Flybrian

Saturn seems destined to become NA Opel with one or two American-engineered products (SKY & OUTLOOK) thrown in.

I personally would buy neither. Last time I checked, a AAA cost $60 a year, which gets you all-you-can-eat maps and a navigation system still costs over $1500 on your typical vehicle and its usually bundled in a way that renders your day-to-day audio controls baffling and useless. To me, a moonroof is a billion times more desireable than a tiny map that I'll use maybe once a month. I would love to GM instituate a plan that allows you to use TbT Nav on demand for something like $1 per routing, billable to your credit card or GMAC account. That way, the vast majority of us that would be in need of navigation very sparingly could use it as needed.

GOULET!

Kinda like Motor Trend is the so-called source for information?

As said, a fantastic car to ride in. An engineer's luxury orgasm. But one vacant of soul, of passion, of true automotive spirit.

Not even. Add up the B-series retail figures (2287 vs 2165).

To Mitsubishi Raider, with love... Congratulations on being the 2nd-worst-selling pickup in the country! Even the Baja beat you, man...the BAH-HA! Compareth thou to the Isuzu i-Series and then kill yourself. Statistics are registrations made for the first half of 2006.

Who's the Rental Queen Now? By Brian Dreggors for Cheersandgears.com Remember prom night? Well, not that part, but the part before it at the actual dance where the king and queen were elected? What a magical moment when the most popular and stuck-up get recognized by their peers yet again. Big whoop, let’s go spike the punch… Well, its that time of year (sort of) to have our own little C&G promenade and top honors in this superlative goes to Rental King and Queen of the First Half of 2006. Before you elect the winners mentally, remember we’re talking about cars that go to the good folks that pick you up and try harder, not government fleet sales (police and local agencies) nor commercial fleet sales (plumbers, doctors, even you). I qualify our winners in this fashion because the rental lots seem to be the bane of the new car market in everyone’s eyes. You sometimes read a car described as ‘interceptor fast’ or ‘contractor tough,’ but never is being ‘rental-like’ a positive; usually its, ‘rental car cheap’, ‘boring’, ‘bland’, or even ’junk.’ Remember again, we’re announcing winners based on total number of units sold registered specifically as rental fleet sales in the first half of 2006. We don’t include fleet-specific models like the Taurus and Classic either to be fair. Have your personal favs ready? Let’s open the envelopes, please. And our Rental King, with 50,629 vehicles up for rent, is… The Chevrolet Impala! No real surprise here. The last Impala was rather heavily fleeted, too. Also, as Fleet Car of the Year, did you really expect anything else? Our Rental Queen this year, with 46,788 vehicles being rented near you, is… The Chevrolet Malibu! Again, little surprise for the sedan that was rather tepid from the start. Already nearing the end of its life cycle, what more can you actually expect. No big deal, right? The quarter and the blonde with large breasts won again. Big whoop, let’s go spike the punch… But, wait. Who’s this occupying third place for most units being sold to rental agencies so far. Is it the Grand Prix? The Cobalt? Focus? No, our Rental Queen Up-and-Comer, with 41,867 units up for rent is… The Hyundai Sonata! Didn’t quite expect that, did you? Yet, it’s not altogether that surprising. In rote numbers the Sonata is third most-rental-fleeted car in the United States. Even in percentages of total sales, the Sonata ranks high with 49.5% of total sales going straight to rental agencies, making it third behind the Pontiac Grand Prix (69%) and Chevrolet Malibu (52%). Here are some other interesting, often myth-busting tidbits: *Retail sales for GM’s W-body cars (Impala, Monte Carlo, LaCrosse, and Grand Prix) exceed still exceed total retail sales of DCX’s LX cars (Charger, 300, Magnum), 98,743 vs. 93,727. *20.4% of all Hyundai Azeras sold were straight to rental agencies. *Buick’s LaCrosse and Lucerne are 26% and 27% rental vs. retail, respectively *More Nissan Armadas are dumped on rental fleets than Chevrolet Tahoes; nearly three times as many by quantity (2,808 vs 1,019) and by percentage (16.4% vs. 6.7%). *Nearly 3 out of 10 (28.7%) of all Hyundais sold are straight to rental agencies. Don’t believe me? Check out the numbers here… 2006 Midyear Car Registrations 2006 Midyear Truck, Van, and SUV Registrations

Figure 10 is awesome.

I have a Vectrex... Uses the same vector projection method as those fullsized arcade games, so the screen is flicker-free as well as funky-fresh. My father bought two systems brand-new in 1983 and I have them both. They work and I play them now and then.

That's right. OnStar itself is just hype.

For the first half of this year... Interesting, even discounting total fleet sales, The W-body quartet outsells the LX cars by several thousand units.

Just because everyone buys it doesn't make it the best, just the most accepted. Yes, there is a difference, especially to those who care about the real value and quality of a car. I would easily rank at least half a dozen cars as 'better' than a 2002-06 Camry, yet for some ungodly reason, it continued to be the sales leader. Even then, even for this 'big' year for the Camry, the Accord still outsold it if you only count retail and not rental fleets, where 12% of Camries were dumped, compared to less than 1% of Accords.

1967 Pontiac GTO

My God... ABCNews

Aren't those glazed headlamps totally illegal?

You must've worked for Radio Shack...

Dear Balthazar, The work force reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated. Signed...

Yes, I noticed that on some the dealer order guides. That's even better and, well, amazing.

Still doesn't make Europe any less stupid.

I've driven the Lucerne CXS a few months ago at a debut event and was very pleased with the sound level and was pleased how quiet it was even compared to our '98 Regal, which was very, very quiet (triple door seals, etc). I've (obviously) yet to drive an ES, though I may when I test the Aveo like I plan to next week (storm pushed back my plans). If I do, I'll let you know.

Who are you?

Michael Jackson

Dear State Troopers...

The MKZ shouldn't exist.