Thursday, May 13, 2010

FUEL ECONOMY IN CAR AND DRIVER JUNE 2010

To my very subjective eye, recent Infiniti designs have been superb. In particular, the Infiniti M, in both M56 and M37 form, is a visual delight. In Car & Driver's June issue, the magazine's testers weren't overly impressed with the Infiniti M56's Big Brother attititude during aggressive driving but came away generally impressed by the car. Indeed, the new Infiniti M56 is supremely quick off the line, accelerating to 60mph in 4.7 seconds. The M37 ain't shabby either; 0-60 in 5.6 seconds was quicker than many V8 midsize luxury sedans a decade ago. 

Strangely enough, though Car & Driver believes the Infiniti M37 to be a significantly better value, it'll cost you more Fuel. The EPA's testing procedures resulted in ratings of 18 mpg city; 26 mpg highway for the M37 and 16/25 for the M56. In aggressive real-world driving, however, the M37 didn't fare so well.

Feel free to blame unknown atmospheric conditions, the vehicle's mileage, or even a bad tank of fuel. What this does show - very clearly - is that V8 sedans can be made to be surprisingly efficient machines. For all of Car & Driver's fuel economy results from their June issue, click through the jump.


-----

Infiniti M56: 23 miles per gallon
Infiniti M37: 21 miles per gallon
Lotus Evora: 21 miles per gallon
Dinan S3 335i: 20 miles per gallon
2011 Ford Mustang V6: 18 miles per gallon
Chevrolet Camaro RS: 17 miles per gallon
Lexus GX460: 16 miles per gallon
2011 Ford Mustang GT: 15 miles per gallon
Chevrolet Camaro SS: 14 miles per gallon
Dinan S3-R M3: 14 miles per gallon
Land Rover Range Rover S'Charged: 12 miles per gallon


Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
0-60 In Car & Driver June 2010
Infiniti M Gallery
5 Less Expensive Alternatives To The Worrisome Lexus GX460
Chevrolet vs Ford
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,
Wednesday, May 12, 2010

U.S. SALES OF NICHE SUVs & TRUCKS - APRIL 2010

Proving to be gravely unpopular with North American consumers are two vehicles which The Good Car Guy said would be gravely unpopular with North American consumers. The Acura ZDX and BMW X6 are the less useful ugly ducklings in their respective firms' utility vehicle lineups. To say that a vehicle's lack of popularity or sales success is reason to avoid purchasing said vehicle is a fallacy - only 1,530 people were wise enough to purchase the excellent Chevrolet Avalanche last month. But for contrast's sake, the Acura MDX and BMW X5 are two of the more popular vehicles in April's Midsize Luxury SUV Sales Graph, while also managing to look alright and provide a level of usefulness not found in the ZDX or X6. 

As mentioned already in the Graph of Niche Car Sales, vehicles are placed here mainly because they don't fit elsewhere. Indeed, many may have a "cult following", but don't use that as evidence against them. The Jeep Wrangler is actually one of the most popular SUVs in America.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

SALES OF NICHE CARS IN THE USA - APRIL 2010

What's wrong with the 2010 Honda Insight? Fuel efficiency doesn't reach the levels attained by the Toyota Prius, true. But the Insight is $3,000 less expensive than the Prius. Surely a $3,000 price advantage brings with it high-volume sales in the hybrid market? Er.... no. Apparently not.

The Graph below showcases thirteen vehicles for which other GoodCarBadCar.net Sales Stats Graphs don't really fit. Although the title, "Niche Car Sales" implies a lack of success the same way "cult movie classic" means nobody ever watched it, the Toyota Prius is actually a very decent seller. Some months the Prius even cracks in to the Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America list. One would expect the Prius's success to rub off on its most direct competitor, but the Honda Insight is madly undesirable. In fact, The Good Car Guy placed the 2010 Honda Insight in The Bad 8 v3.0 despite initial excitement at the early Insight concept and the old Honda Insight's place in GoodCarBadCar.net's 100 Favourite Cars.

One subsegment in this Niche Car Sales group is the Boxy Bunch, led by the Chevrolet HHR and Kia Soul. Supposedly appealing to a youthful crowd, Toyota's Scion division hasn't fared well lately. Nor has the Nissan Cube caught on as anticipated.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

PREMIUM SPORTY CAR SALES IN THE USA - APRIL 2010

porsche 911 turbo
Decades after everyone realized rear-engined cars and huge horsepower don't mix, the Porsche 911 is still a relatively hot seller. Okay, so the Toyota Camry sold nearly 90 times more often in the United States in April, but the 911 does manage to make its direct competition look somewhat unpopular. How does a rear-engined car with huge horsepower - an acknowledged mismatch - make it work?

