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By the Numbers: Your statistical chance of dying in an unrepaired recalled Toyota

Filed under: Safety, Lexus, Toyota

Lexus Safety Experience

Lexus Safety Experience – Click above for high-res image gallery

Toyota has recalled and fixed over five million cars. The entire Toyota and Lexus lineup will feature the company’s new Smart-Stop brake override system for the 2011 model year. Yet the automaker still faces criticism that it builds unsafe vehicles. Will driving an unfixed Toyota lead to your death? Not likely.

According to The Detroit News, a panel of experts was recently dispatched to study the causes of sudden acceleration. In its research, the panel found that the current risk of dying in a traffic accident is rated at 1.05 deaths for every 100 million miles traveled. If you drive a Toyota product, which has bit repaired been fixed as part of the recall, the rate rises modestly to 1.07 deaths. Statistically speaking, that’s one Toyota recall-related death for every five billion miles of driving. Toyota has fixed over 60 percent of the vehicles in the recall and they don’t appear to be slowing down.

We’ve heard many a borderline-hysterical comment from readers stating that they would rather walk than risk driving a vehicle made by Toyota. If you do that, statistics suggest you are 19 times more likely to die. Mile for mile, the risk of walking alongside the road is that much higher than driving on it. Just sayin’.

Gallery: Lexus Safety Experience

Lexus RX 350 at the Lexus Safety Experience

Photos by Drew Phillips/Copyright 2010 (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: The Detroit News]

By the Numbers: Your statistical chance of dying in an unrepaired recalled Toyota originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 12 Oct 2010 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official MSP Numbers: Chevy Caprice is quickest, fastest police car… barely

Filed under: Sedan, Government/Legal, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, GM, Police/Emergency

2011 Chevrolet Caprice police car

2011 Chevrolet Caprice PPV — Click above for high-res image gallery

The numbers are in, folks. This year’s Michigan State Police Vehicle Evaluation pitted Ford’s Jurassic Crown Victoria Police Interceptor (the new Taurus-based Police Interceptor was reportedly on hand, but its numbers won’t be included until next year), Chrysler’s 2011 Dodge Charger Police Pursuit model and General Motors’ Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle against each other in a no-holds-barred fight to the finish. And let’s just say the results are closer than you might think.

For instance, as pointed out by the proud parents at Chevrolet, the Caprice did, in fact, manage to set the best acceleration times to 60 miles per hour and 100 mph. But… and there’s always a but… the 2011 Charger was pretty much neck-and-neck with the Caprice. In fact, the Charger was quicker to 20, 40, 50, 70 and 80 mph. So, which one is really quicker? Pretty much a photo finish, if you ask us.

Also, top speeds between the two competitors were within spitting distance: 148 mph for the Caprice and 146 for the Hemi-powered Charger. There’s plenty more intriguing data as well, such as the fact that the new Pentastar V6-powered Charger was, on average, almost exactly as fast around the race track as its more powerful V8-powered sibling, and both were about a second behind the Caprice in the lap time derby.

And what of the old stalwart? Ford’s age-old Crown Victoria did its best, but was still over two seconds behind at 60 mph and a woeful 10 seconds afield by 100. Top speed for the Vic was 129 (with a 3.27 rear end, which was even slower in acceleration tests than its 3.55-equipped brother), and its lap times were well behind that of the Caprice and Charger.

Braking tests also favored the new Caprice and Charger. Chevy’s entry posted a projected 60-0 stopping distance of 128.3 feet and the Charger managed to come to a halt in 133.9 feet (133.2 with the V6). For comparison, the Crown Vic needs 141.6 feet to haul itself down from speed.

One final note: If acceleration is really what an officer is into, perhaps he should consider a switch to two wheels. Kawasaki’s Concours 14 ABS Police bike hit 100 mph in under 10 seconds and the BMW R1200 RTP did the deed in under 12. See the complete preliminary testing results here at the link below.

