By Dave Guilford
Automtoive News
     
(July 2010) Chrysler dealers might want to reach for the Rolaids before reading this, but I think Renault/Nissan made a shrewd move in latching on to Jim Press.

Press is an adviser to the company, working with dealers. If nothing else, that means that he is officially no longer radioactive after his disastrous stint at Chrysler.

(July 2010) Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz enjoy particularly high brand influence with consumers in China who intend to buy a passenger vehicle within the next 12 months, according to the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2010 China New-Vehicle Intender Study. Among non-luxury brands, Buick and two Volkswagen joint-venture brands — FAW-Volkswagen and Shanghai Volkswagen — perform especially well in brand influence.

A few highlights are included from the second annual study, which measures brand influence, in addition to evaluating pre-purchase perceptions and considerations among a sample of 5,181 consumers in 50 cities in China who intend to purchase a new vehicle within the next 12 months:

(July 2010) A report by Automotive News reveals that a major shift in American automobile purchases to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles has taken place since 2007, the last of the boom years and starting with a spike in fuel prices early in 2008.

According to the trade publication, compared with consumers in the first half of 2007, Americans now are buying: more cars, fewer trucks and smaller vehicles in general; smaller and less expensive cars within segments; ordinary rides that replace bigger or more luxurious vehicles.

By Bill Visnic
Senior Editor, Edmunds.com

(July 2010) General Motors Co. CEO Ed Whitacre has been fond of saying the "new" GM's mission is one thing and one thing only — designing, building and selling the best cars and trucks in the world.

It hasn't taken GM long to stray from the cause, however. Barely a year out of bankruptcy, the company seems so concerned about making the case for its craved initial public offering that one wonders if, as with the GM of the past, the "building and selling world's best cars and trucks" thing isn't already losing its charm.

(July 2010) The never-shy Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla Motors, is the subject of this week's "10 Questions for..." feature in Time magazine and the article starts off with a doozy.

A reader asks if Musk believes the electric car can ever replace the combustion engine and Musk responds not with a simple "someday' but with the bold prediction that "within 20 years, the majority of new cars manufactured will be pure electric."

(July 2010) In its latest forecast, J.D. Power and Associates projects that North American new-vehicle sales will advance this year by 12% from 2009, with increases in the United States, Mexico and Canada markets.

U.S. total sales (retail and fleet) are expected to reach 11.8 million units—up 13% from 2009, based on Power Information Network (PIN) retail transaction data and analysis from J.D. Power Automotive Forecasting.

(July 2010) Edmunds.com has determined that a larger percentage of Toyota's new car sales are now coming from buyers who trade in other Toyotas.

In 2009, 42 percent of Toyota's new car sales included a Toyota trade-in (not counting the Cash for Clunkers period, which created many anomalies in the marketplace). So far in 2010, 49 percent of Toyota's new car sales included a Toyota trade-in.

(July 2010) Large pickups provided a small boost to U.S. light-vehicle sales in June, according to J.D. Power and Associates sales analysis. The sub-segment garnered an 11.66% share of industry sales in June, up more than 1 percentage point from 10.58% a year ago, and even slightly ahead of the 11.54% share of industry sales for the month of May, when overall industry sales were stronger.

(July 2010) Edmunds.com has estimated that the average automotive manufacturer incentive in the U.S. was $2,661 per vehicle sold in June 2010, down $36, or 1.3 percent, from May 2010, and down $196, or 6.9 percent, from June 2009.

(July 2010) WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — Among Class 8 truck owners, satisfaction peaks in the first nine months the truck is in service, then decreases notably, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 U.S. Heavy-Duty Truck Customer Satisfaction Study released on Thursday.

The study examines trucks that are one-model-year old and finds that satisfaction levels peak during the first nine months of usage, averaging 768 on a 1,000-point scale. Between 10 and 14 months of usage, satisfaction tends to decline by an average of 20 points.