Toyota and Lexus combine to capture 73.9% of hybrid sales in July

Filed under: Car Buying, Hybrid, Lexus, Toyota

Last week, we informed you that sales of the Toyota Prius had sharply dropped off this July, falling some 30 percent from the reported numbers a year ago, yet Toyota was pleased with the results. While it seemed rather odd that Toyota was satisfied with a drop in sales, the fact that the Cash for Clunkers program kicked off in July of 2009 helped to make some sense of the decline.

Though sales of the Prius may have fallen, the company is surely pleased with its continued dominance in the hybrid market. Toyota and Lexus have combined to capture 73.9 percent of U.S. hybrid sales for July, and surely that’s something to be pleased about. The seven hybrid models from Toyota and Lexus accounted for 17,504 sales in July, with the Prius capturing a rather astounding 59.6 percent of the hybrid market for the month.

Ford placed a far distant second to Toyota by reporting just 2,896 hybrid sales in July, while Honda remained planted in third with a total tally of 2,475 hybrid sales. So, while Prius sales may have dropped off compared to last year, there’s no denying that Toyota still retains its position atop the hybrid market.

[Source: Green Car Advisor]

Toyota and Lexus combine to capture 73.9% of hybrid sales in July originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 07:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Engine shortages holding back Jaguar Land Rover sales

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Jaguar, Land Rover

The turnaround at Jaguar/Land Rover is happening even faster than the company’s owner, Tata, had planned. A year ago, JLR posted a net loss of £64 million ($101M U.S.) in Q2; compare that to this year’s second quarter and its £233.8 million ($369M U.S.) net profit on 57,135 vehicles sold.

While we’re sure they aren’t complaining, the boost has left JLR in bit of a lurch: production has bottlenecked because it needs more engines from Ford, after already buying “considerably more” than it expected. Ford hasn’t offered any comment, but it is reported that the two companies are working together to figure out how to get Jaguar the powerplants it needs.

[Source: Bloomberg]

Report: Engine shortages holding back Jaguar Land Rover sales originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 11 Aug 2010 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Fleet sales are behind GM and Chrysler post-bankruptcy resurgence

Filed under: Chrysler, Ford, GM

Before General Motors and Chrysler entered bankruptcy, the predominant fear was customers wouldn’t purchase vehicles from a bankrupt automaker. Those fears turned out to be more or less unfounded, as the market share of the fallen two didn’t fluctuate all that much during court proceedings, and both companies have seen sales increases the following year. Automotive News reports that while GM’s sales are up 13 percent and Chrysler up 11 percent, the majority of those increases have come courtesy of fleet sales.

The General’s fleet sales are reportedly up 53 percent to 400,000 units while Chrysler is up 40 percent to 242,000. GM does point out that its retail sales are up by one percent after the automaker cut four brands from its portfolio, while Chrysler isn’t breaking down sales.

GM and Chrysler aren’t the only automakers padding sales figures with fleets. So far in 2010, 35 percent of Ford’s sales come from bulk buyers, more than the 31 percent at GM, but still less than the 39 percent at Chrysler. But to Ford’s credit less, than half of those sales come from rental outfits, where discounts are deeper than they are with government and commercial fleets. Both GM and Chrysler are reportedly pushing two-thirds of its fleet vehicles to rental companies. The only other automakers to top 10 percent in fleet sales are Hyundai (16 percent) and Nissan (15 percent).

So do all these fleet sales spell trouble for GM and Chrysler? Not likely. Retail sales have remained relatively flat over the last year while fleet sales are up across most automakers. Detroit automakers also see higher fleet sales because each produces a large amount of heavy duty trucks and vans, while the overseas competition doesn’t compete in those segments. All three Detroit automakers foresee a drop in fleet sales for the rest of 2010, with Chrysler and GM projecting about 25 percent of its sales going to fleets for the year while Ford is shooting for 30 percent.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req. | Image: Chris Hondros/Getty Images]

Report: Fleet sales are behind GM and Chrysler post-bankruptcy resurgence originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 08:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota’s hybrid sales break a million in Japan, Prius still on top

Filed under: Hybrid, Japan, Toyota

Back in August of 1997, Toyota launched its Coaster Hybrid EV minibus, the company’s first hybrid vehicle. Though the Coaster Hybrid is not a common name, it was the vehicle that started the hybrid revolution at Toyota. The Japanese automaker has now announced that cumulative sales of its hybrids have now topped the one-million mark in its home market. In addition, the company’s global hybrid sales now stand at 2.68 million and counting.

In related news, Toyota announced that the Prius topped the sales charts in Japan once again, marking the 14th consecutive month that the Prius outsold all other models in the Japanese market. While Toyota is comfortably leading the way in hybrid sales, the company is committed to bolstering its lead. Toyota plans to introduce hybrid versions of all of its existing models by 2020 and aims to sell more than one million hybrids per year before the end of the decade. Follow the jump for more info on Toyota’s continued dominance of the hybrid segment.

[Source: Toyota]

Continue reading Toyota’s hybrid sales break a million in Japan, Prius still on top

Toyota’s hybrid sales break a million in Japan, Prius still on top originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 08 Aug 2010 11:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Will a lack of U.S. leadership derail VW’s ambitious sales plan?

Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Volkswagen

Volkswagen has big plans for the U.S. auto industry. By 2018, The People’s Automaker plans to sell a combined one million VWs and Audis per year; or about three times current sales numbers. VW has a plant in Tennessee that will build a planned 150,000 midsized sedans per year and a new, lower cost Jetta is expected to nab more of the coveted C-segment pie. The automaker plans to turn a profit here in the States by 2012 or 2013, a full decade after the last profit in 2002.

