Karl Greenberg      
MediaPost

(July 9, 2011) Toyota will probably get more attention than it bargained for with its new campaign for the Venza crossover. That attention may be at least as much about the campaign's sociological commentary as it is about the Venza itself.

(July 8, 2011) SANTA MONICA, Calif. (PRNewswire) — TrueCar.com today provided actual fuel economy numbers from June light vehicle auto sales that indicate miles per gallon will increase to 21.6 MPG in June 2011 compared to 21.3 MPG in June 2010. It's a decrease from May 2011 at 21.9 MPG.

WASHINGTON (July 7, 2011) – The current crop of hybrid vehicles demonstrate automakers know how to provide dramatic fuel savings and pollution reductions, but have yet to fully deliver those benefits, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) announced Wednesday.
 
The organization’s new Hybrid Scorecard evaluated 34 hybrids for their fuel efficiency, environmental improvement, consumer value, and the “forced features” automakers install that artificially inflate the cost of some models.

(July 6, 2011) SANTA MONICA, Calif. (PRNewswire) — Generation Y, the 18-27 age range that represents the newest demographic of car buyers, favor car brands Scion and Mitsubishi, according to a new study by TrueCar.com. The study reviewed the purchasing behavior of more than four million car buyers from 2009 and 2010.

The Scion tC sporty coupe was the most purchased model, TrueCar reports, followed by the Mitsubishi Lancer and Honda Civic Si.

(July 5, 2011) SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Audi led all automotive brands by winning four categories in Edmunds.com's 2011 Consumers' Top Rated vehicles released today. The German luxury make earned the top nod for Best Coupe $35K-$45K (2011 Audi A5), Best Coupe Over $45K (2011 Audi S5), Best Wagon $35K-$45K (2011 Audi A4 Wagon) and Best SUV $35K-$45K (2011 Audi Q5).

(July 5, 2011) ATLANTA (PRNewswire) — In the latest national, monthly report on automotive consumer credit trends, Equifax reports that the auto lending sector continues to demonstrate growth, with the total number of auto loan originations for the first quarter 2011 having increased by 20 percent over first quarter 2010 levels. 

(July 3, 2011) WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — Overall quality of heavy-duty trucks has improved substantially in 2011, compared with 2010, but whether these quality gains can be sustained in the face of greater production and new emissions regulations remains in question, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 U.S. Heavy-Duty Truck Customer Satisfaction Study released last week.

(July 2, 2011) While the Ford division of Ford Motor Company continues to hit on all eight cylinders, its luxury Lincoln division continues to be mired in quicksand, slowly sinking into obscurity.

This was pointed out again by monthly sales figures. A complete overhaul of the entire Lincoln lineup is planned, but is it coming too late to save the once North American luxury brand leader?

(July 1, 2011) SANTA MONICA, Calif. (PRNewswire) — TrueCar.com estimated today that the average transaction price for light vehicles in the United States was $30,009 in June, up $845 (2.9 percent) from June 2010 and up $244 (0.8 percent) from May 2011. It is the highest monthly average transaction price ever recorded.

(June 30, 2011) SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Increased incentive spending in June by Toyota and Honda indicate that the two Japanese automakers are turning a corner with their respective production issues, reports Edmunds.com.

Edmunds.com's report on the True Cost of Incentives (TCI) found that incentive spending by Toyota increased 30.5 percent to $1,631 per vehicle from May to June.