Excerpts for the full article
Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) --
First on this list of hits and misses is Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius, with its gas-electric hybrid engine, which offers superior fuel efficiency, especially in city driving.
A Prius sits on U.S. dealer lots the shortest time -- seven days -- before it's delivered to a buyer.
Perennial Favorite
BMW's 3-Series sold well last year and will again next year. That's an easy one because BMW's entry level Bimmer has been a top seller for about as long as anyone can remember. Car and Driver magazine included the new 3-Series in its Top 10 list of cars for next year, the 15th-straight year it's done so.
At the opposite end of the spectrum is Volkswagen AG's $67,000 Phaeton, the misbegotten brainchild of the automaker's chairman, Ferdinand Piech. VW discontinued the model in the U.S. on Nov. 14 after two years of dismal sales.
The 335-horsepower luxury sedan, meant by Piech to elevate a pedestrian lineup to elite status, is ``what happens when ego gets in the way of a solid understanding of a brand's image,'' said Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research in Bandon, Oregon.
General Motors Corp., much in the public eye for financial woes caused in part by falling market share in the U.S., brought out the Hummer H3 sport-utility vehicle a few months ago. The new model's sales in November helped to push Hummer division sales up 92 percent.
Big SUVs in Decline
GM has been hurt by declining popularity of large SUVs, not to mention some models like the Pontiac G6, which isn't yet selling as strongly as the Grand Am it replaces.
Honda Motor Co.'s new midsized pickup, called Ridgeline, has solid, if unspectacular sales.
One new Japanese model that hasn't fared too well is Nissan Motor Corp.'s Titan full-sized pickup truck.
Jim Hall of AutoPacific Inc., an automotive consulting firm, called Titan a ``mess.'' Titans are sitting an average of 102 days on dealer lots prior to sale, according to J.D. Power. Sales in November fell 27 percent from a year earlier.
A couple of conclusions:
First, the few missteps by Asia's automakers haven't slowed the onslaught of new models that has rocked Detroit.
And second, Ford and GM still are searching for their own versions of the BMW-3 Series, the kinds of cars that make it to everyone's Top 10 lists year in and year out.
Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) --
First on this list of hits and misses is Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius, with its gas-electric hybrid engine, which offers superior fuel efficiency, especially in city driving.
A Prius sits on U.S. dealer lots the shortest time -- seven days -- before it's delivered to a buyer.
Perennial Favorite
BMW's 3-Series sold well last year and will again next year. That's an easy one because BMW's entry level Bimmer has been a top seller for about as long as anyone can remember. Car and Driver magazine included the new 3-Series in its Top 10 list of cars for next year, the 15th-straight year it's done so.
At the opposite end of the spectrum is Volkswagen AG's $67,000 Phaeton, the misbegotten brainchild of the automaker's chairman, Ferdinand Piech. VW discontinued the model in the U.S. on Nov. 14 after two years of dismal sales.
The 335-horsepower luxury sedan, meant by Piech to elevate a pedestrian lineup to elite status, is ``what happens when ego gets in the way of a solid understanding of a brand's image,'' said Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research in Bandon, Oregon.
General Motors Corp., much in the public eye for financial woes caused in part by falling market share in the U.S., brought out the Hummer H3 sport-utility vehicle a few months ago. The new model's sales in November helped to push Hummer division sales up 92 percent.
Big SUVs in Decline
GM has been hurt by declining popularity of large SUVs, not to mention some models like the Pontiac G6, which isn't yet selling as strongly as the Grand Am it replaces.
Honda Motor Co.'s new midsized pickup, called Ridgeline, has solid, if unspectacular sales.
One new Japanese model that hasn't fared too well is Nissan Motor Corp.'s Titan full-sized pickup truck.
Jim Hall of AutoPacific Inc., an automotive consulting firm, called Titan a ``mess.'' Titans are sitting an average of 102 days on dealer lots prior to sale, according to J.D. Power. Sales in November fell 27 percent from a year earlier.
A couple of conclusions:
First, the few missteps by Asia's automakers haven't slowed the onslaught of new models that has rocked Detroit.
And second, Ford and GM still are searching for their own versions of the BMW-3 Series, the kinds of cars that make it to everyone's Top 10 lists year in and year out.
