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Nissan advances to #2 Asian brand in America

by Chuck Capps on January 28, 2012

Nissan is reporting a record sales year, in 2011 they sold 1,561,230 Nissan and Infiniti brand vehicles for North, Central and South America and gained 0.6 points of market share over 2010. Come check out the hugely popular Nissan Altima at your 2012 Tacoma Nissan Altima dealer. Nissan and Infiniti increased sales by 229,000 units from 2010, or 17.2 percent for a combined share of 7.5 percent.

Nissan Americas Sales & Share: CY11 vs. CY10
	CY11 Sales	CY11 Share	CY10 Sales	CY10 Share
Nissan U.S.	1,042,534	8.2%	908,570	7.8%
Nissan Canada	84,667	5.3%	83,013	5.3%
Nissan Mexico	224,740	24.8%	189,518	23.1%
Nissan Brazil	67,268	2.0%	35,574	1.1%
Nissan Latin America	128,198	10.0%	105,220	9.6%
Nissan Argentina	13,823	1.7%	10,045	1.6%
Nissan Americas Totals:	1,561,233	7.5%	1,331,940	7.0%

These sales number and Nissan’s ability to outpace competitors has led to their advancement to the number 2 spot of Asian brands in America.

	Brand	CY11 Sales
1.	Toyota	1.85m
2.	Nissan	1.46m
3.	Honda	1.29m
4.	Hyundai	1.03m
5.	Kia	659k

“2011 was a breakthrough year for Nissan in the Americas in a multitude of ways,” said Colin Dodge, chairman, Nissan Americas. “We outperformed our key Japanese competitors in every market throughout the Americas while the Nissan brand became one of the fastest-growing Asian automotive brands in the region.”

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Ford leader in non-retail sales

by Chuck Capps on January 28, 2012

Ford CEO Alan Mulally must be pretty happy right about now, with public opinion of the blue oval on the rise, product portfolio looking pretty sharp and sales on the up side; but Forbes is suggesting they are getting arrogant, numbers are not as solid as they appear, their recall numbers were right up there with Honda and Toyota, 3.3 million compared to 773,000 for Chrysler and 500,000 for GM. Forbes also says that Ford is number one in fleet sales; fleet sales are usually less profitable and hurt resale values. Come check out the widely popular Nissan lineup at your Seattle Nissan dealer. According to the report the model with the most fleet sales was the 2012 Ford Focus, with 45% of them being sold as fleet vehicles.

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Chevrolet dealers rejecting Volts

by Chuck Capps on January 27, 2012

The road to success can often be difficult for cars, it can be made especially difficult when dealerships are rejecting further allocation. The Chevy Volt has not had the easiest time, first with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s investigation into potential fires, now some dealerships are reportedly refusing to take on further allocations of the plug-in hybrid. According to Automotive News, GM designated 104 Volts for 14 dealerships in the greater New York area, of those vehicles, only 31 were taken. Come check out the Nissan LEAF which sold over 20,000 units in 2011 at your 2012 Seattle Nissan LEAF dealer. Because the NHTSA investigation GM admits that orders have decreased for the Volt. Some dealerships are probably waiting for the dust to settle before committing to the Volt.

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Nissan building another plant in Mexico

by Chuck Capps on January 27, 2012

Nissan is planning to build its third assembly plant in Mexico, a 2 billion dollar plant that they hope will outdo their competitor Honda Motor Co. The plant is expected to initially produce 175,000 light vehicles annually which will be for the United States, Mexico and Latin America, production is expected to begin by the end of next year. Nissan has not yet released what vehicles will be produced there, but one executive has said that “an existing B-segment nameplate that is currently in short supply” which leads us to believe it is the Versa. Come check out the widely popular Nissan Versa at your 2012 Tacoma Nissan Versa dealer. Nissan is hoping to outsell rival company, Honda Motor Co. To do this they will need more factory space to keep up the increase in sales they saw this past year; 15 percent increase in U.S. sales and 8.2 percent of the U.S. market in 2011.

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Nissan announces 2013 GT-R pricing

by Chuck Capps on January 21, 2012

Nissan has announced pricing for the 2013 Nissan GT-R which is now on sales at Nissan dealerships nationwide. After a major revision last year, this model has undergone some performance enhancements which just reinforce the flagship spirit of this supercar. Come check out the Nissan GT-R at your 2013 Seattle Nissan GT-R dealer. These enhancements have boosted the horsepower for 530 to 545 and the torque from 448 lb-ft to 463, other updates include standard RearView Monitor and the Black Edition receives a new dry carbon fiber rear spoiler. The GT-R is now available in two models, the GT-R Premium and GT-R Black Edition, which comes with lightweight black forged aluminum RAYS® wheels, unique red and black interior, Recaro® leather-appointed seats. The price for the 2013 GT-R is as follows:

GT-R Premium/Dual-clutch transmission: $96,820
GT-R Black Edition / Dual-clutch transmission: $106,320

