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Which were the best-performing brands and automakers in 2011? We’ll tell you, and the answers may be surprising. The top two best-performing brands surprised us. Jeep led the pack with a 44.04-percent sales increase for the year, followed by Mitsubishi, whose sales jumped 40.07 percent.

Behind those two are the two brands we knew early on would have great years: Kia and Volkswagen. Kia gained significant ground on fellow South Korean automaker Hyundai last year by posting a larger sales increase for the year, 36.27 percent to 19.97 percent, respectively. Volkswagen, meanwhile, proved everyone wrong who questioned its decision to make the redesigned Jetta more cost competitive with a sales gain of 26.21 percent for the year on the back of that little compact car’s 54.5-percent increase in sales.

The bottom of our table is also not surprisingly occupied almost entirely by Toyota, Honda and their luxury brands, which are joined by Infiniti and Lincoln. One could too easily argue that Toyota’s and Honda’s sales trouble in the U.S. last year had everything to do with natural disasters and their effect on production, but that would be ignoring their aging fleet of products, some not-so-well-received redesigns and how much more fierce their competition has become.

Finally, since we teased you last month with a select group of particular sales races we were interested in, we thought we’d let you know which models won.

• 2011 Best-Selling Minivan: Toyota Sienna (111,429), Dodge Caravan (110,862)
• 2011 Best-Selling Pony Car: Chevrolet Camaro (88,249), Ford Mustang (70,438)
• 2011 Best-Selling Small Car: Toyota Corolla (240,258) vs. Chevy Cruze (231,732)
• 2011 Best-Selling Mid-Size Sedan behind Camry (308,510) and Altima (268,981): Ford Fusion (248,067), Honda Accord (235,625)

*Brands and companies are displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 307 selling days in 2011 and 306 selling days in 2010, so the change in monthly sales volume will be different than the change in average daily sales rate (DSR) for each brand/company.

2011: Onward and Upward Edition

The December sales numbers are in, most of them anyway, and what we’re seeing is an end to the year that largely mirrors the months that came before.

Our usual players are at the top of the list in green, including Chrysler, which lead all brands last month with an 82.56-percent increase in monthly sales to end the year. Credit goes to the redesigned 200 sedan, which sold over 760% more units in December than the Sebring did the year before, and the redesigned 300, which itself enjoyed a 242% increase in sales.

Not far behind are other brands that have been performing well all year long, like Kia with a 42.52-percent gain in sales (the Soul eclipsed the 100,000 annual sales mark in December by selling 9,624 units), and Volkswagen with a 36.18-percent jump.

Last month we also witnessed the last few gasps of breath for Saab, which packed it in by selling just 270 units in December. Other brands that have been operating in the red band of our spectrum all year long finished much the same way. Toyota barely eeked out more sales than the year before with a slight 1.9-percent gain, while its luxury division Lexus, as well as Honda and Acura, were all behind their 2010 numbers.

NYR = Not Yet Reported

*Brands and companies are displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 27 selling days in December 2011 and 27 selling days in December 2010, so the change in monthly sales volume will be the same as the change in average daily sales rate (DSR) for each brand/company.

December 2011: Same As It Ever Was Edition

Toyota launched a total of 13 recall campaigns in 2011 covering over 3.5 million vehicles. Those figures put the Japanese automaker at the top of the most-recalled list for the third year in a row, according to Ward’s Auto. Between 2009 and 2010, Toyota recalled nearly 11.5 million vehicles in North America for a variety of reasons, including troublesome floor mats and sticky accelerators tied to the company’s unintended acceleration woes. The company says that around 85 percent of vehicles involved in the pedal recall have been fixed, with lower volume models continuing to trickle into dealers.

But Toyota wasn’t the only automaker with recall woes in 2011. Ford found itself in second place for the number of vehicles recalled this year with 10 campaigns covering 3.2 million vehicles. For its part, General Motors issued a total of 21 recalls, but the fixes involved far fewer vehicles: 455,901. All told, Ward’s says automakers issued 130 recalls in 2011, down from 136 campaigns in the U.S. last year.

