Inside the Industry

At least for one month, Nissan Altima best selling sedan in U.S.

(April 2, 2010) FRANKLIN, Tenn. — The Nissan Altima was the best-selling sedan in America in March. It's the first time ever that Altima, which has been on the market since 1993, has ever earned this distinction.

Nissan reports that 32,289 Altimas were sold in March beating out such front-runners as the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry.

March sales in Canada up 16 percent for Ford

(April 2, 2011) OAKVILLE, Ont. — Ford Motor Company of Canada saw sales increase 16 per cent compared to last March, and claims top spot for the first quarter with year-to-date sales up 9 per cent. Strong demand for fuel efficient vehicles drove Ford car sales up 31% in March with Fiesta delivering its best month since launch.

Ford edges GM in March sales

(April 1, 2011) Ford outsold General Motors in March for only the second time since 1998 in a month that saw industry sales up by a solid 17 percent despite worries over gas prices and shortages created by the Japanese earthquake.

Ford sold 212,295 vehicles in March topping GM by 5,674 units.

Kia reports seventh straight month of record sales

(April 1, 2011) IRVINE, Calif. (PRNewswire) — Kia Motors America (KMA) today announced its best ever monthly sales of 44,179, a 44.7-percent increase from March 2010, and a 34.7-percent increase over last month. This marks KMA's seventh consecutive month of record sales.

Chevrolet Cruze fuels GM sales

(April 1, 2011) DETROIT – March capped a successful quarter for General Motors in the United States. Retail sales surged 38 percent for its four brands, driven by demand for Chevrolet’s all-new Cruze compact sedan. In spite of a decline in incentives, dealers reported 206,621 total sales during March, an increase of 11 percent. This total included a 17 percent increase in retail sales, compared to March 2010.

World's fastest hauler — the BMW M3 pickup

(April 1, 2011) MUNICH, Germany — Following the BMW M3 Coupé, BMW M3 Convertible and BMW M3 Sedan, a fourth body variant of this globally successful high-performance sports car is about to cause a stir. Under the strictest secrecy, the world’s first high-performance pickup has been created at the BMW M GmbH development center.

Ford shows strong quarterly growth in India

(April 1, 2011) New Delhi, India — Ford India recorded a strong sales figures of 29,804 units during the quarter of January to March, 2011 marking a strong growth of 97 percent year-on-year as compared to 15,154 units in the same period last year.

With this accomplishment, production at Ford India has crossed 100,000 units in a single financial year (April 2010-March 2011), an achievement reached by very few Indian automobile manufacturers.

GM Fort Wayne Assembly builds 5.5 millionth vehicle

(April 1, 2011) FORT WAYNE, Ind. — After 5,499,999 trucks coming off the line at General Motors’ Fort Wayne Assembly Plant in a quarter century, the plant made a big deal of the next one — and Mike McPherson was on hand for every step of the process.

Toyota may lose production of 500,000 vehicles

(March 31, 2011) Post-earthquake troubles continue to mount for Toyota.

An analyst at Advanced Research in Japan said that Toyota may delay the production of at least 500,000 vehicles because of a shortage of parts and electricity after the nation's record earthquake.

Chevrolet introduces Mi-ray concept in Seoul

(March 31, 2011) SEOUL — Chevrolet introduced the 'mid-electric' hybrid Mi-ray concept today at the 2011 Seoul Motor Show. The roadster celebrates Chevrolet’s 100-year heritage of designing expressive vehicles in the brand’s newest market.

According to GM Korea President and CEO Mike Arcamone, “‘Mi-ray’ is Korean for ‘future.’