TOP 5 SLOW SUV SELLERS by NUMBERS

With the advent of the Ford Explorer, sport-utility vehicles became everyday family transportation. Sure, others had come before. Jeep, Land Rover, and GMC were already in existence as purveyors of trucks and SUVs only. Others, including Ford, sold some form of a closed-in truck. But the Explorer made the sector. SUVs have been compared and contrasted with it ever since, regardless of its competitiveness. 

However, the strength of the American SUV market is meeting its match on two fronts: fuel prices and environmental social conscience. During the first three months of 2008, sport-ute sales have tumbled. Oh sure, the totals are still huge, but the percentage drops are frightening for those companies that pay their workers (and CEO bonuses) with the profits from large SUVs. 

He who argues that hundreds of thousands of SUVs sold so far this year indicates stability is likely the same person who thinks the lowering casualties in Iraq means the still populous middle-aged Iraqi male population isn't exposed to dangerous circumstances. Here are a handful of SUVs facing quickly fading sales. And yeah... I know this is more of a Bottom 5 than a Top 5. Live with it.

-----

#5 - TOYOTA FJ CRUISER: -38.5%
A relatively low base price and eye-catching angles can't propel this unique Toyota over the persisting trend. The FJ Cruiser's brick-like shape doesn't aid fuel thriftiness, with a city mpg number of just 15. Ouch. During January, February, and March, the FJ still posted better sales figures than any of the other members on this list.

#4 - JEEP COMMANDER: - 42.9%

This does NOT go to show that the profiency of cylinder shutdown systems is lacking. The Jeep's fuel economy isn't good. The cylinder shutoff can't overcome that. Nonetheless, one would assume that a 30mpg Commander would struggle to sell. It's ugly and discontinued.

#3 - MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER: -44.1%

Although the Outlander's drop isn't as severe as the Kia already mentioned, the 44% fall compared with last year's first quarter does put the Mitsu's sales total lower than the Kia's. Mitsubishi can't rightly blame the small SUV market share free-fall. The percentage drop for the Outlander is 15 points worse than the sector it competes in.

#2- KIA SORENTO: -54.2%

The Sorento sits on an ageing platform and performs with LR3-like mileage. Nail. Coffin.

#1 - LAND ROVER LR3: -62.7%

Though the Land Rover's drop only equals a couple thousands fewer units sold over three months, this puts the LR3 on pace for just 5,208 sales over the course of the year. Even the six-cylinder LR3's mileage is shameful; just 16mpg in the city. The Good Car Guy's drive of the LR3 revealed a terrific vehicle, but with quality problems, poor fuel mileage, and an expensive base MSRP. This Land Rover is in for a rough ride.

ONE DAY IN A PARKING LOT

Wednesday, April 18, 2007: I'm in an older Pontiac, running a pick-up, drop-off, pick-up and drop-off again at the Victoria General Hospital. Entrance into the lot requires automatic payment, so long as you've been abiding in the lot for over 10 minutes. 9 minutes? Free. 11 minutes? $1.25.

Problem? The lot is perpetually full. Full to the brim. As stuffed as a turkey on Thanksgiving. Full to the gunnels. Ready to burst.

To drop a body off, you must make your way through a two-lane 'road' toward one of the two main entrances, either the Victoria building or the Dickson. Drop one body off, retrieve that body and another, drive them to another far-off entrance. Allow wheelchair to be found, wait patiently, retrieve body (person, I mean) and take off. Pay $1.25. Awful.


So the debate that runs through my head during the second pick-up/drop-off stint two hours later is this: If I am stuck in this lot for 20 minutes, having not even found a parking spot to stop in yet...what vehicle should I be driving? A 1999 Pontiac Grand Am? Not my favoured choice.

Imposing front end; somewhat prominent seating position; complete surround-view visibility; tidy overall dimensions. Those are absolute requirements. Mercedes S-class? Too big for the tight turns. Range Rover? Getting warm.

Mini Cooper? Not enough intimidation nor is there a high enough view of the up-ahead (Necessary for quick bypasses). Acura RDX? Tidy dimensions, plenty of relaxing luxury and stereo capability to keep us serene. Mazda 5? Perhaps not quite high enough, the view out the rear isn't quite up to snuff because of that lack of height.

