Products Apparently So Good, They Needed Little Improvement.
Nissan’s current Frontier and Xterra were introduced for the 2005MY. Four years later, they came to the showroom with minor changes. And though Nissan is planning a retreat from the full-size pickup-truck business, due to a product-sharing agreement with Chrysler that still has time to implode, executives tell us work is underway on the next iteration of Frontier, Xterra, and Pathfinder. We’ve got a couple of years before those arrive, and Nissan says they keyed 2009 changes at providing more of the attributes customers already know and love their Xterras and Frontiers for.

continue reading "First Drive: 2009 Nissan Frontier and Xterra"

On one hand, it’s the best idea in human history: Dad drives the minivan, and while little Pashley is engrossed in her Dora DVDs, mom can e-mail her sister about how ill-advised this trip is, Junior can watch a panda get hit in the junk on YouTube, and Sister can do whatever it is those damn kids do in their Facespaces or Mybooks or what have you.

On the other hand, it’s the Internet in the car. Well, there’s a brilliant plan with absolutely no flaws, don’t you think?

continue reading "500 Miles to Ironforge"

Are we nearing the end of Chrysler? Or the beginning of a new blended family? Or just another day at the rumor mill?
Late on Friday, the first stories began appearing about GM and Chrysler in possible merger talks. And at least in Detroit, dominated the weekend news cycle. GM’s stock went up this morning, but given that the Dow was up 5.6% and GM went up only about 3%, the stock bump might have happened without merger talk. GM closed on Friday at $4.89, a number some say is actually less than the company would be worth in capital assets alone.

continue reading "Exhaust Notes #32: More Detroit Merger Talk"

continue reading "Toyota 4Runner Wins 2008 AutoPacific Motorist Choice Award for Premium Mid-Size SUV"

On August 3, I finally returned to one of my favorite summer events, the annual Meadow Brook Concours d’ Elegance. Held the first weekend of August every year since 1979, this Concours is one of the premier events of its type. Not quite as prestigious as the Pebble Beach Concours happening the weekend of August 16 (yes, the same weekend as Detroit’s Woodward Dream Cruise), Meadow Brook has earned a strong reputation. For me, it’s simply a chance to wander among cars from storied brands of today and yesterday. Delahaye, Packard, Auburn, Duesenburg, Pierce-Arrow, Studebaker, Peugeot, Ferrari, Cadillac, Lincoln, Chrysler, Rolls-Royce, the list goes on and on.

continue reading "2008 Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance"

VehicleVoice correspondent Jim Hossack attended a 2009 Ford F-150 driving preview - and reports that it was well worth it. The Dodge Ram is the other big truck news of this season, so we decided to bring you reviews of both trucks this week.

Hossack says Ford put on a very thorough, very professional series of presentation, with plenty of opportunity to evaluate the new F-150 and facing competition under a variety of circumstances. Hossack was about as impressed with the passion and enthusiasm of the guys working on the program as with the truck itself.

continue reading "2009 Ford F-150: First Drive"

This week, I sat down for the sales conference calls from Ford and Chrysler. How are things, you ask, or don’t, as the case may be? Well, they’re both down about 35 percent. On the bright side, no one cried on the phone.

continue reading "Road Noise: Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Dial Here"

Methodology
September sales data are in, and as just about everybody knows, total vehicle sales are down, not a little, but a lot, for all manufacturers and all segments.

But how are pickups doing as a share of industry and within segment? Who is winning and who is losing ground? There are lots of ways to look at the data, and they all have pros and cons, but I prefer to look at CYTD (calendar year to date) numbers rather than monthly numbers, and compare those with the prior full calendar year. That method tends to iron out monthly swings (as September this year versus September last year would highlight), and provides a constant base from which to judge how the year is progressing. And I like to focus on segment share and vehicle share of segment data rather than the absolute numbers.

continue reading "Pickup Truck Sales, September 2008 CYTD"

Ah yes, the Mercury Milan, the upscale sister ship to the Ford Fusion. Aimed at younger buyers who want something a little more sophisticated than the Dodge Avenger or Mitsubishi Galant. Mercury aims the Milan at the Nissan Altima, Honda Accord and Toyota Camry buyer. We definitely wanted to take a closer look.

continue reading "2008 Mercury Milan - Boring but Good"

Is there no end to the bad news this year? Mortgage crisis. Sky-high fuel prices. Financial institutions dropping like flies. A steadily warming planet. And of course, rapidly declining auto sales. The last time things were this bad, disco was in, aesthetics and design were taking a huge leap backwards, and we were all driving ugly, emasculated, smog-controlled cars that were a sad echo of the fast and passionately styled cars of just a few short years past. Yes people, I’m talking about the 1970s, an era that Jalopnik.com, one of our favorite fellow automotive blogs, refers to as the Malaise Era.

continue reading "Exhaust Note #30: It’s the 1970s All Over Again! Or Is It?"