Automotive News - March 17, 2008 - (Page 10)

10 • MARCH 17, 2008 TIM DEESE’S Mercedes again is true-luxury king John K. Teahen Jr. Here we go again with the column guaranteed to anger every manufacturer, importer and dealer of “luxury” vehicles. It angers them because this analysis shows that many — in some cases, most — of their car-and-truck sales are not in the luxury class at all. For our purposes, a luxury vehicle is one with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $42,000 or more. Why $42,000? A now-expired federal luxury tax applied to vehicles that cost $40,000 or more. With inflation and price increases, I place the current true-luxury bar at $42,000. It would be nice to use transaction prices, but they are not available. Even if they were, I am not about to sort through nearly 1.9 million sales contracts. That’s the number of new vehicles sold last year by the 13 brands recognized as luxury class. Incentives, which cut the selling price, are not melded into the mix. For the second year in a row, Mercedes-Benz was the leading seller of true-luxury cars and trucks in 2007. With 189,576 such sales, it outpaced second-place Cadillac by more than 41,000 deliveries. BMW was third, and Lexus was a poor fourth. Lexus sold 105,328 cars and trucks priced above $42,000 last year. But it also sold 223,849 with stickers between $30,000 and $42,000. Lexus’ three best sellers — the ES and IS sedans and the RX crossovers — are in the $30,000-$42,000 range. Naturally, Lexus was the top seller of models in that lower price range, and BMW was a strong second. They also rank first and second in overall luxury-class sales. salestales Over $42,000 Here are 2007 U.S. sales of cars and light trucks over $42,000 by the major brands in the luxury segment. 2007 sales over $42,000 % of total sales MAKE Your PROGRESSIVE technology work BETTER by TRAINING your manager IN THE BASICS!!! Make 2008 you’re most profitable year. Let us show you how!! Call Joan 904 264 7408 or visit www.probac.com Training Used Car Managers for over 26 years John K. Teahen Jr. is senior editor of Automotive News. Lincoln posted a nifty 9.1 percent increase in sales last year, to 131,487. But in 2006, 72.5 percent of its sales were true luxury — over $42,000. Last year, that percentage plunged to 41.8 percent. Lincoln’s best sellers last year were the MKZ sedan and the MKX crossover. All models in those lines are priced in the low-to-mid $30,000 range. The 13 brands that we place in the luxury class sold 1,885,235 cars and trucks last year. Of those, 31,854 had stickers below $30,000. Strange but true; the luxury makes do offer such price leaders. Some other makes offer models above $30,000, but they are not considered part of the luxury class. Many of them are big pickups. Pickups are not luxury vehicles, although some are priced in that class. In this ranking, the luxury brands are Cadillac, Lincoln and Hummer from the United States; Lexus, Infiniti and Acura from Japan, and BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche, Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover from Europe. This analysis includes all brands that sold more than 5,000 new vehicles in the United States in 2007. You may e-mail John K. Teahen Jr. at jteahen@crain.com Action Events are generating RECO dealers across the country. What’s hot right now? ARE YOURS? RD-BREAKING RESULTS for Chevrolet Dealer - Lakeland, FL “Sold 40 cars during the CarFax Clearance, that’s 25 MORE THAN AVERAGE, and the GROSSES WERE HUGE! We’re making this event part of our used car marketing plan for the entire year.” Nissan Dealer - Phoenix, AZ “Not only was this a great sale, we saw the BEST CREDIT SCORES EVER plus we grossed an average of $2000 MORE PER UNIT and we took in better trades.” Dodge Dealer - Oklahoma City, OK “We had HIGHER GROSSES and BETTER QUALITY TRAFFIC with this event.” Mercedes-Benz Cadillac BMW Lexus Acura Lincoln Land Rover Audi Porsche Infiniti Volvo Hummer Jaguar Source: Automotive News 189,576 148,136 119,208 105,328 69,962 54,980 49,550 34,826 34,693 34,172 29,122 12,550 12,485 74.8 69.0 40.6 32.0 38.8 41.8 100.0 37.2 100.0 26.9 27.4 22.4 79.6 $30,000-$42,000 Here are 2007 U.S. sales of models in the $30,000-$42,000 range by the major brands in the luxury segment. 2007 sales $30,000 – $42,000 % of total sales www.ActionIM.com ACTION INTEGRATED MARKETING PROVIDES FULL-SERVICE & EVENT MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR DEALERSHIPS NATIONWIDE Get More Information Online At 800.478.8818 EXT. #152 Lexus BMW Acura Infiniti Lincoln Cadillac Mercedes-Benz Volvo Hummer Audi Jaguar LandRover Porsche Source: Automotive News 223,849 174,587 110,141 92,533 76,507 66,589 63,701 61,007 43,430 43,245 3,198 – – 68.0 59.4 61.2 72.8 58.2 31.0 25.2 57.4 77.6 46.2 20.4 – – Reach In-Market Buyers NOTICE OF FAIR SOLICITATION Offered to Dealers/Advertising Associations for the FIRST TIME, the DriverSource™ program offers advertising in State DMV Registration Renewal Notices providing: Miami, FL Delphi completes sale of interiors unit to Renco Ryan Beene autonews@crain.com Increased Showroom Trafﬁc and Sales High accuracy in targeting buyers Strong ROI Performance High Open Rate Segment/Category Exclusivity Currently the following DMAs are available: Boston, MA (State of Massachusetts Only) New York, NY (State of New York Only) Buffalo, NY Albany/Schenectady/Troy, NY Miami, FL ® New York, NY A Pitney Bowes Company For information on advertising Contact DriverSource by April ™ 4, 2008 Boston, MA 1-866-456-7860 DriverSourceSales@pb.com @ Note: Due to Category and Segment Exclusivity not all Segments and DMAs may be available. Imagitas may cancel any part of this solicitation at any time if Imagitas considers such action is in Imagitas’ and/or its partners’ best interest. DETROIT — Delphi Corp. finished the sale of its global interiors and closures business to a New York private equity firm. Separately, Delphi said it realigned its stakes in two overseas joint ventures and intends to sell other assets as it reorganizes under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Renco Group Inc., the private equity firm, acquired 17 facilities and more than 3,800 employees of Delphi’s global interiors and closures unit. On March 3, the unit was renamed Inteva Products LLC. Financial terms were not disclosed. “We are excited by the opportunity this acquisition has presented to invest in a low-cost automotive supplier with global growth opportunities,” Renco Group CEO Ira Rennert said in a statement. “Inteva’s engineering, design and manufacturing capabilities and global footprint position the company well for long-term profitable growth.” On Feb. 20, Delphi had identified Renco as the leading bidder for the $1.3 billion-a-year global interiors and closures unit. Inteva’s acquired assets include six factories and three technical centers in North America, five other facilities in Europe and Asia and three contract manufacturing plants. The unit’s product portfolio includes instrument panels, consoles, cockpits, door modules, window systems and closure systems. Delphi also divested from its Japanbased joint venture Calsonic Harrison Co., selling its 49 percent stake in the operation to Calsonic Kansei Europe PLC. In turn, Delphi bought the remaining 10 percent shares in Delphi Calsonic Hungary Ltd., a Hungarian joint venture, from Calsonic Kansei. The joint ventures make compact variable compressors. Separately, Illinois auto supplier Tenneco Inc. said it agreed to buy ride control assets and inventory from Delphi for about $19 million. About $10 million would pay for ride control parts inventory and the other $9 million would cover machinery and equipment. Tenneco also would lease some of Delphi’s plant in Kettering, Ohio, where the inventory and machinery are. The deal is subject to approval by the New York bankruptcy court where Delphi has been reorganizing since seeking Chapter 11 protection in October 2005. c http://www.probac.com http://www.probac.com http://www.ActionIM.com http://www.ActionIM.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Automotive News - March 17, 2008

