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Study: Ford tops mid-year ranking of brands in the US

Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Ford

2013 Ford Fusion - front three-quarter view

YouGov’s mid-year Brand Index rankings of America’s best perceived brands has been released, and Ford has found its way to the top. The Dearborn, Michigan based manufacturer beat out online shopping giant Amazon, The History Channel, and home improvement superstore Lowe’s, to take the top spot.

Ford jumped from sixth overall in 2012 to first for 2013, but those that have been watching these rankings shouldn’t be hugely surprised. Ford was rated the best perceived automotive manufacturer by the same organization last year. The Blue Oval’s success on the overall brand rankings is made all the more impressive by the complete lack of other automakers on the list.

YouGov (that is, survey respondents) cited Ford’s first quarter of 2013 business, which saw an increase in market share and the best earnings recorded in over 10 years. Successfully launching the Focus and Fusion (pictured) and keeping them fresh in the minds of consumers has also contributed to Ford’s best overall score.

YouGov’s Brand Index asks survey respondents whether they’ve heard anything positive or negative about a brand in the last two weeks. That includes anything in advertising, news or word of mouth. Following the old saying “There’s no such thing as bad publicity,” the responses, both positive and negative, are correlated into the Buzz score, which rates the brand’s perception among the public. Check out all the results in the official press release below.

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Ford tops mid-year ranking of brands in the US originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 18 Jul 2013 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Chevy Spark tops sales projections in first 12 months

Filed under: Car Buying, Budget, Hatchback, Chevrolet

2013 Chevy Spark - front three-quarter view, green paint

For a company that profits heavily from fullsize trucks and SUVs, Chevrolet has a surprisingly big hit on its hands with its smallest offering, the Spark. Automotive News is reporting that in its first 12 months in the US, the microcar has amassed 26,869 sales, which is 35 percent higher than the automaker originally estimated for the hatchback. The Spark has been on sale in other global markets since 2009, and Chevy has sold more than 720,000 units worldwide since its introduction.

Through May, the Korean-built Spark has sold a little more than 14,000 units putting it closer to the success of the Fiat 500 (17,562) rather than the low numbers from the Smart Fortwo (3,678) and Scion iQ (1,919). More importantly, its transaction price is the lowest in its segment (and presumably, the industry) with cars going for $14,563 on average, helping to bring new, younger customers to the Chevy brand. As for its sophomore year here in the US, there are a couple notable changes in store. First, the all-electric Spark EV will be joining the lineup, while Techno Pink paint will be dropped in favor of a new purple hue called Grape Ice.

Chevy Spark tops sales projections in first 12 months originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 24 Jun 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study: Toyota still tops in supplier relations, but only just

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Toyota

When it comes to manufacturing and selling a complicated product like an automobile, a company’s relationship with its suppliers is of huge importance. A good working partnership can translate into higher levels of reliability and lower cost as well as early access to cutting-edge tech. According to a new study conducted by Detroit-based consulting firm Planning Perspectives, Toyota has one of the best relationships with its suppliers among all of the world’s automakers. The Detroit Bureau reports that this is the first time in three years that the Japanese automaker has held the top slot.

Honda came in just behind Toyota in the study, but Ford, General Motors and Chrysler have made serious strides toward improving their supplier relationship. In the past, the domestic automakers have continuously pressed their suppliers to produce parts with a lower price tag, which generated conflict. That seems to be changing, however. The Planning Perspectives study says that Ford may even overtake Honda and Toyota in coming years.

Meanwhile, Japanese automakers have seen their supplier relationships degrade over repeated recalls and other quality issues.

Toyota still tops in supplier relations, but only just originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 23 May 2011 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rental car fuel tops $9/gallon in U.S.

Filed under: Etc.

Hertz

It’s never a good idea to return a rental car with less than a full tank of gas. The reason? The rental car companies usually charge a fee if you don’t fill up before dropping off. And according to a report in USA Today, that fee has, in some cases, gotten a lot steeper.

