So far anyway.
Frosty 2012 Sales Start For Some Interesting Cars
By Mike Magrath | February 3, 2012
www.edmunds.com
When January auto sales were tallied earlier this week, sales for the broad industry were up 11 percent and analysts and industry watchers were encouraged by what appears to be steadily improving health for the U.S. auto business. But January's sales numbers also showed some intriguingly bad numbers for many interesting cars.
The thought process started with the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle, which went on sale sometime around October last year and evolved into one of the most buzz-less launches for a specialty car we can recall. Volkswagen had its best January since 1974 -- sales were up 47.9-percent to 27,209-- and the company might be pleased with the comparative sales increases for the butched-up new-generation Beetle, but the Beetle's raw sales numbers are pretty weak: 1,401 for the month.
The Beetle's January sales performance was a 417-percent leap compared with last January, at least. And maybe VW's pending launch of its MQB architecture heralds a safe future business case for low-volume specialty cars throughout the industry?
Here are the January sales results for a few other cars -- many some of our favorites -- that are selling at worryingly lame pace:
Honda CR-Z: 363 (just stick in a turbo 1.8-liter, Honda, and forget the hybrid stuff)
Chevy Volt: 603 (A "fire sale" sounded like a good idea at the time...)
Chevy Corvette: 629 (the C7 had better be compellingly different – and we don't think it is)
Hyundai Equus: 292 (Korea's Maybach?)
Mazda MX-5 Miata: 306 (Is one of the industry's most glorious runs winding down?)
Mitsubishi Lancer: 1,016 (A decent compact car that deserves better)
Nissan 370Z: 417 (Really? Really?)
Nissan GT-R: 20 (Yep, you read that right)
Suzuki Kizashi: 253 (One of the market's best cars that nobody buys)
Lexus CT 200h: 1,025 (Wish we had the money Lexus spent promoting the "dark" hybrid)
Audi TT: 182 (Something's not working here)
Mercedes SLK: 238 (Starting to see a theme here?)
BMW 1-Series: 422 (Where are all those buyers begging for a reincarnation of the old 2002?)
Ford Flex: 1,465 (Always been kinda cool, but...)
Lincoln MKT: 279 (Unimaginable)
Honda Crosstour: 921 (Someone in Japan right now is saying, "Naze?")
Infiniti EX: 318 (What's that about premium compact crossovers?)
Nissan Titan: 1,306 (Something's gotta give)
Toyota FJ Cruiser: 708 (We remember some desperately heavy breathing about this one)
Mercedes-Benz R-Class: 130 (Makes the Lincoln MKT look like a great decision)
Frosty 2012 Sales Start For Some Interesting Cars
By Mike Magrath | February 3, 2012
www.edmunds.com
When January auto sales were tallied earlier this week, sales for the broad industry were up 11 percent and analysts and industry watchers were encouraged by what appears to be steadily improving health for the U.S. auto business. But January's sales numbers also showed some intriguingly bad numbers for many interesting cars.
The thought process started with the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle, which went on sale sometime around October last year and evolved into one of the most buzz-less launches for a specialty car we can recall. Volkswagen had its best January since 1974 -- sales were up 47.9-percent to 27,209-- and the company might be pleased with the comparative sales increases for the butched-up new-generation Beetle, but the Beetle's raw sales numbers are pretty weak: 1,401 for the month.
The Beetle's January sales performance was a 417-percent leap compared with last January, at least. And maybe VW's pending launch of its MQB architecture heralds a safe future business case for low-volume specialty cars throughout the industry?
Here are the January sales results for a few other cars -- many some of our favorites -- that are selling at worryingly lame pace:
Honda CR-Z: 363 (just stick in a turbo 1.8-liter, Honda, and forget the hybrid stuff)
Chevy Volt: 603 (A "fire sale" sounded like a good idea at the time...)
Chevy Corvette: 629 (the C7 had better be compellingly different – and we don't think it is)
Hyundai Equus: 292 (Korea's Maybach?)
Mazda MX-5 Miata: 306 (Is one of the industry's most glorious runs winding down?)
Mitsubishi Lancer: 1,016 (A decent compact car that deserves better)
Nissan 370Z: 417 (Really? Really?)
Nissan GT-R: 20 (Yep, you read that right)
Suzuki Kizashi: 253 (One of the market's best cars that nobody buys)
Lexus CT 200h: 1,025 (Wish we had the money Lexus spent promoting the "dark" hybrid)
Audi TT: 182 (Something's not working here)
Mercedes SLK: 238 (Starting to see a theme here?)
BMW 1-Series: 422 (Where are all those buyers begging for a reincarnation of the old 2002?)
Ford Flex: 1,465 (Always been kinda cool, but...)
Lincoln MKT: 279 (Unimaginable)
Honda Crosstour: 921 (Someone in Japan right now is saying, "Naze?")
Infiniti EX: 318 (What's that about premium compact crossovers?)
Nissan Titan: 1,306 (Something's gotta give)
Toyota FJ Cruiser: 708 (We remember some desperately heavy breathing about this one)
Mercedes-Benz R-Class: 130 (Makes the Lincoln MKT look like a great decision)
