A.M. NEWSCAST: Chrysler's Super Bowl surprise | January sales winners, losers | NADA's energy appeal

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Follow Us:     February 4, 2013

Chrysler's ad surprise »    Jan. winners, losers »    NADA's energy appeal »

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WEEKLY: 'AutoNation' now a brand; who's next? | Fiat dealers welcome a surge of promised products | Who stood out during the Super Bowl?

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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Feb. 4, 2013 Follow Us:

Some of this week's top stories: AUTONATION COAST TO COAST 'AutoNation' now a brand; who's next? New retail model could trigger trend AutoNation Inc.'s move to put its corporate name on most of its stores signals the next wave for a dealership business model that has move ... Fiat dealers welcome a surge of promised products Fiat dealers in the United States, struggling to turn a profit selling versions of just one nameplate, got great news last week. The dealers will have ... Fiat, SRT almost fill U.S. dealership networks Chrysler Group's two smallest brands -- Fiat and SRT -- have nearly filled out their dealership rosters in the United States. Ralph Gilles, who heads ... 2013 SUPER BOWL REVIEW Auto advertisers hit it big in Super Bowl; Chrysler stands out Auto advertisers were back in force in the 2013 Super Bowl with commercials that were funny and touching -- with a few that just fell flat. Chrysler s ... Honda near ad agency choices Sources: Creative, buying may be split American Honda has narrowed the list of advertising agencies competing for its $900 million account, and incumbent RPA is still in the hunt to retain ... BEST PRACTICES Maybe the next franchise shouldn't be an auto brand Dealer buoys business with Payless rental, used-car operation To fortify his Hyundai-Kia retail business, Florida dealer Scott Dance has turned to a nontraditional franchise for daily rental cars and used-vehicle ... Editor's note: In the next few weeks, Automotive News will begin upgrading its email system. Watch your inbox for more information soon. Columns: KEITH CRAIN: The retail business changes again Just a few decades ago, if you wanted to buy a Zenith TV, you went to a Zenith store. That changed. It evolved a bit more last week when AutoNation sa ... PAUL MCVEIGH: Is fixing Opel a Mission Impossible? Opel's new CEO, Karl-Thomas Neumann, is an auto industry veteran, but he hasn't remained in a top job long enough to judge whether he will be successf ...   » 2/27 - Context Matters by Dataium   Archived Webinars » Online Reputation by Auto News » Operations Case Study by Microsoft » Mobile Savvy Car Buyers by MAX Systems » Beyond the vehicle by Covisint

Additional headlines:     » Lincoln to pay dealers for MKZ delays » Fired up for fuel cells » Nissan: Leaf sales to lag until U.S. plant restocks supply       » March 15 - Best Dealerships entry deadline » April 15 - PACE Awards » May 14 - Marketing Seminar - Los Angeles

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U.S. SALES REPORT: Toyota, Detroit 3 set pace as industry feeds on optimism

