Sunday, November 30, 2014

Cadillac’s Director of Brand & Reputation Strategy: “We Don’t Want To Be An Automotive Brand”

 

Photo courtesy of General Motors

Photo courtesy of General Motors

In an interview held at Cadillac's new business headquarters in New York City's trendy SoHo district with Fortune, Melody Lee, 'director of brand and reputation strategy' for General Motors' luxury brand, had some interesting things to say about the move to NYC, about the brand, and about herself. Other than to say that it's just quite possible that outstanding product is a little bit more important to a company's success than Ms. Lee seems to think, I'm not going to comment on her remarks because I think they speak for themselves and, frankly, I think they don't bode well for the brand. You can read them and offer your own commentary after the jump. The engineers and designers at GM have given Cadillac the best products that it has had in decades, but automotive history has many examples of fine vehicles that were crippled in the marketplace by the very people trying to market them.

Thus spake Melody Lee:

"I'll often say, 'Well, do you want a millennial's perspective?' You have one right here."

"Everyone in New York is always just a little bit ahead of everyone else and we need to be the brand that stands for that."

"I don't buy products, I buy brands. I don't use Apple computers because they are the best computers, I use them because Apple is cool. We need to show drivers what the Cadillac lifestyle is all about."

"We want to be a global luxury brand that happens to sell cars. We don't want to be an automotive brand."

Hat tip to Pete DeLorenzo for spotting the interview with Lee.

The floor is open for your discussion now.

Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth, a realistic perspective on cars & car culture and the original 3D car site. If you found this post worthwhile, you can get a parallax view at Cars In Depth. If the 3D thing freaks you out, don't worry, all the photo and video players in use at the site have mono options. Thanks for reading – RJS

 

 

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America’s 10 Fastest Growing Vehicles: October 2014 YTD Sales

2015 Chevrolet CorvetteThe Chevrolet Corvette is the fastest growing auto nameplate in America through the first ten months of 2014.

Four of the other members of this list of America's fastest  growing vehicles are also General Motors products.

Corvette volume is up 146% this year, an improvement of 17,150 units. Two other nameplates, the Lexus GX and Mercedes-Benz S-Class, have both doubled their October 2013 year-to-date volume.

Thorough redesigns certainly play a big role, as the Corvette, S-Class, Lexus IS, GMC Yukon, and Cadillac Escalade are all freshly revamped models. The Lexus GX460 wasn't a new product for MY2015, but Lexus did update the GX while making a conscious decision to more actively pursue sales in a market that's increasingly leaning toward SUVs and crossovers. The same could be said for the Toyota 4Runner.

As for the mostly forgotten Infiniti QX50, formerly the EX, its presence in this group basically adds fuel to an embarrassing fire. The EX debuted nearly seven years ago and, aside from a single powertrain upgrade and a name change, has undergone little in terms of re-engineering. An increase of 45% in 2014 points us not to a sudden uptick in sales but 2013's downturn. Last year, the QX50/EX tumbled 38%. Sales had fallen 42% in 2012 and 28% in 2011 and have never been higher than the 12,873 units Infiniti achieved in its first full year, 2008. Acura will sell more than 40,000 RDXs this year.

But a list of the fastest growing nameplates shouldn't be filled with Infiniti doom and gloom. The Corvette, one of Detroit's most iconic machines, will generate more than 30,000 sales in 2014, the first such occasion since 2007. True blue off-road enthusiasts can get excited about the surge of interest in the 4Runner – year-to-date sales have already reached a seven-year high. Ruthless executives will be pleased by the S-Class's surge. S-Class volume hasn't been this strong in eight years.