The national newspaper polled 102 rental companies at 13 major airports to gauge how much is being charged per gallon for renters who don’t fill up before returning their loaner. Surprisingly, 54 of those airports were charging less than the average fuel price at local stations, likely because many companies haven’t adjusted their per-gallon charge to reflect rising gas prices. Another 43 rental stores were charging more than the average gas station.

Meanwhile, the Hertz rental company is in a league of its own. The USA Today poll shows that the rental giant was charging $9.29 per gallon of petrol at 13 locations. Dollar and Thrifty weren’t far behind at a pair of locations, with a price of $8.99/gal. For perspective, at $9/gal, it would take around $275 to fill up the typical full-size pickup, and about $110 to top off a Ford Focus.

While those are some ridiculous pump prices, this is one instance when the punishment is nearly 100 percent avoidable. After all, if you don’t want to get slapped with a $9.29/gal bill, all you need to do is fill up before dropping off the vehicle. Unfortunately, you’re still going to pay well over $4/gal in most areas.

Rental car fuel tops $9/gallon in U.S. originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 04 May 2011 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kia Sportage tops small CUVs in Consumer Reports test

Filed under: Etc., Crossover, Hatchback, Kia, Mitsubishi, Nissan

2011 Kia Sportage

2011 Kia Sportage – Click above for high-res image gallery

The 2011 Kia Sportage beat out both the Nissan Juke and Mitsubishi Outlander Sport in a recent CUV shootout conducted by Consumer Reports. According to CR, Kia has managed to more effectively straddle the line between a full-on SUV and a more civil hatchback with its offering. That’s thanks largely to the fact that the Sportage serves up plenty of interior room without falling on its face in the fun-to-drive department. While the Juke delivers unique styling and plenty of performance, buyers are forced to make major sacrifices in the cargo room department.

Meanwhile, Consumer Reports found the Outlander Sport to share too much DNA with the standard Outlander to take the title.

Everything wasn’t all roses and sunshine with the Sportage, however. CR noted that the vehicle has a planted highway ride, but that acceleration was “leisurely.” Additionally, the Korean CUV has a stiff ride and plenty of road noise at speed. The tester for this particular competition carried a $23,790 MSRP and the company’s 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine with 176 horsepower. CR says that the vehicle managed 22 combined miles per gallon in its testing. Hit the jump for the press release.

Gallery: 2011 Kia Sportage: Review

2011 Kia Sportage

[Source: Consumer Reports]

Kia Sportage tops small CUVs in Consumer Reports test originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 14:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mulally tops Motor Trend Power List for 2011

Filed under: Etc., Ford

Alan Mulally, Ford CEO

Motor Trend has compiled and released its annual Power List. This is the seventh year in which MT ranks the names of heaviest hitting personalities in the automotive industry. They’re all ranked in order of just how much juice they hold, and sitting at the top of this year’s list is Alan Mulally.

Ford’s CEO was previously ranked No. 10 in 2009 and rose to No. 2 last year, but this year, MT has him sitting in the pole position. Their argument? Mulally has moved Ford into a place of profitability as well as quality in both design and engineering. In the magazine’s words, “every Ford competitor needs a leader like Alan Mulally.”

Ford didn’t just see a win with Mulally earning the top honor. The automaker saw 10 of its employees in total make the 2011 Power List. General Motors is right behind them with nine folks earning recognition. After those two, the nearest competitor is Volkswagen with six people spread out across VW, Audi and Porsche.

The last few years have seen a flip-flopping trend between domestic and import bosses rising to the top spot on the power list. The 2010 edition saw VW’s Ferdinand Piëch as the numero uno automotive player and he’s still strong for 2011 with a fall of just one spot to claim the number two position. In 2009, Rick Wagoner was number one before free-falling off the list, and in 2008, Takeo Fukui of Honda sat at the Power List peak.

It’s not just team leaders like Mulally and Piëch who make the annual Power List. Well-regarded Hyundai USA CEO John Krafcik checks in at No. 10, five spots down from his boss, Chung Mong Koo, Hyundai’s global chairman. Peter Schreyer, head of design for Kia is ranked 13th overall and climbed way up from last year’s rank of 44th. Doug Parks is GM’s vehicle line executive for the Chevrolet Volt, and making sure that car arrived on time and in impressive fashion has landed him in the No. 20 spot.

