We have been hearing about Volkswagen's New Midsized Sedan for months now and thanks to a not-so-subtle plug on the company website, we know now that the car known just as the NMS will be formally introduced at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show.
Ford Motor Company was the worst of the Detroit Big 3 in terms of percentage growth with just below 7% improvement over December 2009 but Ford does claim the bragging rights of having the bestselling single brand in the industry.
Consumer Reports, which has more than 7 million print and online subscribers, is out with an article in its February issue that pans the Ford and Lincoln My Touch systems, which operate the vehicle’s entertainment, climate and navigation systems.
General Motors capped off a strong rebound year in 2010 as leading the nation in corporate sales in December with 224,185 units sold – an improvement of 7.5% over 2009.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee continues its march through all of the automotive awards with its pick as Autoweek’s 2011 Best of the Best in the truck category. The Cadillac CTS-V took home the honors in the car category.
Hyundai finished 2010 with record sales of 538,228 with almost all of its 103,164 unit growth coming from the phenomenal success of its Hyundai Sonata. The midsize sedan saw growth in retail sales of 90,349 – the highest in the industry.
Driven by strong E class sales, Mercedes posted an 18 percent growth in annual sales in 2010 with 225,007 vehicles sold in the United States. It also reported its strongest sales month of the year in December with sales of 21,469 vehicles.
December 2010 sales numbers from around the industry are in and although the Dodge and Chrysler brands saw a decline in sales compared to December 2009, the Ram and Jeep brands had big months – helping to make the Chrysler Group to be the strongest of the Detroit automakers in terms of monthly growth.
The recession must be over. That might be what some people might think in the wake of the announcement that Porsche sales were 29 percent ahead of 2009 with total sales of 25,320. Porsche says the Panamera Gran Turismo and the debut of the all-new Cayenne.
Audi is coming off a 2010 that was its best ever with more than 100,000 models sold for the first time, easily eclipsing the former record of 2007 when it sold 93,506 vehicles in 2007. Sales were up 22.9% over 2009 when it sold 82,717.
