Month: February 2010 (Page 5 of 7)

Ford passing Toyota in U.S.

February 15, 2010 / Staff

With all of Toyota’s current problems, projections for 2010 are tilting towards Ford Motor Company retaking the #2 spot in the US for sales with GM currently retaining the #1 spot. This could be a big blow to Toyota as for years they just kept of trucking along towards the #1 position but it looks like the faulty gas acceleration problem is torching their plans and the bleeding hasn’t stopped.

It is truly amazing that one year after Ford was on the brink of disaster, the blue oval is now the darling of the US auto market. Hint to Ford: Learn from Toyota’s mistakes. One more hint: Toyota won’t take this laying down and will come back with a vengeance and big time product to get back on track.

From Zacks.com:

According to a report by auto research website Edmunds.com, Ford Motor Co. (F – Analyst Report) has become the second-biggest automaker in the U.S. behind General Motors. With this, Ford has overtaken Toyota Motor Corp. (TM – Analyst Report) in the wake of Toyota’s damaging parade of recalls.

According to the website, Toyota is expected to lose more than 1 percentage point of the U.S. market share to hit 16.45% in 2010 due to its global recall of 8.5 million vehicles related to their problem accelerator gas pedals and braking systems. Meanwhile, Ford is expected to achieve 16.57% of the market in the year following General Motors with 18.12% of the market.

Read the full article here.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

News

Toyota sales

2011 Touareg another winner for VW

February 15, 2010 / Staff

VW tweaks the 2011 Touareg and makes a great SUV even better. Lighter, faster and better looking all around, VW has another winner on their hands.

From Car and Driver:

Speculation surrounding the 2011 Volkswagen Touareg and its corporate cousin, the Porsche Cayenne, has been that the two were going to cut some of their off-road capability in their redesigns, as it was widely derided as useless. However, as the Geneva auto show nears—and therefore the two vehicles’ public debuts—information is appearing to the contrary.

Like Porsche claims regarding the Cayenne, Volkswagen says the next-generation Touareg will be upwards of 400 pounds lighter in some trims—base models will be 460 pounds lighter. Although VW does not say from where that weight savings comes, Porsche has said the Cayenne will use aluminum for the doors, hood, fenders, and some suspension components. VW hasn’t confirmed it, but we expect the same is true for the Touareg.

Read the full article here.

Car Reviews, News

2011 Touareg 2011 Touareg information 2011 Touareg reviews

Honda CRV gets good review

February 15, 2010 / Staff

How good is the Honda CRV? Autoblog did an in depth review and they feel it’s really good.

The Honda CR-V charged into the breach back in 1996, showing traditional SUV buyers that a rapier could work as well as a broadsword. When gas prices turned the body-on-frame market topsy-turvy, might didn’t necessarily equal right. The meek crossover inherited the Earth, or at least a lot of conquest sales from former SUV buyers. The CR-V lead this charge against traditional SUVs and following a complete makeover in 2007 it surged to the top of the sales charts. This supposedly weak little softroader stole the SUV sales crown from atop the Ford Explorer’s head where it had sat untouched for 15 years from 1991 through 2006.

But the battlefield has changed and the 2010 Honda CR-V is facing formidable challengers on all sides. Most offer a V6 engine, having grown in size and power to resemble those mid-size SUVs they once displaced. Rather than bulk up the CR-V with an optional V6, Honda did what Honda does best and just made its four-cylinder better. The 2010 model is armed with 14 more horsepower and a long list of standard and optional equipment. So… is the CR-V this segment’s once and future king or is time to crown another? Read on to find out.

Read the full article here.

Car Reviews, New Cars

GM could reopen plants

February 13, 2010 / Staff

There is something going on in the auto industry that seems to indicate a rebounding economy. It doesn’t feel like a rebound out here, but pretty much all of the auto companies are increasing production and now GM is even talking about re-opening shuttered plants! Do they know something the rest of us don’t? We can hope that the auto companies will help lead the economy back from it’s current state of the blues but they still need buyers to make that happen.

From AutoNews.com:

General Motors Co. is looking to add capacity by bringing shuttered plants back on line using labor-intensive tooling, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said.

“We are looking at taking an unutilized plant and putting in less-automated systems that you can put in quickly and at low investment,” Lutz said in an interview on Friday. “The downside is more labor cost. But we’ll gladly pay that labor cost to get an additional high-margin unit.”