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Comments
Darker colors mask this, at least. Lighter colors accentuate the seams more, though.
At least my MX-5 is a dark blue. I still think it looks dorky with top up. Top down no complaints.
Not that I bought it for looks. The Solistice was prettier, but it's hard to remove 400 lbs of extra weight, and the top mechanism was just goofy.
A smooth operation is also important. I remember seeing an XLR that also looked very inelegant in operation, like a transformer or something.
I get the open cars have to be durable, but then just get a Corvette roadster. XLR was not luxurious at all.
Caddy started getting the interiors right with the CTS' double-stitched leather dash option.
If an RX is a Faberge egg on wheels, the SC was a designer handbag on wheels :shades:
I never liked the hard top one. Useless back seat, too heavy, too expensive. It was a half-hearted effort, too big to compete with the 2 seater roadsters, not focused enough to compete with prestige 2 seaters.
GM ate a big loss when they guaranteed their roadsters would hold their value as well as the SL, losing $10,000 in single transactions.
I've read the SC cabrio can get rattly or creaky, too. XLR was just a wrong way attempt - the V was barely faster than a normal SL, but just as expensive.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/consumer-reports-magazine-february-2012/best-- family-sedans.html
Recently the new Sienna and 4Runner earned lower scores than their predecessors. They were also critical of the Civic, a Honda but the former segment benchmark, so this new Camry was under the microscope.
The 4 banger got 27mpg but when a V6 gets just 1 mpg less and makes a whole bunch more power why not upgrade to that? The hybrid beat the Passat TDI by 1 mpg overall, too.
A much needed win for Toyota.
Heck, though, at 26mpg the V6 is plenty efficient enough for most folks' standards. I would not give up all that power for 1 measly mpg (v6 vs. base non-hybrid).
You get diminishing returns when the conventional engines are efficient, basically.
BMW had an aggressive lease in December - a 3 series for $299. Infiniti matched it. Lexus did not - theirs was $329 around here. Benz also did not, theirs was $339.
So look for BMW to win big in December and take the crown for 2011 by a wide margin.
I wonder how Toyota did, though, given they claimed (yeah, right) that production was back up to capacity.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/autos/1112/gallery.most-disliked-cars.fortun- e/5.html
Infiniti seems to be in an odd position, kind of a Japanese Audi.
Developing a Lexus version of the popular Toyota Prius
The HS has the previous Camry hybrid powertrain in a slightly smaller car from europe, not at all related to the Prius.
CT is a hatch and is cheaper, plus it actually does use the Prius drivetrain so it's a lot more efficient. As soon as that came out, the HS was essentially dead.
The new Camry hybrid improved its city MPG rating by a whopping 10mpg, so that was another nail-in-the-coffin for the HS.
Infiniti has the JX coming, that should boost SUV sales a lot since it's got 3 rows and it priced lower than the FX.
The G25 is leasing for $299 a month so watch December sales spike...
I also wonder of a G25 lease at that price is actually being dumped on the market. Only some creative accounting will be able to make that balance out.
Locally BMW is leasing 3 series (yes, three) for $299 as well. Watch December sales rocket up.
What's the initial payment on that lease, and how stripped is the car? 3er isn't getting any younger...probably be some blowouts when the new one hits. I remember $279 C-class leases at the end of the W203.
BMW ad was on WTOP radio here, the #1 radio station in the DC area, so huge marketing/ad budget.
From the BMW prices paid thread...
BMW offers of 328 Xs at $329(3554.00 cash down) and 335Xs at $429 (4154 cash down) really are tempting
So figure a RWD 3 series at $299 with a similar amount down.
Not a lot of profit in that deal. I'm sure they up-sell you to a 335ix or something.
A base automatic 328 is a pretty boring car, all in all. I wonder if there's any profit in those G25 deals as well.
I'm sure they just wanted a lower entry price.
Know what's funny? The passenger heated seat only heats the seat bottom, not the back! Even our Forester heats the back on both seats.