Toyota tops recall list again in 2011, overall number of U.S. recalls down

We’ve seen Romeo Ferraris tune all manner of vehicles, but oddly none from the automaker with which it shares the first part of its name. That’s all changing, but not with a current Alfa Romeo model. For their latest project, RF has turned its attention to the recently discontinued Alfa Romeo Brera.

Long considered one of the most beautiful designs mired by a substandard chassis, the Brera went out of production over a year ago. But to give it one last swan song, Romeo Ferraris has teamed up with venerable Alfa tuning firm Autodelta. Together, they’ve given the Brera’s 3.2-liter V6 a supercharger, intercooler, custom exhaust and remapped ECU to boost power up by 97 horsepower for a more substantial 353 hp. That’s tipped to drop the 0-62 time down to five seconds and the top end up to 162 mph.

Naturally a full body kit is also part of the package, as is an adjustable suspension and (we would hope) upgraded brakes as well. A fitting goodbye to one of the best-looking cars ever to grace the roads – and one that will hopefully keep it on them for years to come.

Romeo Ferraris and Autodelta team up for a supercharged goodbye to the Alfa Romeo Brera

Honda is still looking for a few needles in its haystack of 2001-2003 models, as it expands a recall that dates back to 2008. The recall concerns defective driver’s airbag inflators, and it’s a serious issue, one that has already resulted in a dozen injuries and at least one death.

The recall covers the 2001 and 2002 Accord, 2001 to 2003 Civic, 2001 to 2003 Odyssey, 2002 and 2003 CR-V, 2003 Pilot, 2002 and 2003 Acura 3.2 TL and 2003 Acura 3.2 CL. This latest expansion of the recall is necessary because Honda still hasn’t found all the defective parts, with 640 of the inflators still unaccounted for. Some were sold as service parts, meaning that their whereabouts cannot be easily traced.

“Because Honda is unable to determine the specific vehicles that may have received the affected service parts through existing information,” said Honda’s statement, “Honda will inspect an additional approximately 603,000 vehicles and replace those parts as necessary.”

Honda will be contacting affected owners by mail later in the month, and the information will also be available on the Honda and Acura websites at www.recalls.honda.com and www.recalls.acura.com. The automaker’s official press release is available after the jump.

Continue reading Honda expands airbag recall again, still searching for 640 airbags

Honda expands airbag recall again, still searching for 640 airbags

U.S. auto sales during the month November were up on the backs of companies like Chrysler, Volkswagen and Kia, all three of which reported major gains for their respective brands. The Chrysler Group in particular posted positive numbers for all four of its brands, including a spectacular 92.23-percent rise in sales for the Chrysler brand itself. Volkswagen and Kia didn’t perform quite as well, but each managed gains of around 40 percent.

This time, Honda stands alone as the only major automaker to post a sales decline in November. The Japanese automaker’s brands (Honda and Acura) together posted a drop of 6.35 percent. Toyota, which had been keeping Honda company they each struggled with restoring production after this year’s series of natural disasters, had a relatively decent November with identical gains of 6.68 percent for both Toyota and Lexus.

Being the second-last month of the year, you may be interested to know how some close model-to-model sales races are shaping up. Here are the year-to-date sales races that will be decided in the last month of sales, as well as always-interesting Camaro versus Mustang numbers.

• Best-Selling Minivan: Toyota Sienna (99,865) vs. Dodge Caravan (98,983)
• Best-Selling Pony Car: Chevrolet Camaro (81,495) vs. Ford Mustang (65,381)
• Best-Selling Small Car: Toyota Corolla (219,250) vs. Chevy Cruze (215,057)
• #3 Best-Selling Mid-Size (behind Camry and Altima): Ford Fusion (226,445) vs. Honda Accord (217,958)

*Brands and companies are displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 25 selling days in November 2011 and 24 selling days in November 2010, so the change in monthly sales volume will be different than the change in average daily sales rate (DSR) for each brand/company.