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February 1, 2013 Tell a colleague about this newsletter      Contact Us      Data Center   Editor's note: In the next few weeks, Automotive News will begin upgrading its email system. Watch your inbox for more information soon. Toyota, Detroit 3 set pace as industry feeds on optimism The Detroit 3 and Toyota led auto sales in the United States to a 14 percent gain last month as robust demand from November and December carried into the new year. ...  story    Winners and Losers % change in sales among major brands from Jan. 2012   Winners     Losers   1 Cadillac 47%   Lincoln -18% 2 Scion 38%   Mazda -11% 3 Dodge 37%   Jeep -4% 4 Lexus 32%   Smart -3% 4 Buick 32%   Suzuki -1% Toyota extends surge into 2013 Avalon deliveries, bolstered by demand for the all-new 2013 model, totaled 4,840, up 50 percent, in its first full-month of sales. LOS ANGELES -- Toyota Motor Corp.'s U.S. sales jumped 27 percent in January, echoing their increase for all of 2012 and signaling another year of market-share gains. A 26 percent increase for the Toyota Division – aided by fleet sales -- and a 32 percent advance at Lexus led the automaker to 157,725 sales for the month. The company's U.S. market share stood at 15.1 percent in January up from 13.6 percent a year earlier. Last year, Toyota gained 1.5 points of U.S. share and closed the gap behind No. 2 Ford Motor Co. while recovering from natural disasters in Asia. "The sales pace we saw in fourth quarter rolled right into January," said Bill Fay, Toyota Division general manager. "It was a great start for the year for Toyota. We started with a bit of apprehension with the fiscal cliff, new tax rates, January being a slower month and the year-end push in December."  story  GM sales rise 16% on pickups DETROIT -- General Motors sales rose 16 percent in January on sharper pickup sales and strong results for Cadillac and Buick. GM sold 194,699 vehicles in the month, the company said today. Chevrolet accounted for 71 percent of that total, up 11 percent but that was the smallest increase of GM's four brands. Cadillac sales jumped 47 percent, as retail sales at the luxury brand hit their highest level in 23 years, GM said. Buick sales rose 32 percent and GMC sales climbed 23 percent.  story  Volkswagen finally loses some steam After three straight years of double-digit U.S. sales gains, Volkswagen Group began 2013 with a 9 percent advance -- its first monthly increase below 10 percent since January 2011. The automaker sold 29,018 VW brand vehicles in January, up 7 percent from the same month last year. Audi sales rose 8 percent to 10,056, while Porsche soared 32 percent to 3,358. Throughout 2012, the VW brand -- the top-selling division for the German automaker -- routinely posted sales increases of 30 percent or more. Volkswagen of America CEO Jonathan Browning warned at the Detroit auto show last month that the brand could not grow at such a brisk pace indefinitely. He echoed that sentiment ...  story  BLOGS Jesse Snyder is senior writer for Automotive News   JESSE SNYDER How much longer can the good times roll? The auto industry in the United States is the healthiest I’ve ever seen it. Suppliers and automakers are matching production to supply without big incentives, managing capacity and developing attractive models. ...  Read the blog  Published: Feb 1 12:01 am U.S. Eastern time Ford sales rise 22%, paced by Fusion's 65% gain Spotty January for Honda; Accord, RDX surge Chrysler gain propelled by sedans and coupes New crossovers keep Nissan, Infiniti ahead for January Mercedes takes early U.S. luxury lead after outselling BMW Subaru gets off to a strong start Plug-in hybrid, EV sales drop sharply from December U.S. sales climb 14% on robust car, crossover, pickup demand Top selling light vehicles     Jan. 1 Ford F series 46,841 2 Chevrolet Silverado 35,445 3 Toyota Camry 31,897 4 Honda Accord 23,924 5 Toyota Corolla/Matrix 23,822 6 Ford Fusion 22,399 7 Honda Civic 21,881 8 Nissan Altima 21,464 9 Ram 20,474 10 Ford Escape 19,939 Top selling cars     Jan. 1 Toyota Camry 31,897 2 Honda Accord 23,924 3 Toyota Corolla/Matrix 23,822 4 Ford Fusion 22,399 5 Honda Civic 21,881 6 Nissan Altima 21,464 7 Ford Focus 16,161 8 Chevrolet Malibu 15,823 9 Toyota Prius 15,772 10 Chevrolet Cruze 14,524 Top selling light trucks     Jan. 1 Ford F series 46,841 2 Chevrolet Silverado 35,445 3 Ram 20,474 4 Ford Escape 19,939 5 Honda CR-V 17,809 6 Chevrolet Equinox 17,223 7 