SoCalCTS

obviously, this story came out before Nissan went into a tailspin. Oh well...

My biggest complaint about Cadillac is the dealerships are so bad in my area. The closest one is paired up with a Buick dealership. I swear the senior citizens keep those Buicks for like 20 years. Its such a pain going in there for anything because the Buick owners are so deaf, they are like, "speak up sonny I cant hear you" and it takes the service guys forever just to communicate with them. I wish Buick would just go away or get their own stand alone dealerships!

It looks like a mild rework of the 2004 Dodge slingshot concept.

I'm glad the Taurus is back. This version resembles the original 80's version and not that ugly late 90's frog car. I mean if Chevy is going to get so much use of the crappy Malibu name, it only makes sense that Ford would reuse the Taurus name. After all, the Taurus was the number one car not that long ago.

The hood vents are idiotic. The only thing missing is a flaming chicken.

The hood vents give the face of the car an Aztek-like feel. Other than that, it looks good. The interior looks really good for a Pontiac product.

JP Morgan Chase securities is expecting another 10% drop in the share price.

Business Week Story Nissan's Stock Gets Blindsided Negative earnings news has slammed Nissan's stock, wiping out $4.7 billion in market value by Ian Rowley Carlos Ghosn's ability to meet—and regularly beat—tough targets at Nissan (NSANY) has been a cornerstone of the Japanese automaker's success under the Brazilian native's leadership. It has also helped Nissan deliver the kind of margins and shareholder returns Detroit can only dream about. Yet, following worse-than-expected results for the quarter ending Dec. 31 and a just-released, full-year profit revision, global investors dumped Nissan shares with a vengeance in trading at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Feb. 5. Nissan's shares closed down 8.4% to $11.45, a one-day swoon that erased about $4.7 billion off the company's market capitalization. The "near-term recovery story that everyone expected is now over," wrote Tatsuo Yoshida, analyst at UBS in Tokyo on Feb. 5. "Nissan over the past few years was able to deliver what they promised [at] the beginning of the year, but they failed to do so this time." Yoshida also downgraded Nissan's stock from a "buy 2" to a "reduce 2" rating. For sure, Nissan's third-quarter numbers (the company's year ends in March) weren't great. Despite the introduction of several new models, quarterly operating profits fell by 16.6%, to $1.58 billion, compared with a year earlier. Unit sales, meanwhile, slipped 3%, to 795,000 vehicles. For the year ending March, 2007, Nissan cut both operating profit and net profit targets by 12%, to $6.67 billion and $3.96 billion, respectively. That means Nissan's full-year profit will almost certainly fall for the first time in seven years. What's more, the figures would have been worse if it wasn't for a weaker yen benefiting Japanese automakers (see BusinessWeek.com, 2/1/07, "Who's Cashing In On the Weak Yen?"). "Against an environment of high raw material and energy prices, no pricing power, and continuing weakness in mature markets, our industry faced many headwinds," Ghosn said in a statement. "For the first time since 1999 risks outweighed opportunities." Not Time for Optimism Speaking in Tokyo after the results were announced, Nissan Corporate Vice-President Joji Tagawa added that tough conditions in the U.S. market, where Nissan earns about 60% of its operating profits, had been a big factor. Tagawa said passenger car sales, aided by new models such as the Versa compact and Sentra and Altima sedans, had risen by 17.5% in the quarter, but truck sales had fallen 8%. And while January wasn't too bad—Nissan sales were up 8.9%, compared with a 19% drop at Ford (F)—Tagawa adds that the U.S. market, as a whole, is not "one which you can be optimistic" about and that Nissan's recovery from a drought of new vehicles is taking longer than hoped (see BusinessWeek.com, 6/1/06, "Potholes Ahead") "The fourth-quarter recovery will be slower than our initial assumption," he says. That will make it difficult for Nissan to meet its aim and boost U.S. sales by 10% or more during the six months ending March, 2007, and post global sales for the fiscal year of 3.73 million units. Still Seeing Healthy Margins For all that, Nissan's weak results should be put in context. Compared to most automakers, Nissan's weak quarters are only comparatively weak. Its operating margin for the quarter ending December was still a healthy 7.8%, and its new models, such as the Altima and Versa, have been well received. In Mexico, for instance, where the Versa is built, the company added a third shift in January to meet demand. The company is also maintaining its target to sell 4.2 million vehicles during fiscal 2008, a 20% return on invested capital, and a top-level operating profit margin. "It goes without saying that for fiscal year 2007, we will continue to be guided by the commitments taken under Nissan Value-Up," Ghosn added. Analysts also reckon that Nissan and alliance partner Renault, which Ghosn also heads, are tooling up to make gains in some of the world's fastest growing markets, particularly India. "In 2009 and 2010, Renault-Nissan will be shifting a gear, especially in emerging markets," says Hirofumi Yokoi, an analyst at CSM Worldwide in Tokyo. Still, Ghosn has work to do after the disappointing numbers of Feb. 2. Top of the list: regaining investor confidence. Rowley is a correspondent in BusinessWeek's Tokyo bureau.

