January 3, 2012

Holiday Deals, Buyer Confidence May Produce December Sales Rate of 13.4M
U.S. consumers, who are more confident than they have been in eight months, were lured to auto showrooms by holiday discounts and may have pushed car sales to the second fastest pace in more than two years, reports Automotive News. "From Thanksgiving on, they've been very aggressive," said Bob Tasca, whose family owns Ford, Lincoln, Mazda, and Volvo dealerships in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. "We've had the best deals of the year." Tasca said he expects his best December in five years. Light-vehicle sales in December, set for release Wednesday, may have run at a 13.4 million seasonally adjusted annual rate, the average estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, up from the 12.4 million pace a year earlier. While the rate may trail the 13.6 million seasonally adjusted pace in November, typically a slow sales month, the number of units sold increased in December, according to the average of five estimates. Consumer confidence reached an eight-month high in December, according to the Conference Board, as carmakers aired holiday ads and continued promotions begun in late November, which led to the highest seasonally adjusted rate of the year. Read more about what to expect from year-end auto sales figures here.

UAW Takes Aim at International Automakers
The United Auto Workers (UAW) union is staking its future on the kind of struggle it hasn't waged since the 1930s: a massive drive to organize “hostile” factories. This time, reports MSNBC, the union is going after U.S. plants owned by German manufacturers Volkswagen AG and Daimler AG. In dozens of interviews with union officials, organizers, and car company executives, a picture has emerged of UAW President Bob King's strategy. By appealing to German unions for help and by calling on the companies to do the right thing, King hopes to get VW and Daimler to surrender without a fight and let the union make its case directly to workers. Central to this effort is the belief that if car companies refrain from actively opposing a UAW organizing push, workers at German-American factories will gladly join the union. But that belief may be off-base. Workers know that almost every job lost at U.S. car factories in the last 30 years has occurred at a unionized company, while almost every job gained has come at a non-union company. And most of the factories the UAW is targeting are in the South, which is historically hostile to unions. For more on what to expect from the UAW this year, click here.

Hyundai, Kia See Slower Sales Growth in 2012
According to Automotive News, Hyundai Motor and affiliate Kia Motors aim to boost global vehicle sales by 6 percent this year to a combined 7 million vehicles, which would mark a slowdown for a duo that has enjoyed double-digit sales rises in recent years. The South Korean automakers, which together rank fifth in global car sales, are unable to keep up with demand because of stretched production capacity. They have refrained from boosting capacity sharply, instead focusing on improving product quality and profits. Toyota Motor last month forecast a 20 percent jump in 2012 sales to a record 8.48 million vehicles, as it is recovering from output losses caused by natural disasters in Japan and Thailand last year. "We will strengthen quality management we have continuously pursued," Chung Mong-koo, chairman of Hyundai and Kia's parent group, said on Monday in his annual speech to employees. Hyundai and Kia sold 6.6 million vehicles in 2011, beating their earlier target of 6.33 million and up 15 percent from the previous year. Hyundai plans to launch a fully revamped version of its Santa Fe SUV and a Brazil-dedicated model, the HB, in 2012. For more on the growth of Hyundai and Kia, click here.

Consumer Reports Says Toyota Camry Hybrid is Top Sedan
Consumer Reports has picked what it believes is the best family sedan: The 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid. According to USA Today, Consumer Reports found a lot of practical considerations. "The Camry has a nicer interior, more responsive handling, and better fuel economy than previous models," the magazine says in a statement. The gas mileage in the hybrid? An "amazing" 38 miles a gallon. The hybrid was the best of the three versions that the magazine tested. The other two were the standard four-cylinder and the V-6. Prices for the tested sedans ranged from $23,830 for the four-cylinder Camry LE to $33,720 to the V-6-powered Passat SEL Premium. The hybrid was $29,052. The Camry rides well and is quiet. Handling has improved, with quick steering and appropriate response and heft, but is not sporty, according to Consumer Reports. The magazine praises the stitched and padded dashboard but says some cheap details remain. Among other models, Consumer Reports wasn't as kind to the Volkswagen Passat, which it says has "grown larger and softer." The Passat is Motor Trend's Car of the Year and is a candidate for the coveted North American Car of the Year. For more of Consumer Reports’ take on the 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid, click here.

Critics’ Picks of 2011: Making Sense of a More Sensible Year
Steady growth and building momentum may not be the ideal ingredients of sexy headlines, but the cars Americans drove in 2011 still offered plenty to be optimistic about. Among the year’s highs were beautifully rendered family sedans and keenly balanced sports cars, but equally significant was the arrival of models – from mainstream compacts to luxury-brand benchmarks – that were as satisfying to drive as they were efficient. A wave of new electric cars and plug-in hybrids are on the way, but the internal-combustion engine showed no signs of stepping aside. BMW did the once-unthinkable in offering a turbo 4 in its 5 Series; Ford replaced the thirsty base-level V-8 in its perennial best-seller, the F-150 pickup, with a smarter V-6. As in past years, James G. Cobb, Lawrence Ulrich, and Jerry Garrett – writers for The New York Times auto pages – selected the cars they found most memorable in the previous 12 months. By no means a comprehensive list, it is rather an assessment of how well particular models fulfill their particular missions, and perhaps serves to stir a driver’s spirit along the way. Click here to check out their lists.

NADA Used Car Guide Introduces Mobile VIN Scanner
AIADA’s Affinity Partner, NADA Used Car Guide, has added a VIN barcode scanner to its family of mobile products, which includes NADA AppraisalPRO and NADA Online, available for Apple and Android devices. The VIN scanner simplifies the vehicle decoding process by giving users the ability to scan and retrieve NADA vehicle values—including features like automatic adjustments for mileage and accessories—more efficiently and faster than ever before. The VIN scanner app is available for download to Android and iPhone mobile devices. For more information, go to www.nada.com/mobile or call 866.974.NADA. To save $30 off NADA Online, visit www.nada.com/b2b and enter AIADA2011 code at “shopping cart” to receive your AIADA member pricing.

Around the Web 
Mercedes-Benz Sells Its 2-Millionth SUV [MotorAuthority]
DRIVE Goes Inside the 24 Hours of Nurburgring [Autoblog]
How Aston Martin Builds a $1.7 Million Supercar [Jalopnik]
5 Reasons to Buy a New Car in 2012 [Forbes]