Gallery: 2011 Chevrolet Caprice Police Car

[Source: Michigan State Police Vehicle Evaluation]

Official MSP Numbers: Chevy Caprice is quickest, fastest police car… barely originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By the Numbers – Sept. 2010: Couldn’t Wait Until After Paris Edition

Filed under: By the Numbers

C4C Aftermath Makes September Sales Look Great

Jeez, automakers. We’re busy enough covering your wares at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. Couldn’t you wait until Monday to release sales figures for the month of September? Such is life.

We wouldn’t blame you for thinking that September 2010 was a rockin’ month of sales for the entire U.S. auto industry based on the table below. Look at all that green! Fact is, all those positive percentages are based on comparing last month to September 2009, which was the first full month of sales after the government’s Cash for Clunkers program ended. At that time the buying public was full from binging on federally discounted cars and inventory levels across the nation were low.

Chrysler Group brands also reported off-the-charts improvements, though again, their sales were hardly helped at all by C4C last year, yet each felt the aftermath just the same.

Overall, sales for the entire industry appear inflated, but one thing we can see is that Ford Motor Company will likely end 2010 with a significant gain in market share versus 2009. The company was about 11,000 units short of beating General Motors in September, and keep in mind sales of the Ford brand in September were 90 percent of the three-brand automaker’s sales as a whole, while Chevrolet and its 121,479 units made up 70 percent of GM’s four brands. Translation: Ford is on a nice tear.

Brand	Vol. %	Sept. 2010	Sept. 2009	DSR %*	Sept. 2010	Sept. 2009
Saab	116.12	1,046	484	116.12	42	19
Chrysler	91.78	17,348	9,046	91.78	694	362
Dodge	70.97	36,272	21,215	70.97	1,451	849
Jeep	65.46	28,603	17,287	65.46	1,144	691
Ram	50.92	54,126	35,864	50.92	2,165	1,435
Ford	49.27	147,057	98,516	49.27	5,882	3,941
Hyundai	47.75	46,556	31,511	47.75	1,862	1,260
Acura	47.68	10,720	7,259	47.68	429	290
Subaru	46.86	21,432	14,593	46.86	857	584
GMC	41.59	25,995	18,359	41.59	1,040	734
Kia	39.07	30,071	21,623	39.07	1,203	865
Buick	36.17	12,875	9,455	36.17	515	378
Nissan	35.09	65,900	48,783	35.09	2,636	1,951
Mazda	30.53	18,580	14,234	30.53	743	569
Infiniti	25.64	8,305	6,610	25.64	332	264
Lincoln	25.59	7,510	5,980	25.59	300	239
Porsche	24.67	1,971	1,581	24.67	79	63
Honda	23.83	86,641	69,970	23.83	3,466	2,799
Mercedes	21.67	20,666	16,985	21.67	827	679
BMW	21.14	18,228	15,047	21.14	729	602
Toyota	20.48	130,214	108,076	20.48	5,209	4,323
Chevrolet	18.47	121,479	102,538	18.47	4,859	4,102
Mini	18.31	4,884	4,128	18.31	195	165
Mercury	15.86	6,306	5,443	15.86	252	218
Volkswagen	14.89	19,943	17,358	14.89	798	694
Audi	13.07	8,151	7,209	13.07	326	288
Land Rover	11.81	2,489	2,226	11.81	100	89
Cadillac	11.30	12,620	11,339	11.30	505	454
Jaguar	9.89	967	880	9.89	39	35
Mitsubishi	5.28	4,961	4,712	5.28	198	188
Lexus	-5.52	16,948	17,939	-5.52	678	718
Suzuki	-11.68	1,641	1,858	-11.68	66	74
Volvo	-11.96	4,152	4,716	-11.96	166	189
Smart	-48.16	422	814	-48.16	17	33
(Hummer)	-61.74	163	426	-61.74	7	17
(Saturn)	-99.50	15	2,993	-99.50	1	120
(Pontiac)	-99.93	8	11,079	-99.93	0	443
TOTAL	29.57	995,265	768,136	—	—	—
COMPANIES
Chrysler Group	60.90	100,077	62,197	60.90	4,003	2,488
Ford Motor Company	46.33	160,873	109,939	46.33	6,435	4,398
Nissan NA	33.96	74,205	55,393	33.96	2,968	2,216
American Honda	26.07	97,361	77,229	26.07	3,894	3,089
GM (Core)	22.07	172,969	141,691	22.07	6,919	5,668
BMW Group	20.53	23,112	19,175	20.53	924	767
Toyota Mo Co	16.78	147,162	126,015	16.78	5,886	5,041
Jaguar Land Rover NA	11.27	3,456	3,106	11.27	138	124
General Motors	10.52	173,155	156,673	10.52	6,926	6,267