San Diego Union Tribune / Sign On San Diego news story General Motors recalling 98,000 Chevy Cobalt sedans ASSOCIATED PRESS 8:12 a.m. January 24, 2007 WASHINGTON – General Motors Corp. said Wednesday it was recalling about 100,000 Chevrolet Cobalt small sedans to upgrade head impact protection. GM said the recall affects 98,707 vehicles from the 2005-2006 model years that are not equipped with optional roof-mounted side impact air bags. The issue was discovered during compliance testing. There have been no injuries related to the recall. GM spokesman Alan Adler said the head impact protection would only be an issue for motorists not wearing a seat belt. Belted motorists would not be affected, he said. Dealers will install energy absorbing plastic to the area, the company said. Owners can contact Chevrolet at (800) 630-2438.

Just keep it the same forever like a Jeep.

The sunroof looks problematic and unfortunate and the back could use a little more design. I still like the rest of the car.

Its not enough reason to trade in my current CTS to the new version. The looks on the outside have been dumbed down. The front of the car is hot. The rest is not. That is why they always showed you the front of the car in the sneak peak pictures. The interior is far from perfect. The dash looks more thought out but the silver stack lools cheap. I would like to see one with the NAV screen on so I can compare to other cars. The steering wheel looks so cheap. There just might be too many colors on the interior. I would like to see one with an all ebony interior. I would give it a 7 out of 10.

I agree. The new wheel is awful. Now that I am looking at it, I dont care for the aluminum either. Is it real aluminum or is the cheap painted stuff like the SSR?

I was hoping for something more agressive looking. I really hate the steering wheel. Where is the full navigation system? I hope its not OnStar only. Those of us that are getting screwed by the analog OnStar probably are not going to give OnStar a chance in the future. The rest of the car looks pretty good. I can't say that I will definitely be buying another CTS but for now its on my short list. I want to see what Lincoln is offering up.

Uninspiring! Is Mercedes going to be like Cadillac was in the late 80's and 90's? The quality has been bad. The designs are tired and rehashed. Is Mercedes even relevant any more?

New York Times story

All of the girls at my work say that Scion is a chick car brand.

The Epica is available with a manual or auto transmission. The 2.0L 24V LTX manual or 2.5L 24V LTX auto are the options.

Fifth fastest saloon money can buy.... a piece of s**t because of terminal understeer... That is too funny.

I agree. I have switched brands within GM a few times but GM has retained me as a customer.

Its a Daewoo design. I think its called the Daewoo Tosca. I don't think Suzuki is getting it.

I was looking at the Chevrolet Europe site and I thought I would post these images of the new Chevy Epica. It looks like a pretty nice car. I wonder why its not in Canada any more.

The interior is great. Holden should do all of the interiors for GM. Also, why are the radios so much more attractive than North American radios?

I think there will be a shift in tax incentives from Red States to Blue States. I mean Toyota, Hyundai, and Nissan all profited from a congress that poured millions into the southern (red) states that have been trying to supplant the traditional auto manufacturing in the northern (blue) states. I think with the Democrats controlling the agenda in congress, we will see an end of the concerted effort to move northern manufacturing to the south. This will be good for GM and Ford. Even if the president is Republican, its still congress that decides who gets what money.

Why was there so much fanfare about the fact that Toyota FJ cruiser was rated most reliable by Consumer Reports and this is the first that I have heard of it not being recommended???? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15638076/ These 2007 models earned the highest and lowest predicted reliability ratings based on a survey covering earlier model years. CATEGORY MOST RELIABLE LEAST RELIABLE Small SUVs Toyota FJ Cruiser Kia Sportage Source:Consumer Reports http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/overview.aspx?year=2007&make=Toyota&model=FJ%20Cruiser&trimid=-1FJ scores too low in our testing to be recommended.