October 9, 2008
The 2009 Honda Fit was introduced on August 26th, a month earlier than the planned October 1st release date and it's no wonder that Honda moved up the date based on how well the vehicle is selling. Honda Fit sales in September were 6,515 bringing the 2008 total to 63,368, a 54.2% jump over the 1st nine months of 2007. American Honda's sales, including Acura, in 2008 are down just 1.1% with car sales up 7.7% year-to-date on strong Civic, Accord and Fit sales.
Now the marketing kicks in. Honda is buying all the online and mobile advertising space sold by Sony Pictures Television for a week starting yesterday to promote the launch of its Honda Fit. Honda' is spending half-million dollars across all Sony's mobile and online entertainment and third-party sites in the U.S. The Honda Fit campaign, aimed at metropolitan people who like small, fuel-efficient cars, includes ads on Sony Pictures' site Crackle, where viewers can share user-generated video. Ads will also appear on sites and music videos linked to Sony's music label Sony BMG, and on mobile networks Sony partners with, including wireless carriers Sprint and AT&T. Ads will be tied to Sony-created digital programming across third-party sites as well, including social networking sites MySpace and Facebook; video sites YouTube and Hulu; and the virtual world Gaia Online.
Sony's digital programming includes minisodes, which are TV shows cut down to five-minute episodes for the Web and mobile; CSpots, which are original short-form videos that appear online and mobile; and Sony Pix, which are full-length films from the studio's library available via online and mobile.
American Honda and the National Hockey League just announced they have entered into a 3-year agreement naming Honda as the official vehicle of the NHL which means sponsorship of NHL television and Internet coverage along with participation at NHL events in both the U.S. and Canada, such as NHL Face-Off Rocks 2008, NHL Winter Classic and NHL All-Star Weekend.
Steve Center who recently moved from the Acura division to take over as vice president of advertising and public relations for American Honda says "With more than 53 million fans in the United States and Canada, the NHL is a big part of the sports landscape in North America." The 3-year agreement with the NHL includes provisions for advertising on NHL.com and during game broadcasts, camera-visible signage during games and events, on-site displays of Honda vehicles at select events, and much more. Honda began its involvement with hockey when it became the presenting sponsor of the Honda Center, home of the Anaheim Ducks, in 2006 - the year the Ducks won the Stanley Cup hockey championship.
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- Posted by: Richard Saxton October 9, 2008, 4:00 AM
- Categories: Vehicle News
October 8, 2008
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost one third of its value since reaching its all-time high close of 14,164 a year ago and coming down 508 points to 9447 yesterday. In 2008, the Dow has lost 3,818 points or 28.8%. People's stock portfolios are tumbling and overall investments have lost a couple of trillion dollars. Though the market didn't lose the 33% in one day, its drop is more severe than what we saw in 1987 with the 22% fall on October 19, 1987.
While the nightmare continues on Wall Street, car buffs can dream about one day buying at the bottom and selling at the top so they could afford the amazing $497,750 Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR Roadster with its 617 horsepower super-charged V8 engine.
The SLR goes from zero to 62mph in 3.8 seconds and has a top speed of 206 mph. It will never trade on the Car Stock Exchange because of its limited sales and expensive price tag but a fine car nevertheless.
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- Posted by: Richard Saxton October 8, 2008, 4:00 AM
- Categories: Vehicle News
October 7, 2008
The Paris Auto Show is showing off new vehicles, some of which already trade on the Car Stock Exchange and others that could be coming.
With gas prices still well above $3 a gallon, the new Honda Insight concept will provide serious competition to the Toyota Prius at an affordable price, reportedly around $20,000 when it moves into production mode. The electric Smart Fortwo also got rave reviews.
Chevrolet showed off its electric 2011 Volt and the 2011 Cruze, its new global car. BMW displayed the 2009 3 Series, 2009 7 Series and small X1 Sports Activity Vehicle.
Others included the Audi A1 concept, the face-lifted 2009 Mazda MX-5, the production 2009 Kia Soul, 2010 Cadillac CTS Wagon, 2010 Volkswagen Golf GTI, Infiniti EX37 and FX37.
