesn't foresee an industry recovery until 2010.
Caldwell thinks the possible spike in consumer confidence that the bailout could bring will do as much to get customers back to showrooms as a thawing in the credit markets will. But she agrees with Mulally that things will get tougher before they get better. Right now, people are thinking more about their jobs and savings than about buying cars.
"Showrooms are empty; no one is even looking right now," she says.
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It is coming from someone who wets on seeing the new TSX
. Lucerne is third. C Class beat the 3er for first place. And the fact is the 3er has sedan, coupe and convertibles blobbed in those sales so it is not really apples vs. well... apples comparison.
Oops! I didn't have MB numbers yet when I posted my list. That's a good point about BMW 3-Series. So, looking at sedan sales only, Lucerne would be 2nd... right under the C-Class. Cool.
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They have the resilience which is currently lacking in us.
They're selling 15 cars per dealership a month. The article today predicts 3,800 dealerships to go out of business over the next several months. I believe several Mitsubishi dealerships will be included in that number (Mitsubishi had 570 dealerships in 2006; 520 dealerships in 2007; they're down to 480 dealerships right now).
Yes, GM has brands that sell in that volume or less, but those brands are mated with other brands to help sustain the dealership network. Mitsubishi has no alliance and are still their own rooftop from what I can tell.
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Wow, they still sell cars here?
Not for much longer... I wish they'd just give up.
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You cast a pretty wide net with the Lucern starting at $28K-3.5K cash back. A number of those cars start at 50% more than the Lucerne and some of them are almost 100% more. You may as well have thrown in the Corolla for comparison.
I will give props to the Lucerne exterior. It was the first non-ugly sedan that GM had made in years. I assume that was the Hand of Lutz in action.
Most of the vehicles on the list are not going for MSRP (TL & MKS are brand new). Everyone seems to be offering some type of incentive at the moment (cash back, lease, etc)
Most of the vehicles selected are in the $30k-$45k range (near-luxury) which overlaps Lucerne's price range. The BMW 5-series and Lexus GS were thrown in just for sales volume comparison. Lucerne's replacement may be more expensive and not sell as many, but the mid-luxury competitors aren't burning up the sales charts.
Lucerne's direct competitors were the ones I'm actually interested in. Lucerne's Sept'08 sales were better than any of its direct/indirect competitors. The fact that it takes an uber-yuppy BMW 3-Series to top out the Lucerne (and only by 64 units) is pretty damn impressive.
I'm sure this won't continue, so I'll celebrate while I can... but Fall & Winter are traditional good selling months for Buick... we'll see how it goes
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IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Mazda North American Operations
(MNAO) today reported September 2008 sales of 16,169 vehicles, down 35.6
percent over last September. Year-to-date, Mazda has sold 215,408 vehicles,
down 5.7 percent.
The all-new 2009 MAZDA6, which arrived at dealerships across the
country in September, is off to a great start and exceeded sales objectives
for the month. The new MAZDA6 features a larger body than the outgoing car,
as well as more powerful -- and more fuel efficient -- engine choices.
The right-for-the-market MAZDA5 multi-activity vehicle posted a 26.8
percent increase versus last September, with 1,080 sales. Year-to-date the
MAZDA5 is up a remarkable 42.0 percent.
Mazda Motor de Mexico (MMdM) celebrated its best-ever September with
sales of 1,780 vehicles, up 29 percent versus last year. On a year-to-date
basis, MMdM reported 13,305 total sales, accounting for a 33 percent
increase versus last year. Mazda Canada Inc. (MCI) reported September sales
of 6,762 units, down a slight 4.2 percent.
Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., Mazda North American Operations
oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda
vehicles in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico through
nearly 900 dealers. Operations in Canada are managed by Mazda Canada, Inc.,
located in Ontario; in Mexico by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City; and
in Puerto Rico by Mazda de Puerto Rico in San Juan.