Rank
Auto
10 Months 2014
10 Months 2013
%
Change
+ Difference
#1
 Chevrolet Corvette  28,909 11,759 145.8% 17,150
#2
 Lexus GX460  17,935 8,603 108.5% 9,332
#3
 Mercedes-Benz S-Class  19,581 9,539 105.3% 10,042
#4
 GMC Savana  24,200 12,585 92.3% 11,615
#5
 Lexus IS  40,809 25,630 59.2% 15,179
#6
 Buick Encore  41,213 26,532 55.3% 14,681
#7
 GMC Yukon  33,661 21,928 53.5% 11,733
#8
 Cadillac Escalade (Regular Wheelbase)  15,095 10,022 50.6% 5,073
#9
 Toyota 4Runner  61,582 41,844 47.2% 19,738
#10
 Infiniti QX50/EX  2,308 1,588 45.3% 720

 We have not included vehicles which weren't on sale throughout 2013. (The Buick Encore went on sale in January of last year.) We've also measured the vehicles on a percentage scale. If measured by volume, the Infiniti QX50's paltry 720 extra sales would not be sufficient to crack a fastest-growing list. For the record, many of America's best-selling vehicles have generated far greater additional sales in 2014's first ten months. The Chevrolet Cruze, Chevrolet Silverado, Honda Accord, Kia Soul, Nissan Rogue, Nissan Sentra, Nissan Versa, Ram P/U, Subaru Forester, Toyota Corolla, and Toyota RAV4 have all added more sales than the Toyota 4Runner, this vehicle which, among vehicles on this list, most greatly expanded its volume.

 Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures.

 

 

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Saturday, November 29, 2014

Chart Of The Day: How Many Subcompact SUVs Are Automakers Selling?

subcompact SUV sales chart October 2014The Chevrolet Trax, Fiat 500X, Honda HR-V, Jeep Renegade, and Mazda CX-3 are coming. The Buick Encore, a pair of taller Minis, and the Nissan Juke are already here.

It's a burgeoning segment, silly in the eyes of many, but useful for automakers who want to cash in on consumers' desire for fuel efficiency and slightly higher driving positions, consumers who are forever interested in a little wheelarch cladding.

However, these vehicles don't even combine to sell as often as the Honda CR-V, America's top-selling SUV/crossover. That's not to say they won't. Nor are we suggesting that buyers of these vehicles would consider something as mainstream as a CR-V, Escape, or RAV4, America's top-selling utilities.

But the CR-V's numbers do provide a great deal of perspective. While the figures achieved by this latest breed of cute-ute will grow, the CR-V enjoyed a record-setting year in 2013 and will break that record in 2014.

While studying today's chart, please don't admit that the first question that springs to mind involves the Suzuki X-90. Mask that. Erase that question before you submit your comment. Don't let it get the better of you. America's torrid love affair with Suzuki, and the X-90 in particular, must surely be a distant memory.

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures.

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Friday, November 28, 2014

Oh, Chris Harris, You Brilliant Man

BMW-Z9-Concept-1-lg

Everybody loves YouTube personality, gentleman racer, and autojourno-of-the-moment Chris Harris, and I mean everyone. I can still vividly recall a party I attended in New York earlier this year where a lady friend of mine saw Chris and exclaimed in a kind of hysteria that was no doubt aided by the Hendrix-esque combination of painkillers and alcohol she'd managed to swallow, "He's just adorable!" She then proceeded to totter in his general direction. Since she was (is) six feet tall in her heels and Mr. Harris is about five foot five, this was quite terrifying to Mr. Harris and he promptly hid behind Matt Farah, which is always a solid place to hide.

Luckily for Chris, Travis Okulski happened to wander in at about that time and divert my companion's high-volume attention. "IT'S TRAVIS! THE GUY WHO CRIED DURING THE PEPSI COMMMERCIAL!" What a night that was, dear readers. Did you know that the last time I started dating someone under five foot nine or so, the Deepwater Horizon was still functioning properly? We're talking about an entire volleyball team's worth of tall girls here. Anyway, back to Mr. Harris. He's written something rather interesting on Jalopnik today, and I'm only feeling slightly smug about it.

Years from now, when the smoke of history clears, another name will be added to that list of designers who were capable of re-imagining the automobile. Born and raised in the American Midwest, Christopher Edward Bangle joined BMW with a rather singular goal in mind: to create what would be only the second major design direction in the company's history. His complete and utter success in this task has permitted BMW to become a major player on the global stage; along the way, he rewrote the design language for the entire auto industry.

