New car prices have been rapidly escalating, reflecting new safety regulations, the inclusion of many popular features, plus rising materials cost. According to the folks at Kelly Blue Book, the average new vehicle transaction price last year was over $35,700, a number heavily affected by the proliferation of pickup and crossover sales. With the average …
Hyundai Motor Co. has been using the Genesis title for 10 years now. The first edition was a midsize premium sedan and coupe series selling under the Hyundai showroom sign. Innovative, clean-sheet sedans in every sense of the word for the rapidly maturing Korean automaker, the cars’ arrival coincided with the financial swoon of 2009 …
Lifestyle trucks are the auto industry’s latest profit niche. Expressive, high-performance on-road and off-road trucks are being created to meet a swelling interest for vehicles that are different from the hum-drum offerings preferred by the masses. And who better to define this expansion — in sales and profits — than FCA’s venerable Jeep brand. Riding …
Businesses define their success with numerous data measurements that will often entail best, highest, most in the description. One case study of success in the auto industry has to be the Ford Motor Co.’s consistent success with its F-series pickup lineup. Since wrestling the top-selling pickup honor away from Chevrolet in 1977, Ford’s F-series (half-ton, …
Of all the car classes remaining in the marketplace, the most life exists in the compact sedan class, where recent redesigns from Honda, Toyota and this week’s Kia Forte illustrate that the Asian automakers are not ready to abandon the vehicles that helped establish them in America. Indeed, the latest Forte is a stylish, handsome …
It is raining huge water drops as the latest Jeep Cherokee heads north from Seabrook, N.H., into the third winter storm of fall. Traffic on the Maine Turnpike is narrowing down to the middle lane as wet, heavy snow replaces the coastal rain as the Jeep pushes through slowing traffic. Most front-drive car pilots — …
Small car sales in America have declined; no surprise news there as crossovers are finding more new homes than any other type of vehicle sold here. Honda Civics and Toyota Corollas that used to be perennial top-10 sellers don’t even rate honorable mention status anymore. Indeed, Civic, Corolla, Cruze, Focus, Forte, Sentra, Impreza and Mazda3 …
MIDDLEBORO, Mass. — On a mild, damp evening just a day ahead of one of our recent November winter storms, the members of the New England Motor Press Association gathered here for the North American debut of FCA’s latest Ram pickup — the new North Edition. Already the reigning Winter Vehicle of the Year and …
Twelve months have raced by with 50 more new vehicles making the trek into Maine. Some were repeat visits, some were impressive newcomers with much to share and all have virtues and features that attract a cadre of buyers into dealer showrooms. Automakers create their products to target sales, profits and sustainability — no matter …
Changes in the auto industry are happening frequently, and rapidly. In a week that saw GM, Tesla and Nissan advocate for continued (and increased) taxpayer-funded EV subsidies — because each automaker has reached their subsidy support limit — Toyota announced that it was cutting back both production and models of its now slow selling Prius. …
