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STUDY: Ford owns brand loyalty in 2009; Scorned Saturn, Pontiac buyers will look outside of GM

Ford buyers appear to love their cars more than customers of any other automotive brand, returning back to the American automaker when it comes time to purchase their next vehicle. According to a study by Experian Automotive, six of the top 10 vehicles for customer brand loyalty wear badges from the Blue Oval. That includes the Ford Fusion (62.4 percent), Ford Edge (57.9 percent), Ford Five Hundred/Taurus (56 percent), Ford Freestyle (51.9 percent), Ford Escape (49.4 percent) and the Ford Focus (47.57 percent).
Other vehicles making up the top 10 include the Toyota Prius (52 percent), Chevy Impala (51.7 percent), Toyota Camry (47.8 percent) and Toyota Corolla (47.56 percent). This brings up an interesting question: With the closing of automotive brands like Saturn and Pontiac, where are those buyers to turn for their next automotive purchase?
Apparently, not back to General Motors. According to Experian, Pontiac owners are most likely to look to the Ford lineup for their next car or truck and Saturn shoppers will switch to Toyota or Honda - not particularly surprising given that Saturn was meant to compete with import brands. Experian predicts that GM's overall market share will fall from 20 percent to about 17.5 percent, with most of the slack being picked up by Ford, Honda and Toyota.

Ford's China sales keep falling, down 30% in third quarter

BEIJING — Ford's July-to-September vehicle sales in China fell 30%, as the U.S. automaker continued to lose ground in a prolonged sales decline in its second biggest market. The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker delivered 131,060 vehicles in China in the third quarter, Ford said in a statement. Ford's sales in China fell 35.8% in the first quarter and by 21.7% in the second quarter. In the third quarter, sales of the automaker's mass-market Ford brand fell 37.7%, while its luxury division Lincoln saw sales drop by 24.1%. It delivered around 421,000 vehicles in the first nine months of the year, according to Reuters calculations. Ford has been struggling to revive sales in China after its business began slumping in late 2017. Sales sank 37 percent in 2018, after a 6 percent decline in 2017. The automaker plans to launch more than 30 new models in China over the next three years, of which more than a third will be electric vehicles. It also said it would localize management teams by hiring more Chinese staff and aimed to improve relationships with joint venture partners. Ford has launched a series of new models in the third quarter in China, including Focus, Edge, and the electric Territory. In China, Ford makes cars through its joint venture with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co and Jiangling Motors. It has said it would partner with Zotye Automobile Co to sell lower-priced cars, but there seems to have been little progress. In a series of moves, Ford named a new president for its main local venture, Changan Ford, in August and said it would enhance its partnership with Changan through research, production and marketing cooperation in September. Ford is also planning to revamp some of its existing manufacturing facilities with Changan to localize production of its premium brand Lincoln. Changan Ford's sales down by around 33.5% in the third quarter, according to Reuters calculations based on Changan's filings. Ford rival General Motors' July-to-September vehicle sales in China fell 17.5%, to 689,531 vehicles. As GM and Ford China sales extend declines, U.S. car companies' market share of total China passenger vehicle sales fell to 9.5% in the first eight months of this year, from 10.7% in the year-ago period, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Over the same period, German carmakers' share has risen to 23.8% from 21.6%, and Japanese automakers' share rose to 21.7% from 18.3%.

Hertz Penske GT latest hot Ford Mustang at the rental counter

Just a couple days after announcing the resurrection of its Rent-A-Racer program, Hertz has revealed a new car being added to its Adrenalin Collection of rental cars. To signify its new partnership with Penske Racing in NASCAR, Hertz introduced a limited-edition version of the Ford Mustang GT, officially called the Hertz Penske GT, at last weekend's NASCAR races in Daytona. If you're like us, the rental specials remind with the original 1966 Shelby GT350-H and its later homage, the 2006 Shelby GT-H.
Visually, the Hertz Penske GT starts out with a black and yellow paint and graphics scheme as well as identifying badges, and Hertz has raided the Mustang parts bin for bits and bobs like a Boss 302 front splitter and Shelby GT500 rear valence to give the coupe its own unique look. The model has also receives performance improvements including upgraded suspension and exhaust, Brembo brakes, a retuned ECU and Recaro bucket seats. As a bonus, Penske Racing's Nationwide Series No. 22 Ford Mustang has been painted to match the new Hertz Penske GT. Other cars in the Hertz Adrenaline Collection include the standard version of the Ford Mustang GT, Chevrolet Camaro SS, Chevrolet Corvette convertible and Dodge Challenger R/T. Scroll down for the official press release for the Hertz Penske GT, or you can always head to your local Hertz airport location to see if they have one on the lot.