Personal Luxury Cars | Chrysler Sebring convertible to survive

Much to our collective surprise, Chrysler's new Italian overlords have reportedly decided to keep the Sebring convertible alive and even give it a major refresh early next year. The Sebring and Dodge Avenger sedans are due to get their updates before the end of this year, and the Sebring could yet receive a new name. Most of those changes including reworked suspensions and improved interiors, and the company's new Pentastar V6 will migrate into the droptop in the new year.

As you may recall, back in the 1990s, the Sebring was consistently the top-selling convertible in America thanks to its reasonable price, relatively attractive styling and seating for four. The current model completely squandered that advantage by combining all the negative aspects of its sedan counterpart with a highly compromised design that includes three different tops including vinyl and canvas soft tops and a very finicky folding hardtop. So why keep the Sebring convertible around? According to AllPar, it's because they remain a favorite of rental fleets in warm weather states thanks to "move-em-out" pricing from Chrysler and demand for four-seat convertibles from vacationers.


[Source: AllPar]

Audi R8 GT goes on a diet and gets more power

Audi dropped a very pleasant surprise on us this afternoon with the long-awaited announcement of the R8 GT.

The Audi R8 V10 was already one of our favorite sports cars in the world (sans the R-Tronic transmission) so how could you make it better? In the immortal words of Colin Chapman, "add lightness." But in a modern sports car required to meet rigorous safety standards, you can only go so far short of a complete redesign. Hence, the R8 GT's lightened chassis benefits from a power boost to boot.

The R8 GT swaps in a thinner glass windshield and polycarbonate rear windows and replaces many aluminum body panels with carbon fiber. By going over every part of the R8, Audi's engineers have carved a total of 220 pounds off the standard R8's curb weight.

The 5.2-liter V10 has been bumped from 525 horsepower to 560, topping its cousin, the Lamborghini Gallardo. The GT is only available with the aforementioned R-Tronic hydraulically actuated semi-automatic, and when pushed to its limit, the R8 GT is claimed to accelerate to 62 miles per hour in just 3.6 seconds and on to 124 mph in 10.6 seconds. The terminal velocity has been increased to 198.8 mph.

Only 333 examples of the R8 GT will be built and the price in Germany is €193,000 ($256,000 USD). No mention is made of U.S. availability, but we'd be surprised if Audi doesn't apportion a few for Stateside consumption.

By the Numbers - 2009

Most automakers giving themselves a pat on the back for a strong sales performance in December should take a second look at the books. A good month of sales to finish off a crappy year still equals a crappy year of sales. The chart below makes this perfectly evident, as only three individual brands and no multi-brand automakers managed to make it through 2009 selling more vehicles than they did in 2008. Not surprisingly, Subaru, Kia and Hyundai (in that order) were the three brands to post an overall sales increase in 2009, with Subaru posting a double-digit rise of 15 percent. With 216,652 sales overall, Subaru now sells more vehicles in the U.S. than Volkswagen and Mazda, two direct competitors with larger lineups.

Though no multi-brand automaker can claim a sales victory in 2009, you might be surprised to learn that Ford Motor Company with its Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo brands performed the best. FoMoCo sales in 2009 fell 15 percent, a smaller drop than any of its competitors. Toyota Motor Company sales (Toyota and Lexus combined) fell over 20 percent, but the Japanese juggernaut still managed to beat Ford in number of vehicles sold (1.77 million to 1.68 million).

The rest of the industry's performance can be viewed in the chart below. Note that there were 308 selling days in both 2008 and 2009, so the percent change in volume sold will equal the percent change in the daily average sales rate.

