Northstar

Could this hint at the next TT? The Shooting Brake Concept is a study vehicle offering a further trailblazing interpretation of Audi's current formal idiom, blending the powerful dynamism of a sports car with a new sense of spaciousness and greater functionality. With its powerful 250 bhp, 3.2-litre six-cylinder engine and quattro permanent four-wheel drive, the Shooting Brake Concept produces a quality of road behaviour that in every respect lives up to its visual impact. The study vehicle sprints from 0 to 100 km/h in just 6.0 seconds, and its top speed is electronically governed at 250 km/h.

An idea? So you just have an idea of: "hey guys, let's recall all the Prius's tomorrow! That would work so well since we have the ability to issue recalls here at C&G! we could start a total backlash against toyota by issuing a recall! yay lets do it! that will get rid of all import drivers since toyota and honda have to go back to japan if they issue a recall!!!!1!1!11"

Why don't you post a useful news article on the subject that actually has readable spelling and grammer, rather than posting a bunch of crap that makes you look like a dumbass? Stop with the useless topics, and post something to back it up (an article), or leave. If you do not, you will be banned.

Let's stay on topic here boys. This thread isn't about "the dying coupe market" it's about a possible Camaro concept. If you don't want to discuss the Camaro, then don't post in the thread. If you want to talk about why the coupe market is dying and proof that it is, go make a topic about it.

Topic closed. swallowit: You've already been warned before, and you'll be warned again. Shape up, or you'll be banned.

That's hard to do because many coupes and sedans are sold under the same nameplate. I'd bet that the average transaction price for a coupe is a bit higher than that of the sedan as well. Personally, I'd much rather have a coupe than a sedan, but I also don't have any kids to haul around in the back seat.

Sorry, I've had yet another busy week, school's really weighing me down. Voting is now over. I'll try to have the results posted by the weekend and start a new comp then too.

Woah, that's pretty cool, and the engine kicks ass.

Isn't the car already sold? I don't understand why they'd deliver one that wasn't already sold.

It sounds like it's fairly loaded since there's not many options. I just hope the non-NAV radio doesn't have acres of black plastic.

I don't think it's chrome. The grill surround is chrome, and the grill itself looks different.

Maybe the new 3rd row seats aren't as heavy. They don't look as big and blocky as the current ones.

I say we wait and see if the Escalade actually has portholes. Vents could mean something like BMW has on the M3. Here is how the vents are described in a press release:

The last GP definetly was a good looking car. It's too bad the interior was a pretty poor effort like all GMs at the time, otherwise it may have been a huge hit (it sold pretty well, but still nothing near a Camcord).

I hadn't even thought of the G6, I think I'll do that next.

It's going to be clay? I thought guionM said it would be a real car.

The front looks better here, I didn't like the slight changes so much in the previous spy pics.

I didn't even know that DCX had hybrid buses. It's unfortunate they're getting them in San Fransisco and Toronto too rather than GM ones.

Since 1997 Saab has only sold 1 million vehicles worldwide. That's 125000 a year, worldwide, which means it's less than 100k sales in Europe a year. That means Saab sells about 8k units/month in Europe, which is not impressive. I don't think it's worth that as Cadillac is already set up in Europe now.

I've been wanting GM to sell Saab for some time now, and it seems now would be the perfect oppurtunity. I don't know how much GM could get, but probably a good sum of money. Do we know how much Renault offered for Volvo? I would expect them to offer a little less for Saab since it doesn't have as many sales or models, but it'd be a good indication of Saab's value I think.

-Saab and Chevrolet record highest ever September market share -Opel and Vauxhall with strongest September in three years -Total GM sales growing faster than European market in first nine months Zurich - General Motors (GM) sold over 1,525,000 vehicles in Europe in the first three quarters of 2005, an increase of more than 25,000 or 1.7 percent over the same period last year. GM’s share of the European market rose from 9.5 to almost 9.6 percent. Last month was GM’s best September in Europe since 1999. The company’s share of the total European market reached 10.13 percent compared with 9.8 percent in September 2004.* “September was a great month for us and, over the first three quarters, we continue to grow faster than the industry average,” said Jonathan Browning, GM Europe’s Vice-President of Sales, Marketing and Aftersales. “Looking ahead, it is encouraging to see full order books for this year’s most important new entries, the Saab 9-3 SportCombi, the Opel/Vauxhall Zafira and the Chevrolet Matiz.” Saab’s September 2005 share of the European market was the its highest ever at 0.51 percent. GM’s Swedish premium brand sold 9,700 cars in September, 17 percent more than in September 2004. For the first nine months of the year, Saab sales of 59,800 were just over 1,000 vehicles down on 2004. Strong volume gains in the United Kingdom (41%) and Ireland (8.5%), Denmark (29%) and Portugal (18%) were offset by declining sales in other markets. Saab’s market share remained stable at 0.38 percent over the first nine months of the year (2004: 0.39%). GM’s biggest volume brands in Europe , Opel and Vauxhall, had their best September since 1999 with sales of 155,000. Market share reached 8.1 percent across Europe and topped 11.1 percent in Opel’s home market of Germany after 9.1 percent in September 2004. Over the first nine months of the year, Opel/Vauxhall achieved sales of 1,241,800 vehicles, down 10,000 on a year earlier. Their combined share of the total European market slipped slightly from 7.95 to 7.8 percent. Opel’s sales performance varied widely across the continent. There was significant growth in Germany (5.8%), Ireland (14%) the Nordic markets ( Denmark : 28%; Norway : 17%; Sweden : 16%; Finland : 9%) and Portugal (19%). Chevrolet, like Saab, had its best September ever with its share of the European market reaching 1.31 percent (September 2004: 1.05%). Aggregate sales for the first nine months also reached an all-time high of 182,000, an increase of 27 percent on the 143,183 cars sold in the same period in 2004. Chevrolet’s share of the European market went up from 0.91 to 1.14 percent in the January to September timeframe. Particularly high growth rates were registered in Poland (137%) and Central & Eastern Europe (86%). Chevrolet Russia , which just started its activities this year, already sold 11,500 cars (excluding the locally built Chevrolet Niva) and Ukraine has seen dramatic growth with 20,800 vehicles sold so far this year compared with 5,484 during the same period of 2004. Chevrolet also continued to grow sales in Western Europe with an average increase of 7 percent over the first nine months of 2004. General Motors’ luxury brands, Cadillac, Corvette and Hummer, continue to make steady progress in Europe . Well over one thousand Corvettes, more than three times as many as in all of 2004, have already been sold. With close to 2,000 cars registered in the first three quarters, Cadillac has already exceeded its 2004 total sales figure, while Hummer is also on track to exceed last year’s sales total of 419. General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world’s largest automaker, has been the global industry sales leader since 1931. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 317,000 people around the world. It has manufacturing operations in 32 countries and its vehicles are sold in 200 countries . In 2004, GM sold nearly 9 million cars and trucks globally, up 4 percent and the second-highest total in the company’s history. GM’s global headquarters are at the GM Renaissance Center in Detroit.