Mazda North American Operations - September 2008 Month-To-Date Year-To-Date September September % % MTD September September % % YTD 2008 2007 Change DSR 2008 2007 Change DSR Mazda3 6,029 10,629 (43.3)% (62.7)% 90,256 95,336 (5.3)% (5.6)% Mazda5 1,080 852 26.8% 27.2% 15,717 11,065 42.0% 29.6% Mazda6 3,694 3,842 (3.9)% 4.0% 42,237 44,028 (4.1)% (4.2)% MX-5 Miata 608 1,000 (39.2)% (51.8)% 9,991 2,716 (21.4)% (27.3)% RX-8 274 403 (32.0)% (35.8)% 2,865 4,820 (40.6)% (68.2)% CX-7 1,811 3,610 (49.8)% (84.0)% 23,058 32,005 (28.0)% (38.8)% CX-9 2,108 2,766 (23.8)% (21.1)% 20,469 16,486 24.2% 19.5% Tribute 477 1,821 (73.8)% (252.4)% 9,727 9,584 1.5% 1.5% B-Series Truck 88 172 (48.8)% (80.4)% 1,088 2,235 (51.3)% (105.4)% MPV - 3 (100.0)% N/A - 125 (100.0)% N/A Total Vehicles CARS 11,685 16,726 (30.1)% (32.1)% 161,066 167,965 (4.1)% (4.3)% TRUCKS 4,484 8,372 (46.4)% (72.3)% 54,342 60,435 (10.1)% (11.2)% TOTAL 16,169 25,098 (35.6)% (43.3)% 215,408 228,400 (5.7)% (6.0)% MEMO: IMPORT CAR 7,991 12,884 (38.0)% 118,829 123,937 (4.1)% IMPORT TRUCK 3,919 6,379 (38.6)% 43,527 48,616 (10.5)% IMPORT TOTAL 11,910 19,263 (38.2)% 162,356 172,553 (5.9)% DOMESTIC CAR 3,694 3,842 (3.9)% 42,237 44,028 (4.1)% DOMESTIC TRUCK 565 1,993 (71.7)% 10,815 11,819 (8.5)% DOMESTIC TOTALS 4,259 5,835 (27.0)% 53,052 55,847 (5.0)% Selling Days 24 26 233 233 Note: MPV is a discontinued vehicle.
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MONTVALE, N.J., Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA)
reported September sales of 18,779 vehicles, bringing the company's
year-to-date volume to 177,298, a 1.6 percent decrease over its
year-to-date record set last year.
After its first full year on the market, the new generation C-Class
model line set a record for September sales with 6,772 units, an 11.9
percent jump over the 6,052 C-Class units sold last September. C-Class
sport and luxury models also set a record year-to-date with a sales
increase of 35.8 percent (57,365 vs. 42,236 units). True to form, the
C-Class continued to be the sales volume leader for the diverse
Mercedes-Benz product portfolio.
On the SUV side, the volume leader was the M-Class which continued to
demonstrate gains with a sales increase of 1.1 percent for September sales
(2,981 vs. 2,948 units). This brings M-Class sales for the year-to-date to
25,498 units, a 6.4 percent increase over the first three quarters of last
year.
Separately, through the Mercedes-Benz Certified Pre-Owned program,
MBUSA sold 4,973 vehicles in September, an increase of 13.3 percent over
September 2007, bringing the program's year-to-date total to 47,946 units,
a 22.1 percent increase over the same period last year.
Mercedes-Benz USA, headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey, is
responsible for the sales, marketing and service of all Mercedes-Benz
products in the United States. For over forty years, MBUSA has prided
itself on its commitment to the customer by providing superior quality
luxury vehicles coupled with outstanding customer support. More information
on MBUSA and its products can be found on the Internet at http://www.mbusa.com.
MERCEDES-BENZ USA Sales -- September 2008 Model Sept. '08 Sept. '07 Monthly % YTD 2008 YTD 2007 Yearly % ----- --------- --------- --------- -------- -------- -------- ------- ----- ----- ---- ------ ------ ---- C-CLASS 6,772 6,052 11.9% 57,365 42,236 35.8% ------- ----- ----- ---- ------ ------ ---- ------- ----- ----- ----- ------ ------ ----- E-CLASS 2,968 4,993 -40.6% 30,750 34,184 -10.0% ------- ----- ----- ----- ------ ------ ----- ------- ----- ----- ----- ------ ------ ----- S-CLASS 1,591 1,964 -19.0% 14,507 19,501 -25.6% ------- ----- ----- ----- ------ ------ ----- -------- --- --- ----- ----- ----- ----- CL-CLASS 221 277 -20.2% 2,176 2,672 -18.6% -------- --- --- ----- ----- ----- ----- -------- --- --- ---- ----- ----- ---- SL-CLASS 357 384 -7.0% 4,736 4,787 -1.1% -------- --- --- ---- ----- ----- ---- --------- --- ----- ----- ----- ------ ----- CLK-CLASS 