Start with the relentless pursuit of perfection. Yes, that's the old Lexus tagline, but Porsche deserves credit for millions of hours spent testing suspension geometry until the 911 Turbo, even with 500 bhp, followed its front wheels with rear wheels when rounding a corner. Speaking of the 911 Turbo; that iconic label is just one of sixteen different 911 models available to U.S. customers at the moment. Sixteen doesn't include the 911 GT2 or the much talked about Porsche 911 GT2 RS, a gobsmackingly hardcore racecar for the road. Right now, six 911 cabriolets and ten hardtop 911s compete for attention against, for instance, the Nissan GT-R. The GT-R is available in one body configuration with one engine, painted one of a few available colours. How 'bout the Audi R8? Stupendous though it may be, the Audi R8 can be outfitted only as a V8 or a V10, in hardtop or convertible form. 

So long as you qualify for financing, you can have a Porsche 911 built exactly how you like it. All-wheel drive or not? Care to drop the top or simply remove a part of it? The Targa can do the latter. Upgrade the basic boxer-six in S tune or go further with the GT3. Add turbos. Try mixing Turbo with Cabriolet. Whatever you want, you can have it. And more than with any other car in the Graph below, people choose to have it - the Porsche 911.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

SPORTY CAR SALES IN THE USA - APRIL 2010

audi a5 convertible
Attempting to reconcile sales figures of sporty cars with their enthusiast-generated reputation is an exercise in futility. What the market does with coupes, sports cars, and roadsters is 100% unpredictable. Not surprisingly, the introduction of a new Nissan Z car last year, the 370Z, created a difficult situation for the Mazda RX-8. But only three Mazda RX-8s were sold in Canada last month, a number you likely wouldn't have gauged to be so low.

One theme on which to base sales predictions would be newness. The BMW Z4 is newer than the Mercedes-Benz SLK and the Audi TT. Thus - at least in April 2010 in the USA - the BMW Z4 sold at a faster rate. The Audi A5 looks to be doing great, but keep in mind, sales of its most direct competitor (the BMW 3-Series coupe and convertible) are wrapped up in 3-Series sales, not to be split by body configuration. One won't deny, however, that the Audi A5 is a sales success and that, in this case too, new is like quick rise yeast. Old is even worse than unleavened.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,
Saturday, May 8, 2010

U.S. SALES OF LARGE LUXURY SUVs - APRIL 2010

The vehicle believed by many to be The Best Vehicle In The World is a long way from being the best-seller in its own segment in the United States. The Land Rover Range Rover is still wildly impressive but its age is beginning to show against newer, trendier Large Luxury SUVs. Its main American rival, the Cadillac Escalade, is seen in the Graph below without sales of its EXT configuration but still manages to collect more sales than any other jumbo luxo sport-utility vehicle thanks in no small part to its status as the symbol of luxury; the symbol of Ess-You-Vee.

Of course, the Mercedes-Benz GL-Class sells like crazy because it's just plain good. It's available as a powerful SUV (GL450), an efficient and powerful SUV (GL350 Bluetec), or a supremely powerful SUV (GL550). The options aren't limitless, but in this segment, that's a broader spread than can be found elsewhere. Keep in mind, the Toyota Land Cruiser and Lexus LX570 are very much the same vehicle. In most cases The Good Car Guy would combine sales, but in this case space is plentiful so separate figures are provided.

CLICK GRAPH FOR LARGER VIEW

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

U.S. MIDSIZE LUXURY SUV SALES - APRIL 2010

No wonder earnings at luxury automakers exceed the profits witnessed in decades past. At one time, Mercedes-Benz sold a a few different models: sedans, some coupes and convertibles, and.... that's it. In concert with the typical array of luxury cars, most luxury automakers now sell a fleet of SUVs. Lexus, with its greener-than-most image, markets the RX crossoverish SUV seen in the Graph below, as well as the GX and jumbo LX for which Sales Stats will be available soon. Add on sales of these vehicles to what once was a lineup of three sedans and a large coupe and it's not hard to see how Lexus makes Toyota bunches of money.

Of the twelve rival vehicles in this Midsize Luxury SUVs Graph, eleven were not available when the Lexus RX300 first grabbed hold of an unknown segment by the scruff of its neck in 1998. Sure, the 2010 Lexus RX350 must share the wealth with major luxury manufacturers, but there's plenty of wealth to be spread around.

CLICK GRAPH FOR LARGER VIEW

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)