Ford Explorer 15,207 8 GMC Sierra 12,846 9 Toyota Tacoma 11,622 10 Toyota RAV4 11,610 Table sorted by year-to-date sales   Jan. 2013 Jan. 2012 % change Buick 13,463 10,208 32% Cadillac 13,116 8,924 47% Chevrolet 137,304 123,864 11% GMC 30,816 24,966 23% General Motors 194,699 167,962 16% Ford division 161,672 131,173 23% Lincoln 4,191 5,121 -18% Ford Motor Co. 165,863 136,294 22% Lexus 16,211 12,274 32% Scion 4,893 3,535 38% Toyota Division 136,621 108,731 26% Toyota/Scion 141,514 112,266 26% Toyota Motor Sales 157,725 124,540 27% Chrysler Division 20,696 17,604 18% Dodge 43,227 31,454 37% Ram 20,987 18,470 14% Dodge/Ram 64,214 49,924 29% Fiat 2,503 1,911 31% Jeep 30,318 31,710 -4% Chrysler Group 117,731 101,149 16% Acura 9,489 8,381 13% Honda Division 84,137 74,628 13% American Honda Motor Co. 93,626 83,009 13% Infiniti 7,126 6,796 5% Nissan Division 73,793 72,517 2% Nissan North America 80,919 79,313 2% Hyundai division 43,713 42,694 2% Kia 36,302 35,517 2% Hyundai-Kia 80,015 78,211 2% Audi 10,056 9,354 8% Bentley 188 118 59% Lamborghini* 46 43 7% Porsche 3,358 2,550 32% VW division 29,018 27,208 7% VW Group Of America 42,666 39,273 9% Subaru 27,663 22,807 21% Maybach - 4 -100% Mercedes-Benz 23,578 21,225 11% Smart USA 481 496 -3% Daimler AG 24,059 21,725 11% Mazda 21,319 23,996 -11% BMW division 16,513 16,405 1% Mini 3,682 3,334 10% Rolls-Royce* 38 32 19% BMW Group 20,233 19,771 2% Jaguar 1,029 985 5% Land Rover 4,200 3,205 31% Jaguar Land Rover N.A. 5,229 4,190 25% Volvo Cars N.A. 4,875 4,461 9% Mitsubishi 4,659 4,711 -1% Suzuki 1,486 1,505 -1% Maserati 172 154 12% Other** 253 246 3% U.S. LIGHT VEHICLE 1,043,192 913,317 14% Highlights Mfgr. highest volume - Jan.   GM   194,699 Mfgr. gained the most volume - Jan.   Toyota Motor Sales   33,185 Mfgr. lost the most volume - Jan.   Mazda   (2,677) Mfgr. highest % increase - Jan.   Toyota Motor Sales   27% Mfgr. biggest % drop - Jan.   Mazda   -11%           Brand highest volume - Jan.   Ford   161,672 Brand gained the most volume - Jan.   Ford   30,499 Brand lost the most volume - Jan.   Mazda   (2,677) Brand highest % increase - Jan.   Cadillac   47% Brand biggest % drop - Jan.   Lincoln   -18% To view other breaking news stories throughout the day, visit autonews.com To unsubscribe from this email newsletter, please click here. Automotive News is located at 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, Michigan, 48207 DAILY: U.S. sales climb 14% on robust car, crossover, pickup demand | Ford adds Lincoln MKZ inspectors to speed launch | Chrysler wins ruling against 2 dismissed dealerships Click here to open this newsletter in a Web browser       DAILY NEWSLETTER February 1, 2013 Follow Us:          Editor's note: In the next few weeks, Automotive News will begin upgrading its email system. Watch your inbox for more information soon. JANUARY U.S. AUTO SALES U.S. sales climb 14% on robust car, crossover, pickup demand SAAR hits 15.3 million, just below December U.S. auto sales, led Toyota Motor and the Detroit 3, rose 14 percent in January, giving the industry a bigger lift to begin 2013 than analysts expected. Demand pushed the seasonally adjusted sales rate to 15.3 million, slightly below December's 15.4-million rate but well above January 2012's 13.97 million. ... >> story  Published: Feb 1 8:00 am U.S. Eastern time / UPDATED: 2/1/13 4:40 p.m. ET Ford adds Lincoln MKZ inspectors to speed launch Michigan crew will aid Mexican assembly plant Ford, seeking to speed deliveries of the 2013 Lincoln MKZ to dealers, is shipping some of the sedans to Michigan for quality inspections that can't be handled fast enough at the car's Mexican assembly plant. ... >> story  Published: Feb 1 1:11 pm U.S. Eastern time Advertisement Experience docuPAD® Gain consumer trust and profitability with an interactive F&I environment. docuPAD, a part of Reynolds Retail Management System, transforms the way consumers experience your dealership. Users increase F&I gross 13.5% on average. Click to learn how. Chrysler wins U.S. ruling against two dismissed dealerships A federal judge has ruled against two Chrysler Group dealerships in New York whose owners lost their franchises as part of the automaker’s 2009 bankruptcy. ... >> story  Published: Feb 1 4:31 pm U.S. Eastern time GM sales rise 16 percent on stout pickup sales General Motors sales rose 16 percent in January on sharper pickup sales and strong results for Cadillac and Buick. ... >> story  Published: Feb 1 11:59 am U.S. Eastern time Automakers' Super Bowl spots rule YouTube Carmakers' Super Bowl commercials so far are dominating viewership among the big game's ads on YouTube, the social-media video site. ... >> story  Published: Jan 31 5:08 pm U.S. Eastern time   Automotive News Blogs Lincoln's Super Bowl sign of the 'alpacalypse' NICK BUNKLEY: Last year, General Motors ran a Super Bowl spot asserting that the Chevrolet Silverado is the only truck strong enough to survive an apocalypse. Now, Ford is showing us what happens when its Lincoln MKZ encounters an "alpacalypse." ...  