Like we said, VW has set the bar very high, but there’s a big problem. The German automaker currently doesn’t have a leader here in the U.S. Stefan Jacoby, a 25-year vet at VW, stepped down last month, leaving a thoroughly-engineered vacuum at the top of VW’s U.S. org chart. VW CEO Martin Winterkorn, who reportedly planned to detail the company’s road map to prosperity at a Jetta test drive on Monday, still hasn’t named a North American CEO.

We don’t make cars, but we’re pretty sure if you want to triple sales in eight years it’s a great idea to have strong leaders in place. We have little doubt VW will eventually find a suitable replacement for Jacoby, but whomever gets the job is going need broad shoulders for all the weight that’s going to be placed on them.

[Source: Business Week]

Will a lack of U.S. leadership derail VW’s ambitious sales plan? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sales of Nissan NV commercial van pushed back to early 2011

Filed under: Car Buying, Minivan/Van, Work, Nissan

If you’ve been champing at the bit to get your hands on Nissan’s forthcoming NV series of vans, you’ll have to wait a few months longer.

According to a Nissan spokesperson, production of the NV1500, 2500 and 3500 commercial vans has been delayed until the first quarter of 2011, with sales beginning shortly thereafter. The reason for the delay – and the subsequent model year change from 2011 to 2012 – was due in part to the engineering team asking for more time to complete additional validation. Contrary to earlier reports, the 2011 Nissan Quest has not be delayed and sales are still set to begin early next year.

[Source: Nissan]

Sales of Nissan NV commercial van pushed back to early 2011 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One market where Hyundai sales aren’t white hot? Home.

Filed under: Hyundai, Kia, South Korea

It seems that Hyundai is having a very similar problem to Buick in its home market. Overseas customers can’t get enough of its products, but buyers at home are rather ho-hum. Just as Buick is huge in China, Hyundai models are selling like gangbusters in North America and Europe. However, in South Korea, Hyundai sales have dropped for three months in a row. Interestingly, sister brand Kia is seeing robust sales for its just introduced K5 (Optima in the U.S.) and Sportage with total volumes up by 49 percent compared to 2009.

Lack of fresh product is blamed for the 1.2 percent decline at Hyundai, although the new Tucson and Sonata were launched just last Fall. Hyundai has several new products coming in August with the new Elantra and Accent as well as the new Veloster coupe (or whatever it ends up being called), and those new models may spur an increase in domestic sales.

[Source: Reuters]

One market where Hyundai sales aren’t white hot? Home. originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 05 Jul 2010 16:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ford begins online car sales in the UK, 40% of buyers approve

Filed under: Car Buying, Etc., Ford, UK

Ford has started offering vehicles for direct sale via the internet for United Kingdom customers. Ford conducted its own research and found that almost 40 percent of buyers don’t even care about a test drive; they just want what they want with the click of a mouse.

Ford has set 50 dealers up to sell new and used cars and commercial vehicles on the web, and sales swung into action on June 29th. A new call center has also been opened to close the deal for customers that seek an alternative to the online purchase. The cars will be delivered to regional delivery centers; Ford has set up 12 facilities where customers will collect their cars and drive off.

The 550 traditional Ford dealers in the UK might understandably be miffed at this direct-sales move, but they’re still the preferred choice of sixty percent of buyers. Haggling is possible with either outlet, and cutting out a level of complexity and cost would make life easier and possibly more profitable for Ford. For now, all statements support both efforts running in parallel.

[Source: Telegraph.co.uk]

Ford begins online car sales in the UK, 40% of buyers approve originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 07:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Nissan Juke handily beating early sales projections in Japan

Filed under: Car Buying, Budget, Japan, Crossover, Nissan

The Nissan Juke may be a bit awkward-looking for our tastes, but first week sales in Japan show that quirky styling can lead to paying customers – at least in Japan. Local business daily Nikkei reports that Nissan sold 1,300 copies of the Juke in the automaker’s home market in one week. That’s 300 percent more sales than the Japanese automaker was hoping for in the first month. And those 1,300 sales are just the tip of the iceberg. Through Tuesday, Nissan has reportedly accumulated 5,296 orders.

Nissan is likely delighted with the early reception the Japanese public is giving the little crossover. The next big test comes this autumn, when the Juke goes on sale in Europe and here in the U.S. Will American customers be as eager to add the Anime-faced Juke to their driveway? Only time will tell, but the early results in Japan shows that unique styling and an efficient 1.6-liter turbo engine could make for a hot-selling mini-ute. A starting price of well under $20,000 couldn’t hurt, either.

[Source: Nikkei]

Report: Nissan Juke handily beating early sales projections in Japan originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lexus resumes sales of GX 460, software update available to owners

Filed under: SUV, Recalls, Safety, Lexus, Luxury

Sixteen days after the Lexus GX 460 landed on Consumer Reports “Do Not Buy” list and Toyota issued a stop-sale on the luxury ‘ute, Lexus has developed a fix for the stability control issue discovered by CR and has begun rolling out the fix.

In a statement issued by Mark Templin, the Lexus Group Vice President and General Manager says that the automaker’s engineers were able to recognize and develop a remedy for the stability control system which CR deemed unsafe during its “Throttle Lift Off” test.

In addition to resuming sales, dealers began contacting customers yesterday to start issuing the software update and Lexus owners can expect their GXs to be reprogrammed within a week. For owners who still don’t wish to drive their affected SUV, Lexus will continue to offer a courtesy vehicle free of charge. Full details in the press release after the jump.

Continue reading Lexus resumes sales of GX 460, software update available to owners

Lexus resumes sales of GX 460, software update available to owners originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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