danup

Every time I see the soon-to-be last-gen Euro Focus I'm amazed at how dumpy and plain it looks compared to the original. Hopefully this new one, once it sheds its mule skin, is more dramatic (and more than an STS'd Fiesta.)

This is the one.

The integrated keyfob is my least favorite thing on my 06 Fusion—it sits terribly in a pocket. I used to be indifferent about push-button start, but when the key becomes as massive and awkward as it is now they've won me over in reverse.

Isn't this process described in Car, that book about the 96 Taurus? I think the invented characters were an ex-high school football star and his cheerleader wife?

What market is there for a conservative full-size sedan in 2010 that did not exist in 2008, when Ford was lucky to sell a thousand Sables a month?

I loved the Sable in its invisible c-pillar days, but Mercury as currently constituted needs a big car like it needs a hole in the head. (Which might be a lot, depending on who you talk to.)

Ever since the first Iosis, Kinetic-styled concept cars, real and imagined, have made me a little sick to my stomach. This is no exception. The style's already so close to overwrought that throwing out production practicality is disastrous.

Great engine, great interior, but the exterior just doesn't do it for me. Bad profile, awkward rear end.

GMC is only a core brand inasmuch as a stand-alone Buick dealer lacks the volume and the prestige to go it alone, and GM is, at the moment, committed to a two-channel restructuring set into motion before they set themselves on fire.

Flex: 2,971 T-X: 1,148 Enclave: 3,193 Acadia: 4,997 Traverse: 6,509 OUTLOOK: 988 (ouch.) Not great, but we'll see how it goes. The big test will be how the new Explorer does in place of the ramping-down T-X, and how the MKT competes with the Enclave-if-there-still-is-one.

Alright, I added the Korean marques and Mazda to the tally--the big winners, as one would expect in a recession environment, are the Korean automakers, although I still have no idea what the point of Kia is in the American market; the losers are the Japanese makes, which are for once probably hurt by everyone's upscale impression of them, and Chrysler, which is just a big old loser. The full revision's in the original post, but here's a revised final total: Japanese 72,489 53.6 115,851 56.3 Hyundai 14,370 10.6 13,710 6.7 Ford 15,003 11.1 19,767 9.6 GM 26,690 19.7 36,431 17.7 Chrysler 6,696 5.0 19,932 9.7 IMPORT 86,859 64.2 129,561 63.0 DOMESTIC 48,389 35.6 76,130 37.0 ----------------------------------------- 135,248 205,691 Once again: obviously some fleet and incentive discount does apply. But sales numbers are something we can at least objectively have.

Wow, how did I forget Hyundai and Mazda?

I'm sure incentives and fleet presence play a role, but in lieu of hard facts about them--and about how they influence buying--I thought it best to just present the numbers. You're right about year to date, though; next month I might try both.

Since the new Fusion, the latest Great Big 3 Hope, is just hitting dealerships, I thought it would be useful to take a look at the current marketshare scene in mid-size sedans. (I meant to look at the Subarus and Mitsus of the world, but they haven't released their sales figures yet.) Consider this chart a before-picture of the mid-size market. March 09 % March 08 % Camry 25,783 19.1 40,487 19.7 Accord 22,722 16.8 36,214 17.6 Altima 19,521 14.4 31,409 15.3 Malibu 14,772 10.8 15,082 7.3 Fusion 12,723 9.4 15,887 7.7 Sonata 12,406 9.2 11,306 5.5 G6 9,917 7.3 15,108 7.3 Mazda6 4,463 3.3 7,741 3.8 Avenger 4,451 3.3 9,755 4.7 Milan 2,280 1.7 3,880 1.9 Sebring 2,245 1.7 10,177 4.9 Aura 2,001 1.5 6,241 3.0 Optima 1,964 1.5 2,404 1.2 Japanese 72,489 53.6 115,851 56.3 Hyundai 14,370 10.6 13,710 6.7 Ford 15,003 11.1 19,767 9.6 GM 26,690 19.7 36,431 17.7 Chrysler 6,696 5.0 19,932 9.7 IMPORT 86,859 64.2 129,561 63.0 DOMESTIC 48,389 35.6 76,130 37.0 ----------------------------------------- 135,248 205,691 I might do March 07 sales, too, but I have to get back to actual-work for now. The current climate seems to involve the Japanese 3 holding all but steady as Ford and GM hoover up marketshare from The Ghost of Chrysler. In the coming months it'll be interesting to see if A) the Fusion picks up sales from the withering GM marques and B) combined Fusion/Malibu sales make a dent in the Camry/Accord/Altima numbers. Incidentally, if there's a more elegant way to preformat fixed-width text, I'd be glad to hear it.

Protectionism isn't the only problem the Big Three face in Japan--it's a matter of not devoting the outsized resources that would be necessary to make cars that fit the Japanese taste, which simply wouldn't be worthwhile like it is for the Japanese to make cars that fit the world's taste. Add that prohibitive cost to the Japanese consumer's alive-and-well nationalism and it's not going to sell well, just like the iPhone hasn't. There's no huge tax on iPhones, but there is a "style" of phone—lots of proprietary gadgets, long and thin, fun colors—that the iPhone does not meet.

I don't know about that, it benefits me every day--36000 miles in and my 06 Fusion has nary a rattle. I'm fine with buying American, and buying American-made, but if I don't buy a Fusion Ford's first thought is not going to be, "Well, he probably didn't want to buy from our Hermosillo plant!"

You know it's bad when the PR headline isn't "FORD FLEX CONTINUES HOT START" or something. "FORD REPORTS FEBRUARY SALES" is about all that you can muster for this one.

Yeah, but how do you really feel?

Sub compact Car: Honda Fit Compact Car: Honda Civic Compact Multi Activity Vehicle: Saturn VUE Compact Premium Sporty Car: Mini Cooper Compact Sporty Car: Mazdaspeed 3 Entry Premium Vehicle: Cadillac CTS Large Car: Pontiac G8 Large Multi Activity Vehicle: Chevy Traverse Large Pickup: Chevy Silverado Large Premium Car: - Large Premium Multi Activity Vehicle: Buick Enclave Midsize Car: Chevy Malibu / Honda Accord [push] Midsize Multi Activity Vehicle: 010 Chevy Equinox Midsize Pickup: All losers Midsize Premium Car: CTS Midsize Premium Multi Activity Vehicle: Cadillac SRX Van: Honda Odyssey

I love the proportions on this illustration, it looks like the current Explorer shot from a really dramatic camera angle. The way it tapers in the back reminds me of the old Isuzu Axiom, which I also liked a lot.

Gorgeous. This GM I'd drive.

What a disappointment this has all turned into. Saturn was a great idea, until GM stopped following through on it. Cheap, plastic, "new"-style American cars with great gas mileage would look pretty good right about now, but Saturn's busy selling a lot of cars that would be, and in some cases are, great for Chevy instead.

GM sees it as a unique way to leverage their unused assets, like the Oldsmobile logo.

The 200C is a beautiful car--love that roofline. Too bad Chrysler is the company tasked with bringing it to production.

The reviews of the Smart car sound much the same, which leaves me to think that city cars simply are not cars in the now-understood sense. I don't want something that drives a lot like a car, considering how small it is--that sort of thing should never be relative.