hyperv6

The sad part is that the American Public now justify and explain away their purchase of Honda Toyota, Nissan and even Hyundai as they are feel they are now American cars because they are built here. they fail to understand where a company is based and where the profits end up. Then they complain because their Camaro was built in Canada and the Silverado was built in Mexico. But now with Global based auto companies it make it more difficult to say a company is now based from one nation. Here are some numbers to kind of give all of us an idea of what kind of models they are buying and what models. If you look it does not look much different than here with about 1/3 of the models being local and the rest being Asian and German. If you look even down under Mazda has gone to Number one and Hyundai had made sold gains while other lose market share. Even VW is making gains. Top sellers 2011 (Jan - Aug) Top sellers 2001 1. Mazda3 1. Holden Commodore 2. Holden Commodore 2. Ford Falcon 3. Holden Cruze 3. Toyota Corolla 4. Toyota Corolla 4. Holden Astra 5. Toyota HiLux 5. Mitsubishi Magna V6 6. Hyundai i30 6. Hyundai Accent 7. Mazda2 7. Nissan Pulsar 8. Ford Falcon 8. Toyota Camry (4 cyl) 9. Ford Territory 9. Mitsubishi Lancer 10. Toyota Camry 10.Toyota Hilux By model Rank Vehicle 2011 2010 %diff 1. Mazda3 41,429 39,003 6.2 2. Holden Commodore 40,617 45,956 -11.6 3. Toyota Hilux 36,124 39,896 -9.5 4. Toyota Corolla 36,087 41,632 -13.3 5. Holden Cruze 33,784 28,334 19.2 6. Hyundai i30 28,869 29,772 -3 7. Nissan Navara 21,675 21,171 2.4 8. Toyota Camry 19,169 25,014 -23.4 9. Ford Falcon 18,741 29,516 -36.5 10. Mitsubishi Lancer 18,717 23,076 -18.9 By Brand Rank Brand 2011 2010 %diff 1. Toyota 181,624 214,718 -15.4 2. Holden 126,095 132,923 -5.1 3. Ford 91,243 95,284 -4.2 4. Mazda 88,333 84,777 4.2 5. Hyundai 87,008 80,038 8.7 6. Nissan 67,926 62,676 8.4 7. Mitsubishi 61,108 62,496 -2.2 8. Volkswagen 44,740 38,016 17.7 9. Subaru 34,011 40,025 -15 10. Honda 30,107 40,375 -25 Toyota's fall was not due to the earthquake in Japan. The Altona plant in Victoria has suffered great jub losses due to decline in market share. While Mazda gained with the 3 they lost some with the Mazda 2. Market watchers tend to blame the fact that the Austrailian market as it fails to embrace very small cars vs the brand. The only two solid nationalistic countries for autos tend to be Japan and Germany. But then again they have had good solid cars for a great while and had little need to look else where. Also the taxes on imports in Japan hurt sales more than anything. I deal with many customers in Japan buying parts for older American cars that are prized there. Many would love to have a new Camaro over there but only the most wealthy can afford them. They have to make due with cars often left by American servicemen. . But if you look at the top ten for the year only 3 models are of what I call of a national brand for them. But ten years ago the same thing was true with only three local based models with only Ford ranking higher with the Falcon. Is the Cruze even built there or is it imported from Asia?

That is just it. The wagon niche is small, the deisel wagon niche is smaller and once you remove the loyal VW Deisel byers from the pack......... GM needs to first introduce the Deisel and then educate and market the car for what it can do for the owners. Too many people in this country still carry the old ideas of what a Deisel is. Too few understand where the new are at today in performance and economy. I do have to agree the wagon Cruze does make a nice looking wagon. The shape in the longer quarterpanel really make it very stylish.

.That was already a given. GM made that clear 1-2 years ago on the ATS and other future models form them. Mark I think was the one who stared this.