Leases grow as alternative to long loans Toyota dealers balk at upgrades Up for grabs: China importer Testing Chevy's Camaro Escalade first vehicle to get full LED headlamps Hoops fans take a shot at China Toyota will cut Tundra, Sequoia production F-150's risk-reward strategy: Ramp up before the revamp As UAW, American Axle talk, CEO Dauch in Fla. Ex-GM purchasing executive indicted Court allows higher Plastech credit line Saab sticker prices rise as sales fall; will U.S.-built 9-7X offset losses? VW plant capacity in U.S.: 250,000 units Bad cruise control switch haunts Ford Continental plans to bring r&d in-house Rieter expects to increase its global footprint Stadler: Audi considers U.S. plant Another General charges into electric cars Toyota sees its first checkered flag as sign NASCAR's paying off A pickup may figure in Kia's future Analysts: Lampert no threat to AutoNation More likely to be spent to keep suppliers alive in '08 2 suppliers plan Alabama plants UAW seeks job guarantees to end American Axle strike Revolving door continues to spin at Nissan GM, top marketers to share research Electric power steering is grabbing the wheel Delphi completes sale of interiors unit to Renco Mercedes again is true-luxury king How electric power steering works It's time for dealer-factory collaboration Ford must close stores but remain open to diversity The small print Here's a question for Obama, Clinton Didn't you ever hear of a halo? Hurray for affordable performance cars Politics can age a car overnight Good for planet, good for GM What 'scientific consensus'? Lutz may be right but said it wrong Lutz had the courage to tell the truth Big Apple isn't very green 23 finalists in running for PACE honors Canada sales up 14.5% in Feb. RV shipments drop 7.1% in Jan. Wagoner: No sure thing on state air rules Conquest sales, Asia growth boost ADP Brockman: Reynolds focuses on service OEConnection links to ADP Geneva goings-on Judge: Dealer suit over transfer of GM franchise can proceed Honda will build Ridgeline in Alabama So who's running the show at Chamco? GM seeks Plastech tooling Federal-Mogul reports gains Chrysler sells plant to Fiat BMW's new sales boss Odell is named COO at Ford of Europe Strike dents GM truck output Tony Stewart blows a gasket Illingworth leaving — and staying with — Toyota A note to eager auto execs: Invaders sometimes get icy reception in Russia Hush, hush: Baby Nason on board For rent: Ford's PAG palace on the West Coast Chrysler cuts Calif. studio

Automotive News - March 17, 2008

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