November 2011: Black Friday Edition

That things happen fast in Formula One is a given. But just how fast things can turn around is also liable to twist your head around at breakneck speeds.

While the United States has not hosted a Formula One grand prix since 2007, within two years’ time it will once again host two. The first we already know about: the United States Grand Prix will join the calendar next season in Austin, Texas (of all places) at the purpose-built Circuit of the Americas. But after much anticipation, officials today announced a second grand prix to be held here in the U.S. along the banks of the Hudson River.

The race, officially to be known as the Grand Prix of America, will be held on a new 3.2-mile street course being carved out of the New Jersey towns of West New York and Weehawken, offering the New York skyline as a panoramic backdrop. The grand prix is currently scheduled for June 2013, when it is expected to draw upwards of 100,000 race fans.

Grand Prix of America bringing F1 to New Jersey in 2013

In the sixth major software update to Ford’s SYNC system, the automaker is extending Message Access Protocol (MAP) Bluetooth support to select 2011 and 2012 models, giving drivers the ability to have text messages and emails read aloud in their SYNC-equipped vehicles.

MAP Bluetooth support has been available on a number of Ford vehicles since its introduction this year, but the software update (G1 V3.2.2) extends the functionality to supported a number of bluetooth equipped smartphones to allow users to hear SMS, MMS and email messages over the stereo. The update is set to roll out later this month and you can get all the details in the press blast below the fold.

Continue reading Ford extending MAP text support to more models

Ford extending MAP text support to more models

The year was 1978, and Norbert Singer was tasked with building the ultimate Group 5 Porsche 935. His sole objective was to deliver a win at Le Mans. Singer went immediately to work and pushed the FIA’s rules to deliver a lower, wider and more aerodynamic 935 than anyone expected. With a white body and a characteristic long swooping tail, it was dubbed “Moby Dick,” after Herman Melville’s great white whale.

But don’t get the impression that Moby Dick was just an aero kit on a 935, as there were other less visible changes to the race car.

The turbocharged flat six was bumped up to displace 3.2 liters and fitted with water-cooled heads. When it was time to race, the four-valve engine developed 750 horsepower. Since the Le Mans circuit runs clockwise, the driver’s seat was moved to the right to optimize weight distribution. On the Mulsanne Straight, it could hit a blistering 235 mph.

Moby Dick qualified third at Le Mans in 1978, behind two Group 6 prototypes (Renault Alpine and a Porsche 936). While it was the fastest on the straights, it finished in eighth place after an oil leak became an issue. It ran in two more races that year before Porsche retired it to the museum. Three clones were eventually built, and they raced well into the 1980s.

Rennsport Reunion IV: 1978 Porsche 935 “Moby Dick”

“You’ve never heard of the 1977 Star Wars Celica? Kids, it’s the car that was the grand prize in the Star Wars Space Fantasy Sweepstakes.” It most likely started life as a 1977 Celica LiftBack GT Pace Car, an extra-flared, spoilered-up version of the coupe that already looked like a three-quarter scale muscle car. Delphi Auto Design of Costa Mesa, California lavished the bodywork with a custom paint job featuring galactic nebula, TIE fighters, X-Wings, and a lovingly airbrused recreation of the Tom Jung poster art on the hood. Pete Vilmur has been looking for this car for a long time, and he’s probably the foremost expert on it, but still, nothing has emerged from the ether.

The trail goes colder than Hoth after 1977, when the contest, a joint effort between Toyota and Twentieth Century Fox, picked its award winners. No record of the car’s VIN can be found, nor can the name of a winner. That may be due in part to Delphi Auto Design being caught in a legal imbroglio involving drug running, murder and income tax violation that tied up one of the main financiers of the business. There was a glimmer of hope in the form of an early-1980s classified ad listing the car for sale, but no record of that can be turned up, either.

So where is it? Who won it? Did it wind up like most Celicas from that era, attacked by tinworm or traded in on a newer car? It’s conceivable that the customized cosmos paint job was sprayed over at some point. Maybe the Celica just met an ignominious end somewhere during the Kessel Run. Nobody knows, but we’re all keen to find out.