Read the blog  Published: Feb 1 10:13 am U.S. Eastern time / UPDATED: 2/1/13 4:35 pm ET - adds quotes from Matt VanDyke     » 2/27 - Context Matters by Dataium   Archived Webinars » Online Reputation by Auto News » Operations Case Study by Microsoft » Mobile Savvy Car Buyers by MAX Systems » Beyond the vehicle by Covisint         » March 15 - Best Dealerships entry deadline » April 15 - PACE Awards » May 14 - Marketing Seminar - Los Angeles     Automotive News' top 5 news stories of the week 1. AutoNation to put its own name on most dealerships 2. Chrysler bolsters plan for Fiat, Alfa in U.S. 3. GM, in more marketing shifts, names new ad boss for Cadillac, report says 4. GM's Opel names former VW exec Neumann as CEO 5. Costco-GM promotion proves value of 90-day sales drives     Ford sued in the U.K. by over 1,400 ex-employees on Visteon pension switch Ford was sued by more than 1,400 former United Kingdom workers for making misleading statements about the security of transferring their pensions to Visteon during the 2000 spinoff of the auto-parts company. ... >> story  Published: Feb 1 11:33 am U.S. Eastern time   GM offers two years' free maintenance to GMC Sierra buyers GMC is launching a free-maintenance promotion for Sierra pickup buyers with an advertising campaign that kicks off this weekend. ... >> story  Published: Feb 1 9:00 am U.S. Eastern time   Mercedes takes early U.S. luxury lead after outselling BMW Mercedes-Benz sales in the United States surged 11 percent in January, getting an early jump on its effort to top BMW in luxury auto sales for the year. ... >> story  Published: Feb 1 3:26 pm U.S. Eastern time   Detroit 3 boost Canada sales in January The Detroit 3 automakers posted gains last month in Canada, helped by demand for fuel-efficient passenger cars and mirroring robust sales in the United States last month. ... >> story  Published: Feb 1 2:43 pm U.S. Eastern time / UPDATED: 2/1/13 3:17 pm ET - adds GM figures   Toyota tops car brands in U.S. consumer perception, survey says Toyota again topped an annual consumer survey on brand perception in the United States released today as all the top automakers' scores rose from last year. ... >> story  Published: Feb 1 12:16 am U.S. Eastern time   Daimler will buy 12% stake in Beijing Auto's car unit Daimler will pay 640 million euros ($872 million) for a 12 percent stake in the car unit of Chinese partner Beijing Automotive and get two seats on the board, the company said today. ... >> story  Published: Feb 1 6:04 am U.S. Eastern time   Denso raises profit outlook, sees yen boost for cars, suppliers Global auto supplier Denso today raised its annual profit forecast by 6.7 percent to 240 billion yen ($2.6 billion), helped by a weakening yen that also benefits its Japanese customers including Toyota. ... >> story  Published: Feb 1 2:22 pm U.S. Eastern time   Lear posts strong Q4 profits on higher North American sales Seating and electronics supplier Lear said strong gains in North America powered improved fourth quarter profits. The spike of auto sales in Lear's home market overcame a slight drop in Europe, where the auto industry continues its downward trend. ... >> story  Published: Feb 1 9:38 am U.S. Eastern time   Plug-in hybrid, EV sales drop sharply from December U.S. sales of plug-in electric cars started 2013 slowly, as demand of the Chevrolet Volt, the Toyota Prius plug-in and Nissan Leaf each posted deep declines in January from December. ... >> story  Published: Feb 1 4:41 pm U.S. Eastern time To view other breaking news stories throughout the day, visit autonews.com To unsubscribe from this email newsletter, or to sign up for more email products, please click here. Automotive News is located at 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, Michigan, 48207 Subscribe to: Posts (Atom) Links Autoblog The Car Lovers Magazine ClassicCar.com wheels bio Motor Trend Loading... Alfa Romeos Loading... Powered by Blogger.