614 1,247 -50.8% 8,392 11,628 -27.8% --------- --- ----- ----- ----- ------ ----- --------- --- --- ----- ----- ----- ----- SLK-CLASS 302 396 -23.7% 4,166 6,067 -31.3% --------- --- --- ----- ----- ----- ----- --------- --- --- ----- ----- ----- ----- CLS-CLASS 300 554 -45.8% 4,793 6,012 -20.3% --------- --- --- ----- ----- ----- ----- ------- --- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- R-CLASS 500 1,018 -50.9% 6,503 9,917 -34.4% ------- --- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ------- ----- ----- --- ------ ------ --- M-CLASS 2,981 2,948 1.1% 25,498 23,960 6.4% ------- ----- ----- --- ------ ------ --- -------- ----- ----- ----- ------ ------ ---- GL-CLASS 2,137 2,541 -15.9% 17,760 18,498 -4.0% -------- ----- ----- ----- ------ ------ ---- ------- -- -- ----- --- --- ----- G-CLASS 36 85 -57.6% 652 803 -18.8% ------- -- -- ----- --- --- ----- ----------- ------ ------ ----- ------- ------- ---- GRAND TOTAL 18,779 22,459 -16.4% 177,298 180,265 -1.6% ----------- ------ ------ ----- ------- ------- ----
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Daimler AG Reports September Sales
Daimler AG Reports a 9 Percent Decrease for
the Mercedes-Benz Cars Division in the U.S. for September 2008
Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/
Link to Press Release
- Total 20,557 of Units of Mercedes-Benz Cars Division Sold in U.S.
- Mercedes-Benz USA Records September Sales of 18,779
- smart USA Records 1,778 Sales in September
NEW YORK, Oct. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Daimler AG (NYSE: DAI) today
reported sales for the Mercedes-Benz Cars division (Mercedes-Benz and smart
combined) of 20,557 units in the U.S. for September 2008. All sales figures
in this release are on an unadjusted basis unless otherwise noted.
Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) reported September sales of 18,779 vehicles,
bringing the company's year-to-date volume to 177,298, a 1.6 percent
decrease over its year-to-date record set last year. For the month, the
Mercedes-Benz C-Class and M-Class model lines recorded gains of 11.9
percent and 1.1 percent respectively.
Sales for the smart fortwo remain strong with deliveries totaling 1,778
for the month of September. This brings the year-to-date total to an
incredible 18,156 units in just over eight months of being offered in the
U.S. market. smart USA expects to deliver its 20,000th smart fortwo in the
month of October. The vehicle is attracting an overwhelming number of
buyers who want a solution to high gas prices, a reduced environmental
footprint and increased urban mobility on congested city streets -- all in
a package that's fun to drive. The fortwo offers a powerful combination of
outstanding fuel efficiency, innovative safety, environmental friendliness
and low cost of ownership. There are currently 73 smart centers open in 35
states.
Detailed vehicle sales information for MBUSA will be announced later
today in a separate press release issued by Mercedes-Benz USA.Mercedes-Benz Cars Division in the U.S. Sales Summary Through September 2008 Month Sales % Sales CYTD % Curr Yr Pr Yr Change Curr Yr Pr Yr Change ------- ------ ------ ------- ------- ----- Mercedes-Benz USA 18,779 22,459 -16.4 177,298 180,265 -1.6 smart USA 1,778 n/a* n/a* 18,156 n/a* n/a* Mercedes-Benz USA / smart USA combined 20,557 22,459* -8.5* 195,454 180,265* 8.4* * smart sales in the U.S. started in mid January 2008
Further information on Daimler is available on the internet at
http://www.media.daimler.com
About Daimler
Daimler AG, Stuttgart, with its businesses Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler
Trucks, Daimler Financial Services, Mercedes-Benz Vans and Daimler Buses,
is a globally leading producer of premium passenger cars and the largest
manufacturer of commercial vehicles in the world. The Daimler Financial
Services division has a broad offering of financial services, including
vehicle financing, leasing, insurance and fleet management.
