GOODCARBADCAR.NET IN THE NEWS

The Good Car Guy, aka TGCG @ hypercube.ca and on Twitter and Timothy Cain in "real life" is featured on the front page of the Business section in the Chronicle-Herald newspaper today. Better yet, it's available online. This is all in reference to the hypercube.ca contest where The Good Car Guy, by way of his canvas, is attempting to beat out 450 Canadians in order to win a new Nissan Cube. Nissan has 50 in all to give.

WATCH THE ITALIAN REACTION TO FIAT'S POSSIBLE TAKEOVER OF CHRYSLER & GM EUROPE

Diana Magnay reports in this CNN video on a relative outpouring of Italian pride at the thought of little Italy controlling large American firms. Chrysler and GM Europe (Opel, Vauxhall, Saab) could soon be under Torino's wing.

Take special note of the talk surrounding Jeep and remember the phrase, "mountain of debt". And to which company Magnay applies such a phrase.

TOP 5 INTERESTING FACTS & FIGURES FROM APRIL 2009'S GLOBAL AUTO SALES STATS

Attempts to force GoodCarBadCar.net back onto the typical Lowdown or $$$ Mondays, Top 5 Tuesdays, 3 To Beat Wednesdays, Numbers Thursdays and Across The Pond Fridays have been difficult withthe move of GoodCarBadCar Towers and an ignited effort of TGCG at hypercube.ca. This being Tuesday, however, and a day near the beginning of the month (Happy Cinco de Mayo), The Good Car Guy is intelligent enough to connect a Top 5 with Sales Stats.

Read on for the most fascinating and/or ironic facts related to the sale of automobiles around the world.

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#5 - 73.70% @ SUZUKI USA: During the 30 days of April/2008, Suzuki sold 9,669 vehicles. This year, the same number of selling days (26) resulted in just 2,543 vehicles sold to American consumers.

#4 - 3,154 @ TOYOTA USA: With sales down 42,19%, on average, Toyota sold 3,154 fewer cars each day in April of 2009 than they could muster in April of '08 when 7,475 vehicles exited dealer doors across America each day.

#3 - 8,595 @ BUICK CHINA: All tolled, General Motors sales in Canada were down 23.6% to 29,476. Buick sales in China were up a hugely significant 63.6%, taking Chinese Buick sales to 38,071. That makes GM's Buick division better in China than all of GM is in Canada to the tune of 8,595 extra vehicles.

#2 - 203,000 @ TATA: So far, approximate sales revenue from the Tata Nano $512,600,000 on sales of 203,000 Tata Nanos in India.

#1 - 184,706 @ TOTAL FRANCE: While total French "light-vehicle" sales were down 7% compared with April of last year, Citroen (+1.8%), Suzuki (+3.1%), Hyundai/Kia (+6.1%) Dacia (+15.2%), Volkswagen (+16%) Audi (+20.7%), and Seat (+23.7%) posted gains. BMW sales in France were shot through the floor (-43.9%) while Opel fared slightly better with a year-over-year drop of 41.2%.

CANADA AUTO SALES FACTS AND FIGURES FROM APRIL OF '09

One predictable sign of rough times arises when business, governments, and even families begin to alter definitions or use new terms altogether. Nova Scotia has passed a bill that retroactively changes what a budget deficit really means, for example. Automakers which haven't posted a year-over-year sales increase in what seems like years now tend to compare their figures - when possible - to the month before, rather than the equivalent period of a year earlier. It helps these automakers to spin positive news out of terrible news. General Motors, in this case, sold more cars than in April than in March. Forget that April/2009 sales were much lower than April/2008 sales, down 23.6% in Canada and 34.5% in the USA.

Let's put it this way: believe what you hear; but take a deeper look. No time to take a deeper look? That's fine - The Good Car Guy has done it for you. In Canada, a deeper look reveals some very interesting figures. Keep reading to get the backstage story.

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2,718 - total Toyota RAV4s sold in April of 2009 in Canada (thanks to the availability of new front-wheel drive models), which is almost 1,100 more than all Lexus Canada sales

948 - total Toyota Venza sales in April of 2009 in Canada, representing the third consecutive month of increased Venza sales

4.7 - percentage gain in Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra truck sales in Canada this April compared with April of '08

133 - total Audi Q7 sales in April in Canada, making the large SUV Audi's fourth-best selling vehicle in April with sales beating the combined effort of Audi's R8, A8 & S8, A6 & S6, and the TT

2,517 - total Daimler sales in Canada in April, represented by Mercedes-Benz and smart, which makes April of 2009 the best-ever April for the brand(s)

24.4 - percentage gain posted by the Ford Fusion compared with the equivalent period of a year earlier

1,017 - total Kia Soul sales in April, representing about 1/4 of all Kia Canada sales

35.9 - percentage increase in the year-over-year sales of the Subaru Forester, helping Subaru (up 4.1%) become one of few automakers to sell more cars this April than last

1,065 - total Nissan Rogue sales, easily outselling its Nissan "truck" counterparts combined sales of 749

6,443 - total Honda Civic sales in April of 2009 in Canada, almost topping Nissan's total sales and definitely outdoing the lower 17 brands in April's Sales Stats post

16 - total sales of up-and-coming, mould-breaking, status-quo defeating Nissan GT-R and Audi R8, with 8 units pushed into Canadian hands each

FIAT WANTS MORE THAN CHRYSLER - GM EUROPE'S VAUXHALL, OPEL & SAAB TOO

Quick alert for early morning readers. It's becoming more than just rumour and innuendo. Fiat wants to grab hold of more than just Chrysler LLC. General Motors Europe-based brands are also now part of a future Fiat conglomerate. In other words, Fiat wants to become the GM of yesteryear.