You don’t even need to work for an automaker to make the list because Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson is ranked the 49th most powerful automotive figure… in the world.

The top 10 are as follows:
1. Alan Mulally (CEO, Ford)
2. Ferdinand Piëch (Chairman of Supervisory Board, Volkswagen AG)
3. Carlos Ghosn (President/CEO, Nissan/Renault)
4. Martin Winterkorn (Chairman of the Board of Management, Volkswagen AG)
5. Chung Mong Koo (Chairman, Hyundai)
6. Mark Reuss (President, GM North America & Vice President, GM)
7. Lewis Booth (CFO, Ford)
8. Derrick Kuzak (Group VP Product Development, Ford)
9. Sergio Marchionne (CEO, Fiat/Chrysler)
10. John Krafcik (Hyundai USA, CEO)

Head on over to Motor Trend to read about all 50 players on their 2011 Power List, and then stop by the comments to leave your two-cents about what you think of the list.

[Source: Motor Trend]

Mulally tops Motor Trend Power List for 2011 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 27 Dec 2010 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VW Jetta TDI tops Consumer Reports eco roundup, Honda CR-Z scores too low to recommend

Filed under: Budget, Hybrid, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Volkswagen, Diesel

Fuel efficiency is rapidly becoming one of the most influential determining factors when new car shoppers go looking for their next vehicle. And, as our friends at Consumer Reports correctly point out, earning top fuel efficiency marks generally means shopping in one of three categories: diesels, hybrids or subcompacts.

As such, the consumer-oriented magazine has pitted four fuel-sippers against each other in their upcoming January, 2011 issue: the 2011 Ford Fiesta, Honda CR-Z, Mazda2 and Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen TDI. Of these four models, the Jetta is the only one that’s currently Recommended – the Fiesta and Mazda2 are too new to have adequate reliability data and, though expected to be reliable, the last-place CR-Z scored too low in CR’s own road testing to recommend.

CR tested two versions each of the Mazda and Ford subcompacts, one with a manual transmission and the other with an automatic. The Fiesta was ranked slightly higher than the Mazda2 overall, though the magazine seems to like both vehicles. Of the Honda, CR writes that “the ride is choppy, noise levels are high, and on-limit handling can be tricky.” Couple those unfavorable traits with lower-than-expected fuel mileage of 35 mpg and limited utility, and it’s understandable why CR wasn’t particularly impressed with the CR-Z.

Though somewhat pricey at $27,204, the Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen TDI performed admirably, delivering 36 mpg overall and a superb 49 mpg on the highway in the hands of CR’s testers. As an aside, CR also took a look at the Fuel Doctor FD-47 fuel-saving device, and rather predictably, found that it basically did nothing at all. Check out the full press release after the break, check out CR’s thoughts about the CR-Z, or just wait until the January 2011 issue hits the newsstands for the complete results.

[Source: Consumer Reports]

Continue reading VW Jetta TDI tops Consumer Reports eco roundup, Honda CR-Z scores too low to recommend

VW Jetta TDI tops Consumer Reports eco roundup, Honda CR-Z scores too low to recommend originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 16:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study: Rental car companies increase customer satisfaction, Enterprise tops

Filed under: Etc.

Enterprise Rent-a-Car

Economists and talking heads argue endlessly about our economy on a daily basis. “It’s back!,” “It’s almost back!” and “It’s never coming back!” seem to be the leaders among the varied viewpoints we hear and read about. One sector that has apparently begun to rebound is the car rental business. Not necessarily in financial terms, but from the standpoint of customer satisfaction, America’s rental car companies are returning to to a position last seen in the pre-recession days.

J.D. Power has released its annual North American Rental Car Satisfaction Study, and the results are positive for every company included in the survey. Now in its 15th year, this J.D. Power study examines customer satisfaction with the airport car rental process, and it looks at six specific factors: Costs & Fees, Pick-Up Process, Rental Car, Return Process, Reservation Process, and Shuttle Bus/Van. The highest score possible is 1,000 points and, for the 2010 study, the average Overall Satisfaction score is 750. This is up from 733 in 2009 and 734 in 2008. Every company in the survey has improved year-over-year in the survey.

