Next Day Traffic

Consumer Reports has released a list of cars and trucks that received a coveted “top pick” rating for 2009 in its annual April Autos issue. The results include the following categories:

Best Midsized SUV

Top pick: Toyota Highlander
Price: $26,000 to $41,000
Consumer Reports verdict: The Highlander is a very refined and versatile vehicle. It provides a comfortable and quiet ride, a nicely finished interior, three rows of seats, and decent fuel economy for its class. The Highlander Hybrid’s fuel economy, 24 mpg overall, is among the best of any SUV in Consumer Report’s Ratings. First-year reliability has been excellent.

Best Family Sedan

Top pick: Honda Accord
Price: $21,000 to $31,000
Consumer Reports verdict: The Honda Accord is a roomy, well-rounded sedan that’s easy to live with and enjoyable to drive. It offers a comfortable ride, agile handling, and efficient, refined four- and six-cylinder powertrains. Electronic stability control is standard, and crash-test results are impressive.

Best Small SUV

Top pick: Toyota RAV4
Price: $23,000 to $30,000
Consumer Reports verdict: Thanks to a larger and more powerful four-cylinder engine and other upgrades for 2009, Toyota’s RAV4 narrowly outscored the Subaru Forester to remain our Top Pick for the third straight year. It provides agile handling, a roomy and quiet interior, a comfortable ride, and an optional third-row seat. The four-cylinder version gets the best fuel economy of any automatic, non-hybrid SUV we have tested.

Best Minivan

Top pick: Toyota Sienna
Price: $26,000 to $38,000
Consumer Reports verdict: Toyota’s Sienna minivan offers a spacious, versatile, and comfortable way to carry up to eight people. Consumer Reports found that the quiet, well-finished interior rivals that of some luxury sedans. Electronic stability control is standard. This is the only minivan available with all-wheel drive.

Greenest Car

Top Pick: Toyota Prius
Price: $22,000 to $24,000
Consumer Reports verdict: Despite the arrival of more gas/electric hybrids, the Prius leads this category for the sixth straight year. The base model’s 44 overall mpg is the best Consumer Reports has measured in any five-passenger car. The interior is roomy and versatile, and reliability remains excellent. A redesigned Prius will arrive in the early summer.

Most Fun to Drive

Top pick: Mazda MX-5 Miata
Price: $22,000 to $29,000
Consumer Reports verdict: Mazda’s MX-5 Miata is a true sports car at a reasonable price. With quick, precise steering, a crisp-shifting manual transmission, and balanced handling, it virtually tied the Porsche Boxster in test scoring, but it costs about half the price.ny five-passenger car. The interior is roomy and versatile, and reliability remains excellent. A redesigned Prius will arrive in the early summer.

Best Upscale Sedan

Top pick: Infiniti G37 (formerly G35)
Price: 33,000 to $36,000
Consumer Reports verdict: One of the highest-rated sedans tested, the G37 (formerly the G35) combines sportiness and luxury in a very appealing package. It has a very lively powertrain, agile handling, and a comfortable ride.

Best overall vehicle

Top pick: Lexus LS 460
Price: $64,000 to $77,000
Consumer Reports verdict: With a road test score of 99 out of 100, the Lexus LS 460 is Consumer Reports’ highest-scoring vehicle. It provides a luxurious, uncompromising driving environment, with a supremely comfortable ride.

Best pickup truck

Top pick: Chevrolet Avalanche
Price: $36,000 to $47,000
Consumer Reports verdict: The Chevrolet Avalanche full-sized crew cab is one of the most versatile and comfortable pickups that Consumer Reports has tested. Its unified bed and cab helps give it a solid feel and a comfortable, quiet ride. Its innovative partition, between the cab and the bed, can be folded to allow longer cargo to extend into the back of the cab.

Best Small Sedan

Top pick: Hyundai Elantra SE
Price: $18,695
Consumer Reports verdict: The Hyundai Elantra SE is a comfortable, roomy small car that provides good fuel economy, a quiet and nicely finished interior, and plenty of features for the money. Only the SE version comes with standard electronic stability control, which is absent on many other small cars.

CHICAGO — Though news from Chrysler and General Motors dominated auto media coverage last week, almost three-fifths of U.S. consumers claimed that the challenges facing the domestic auto industry and the economy won’t impact whether they buy from American automakers, according to a recent Cars.com study. 

More specifically, 59 percent said their vehicle choice wouldn’t be influenced by struggles among domestic brands and in the U.S. economy. Also, only 20 percent indicated that the threat of bankruptcy would keep them from considering buying American. 

“I think it’s clear that most Americans believe that the American car manufacturers are going to survive in some capacity and many are just taking a wait-and-see approach like many other facets of this economy,” commented Patrick Olsen, editor-in-chief of Cars.com. 

