The Blog For Auto Financing News and Advice
Posted in auto news, car shopping on Jun 2nd, 2010
Ford announced Wednesday it will end production of its Mercury brand in the fourth quarter of this year, and will expand and enhance its Lincoln brand with seven all-new or significantly refreshed vehicles in the next four years.
Ford said in a statement it is discontinuing its Mercury brand “to fully devote its financial, product development, [...]
Posted in auto loans, auto news, car loans, car shopping, incentives on May 28th, 2010
Ford is planning to wind down the Mercury brand, created in 1939 by Edsel Ford, after sales plunged 74 percent since 2000, said two people familiar with the plan. Exactly when Mercury will die depends on how fast Ford executives can convince Mercury dealers, who also sell Lincoln vehicles, to close or merge with Ford [...]
Posted in car shopping on May 27th, 2010
Honda is perceived to be the best in customer and quality commitment, according to a recent survey by Consumer Reports.
Among seven major automotive brands, Ford ranked second, followed by Nissan, Chevrolet, Toyota, Hyundai and Chrysler.
Honda Accord Coupe
Consumer Reports conducted a telephone survey of more than 1,700 adults whose household owns at least one vehicle. The [...]
Posted in car shopping on May 25th, 2010
Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said the automaker has completely sold out of its new all-electric vehicle, the Nissan Leaf.
“We think there is a big future for this car,” Ghosn said. “I can already tell you that the production for 2010 is already sold out.”
Nissan has received 13,000 orders for the Leaf in the U.S., which [...]
Posted in car shopping on May 19th, 2010
Four-cylinder engines were chosen by 49 percent of new car buyers in April, according to J.D. Power and Associates’ Power Information Network.
During the first quarter of this year, four-cylinders were in 46.5 percent of new vehicles, Drive On/USA Today reports. This is an increase from the first quarter in 2009, when 41.9 percent of new [...]
Posted in auto news, car shopping on May 18th, 2010
The auto industry is going to come back strong beginning in 2013, according to global management consultants A.T. Kearney. The company issued the prediction in a report Tuesday, USA Today reports.
The consulting firm said that not only will potential buyers get off the fence and buy new cars, but those who put off the decision [...]
Posted in car shopping on May 14th, 2010
Google says its automotive search data shows that car shoppers have never been more informed, picky and, unfortunately for automakers, willing to wait for deals, The Detroit Free Press reports.
Google held an annual automotive summit Thursday at the company’s Birmingham offices, where employees revealed search data about how consumers shop for cars. About 150 marketers [...]
Posted in car shopping on May 13th, 2010
Mitsubishi has the highest number of young buyers, according to a recent TrueCar.com study.
The study found that 18.3 percent of Mitsubishi buyers were between the ages of 18 and 34. The second most popular brand among young buyers was Mazda, at 18 percent and in third place was Volkswagen at 17.6 percent.
“Even though customer loyalty [...]
Posted in car shopping on May 12th, 2010
Prices on new, used and certified pre-owned vehicles for sale on AutoTrader.com continue to increase, according to AutoTrader.com’s Trend Engine Report for May, which looks at April data.
In April, used and CPO prices on AutoTrader.com rose the most, with many models showing double-digit average price increases compared to April 2009. For example, the average listing [...]
Posted in auto loans, car loans, car shopping on May 11th, 2010
Auto loan interest rates are up and it’s costing consumers more to buy a new car right now. The increased auto loan rates were the primary factor in dropping the first quarter 2010 auto affordability down to a more than two-year low, according to Comerica Bank, which released its Auto Affordability Index Tuesday.
It took 23.4 [...]