This year’s big winner, however, is Enterprise, which received the industry’s highest rankings in customer satisfaction. Enterprise is no stranger to this award, and getting the nod in 2010 makes it seven years in a row for the rental car company. Following behind Enterprise, Hertz and National also performed quite well in the survey while Advantage, Alamo, Avis, Dollar and Thrifty rounded out the results. You can see how each one performed over at the J.D. Power results page.

[Source: J.D. Power]

Continue reading Study: Rental car companies increase customer satisfaction, Enterprise tops

Study: Rental car companies increase customer satisfaction, Enterprise tops originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 25 Nov 2010 11:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Unofficial: Nissan Leaf does 0-60 mph in 7 seconds, tops out at 94 mph?

Filed under: Technology, Hatchback, Nissan, Electric

2011 Nissan Leaf

2011 Nissan Leaf – Click above for high-res image gallery

Back in May, CBS Evening News reported that the Nissan Leaf could sprint to 60 miles per hour in five seconds. We knew that their report missed the mark, but by how much? Estimates from nine to as much as 12 seconds began to surface, but those seemed a bit out-of-line as well.

Now, thanks to John O’Dell of Green Car Advisor who timed a 0-60 mph dash during a recent drive in the Leaf, we have at least one unofficial result: 0-60 mph in seven seconds flat. To put that number in perspective, 0-60 mph runs in the Chevrolet Volt have been clocked at 8.8 seconds, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV takes nearly 12 seconds and the Tesla Roadster accomplishes the feat in a mere 3.7 seconds. Okay, so the Leaf is reasonably quick, but how fast does it really go?

O’Dell, the senior editor of Green Car Advisor, writes:

On an 82-degree Tennessee afternoon, with another writer in the passenger seat, I hit 92 mph on the highway, going up a slight hill all the way. I still felt as though there was a little bit more to go, but lifted my foot at 92 because I thought I spied a state trooper’s patrol car way back down the road.

Mark Perry, Nissan’s director of product planning, confirmed that an undisclosed journalist who recently drove the Leaf in Michigan, hit an even more impressive 94 miles per hour, but as far as we know, these are just indicated speeds, not independently verified and repeated. Still, for the sake of comparison, the Smart ED apparently tops out at about 62.5 mph, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV calls it quits at 81 mph and the Volt hits the century mark. So, the Leaf is emissions free, accelerates with (relative) vigor and closes in on 100 before returning to more sane, everyday speeds. Sounds like it can offer livable everyday performance – provided the pure EV’s range isn’t an issue.

Gallery: 2011 Nissan Leaf: First Drive

[Source: Green Car Advisor via Nissan-Leaf]

Unofficial: Nissan Leaf does 0-60 mph in 7 seconds, tops out at 94 mph? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 22 Oct 2010 18:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aston Martin tops iPhone as UK’s “coolest” brand

Filed under: Aston Martin, Mini, Ferrari

In a really good year, Aston Martin sells about 10,000 vehicles. That exclusivity is part of the brand’s cachet, but exactly how much brand-name juice does Aston have? In the UK, apparently, more than any other.

The Superbrands Cool Brands survey by the UK-based Centre for Brand Analysis crowned Aston Martin as the coolest brand among the top 500 companies studied. 2,000 consumers and a panel of designers, editorial types and brand consultants gave the nod to Aston Martin after a tough battle against the likes of the iPhone, iPod, BlackBerry and Harley-Davidson. While Aston took the top spot overall, high tech companies like Google, Apple, YouTube and Nintendo dominate the list. The only other automakers making the cut are Ferrari at number nine and Mini at 16.

We love Aston Martin, but it’s pretty clear that it benefited from some UK home-cooking here. After all, the BBC iPlayer made the top 20 in this survey…

[Source: Marketing Week]

Aston Martin tops iPhone as UK’s “coolest” brand originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 02 Oct 2010 12:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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