Pump Price: Gas Prices Continue to Move Up
January 19, 2010 by Colin Bird!RAWBLOCK0!
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Filed under: Pump Price
Archive for January, 2010
Chrysler’s Mid Sized Conundrum: Can the Sebring Be Saved?
January 18, 2010 by Nicholas Fay!RAWBLOCK2!
The Detroit Auto Show Experience
January 17, 2010 by Colin Bird
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Today, I wanted to do something different on Autobird by taking a holistic approach to my entire journey throughout the 2010 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). I had never been to Detroit before this excursion and what I found when I arrived was a surprising amount of difference between it and my hometown of Chicago. I wanted to share my experience before completely moving away from NAIAS coverage. Detroit
Ever met one of those people who hates Detroit, but has never actually visited the city? Up until last week, I was one of those jackasses. After going, it’s not as bad as people make it to be, but still it’s nowhere I’d go vacationing. I got into Detroit in what should have been rush hour traffic (it was 9:30 a.m.). There was a heavy wind and snowy conditions so traffic did slow down. I’m from Chicago where, like most other cites, rush hour traffic grinds to a halt in snowy conditions. Either this is a testimony to the Motor City’s great civic engineers, or the highways were built for a capacity that was never realized. Once I entered the city, I noticed a general lack of defined street markings or signs. The Cobo Center, where the Detroit Auto Show takes place, is one of the biggest destinations for the city. Still, once I exited the John C. Lodge Expressway there were very few signs that could guide me to the center. It took me a good 25 minutes to figure out how to get to the Cobo Center rooftop parking lot. The other thing I thought was interesting and scary is that Detroiters are used to the fact that their city government can’t handle the snow. Last year, it was a scandal when Chicago’s mayor couldn’t move fast enough to remove the snow off ancillary streets and second tier throughways. Apparently in Detroit the plows don’t work at all. The minor snow storm was causing big problems for my little car on the inner-city highways and on Detroit’s main throughways. I never saw a plow salting the roads the entire time I was there. Most of my time was spent on the riverfront. Back in the day, Detroit’s riverfront was used for industry and the downtown of the city was located about a mile west. Today, what remains of the city hugs the riverfront. This includes the Cobo Center and the Renaissance Center. Once you venture about a half mile into the city, the decay is prevalent. There are many derelict lots. The city was built off a French hub-and-spoke design, so the streets are quite confusing, with several one-way streets. I find the twisting streets ironic, since the plots of land in-between the streets are mainly unused. You can see from the Renaissance Center that downtown Detroit is encircled by three of those efficient freeways I talked about earlier. It makes Downtown Detroit look like an island onto itself, full of decay and confusion. Renaissance Center
Speaking of confusion, GM’s Renaissance Center is one of the most baffling structures I have ever encountered. I’ve known hedge mazes that made more sense. The structure is the defining feature of Detroit’s skyline. In fact, I think when most people envision Detroit they’re thinking of the Renaissance Center in one way or another. The core of the building is a five building interconnected web. The Marriot Hotel, where I stayed during my trip, makes up the core of the structure. The 73-story hotel is one of the largest in the world. There are 4, 39-story office buildings that flank the outside of the hotel. When entering the building you realize it’s not going to be an easy task to get to where you want to go. The large concert base, is composed of massive pillions that make it damn near impossible to get anywhere in a straight line. It took me about 20 minutes to figure out that I needed to take 2 different escalators, walking 2 counterclockwise semi-circles to reach each one just to reach the right elevator banks that could take me to my hotel room. The symmetry also threw me off in the morning when I was trying to collect my car. Apparently, there are identical parking garages located at opposite cardinal points. Needless to say I got my exercise trying to pilot myself throughout the 14 acre super block. The structure is seven buildings all together, comprising 5.5 million square feet of office space. Despite its immense scale, the building felt cramped, isolated and sterile. The massive concrete walls and tall circinate towers feel isolated and disjointed from the rest of the city. There are retail stores inside the base area but many of the spaces are empty. The stores and restaurants that do exists feel like plagiaristic knock-offs of national franchise establishments. There’s a movie theater, a nice bar called the “Volt,” other high-end restaurants and convention space in the building as well. General Motors, the building’s owner and largest tenant, also uses the lobby area to show off its latest vehicles. The GM Wintergarden, a giant 5-story glass enclosed atrium is also nice and one of the few elements that makes the space feel airy. Largely, I just find it ironic that GM would choose such an isolated and bewildering structure to call its headquarters. Wait, no. I’m actually not surprised at all. Cobo Center and NAIAS