So I wrote in February of 2009 for Speed:Sport:Life, in a column that would later on appear on TTAC. (It's also in — shhhh! — my book, which is coming out after Christmas some time, I hope.) That was nearly six years ago, but my then-controversial ideas are now being co-signed by more than a few people.

That's fine with me, because I was right then about Bangle and I'm still right. Without Mr. Bangle and his new approach to vehicle surfacing, automotive styling would have struggled to this present day with the additional vehicle body height that is the primary characteristic of a "modern" automobile. Think of the original Ford Focus and its breadvan chic. That's what every car would look like nowadays without flame surfacing. Tall, tippy, cheap, and not-so-cheerful. If you think the BMW X6 or Acura MDX is hideous now — as I certainly do — imagine the same vehicle with flat flanks.

So I was right. But if you'd rather hear Chris Harris say it, then see for yourself. Over to you, Mr. Dickinson:

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These Are the 15 Greatest Toyotas Ever Built

The storied rise of Toyota Motor Corporation from a maker of automatic textile looms to the largest and most profitable automaker in the world has been well documented. With hundreds of millions of durable, reliable workaday cars and trucks produced over a span of almost 80 years, distilling the 15 greatest 'Yotas of all time should be child's play, right? So we thought.  If you skipped this introduction to first scan our list, perhaps you have a few suggestions of your own. Keep in mind that this is a list based on vehicles sold in the United States. There have been memorable Toyotas proffered elsewhere, but these are the Toyotas that had the greatest impact here in America. Toyota's luxury division had a strong reputation for quality and high-value luxury cars. Then the RX300 came along and gave it sales to match. Before the RX300, the basic mid-size-SUV formula involved grafting a wagon body onto a pickup-truck frame. The RX300 (and the ill-fated Pontiac Aztek) pioneered the move of SUVs to passenger-car platforms. The formula proved so successful—for Lexus, not Pontiac—that the RX300 at one time represented more than 40 percent of Lexus sales. It was the beginning of the brand's domination of the mid-size luxury-crossover segment. After diddling around with the T100, an almost-full-size pickup that was bigger than the mid-size Tacoma but smaller than the Ford F-series, Chevy Silverado, and Dodge Ram, Toyota finally took on the Americans with the Tundra, its first full-size truck. Challenging the Americans in the highest-profit, highest-volume segment they still dominate was a daring move, and it's still an experiment that's waiting to pay off. Toyota entered NASCAR's premiere series in 2007. But it wasn't until March 9, 2008 (the fourth race of the season), when Kyle Busch drove the Joe Gibbs Racing Camry The rear-drive Corolla Sport's drivetrain was repurposed to sporty effect in this mid-engine two-seat box. The first-generation MR2 remains one of the most lovable and rewarding-to-drive cars of the 1980s. With a fully independent suspension, a lusty 2.8-liter DOHC inline-six in its nose, the best seats available at any price, and wide fender flares over wide 14-inch wheels, this was the first Supra that was easy to appreciate. A tap-in for our first-ever 10Best list in 1983, it's still gorgeous today. This was an overwhelmingly simple and lightweight car packing a 112-hp DOHC 16-valve inline-four in an aerodynamic body. But it has grown into a legend—the mighty AE86—thanks to Initial D and the development of drifting. Yes, Corolla is the bestselling car nameplate of all time. But this is the one Corolla worth loving. Toyota aims to build the best car in the world and winds up with this $375,000 carbon-fiber flying wedge with a 4.8-liter V-10 featuring 72-degrees between its cylinder banks, a 9000-rpm redline, a 9500-rpm fuel cutoff, and 553-horsepower at a screaming 8700 rpm. It was ridiculous in all