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Brand/Company	Volume %	Dec. '09	Dec. '08	DSR* %	DSR Dec. '09	DSR Dec. '08
Subaru	15.43	216,652	187,699	15.43	703	609
Kia	9.75	300,063	273,397	9.75	974	888
Hyundai	8.29	435,064	401,742	8.29	1,413	1,304
Volkswagen	-4.34	213,454	223,128	-4.34	693	724
Audi	-5.75	82,716	87,760	-5.75	269	285
Ford	-14.34	1,445,742	1,687,731	-14.34	4,694	5,480
Mercedes-Benz	-15.34	190,604	225,128	-15.34	619	731
Volvo	-15.96	61,435	73,102	-15.96	199	237
Mini	-16.37	45,225	54,077	-16.37	147	176
Lexus	-16.96	215,975	260,087	-16.96	701	844
Nissan	-17.81	689,014	838,361	-17.81	2,237	2,722
Honda	-18.63	1,045,061	1,284,261	-18.63	3,393	4,170
Toyota	-20.61	1,554,174	1,957,575	-20.61	5,046	6,356
BMW	-21.12	196,502	249,113	-21.12	638	809
Mazda	-21.29	207,767	263,949	-21.29	675	857
Lincoln	-22.79	82,847	107,295	-22.79	269	348
Mercury	-23.24	92,299	120,248	-23.24	300	390
Porsche	-24.35	19,696	26,035	-24.35	64	85
Chevrolet	-25.35	1,344,629	1,801,131	-25.35	4,366	5,848
Buick	-25.43	102,306	137,197	-25.43	332	445
Acura	-26.84	105,723	144,504	-26.84	343	469
Infiniti	-28.23	81,089	112,989	-28.23	263	367
Jeep	-30.61	231,701	333,901	-30.61	752	1,084
GMC	-31.09	259,779	376,996	-31.09	843	1,224
Cadillac	-32.31	109,092	161,159	-32.31	354	523
Pontiac	-33.31	178,300	267,348	-33.31	579	868
Dodge	-33.34	522,686	784,113	-33.34	1,697	2,546
Smart	-40.72	14,595	24,622	-40.72	47	80
Mitsubishi	-44.85	53,636	97,257	-44.85	174	316
Chrysler	-47.18	177,015	335,108	-47.18	575	1,088
Saab	-59.38	8,680	21,368	-59.38	28	69
Saturn	-61.35	72,660	188,004	-61.35	236	610
Hummer	-67.09	9,046	27,485	-67.09	29	89
COMPANIES
Ford Mo Co	-15.39	1,682,323	1,988,376	-15.39	5,462	6,456
Nissan NA	-19.05	770,103	951,350	-19.05	2,500	3,089
American Honda	-19.46	1,150,784	1,428,765	-19.46	3,736	4,639
Toyota Mo Co	-20.18	1,770,149	2,217,662	-20.18	5,747	7,200
BMW Group	-20.27	241,727	303,190	-20.27	785	984
General Motors	-30.07	2,084,492	2,980,688	-30.07	6,768	9,678
Chrysler Group	-35.90	931,402	1,453,122	-35.90	3,024	4,718

By The Numbers - September 2009

Here it is, the first full month of sales after the government's popular Cash for Clunkers has ended. The expected result – that auto sales would plummet once the feds stopped handing out free money in exchange for clunkers – didn't exactly happen. Nine brands posted positive sales in September versus the same period in 2008 with another three posting single-digit losses.



Of course, there were automakers that dropped right back into the cellar, including General Motors (-44.98 percent) and Chrysler LLC (-42.06 percent). General Motors, however, is in the process of shrinking, shedding brands and dealers left and right, so its sub-par performance will be par for the course for a while. Chrysler LLC, however, apparently just can't compete with its dated products.



The Koreans have once again remained remarkably popular, with Hyundai sales up an incredible 27.24 percent and Kia enjoying a 24.39-percent rise. Subaru, which can usually be found on the sales podium along with the Koreans, fell back a bit but still managed a 0.70 percent increase. Ford, meanwhile, continues to out play its cross town rivals and delivered a decent -5.08 percent drop for the entire company and -4.06 percent fall for the Ford brand itself. The Blue Oval's September sales performance even bests its competition from Japan with Toyota (-12.65 percent), Honda (-20.07 percent) and Nissan (-7.0 percent) all down more.



Check out how the rest of the industry performed in the chart below.



NOTE: Audi not yet reported.



Brands and companies are both displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 25 selling days in September 2009 and 24 selling days in September 2008, so the change in monthly sales volume will be different than the change in the average daily sales rate for each brand/company.



