Ford unveiled a surprise this week: It's relaunching the Lincoln brand, and committing more than $1 billion to the effort. The renewal of the luxury brand is about more than just prestige. It's about big profits, and a push by Ford into one very big foreign market.
If you're looking for clues about what impacts your car insurance rates, check in the mirror -- it's mostly about you. And while there are some parts of your personal profile that you can't change, for many of the items that affect your premiums, you're in the drivers seat.
The nation's leading trade association for car dealers says it now sees industry sales of nearly 13 million vehicles this year, topping last year's by 12%. The rise is attributed to pent-up demand, loosening credit and a rising stock market.
BMW saw its sales jump 20% in November, driven by growth in Germany, China and the U.S. The German automaker sold more cars than the Mercedes-Benz or Audi brands. Its sales growth for the year so far also is outpacing that of its rivals.
Seeking to boost sales of Lexus brand vehicles, Toyota plans to offer rebates of up to $3,000, as well as subsidized financing on certain models, company executives told a gathering of Lexus dealers from across the country this week.
In a bid to better compete against European and Japanese luxury makes, Ford reportedly may seek to reduce the number of Lincoln dealerships in the U.S. Nearly 1,200 dealers sell Lincolns, five times more than sell Toyota's Lexus nameplate, the nation's leading luxury brand.
Recalling luxury cars to fix faulty hood ornaments might sound like a joke, but ultra high-end automaker Bentley Motors isn't dismissing reports that its famous "flying B" metal emblem on some models may fail to collapse in a crash: It's fixing the problem in its $200,000-plus vehicles.
GM brought in trainers from the Ritz-Carlton to show dealers how to better connect with customers. The brand has long struggled with the perception that Cadillacs are only for older consumers.