the best possible ways. Toyota had pretty much sent only ordinary and utilitarian machinery to America before the Celica. But by applying Ford's Mustang design formula to the pedestrian mechanical bits of the Carina (sold here only briefly in the early 1970s), Toyota created an instant hit. This was the first indication that Toyota had real ambitions to be more than a maker of commodity cars. This premium luxury sedan simply rocked the world when it inaugurated the Lexus luxury brand. Assembled with the build quality of a Mercedes-Benz, finished better than a Rolls-Royce, and powered by an utterly silent 250-hp, 4.0-liter DOHC 32-valve V-8, it carried an absurdly low $35,000 base price. Toyota was obviously aiming at world domination, and the LS400 was a shot over the bow of well-established luxury automakers such as BMW, Mercedes, Audi, and Jaguar. A missile cleverly disguised as a missile, the fourth-generation Toyota Supra—particularly in 320-hp, twin- sequential-turbocharged form—may well be the most accessible supercar ever. Although it developed a mighty reputation during a production run that lasted through 2002 (it was withdrawn from the U.S. after 1998), its true heroism became apparent only when owners began applying more boost and more aftermarket gadgetry to the 3.0-liter DOHC 24-valve iron-block straight-six. Yeah, 400 horsepower was easy, and 500 was there without even turning a page in the HKS catalog. But then things got nuttier and nuttier as claimed outputs swelled into the four-digit range. This is the car that made Vin Diesel–grade insanity part of the Toyota tradition. Toyota was a marginal player in the American market until the Corona arrived and established it as a maker of rugged and reliable family transportation. With its distinctive wedge nose and bolt-upright greenhouse, the T40- and T50-series Coronas became the first cars Americans could instantly identify as Toyotas. That Toyota survived long enough to thrive in America is all due to this car. Delicate, beautiful, powered by a jewel of a six-cylinder engine, and featured in a James Bond movie, the 2000GT sports car is the first true Japanese classic and the car most people default to calling Toyota's best. But great as it undeniably is, there were only 351 (or perhaps 337) made between 1967 and 1970 and it was Yamaha that assembled them. The Land Cruiser is the beast that has carried every burden thrown atop it in every corner of the earth. And the Cruiser that's worth remembering is the FJ40 that appeared first in 1960. Larger and more robust than previous versions of the Cruiser, the FJ40 was plain tough. It wasn't sophisticated or luxurious, and it was pretty agricultural in operation. But that's exactly what it needed to be. The FJ40 continued almost unchanged for more than 20 years, a tribute to its brutishly effective design. In 1983, the last new one was sold in the United States, while the last one rolled off the line in Japan in 1984—a full 24 years after it was introduced. Whether you call it Hilux or It's not the first Camry or the first one assembled in America, but it's the first truly American Camry. Built like an anvil with limousine-style doors, featuring an interior more comfortable than most Hiltons, and looking like a scaled-down Lexus LS, this generation of Camry is everything any American has ever wanted in a Toyota. It's not exciting or flashy, it's just a brilliantly conceived and executed appliance. Of course the 1992 Camry is the greatest Toyota of all time. Designed with the American market in mind, the XV10 Camry was wider than Toyotas built to Japanese tax laws. And it was that accommodation to American sensibilities that immediately had this Camry tearing up the sales charts. Subsequent Camrys are regularly among the very bestselling cars in America ever since. Toyota has made some great sports cars, played around and won some races, and its trucks have earned mighty reputations for toughness. But this third-generation Camry is the Toyota that made the brand an American car company.