Mergers and acquisitions like this would make Fiat gigantic. Brands under the umbrella would include, in one form or another: Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Maserati, Ferrari, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Opel, Vauxhall, and Saab. Fiat is already big in commercial vehicles with names like Iveco likely meaning something to you. Fiat used to play around with Piaggio and Vespa scooters, too. Famed ski resort Sestriere is an Agnelli family stronghold. Various ventures nd tie-ups help Fiat make an indelliblible mark in wildly varying segments of the economy all over the world.

But a Fiat that includes brands like Saab and Chrysler? This'll be news worth watching. Catch the CNN story here.

CANADA AUTO SALES APRIL 2009

Overall vehicle sales took a beating in Canada last month. The thirty days of April revealed serious downswings by the vast majority of automakers competing in Canada, when compared with statistics for April of 2008. Not surprisingly, Hyundai and Kia were top notch performers along with Mercedes-Benz. Honda fared shockingly poorly. For all the Numbers, keep reading. Find previous instances of this same type of post by clicking for Sales Stats here.

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General Motors: -23.6% to 29,476

Toyota: -17.9% to 19,599

Ford: -10.5% to 18,782

Chrysler: -36.8% to 15,242

Honda: -27.7% to 11,865

Hyundai: +14.8% to 10,809

Mazda: -10.1% to 8,195

Nissan: -17.8% to 6,532

Kia: +15% to 4,276

Volkswagen: +3.4% to 3,496

Mercedes-Benz: +21.3% to 2,267

Subaru: +4.1% to 2,050

BMW: -16.4% to 1,931

Mitsubishi: -4.8% to 1,844

Lexus: +4% to 1,621

Acura: -36.6% to 1,430

Audi: +10.9% to 1,251

Suzuki: -36.8% to 917

Volvo: -20.1% to 613

Infiniti: -40% to 542

Mini: -19.7% to 366

Porsche: -15.5% to 191

Saab: +14.3% to 160

Land Rover: -31.7% to 138

Jaguar: -22.1% to 88

PONTIAC DIES; FIAT ARRIVES

"Sadly ironic" would be a suitable phrase for the likely occurrence of Pontiac being put out to pasture just as Fiat arrives in the barnyard in 2010. Both scenarios are brought on as a result of two once-gigantic companies realigning themselves for an era of much smaller automotive sales in the USA. Of course, Fiat's arrival will come on the heels of Chrysler's bankruptcy while Pontiac's death hits home because General Motors is far too large and needs to shrink somewhere. Or rather, somewhere(s). Oldsmobile is already dead. Hummer, Saab, and Saturn will be very different companies by 2011, as well.

What is it about Fiat that makes it a probable success in North America that wasn't true with Pontiac? In January, Pontiac sold 9,104 cars, positioning the brand as the 18th best-seller in America that month. Mini sold 2,082 vehicles. Fiat's 500 - the Cinquecento - is a relatively direct competitor for the Mini Cooper. 20,000 sales per annum seems possible. That'd be about 1,666 for Fiat's highest-profile car.

The Panda, Grande Punto, and Bravo are also obvious contenders for North America. Rumour has it that Jeep wants the Panda 4x4. GoodCarBadCar wants the Panda 100HP. The Grande Punto is gorgeous but, with the 500 and Panda, would be the equivalent in North America of Honda selling the Fit, a tall Fit, and a small and stylish Fit. Possible? Yes. Possibly successful? Maybe. Possibly superflous? Yes.

The Bravo, if trunked, would be thrown into the ring with the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus, Mitsubishi Lancer, Suzuki SX4, Hyundai Elantra, Kia Forte, Nissan Sentra, and Mazda3, among others. Its novelty factor rests upon one item: its badge; which for some people is actually a turn-off. It is not a class leader in Europe as it stands.

In other words, could Fiat sell 10,000 cars per month in America? Of course, Pontiac's problem wasn't the 9,104 cars sold in January. It was the fact that the 9,104 figure was 62% lower than the sales stat from January of '08. Importing Fiats to North America is a much more in-depth process than the American media wants to make it out to be. President Obama doesn't simply hand a pen to the UAW, Canadian government, Treasury department, and Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne for us to see 500s and Pandas appearing in New Jersey.

Crash tests, engine/emission certification, dealer set-up.... all of these things must happen. And whether they can be fast-tracked or not, these things take time and LOTS of money. Thanks to General Motors, Fiat made $2,000,000,000 a few years ago just for GM not to buy it. $2B sounds like a lot. Fiat, however, is a volume player everywhere else. Volume in America should mean 10,000+ sales per month. If Fiat wants to play niche like Mini or smart or even luxury brands like Audi or Porsche, the prices will rise. Then Fiat in North America won't be the value brand it is everywhere else. And after the novelty wears off, nobody will pay Mini Cooper prices for a Fiat 500.

Is this an argument against the potential success of Fiat? Just because Pontiac died, Fiat will too? Of course not, the brands have little in common. Nonetheless, a brand that failed here once and failed miserably in many other parts of the globe multiple times over isn't the knight in shining armour the Obama administration (and Cinquecento lovers) would lead you to believe. Fiat isn't bagging Chrysler out of charity, after all. It's a business decision. Why would Fiat take on an obvious charity case if Fiat didn't need to? Ah. Perhaps Fiat needs Chrysler, if not as much as Chrysler needs Fiat, at least enough to make Marchionne look more seriously at Opel possibilities, too.