I think the GS is still fresh as many people really know little on the car. GM has showin it in advertising on TV but has said little about what is inside. It is much like my HHR SS I still get people who think I Customized my own HHR only to be shocked to find Chevy built it and it hs a 290 HP Turbo 4. The next comment is I never knew. As of now other than a few shots in commercial and a couple magazine reviews it is a great unknown. It would have helped to have had the Auto and market it all at one time but I don't see it as a killer as much as price.

The 220 hp Regal costs as much or more than cars with 260-280 hp though. And it isn't like the Regal interior or feature content is amazing to compensate. For example, a 280 hp V6 Passat is about $29k. The Regal is just sort of a yawn car, and a wow price. Only an idiot would pay that price. By the time I made my deal the price would be at a very accpetable price. Between discounts, GM, rebates and the normal drop in price I would get I would see a very good deal. The Issue with the GS is even with $7000 off it is too much for what you get.

The 220 hp Regal costs as much or more than cars with 260-280 hp though. And it isn't like the Regal interior or feature content is amazing to compensate. For example, a 280 hp V6 Passat is about $29k. The Regal is just sort of a yawn car, and a wow price. The mainstream Turbo I think is going to get upped to around 250HP soon for what it's worth. I think the Verano 2.0T will have like 250 as well. That is my thinking witht he new Eco II coming. I seeGM adding more power to it and the 270 HP at some point.

Twinkie? I expect a Chevy based sports sedan in RWD at some point. Think Camaro like 4 door. I could see that one doing well as there are many who pass on the Camaro because of the two doors. The G8 proved there is a market and this car could be sold globally very easy with a Holden and Vauxhall badge. There have been hints of a car like this but we just have not been given a time line. One of the engineers spoke openly about one a little while ago. I had expected it on the Zeta but now I suspect could we see it on the Alpha?

I too with they would offer the Denali as more than just a bunch of chrome and bolt on cladding. I would think GM would have learned from what killed Pontiac as they just added some bolt on crap and charged more but really did not offer the hardware to back up the price. I would love to see a Terrain with a Turbo 4 [it could just be the 220 HP one as I'm not looking for a second coming of the Typhoon] a Haldex AWD system and things like this. GM needs to make the GMC a bridge between the Cadillac and the Chevy. Offer a Chevy based vehicle but with a few things from Cadillac that you can't get on a Chevy. I know these are money makers and are cheap to build so as long as people are foolish to pay for a lot for extra chrome I can't blame GM for doing this again. Anyone remember the first Denali truck that came with it's own AWD with a 6.0 on a half ton? It was something Chevy did not offer at the time and only could be found at GMC. This is what they need to do.

Limited to 155 MPH. They kind of left that part out. The ZL1 drop top is not limited is it? just seems wrong to limit a Shelby at this price. It is ok to limit a GT but not a Shelby.

I like it from some angles and hate it in others. It is another one I will have to see in person first. I liked the old one pretty well so it has a lot to live up too.

The GS is off the table for me as there are much better options in that price range. Now the 2.0 220 hp Turbo is still at a good price in class. There is no way I would pay that much for that kind of car That was the same issue with the GXP Bonnie. I can afford a car in that range but I'll be damned if Iwould pay that much for a FWD car. I hope now all that complained that the GS was not the full on V6 Turbo AWD can understand how much the OPC would have been and how few would have sold. GM would be best off to wait for a AWD say on something like a Alpha and make a better more expensive car there still slotted under the ATS and above the Camaro. What was the OPC something like $50K plus in Europe? The GS is a nice car but it needs to be closer to $30K. The 2.0 ATS would be a much better value and worth the wait.

With buying a new car later this year I would wait for the new 2.0 and 2.5. While I am ok with GM selling E assist. I would rather not have a car with it. To me the little gain in MPG is offset with more things to go wrong later on. I tend to keep cars long enough it could be a factor.

Ford is number one in sales do to mass discounts on fleets.

