January 8, 2010

Russ off the Cuff: A Resilient Industry
Final sales numbers from 2009 are in, and the news is surprisingly upbeat, writes AIADA Chairman Russ Darrow. For all the challenges dealers faced over the past year - bankruptcies, credit freezes, dealership closings - sales ended the year on a high note. Last year was a watershed for international vehicles sales in the United States. During each month of 2009, international brands led domestic brands in market share by an average of 11.2 percent, with the highest lead of 18.4 percent in August during the federal Cash for Clunkers program. Click here to see AIADA's MarketWatch graphs and share them with your colleagues. In the current political and economic environment, our success makes us targets. Our competitors, and some legislators, would like to see international brands knocked down a peg or two. We dealers need to be active in the political process in 2010, or we could see the gains we made in 2009 chipped away. I recommend starting the year on the right foot by attending AIADA's 40th Annual Meeting & Luncheon in Orlando this February 15th, during the NADA convention. Click here for more information. As I see it, your time spent at AIADA's meeting is a small investment to make for a year of success. Click here to read Darrow's entire commentary on what international auto dealers can do to ensure a successful 2010.  

Detroit Hopes to Reinvent Auto Show
With more than 50 automakers from around the world displaying their wares, next week's North American International Auto Show is expected to draw perhaps 600,000 paying visitors to the convention center along the Detroit River. According to MSNBC, the challenge is to entertain and inform a new generation of Internet-savvy buyers while at the same time giving "more bang for the buck" to an industry battered by a deep global recession, says Rod Alberts, director of the Detroit Auto Dealers Association, which organizes the NAIAS. As always, the Detroit auto show will open with an assortment of media previews, which will be covered by as many as 5,000 journalists from around the world. But this year's press event will last two days instead of the normal three, and it will bring far fewer of the headline-making debuts that have made the Detroit event one of the world's most important auto shows over the past two decades. But starting last year, a number of well-known manufacturers, including Infiniti, Mitsubishi, and Ferrari, decided to skip the press previews and eliminate their costly stands, too. Click here for more on what attendees and manufacturers can expect at next week's North American International Auto Show.

Toyota's Prius Top-Selling Car in Japan in '09
The Toyota Prius was the top-selling car in Japan last year - the first time a gas-electric hybrid has clinched that spot. The Japan Automobile Dealers Association said on Friday that Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius was No. 1 in its ranking of sales by vehicle models - with 208,876 Prius cars sold in 2009, nearly three times the numbers sold the previous year. According to The Detroit News, the big success of the Prius in the home market for Toyota, the world's biggest automaker, highlights the growing consumer acceptance of green vehicles. Hybrid sales already make up about 10 percent of new vehicle sales in Japan. Green Car Congress, which researches and compiles reports on green technology, said hybrids have a 2.8 percent share of new vehicle sales in the U.S. The competition in green autos is expected to heighten, however, as new models from other automakers are expected in 2010, including the Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle from General Motors Co. The Prius, now in its third generation since its 1997 introduction, is the best-selling gas-electric hybrid in the world, racking up a cumulative 1.6 million units sold so far, according to Toyota. For more on the success of the Toyota Prius in the Japanese auto market, click here.

Winter Wonder: 2010 Subaru Outback
According to Alex Taylor III at CNNMoney.com, only a few manufacturers have really exploited all-wheel-drive because it adds weight and cost. But where an automaker like Audi is at the high end of the price spectrum, Subaru is aiming squarely at the heart of the market, where it is making a big splash. 2009 was a breakout year for Subaru. The automaker was one of the very few to see its sales actually increase, and the latest Outback was selected by a panel of automotive journalists as one of the three finalists for North American truck of the year. Click here for a photo of the Outback. The Outback was originally introduced as a tarted-up version of Subaru's Legacy wagon. The Legacy was discontinued, and the Outback has morphed into a proper crossover SUV by gaining four inches of height. The exterior has a nicely chiseled, up-to-date appearance without being trendy, while the interior is a model of high-quality finishes delivered in a durable package. The instrument panel, in particular, is a model of transparency and functionality. The 2.5 liter 170-horsepower engine provides plenty of pep, to fulfill the functionality, quality, and value Subaru owners are looking for. Click here for Taylor's entire run-down of the Subaru Outback's success in the snow.

Fresh hope for Saab as F1 Boss Ecclestone Joins Bidders
Investment group Genii Capital said today it has made an offer for Saab with Formula One motor racing boss Bernie Ecclestone. According to Automotive News, Genii's offer was one of three last-minute bids for the Swedish brand, which owner General Motors Co. plans to close unless it finds a suitable buyer. Dutch luxury carmaker Spyker Cars NV also said it had made a revised offer for Saab. Swedish media reports on Friday named Jan Nygren, a former executive of the aerospace arm of Saab and former senior official in Sweden's defense ministry, as the head of one group of Swedish investors submitting a last-minute bid for Saab. According to one official, the joint bid between Genii Capital and Ecclestone would seek to secure loans from the European Investment Bank, although the bidders had not yet heard a response on their bid from GM. Ecclestone told Bloomberg News that he considered Saab "a good brand that has probably been neglected by the current owners." Genii operates in North America, Europe, and Asia. Its core investment target areas include brand management, emerging technologies, hospitality, entertainment, as well as the auto industry. Click here for more on GM's attempt to sell its Saab unit before it must shut it down.