Sneaky cost-cutting.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/prnewswire/press_releases/California/201- - 2/01/04/LA29779
Camry, Yaris, Avalon and Sienna seemed to do well.
Chrysler, +1.4
Kia, +0.7
GM, +0.5
Hyundai, +0.4
VW, +0.3
Nissan, +0.3
Ford, +0.1
The biggest losers are:
Toyota, -2.3
Honda, -1.6
Volvo, +2.7
M-B, +1.2
BMW, +0.6
Buick, +0.6
Audi, +0.5
And the brands which lost most:
Lexus, -3.0
Acura, -1.3
Infiniti, -0.8
Looking objectively, Toyota was up from January to March, and up again in November and December.
So there was basically a temporary drop for 6-7 months, and they appear to have recovered.
Also, you care so much about Malibu vs. Camry, so let's paint the whole picture, shall we?
Camry was the best selling car by a WIDE margin, Malibu was not even in the top 10.
Corollas was the best selling small car. It even beat the Accord.
Sienna was the best selling minivan.
All that despite two devastating natural disasters. :sick:
PS
Accord did not make the top ten in 2011. Altima seems to have taken over 2nd best selling car.
Toyota Camry slipped to No. 12 overall.
Found your original post. Time to admit how meaningless one month can be...
For the full year:
Camry: 308,510
Malibu: 204,808
More than 100k behind, how humiliating. :sick:
It was hard to even find Malibu totals because it's not in the top 10 overall and GM's press release did not mention the Malibu individually because it lost so badly:
http://media.gm.com/content/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/u- s/en/2012/Jan/gmsales
PS Jaguar was down 8% for the year.
Good point.
Though I think crude oil is still relatively cheap. This helps the D3 big time, in fact they depend very heavily on pickup sales.
Right now oil hovers around $100 a barrel. Remember that in 2008, pre-recession, it hit $145. I really don't think it will get significantly cheaper, we're much more likely to see it go up again.
Prius still managed to grow 9% for the year.
CT is selling at double the rate of the HS a year ago, which I think they should discontinue. It's old TCH tech anyway.
So look at it this way - hybrids did well when oil is about as cheap as it will ever get (IMHO). Things can only get better for hybrids, as oil goes up.
My gut instinct says might have to wait a month. Seems this poster only makes monthly visits and then goes on hiatus till the next month sales data comes out. Of course, there is a bit of Cherry picking as well :sick:
Keep in mind the Camry lease cost $30-40 per month more than competitors, at least in my region.
Camry still did fine:
Camry 33,506
Altima 25,976
Fusion 21,622
Accord 17,667
Sonata 17,340
Accord got absolutely crushed, though.
Also, only 4 cars sold over 200k for the year non-fleet:
Accord, Sonata, Camry, and Civic.
I have no problem to say Camry beat Malibu in 2011, because that's the fact.
It's also time for you to admit that how meaningless one model can be...
GM lost some battles but won the war last year against Toyota. That's the fact.
Toyota stock is up about $8 since the year low of around $60 back in December. It was $90 back in February. Still has a ways to go, but the last week has been a good run-up.
>"My gut instinct says might have to wait a month. Seems this poster only makes monthly visits and then goes on hiatus till the next month sales data comes out."
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Agreed with your first point; the world wide sales numbers will come out towards the end of this month. Based on previous published data, GM should be No. 1, VW No. 2, and Toyota No. 3 which would lag behind GM by well over 1 million cars.
US is not the biggest auto market in volume anymore (yet we are still close No. 2). But US market is vastly more profitable than the Chinese. So I'd say it's still a major market place.
None of the current minivans out there appeal to me as much as they used to, blame cost cutting or uglification. Where's the lighter options from Europe? Mazda5 is the only game in town, and it's too small.
Yes, but WHY?
The Tsunami and the floods in Thailand.
GM beat a handicapped Toyota.
At one point the EcoSport was the best-selling non-car in Brazil. It still may be.
I think it's Fiesta-based, and new Fiesta is nicely improved. Hope Ford stuffs in a heavier duty trans so it doesn't have the issues the Fiesta has had.