The Cobo Center is the home of the North American International Auto Show. First thing I was struck by about the convention center is how dated it looks. The McCormick Center, Jacob K. Javits Center and LACC, where the other major American auto shows are held, look modern, airy and futuristic. The Cobo Center feels more like a grab, bigbox Wal-Mart than a competitor to America’s other great convention centers. The trade space available is utilized well enough though and overall NAIAS was a well managed function. There is good enough spacing in between each press conference to get to where you need to go. There is security, but it’s relatively discreet. You need to have your press pass on and a wristband that shows that your credentials have been checked. There were supposedly 5,500 journalists for press days. Upstairs, on the third floor, there was a pressroom where there was high-speed internet, press materials, free drinks and some other swag provided by Michelin. The organization also provided free breakfast and lunch. This year, the best exhibits spaces were created by Volkswagen, Audi and Ford. All three where bright and modern looking, it felt like you were stepping into a new environment. The Ford exhibit had many interactive displays, cut-away vehicle models and friendly staff. I liked Ford’s product specialists the best and the fact that the company shied away from booth models. I was able to engage with Ford’s employees and learn about its products a lot better than at GM’s or Chrysler’s exhibits. The only downside to Ford’s display is that it was located beneath the People Mover – Detroit’s monorail system. Every five to ten minutes you would hear the roar of the train as it passed by. GM’s stand was obviously the largest. With four brands missing (Saturn, Hummer, Saab and Pontiac), GM had a lot of room to give Cadillac, Chevy, Buick and GMC their own defined spaces. Overall, Buick’s exhibit stand seemed to convey the most coherent brand message. I thought Chevy was sort of pushed against the wall, with most of the focus given to the Volt and the Cruze. There was a Corvette, Camaro and a few Chevy trucks and SUVs pushed way at the back of the exhibit. Chrysler’s spot was tastefully garnished. Chrysler’s people were still putting the finishing touches on its booth for the public unveiling. There was far less explanation in Chrysler’s arena, but it’s nice to see that the automaker can afford such a big space. Toyota, Honda and Hyundai’s exhibits were pretty banal. Nissan didn’t even bother to show up, except by bringing its Leaf EV. Other things I discovered at the show were that when cars are unveiled the powertrain is actually turned on to propel the vehicle. I always assumed they were electrically driven or pulled by wire. The journalists at the show were all pretty respectful, I never really felt rushed when taking pictures. I must say, it’s a pretty amazing experience to ask a product specialist if you can step onto the stand and into the concept car.
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This Week in Cars: 01.10.2010 – 01.16.2010
by Colin Bird!RAWBLOCK4!
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Filed under: Industry News
2010 Detroit Auto Show: Thumbs Up / Down
January 13, 2010 by Colin Bird!RAWBLOCK6!
AutoBird Podcast Esp 10 “Detroit Preview Episode”
January 11, 2010 by Colin Bird!RAWBLOCK8!
AutoBird Goes to Detroit!
January 10, 2010 by Colin Bird!RAWBLOCK10!
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Filed under: Industry News
The Movers and Shakers of 2009: America’s Largest Carmakers
January 8, 2010 by Colin Bird
With 2009 past us and full sales figures out for the year, we can now get an accurate lay of the land.
2009 was one of the worst years in terms of car sales since the 1970s. For the year, sales were down industry-wide by 21%. A total of 10,429,553 vehicles were sold. Overall, the market declined by about 2.8 million vehicles from 2008.
The contraction was felt hardest by what I’ve described as the “Movers and Shakers” of the industry. These top 7 automakers represent 86.7% of all the vehicles sold in the United States.
Out of the group, General Motors and Chrysler fared the worst. Collectively, the two lost 4.5% of market share, or the equivalent of about 450,000 lost sales. Those sales were picked up by some of the ancillary automakers (more on them tomorrow), but some sales also went to Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Ford and Hyundai.
The biggest sales successes were at Hyundai and Ford. Ford, which is much larger than Hyundai, suffered a decline in sales from 2008, but increased its market share by a full percentage point (15.5%).
In 2008, it would have been a bold statement to call Hyundai a “Mover and Shaker,” but not so in 2009. Hyundai’s market share increased from 5.1% to 7.1%. All of this change has increased the volatility of automaker rankings.
General Motors remains number one, but is so very close to losing that title to Toyota. In turn, Toyota now has Ford breathing down its neck. Honda surpassed Chrysler in becoming the fourth largest automaker. Hyundai is also precariously close to surpassing Nissan.
Reading the tea leaves, Chrysler’s downward trajectory will probably continue in 2010. It’s entirely possible that the maker could be usurped by Nissan and Hyundai this year. Needless to say, 2010 is anyone’s game, but for now let’s review the year that’s passed.
General Motors: To say GM dropped the ball in 2009 is a massive understatement. The post-bankruptcy, government/union-owned automaker sold 2,084,492 vehicles in 2009. That’s down 30.1% from 2008, or the equivalent of losing about 1 million in vehicle volume. GM lost a whopping 2.4% worth of market share in 2009, the equivalent of losing a Mazda-sized car company.
