2012 Fiat 500 Sport on 2040-cars

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Trucks, SUVs drive U.S. October new vehicle sales

DETROIT — Major automakers posted mixed U.S. new vehicle sales in October on Wednesday, though America's love affair with high-margin pickup trucks and SUVs remained in full bloom as larger, pricier vehicles fared better than passenger cars. Auto industry publication WardsAuto put the seasonally-adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) for light vehicle sales in October at a robust level of 18 million units. But after a long boom cycle, carmakers are still ill-prepared for the slight decline in sales anticipated for full-year 2017 and have taken too few steps to trim production, said Doug Mehl, a partner in consultancy A.T. Kearney's automotive practice. "When you make a new vehicle, you have volume assumptions tagged to it, and who wants to be the guy who says, 'I'm going to make less of this really cool model'?" Mehl said. "But eventually the market is the reality, and it's going to force companies one way or other here." General Motors GM reported a sales drop of 2.2 percent for the month, with consumer sales down 6.6 percent. But sales of high-margin pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and crossovers all rose. GM also cut its inventory of unsold vehicles — a source of concern for the market — slightly. The automaker has worked to reduce its volume of excess inventory, including through significant production shutdowns in the third quarter. GM had said its inventory would rise in October. "We are heading into the fourth quarter with good momentum, thanks to a strong U.S. economy and very strong pickup and crossover sales," said Kurt McNeil, GM vice president for U.S. sales operations. GM slightly reduced consumer discounts as a percentage of average transaction prices to 13.5 percent, from 13.7 percent in the third quarter. Industry experts believe consumer discounts above 10 percent of the average transaction price are unhealthy as they erode resale values and are unsustainable in the long term. Consultants J.D. Power and LMC said last week that based on preliminary October sales numbers, discounts have exceeded 10 percent in 15 of the past 16 months. Ford The U.S. auto industry posted record sales of 17.55 million vehicles in 2016. New sales received a strong boost in September as consumers replaced vehicles damaged in southeast Texas by Hurricane Harvey the previous month. Full-year 2017 sales are expected to be slightly lower than 2016.

New Barracuda, Grand Cherokee Trackhawk coming soon

As we write this, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is conducting a major dealership event in sunny Las Vegas. New vehicles are being announced, redesigned offerings are being teased, and promises are being made to the sprawling company's dealer body. And, as all these announcements are meant to be tip-top secret, they're leaking out left, right, and center. Naturally. FCA is telling its dealers all of the vehicles shown at the Vegas gala will be in showrooms within 12 to 24 months, and that the product offensive will include at least 30 new or significantly refreshed models. Some of those we've known about since FCA boss Sergio Marchionne unveiled his highly ambitious five-year plan in May 2014, while we're hearing about others for the very first time. We've reached out to our sources within FCA, and will update this post as we learn more. It should be noted that while we've tried to rely on concrete sources or corroborations from multiple sources, some of the news here comes from people claiming to have been in attendance and posting in forums like Allpar and Jalopnik's Opposite Lock. Unless corroborated by a mainstream source or confirmed by our own sources within FCA, we're listing each item that comes from a forum. Have those grains of salt at the ready. Chrysler Dodge Durango-sized SUV with stow-and-go was shown. A poster on Allpar Forums claims it had a Durango's interior. New Aspen? Town and Country PHEV confirmed (again). A plug-in minivan was originally announced as part of five-year plan. No news on 200 or 300. Dodge The redesigned Charger will use the Alfa Romeo Giulia's rear-drive platform and, according Automotive News, draw inspiration from 1999's Charger concept car. We're wagering the 24-month time frame specified to dealers will move the new sedan's arrival up from 2018 to mid-2017. Jalopnik's Opposite Lock claims two new Challenger models are coming. Challenger ADR (American Drag Racer) and T/A. ADR should appeal to bracket racers and is more powerful than the SRT Hellcat, while T/A is for track rats, just like Viper T/A. Automotive News claims the legendary Barracuda nameplate will be revived as a Dodge. The Barracuda will be smaller than Challenger, offered as both a coupe and a convertible. Allpar claims it will feature modern styling. A Dodge Durango SRT was announced with 6.4-liter Hemi V8 and rear-drive. Sources within FCA confirmed its arrival with Autoblog. Apparently, dealers were shown an example in B5 Blue.

Junkyard Gem: 1979 Fiat Brava Sedan

Ever since I started spending too much time crawling around in junkyards, about 40 years ago, one thing has been constant: a steady supply of Fiat 124 Sport Spiders and X1/9s scattered among the dullsville econoboxes. These cars were shinier in the early 1980s, but they remain just about as easy to find today in your local Ewe Pullet. Of course, the current generation of Fiat 500 has been with us for a decade and so the days of shiny junkyard Fiats have returned for us. But what about the other Fiat models sold here prior to the company's departure from our shores in 1982? I've found the occasional discarded 128 and even a couple of 850s, but the rear-wheel-drive Fiat sedans of the 1970s and 1980s have become all but extinct. I'm not expecting to find a junkyard 130, ever, but this year I have managed to spot a pair of 131s (which were badged as Bravas during their last couple of years in North America). Here's one of those cars, now residing in a Denver yard. Unusually in the case of a Junkyard Gem, I know something about this Brava's history. Back in 2019, the owner of a beloved Fiat repair shop passed away and all 75 Fiats (plus some Alfa Romeos and Lancias) in the shop's storage yard went up for auction, cheap. I did my best to spread the word about these cars, and some got rescued. You can see our subject in this photo above, awaiting its new home. It had a lot of surface rust from sitting outside for decades, but not a lot of genuinely alarming corrosion. Along with a white '79 Brava sedan nearby, it was purchased for a couple of hundred bucks— at most— and towed out of there. Perhaps the buyer or buyers of those two Bravas planned to flip them for a profit, or maybe the intent was to fix them up and drive them. Two years later, both are parked in the same boneyard just north of downtown Denver. I'm guessing that everybody in Front Range Colorado who wanted an old Fiat sedan already has a half-dozen, and the 20-hour tow to places like Chicago or San Francisco is just too daunting for Fiat fanatics in those places to come here and buy a car. The 131/Brava could be bought new in the United States from the 1976 through 1981 model years. In 1979, the list price of a carbureted Brava sedan was $7,583 (about $30,860 in 2021 dollars). That was a lot cheaper than its similarly-sized BMW 320i rival, which cost $11,810, though the plusher and more powerful $8,129 Datsun 810 sedan must have stolen some sales from both types that year.