K-1

Define enough.

At least twice that required of the lug nuts. In typical Japanese fashion, the Si fails this test.

...enhanced straight-line stability.

Did it weave all over the road before?

...rear-view mirror incorporates an automatic electrochromic function, and also incorporates a compass,...

Welcome to last week. Our '05 Equinox and '07 AURA both have that. What innovation! What's next, a CD/cassette deck?

Sonata up <check your Dollar lots> but down so far for the year

Recall the article last month on the reason for Montgomery downtime. Either they force-fed dealers or fleeted them. I doubt 3,000 more people than usual saw the Sonata this month and said, "Wow, I'd really like to buy that hunk of junk."

HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA REPORTS OCTOBER SALES

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., 11/01/2007 Hyundai Motor America’s popular Santa Fe and Sonata vehicles posted sales increases of 15 percent and 28 percent, respectively, for the month of October. Additionally, the fuel-efficient Accent posted strong sales, up 32 percent over October 2006. Overall, sales for the month were relatively flat at 30,232, compared with 30,479 one year ago.

“We are hopeful the arrival of our 2008 models in showrooms will mitigate some of the uncertain economic conditions in the fourth quarter and sales will improve through the end of the year and build momentum heading into 2008,” said Bob Pradzinski, Hyundai Motor America’s director, national sales.

All Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. are covered by The Hyundai Advantage, America’s Best Warranty. Hyundai buyers are protected by a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty, a 5-year/60,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, a 7-year/unlimited-mile anti-perforation warranty and 5-year/unlimited-mile roadside assistance protection.

Following is the sales breakdown for October 2007:

CARLINE		OCT/2007	OCT/2006  	CY2007  	CY2006ACCENT		2,660		2,010		31,872		30,099SONATA		9,507		7,438		108,865		130,993ELANTRA		4,737		5,468		78,627		86,102TIBURON		895		1,211		12,745		15,663SANTA FE	5,940		5,162		75,945		50,432AZERA		1,415		1,911		18,776		22,473TUCSON		2,958		4,322		35,407		44,610ENTOURAGE	596		2,957		16,260		9,366VERACRUZ	1,524		N/A		10,142		N/ATOTAL		30,232		30,479		388,639		389,738

(link)

I wonder what Toyota will offer next year to maintain market share?

Free BJ with every purchase?

It is with the 2008 EPA test. It's a 2008 vehicle, why would you think they'd use 2007 test numbers???

Looks like the weekly infomercial called "Heroes" on NBC is helping Nissan. The product placement on that show is absolutely horrendous. Hiro and Ando tooling around in the Versa last season and Claire with her Rogue this season. It's sickening.

In that photo, it looks like the volume is the knob at the top right (looks like a volume symbol on it). I'm talking about the big button in the center...a tuning knob?

Big button is Volume, On/Off. The button with the musical note is the tuner.

so we've got our newest products like the CTS, Enclave, Arcadia, Outlook, 08 Vue, Malibu retooling, and other recently launched vehicles are put on hold?

sounds like a problem... those named models, have relitively low inventory...

Yep. Nice time for a strike, isn't it?

Avalanche, Suburban and Tahoe are built in Mexico, no?

Ah, yeah, Cadillac Escalade ESV/EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Suburban and GMC Yukon XL are built in Silao, Mexico.

The number I saw was 82 assembly plants, parts plants, and warehouses employing 73,000 UAW workers.

These are the only vehicles still being produced at the moment:

Chevrolet Aveo (Bupyung, South Korea)

Pontiac Torrent, Chevrolet Equinox (CAMI, Canada)

Chevrolet Impala, Buick LaCrosse, Pontiac Grand Prix (Oshawa car, Canada)

Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra (Oshawa truck, Canada)

Chevrolet HHR, Saturn VUE (Ramos Arizpe, Mexico)

Each day of the strike is 12,000+ vehicles that won't be built this year and roughly $300,000,000 in lost revenue.

This thing had better be wider as well. The two things the AURA is really lacking compared to the competition are hip and shoulder room.

The Fusion relies on the 6 for its underpinnings, the current /malibu and G6 are fleet whores, and the 6 didn't set the sales charts on fire because it wasn't "big enough" for our fat asses

- Yet, the Fusion is making out okay

- Even by retail sales, the Malibu and G6 kill the 6 (old Mazda6 fleet % = ~40%)

- Yet, the Mazda3 is even smaller and sells just fine

Here's what I predict: import fans will make a big hub-bub about how everything about it is class-leading and how it'll be a breakthrough product for Mazda.

In reality, it looks okay on the outside and drab on the inside (how many layers of center stack do we need?) and will change nothing about the current mid-size landscape. The Camry will continue to sell 10x the amount. The new Accord will also be 9-10x. The Altima, Fusion, and Sonata are hardly quivering. The Malibu, G6, and AURA will all continue to outsell it (without fleet). The only brands that need to look over their shoulders are KIA and Mercury (in sales terms, not market). Consumers will continue to largely ignore this thing, despite its zoom-zoominess.

The most mature car in the segment. Makes the pathetic new Aveo look like a kiddie kar. Love it!

Umm... this isn't even close to being a production vehicle. It's due for some major watering down.

he brings up a good point.

while i have no doubt GM engineering can get the battery pack designed and tested by 2010, a company only starting to get into HV manufacturing having this new product ready by then with good quality is somewhat questionable

Actually, it just sounds like Mr. Anderman is still sore that GM chose A123 Systems over his company, AAB.

Seriously, is someone going to beat GM to the punch again?

Those resourceful Asian automakers with their weak yen and humongous profits...

It's still using "old-tech" NiMH batteries, isn't it?

:gay:

Is the X6 really huge, or is the guy filling it with gas just a pee wee?

Is he wearing capri pants?

"If Honda just wanted to sell cars, they'd have a V8-powered luxury car out there -- and there ain't no V8 around," he said.

Apparently, Honda doesn't really want to sell the RL then, eh? On the luxury car/overly sized engine front, haven't we heard for a while now that the NSX is on its way over... with a V10?

As bad as I hate to bring it up, you can get bluetooth integration, 30gig capacity music player, and CD ripper in the Lancer GTS for $20k. So all these luxury cars that have it don't really seem all that special BECAUSE of it.

But then you're stuck driving a cramped econobox piece of &#036;h&#33;. All of those "extras" are there to distract you from the fact that the car itself is crap, but hey, look at all this cool stuff!

Saturn's only been around 17 years. I'm sure an embarassing amount of people don't realize its an American brand yet.

Some people don't know that it's part of GM either, which, on the conquest front, is a good thing.

biturbo v12 or a hybrid... yeah the v12 would be a pick for me. only hybrid i seen i like is the tesla roadster by tesla motors. only draw back is that it freakin sounds like my R/C indy car. as for the ad sure, sounds good. most people are stuck on the craptastic 80's and havent even looked at domestic in years.

The Tesla roadster isn't a hybrid, it's an EV. There's no gas motor in that thing.

lot's of previous gen vue buyers got the manual, i would be surprised to see saturn be that stupid to get rid of it.

Quantify "lots". Few people buy manual cars, fewer buy manual S/CUVs.

The Caliber SRT-4s have been running around Michigan highways for at least a year. This is hardly a scoop. If I knew people were looking for an "unmasked" pic of them, I'd have taken one.

295hp V8? Is that the 4.8L Vortec?