GM’s truck-to-car mix was 58% to 42% for 2009, which is the exact same product mix as last year. GM’s cars actually performed worse than its trucks, but both performed below industry average (Car: -30.5%, Truck: -29.4%).
GM’s bright spots were its new crossovers. The Chevrolet Traverse and Equinox performed well; both will probably sell in the hundred thousands for 2010. The GMC Terrain, Buick Enclave and Cadillac SRX also performed admirably. GM’s Sierra and Silverado performed worse than their cross-town rivals at Ford and Chrysler, thus losing market share in the coveted pickup market.
As for cars, GM’s bestselling car was the Chevrolet Impala (the fleet rental queen) with 165,565 units, down 37.7% from 2008. The Chevrolet Malibu is all but certain to surpass the ancient Impala in sales for 2010. Malibu sales showed a strong 161,568 units. Cobalt sales were down about 45%. The only GM car to post positive growth was, ironically, the defunct Pontiac G8 (+54.4%). The Camaro performed well with 61,648 sold, but that wasn’t enough to beat the Mustang in the pony car wars.
GM’s dead brands (Saab, Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer) managed to hull in 268,686 units (-46% from 2008). If GM can’t manage to absorb these sales in its remaining brands, expect the automaker to lose another 1% to 1.5% worth of market share in 2010.
Toyota: Despite the bumps and bruises inflicted by recalls, safety concerns, and even some quality issues, Toyota endured the torture and made the year a wash. Toyota sold 1,770,149 vehicles in 2009, down from 2,217,662 in 2008. Still, Toyota actually increased market share by 0.3% from 2008, to end with a solid 17% share, keeping Ford far at bay and sneaking up on GM in becoming the number one carmaker for America. Toyota is now the largest retail seller of cars in America.
The Lexus brand retained its position as the best-selling luxury make– a position it’s held for 10 years now. The Toyota RAV4, Venza and Lexus RX all had positive growth this year, and the Camry increased market share in the midsized car category.
Still, Toyota has its troubles. While the Toyota brand held its own in the car segments, truck sales fell precipitously to 557,743 units, down 25.7%. The Sequoia, 4Runner and FJ Cruiser were all down nearly 50%. Also, while the RX is an exemplary sales success, it is disconcerting to think that nearly half of all Lexus sales are RX-derived when there are 9 Lexus models. It’s also time to stick a fork in the Scion brand; Scion sales were down 52% to 57,961, even though this summer’s “Cash for Clunkers” buoyed sales of fuel-efficient cars.
Ford: Detroit’s dark knight managed to move 1,682,323 units in 2009, down 15.4% but still beating the industry average. Ford’s successes earned it a full percent of market share in 2009, which now stands at 15.5%. Ford is more truck-dependent than GM; about 63% of all Ford sales are trucks.
So, a big part of Ford’s success in 2009 can be contributed to it keeping its light truck sales up. Ford sold 1,020,128 trucks, which was down 17.5%, but keep in mind industry-wide truck sales were down 23.6%.
The best-selling vehicle in America was once again the Ford F-Series, with 413,625 units sold. The F-Series performed better relatively than other top selling nameplates, including the Honda Civic and Honda Accord (who said guzzling gas was passé?). The Ford Ranger also performed well, down in sales only 15.6%.
The Ford Fusion, Ford Escape, Ford Flex, Lincoln MKS and Volvo V50 all showed positive growth in 2009. The Fusion and Escape are now significant players and are vital to Ford’s bottom line; the two nameplates only totaled 353,715 sales.
For 2010, expect Ford to increase its market share further. Ford’s December sales were up an impressive 33.5%. Even though Ford is losing Volvo, the new Fiesta alone will probably absorb the entire division’s sales loss for 2010. The new Ford Edge, Ford Focus, Ford Explorer, Ford C-Max and supposed Mercury C-segment convertible/coupe will position the automaker perfectly for the expected upswing in 2010.
Honda: Honda sales were down 19.5% from 2009. Still, with 1,150,784 vehicles sold, Honda managed to surpass Chrysler in becoming the fourth largest automaker in America. Honda’s fourth-place ranking has more to do with Chrysler’s failures than Honda’s success; Honda’s market share only grew by a measly .2%.
The top three Honda models in sales for 2009 were the Accord (290,056 units),Civic (259,722) and CR-V (191,214). While the Accord and Civic numbers are impressive, both vehicles have performed below industry averages for 2009, down 22.2% and 23.5% respectively.
Honda’s dedicated hybrid, the Insight, is now officially a sales flop; only 20,572 were sold last year. The Civic Hybrid was also down a staggering 51.7%. Honda’s poor performance in the hybrid market nearly allowed Ford to surpass it as the second largest maker of hybrids in America. Not a single Honda or Acura vehicle posted positive growth for 2009, but the Honda CR-V held its own down only 3.1%, allowing it to remain the most popular crossover on the market. The Honda Odyssey remains America’s most popular minivan, as well.