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Brand	Volume %	9/09	9/08	DSR*%
Hyundai	27.24	31,511	24,765	22.15
Kia	24.39	21,623	17,383	19.42
Volvo	16.33	4,716	4,054	11.68
Lexus	11.80	17,939	16,045	7.33
Mini	9.73	4,128	3,762	5.34
Porsche	8.44	1,581	1,458	4.10
BMW	2.06	15,047	14,744	-2.03
Volkswagen	1.46	17,358	17,109	-2.60
Subaru	0.70	14,593	14,491	-3.32
Ford	-4.06	98,516	102,685	-7.90
Nissan	-5.80	48,783	51,786	-9.57
Cadillac	-8.79	11,339	12,432	-12.44
Mercedes-Benz	-9.55	16,985	18,779	-13.17
Mazda	-11.97	14,234	16,169	-15.49
Infiniti	-15.03	6,610	7,779	-18.43
Toyota	-15.71	108,076	128,215	-19.08
Mercury	-15.98	5,443	6,478	-19.34
Honda	-19.23	69,970	86,629	-22.46
Jeep	-19.34	17,287	21,431	-22.56
Lincoln	-21.01	5,980	7,571	-24.17
Acura	-27.39	7,259	9,997	-30.29
Buick	-33.04	9,455	14,121	-35.72
Mitsubishi	-36.13	4,712	7,378	-38.69
Chevrolet	-40.66	102,538	172,803	-43.04
Dodge	-42.68	35,864	62,572	-44.98
Pontiac	-52.50	11,079	23,324	-54.40
GMC	-52.96	18,359	39,029	-54.84
Smart	-54.22	814	1,778	-56.05
Suzuki	-54.42	1,861	4,083	-56.24
Chrysler	-61.25	9,046	23,346	-62.80
Saab	-72.58	484	1,765	-73.67
Hummer	-81.46	426	2,298	-82.20
Saturn	-83.85	2,993	18,528	-84.49
COMPANIES
BMW Group	3.62	19,175	18,506	-0.53
Ford Motor Company	-5.08	114,655	120,788	-8.87
Nissan North America	-7.00	55,393	59,565	-10.72
Toyota Mo Co	-12.65	126,015	144,260	-16.14
Honda America	-20.07	77,229	96,626	-23.27
Chrysler Group LLC	-42.06	62,197	107,349	-44.38
General Motors	-44.89	156,673	284,300	-47.10

By the Numbers - July 2009

Is the tide turning? Do all those green boxes below indicate that the sweeping current of auto sales ennui has subsided? That's a tough question to answer considering that the government's Cash for Clunkers rebate program began late last month. Normally an incentive program wouldn't have that much effect on monthly auto sales with only a week to work, but C4C was wildly more popular than anyone expected.



While Subaru posted a remarkable 34% sales gain last month versus July 2008, the big news, of course, is Ford's return to green. Ford Motor Company was the only multi-brand automaker to report a sales increase last month (2.0%), thanks to four of its five brands posting positive numbers (only Lincoln was down, -24%). The Korean brands also continued their strong performance in 2009, with Hyundai up 12% and Kia right behind at 5%. Sure, Volvo deserves mention for being up 26%, but it's a lot easier to move the needle when your brand is selling less than 10,000 units/month. Chrysler Group LLC also gets a kudos for clawing its way into the single-digit loss range with a 9% dip on good showings from Jeep and Dodge. General Motors, however, lagged behind the upward trend of its cross-town competitors with a smaller improvement that left it down 19% versus the same month last year.



So has the tide turned? This is the first month in a LONG time that more than two or three brands have earned green cells in our chart below, so perhaps it is a signal that Cash for Clunkers is working and/or shoppers are slowly returning to showrooms.



Check out the rest of the numbers below. Brands and Companies are both displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 26 selling days in June 2009 and 26 selling days in June 2008, so the change in average daily sales equals the change in monthly volume.

Brand	Volume %	July 2009	July 2008	DSR*%
Subaru	34	21,839	16,271	34
Volvo	26	6,441	5,124	26
Hyundai	12	45,553	40,703	12
Mercury	7	10,031	9,412	7
Kia	5	29,345	28,021	5
Ford	3	142,135	138,175	3
Volkswagen	1	20,590	20,442	1
Jeep	-2	22,276	22,705	-2
Mini	-4	4,872	5,063	-4
Audi	-6	6,407	6,804	-6
Dodge	-8	50,075	54,546	-8
Chevrolet	-9	124,948	137,823	-9
Toyota	-11	156,355	175,242	-11
Pontiac	-13	22,024	25,373	-13
Mazda	-15	19,032	22,418	-15
Honda	-16	106,028	125,916	-16
Lexus	-17	18,517	22,182	-17
GMC	-20	21,860	27,447	-20
Chrysler	-21	16,549	20,858	-21
Mercedes-Benz	-22	16,228	20,733	-22
Infiniti	-23	7,096	9,249	-23
Lincoln	-24	6,672	8,819	-24
Nissan	-25	64,751	86,070	-25
Buick	-29	7,099	10,013	-29
BMW	-32	16,381	23,914	-32
Acura	-32	8,662	12,828	-32
Smart	-45	1,418	2,559	-45
Porsche	-51	1,544	3,128	-51
Cadillac	-53	6,171	13,022	-53
Mitsubishi	-53	4,487	9,644	-53
Suzuki	-57	3,507	8,103	-57
Hummer	-57	799	1,877	-57
Saturn	-66	5,968	17,603	-66
Saab	-72	574	2,026	-72
Companies
Ford Motor Company	2	165,279	161,530	2
Chrysler Group LLC	-9	88,900	98,109	-9
Toyota Motor Co.	-11	174,872	197,424	-11
American Honda	-17	114,690	138,744	-17
General Motors	-19	189,443	235,184	-19
Nissan North America	-25	71,847	95,315	-25
BMW Group	-27	21,253	28,997	-27