The 2009 Audi A6, 2009 BMW 7 Series and 2009 Kia Soul which all trade on the Car Stock Exchange are on display at the Paris Auto Show this week as well. We'll see a lot more vehicles that have CSX stock potential at the Los Angeles Auto Show in late November.
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- Posted by: Richard Saxton October 7, 2008, 6:05 AM
- Categories: Vehicle News
October 6, 2008
The all-new 2009 Chevrolet Traverse crossover will be in showrooms this month after production started Friday in General Motors' Spring Hill Tennessee factory which underwent a 12-month retooling with an investment topping $600 million to prepare for the Traverse.
The $600 million investment included a 500,000 square foot addition to the plant paint shop for a state-of-the art e-coat phosphate primer system, a complete clearing and rebuilding of the facility's 1.2 million square foot general assembly area and refurbishment and installation of 623 new robots in the 850,000 square foot, state-of-the-art body shop, that perform 3,826 weld spots on each Traverse.
R&B superstar Mary J. Blige gets behind the wheel of the Traverse for a series of national TV, magazine and online ads that started yesterday and continues through December. Targeting African American viewers and female-oriented programming, the TV spots are running on Black Entertainment Television and BET J, TBS, MTV and VH1 Soul and VH1 Hip-Hop Honors.
The Traverse trades on the Car Stock Exchange. Pricing for front-wheel-drive Traverse models, including the destination freight charge, begins at $28,990 for LS; $31,545 for LT and $39,810 for the top-of-the-line LTZ. All-wheel-drive models begin at $30,990 for LS; $33,545 for LT and $41,810 for LTZ.
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- Posted by: Richard Saxton October 6, 2008, 7:13 AM
- Categories: Vehicle News
October 3, 2008
Lexus revealed the IS retractable hard-top convertible at the 2008 Paris Motor Show and this could be an addition to the Car Stock Exchange portfolio. The IS features a three-panel roof that opens in just 21 seconds. After an impressive driving experience in the Chrysler Sebring hardtop convertible, I'm convinced there's a demand for that kind of versatile vehicle. In fact, the new Lexus resembles the Sebring in looks, we'll have to wait for the price comparison.
The IS 250C features a 204 horsepower 2.5-liter V6 mated to a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission and the IS 350C contains a 306 horsepower 3.5-liter, with a six-speed automatic.The IS 250C and IS 350C have a four seat configuration with the rear seats featuring a center console with built-in cup holders. The IS 250C and IS 350C will come to the U.S. in the late spring of 2009.
Toyota Offers 0% Loans
In a surprise move for Toyota - a zero-percent interest rate offer on eleven Toyota models for qualified buyers. Expiring November 3, 2008, the loan offer varies by model, with terms ranging from 36 to 60 months. The Toyota models qualifying for this offer are: Matrix, Corolla, Camry, RAV4, Highlander, FJ Cruiser, 4Runner, Sequoia, Sienna, Tacoma and Tundra.
Toyota has to make room for the forthcoming Venza and the Yaris 5-door Liftback which trade on the Car Stock Exchange.
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- Posted by: Richard Saxton October 3, 2008, 4:00 AM
- Categories: Vehicle Unveils
October 2, 2008
A rough month for automakers on a weakening economy due to falling real estate, stock and credit markets. General Motors with employee pricing saw a 16% drop in sales last month from September 2007, Ford was down 34%, Chrysler slipped 33%, Toyota fell 32%, Honda sales were 24% lower than September 2007, Nissan saw a 37% drop, Kia had a 28% decline, Hyundai a 25% drop, BMW tumbled 30%, Mercedes down 16% and Volkswagen fell 9%.
Four of the five just-retired CSX stocks were based on vehicles which had sales that topped the estimates of our Edmunds.com experts led by the Hyundai Sonata and also included the Acura TSX, Subaru Forester and BMW 1 Series. The BMW X6 fell way short of the forecast. Two hot cars went on sale in September recording partial month sales: the Audi A4 had sales of 3,148 and the Mazda6 3,694. GM sold one Hummer H3T in September.