*Brands and companies are displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 25 selling days in September 2010 and September 2009, so the change in monthly sales volume is the same as the change in average daily sales rate (DSR) for each brand/company.

By the Numbers – Sept. 2010: Couldn’t Wait Until After Paris Edition originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 01 Oct 2010 16:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By The Numbers – August 2010: The C4C hangover continues

Filed under: By the Numbers

Luxury marques gain ground while volume brands suffer

Just like any spending spree, there are consequences. And for the second straight month, the automakers that benefited most from Cash For Clunkers have seen their sales figures fall through the floor compared to August of last year. The program officially ended August 24, 2009, and if you take a look at the chart below, the brands with inexpensive, fuel efficient rides suffered the most last month.

On the upside, luxury marques like Cadillac, Jaguar, Porsche, Infiniti and Acura were going gangbusters compared to August of 2009, which could be further proof that America’s high-rollers are either confident the recession is over or – more likely – were less affected by the downturn than us peons. No matter. When it’s bust for some, it’s boom for others, and this month’s sales figures speak for themselves.

Brand	Vol. %	August 2010	August 2009	DSR %*	August 2010	August 2009
Cadillac	83.08	12,689	6,931	90.40	508	267
Buick	65.98	14,294	8,612	72.62	572	331
Jaguar	61.60	1,414	875	68.06	57	34
Porsche	33.16	2,032	1,526	38.48	81	59
Infiniti	21.93	9,428	7,732	26.81	377	297
Acura	19.83	11,534	9,625	24.63	461	370
Jeep	16.63	25,706	22,041	21.29	1,028	848
Audi	13.96	9,182	8,057	18.52	367	310
GMC	12.27	25,986	23,145	16.77	1,039	890
Land Rover	11.33	2,544	2,285	15.79	102	88
Mercedes-Benz	10.02	18,826	17,112	14.42	753	658
Lincoln	9.43	6,428	5,874	13.81	257	226
Dodge	7.56	35,364	32,878	11.86	1,415	1,265
Ram	4.67	20,604	19,684	8.86	824	757
BMW	1.60	19,540	19,232	5.67	782	740
Chrysler	-3.66	17,937	18,619	0.19	717	716
Volkswagen	-7.93	22,855	24,823	-4.25	914	955
Ford	-10.74	144,035	161,369	-7.17	5,761	6,207
Hyundai	-11.35	53,603	60,467	-7.81	2,144	2,326
Mini	-13.42	4,425	5,111	-9.96	177	197
Lexus	-14.97	19,465	22,892	-11.57	779	880
Kia	-19.24	32,465	40,198	-16.01	1,299	1,546
Chevrolet	-21.52	131,952	168,130	-18.38	5,278	6,467
Mercury	-22.47	7,040	9,080	-19.37	282	349
Subaru	-22.47	22,239	28,683	-19.36	890	1,103
Mazda	-25.63	19,739	26,542	-22.66	790	1,021
Nissan	-30.93	67,399	97,580	-28.17	2,696	3,753
Honda	-35.98	97,195	151,814	-33.42	3,888	5,839
Toyota	-36.24	128,923	202,196	-33.69	5,157	7,777
Mitsubishi	-36.99	4,293	6,813	-36.99	172	273
Saab	-40.08	290	484	-37.69	12	19
Suzuki	-68.18	1,830	5,751	-66.91	73	221
Smart	-72.38	448	1,622	-71.27	18	62
(Hummer)	-73.62	205	777	-72.56	8	30
(Saturn)	-99.49	43	8,479	-99.47	2	326
(Pontiac)	-99.98	7	29,921	-99.98	0	1,151
Volvo	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Companies
Jaguar Land Rover	25.25	3,958	3,160	30.26	158	122
Chrysler Group	6.85	99,611	93,222	11.13	3,984	3,585
BMW Group	-1.55	23,965	24,343	2.39	959	936
General Motors (Core)	-10.59	184,921	206,818	-7.01	7,397	7,955
Ford Motor Company	-10.67	157,503	176,323	-7.10	6,300	6,782
General Motors	-24.87	185,176	246,479	-21.87	7,407	9,480
Nissan North America	-27.05	76,827	105,312	-24.13	3,073	4,050
American Honda	-32.65	108,729	161,439	-29.96	4,349	6,209
Toyota Mo Co	-34.08	148,388	225,088	-31.44	5,936	8,657

