CK001

According to Edmunds, Cadillac had $12K on the hood of two or three of it's models. I don't recall which ones but it isn't too far-fectched to assume that the two most dated models in the lineup would probably be likely candidates.

The same can be said for any vehicle that Honda produces. Just because there are idiots blind to reality does not make the Fit or any of Honda's other offerings worth the money people are willing to pay for them.

Too late. Nissan has already thrown out the 400+ mpg gauntlet for their new Leaf. They also point out that the Leaf will be affordable.

What do you think made up the majority of Equinox sales in July? The new or old one? The ratio was probably 5 to 1 in favor of the old. If I'm wrong about this ratio, I could very well be wrong about the new Equinox holding up well against the current Escape. Because if the new Equinox wasn't in limited supply it does not bode well for that model in the future. And that is a shame since I actually thought the Equinox was a model that could really take share back from the CRVs and RAV4s of the world.

Small Vehicles: Neither an Aveo or a Cobalt holds any advantage over a Focus other than price. Midsize: Malibu and Fusion are close. SUV: I think you meant Escape and the current gen Equinox can't hold a candle to the Escape. The next gen Equinox yes. Truck: The Ranger 4-cyl gets 26 mpg on the hwy. Best truck mpg on the market. The Colorado doesn't. Even though the Ranger is running on twenty years of the same tech, the consumer sentiment leans towards a Ranger over a Colorado. Or so it would appear. However, it is shocking that the Aveo and Cobalt performed as poorly as they did but as I stated in an earlier post they will both do well in August as they are some of the few small cars that have any inventory left on the ground.

The downside to the Cash for Clunkers program is that Chrysler now has a reason to build more Calibers, Patriots, and Compasses. The ones sitting around for the past year just got flushed through the system. I may be mistaken, but wasn't Crossfire and Pacifica production terminated upwards of a year ago? But yet every month there are still more available for sale. Talk about unwanted product.

It looks as if the Cobalt and Aveo did not even participate in the Cash for Clunkers program. This could be good for GM in coming months, assuming the Senate approves the additional funding for CARS. Ford is essentially out of the Focus. I suspect Honda is running a little low on the Civic and Fit as well. Toyota is being quite as to their sales so it's too soon to say how their C and B cars are looking. I'm hoping their silence is due to the embarrassment of not keeping up with the overall market in July. Chrysler totally jumped the gun on their $4,500 doulbe the rebate program. I'd bet all other manufacturers used the government's money as an opportunity to back off a little on their own rebates. But then again, only $4,500.00 from Chrysler probably is alot less than normal for them.

Unfortunately, until Ford commits to more capacity they won't be able beat the Camry or the Accord over any period of time. This months sales, although skewed by 2009 model closeouts, is right at capacity for Hermasillo. This is a prime opportunity for Ford to commit to a retail only sales channel on this car. It has historically been running at a 12% rental fleet rate (low by domestic standards) and the overall improvement of the 2010 model certainly implies that they can do it. I too have driven a 2010 only a week after having a new Accord as a rental for a couple of days. There is no gap between the two. The Fusion feels more nimble out of the two and is quieter as well. Other than that the level of refinement is an equal match. However, perception is a strong thing especially amongst the Honda crowd that seems to not even be aware other brands of vehicles do exist. When and if the economy heats up this car will go a long way towards Ford having a surprise profitable quarter this year if there is a rebound in the construction industry that will allow more F-series to be sold as well.