February 3, 2007
According to Ward’s Auto, the Pontiac Solstice ended the year of 2006 with a total of 19,710 sales in the United States, while the Mazda MX-5 only delivered 16,897, making the Solstice America’s most popular roadster. The most important to Mazda CEO, O’Sullivan, is the fact that the total number of sales were up by 4% from last year. Although O’Sullivan admits that they could have sold more MX-5 Miatas if they wanted to, apparently capacity was an issue. As well, the more popular retractable hardtop version did not enter the market until October, with many customers not receiving the model until November. O’Sullivan concluded that the MX-5 still remains the most popular roadster in America and that one year does not mark the success or failure of a vehicle.
February 2, 2007
A report made by Autodata Corporation released a list of the top 20 vehicles for January of 2007. What was surprising to me was that there was a lot of American vehicles on the list.
Below is the complete list of the top 20 best-selling vehicles for January, along with the percent of change in sales.
1.) Ford F-Series -14.9%
2.) Chevrolet Silverado 0.7%
3.) Toyota Camry/Hybrid 14.7%
4.) Honda Accord/Hybrid 16.6%
5.) Toyota Corolla/Matrix 2.5%
6.) Chevrolet Impala 16.8%
7.) Nissan Altima/Hybrid 45.6%
8.) Dodge Ram 11.9%
9.) Dodge Caravan 14.3%
10.) Honda Civic/Hybrid -25.9%
11.) Honda CR-V 54.3%
12.) GMC Sierra 11.4%
13.) Toyota Tacoma 5.3%
14.) Chevrolet Cobalt -25.6%
15.) Pontiac G6 -21.8%
16.) Toyota RAV4 27.1%
17.) Chrysler Town & Country 20.4%
18.) Honda Odyssey 8.9%
19.) Ford Econoline 28.9%
20.) Toyota Sienna -7.9%
Although the Ford F-Series remains the best selling vehicle in January, the sales compared to last year dropped by almost 15%. The biggest change among the list was the Nissan Altima and the Altima Hybrid. It should be quite obvious since the new Altima is a more aggressive improvement over the predecessor.
What do you get when you put a Ferrari and a fighter jet on a head-to-head race? You get an amazing race and you get… a winner. Can you guess which the winner was? 
February 1, 2007
On today’s episode of Oprah, which showcased some of the latest inventions and gadgets that help change our lives. Among the cool inventions was the new Lexus LS460, which had the ability to self-parallel park. Oprah, in the driver’s seat, took hold of command and tried out the system for herself. Her initial reaction? “How cool was that!” Some of the notable impressions that she made when she stepped into the vehicle was her amazement of the interior, in which she complimented on.
The entire parking process for Oprah took about 4 minutes, however, her foot was tightly snugged on the brakes. Also interesting was that not only did she press the Start button, but held it for quite some time, until she realized that it was already starting up. Hopefully someone will post the video on YouTube or something. 
[Image Courtesy of Oprah.com]
Subaru announced that it will produce only 200 of a new special edition of the Outback, which is priced at �1,000 worth of extra equipment. The special edition Outback will be based on the 2.5 SE automatic. The special edition Outback will feature an ivory leather interior, rear air-conditioning outlets, and MOMO leather steering wheel with inset audio controls. On the outside, the special edition Outback is offered in either Diamond Grey Metallic or Dark Green Mica with Urban Grey bumpers and body cladding. Standard equipment includes HID headlamps, electrical-folding mirrors, a 6-disc in-dash CD changer with MP3 capability, dual-zone climate control as well as curtain airbags.
Ford announced today that its sales fell by a disappointing 19% in January. Ford noted that the resale value of its newer products have improved for the 2007 Ford Fusion, Lincoln Navigator, Ford Expedition, as well as the Ford Escape. January marks the first full month of the sales of the new Edge and Lincoln MKX. The Edge managed to sell to about 5,600 customers, while the MKX only around 1,700.
While Ford is slowly falling, Toyota reported that US sales have rose to 9.5% for January. The sales of the Camry and RAV4 rose up to 14.7% and 27.1%. What’s interesting is that the sales of the new LS460 flagship from Lexus tripled that compared to its predecessor. However, the sales of the Sienna, 4Runner, and Sequoia all fell but was made up through the rest of the Toyota line-up. Toyota’s weakness? Scion. Of which sales of all three Scion models were down by more than 10%.
Will the new Ford redesigned models help save sales? Or will Ford fall to its knees.
Official images of the new wagon to the Volvo line-up, the V70. The V70 will be equipped with a new 3.0-Liter engine based off the S80 line. Standard is the all-wheel-drive and traction control. I’ll post some more information here later. For now, enjoy the pics.
1 [2]