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Back in 2000, there were eight mid-size pickup models on the market. Today there are only three with Toyota's Tacoma and Nissan's Frontier comprising the lion's share of new deliveries and Honda’s Ridgeline with the smallest piece of the pie. As a percentage of total new vehicle sales, mid-size pickups were responsible for 6.2% of all deliveries in 2000, although by the end of last year the segment's share had fallen to just 2%. Recent sales show that through October of this year share has fallen even further, reaching a scant 1.6%.
The falloff in new vehicle sales ...
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The 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show opened its doors last week at the L.A. Convention Center, where many of the industry’s largest automakers welcomed the press and presented their most exciting and newest vehicles. As the first major event in the U.S. auto show season, anticipation was high as to what would be in store this year.
After having cut back during the recession, automotive companies are beginning to respond to the rebound in auto sales by establishing a greater presence at the world’s biggest auto shows; that was certainly the case at this year’s L.A. auto show. ...
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After diving by 3.5% on a prior month basis in October, used vehicle depreciation eased up substantially over the first half of November with prices falling by 1.2%, a figure in line with NADA’s full-month target of 1.5% to 1.75% and one dramatically better than October’s mid-month fall of 3.1%.
At the segment level, mid-size van prices have firmed up the most with depreciation improving to 1.6%, up by more than three percentage points from October’s full-month loss of 4.7%. The stabilization in mid-van prices has come despite 2013 model year volume increasing by 32% or 52 ...
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Opening next week, the Los Angeles Auto Show kicks off the auto show season here in the United States. As always, industry professionals and members of the press will be given the opportunity to check out the latest offerings from manufacturers before the doors of the L.A. Convention Center open up to the public on November 22nd. We’re gearing up this week here at NADA in anticipation of exciting new product announcements from across all segments, and while there are many noteworthy new introductions planned, a couple in particular stand out. Two vehicles on my hot list are the new L ...
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By 2005, Volkswagen’s market share in the United States had fallen to a barely noticeable 1.3% and the company’s outlook was less than stellar. Sales remained relatively flat in the years that followed, but in 2007, Volkswagen of America moved into its new U.S. headquarters in Herndon, Va. and the company reinvested in its American operations. Despite falling sales through the recession, market share continued to grow and by 2012, VW’s share had reached 3.0% and the brand notched 438,133 deliveries, its highest mark since 1973. Volkswagen, the third-largest automaker in the world, became a C ...
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This past spring General Motors introduced redesigned versions of its Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full size trucks in order to stay competitive in the ultra-hot pickup market. Having been last redesigned for the 2007 model year, each new entry was a bit overdue but extremely vital for GM to remain competitive in a segment with much fresher designs from Ford and Ram.When GM first rolled out each new model, they carried very attractive sticker prices; but recently GM started playing numbers games which raised the average MSRP on both models by about $2,000. To put this lift in per ...
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There are numerous factors currently helping to sustain used vehicle prices at historically high levels: economic improvements, relatively tight supply, greater certified pre-owned awareness and an extremely favorable credit environment. But an often overlooked factor is the increased focus that dealers have on improving used vehicle operations.
Sonic Automotive’s announcement this week that they will be opening numerous stand-alone pre-owned stores exemplifies this trend. Once considered something of a nettlesome by-product of new vehicles sales, used vehicle operations have assumed a more ...
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It is without a doubt that Subaru is on a roll these days. As mentioned in a previous blog post, the company is mulling expanding the brand and becoming a volume automaker or maintaining its niche player status. The automotive landscape has changed greatly this decade and smaller brands like Subaru have stood out by realizing incredible growth since the U.S. recession shook up the market. Parent company Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. made a number of successful moves that spurred significant growth in demand for Subaru vehicles and now have put the competition on its heels.
Sales of the automak ...
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As a follow-up to my fellow analyst Joseph Choi’s post, “So Many Cars, So Little Time: A Day at the WAPA 2013 Rally” published last week, I wanted to highlight a few more vehicles of which we had the opportunity to get behind the wheel and test out. As Joseph mentioned previously, there were over 30 vehicles on hand and only a couple hours of actual seat time available to us, meaning we had to pick and choose our testers carefully to ensure we had the opportunity to sample the hottest new vehicles on the block. Since Joseph already brought you up to speed on his three favorites of the day, I’d ...
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As reported recently by ABC News, automakers have sweetened deals in recent months for plug-in electric cars to help boost sales and move vehicles off dealer lots as the year comes to an end. General Motors knocked 13% off the sticker price for the Chevrolet Volt this summer, while earlier this year Nissan dropped the price of its electric Leaf, offering a three-year lease at $199 a month.
Leasing offers mutual benefits for the lender, consumer, manufacturer and dealer: lenders can get a federal tax credit, which they cannot do in a loan arrangement. This helps to reduce monthly payments ...
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