This is tough. Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix? Perhaps not enough of the serenity quotient.

We'll run with this choice for now: Volvo XC70. It's not tiny, it's not terribly tall, no S-class levels of lux, but it does or has enough to meet every requirement.

Plus the most comfortable seats in the business.

VOLKSWAGEN - NUMBERS

Volkswagen, rumoured to soon fall under the control of Porsche - itself a long-time partner and family connector - owns many an automobile manufacturer. From Spain comes Volkswagen's sporty value badge, Seat. The Czech Republic is host to Skoda (a hot topic here @ GCBC), VW's funky but more conservative value badge. Audi is the mainstream luxury brand. Lamborghini competes in the supercar market. Bentley confronts the ultra-luxury field and Bugatti... well, Bugatti builds the $1million+ Veyron. 

Such a grand automotive group produces grand numbers. Here are a few recent Volkswagen-oriented figures.

-----

550,000 - expected number of total worldwide new car sales across the Volkswagen Group in April

7 - percentage growth represented by 550,000 new vehicle sales, as opposed to April of 2007

2,120,000 - expected number of total worldwide new car sales for the first four months of 2008 by the VW Group

2.5 - worldwide growth, in percent, in the total automotive marketplace, significantly lower than Volkswagen's outlook for its group which will see a 7% increase over the first four months of this year

320,000 - of the half-million+ sales by the whole group of Volkswagen's brands, this many will come from the VW badge alone

71 - age of Volkswagen chairman Ferdinand Piech

180 - horsepower available to the 71-year old Piech on board his Ducati motorcycle, a bike made by the Italian manufacturer Piech wants Volkswagen to purchase

2007 HYBRID SALES REVIEW - AMERICA

Anywhere from CNN American Morning to the newest paved parking lot at a massive shopping complex, 'hybrid' is attempting to be used like Kleenex. No, not to wipe your nose; but as a generic term. And though Scott Paper and its competitors may beg to differ on the apparent differences in facial tissue (pretty much all the same to me), there's so much more to distinguish between hybrid automobiles.

The word has become synonymous with green driving, rightfully deserving or not. It's ridiculous that 'hybrid' will live in the minds of our youth as vehicular terminology only, considering its definition as something composed of elements of different or incongrous kinds. Hybrid can mean much more than a gas-electric car.

So, although many a celebrity will say, "I drive the hybrid" as if it is owed a capital H and as though the 'the' inside the quote deserves to be italicized, hybrids are actually combining to become a marketplace force. A small force, but a force nonetheless. 

2.2% of the United States new automotive market was made up by hybrid vehicles last year. Toyota's Prius led its kind in sales. Overall vehicle sales tumbled 3% in the America of 2007. Yet, hybrids overwhelmed that trend by posting a 38% jump. But hold on.

Along with the Prius, Toyota also sells a large fleet of hybrids now. The Camry and Highlander are both available in hybrid form. Lexus sells hybrid versions of the RX, LS, and GS. Honda's Accord hybrid wasn't a completely successful vehicle - okay, it wasn't successful at all - but some would have trickled out last year alongside the Civic hybrid. Nissan uses Toyota technology to power its Altima hybrid. 

Saturn is beginning to compete with an Aura hybrid, known as the Green Line. Other General Motors hybrid products include their full-size SUV hybrids and the Chevrolet Malibu hybrid. Ford sells hybridized versions of its Escape under two other nameplates, the Mercury Mariner and Mazda Tribute. More big prototypically American vehicles will feature a likely green leafy badge sometime this year - the Cadillac Escalade, Chrysler Aspen, Dodge Durango, and Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra tag-team. 

Put it this way: next year, huge hybrid sales increases will be posted again. I'm sure the same could've been said in the early part of the 20th century for automobiles in general. (Did that mean horses were outdated? Plenty are still alive and kickin'.) Until the hybrid market stabilizes, something that won't happen anytime soon, growth numbers ought to be taken with a grain of salt. Yes, more hybrids are being sold. But there are also plenty more hybrids to be sold.