The hunt is on for an official 1977 Star Wars Toyota Celica

Two mistakes. After six days of late nights bent over the route book with calculator in hand, long days of non-stop rallying and lengthy transits, we’ve covered over 2,200 kilometers, raced 41 stages and made two penalty-worthy mistakes. There simply aren’t words to convey the spectrum of emotions that accompanies the Targa Newfoundland, and the Flyin’ Miata crew experienced its fair share of highs and lows throughout. While Wednesday saw both teams leading their respective classes, Thursday had nasty surprises in store for both the V8 Roadster and the supercharged NC.

Due to a transcription error, I fouled the finish time for stage 4-5, Garnish. We were supposed to cover the 13.25 kilometers in 8:43; I directed Brandon to the finish in 8:51, which landed us three seconds of time-over penalty plus another four seconds of interim time-control penalties. That seven seconds alone knocked us off of the podium, but the last stage of the day, Marystown North, saw an additional 7 seconds tacked onto our time after we missed the first turn and were forced to turn around.

Continue reading…

Continue reading Flyin Miata at Targa Newfoundland, Part 5: The final days

Flyin Miata at Targa Newfoundland, Part 5: The final days

Whenever cottage industry supercars come up, Lee Noble’s name at least gets a mention. Noble is the man behind the unbelievable Noble M12 and M400; part supercars, part kit cars that Noble designed, built and marketed from a garage in England.

Now, Noble has teamed up with Polish firm Arrinera to bring its supercar to life. Featuring acres of carbon fiber and a Chevrolet Corvette ZR1-sourced mill, the car is should hit 60 in just 3.2 seconds, and can reportedly do the 0-124-0 sprint in 14.3 seconds. That’s fast by anyone’s measure.

No word on what kind of pricing you can expect yet, but the car should be available as a 2013 model. Though Lee Noble only owns five percent of the company, his expertise in getting boutique rockets to market certainly can’t hurt Arrinera’s chances.

Arrinera links up with Lee Noble’s Fenix

BMW is apparently the Ultimate Selling Machine. The German automaker has retained the title of top luxury brand after its most successful July in history, moving 108,721 units for the month. Overall sales are up 17.9 percent for the entire BMW Group through the first seven months of the year.

One of the BMW products moving off lots quickly is the redesigned X3. Sales of the compact crossover rose 193.2 percent, which equates to 9,763 units finding a new home in July. The X5 also helped total volume numbers by improving 51.7 percent in July, with 24,196 examples sold.

With 106,000 total sales in July, Audi isn’t very far behind, and it hopes to stand in the top spot ahead of BMW by 2015. BMW is aiming for 1.6 million in sales this year, while Audi is shooting for 1.2 million. Mercedes-Benz came in at number three with 100,391 units sold in July.

BMW leads global sales race among luxury brands through July, Audi second originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We launched Autoblog 5.0 just a few weeks ago, and now we’re updating the site based on your feedback. Some are changes you can’t see that will make the site perform better across all of the various operating systems, browsers and mobile devices on which it might be viewed. Below, however, are the most requested updates that you can experience right away.

Preferences

The new Preferences window can be accessed by clicking the gear icon beside the search field in the top navigation bar. Preferences lets you choose to have the top news carousel expanded or hidden when the site loads, as well as choosing Blog View, Quick Scan View, Videos or Photos as your default view. It also lets you disable Lazy Loading…

Disable Lazy Loading

Lazy Loading lets the site load images as you scroll down, which means your computer won’t download images you can’t see. For those who don’t like the experience, however, Lazy Loading can now be disabled in the Preferences window. We recommend that if you choose to view the full site on a mobile device like an iPhone, iPad or Android device, you disable Lazy Loading for a smoother experience.

Mobile users should also try i.autoblog.com or m.autoblog.com for the least bandwidth-intensive version of the site, and the Autoblog iPhone app works on both the iPhone and the iPad. And yes, we are developing an Android version of the app and a unique Autoblog iPad app.