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Nissan Versa outsells other subcompacts in December

by Chuck Capps on January 14, 2012

Looking at sales numbers and market share, it is very apparent the 2012 Nissan Versa is the top dog. In the month of December the very popular subcompact sold 9,939 units, or 24.2% of the market among 13 other vehicles. With the fast selling 2012 Versa Sedan an annual sales record was set with 99,730 units sold in 2011. Come check out the number one selling subcompact at your 2012 Seattle Nissan Versa dealer. “The new Versa Sedan has hit a sweet spot with sub-compact buyers, offering the most legroom, most headroom and most trunk room per dollar, along with the lowest starting M.S.R.P. in America of just $10,990 USD,” said Al Castignetti, vice president and general manager, Nissan Division, Nissan North America, Inc. “It’s great to be the vehicle that everyone is chasing – though with standard Versa Sedan innovations such as its dual injector system that burns cleaner and uses less fuel than a conventional injector design, and its smooth, efficient next-generation continuously variable transmission, we don’t foresee the gap closing anytime soon.” The Versa Sedan offers 30 mpg city, 38 highway, combined 33 mpg.

Other competitors numbers are as follows:

Model	Versa	Sonic	Accent	Fit	Yaris	Fiesta	Fiat 500
Dec. ‘11 Sales	9,939	5,743	5,316	5,138	4,514	3,673	2,325
Segment Share (%)	24.2	14.0	12.9	12.5	11.0	8.9	5.7

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2013 Hyundai Veloster Turbo

by Chuck Capps on January 13, 2012

While the Hyundai Veloster has only been on sale for a few months, it has already left its mark out selling the Scion tC and Honda CR-Z. While it is a funky car, that has good fuel economy, its power is a little lacking with 138 horsepower and 123 pound-feet of torque is enough to have fun but nothing too crazy and some people have noticed the disconnect between the look and power; Hyundai has delivered. Introducing the 2013 Hyundai Veloster Turbo with 201 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 194 pound-feet of torque from 1,750 rpm thanks to the addition of a twin-scroll turbo and a unique motor-actuated wastegate. Come check out the Nissan 370Z at your 2012 Seattle Nissan 370Z dealer. While no performance numbers have been released just yet, the standard is running 0-60 in the 8 second range, with gas mileage looking at 27 city and 38 highway with the six-speed manual.

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Nissan Pathfinder Concept revealed

by Chuck Capps on January 13, 2012

The press that attended the opening day of the 2012 North American International Auto Show got a sneak peek of the 4th generation Nissan Pathfinder, that will go on sales Fall 2012. While the body style has drastically changed the 7-seater SUV will still offer ample room and towing capacity and is expected to get 25% better fuel economy, but still a few features are remaining secret. Come check out the Nissan Pathfinder at your 2012 Tacoma Nissan Pathfinder dealer. “We’ve created a vehicle with an extraordinary balance of SUV capability, thoughtful technology and premium comfort to lead the segment once again,” explained Al Castignetti, vice president and general manager, Nissan Division, Nissan North America, Inc. The Pathfinder which was first released as model year 1986, received upgrades in 1996, 2005 and 2013 has sold 1.2 million units in America alone.

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Ford exits compact-pickup market, Nissan picking up slack

by Chuck Capps on January 7, 2012

With the announcement that the Ford Ranger will be discontinued, Nissan is expecting to pick up the business with the Frontier. While Ford built its last Ranger in December, the popular pickup is still available in South America, Thailand and South Africa. “We’re really the beneficiary of Ford pulling out of the segment,” says Al Castignetti, Nissan Division’s U.S. sales boss. “We felt it was an opportunity to capture market share and we went after it last year, and we went after it without increasing incentives.” Nissan has been increasingly pushing the Frontier with their new commercials as well as the truck’s first ad campaign, which promotes the Frontier instead of more expensive, full sized trucks. Come check out the Nissan Frontier at your 2012 Tacoma Nissan Frontier dealer. With increased campaigning comes increased numbers, Nissan sold 944,073 cars and trucks in 2011, up 17 percent from 2010, the Frontier sold 51,700 units last year, up 28 percent from 2010.

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Best and Worst selling cars of 2011

by Chuck Capps on January 7, 2012

Now that we are officially in 2012, the best and worst lists are beginning to be published, including best and worst selling cars. Lets start with the bad news, coming in at the worst the Acura RL, which sold a miniscule 1,096 units, followed by:

2. Hyundai Azera – 1,524

3. Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback* – 1,548

4. Acura ZDX – 1,564

5. Toyota Land Cruiser – 1,662

6. Cadillac Escalade EXT – 2,036

7. Suzuki Equator – 2,127

8. Mercedes-Benz R-Class – 2,385

9. Mazda Tribute – 2,696

10. Subaru Tribeca - 2,791

**All these vehicles have an MSRP under $100,000.

Now to the winners, even with gas prices all over this year, the Ford F-Series still picked up the top spot with 584,917 units rolling out. The runners-up include:

2. Chevrolet Silverado – 415,130 units

3. Toyota Camry - 308,150

4. Nissan Altima – 268,981

5. Ford Escape – 254,293

6. Honda Accord/Crosstour – 253,599

7. Ford Fusion – 248,067

8. Ram Pickup – 244,763

9. Toyota Corolla/Matrix – 240,259

10. Chevrolet Cruze (and Cobalt) – 232,588

Come check out the Nissan Altima at your 2012 Auburn Nissan Altima dealer. A big surprise is the Honda Civic who fell to the number 12 spot, and the CR-V who fell from the top 10 since 2007.

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