DANICA PATRICK WINS A RACE

In her 50th career IndyCar race, Danica Patrick claimed a victory. That makes her the first woman to win in a major closed course racing series. Danica has taken heat in the last couple years for being the Anna Kournikova of racing - pretty enough to be a star; not quite good enough to be a winner.

Claims like that can be put to rest. (Some forget Kournikova's two grand-slam doubles championships, too.) Yesterday, or was it today?, in Japan, Danica Patrick flew by Helio Castroneves with two laps to go and never looked back. Castroneves finished over 5 seconds back. 

As the mainstream news media catches on to this story, expect the Champ Car/IndyCar merger to gain attention as well. Danica's win is important for women, but also important for the type of racing she competes in.

DIESEL COMEBACK?

Nissan has announced that 2010 will see diesel Nissans in the North American market. First to debut will likely be the Maxima. There are only a few automakers competing in Europe that don't possess a diesel repertoire.

Nissan is a seller and producer in Europe, so it goes without saying that diesel-powered automobiles is no new thing to the Japanese company. Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn sees growing demand for fuel efficiency and low emissions in the US, but you can assume the demand isn't up to snuff yet. 2010 is soon coming, but not that soon. Nissan's deep link with Renault is a help. Renault is French, and the French have always been considered among the diesel elite.

Meanwhile, Nissan is not the first to proclaim significant interest (or plans) in bringing diesel to North America. DaimlerChrysler, both on the American and German side, have been quietly tapping into diesel buyers' awareness in the recent past. The E320 Bluetec (see story here) is a major salvo, but the Jeep Liberty and smart fortwo have been there recently for DaimlerChrysler.

Large pickup trucks from Ford, Chevrolet/GMC and Dodge have often passed you on a highway incline, utilizing their impressive diesel torque-monsters. Stump pullers.

Volkswagen has always pushed diesel-powered automobiles here as well as there (Europe). Attempts have been made at V10 Touaregs and years of TDI Golfs, Jettas, New Beetles, and even Passats. Emissions restrictions have tempered their enthusiasm, but VW/Audi could not let their prior decades of work maintaining a diesel presence just.... come... to.... nothing.... POOF!... as Mercedes and BMW succeed. Audi won the 24 Hours of LeMans with a diesel-powered racer. Gotta get something back for your $ and research.

BMW produces some of the fastest diesels in the world. They want to sell us some, but an increase in availability of ultra-low-sulphur diesel fuel. 68% of BMW's in Europe are diesel-powered. BMW's Fritz Steinparzer doubts if many Americans even know BMW makes diesel engines.

Honda's everyman 4-cylinder diesel may be the best there is (Civic and Accord in Europe) and surely a company so renowned for engine building will share with North America. Surely.

Toyota cleans diesels by simultaneously slashing nitrogen oxides and particulate matter by using low-temperature combustion, and massive exhaust gas recirculation. Yet Toyota said that designing engine control units for NA markets is difficult because of poor fuel.

Notes:

1979 Oldsmobile Toronado Brougham Coupé Diesel weighed 3904 pounds, held 86 litres of fuel. It was powered by a 5.7L V8 (125 bhp and 224 lb ft of torque). Not a good car, and The Good Car Guy hopes that it will not colour your vision when diesels are available at your local showrooms.

AUDI Q5 APPEARS IN CHINA

Every new Audi is a big deal these days. The four-ringed badge is increasingly highly sought after, and some Audi models (the A4, specifically) put up rising sales even as they age. In this manner, Audi is very much likened to China. Chinese automobile sales are rapidly growing. 

Have a click to learn about Audi's sales in China and Russia

Audi thought it through and decided that Beijing was the perfect show for the debut of Audi's small SUV/crossover/thing. The Q5 is much smaller than the Q7; with dimensions matching the BMW X3 (its main competitor) fairly closely. Mercedes-Benz GLK (see Detroit concept debut here) will be another stand-up fighter in the small luxo ute field. Land Rover's LR3 and the Acura RDX are noteworthy competitors as well.

The Q5 will come to battle in North America with one V6 mated to a 6-speed auto and all-wheel drive. Rising fuel prices and a renewed environmental social conscience will likely have Audi pursuing a Q3 before long. The Good Car Guy's hypothesis leads you to expect MSRPs around $34-39K. Canadians could see something just north of $40,000.