| CSX Vehicle Sales Through September 2008 |
| Vehicle |
September Sales |
6 mo. Estimate |
Total |
Status |
|---|
| 2008 BMW 1 Series | 663 |
9,000 |
9,280 |
retired |
| 2009 Subaru Forester | 4,804 |
27,000 |
29,368 |
retired |
| 2009 Acura TSX | 2,144 |
15,000 |
16,888 |
retired |
| 2009 BMW X6 | 476 |
14,400 |
3,362 |
retired |
| 2009 Hyundai Sonata | 8,629 |
67,500 |
84,317 |
retired |
| 2008 Pontiac G8 | 1,651 |
15,750 |
8,405 |
5 months |
| 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan | 1,077 |
15,300 |
4,677 |
5 months |
| 2009 Acura RL | 259 |
6,750 |
1,476 |
4 months |
| 2009 Ford Flex | 1,959 |
40,500 |
7,552 |
4 months |
| 2009 Infiniti FX | 1,181 |
11,250 |
5,456 |
4 months |
| 2009 Honda Pilot | 5,192 |
67,500 |
31,236 |
4 months |
| 2009 Nissan Maxima | 4,996 |
28,800 |
17,950 |
4 months |
| 2009 Lincoln MKS | 1,814 |
9,000 |
6,467 |
3 months |
| 2009 Hyundai Genesis | 1,029 |
9,000 |
2,206 |
2 months |
| 2009 Kia Borrego | 192 |
9,000 |
1,196 |
2 months |
| 2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid | 91 |
1,750 |
91 |
1 month |
| 2009 Hummer H3T | 1 |
5,000 |
1 |
1 month |
| 2009 VW Routan | 375 |
20,000 |
375 |
1 month |
| 2009 Chevrolet Traverse | 226 |
58,500 |
226 |
1 month |
| 2009 Chevrolet Aveo5 | 1,402 |
12,600 |
1,402 |
1 month |
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- Posted by: Richard Saxton October 2, 2008, 4:00 AM
- Categories: Auto Sales Updates
October 1, 2008
The Paris Auto Show Media Days are tomorrow and Friday and there will be many new introductions to fuel our Car Stock Exchange pipeline of new vehicles giving you more to speculate on.
The BMW Concept X1 Sports Activity Vehicle is in the premium compact segment measuring 175.5" in length, almost 4.3" shorter than the BMW X3. The wheelbase of the BMW Concept X1 measures 104.4". This vehicle is hitting the sweet spot of small luxury utility vehicles with the prestige of a BMW.
Stay tuned for more Paris introductions and September U.S. sales coming soon.
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- Posted by: Richard Saxton October 1, 2008, 7:02 AM
- Categories: Vehicle News
September 30, 2008
Our current financial crisis reminds me of Mitsubishi North America's overly-aggressive sales drive that started in 1999 with super-generous "0-0-0" (zero-zero-zero) financing (a 0% loan rate, no money down, no payments for a year) that resulted in a sales collapse and an enormous 2003 reported loss of $843 million. Their Cypress, California, headquarters cut 200 jobs or 20% of their workforce at the end of 2003 and scrapped a $200-million plan to
expand Mitsubishi's only U.S. factory in Normal, Illinois.
For four years, Mitsubishi had been giving cars away to people who couldn't afford to pay for them which grew sales from 190,515 in the 1998 calendar year to 345,111 in 2002 until the jump in loan defaults started the bleeding of red ink. When you're turned down for credit to buy a $1,000 TV at an electronics store and can go across the street and get a $20,000 car to drive free for a year - why not. Where's the incentive to make payments? Did the government rush in to bail out Mitsubishi or help the customers who knew they were getting into cars they couldn't afford? Sales in 2003 fell 24% from 2002.
Mitsubishi Motors, the Japanese parent company, reported a $2 billion loss in it's fiscal year which ended March 31, 2004 and a $4.4 billion loss for the year ended March 31, 2005. Good news, in the year ended March 31, 2008, Mitsubishi's global operating profit more than doubled to a record $944.3 million and, even with the challenges this year, Mitsubishi could report its third straight profitable year after three years of losses.
In 2006, Mitsubishi's U.S. sales were 118,558, down 4.1 percent from the year before, for a U.S. market share of 0.7 percent. In 2007, sales grew to 128,993 and based on sales so far in 2008 are on pace for around 109,000.