Google+

A Google+ button has been added to our suite of sharing options.

Red Ribbons Above Titles

A reader suggested that we put the red ribbons above article titles instead of next to them, and even went to the trouble of mocking up for us what it would like. We liked it better, so we did it. I would properly thank him by name if I were able to find his original email, but a general thanks will have to do since I’m not.

Large Gallery View

The Large gallery view now displays the full quality version of native images with no downsampling, blurriness or pixelation.

Sitemap

There’s now a sitemap page where you can see all of Autoblog’s pages at a glance. There’s a link to it at the very bottom of the page.

Autoblog 5.0 updated with Preferences, Google+ and more originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Thu, 04 Aug 2011 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In the 1930s, the Bugatti Type 57 was, apart from its grand prix racers, the only vehicle offered by Molsheim. It gave rise to several body types, the most famous of which was the iconic Atlantic, but those represented only a handful of the 710 Type 57s that were built over its seven years of production.

Relying primarily on third-party coachbuilders, most of Type 57s were bodied as coupes, a handful as sedans, but a few were fitted with open-top coachwork. RM Auctions is offering one such Grand Raid Roadster at Pebble Beach this year, and has now released details of a second convertible 57 set to join it on the auction block.

This Stelvio Cabriolet with coachwork by Gangloff of Colmar was believed to have been commissioned by the Pernod family (of aperitif distillation fame), and has a fully documented history from its 74 years of ownership since. Well cared for and properly maintained, this Stelvio has its original 3.2-liter inline-eight and four-speed gearbox and is expected to fetch between $700,000 and $800,000. Follow the jump for the full details.

Continue reading ‘38 Bugatti Type 57 Stelvio Cabriolet hitting the auction block in Monterey

‘38 Bugatti Type 57 Stelvio Cabriolet hitting the auction block in Monterey

Porsche is planning a full-on return to Le Mans in 2014, and while the German marque may be the most successful in the iconic race’s history, the last time it took an overall victory there was in 1998 with the 911 GT1.

The regulations for the GT1 class at the time mandated a limited run of homologated street versions, and that’s what you see here. Called the Straßenversion (that antiquated ß character in the German alphabet substituting for a double S), only 25 examples were made, and one’s up for sale.

As a street-legal road car, the 911 GT1 Straßenversion followed the 959 and preceded the Carrera GT at the top of Porsche’s lineup. While most were fitted with a version of the competition-spec 3.2-liter flat six with 536 horsepower, the seller of this particular example says his has been re-tuned to 690 hp. The car’s asking price is €1.2 million (about $1.7 million), and it’s currently located in Japan.

Online Find of the Day: 1997 Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion

Japanese Brands Still Struggling, U.S. Brands Still Growing

U.S. auto sales last month were again marked by Japan’s two largest automakers, Toyota and Honda, struggling to increase production levels following the country’s debilitating earthquake and tsunami back in March. Sales for both automakers and their premium brands, Lexus and Acura, remain down sharply compared to June 2010, with all four brands plus Nissan’s luxury arm, Infiniti, reporting the five worst sales figures in the U.S. last month. Nissan, however, bucked the trend with a 16.7% rise in sales.

America’s Big 3 automakers, meanwhile, continued to post impressive sales gains while gobbling up market share from their Asian competitors. The Chrysler Group improved the most, with sales of its four brands (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram) increasing over 30% to 120,394 units in June – enough to move the Auburn Hills-based automaker past Toyota Motor Company for the month. Don’t expect Chrysler to keep that ranking for long, however, as Toyota and Honda are well on their way to restoring production to pre-earthquake levels.

Other foreign makes, particularly Kia (41.18%) and Volkswagen (35.12%), posted aggressively positive sales number in June. Even smaller niche brands like Saab (49.54%) and Volvo (42.14%) have something to celebrate, though not as much as Mitsubishi, which posted the month’s largest sales gain of 97.69%.

