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Going Car Shopping This Weekend? Read This First

AOL Autos — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:00:00 EST

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Planning to do some car shopping this weekend? DailyFinance asked the experts at AOL Autos for this week's best car shopping tips and advice, whether you're considering a new vehicle or a used one. Here's a quick rundown of the latest news, hottest deals and smartest negotiating strategies to help you find the car that best suits your needs and your wallet.

Deals of the month. The best deals of May, which we calculate as the highest average discount off a vehicle's sticker price, include the Acura MDX, Honda Odyssey minivan and Ford F150 pickup. Check out the full list of the the top 10 best deals of May to see if one of the vehicles on your radar is among them.

Crossover dreams. Are you shopping for a small SUV, often known as a "crossover?" If you are, then you'll want to read this story about how safety ratings are not high for many of these vehicles. That's an important consideration since many families by these vehicles as the family car.

Gone in 60 seconds. Perhaps you've had your eye on a certain vehicle for the last couple of years, and when you're finally ready to buy you discover that the car has been taken out of circulation. Automakers cull out slow sellers every year, and some companies, like Saab and Fisker, just go out of business. So if your dream vehicle is gone or going, AOL Autos editors offer some sound substitutes for the model you may be missing.

Don't pay at the pump. Curious about the new extended-range electric cars? These can run solely on battery power for some distance, then switch over to a gas motor when the battery runs out. Check out the Ford C-Max Energi, an all-new model and brand that will go about 17 miles on a battery charge before the gas kicks in. Why bother? Because some 70 percent of U.S. drivers drive less than 30 miles a day, so covering that many miles on battery can save you big bucks over time at the pump.

Gallery: The Best And Worst Vehicles For Under $30,000

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Toyota's Comeback Gains Momentum

AOL Autos — Wed, 08 May 2013 13:28:00 EST

Filed under: Toyota, Transportation, Automotive Industry, Manufacturing

Itsuo Inouye/APToyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda.

TOKYO -- Toyota's quarterly profit more than doubled to 313.9 billion yen ($3.2 billion) as cost cuts and better sales worked with a weakening yen to add momentum to the automaker's comeback.

Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), which last year reclaimed the title of world's top-selling automaker, said Wednesday it expects the strong results to continue in its new business year that ends March 2014. It projected a 1.37 trillion yen ($13.8 billion) profit, up from 962 billion yen for the year ended March 2013.

The annual earnings result was better than the average forecast of 912 billion yen ($9.2 billion) in a FactSet survey of analysts and also outdid the company's own forecast for 860 billion yen ($8.7 billion) profit. Toyota reported a 121 billion yen profit for the January-March quarter of the previous year.

A recent plunge in the yen, brought about by the economic and monetary policies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who took office late last year, is a boon for Japanese exporters such as Toyota because it boosts earnings from overseas. The U.S. dollar has gained about 20 percent against the yen and is now trading at nearly 100 yen.

But Toyota President Akio Toyoda warned competition remains tough, while crediting "Abenomics" as helping automakers like "a wind that's blowing to push us forward."

Ford Earnings Jump Driven by Strong Truck and Fusion Sales

AOL Autos — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 07:40:00 EST

Filed under: Earnings, Automotive Industry, Ford, Manufacturing, Stocks

Peter Dejong/APFord CEO Alan Mulally, second from left and on screen, stands on stage with other Ford executives at the unveiling of new Ford Mondeo models in Amsterdam last fall.

By AOL Autos Staff

Ford reported better-than-expected first quarter earnings thanks in part to a brisk business the automaker is doing with its Ford Fusion family sedan, which won AOL Autos Car of the Year honors for 2012.

Ford Motor Co. (F) reported net income of $1.61 billion, compared with net income of $1.4 billion, or 35 cents a share, a year earlier.

Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford earned $2.4 billion in North America, which off-set the slumping economy in Europe, which has hammered car sales. The company also posted losses in South America.

"We continue to expect 2013 to be another strong year, as we go further in strengthening our global product lineup and improving the competitiveness of our operations," said Ford CEO Alan Mulally. "Everyone at Ford remains laser focused on continuing to make progress on our One Ford plan and building a profitably growing Ford for the benefit of all our stakeholders."

Ford's market leading pickup truck business in North America also helped earnings out as construction and home sales, which always helps the truck market, has been picking up in the U.S. The Ford Focus has also done well since its redesign, being named the best selling single car worldwide for 2012, according to R.L. Polk.

First quarter automotive revenue totaled $33.9 billion, from $30.5 billion a year earlier.

"Ford has some really big winners that are driving revenue and profit in the F-150, Fusion, Focus, Explorer and Escape," says AOL Autos Editor-in-Chief David Kiley. "The other thing it has going for it is the deepest management bench ... but it needs to come out with some additional clear winning models to replace its full size cars and SUVs, and come up with a viable luxury strategy because Lincoln just isn't working."

Ford share were up in pre-market trading. The company also forecasted it will build more vehicles in both the U.S. and Europe in the second quarter to meet rising demand.