Acura sales were poor, down 26.8%, but were in line with most other luxury makes. The Acura RL was virtually nonexistent, with only 2,043 sold. Acura’s TSX (-10.5%) , TL (-28.1%) and MDX (-31.3%) were the makes’ best sellers.
Chrysler: Chrysler was one of the top 5 worst performing automakers in 2009, sharing a space with Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Lotus. Chrysler managed to move only 931,402 vehicles in 2009, down 35.9% from 2008. It was the first time Chrysler failed to move at least 1 million vehicles in America since 1962. Chrysler’s market share fell by 2.1%, the equivalent of 210,000 vehicle sales. Its market share is now in single-digit territory, at 8.9%.
Chrysler’s fleet mix stayed slanted towards trucks, with more than 75% of its vehicles sold being trucks or SUVs. Chrysler is still the third largest light truck maker, with 702,832 sold. I wish I could say this is a good thing, but since car sales surpassed truck sales in 2007, trucks have consistently performed worse than industry average, as buyers have moved to more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Speaking of trucks: the Dodge Ram moved 177,268 units, down 28%, which means the Ram actually performed better than most of its full-size pickup rivals. The Dodge Nitro, Dodge Sprinter, Dodge Dakota, Jeep Commander, Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot were all down nearly 45-60% for the year.
Chrysler’s cars performed worse than its trucks, down a staggering 42.6%. The Chrysler Sebring, Chrysler PT Cruiser, Dodge Caliber and Dodge Viper were collectively down about 60%. Chrysler’s strong suit was its minivans; 175,224 Caravans and Town & Countrys moved out the door (down 27.5%). The Jeep Wrangler did very well, with 82,044 sold (down only 3%). The Dodge Journey posted a positive growth of 14%, with sales of 53,826. The Dodge Challenger was also up 48%, to 25,852 units.
While other carmakers pulled out of the slump in December, Chrysler was down in that month about 3.7%. For 2010, expect Chrysler to lose another 0.5% to 1% of market share.
Nissan: Nissan moved 770,103 vehicles in 2009; that’s down 19.1% from 2008. Nissan did, however, manage to increase market share to 7.4%. Car sales came in at a healthy 514,328 units (down 13.4%). Nissan’s most important vehicle, the Altima, was down 24.5%, to 203,568 units. That’s a pretty bad showing for a midsized sedan, even in this market. Nissan car sales were buoyed by the Maxima (+13.3%) and 370Z (+26.9%). The Versa and Rogue held their own, with sales of 82,906 and 77,222 respectively.
Nissan’s trucks sales faired far worse. Titan sales were down to 19,042 (-44.1%), the Frontier to 28,415 (-36.9%), and the Pathfinder to 18,341 (-45.3%). The Nissan Rogue posted the only positive numbers, up 5.7%.
No wonder that Nissan plans on ditching its Quest minivan; sales only amounted to 8,437 units.
Infiniti moved 81,089 vehicles in 2009, down 28.2% from 2009.
Hyundai/Kia: Hyundai, and its wholly-owned subsidiary Kia, had a stellar year on all counts. Hyundai Group moved 735, 127 vehicles, up 9% from 2008. Hyundai was the only major automaker to post sales growth for the year. Hyundai increased market share by 2%, which now stands at 7.1%.
Hyundai’s Accent was up 25%, the Santa Fe 11.6%, the Elantra 8% and Sonata 2%. Genesis sales were up 354%, to end the year with 21,889 vehicles sold. Kia Sportage sales were up 23%, and Sedona sales up by just a percent. Kia’s overall sales increase can be attributed to its new entries, the Forte and the Soul. The Forte sold 26,328 units, and the Soul managed 31,621.
If Hyundai has a negative, it would be its trucks, which were down slightly from 2008. Hyundai managed to move only 15,411 Tuscons, and 10,210 of the Veracruz. Over at Kia, the Borrego has turned into such a sales flop (10,530 sold) that there is talk of disbanding the vehicle permanently. Hyundai’s full-sized cars performed poorly as well. Kia could only move 3,704 of its Amanti, and Hyundai Azera sales dropped 73.6%, selling only 3,808 units.
For 2010, Hyundai plans on introducing a new Accent, Elantra, Sonata, Tuscon, Kia Sportage and a Kia large sedan.
If Hyundai keeps this sales pace up, expect it to surpass Nissan, and maybe even Chrysler in 2010.
***Source: Sales data provided by the OEM. Market share/ vehicle segment analysis provided by www.motorintelligence.com via The Wall Street Journal ***
Images by: Andrew Walensa
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