From what the engineers have stated on the Alpha was they could design it to be light from the start and that was not an option with the RWD cars they has already. They worked on this car from the wheels up and did it to where they could make it. As for the Zeta for the most part it is an old car and it has already seen upgrades. I think the were smart to choose to invest in the new platform that will carry them on into the future. The Electonics make the ZL1 a killer car. Imagine they same with a car that is 600 pounds lighter. As of now you have only seen the base of the Alpha and not even seen a hint to where it can go. The ATS is going to suprise many and when we see the Camaro and V series they will be left speachless. The bottom line is the Alpha is the Zeta we had asked for and never got. If they put the money into the Zeta to make it right we would still not have the Alpha and the Zeta would still not be as good. Let GM at least show us where this is going before we hit the panic button here. Once you see the plan laid out then you can complain.

This was well done. The Manilow and Twinkies at the end were just perfect for the whole thing. With all the stupid things MFG do for truck advertisments this was great. Ford has done a few jokes of their own of towing ships and trains and neither were that funny. They also want to claim they are the longest lasting. I wonder just how they figure this. Is this counting just the F150 or are they counting ever F series they ever built? They can use creative accounting when adding up sales so I figure the same applies here. I wish Joe's comments would get better play for the public. It is nice to see someone at GM with Spirit other than Lutz.

I am waiting for the Occupy GM Movement to start and the attack of the GM headquarters. LOL! It is little soon to panic.

BS They need to make a plan, and then stick to it. Their volume assessments should be tied to architectures, not specific bodystyles. When looked at in that way, the myopic reliance on a single bodystyle becomes absurd. This is a problem of mindset, not reality. The Alpha is more than just a Cadillac. It is a Chevy and more than likely a Buick. Just because one coupe could be delayed does not mean there is not going to be an Alpha coupe. GM needs cars that show great profit. I love the CTS coupe to death and would love to have one. I want to see a ATS couple too but the the fact is even the CTS coupe sales are small compared to the sedan. I get excited to see a coupe as they are almost as rare as the wagon. Now CTSV sedans are a dime a dozen. GM needs to invest in products that bring earnings up to where they will bring the stock price up. Companies like GM are built on cars like Cruze, Malibu and the trucks/SUVs. The sooner GM pays off the bail out the better off they will be on Wall St and with the public. Besides I think the anouncement here is a little premature. Like I stated Motor Trend is often wrong so don't get too excited yet. I expect you will have a coupe at some point and it may be sooner than they are saying.

I was going to say don't forget rollback. I also scan the web to see what cars are going for and before I take rebates, roll back and GM money I generally look to get 1500-2000 off the top. I work this price then add rebates and GM money. I have been getting at least 6K or more off sticker on my last three cars. Note too the SS I got on the web while at work. I knew what I wanted and contacted one of the salesmen who did not hassle me. I gave him a price, he countered and then I gave him what it would take to buy it today for me. He came back with that I just bought a car. I did get a really good price on it. It stickered near $28,000 and I got it out the door for 21,700. The other dealers I saw that had similar prices had sold theirs and one other would not even come off $25K. He told me there was no way I would get it cheaper. I did stop by his dealer and beeped the horn. Dealing on the web was nice as there was no pressure of emotional factor of looking at the car. The only hang up with the Cruze I see if they are so popular right now they may not come off much as if you don't take it someone else will. That is part of the reason we put off buying a Nox and Terrain till this year. That and building on to the house and moving. My buddy did ok on his Cruze Eco he might have done better later but he still did not get raped. The car is selling but supplies are good. With predictions of slower market growth this year I see GM adding some more incentives this spring that may be better than what we have now. They aready have been doing better on the GM money.

]Lets just see how this all pans out. Too little info to get crazy yet. If the ATS sedan takes off well even witht he coupe on hold it will spur them to bring it to market. The fact is GM has a lot of other highr volume things to get done right now vs worrying about low volume cars. Trucks and an Impala out and doing well will change the value of stock faster than anything. Also it would have been nice if they had the 2.5 and new 2.0 engine out now do they would not have to fool around with old engines in new cars for a year like the Verano and Malibu. I would expect a coupe could be delayed but in time it will find it's way to maket. Also keep in mind how often Motor Trend has been wrong or has not gotten the full story in the past.

