Unfortunately, only the preliminary numbers are available for automotive Sales Stats in Canada for last month. It's almost August 5th, but The Good Car Guy only has official reports from sixteen manufacturers. A more in-depth analysis will follow when more figures are available. Take special note of Ford. F-Series sales skyrocketed upwards about 60%. Try and avoid looking at GM's figures which plummeted. Chrysler's numbers look horrible but represent the best of '09. And smart's lowly total takes into account the vehicle which now sits beneath GoodCarBadCar Towers. U.S. Sales Stats can be seen here.
Around four-feet high and six feet wide, the Aston Martin Vantage V8's proportions are clearly sporting. In V12 form, the hood gills, spectacular wheels, and slightly lowered ride height add to the Vantage's aura. Check out the pictures; each one a screenshot from Jeremy Clarkson's test drive of the Aston Martin Vantage V12 on Top Gear.
Quite clearly, perspective is completely lacking. The background is blurred by the speed. Nevertheless, don't you think the Aston Martin Vantage V12 looks extremely long in these pics? Looking far more DB9-like than one would have believed, the V12 Vantage in this video these pictures must explain itself.
Here are the stats. At 172.5 inches long, the V12 Vantage is thirteen inches shorter than the Aston Martin DB9; about five inches shorter than Hyundai's Elantra, three inches shorter than a Porsche 911, but an inch longer than the BMW 135i. In other words, the V12 Vantage is a whole lot smaller than it looks. Long, low, and wide makes a case for grace.
95,492 is an interesting total. See, that's fewer vehicles than Toyota managed to sell in July. In fact, 95,492 sales is less a total smaller than that achieved by Ford, Chevrolet, or Honda. The point? Cash For Clunkers (CARS.gov) no doubt helped the mainstream manufacturers at the end of the month more than it could the premium brands. Cars priced at $45,000 or above weren't included in the program. More importantly, the coverage you you see both here at GoodCarBadCar.net and in the mainstream automotive press skews heavily toward the outrageously expensive machinery. In reality, the twelve luxury brands mentioned above were outsold by the top twelve mainstream brands by 711,597 vehicles in July. That's without the 20,590 vehicles sold by Volkswagen, or the 16,549 of Chrysler's, the 5,968 Saturns sold, or the 19,032 Mazdas sold. Take a look at the Graph below to get a grasp of how big the big guns really are.
Volvo showcased the strength of its products in July; as well as the draw of the deal. Without a doubt, incentives have been a big part of every automaker's marketing portfolio this year, so suggesting that Volvo's strong month in July had more to do with Cash For Clunkers or low finance rates than good cars is the same as applying that theory across the whole industry. Volvo, for the second month in a row, was the only manufacturer of premium cars to sell more vehicles in the USA this July than in July of last year.
However, that doesn't mean Volvo sold at a rate BMW, Lexus, or Mercedes-Benz could tolerate. Sure, Volvo sales were up 26%... to 6,441. Lexus sales were down 17% but the Japanese luxury dominator still managed to sell about 12,000 more automobiles than Volvo. Before looking at the Graph below for your luxury Sales Stats fill, remember that Cash For Clunkerswasn't a program available to people buying cars with an MSRP over $45,000. Also, combined sales of Hummer, Saab, and Porsche total fewer than 3,000.
While contrasting the fuel economy results from the real-world driving of Car&Driver's editors with the 0-60mph figures already published this afternoon, a few headline stats jumped off the page. Firstly, the Acura, Buick, and Ford are thoroughly tested by the EPA and come out with similar stats. In the real-world? Not so much. Also, what's up with the Kia Forte? Guzzle much? These days, routine real-world driving almost always beats the city EPA number.
Since that point, casual observers have learned much of Buick's strength in China. There was a theory strongly held by those in the know, not too long ago, which clearly denoted any product that succeeded in the USA as a product worth selling. Forget that. Any product loved by China is now the product worth selling. And China loves Buick.