By the Numbers - June 2009

Want more proof that Ford Motor Company made the right move in avoiding bankruptcy, unlike General Motors and the Chrysler Group, its cross-town rivals? Sales figures for the month of June 2009 show that Ford sharply lessened its sales slide with a fall of just 10.85 percent versus the same month last year. Compare that with drops of 33.6 and 41.85 percent for GM and Chrysler respectively. It appears that Ford has remained on track during these tumultuous times, and its improved performance last month could signal the beginning of a turnaround for which it may be ideally suited to take full advantage. We're sure the guys and gals at Ford are smiling today, even if the Camaro did outsell the Mustang for the first time in 15 years.



Subaru has again managed to post impressive numbers, with June 2009 sales up 3.4 percent by volume compared to last year. Volvo even posted a slight gain thanks in large part to the introduction of the all-new XC60.



Check out the rest of the numbers below. Brands and Companies are both displayed in ascending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 25 selling days in June 2009 compared to 24 selling days in June 2008, so the change in average daily sales can be found in the right three columns.

columns.

Brand	Volume %	June 2009	June 2008	DSR* %	DSR 6/09	DSR 6/08
Subaru	3.40	18,620	18,007	-0.73	745	750
Volvo	0.59	7,042	7,001	-3.44	282	292
Kia	-5.11	26,845	28,292	-8.91	1,074	1,179
Ford	-8.26	133,684	145,715	-11.93	5,347	6,071
Audi	-8.28	7,524	8,203	-11.95	301	342
Buick	-10.69	8,601	9,631	-14.27	344	401
Pontiac	-16.41	23,740	28,402	-19.76	950	1,183
Lexus	-16.68	16,874	20,253	-20.02	675	844
Volkswagen	-18.02	19,027	23,208	-21.29	761	967
BMW	-20.05	16,744	20,944	-23.25	670	873
Mini	-21.22	4,105	5,211	-24.38	164	217
Nissan	-21.86	51,994	66,543	-24.99	2,080	2,773
Mercedes	-22.58	15,155	19,576	-25.68	606	816
Hyundai	-24.16	37,943	50,033	-27.20	1,518	2,085
Lincoln	-26.56	7,137	9,718	-29.50	285	405
Honda	-29.17	92,140	130,083	-32.00	3,686	5,420
Infiniti	-32.25	6,304	9,305	-34.96	252	388
Chevy	-33.30	106,712	159,998	-35.97	4,268	6,667
Acura	-33.53	8,280	12,456	-36.18	331	519
Toyota	-33.65	114,780	172,981	-36.30	4,591	7,208
GMC	-35.96	19,668	30,713	-38.52	787	1,280
Mercury	-37.10	7,332	11,657	-39.62	293	486
Jeep	-37.66	16,608	26,642	-40.16	664	1,110
Dodge	-40.43	37,936	63,687	-42.82	1,517	2,654
Cadillac	-40.90	8,473	14,337	-43.27	339	597
Mitsubishi	-41.79	4,362	7,494	-44.12	174	312
Mazda	-42.24	13,729	23,771	-44.55	549	990
Hummer	-47.97	1,078	2,072	-50.05	43	86
Chrysler	-49.30	13,753	27,128	-51.33	550	1,130
Smart	-56.15	1,116	2,545	-57.90	45	106
Saab	-58.39	779	1,872	-60.05	31	78
Saturn	-60.24	7,520	18,912	-61.83	301	788
Porsche	-65.96	902	2,650	-67.32	36	110
Suzuki	-78.04	2,149	9,784	-78.91	86	408
COMPANIES
Ford Mo Co	-10.85	155,195	174,091	-14.42	6,208	7,254
BMW Group	-20.29	20,849	26,155	-23.48	834	1,090
Nissan NA	-23.14	58,298	75,848	-26.21	2,332	3,160
Honda America	-29.55	100,420	142,539	-32.37	4,017	5,939
Toyota Mo Co	-31.87	131,654	193,234	-34.59	5,266	8,051
General Motors	-33.60	176,571	265,937	-36.26	7,063	11,081
Chrysler Group	-41.85	68,297	117,457	-44.18	2,732	4,894