“The survey also showed that the older you are the more likely you believe in the survival of these companies,” he added.

For instance, over 40 percent of consumers ages 45 to 64 said they felt confident that domestic OEMs would succeed, while just 12 percent of consumers ages 18-24 said the same.

Breaking it down further, the study also examined how various government and manufacturer incentives have impacted car shoppers. 

Thirty-eight percent of consumers claimed that the biggest incentive to buy a new vehicle is the government’s announcement that it will allow consumers to deduct the state sales tax on new-car purchases, according to Cars.com. 

Meanwhile, 28 percent said various automakers’ assurance programs would be the biggest motivator, while 13 percent were influenced by government-backed OEM warranties.

Article courtesy of AutoRemarketing.com

Honda has taken great pains to stress that when its new 2010 Honda Insight hit dealer lots it would be the most affordable hybrid vehicle on the market, and as predicted Honda hit the mark, setting a price of $20,470 including destination for the Insight LX model. The Insight will start appearing at Honda dealers on March 24.

The Insight LX comes with standard equipment such as front, front-side and side-curtain airbags, ABS,Honda’s neat Eco Assist driving aid feature and a four speaker sound system with CD player and auxiliary input for digital music players.

Step up to the Insight EX, and for $21,970 including destination, you get additional features including Honda’s Vehicle Stability Assist system, alloy rims, cruise control and steering wheel mounted paddle shifters so you can play with the Insight’s continuously variable transmission. The EX also includes a six-speaker sound system, a USB interface and an upgraded center console. The EX with Navi features Honda’s satellite-linked navigation system with Bluetooth integration and a 6.5-in. screen.

All Insights are powered by a version of Honda’s Integrated Motor system that employs a 1.3-liter i-VTEC gas engine and a 10-kilowatt electric motor that together help the Insight achieve an EPA-estimated city/highway fuel economy rating of 40 city / 43 highway. Click below to see a video of MT senior editor Edward Loh testing the Insight’s mileage claims.

(65+ MPG! – 2010 Honda Insight)

Here’s the 2010 Honda Insight Pricing and EPA Data Breakdown:
                                                               
Model                            MSRP               EPA City/Hwy/Combined
Insight LX                      $20,470            40/43/41
Insight EX                      $21,970            40/43/41
Insight EX with Navi      $23,770            40/43/41

All prices include a $670.00 destination charge.

motortrend_online
Posted by motortrend_online 
Category: Auto News, Honda

Failure. The mere thought can paralyze even the most heroic thinkers and keep great ideas off the drawing board. But is failing really that bad? We get an inside look at the mishaps of Honda racers, designers and engineers to learn how they draw upon failure to motivate them to succeed. From poor color choices to blown race engines, these risk-taking individuals provide an honest look at what most people fear most. Watch the film and discover the upside of failure. 

2009 Pontiac Vibe GT

As the Vibe crossover expires with the Pontiac brand, GM and Toyota seek a new vehicle to produce under their joint venture.

Even as it shrinks its North American product portfolio, General Motors is negotiating with Toyota Motor Corp. to determine a new GM product to be jointly produced at the automakers’ 50-50 joint venture, New United Motor Manufacturing Inc.

A GM spokesman said that, if successful, the negotiations would result in a new model for one of GM’s surviving brands — Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac.

Earlier today, GM revealed that it will end production of its Pontiac line, including the Vibe crossover.
The Vibe is currently GM’s sole yield from the NUMMI partnership — meaning the Pontiac decision effectively leaves GM without a need for NUMMI as it cuts factory production plans around the country.

But Pontiac spokesman Jim Hopson said GM is in talks with Toyota and NUMMI itself to determine another vehicle to be produced there.

“We’re negotiating to see how best to utilize that facility going forward,” Hopson said. “We’re clearly not backing away from our partnership at NUMMI. There’s no issue of us backing away from NUMMI.”

GM and Toyota began building small cars together at the former GM plant in Fremont, Calif., in 1984. Toyota also obtains its Tacoma pickup from a separate line there.

Over the years, GM has obtained models all related to the Toyota Corolla platform.

The venture was supposed to supply the cars on a 50-50 basis to Toyota and GM, with each side receiving 100,000 to 120,000 cars a year. But in recent years, GM’s take from the plant has fallen. Last year Pontiac sold 46,551 Vibes, a gain of 25 percent over 2007.

Toyota combines Matrix sales reports with the Corolla, so no data exist comparing Matrix to Vibe sales.

GM has little else in its portfolio like the Vibe. Like the Vibe, the Korean-built Chevy Aveo5 and Pontiac G3 are five-door hatchbacks. But they are smaller than the Vibe.