Here are some more interesting sales numbers on individual models for June 2011:

• Volkswagen Jetta sales up 88.3% over last year to an all-time record 17,105 units
• Mustang beat Camaro: 8,835 to 8,486
• Ford Explorer sales up 106.6% YTD
• Kia Optima sales up 573% YTD
• Chevrolet Cruze (24,896), Ford Focus (21,385), Hyundai Elantra (19,992), Toyota Corolla (18,872), Honda Civic (17,485)

*Brands and companies are displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 26 selling days in June 2011 versus 25 selling days in May 2010, so the change in monthly sales volume will be different than the change in average daily sales rate (DSR) for each brand/company. Also, brands are combined and reported as companies only if their sales figures are released jointly.

By the Numbers – June 2010: Summer Daze Edition

Our long-term 2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI started its year-long journey with us last month and spent the most amount of days in June under my care, so while I’ve already passed on its keys to a number of other editors, it’s my job to tell you how it fared in its first weeks.

As we mentioned when introducing our long-term Jetta TDI, this 2011 model is vastly different than the 2010 model we had last year. The most noticeable difference is that, unlike the 2010 Jetta and many model years before that, the 2011 doesn’t give a very good first impression. The exterior design is anonymous, the interior feels cheap, and every noise the car makes, of which there are lots, is anything but confidence inspiring.

The new Jetta, particularly when powered by diesel like our long-termer, impresses in ways that take more time to bubble up to the surface. You’re not going to know right away that it can easily clip along at a Prius-smacking 50+ miles per gallon on the highway, like it did for me on the numerous trips from Cleveland, OH to AOL’s offices in Dulles, VA. On my first trip to Dulles with the Jetta TDI, I was so shocked by the trip computer displaying an average of 53.2 mpg that I stopped near the end to fill up and manually calculate the fuel economy. The trip computer turned out to be conservative; I really averaged 53.31 mpg.

Keep your eyes locked on the official Autoblog Facebook page for the majority of our updates, as well as the official Autoblog Twitter account (@therealautoblog, look for the #ablongterm hashtag).

Continue reading 2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI, June 2011

2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI, June 2011

Driving shouldn’t be a stressful experience. Too often, however, piloting a motor vehicle can turn any driver into a raging psychopath, spewing forth creative expletives that would make even the most hardened construction worker blush. What are the top pain points for motorists? Motor Trend wanted to find out, and the buff book polled its readers to compile a list of the top five sources of irritation on the road:

1. Being stuck behind slow drivers – 43.5%
2. Inattentive drivers texting and talking on cell phones – 23.2%
3. Drivers that do not use turn signals – 16.1%
4. Aggressive drivers cutting through traffic – 10%
5. Drivers who refuse to turn right on red – 7.2%

Those results are pretty clear. Slow drivers are the scourge of our roadways, and we’re curious how many of the people in group four are created as a result of being in group one. Click past the jump to read the full press release from Motor Trend.

Continue reading Motor Trend polls readers to find Top Five Motoring Annoyances

Motor Trend polls readers to find Top Five Motoring Annoyances

The Nissan Juke is offered in two different drivetrain flavors: front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. When marketing the Juke early on, Nissan listed the gas tank capacity at 13.2-gallons. That’s true… for the front-wheel-drive model, however, the all-wheel-drive Juke has a smaller 11.6-gallon tank. Nissan caught the error and corrected it, but not before approximately 4,000 Juke owners purchased the all-wheel-drive Juke and assumed they had the larger tank.

Not content to simply issue an all-encompassing apology, Nissan is sending out letters to each one of those 4,000 Juke owners (out of the 22,000 folks who have so far purchased a Juke). But there is more than just a letter inside the envelope. Nissan is also including a check for $400. Head over to ConsumerSearch.com to read the letter that Nissan sent, then feel free sound off in the ‘Comments’ regarding the 400 bones.

Do you think this is a cool move by Nissan or would you still be upset as a Juke owner?

Why some Nissan Juke owners are getting a $400 check in the mail