Note: Volvo hasn’t released monthly sales figures yet, so when the Swede’s new owners at Geely get their act together and send out the numbers, we’ll update the chart.

*Brands and companies are displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 25 selling days in August 2010 versus 26 selling days in August 2009, so the change in monthly sales volume will be different than the change average daily sales rate (DSR) for each brand/company.

By The Numbers – August 2010: The C4C hangover continues originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By The Numbers – July 2010: How Soon We Forget Edition

Filed under: By the Numbers

Domestics do well again, Toyota and Honda falter

Many automakers had a positive month of sales in July, particularly the domestics, with Ford Motor Company up 3.11 percent, Chrysler Group up 4.96 percent and General Motors topping the charts with its four core brands up an impressive 24.58 percent to lead all automakers. Even with the loss of four marques (Saturn, Pontiac, Hummer and Saab), GM managed to outsell the company’s entire portfolio of eight brands from last July by 5.41 percent. Of course, The General’s sales weren’t exactly setting the charts on fire last summer (they were down 19 percent compared to July 2008), so the bar was set low.

Something you can’t see in our table below is what appears to be a developing shift away from small and mid-size cars to trucks and CUVs in the marketplace. Blame the shift in consumer tastes to pent-up demand for utility vehicles, higher used car prices and, as always, lower gas prices. Still, we can’t help but cringe at the site of large vehicles, be they trucks, SUVs or CUVs, selling well, knowing that gas prices are cyclical and another spike in the price of oil could be right around the corner.

Interestingly, this shift comes as America’s small car segment is enjoying more new products than any time in recent memory, with a raft of compelling fresh models from Ford, Chevrolet, Mazda and others hitting the marketplace. These brands would appear to be well-placed to meet the demand for small cars if fuel prices rise precipitously, but any automaker in the business of selling economy cars is going to need strong, steady demand if it hopes to make money on what are historically very low (or no) margin models.

UPDATE: A few of you have reminded us that July 1, 2009 was the beginning of the U.S. government’s Car Allowance Rebate System, or Cash for Clunkers program as the people called it. One side effect of the program was that sales of smaller, more fuel efficient cars was artificially boosted while the program was running. While we still don’t discount the steady price of gasoline and other factors contributing to increased sales of larger vehicles like trucks and SUVs, the Cash for Clunkers program helps explain why sales of many popular small cars appear to have taken a nose dive last month.