He is not alone. It is amazing how many find the Nox and Terrain as too large. That is one very fast growing segment.

The issue with Fracking is not clear cut and dry on either side. There are many things with it that are unknown at this point. It comes down that there is a need to do work on both sides as there are safe ways to deal with this but they need to do more research into it to know their limits. Just like driving a car. It too can be dangerous but it also can be done safely if you know what you can do and limits that you need to follow. Right now in this area if some one sneezes some want to blaime fracking. Both sides need to work together to figure out the whole deal or both sides will lose. The paying jobs are important to this area as few major companies are willing to move in with the heavy union mind set of the workers in this area. The oil has already brought more money than they have had in the Youngstown area since steel. It is worth the effort to figure this out and make sure what works and what does not work for all. This is more than just about oil. It means a lot of jobs and security for many families too. To make matters worse it also has become a political fight. As for the quakes I can't say the drilling was not to blame but the fact is we have has more and more quakes in this area for a good number of years. Many even long before the drilling and fracking started, some even had some damage. Nothing like a Cali quake but pretty good for Ohio. Many of them from under Lake Erie but no one blames the deep salt mines out there under the lakes. LOL! We had one here not long ago you could hear it coming and it sent the lights in the house swinging. Note that they are not drilling where that one happened or in my county. I thought a airplane crashed with all the nosie and shaking. Even the frige shook.

The Buick better than many and as good as some in class on the road. It sould do well as it will offer comfort not given by others. The Mini is cool but has had a history of flaws. If it were not for the retro looks and image I imagine the car would have long ago failed. But with the numbers of Mini's sold you can not say BMW did anything wrong. The car has been a world wide cash cow for the company. The car may be over rated but it has image and it sells. It also can be fun to drive with the right bits. Keep in mind I am also not a brainwash follower of BMW. Never really liked them or wanted one so I do have to give a well done nod to the Mini and what BMW pulled off.

You can always go back to the thread on the 130 us how much you love it again and again and again and again and again and again.

I agre with what you say here, I personally hate the Prius due to how ugly it is, how small, the inside is as uncomfortable as getting your yearly old man check up. The volt from what I have seen of them and been in them for short test drives is far superior and GM should show this off with matching test drives. Yes it is not for everyone and some will still love their Toyota's. Yet keep this in mind, Take the Chevy Equinox or GMC Terrain with AWD using the VOLT Technology and you have a Auto that many people would love due to it being able to go long distances, safely get up the mountain for skiing and snowboarding and with room to haul anything. That will make the VOLT Technology take off. We all need to keep in mind that while the Volt may improve the technology may evolve as time goes on. The way the engine and electronic may change some and other ideas to enhance the performance will come with other advances we have to see or the MFG realize. I do see a Volt minivan coming. The car they showed in China is a natural at some point in the second and third gens. Right now the Volt we have is a real world proof of concept. It needs to be vetted by the public and critics. I really don't think GM has been suprised by the attacks. Keep in mind the other companies have spent tons of money on their systems and they could lose their lead if GM gains a foot hold and the publics attention. Trust me there are lobbiest involved in the Washington attacks. Some of the most vocal are people from states with Toyota and Nissan plants. At this point GM has no turning back as they can not start this over like the EV1. THe cost, the loss of time and the neg PR of dropping the Volt now would harm GM much more than the critics are now. The fact is the whole fire thing was trumped up false cause of worry. I like Lutz side generally side with the conservitives but I will be first to say they are flat wrong misrepresenting the issues with the Volt. THey are doing more harm chasing down the Volt for political gain than any help for the future of our country. But it is a game both sides play as if the Repubs has given them the money the Dems would be doing the same thing. GM just has to do all they can to defend themselves and pay off the loans as soon as they can afford to. They really need to have a true seperation of Corp and State. This will remove the political monkey off their back

Ew... No one said the path to riches was pretty!