“There’s really nothing wrong with the Vibe,” Hopson said. “Its only problem right now is that it is a Pontiac.”

Asked whether the company is considering continuing production of the Vibe with a different GM badge, Hopson flatly said no.

By Lindsay Chappell of AutoWeek
http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1026976

By John Revill of AutoWeek
http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1027812

Fiat S.p.a. and Magna International Inc. are emerging as rival bidders for a significant stake in General Motors’ Opel/Vauxhall subsidiary.


Magna International and Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska are considering taking a 50 percent share in Opel, Canada’s Globe and Mail reported on Monday.


Magna would purchase about 20 per cent of Opel and Deripaska would possibly combine with Russian banks to pick up another 30 per cent, the newspaper said.


German politicians and Opel’s union bosses say Fiat wants a controlling stake in Opel.


Italian sources told Automotive News Europe that Fiat and Magna are rival investors in Opel.


Fiat is sweetening its bid by offering to build its Punto hatchback in Opel’s plant in Eisenach, Germany, to help maximize the plant’s production capacity, German daily Handlesblatt reported Tuesday. The Punto shares its platform with the Opel Corsa, which is built at Eisenach.


Magna Plan for Opel ‘Interesting’

Opel’s union chiefs and some German politicians have spoken out against Fiat taking a stake in Opel. They fear massive job cuts, plant closures and believe a partnership would not work because there is too much overlap between the brands.

Fiat has pledged to maintain all of Opel’s four German production sites should it acquire the company, Der Spiegel reported at the weekend.


Fiat’s reported offer to build the Punto in Eisenach and keep open Opel factories did not impress union representatives.


“It changes nothing,” Opel’s works council chairman Klaus Franz told Handlesblatt.


German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg met senior representatives of Magna on Tuesday to discuss its possible investment in Opel. After the meeting, 

Guttenberg said Magna had presented an interesting initial rough plan to invest in Opel.


Guttenberg added that the government still needed hard facts and figures from GM to back up Magna’s plans for Opel.


Cash-strapped GM is carving out German-based Opel and its British sister brand Vauxhall into a separate unit and is seeking outside equity investors to give Opel a major cash infusion.


GM must sell a significant stake in Opel to convince German politicians to provide billions of euros in loan guarantees to the carmaker and, with an election due in September, the government is anxious to find a way of saving jobs at the company.


GM Favors Single Bidder

GM favors one major investor rather than a combination of bidders but wants to retain a stake in a new independent Opel, a company source familiar with the negotiations told ANE.


GM wants to agree a memorandum of understanding with a bidder in the next two to three weeks, the source said.


GM CEO Fritz Henderson told news conference Monday that talks between Opel and several parties interested in investing in the automaker will continue until mid-May.


Henderson said GM would retain a substantial interest in Opel’s European business.


A GM Europe spokesman said: “We continue to aggressively work to secure third party investment. Time is of the essence. It is a complex situation with several parties in the mix and this is going to take some time.”


Douglas A. Bolduc and Reuters contributed. 
Content provided by AutoWeek.

Automotive Direct Marketing

Are your mailers working? If not, do two things…

1st – Check the offers you are running and which customer bases you have mailed to on your last 6 mailings.

2nd – Call me and ask about creating a customer newsletter that we send to all your customers and owners of your product in your area of responsibility that are not your customers.

You see in a time like this (recession and horrible economy) people are looking for DEALS.Customers pay more attention to coupons and will open, read and pay attention to their mail now more than they have in the last ten years. Every person in America (at least that you are interested in talking to as a prospect) has a mailbox, so why aren’t you mailing him or her? Because you don’t always sell 24 cars off a mail sale??? I spend a great deal of time traveling the country talking about owner body retention and those who listen are still taller than me because of their ability to stand on their wallets.

MAIL YOUR OWNERS AND INTENDERS OR SOMEONE ELSE WILL.

Next Day Traffic – Essential to Automotive Advertising
 
Adjust all used car prices on your website by $1000. No, this is not good news and frankly you may be shaking your head in disgust. But if you will lower all your used car prices by $1000 for two days – you will probably double the number of used car leads that you generally get in a day. So really, what harm can it do? You may sell a few more for a little less. I hope you have good finance people and bad credit people…

Service Advertising – Automotive Intelligence

“$40 OFF ANY 4 TIRES,” from the largest independent tire dealer in Texas. I recently saw TV ads, heard it on the radio and saw it on billboards. “$40 OFF ANY 4 TIRES” will create traffic. How do I know? I called and spoke to the owner of this giant tire chain. After telling him who I was and mentioning how much I liked his ads (ego booster), I asked him ‘straight up’ how well this promotion works. He said, “it’s no secret – my competitors, even local dealers know it and hate it – it works like a charm.”