Today's U.S. financial crisis came from greed and aggressive lending practices on unsound business models. As my good friend and one of the best financial analysts, James Dines, author of Mass Psychology, says the market is based on greed and fear. We've seen the greed, now the fear. The catalyst for this widespread disaster was lenders giving home buyers the equivalent of the Mitsubishi's 0-0-0 financing.
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- Posted by: Richard Saxton September 30, 2008, 7:08 AM
- Categories: Auto Industry News
September 29, 2008
GEM (GreenEcoMobility, formerly Global Electric Motorcars), a Chrysler LLC company, introduced the next generation of clean, gas-free and emission-free, battery electric vehicles last week.
The GEM Peapod is the latest addition to the line-up at 10 year old company owned by Chrysler and GEM said it has plans to market a new light-duty, battery electric commercial truck and a larger city electric vehicle, with more range and performance within the next year. The Peapod represents the first in a series of product launches that will redefine the future of electric vehicles, according to GEM's CEO Bruce Coventry.
38,000 GEM cars are in use today in city centers, planned communities, military bases, college campuses, corporate and commercial centers, and city, state and national parks. Currently GEM models are available in six models: two-, four- and six-passenger cars and three utility vehicles. GEM neighborhood electric vehicles have a top speed of 25 miles per hour, a range of up to 30 miles per charge (battery charge is extended through use of regenerative braking) and are street legal in more than 40 states. The vehicles can be recharged anytime, anywhere with a standard 110-volt outlet. Recharge time is approximately six to eight hours.
Not trading on the Car Stock Exchange yet.
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- Posted by: Richard Saxton September 29, 2008, 4:00 AM
- Categories: Vehicle News
September 26, 2008
Big news of the week. Electric vehicles from Chrysler - not a shock (no pun intended) especially when they decided to add the GEM logo to the Chrysler banner at NADA in February making the statement that have producing electric vehicles for years. GEM (Global Electric Motorcars which is being changed to GreenEcoMobility) makes electric golf cart style vehicles, has been around for 10 years and has been owned by Chrysler for the past 8 years. Now with "electric" being the industry buzz word why not flaunt it and expand it.
Chrysler and its ENVI organization, short for environmental and formed a year ago, is well into the development of advanced, production-intent electric vehicles and plan to apply this electric-drive technology to its front-wheel-drive, rear-wheel-drive and body-on-frame four-wheel-drive platforms in the next several years. Chrysler will select one electric-drive model to be produced in 2010 for consumers in North American markets, and European markets after 2010.
Chrysler revealed three prototypes this week with electric-drive technology - one for each of its brands. Based on information released, it appears that two of the vehicles have two "small-displacement" gas engines.
The Chrysler EV is a Chrysler Town & Country minivan that combines the electric-drive
components of an Electric Vehicle with an integrated small-displacement engine and generator to produce additional electricity to power the electric-drive system when needed. It has a 190 kW (255 horsepower) motor accelerating the minivan from 0 to 60 mph in approximately nine seconds and has the ability to drive 40 miles on all-electric power and a range of 400 miles on approximately eight gallons of gasoline.
The Jeep EV is Jeep Wrangler and, like the minivan, uses an electric motor rated at 200 kW (268 horsepower), an advanced lithium-ion battery system, and a small gasoline engine with an integrated electric generator to produce additional energy to power the electric-drive system when needed. The Jeep has a 200 kW (268 horsepower) electric motor. With approximately eight gallons of gasoline, the Jeep EV has a range of 400 miles, including 40 miles of zero fuel-consumption, zero-emissions, all-electric operation.
The Dodge EV is a two-passenger, rear-wheel-drive sports car accelerating to 60 mph in less than five seconds with a top speed of more than 120 mph and a driving range of 150 to 200 miles. It has an electric motor to drive the wheels, an advanced lithium-ion battery system to power the electric-drive motor and a controller that manages energy flow. To recharge the Dodge EV is recharged by plugging into a standard 110-volt household outlet for eight hours or into a 220-volt household appliance power outlet for a to four hour recharge time.
Approximately 100 Chrysler electric vehicles will be on the road in government, business, utility and Chrysler development fleets in 2009. We may see the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep EV trading on the Car Stock Exchange when full production begins. For now, trade the Dodge Durango hybrid.