The nominees for COTY and TOTY: Cars: Audi A3, BMW 3 Series, Chevrolet HHR, Dodge Charger, Ford Fusion, Honda Civic/Civic Si/Civic Hybrid, Hyundai Sonata, Infiniti M35/45, Lexus IS 250/350, Mazda Miata MX-5, Mercedes-Benz R-Class, Pontiac Solstice, Toyota Avalon and Volkswagen Passat. Trucks: Dodge Ram/Ram Mega Cab, Ford Explorer, Honda Ridgeline, Hummer H3, Jeep Commander, Kia Sportage, Lexus RX 400h, Mercedes M-Class, Nissan Xterra, Range Rover Sport, Subaru B9 Tribeca, Suzuki Grand Vitara, Toyota RAV4 and Toyota Highlander Hybrid. I was sort of expecting the Z06, but I guess it's not totally new (based on existing vehicle). Anyways, I'm guessing the Solstice will win the cars, but I have no idea on the trucks... seems pretty wide open.

Make sure you resize the width to 768 pixels wide, timblazer03.

By Jamie LaReau and Greg Migliore and Mary Connelly Automotive News / October 11, 2005 http://www.autonews.com/news.cms?newsId=13543 DETROIT -- Big 3 auto dealership sales have dropped off a cliff this month after the end of employee pricing programs. Ford Motor Co. and General Motors switched to promoting value pricing strategy, meant to replace incentives with lower sticker prices. The Chrysler group has been following a similar strategy for several years. Dealers say the first two weeks of October have been the slowest they've experienced in years with little to no traffic or sales. "I didn't think it could get much slower than September, but it's definitely slower," says Gordon Stewart, president of Stewart Management Group in Harper Woods, Mich., which has several GM stores. GM has incentives on selected vehicles. But Stewart questions whether GM can avoid a high-profile national incentive program: "The word is that they're supposed to let the value pricing ride for 90 days, but the question is, do they have that kind of staying power?" Jon Myers, owner of Naples Dodge in Naples, Fla., and chairman of the Dodge National Dealer Council, said, "It is pretty slow. It is a number of factors: the hurricane, the gas prices, coming off employee pricing, the continuation of the raising of interest rates. "That is what everybody is saying. It is slow out there," Myers says. Ford dealer Maureen Joyce, owner of Joyce Ford Inc. in Chicago, says, "I think we're in for a rough ride. She asked with a laugh: "What sales? "It's not starting out well. It's not horrific yet." "We kind of anticipated that it would start getting scary." Joyce said that in the next incentive program, "The cars will be free. You'll just have to pay sales tax -- I mean what else can you do?" Jim Satterthwaite, owner of Knopf Chrysler Jeep in Ambler, Penn., says sales are the worst in a generation: "My family has been in this business since 1974, and this is about as scared as I have been." "We had a great July and good August by pulling ahead. We are in a little bit of a payback mode," he says. "The price of fuel and the uncertainty of where the economy is headed is really putting a lid on it." Dealer Howard Drake says traffic and sales at his Hummer store are good, "OK" at his Saab store and slow at his Cadillac dealership. Drake is co-owner of Casa Automotive Group in Sherman Oaks, Calif. "The value promise is a good deal and it makes sense, but we didn't get anything repriced in Cadillac," Drake says. "For us, many Cadillac dealers are having a tough time in understanding what value pricing is." Richard Klaben, a principal in the Klaben Auto Stores of Kent, Ohio, says customers are delaying major purchases. People think, "Now is not a good time," says Klaben, who sells Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ford and Lincoln Mercury. Employee discount pricing pulled sales ahead, he says. "At the end of the year, we will be no further ahead or behind than if we had never had the family plan," Klaben says. "In the long run, it probably hurt us because we spent too much time talking about family plan pricing rather than the positives of the brands," Klaben says. "Manufacturers put all of their eggs and dollars on one message instead of spending money to sell the brand and increase consideration level for the brand," he says. "Now we see what the payback is. "It is not that people can't afford to get into the market," Klaben says. "It is that they don't want to. They don't feel good about it. It is more a product of watching the evening news than what is really happening in their personal life. Every layoff gets magnified 10 times."

http://www.autoweek.com/article.cms?articleId=103273