Automakers are planning a small-car assault at the Los Angeles Auto Show, which opens to media Wednesday, with fuel-efficient cars and crossovers playing a starring role. According to the Detroit News, the focus on smaller models coincides with a broad federal mandate to boost fuel efficiency and lower emissions; automakers are also taking advantage of an opportunity to sway opinion in California, the country's No. 1 auto market with the power to influence the rest of the country. The show will feature 30 world and North American debuts and more than 900 vehicles. Among them will be a stable of small cars: the subcompact 2011 Ford Fiesta and Mazda2 and the compact 2011 Chevrolet Cruze. There also will be a batch of crossovers, including the new Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sorrento, the automaker's first U.S.-built vehicle. The show kicks off the auto show season and arrives as the auto industry hopes to see an end to the disappointing 2009 sales year. In a nod to the small-car trend, consumer Web site NADAguides.com on Wednesday will honor the Kia Forte as its car of the year, in part because of its fuel efficiency, safety, and standard interior features such as Bluetooth and navigation technology. Click here for more on what to expect at this week's L.A. Auto Show.
According to CongressDaily, this week's House vote on legislation to make the estate tax permanent has put key business community stakeholders in a bind, with the National Association of Manufacturers firmly opposed but others keeping their powder dry. The chamber is set to vote Thursday on a $233.6 billion measure by Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.), keeping the tax's 2009 parameters in place. That means a 45 percent rate and an exemption for the first $3.5 million in inherited assets per spouse. That threshold is not indexed for inflation, meaning more businesses and families would end up paying the tax than if the exemption rose each year. While several groups oppose the Pomeroy bill in principle, groups like the National Federation of Independent Business and American Farm Bureau Federation might be calculating that by giving members a pass to vote for it, they are more likely to influence the final outcome in negotiations with the Senate. Several groups support an alternative from Reps. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) and Kevin Brady, (R-Texas) that would phase in a 35 percent rate and a $5 million exemption over 10 years. Sources said there is little to no chance House Democratic leaders will allow a vote on the Berkley-Brady measure. However, what happens in the Senate is the subject of much head-scratching. Click here for more on what many business advocacy groups are doing to deal with legislative measures aimed at making the estate tax permanent.
AutoNation Inc. is betting that browsing online for a car increasingly will be as appealing as browsing in a dealership. According to Automotive News, the nation's largest public dealership group is expanding its AutoNation Direct online business. It is hiring employees and plans to expand its start-to-finish online program to every AutoNation market by the end of 2010. The online program is now in more than 100 AutoNation locations in Florida, California, and Colorado. AutoNation operates 203 stores in 15 states and had sales of 255,843 new units in 2008. Although still a small part of its overall business - AutoNation Direct will sell about 2,500 units this year - online selling is growing. Sales this year have doubled over the same period a year ago. AutoNation Direct began as a test project in late 2007, and its model is simple: The program is designed to let a consumer buy a new or used vehicle online or by phone and have the vehicle delivered to the dealership or the buyer's home. AutoNation works with affinity groups such as credit unions and employee groups and promises consumers a "dealer-free" and "hassle-free" experience. Every car in the AutoNation network is available for sale. Click here to read more on how AutoNation is leading the way in the internet car buying experience.
The Kia Cadenza, the would-be luxury debutante for the Korean automaker, will makes its official world debut next month at the relatively obscure Riyadh Motor Show in Saudi Arabia. Click here for an image gallery of the vehicle. According to the New York Times, that should buy Kia some time before it has to make a decision on what to call it in the United States, where it will make its debut - as a 2011 model - late next year. For the American market, Kia is reportedly already considering a replacement for the somewhat confusing Cadenza name, which relates to musical tempo, not a piece of legless office furniture. Amanti is being considered, but that is the name of the unloved and discontinued Kia flagship in the United States. Compared with the Amanti, the Cadenza (or K7, as it is called in Korea) is 286 pounds lighter and 1.8 inches shorter. The new car is the first model developed on the Type N front-wheel-drive vehicle platform. It will be powered by a 290-horsepower V-6 mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. Click here to watch the Korean commercial for the 2010 Kia Cadenza. Click here for more on Kia's plans for its new luxury sedan.
According to USA Today, car leasing is making a bit of a comeback, though it remains anemic compared with the boom times for car sales, before gas prices rose and financial markets fell. Leasing was back to 12.8 percent of all October car sales, reports shopping site Edmunds.com, up from 7.2 percent in August. That's still much lower, however, than 20.4 percent in March 2008. Consumers are starting to see better lease deals now, particularly on leftover 2009s that automakers are trying to clear. Toyota is making lease deals part of its $1 billion fourth-quarter advertising push, and Ford says it plans more lease deals this year. For automakers, leasing is a bit of a gamble. They calculate monthly payments in part on how much they think cars will be worth when returned at the end of the lease. For brands that tend to hold residual value, the calculation requires less guesswork. Some luxury makers, however, continued leasing through the downturn and now, as the market picks up, are pushing bigger deals. BMW spent more than $8,000 per vehicle on leasing incentives in October, and Mercedes spent more than $6,000. Click here for more on the return to leasing as the auto market recovers.
On top of investing more than $50 billion to save Chrysler Group LLC and General Motors Co., taxpayers have spent more than $120 million in legal and consulting fees, and the meter will keep running into 2010 and beyond, according to bankruptcy court documents and legal experts. According to the Detroit Free Press, documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York show that the U.S. Treasury Department, which oversees taxpayer funds, has paid GM's lead law firm - Weil, Gotshal & Manges - nearly $72 million. Chrysler's lead counsel, the Jones Day law firm, received $40 million through August, with bills totaling $3 million pending from September and October. Judges must review all bills for professional services. The Treasury Department can object to certain fees or request that specific charges be reduced. But the firms are using some of their senior partners, who charge up to $900 an hour. The court or the treasury cannot seek a lower bid from a competing firm. Selling the remainder of Chrysler and GM assets will take years. The bankruptcy of United Airlines, which began in December 2002, continues to this day, although the surviving airline left bankruptcy in February 2006. Click here for more on how the GM and Chrysler bankruptcies will impact American taxpayers.
Last month, AIADA Affinity Partner NADA Used Car Guide named a new senior director of editorial and data services, Jonathan Banks. Banks' role includes managing NADA's data and editorial services, assuming primary responsibility for the accuracy of NADA's used-vehicle valuations. Since the NADA editorial team collects and analyzes over one million combined wholesale and retail automotive-related transaction prices per month, Banks' role serves as an important part of enabling dealers to possess the best information possible when valuing a car. Banks will provide NADA's customers with market outlook guidance based on comprehensive data collection and auto industry analysis to help them plan their business operations. Banks brings a wealth of automotive industry and market analysis experience from his 13 years at Automotive Lease Guide, where he provided guidance on over 70 percent of new-vehicle launches. "We're delighted that someone with such outstanding credentials and market knowledge as Jonathan will join our team in a high-visibility role," said Mike Stanton, vice president and chief operating officer NADA Used Car Guide. For more information, click here. To learn more about AIADA's partnership with NADA Used Car Guide, click here.
How to Make a Prius Sound like a Spaceship [Jalopnik]
Spied: The BMW M3 Gets a Subtle Refresh [Motor Trend]
2010 Edmunds Inside Line Editors' Most Wanted Awards [Edmunds Inside Line]
2011 Audi A8 Revealed Amidst the Stars at Design Miami 2009 [Autoblog]
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