Everything about favorite cars
27
Feb
Although some were optimistic that new car sales would bounce back during the first half of 2009, it looks as though sales will be bleak for the foreseeable future. According to a new forecast, February sales will be well off the pace of last year’s volume, with overall sales in 2009 likely to be lower than expected.
Per a new JD Power and Associates report, sales through the first 22 days of February were down 38 percent from the same period last year. Because of that small quantity, JD Power and Associates lowered its 2009 U.S. sales forecast from 11.4 million units to 10.4 million units.
Adjusting for the equal in number of selling days, February 2009 sales are expected to slip 34 percent, totaling just 580,000 vehicles. During February 2008, consumers purchased 913,000 vehicles.
“All automakers are feeling the economic pressure and the effects of record-low consumer confidence,” Gary Dilts, senior vice president of global automotive operations at JD Power, told just-auto. “Each one of the 10 major new vehicle manufacturers suffered a retail sales decline in early February, compared with one year ago.”
With most worst case scenario predictions for the U.S. market based on a 9 million to 10 million unit forecast, it looks as though the worst may still be ahead of us – no cause of distress how much bailout money is handed out.
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Feb
Although General Motors and Chrysler garnered early support from the U.S. people for their federally funded bailout plans, support is starting to drop facing as the situation is starting to look further like a bottomless pit rather than a hopeful turnaround.
When the notion of a publicly funded bailout plan was being thrown around for the two Michigan automakers back in December, 61 percent of the U.S. supported such a plan. However, as more light has been shed on automakers’ precarious positions – and $13.4 billion in cold hard cash has already been doled out — only 25 percent of Americans now support throwing additional tax dollars at GM and Chrysler, according to the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll.
“The more people understand what’s wrong with General Motors, the less willing they are to carry it,” Porter Stansberry, head of Stansberry & Associates Investment Research, told USA Today.
Moreover, only 51 percent of Americans think all three U.S. automakers will survive, down from 57 percent in December. And with GM’s most recent financial reports, we have gain reason to think those figures could sink even lower.
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Feb
Daimler’s Smart stigma has already announced it will be showing off a limited edition of its ForTwo city car at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, so it only seems fitting that Toyota will be using the same venue to reveal a new version of its iQ mini car.
The newest Toyota iQ model will be powered by a 1.3L four-cylinder, compared to a 1.0L three-cylinder in the standard car. The new powerplant will cause 99 horsepower – a 32 horsepower improvement over the 1.0L.
Despite the extra power on tap, the 1.3L car will actually be more fuel-efficient than its three-cylinder counterpart. Whereas the 1.0L returns about 55 mpg, the four-cylinder model will net around 59 mpg – thanks in large part to Toyota’s VVT-I and start-stop technology.
Toyota has yet to green light the iQ for the U.S. market – although the Japanese automaker did confirm it is considering the move – but it seems as though the larger mill would be victory suit for a U.S.-spec iQ, should it ever be given the be about ahead.
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