Nutson's Weekly Automotive News Digest
March 2-8, 2015

By Larry Nutson
Senior Editor and Bureau Chief
Chicago Bureau
The Auto Channel

Auto Central Chicago IL, March 8, 2015; Every Sunday, along with senior editors Steve Purdy and Thom Cannell from The Auto Channel Michigan Bureau I give you our "take" on this past week's automotive news in easy to digest nuggets.

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Nutson's Weekly Automotive News Digest- March 2-8, 2015

* February's big chill cooled U.S. auto sales, but only a bit. Sales in total were up about 5 percent to 1.26 million with more than half being SUVs and trucks. Mitsubishi was up a whopping 26 percent and Subaru continued its rise with an 18 percent increase. Toyota was up 13 percent. Hyundai and Kia both were up 7 percent. GM gained 4 percent, FCA was up 6 percent and Ford down 2 percent. Noteworthy is that Toyota sold more vehicles than Ford.

* According to American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA) reports, 45.8 percent of February sales were Asian brands, 45.5 percent were domestic brands and 8.7 percent were European brands.

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Bentley Exp 10 Speed 6 Concept

The Geneva Motor Show held the attention of the world’s automobile business this week with strong showing of new vehicles. Bentley unveiled a striking two-seat luxury sports car called EXP 10 that appears production ready. If produced it would be Bentley’s fifth model, after the Bentayga SUV that is slated for full production in 2016. The EXP 10 looks like a more squat version of the Continental GT with a bit of Jaguar F-type thrown in.

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800HP Koenigsegg Regara

The Geneva Motor Show was all about speed and power, from the 1800HP Koenigsegg Regara to the Ford Focus RS. The VW Sport Coupe Concept, looking like the Audi A7, got lots of attention. The Infiniti QX30 small SUV is very interesting. Lot's of cars for the 1-percenters.

* Volkswagen’s new Passat was named the 2015 European Car of the Year. The annual award is determined by a jury of 58 European journalists and is presented at the beginning of the Geneva Motor Show. The new Passat is lighter than the previous car and has a wider stance and shorter overhangs. VW has won this award now three of the past six years. Runners up include the BMW 2-Series Active Tourer, Ford Mondeo, Nissan Qashqai, Renault Twingo and Citroen's C4 Cactus.

Lexus LF-SA concept

* Perhaps the most striking concept car at the Geneva Motor Show this week was Lexus’ LF-SA urban 2+2 seen as potentially a competitor to Mini. ‘SA’ refers to ‘small adventurer’ according to Lexus officials, and exhibits the wildest version yet of the spindle grille that has been a Lexus mainstay for some time now. Purely a design exercise, they say, it is just intended to be a look at what could happen in the future.

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2016 Ford GT

At the Geneva show Ford said that the Ford GT supercar will cost about $400,000. It goes on sale in the second half of 2016 and they will only make about 250 cars a year. The Ford GT concept was unveiled at the North American International Auto Show and at the Chicago Auto Show they announced production would take place in Canada. #CAS15

* No surprise here. The monthly University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute report said that the average window-sticker fuel economy value of new cars, SUVs, vans and pickups sold in the U.S. in February was 25.2 mpg, down from 25.4 in January. “This decrease in fuel economy likely reflects the increased market share of light trucks, SUVs, and crossovers in response to the inclement winter weather in a large part of the country." So, is climate change causing a change in the type of vehicles we are buying?

* Gasoline is no longer less than $2 a gallon in any state and gasoline prices have risen for 38 days in a row, the longest streak in two years. Will car sales pick up and pickup sales slow?

* Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is recalling 467,480 Dodge Durangos and Jeep Grand Cherokees worldwide to install new a relay circuit to fix a fuel pump.The recall affects certain 2012 and 2013 Dodge Durango SUVs and 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokees sold outside of North America with 3.0-liter diesel engines.

* Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is also recalling about 2,200 cars to replace fuel delivery components that may leak. The recall covers some 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT coupes and Dodge Charger SRT sedans equipped with 6.2-liter V-8 engines.

* Hyundai is recalling nearly 205,000 cars and wagons in the United States for an electronic glitch that could disable power steering. The recall covers 2008-2010 Elantra and 2009-2010 Elantra Touring models.

* Hyundai is also recalling more than 26,000 model year 2015 Genesis sedans in the U.S. and Canada to fix a water leak that can cause the transmission gear shifter to malfunction.

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1938 Buick Y-Job And Designer Harley Earl (Earl Family Collection)

The first major Concours d’Elegance of the season comes up next weekend at the elegant Ritz Carlton Resort, Amelia Island, Florida. Founder and chairman, Bill Warner, and his team assemble over 200 rare and significant cars, including many classes of race cars, display on two fairways of the Ritz’ golf course.

Buick Avenir Concept

This week they announced we’ll see both the historic Buick Y-Job, Harley Earl’s first concept car from 1938 and Buick’s award winning Avenir concept car that premiered at this year’s North American International Auto Show and also made an appearance at the Chicago Auto Show. Details of Amelia Island at: www.ameliaconcours.org

* Nissan is preparing to challenge Honda as North America’s number 2 Asian automaker - this according to Nissan’s U.S. boss Jose Munoz who professed that goal at a company meeting in Japan this week. Munoz said he could beat Carlos Ghosn’s goal of a 10% U.S market share while enhancing profitability for both dealers and the factory. Nissan and Infiniti combined account for a U.S. market share of 8.4% in 2014, up from 8.0% in 2013. Ghosn continues to insist that the Renault-Nissan alliance will be one of the top three automakers in the world by 2018.

* A South Carolina politician revealed this week that Daimler AG will invest $500 million to outfit their Ladson, South Carolina plant to build the Sprinter commercial van. The new factory is expected to employ about 1,300 people. The German manufacturer would not confirm the report but has scheduled a press conference to “make an announcement.” Daimler had earlier said it wanted to move some van manufacturing to North America.

* GM revealed this week that we will see the next generation of the mainstream Malibu mid-size sedan at the New York Auto Show in April. The new Malibu is said to be on a new platform with 4-inch longer wheelbase making for more rear seat room. It will also use more high-strength steel to loose around 300 pounds from the current model. GM’s design chief, Ed Welburn, says his team used a “blank slate approach” to the design and that it will be “more dynamic and sophisticated.