Daimler sells its products in nearly all the countries of the world and
has production facilities on five continents. The company's founders,
Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, continued to make automotive history
following their invention of the automobile in 1886. As an automotive
pioneer, Daimler and its employees willingly accept an obligation to act
responsibly towards society and the environment and to shape the future of
safe and sustainable mobility with groundbreaking technologies and
high-quality products. The current brand portfolio includes the world's
most valuable automobile brand, Mercedes-Benz, as well as smart, AMG,
Maybach, Freightliner, Sterling, Western Star, Mitsubishi Fuso, Setra,
Orion and Thomas Built Buses. The company is listed on the stock exchanges
in Frankfurt, New York and Stuttgart (stock exchange abbreviation DAI). In
2007, the Group sold 2.1 million vehicles and employed a workforce of over
270,000 people; revenue totaled €99.4 billion and EBIT amounted to €8.7
billion. Daimler is an automotive Group with a commitment to excellence,
and aims to achieve sustainable growth and industry-leading profitability. -
- Audi year-over-year sales decline in challenging market
- Launch of all-new A4 drives additional interest, sales
- R8 sales up; A5 posts second consecutive record month
- de Nysschen expects Audi to maintain strong market share
HERNDON, Va., Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Audi of America announced today
auto sales for the month of September totaling 7,584, a decrease of 5.4%
from last year's figures. Audi new vehicle sales fell 3.9% year-to-date as
the company faces stronger economic headwinds. Audi Certified Pre-Owned
(CPO) sales decreased by 10.6% compared to last year's September figures,
although sales continued to grow year-over-year at 31.0%.
"The all-new Audi 2009 A4 arrived this month to critical praise and
high consumer interest in its segment-leading fuel economy, design and
performance. Demand for the new A4 boosted our overall sales by more than
one thousand units over August's figures. In addition, increased sales of
our A5 and R8 models point to the continued strength of Audi's portfolio of
all-new, progressive luxury autos," said Johan de Nysschen, executive vice
president, Audi of America. "We believe that Audi will maintain its strong
luxury market share despite consumer concerns about the economy, and we
expect to see momentum around the new A4 continue to build well into the
fall season."
The arrival of the all-new Audi 2009 A4 models in dealer showrooms
boosted consumer interest in the brand throughout the month in spite of the
model's late-September release. Based on government data and independent
test results, the 2009 A4 2.0T leads its key competitors in fuel economy
and 0-to-60 miles per hour acceleration.
Audi posted increased nationwide sales of its A5 model; dealers
recorded a second month of record sales for the all-new A5 due to improved
availability, with 719 units sold. Sales of the R8, Audi's premier example
of its progressive German engineering, rose by 9% compared to September of
last year.
Audi continues to impress industry analysts and other third-party
industry watchers. J.D. Power and Associates, the respected industry
organization that measures, among other things, quality within the auto
industry, recently noted that Audi posted the greatest ranking improvement
in initial quality during the 2008 J.D. Power Initial Quality Survey. The
Audi Q7, A3, A4 and A6 have also been recognized by the Insurance Institute
for Highway Safety (IIHS) as Top Safety Picks in 2008, earning Audi the
most Top Safety Pick designations for 2008 models of any luxury automaker
this year.
ABOUT AUDI
Audi of America and its 270 dealers offer a full line of
German-engineered luxury vehicles. The Audi line up is one of the freshest
in the industry with 23 models, including 12 models launched during model
years 2008 and 2009. Audi is among the most successful brands globally.
Last year AUDI AG recorded its 12th consecutive record year for sales and
profit growth. Visit http://www.audiusa.com or http://www.audiusanews.com
for more information regarding Audi vehicles and business issues.AUDI US SNAPSHOT -----YEAR TO DATE----- Sep-08 Sep-07 Yr/Yr % Sep-08 Sep-07 Yr/Yr % actual actual change YTD YTD change actual actual A3 287 462 -37.9 % 3,734 4,831 -22.7 % A4/S4/RS 4 3,495 3,936 -11.2 % 32,401 32,816 -1.3 % A5/S5 719 115 525.2 % 4,191 115 3544.3 % A6/S6 1,090 1,126 -3.2 % 9,263 8,762 5.7 % A8/S8 261 311 -16.1 % 2,168 2,754 -21.3 % TT 266 412 -35.4 % 3,432 3,084 11.3 % R8 73 67 9.0 % 521 67 677.6 % Audi Q7 1,393 1,591 -12.4 % 10,107 16,049 -37.0 % Total Audi Sales 7,584 8,020 -5.4 % 65,817 68,478 -3.9 %
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HERNDON, Va.— Volkswagen of America, Inc. today announced September 2008 sales of 17,109 units, a 9.4 percent decrease over the September 2007 sales of 18,891 vehicles. On a year-to-date basis, 2008 Volkswagen sales are 0.2 percent ahead of 2007 sales through September.
“This is the toughest economy we’ve seen in a long time” said Mark Barnes, COO, Volkswagen of America, Inc. “We’re extremely pleased that we are still ahead of last years sales. With the arrival of our all-new luxurious CC and our seven passenger minivan, Routan, which are arriving in dealerships now, combined with our other new products launched earlier this year, such as our 50-state compliant clean diesel Jetta TDI, we see opportunity to continue to grow our business.”