Still, there had to be something else that made GM keep a brand with a dwindling customer base (they're all dying) over a brand (Pontiac) that sells more cars in the home market and has, let's be honest, a more exciting portfolio.
The "something else" can clearly be seen in the pictures below. Buick hasn't been selling many vehicles in the U.S. over the last few years, and the reason can be easily discovered in the first, third, fifth, and seventh pictures of this album. Running contrary to those pics are the second, fourth, sixth, and eigth. The first group shows the cars being replaced; the second group are new Buicks.
Read the words at the bottom of this page and you'll wonder how The Good Car Guy can say these things about Buick while suggesting that he "thoughts and feelings of a generation of first-time new car buyers". Consider this: The Good Car Girl and I were walking to a funky downtown store called "The Black Market" earlier today. Just steps from the store, a white Enclave nearly came into contact with our knees. I looked at the grille, took note of that badge, and thought not angry thoughts. Rather, "I want one of those", were the first words that sprung to mind.
Buick, though definitely not represented by a generation of LOL, TTYL, txt mssging, or Twittering urban hipsters, is still quickly progressing to cool and hip. Cool and hip enough for our older siblings.
Searching GoodCarBadCar.net for Suzuki-related posts reveals just 15 instances of articles in which Suzuki plays a major role. Comparing that number with BMW (158) or Honda (161) or even Maserati (15) proves the true lack of Suzuki enthusiasm around here. GoodBikeBadBike this is unfortunately not.... unfortunately, that is, for Suzuki, the maker of the GSX-R.
Can the new-for-2010 Suzuki Kizashi change all that? It's my personal belief that automakers should never introduce cars with names that thousands of consumers won't be able to pronounce. In their press release, Suzuki seems to acknowledge the challenge by telling us that Kizashi is KEE-ZAH-SHEE. Nevertheless, I can hear the voices of southern Suzuki salesmen saying loudly, "This here's the new Key-zoo-shee".
Moving on to more consequential items, the fact that Suzuki isn't including a V6 on the options sheet shouldn't prove too harmful in reality but will turn the mainstream media off; thus proving somewhat harmful in reality when the Kizashi receives disappointing reviews. We're told to expect somewhere close to 200 horsepower from the 2.4L four-cylinder. In high-priced gasoline times like these, times where the vast majority of midsize buyers opt for four-pots, rejecting the need for a 3.5L V6 and 275 horsepower doesn't seem like a bad move.
Ah, the subject of midsize sedans. The Suzuki Kizashi is smaller than the gargantuan Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. Mazda gave us the first-gen 6 in sedan, hatch, and wagon forms with a terrific chassis and a V6 option and Honda/Toyota barely flinched. In generation deux, Mazda's 6 requires a looser belt. Could the Kizashi be too small? Its 107-inch wheelbase is slightly smaller than the previous-generation Accord while the Suzuki's 183-inch total length is shorter than the older Mazda 6.
It do look awfully good, though. Curvacous trunklids aren't the norm for mainstream midsizers, but the Suzuki's got one. The front-end is clearly what Volkswagen was aiming for with the current Jetta. Volkswagen missed the mark; Suzuki hit it. Hips meet definitively with the arching roofline. Preliminary pictures don't exactly show off the Kizashi's interior, a worrying sign to say the least. Normally, early pictures use dramatic lighting and cool angles. Alternative pics from the Detroit debut show a nicely shaped dashboard, but nothing astounding.
Indeed, it is the lack of astonishing anything that disappoints. Jumping into a segment as competitive as this, a segment that features the best-selling cars in America, requires greatness just to be noticed by a chunk of buyers. To sell cars at the MSRP means being significantly better than the opposition. It appears as though the Suzuki Kizashi is in the hunt for Accord and Camry customers. At prices that won't likely undercut the typical choices at all, Suzuki will be hard pressed to sell the Kizashi in the numbers it needs to be noticed. Even if it does look better than any of 'em. Check out all 83 pics in the Gallery below.
*Updated 11:00 AST, August 5th*
