Tag: expects

Report: Lexus expects to sell 1,000 CTs a month despite HS flop

Filed under: Car Buying, Hybrid, Hatchback, Lexus

2011 Lexus CT 200h driving

2011 Lexus CT 200h – Click above for high-res image gallery

Lexus is pinning rather high the expectations on its new CT 200h, billed as “The Dark Side of Green.” According to Brian Bolain, the automaker’s national advertising and marketing manager, Lexus expects to sell about 1,000 CTs here in the U.S. each month. We wish them the best of luck, but have some serious reservations.

Consider that the combined sales of the BMW 1 Series, Audi A3 and Volvo C30 (which represent the vehicles most likely to be cross-shopped with the CT) tally up about 1,500 sales per month, according to Ward’s Automotive. For what it’s worth, the 1 Series, which is the only non-dedicated hatchback and easily the sportiest of the bunch, makes up the vast majority of the segment’s sales.

As you’re surely aware, the CT 200h is indeed a dedicated hatchback and it offers up a comparatively paltry 98 horsepower from its Prius-derived Atkinson-cycle 1.8-liter four-cylinder, aided by another 36 ponies from its two electric motors and 28 NiMH batteries. As we said in our First Drive of the CT, that power level, particularly when coupled to a continuously variable automatic transmission, doesn’t exactly incite driving excitement.

Also factor in the sales flop that is the dedicated-hybrid Lexus HS 250h, a model whose yearly sales will struggle to hit half the 20,000 units Lexus had counted on, and you can see why we’re a tad skeptical that Toyota’s luxury division will manage to move a thousand CTs per calendar flip. In any case, we figure the CT is at least as attractive as the HS, and we look forward to spending some quality time with the hybrid hatchback in day-to-day driving scenarios where it should become much more clear how the machine stacks up against its competitors.

What do you think, will the CT 200h be a hit in America? Have your say in Comments.

Gallery: 2011 Lexus CT 200h: First Drive

Photos copyright (C)2010 Damon Lavrinc / AOL

[Source: Ward’s Automotive]

Report: Lexus expects to sell 1,000 CTs a month despite HS flop originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Spyker posts loss, expects to lose more

Filed under: Saab, Earnings/Financials, Spyker

Saab factory sign

An accounting rule, among other things, is ostensibly to blame for Spyker posting a loss and having to declare negative shareholder equity with more liabilities than assets. According to Automotive News, the new owner of Saab had counted General Motor’s $326 million in redeemable preference shares in the company as equity, not a liability. So with the company having just got its factory going in October and only having sold 10,500 cars in the first six months of this year, the hard numbers are a loss of €139.1 million ($177.2M U.S.) on €243.1 million in sales ($309.8M U.S.).

The good news is that sales for the same period last year, before Saab’s plunge into full out cardiac arrest, were €4.1 million ($5.2M USD). The Swedish maker also has €280 million in cash (around $357M) and another €266 million ($339M) untapped from its European Investment Bank loan. Spyker has been saying for a while that profitability would come in 2012 and that it has enough cash and credit to get it there without needing to raise more money.

Its sales projections of 45,000 to 50,000 cars this year, however, might be on some downward pressure. Company CEO Jan Ake Jonsson said that they’re still looking to achieve that low number. Next year’s forecast and the company’s break-even point is understood to remain at 80,000 cars, with 120,000 as the long-term annual sales target.

[Source: Automotive News – sub req’d | Image: Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty]

Report: Spyker posts loss, expects to lose more originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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