Here are just a few examples that illustrate the shift that might be happening in consumer taste towards larger vehicles:

Honda Civic: -25.5% (23,231)
Honda Pilot: 45.4% (9,570)

Toyota Prius: -29.2% (14,102)
Toyota Sequoia: 50.5% (1,233)

Ford Focus: -29.4% (15,417)
Ford F-Series: 38.9% (50,449)

Nissan Cars: -3.7% (44,343)
Nissan Trucks/SUVs: 51% (28,230)

Honda Odyssey: 37.8% (9,711)
Toyota Sienna: 41.5% (10,381)
Chrysler Town & Country: 18% (8,083)

Brand/Company	Vol. %	July 2010	July 2009	*DSR %**	July 2010	July 2009
Cadillac	141.76	14,919	6,171	132.81	553	237
Buick	136.64	16,799	7,099	127.87	622	273
Porsche	75.06	2,703	1,544	68.58	100	59
Acura	50.28	13,017	8,662	44.71	482	333
Infiniti	37.60	9,764	7,096	32.50	362	273
GMC	27.16	27,798	21,860	22.45	1,030	841
Mitsubishi	25.87	5,648	4,487	21.21	209	173
Audi	22.01	7,817	6,407	17.49	290	246
Kia	20.70	35,419	29,345	16.23	1,312	1,129
Jeep	18.81	26,466	22,276	14.41	980	857
Hyundai	18.78	54,106	45,553	14.38	2,004	1,752
BMW	16.38	19,064	16,381	12.07	706	630
Volkswagen	15.97	23,880	20,591	11.68	884	792
Nissan	12.08	72,573	64,751	7.93	2,688	2,490
Chevrolet	11.98	139,916	124,948	7.83	5,182	4,806
Ram	10.86	21,239	19,158	6.76	787	737
Subaru	9.82	23,983	21,839	5.75	888	840
Mazda	8.93	20,732	19,032	4.90	768	732
Ford	8.07	153,603	142,135	4.07	5,689	5,467
Mercedes-Benz	7.02	17,367	16,228	3.06	643	624
Lexus	0.42	18,595	18,517	-3.30	689	712
Dodge	-0.00	30,916	30,917	-3.71	1,145	1,189
Toyota	-3.66	150,629	156,355	-7.23	5,579	6,014
Honda	-6.23	99,420	106,028	-9.71	3,682	4,078
Mini	-11.21	4,326	4,872	-14.50	160	187
Chrysler	-11.22	14,692	16,549	-14.51	544	637
Lincoln	-16.28	5,586	6,672	-19.38	207	257
Mercury	-31.18	6,903	10,031	-33.73	256	386
Volvo	-32.95	4,319	6,441	-35.43	160	248
Suzuki	-44.39	1,952	3,510	-46.45	72	135
Smart	-60.51	560	1,418	-61.97	21	55
(Hummer)	-73.72	210	799	-74.69	8	31
(Saturn)	-99.50	30	5,968	-99.52	1	230
(Pontiac)	-99.91	20	22,024	-99.91	1	847
(Saab)	-100.00	0	574	-100.00	0	22
COMPANIES
GM (Core)	24.58	199,432	160,078	19.97	7,386	6,157
Nissan North America	14.60	82,337	71,847	10.36	3,050	2,763
BMW Group	10.06	23,390	21,253	5.98	866	817
General Motors	5.41	199,692	189,443	1.51	7,396	7,286
Chrysler Group	4.96	93,313	88,900	1.08	3,456	3,419
Ford Motor Company	3.11	170,411	165,279	-0.71	6,312	6,357
American Honda	-1.96	112,437	114,690	-5.60	4,164	4,411
Toyota Mo Co	-3.23	169,224	174,872	-6.81	6,268	6,726

*Brands and companies are displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 27 selling days in July 2010 versus 26 selling days in July 2009, so the change in monthly sales volume will be different than the change average daily sales rate (DSR) for each brand/company.

By The Numbers – July 2010: How Soon We Forget Edition originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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