Stay tuned for Part 2: The new Chrysler GEMs, also announced this week.
Continue reading...
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- Posted by: Richard Saxton September 26, 2008, 4:00 AM
- Categories: Vehicle News
September 25, 2008
BMW 1 Series 2008 Sales of 8,617 Beating Edmunds.com Estimate
Automotive News reported this week that BMW USA CEO Jim O'Donnell will throttle back the stream of vehicles coming into the U.S. by 44,000 by the end of this year to adjust for the declining car market after BMW's 16 straight years of sales increases. The U.S. dollar weakness against the Euro makes high incentives a money-losing proposition so don't look for any big BMW sales events to move metal. O'Donnell also wants to cut the level of leased vehicles which in August was about half of sales. BMW is planning to cut 90 jobs and reduce marketing expenses.
BMW brand sales this year are at 180,889 through August, down 7.4% from the same eight months in 2007. Sales of the X5 Sports Activity Vehicle are up 1.5% over 2007. The new BMW 1 Series has sales of 8,617 this year and is on pace to surpass the Edmunds.com estimate for its first six month of sales. The new X6 with sales of 2,886 after 5 months is a far cry from the prediction. The BMW 1 Series, the X6 and new 7 Series all trade on the Car Stock Exchange.
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- Posted by: Richard Saxton September 25, 2008, 6:02 AM
- Categories: Auto Industry News
September 23, 2008
After writing the previous blog and inquiring about the release of the U.S. version of the Volkswagen CC "coupe-like sedan" VW steered me to U.S. pricing details from a September 8th press release.
There are 5 variants of the CC for the U.S. The Sport model with the 200 horsepower 2.0 turbo inline-4 with a manual transmission starts at $27,480 including the $690 destination charge.
The Sport with Tiptronic starts at $28,580 including destination charge and the Luxury trim starts at $32,680. The two trims with the 280 horsepower 3.6 liter V6 engine are the VR6 Sport starting at $38,990 and the VR6 4motion starting at $39,990, including destination charge. Look for the CC in U.S. showrooms next month, keep trading the CC on the Car Stock Exchange and keep reading for more info.
Continue reading...
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- Posted by: Richard Saxton September 23, 2008, 9:06 AM
- Categories: Vehicle News
It's the Passat CC in Canada when it goes on sale October 1st and the Volkswagen CC when it comes to U.S. showrooms this Fall. "A sedan that performed like a coupe?" is how Volkswagen is billing the new Passat CC. Canadian pricing was released and the starting price for the Passat CC Sportline is $31,975 ($30,920 U.S.)* with the 200 horsepower 2.0-liter four-cylinder TSI (Turbo Stratified Injection) engine mated to a 6-speed manual or automatic transmission with Tiptronic, a press-start ignition switch and 17 inch alloy wheels. The Highline has the same engine, leather seats and 18 inch alloy wheels starting at $37,975 ($36,722 U.S.)* and the Highline V6 comes with a 280 horsepower 3.6-liter V6 with Tiptronic 4MOTION for a Canadian dollar starting price of $44,975 ($43,490 U.S.)*. Volkswagen claims an EPA combined fuel-economy figure of 23.3 mpg for the V6.
The Volkswagen CC trades on the Car Stock Exchange with a sales forecast of 6,300 in its first six months in the U.S. The VW CC also goes on sale in the U.S. next month starting at $26,790 so our friends to the North are paying a little more.
* The U.S. price shown in brackets is based on today's conversion rate of $1 Canadian = $0.967 U.S. cents.
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- Posted by: Richard Saxton September 23, 2008, 4:00 AM
- Categories: Vehicle News
Next Page »
Mazda will show the sedan version of the all-new MAZDA3 (known as Mazda Axela in Japan), fully redesigned for the first time in five years, at the Los Angeles Auto Show on November 19. Since its launch in 2003, the current MAZDA3 has sold approximately 1.8 million vehicles in over 100 countries and accounts for almost one in three Mazdas sold every year. Following the world debut of the North American specification sedan with 2.0- and 2.5-liter engines, the five-door hatchback version will be revealed in line with Mazda's global sales schedule. That 5-door model tops my teenage son's vehicle want list. The new Mazda3 will likely be trading on the Car Stock Exchange soon. 