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Chart Of The Day: Gas Prices, Trucks And Automobiles

tcgaspricechart

Courtesy of our own Tim Cain. The fain green line represents gas prices, starting from the peak price of crude oil in 2014. Elsewhere, we see market share figures for passenger cars, SUVs/CUVs and pickup trucks. We'll be keeping an eye on this as the months roll on. Crude oil dipped below $70 a barrel today – truly a black Friday for world oil markets. Let's see how consumers respond in terms of new vehicle choices.

 

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Capsule Review: 2015 Toyota Yaris

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2015 promises to be a big year for Toyota. The US market is increasingly important for Japan, Inc., and that market is growing. 16.4 million new light-vehicles are expected to be sold in the US in 2014, and 2015 estimates are as high as 17 million. The updated Camry will help capture a large slice of that growth, but you need competent product across the board when every basis point counts.

Yaris sales have never led the subcompact segment, but they've become particularly soft lately with over 50% going to fleet buyers. The new "European flavor" of the refreshed 2015 Yaris is arriving without a moment to spare then.

Will the refresh be enough to return the Yaris to relevance, or can we still only say that "it's a car"?

The Yaris' changes do not represent a full redesign, but this isn't just an aesthetic nip and tuck at the hands of the French design team either. Interior, exterior and suspension tweaks are all welcome changes to the three- and five-door hatchback configurations. The sedan layout, dead since 2012, stays buried.

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On the outside, buyers will immediately notice the new corporate fascia. A lower windshield angle, reshaped side mirrors and underbody shields aid aerodynamics. 15-in. wheels are steel on the base L trim and alloy on the LE. The SE meanwhile, receives distinctive 16-in. wheels, LED daytime running lights and piano black trim. It isn't a dramatically more aggressive look than before, but I think the additions are cohesive in a way previous iterations of the Corolla S never managed. Amusingly, the enormous single-blade windshield wiper also returns.

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The interior is both more conventional and more functional than before. Ergonomics are better, which is to say that the cupholders are no long in front of the air vents. HVAC performance is also improved, but some popular features like heated seats aren't available. I was genuinely impressed by the steering wheel though – the stitching was good, the leather was of decent quality considering the price point and the indents in the shape fit my hands exceptionally well.

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Perhaps the brightest aspect of the outgoing Yaris was its steering in SE configuration (Car & Driver was particularly outspoken in their praise). That steering tune is now standard across all trim levels. Chassis stiffness increases thanks to 36 additional spot welds, enabling Toyota to reduce spring rates compared to 2014. Shoppers will notice the welcome increase in compliance. The short 98.8-in. wheelbase still causes some back-and-forth pitching over expansion joints though, and large bumps upset the whole car as a unit.

On the upside, stability at speed is better than expected. Wider tires are more effective in resisting tramlining than before. The front sway bar, now solid across all trims, and stiffer torsion bar in the rear both do their part to increase the sense of precision. Overall capability won't threaten true hot hatches like the Fiesta ST, but the package is certainly well-sorted and fun.

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Toyota says road and wind noise are both reduced thanks to 25% more sound deadening than before. I won't dispute that. However, being that they planned on keeping the same 1.5 liter four cylinder, they should have added more. Allow me to offer a roundabout explanation:

The Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris both entered the US market in model year 2007. The Honda utilized a 1.5L inline four making 109 horsepower, while the Yaris' 1.5 made 106. Fast-forward to 2015. Both models have been multiple times updated. The Honda now wrings 130 horses from 1.5 liters. The Toyota? Still 106.

Make sure to close the barn doors at night because you need every last horse on the road too. The engine note is pervasive at nearly all speeds, and it isn't always pleasant. Keeping up with traffic isn't Mission: Impossible on relatively flat terrain, but 2,500 RPM shifts won't keep up pace during rush hour either. Whereas the Fit maximizes its engine output with a new CVT transmission, the Yaris soldiers on with the same 4-speed automatic or 5-speed manual. If you kvetched about this gearbox back in Jack's 2013 review, you may as well copy-paste your comments here – they're still fully relevant.

Fun fact: With yesteryear's automatic, the EPA rates the Yaris just 1 mpg better on the highway than the four-cylinder Camry. Midsizers have certainly made greater efficiency gains than subcompacts over the last few years, but this is still a dubious distinction for the Yaris. The EPA calls for 30/32/36 with the autobox and 30/33/37 with the 5-speed manual.

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For a few buyers though, that sort of powertrain continuity could be a selling point if construed as an indicator of reliability. In that case, you'll likely also be pleased with the ease of servicing it. Lay a newspaper on the ground under the engine bay, open the hood and stare straight down – there's enough space around the block to read entire stories. Compared to the plastic-shrouded aggravation DIY-types frequently have to endure these days, it's a welcome surprise.

Every change Toyota made to the Yaris was for the better, the proven powertrain will probably start every time you twist the ignition for the next 20 years and pricing increases are modest versus 2014 models. The changes barely keep pace with the segment though. This refresh is almost certainly a stopgap measure, a placeholder for the fully redesigned version being developed with Mazda. In the meantime, the 2015 Yaris is an improved vehicle whose buyers still can't say much beyond the fact that "It's a car".

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