Gallery: The Best And Worst Vehicles For Under $30,000

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Lexus Tops Consumer Reports' Automotive Brand Report Card

AOL Autos — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:04:00 EST

Filed under: Automotive Industry, Car Buying

(Lexus)

Lexus topped all automotive brands in Consumer Reports magazine's 2013 brand report card. Japanese automakers again dominated the rankings, taking eight of the top 10 spots.

Lexus vehicles are rarely sporty, but they earned the top score of 79 points out of 100 because of plush and reliable vehicles, the magazine said Tuesday. Subaru and Mazda were tied for second place with a score of 76. Toyota and Acura, Honda's luxury brand, rounded out the top five tied at 74. Honda and Scion were next at 72, followed by Audi and Nissan's upscale Infiniti brand, both at 70. Mercedes-Benz finished 10th with a score of 69.

The ratings of 26 automotive brands, closely watched by consumers, are based on the magazine's average road tests and predicted reliability scores from surveys of subscribers.

Detroit automakers didn't fare very well in the magazine's rankings. Cadillac was the best U.S.-based brand, tying for 14th place with Hyundai, scoring a 63.

Consumer Reports changed its rankings this year, splitting off individual brands from the companies that make them and scoring them individually. For example, in past years, all three Toyota brands - Lexus, Toyota and Scion - were scored collectively as Toyota.

The magazine said Lexus cars are among the most reliable even though they are "brimming with technology," including hybrid gas-electric power systems and complex information and entertainment systems.

Besides Cadillac, General Motors Co. had two other brands in the top 20: GMC and Chevrolet tied with Volvo for 17th with a score of 58. Buick, with a score of 54, was 21st.

Ford and Lincoln continued to be plagued by problems with the complexity of their touch-screen controls, the magazine said. But it's worth noting that Consumer Reports has been especially hard on Ford's new MyFord Touch system, and unrelenting in its criticism even after Ford has made adjustments that other reviewers find satisfactory.

Ford also has been hampered by "unrefined" automatic transmissions, according to the magazine. Ford finished 23rd with a score of 51, while Lincoln was 24th with 50.

No Chrysler brand fared well. Jeep and Dodge were the bottom two finishers with scores of 47 and 46. Part of that poor performance, though, is due to the fact that Jeep is still nursing along some vehicles that were developed under previous owners--Jeep Liberty, Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot. The Wrangler and Jeep Grand Cherokee, however, score extremely well with most reviewers, including AOL Autos, and are in huge demand from new-vehicle buyers.

Consumer Reports also released its top pick for 2013 models on Tuesday. The redesigned Honda Accord won in the popular midsize car segment, while Hyundai's Elantra won in the budget car category. The Subaru Impreza was the top pick for compact cars, while the Audi A6 was tops in the luxury segment. Honda's CR-V won the top spot for small crossover SUVs, while BMW's 328i was the top sports sedan, and the Toyota Prius was the top green car pick.

Complete reports for all the brands are in the magazine's April issue.

With Associated Press

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Consumer Reports Names the Worst-Value Cars on the Road

AOL Autos — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Automotive Industry

The BMW 750Li is the worst value for your dollar, Consumer Reports said recently.

The magazine, which recently ranked the Toyota Prius as the best value for your money, said the 705Li costs $1.80 a mile to drive. "With frustrating controls and a below-par ride, the 750Li didn't score well enough to be recommended and racked up one of the worst predicted-reliability scores," the magazine wrote in its roundup.

Consumer Reports measures value by weighing five-year ownership costs, predicted-reliability scores and road test scores and coming up with a cost-per-mile figure. The biggest factor in five-year ownership costs is depreciation - how much owners can sell their car as used.

The winner, the Prius, costs just 49 cents per mile to own, compared to the BMW750Li's $1.80 a mile to own.

Click through to see more of Consumer Report's worst value cars.

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Hurricane Sandy Boosts Car Sales in November

AOL Autos — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Automotive Industry

The auto industry wins the silver lining award from the affects of Hurricane Sandy: November car sales jumped 15 percent on strong demand from people replacing cars destroyed by the storm, Americans feeling more confident in the economy, and an easier access to credit.

November was the strongest month of sales since January 2008, nine months before the financial collapse that sunk the economy, according to AutoData. The auto industry began feeling the effects of the recession long before the rest of the economy. More than 1.09 million cars were sold in November, up from 1.02 million a year ago.

That puts sales at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (the figure automakers look at to compare month-to-month sales, which tend to fluctuate with the weather) at 15.54 million, compared with 13.55 million last November.

Auto loans are easier to get now too. Credit clearing house Experian (EXPN) recently reported that sub-prime lending in the auto category was about 43% of loans, up from 42% in 2008 when such lending peaked before the financial crisis. Underwriting, such as income verification, has stiffened since then. Finance companies, though, have loosened lending for those with low credit scores, but who have solid incomes.

But automakers warned that talks of the "fiscal cliff" could put a damper on the party, if Congress and the White House can't reach an agreement. The "fiscal cliff" term refers to the tax increases and government spending cuts set to roll into effect starting Jan. 1 if the government can't come to an agreement to cut the deficit.

"Exactly how much growth we can expect next year will depend on how Congress and the president resolve the fiscal cliff issue," said Kurt McNeil, General Motor's (GM) head of U.S. sales. "Markets and consumers hate uncertainty."

Read the rest at AOL Autos

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