Demonstrating that customers are looking for better fuel economy choices, the all-new Jetta TDI and Jetta SportWagen TDI continue to sell as fast as dealers get them in. 2008 has been a big year for Volkswagen new product launches, with five new vehicles launched, including the Jetta SportWagen, Jetta TDI, Tiguan, Routan and CC.
About Volkswagen of America, Inc.
Volkswagen of America, Inc. recently announced Electronic Stabilization Program (ESP) as standard equipment on all its 2009 model year vehicles. As a result, Volkswagen is one of the only original equipment manufacturers to offer an electronic stabilization control system on its entire product line – ahead of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) deadline requiring stabilization systems in the 2012 model year vehicles. Volkswagen’s ESP technology works in conjunction with anti-lock brakes and helps reduce loss of control and other types of crashes.
Founded in 1955, Volkswagen Group of America is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia. It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen is one of the world’s largest producers of passenger cars and Europe’s largest automaker. Volkswagen sells the Rabbit, New Beetle, New Beetle convertible, GTI, Jetta, GLI, Passat, Passat wagon, Eos, and Touareg through approximately 600 independent U.S. dealers. Visit Volkswagen of America online at vw.com.
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Mitsubishi Motors announces September Sales
Galant and Lancer Evolution Lead Mitsubishi Motors September Sales
Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/
Link to Press Release
CYPRESS, Calif., Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Mitsubishi Motors today
announced September 2008 sales of 7,378.
Galant sales were 2,605, which, based on average daily selling rate is
a 1.1 percent increase, compared to September 2007. (There were 24 sales
days in 2008 and 25 sales days in 2007).
September 2008 Lancer Evolution sales were up 154 percent over
September 2007 sales.
In a badly depressed overall automotive sales market, Mitsubishi's
total September 2008 sales were down 39 percent, compared to September 2007
(12,102 sales).
Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc., (MMNA) is responsible for all
manufacturing, finance, sales, marketing, research and development
operations for Mitsubishi Motors in the United States. MMNA sells coupes,
convertibles, sedans, sport utility vehicles, and light trucks through a
network of approximately 480 dealers. For more information, contact the
Mitsubishi Motors News Bureau at (888) 560-6672 or visit
http://media.mitsubishicars.com. -
Woohoo! Go Buick!
I included BMW for SMK
Sept'08 Sales:
BMW 3-Series - 6,303
Buick Lucerne - 6,239
Nissan Maxima - 4,996
Chrysler 300 - 4,287
Lexus ES350 - 4,042
Toyota Avalon - 3,404
Lexus IS 250/350 - 3,044
Acura TL - 3,017
BMW 5-Series - 2,423
Lincoln MKS - 1,814
Hyundai Genesis - 1,029
Lexus GS 350/460 - 977
Mercury Sable - 783
Volvo S80 - 578
Hyundai Azera - 483
Acura RL - 259
Kia Amanti - 163
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Things must be really bad when the Altima drops like that. The Maxima also dropped, even though it is brand new.
True, but the 2008 Maxima was heavily fleeted. The new for 2009 Maxima isn't (at least at the moment). I still like the new Maxima even after the newness has worn off. I'm waiting to see the new LaCrosse in the flesh before making any decisions. We'll see how that comparison turns out soon enough.
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I love the fabric on the dash actually. I think the interior looks great. I agree, GM needs to build this now.
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The debate is going to be live. Palin has looked like an idiot in taped interviews, lets see what happens tomorrow.
If Palin is standing... on the stage... at the end of the debate, then she will have exceeded my expectations.
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Quickie -
. Month Sales Vol % Model Curr Yr Pr Yr Change CHRYSLER BRAND 23,346 38,668 -40% JEEP BRAND 21,431 37,460 -43% DODGE BRAND 62,572 83,671 -25% . Sales CYTD Vol % Model Curr Yr Pr Yr Change CHRYSLER BRAND 275,735 408,677 -33% JEEP BRAND 269,148 363,669 -26% DODGE BRAND 638,636 806,477 -21%
Am I the only one?
in The Lounge
Posted
I'm in the exact same boat, though I haven't read your posts in the political topics to know where you stand. I'm not happy with the names on the ballot, but I know who I will not vote for... unfortunately, I feel like I'm throwing my vote away if I don't vote for the person most likely to defeat those I will not vote for... the enemy of my enemy...