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Sales incentive growth clustered around brands with few CUVs, trucks

While it's arguably been around the longest, the dominance of the four-door sedan has been under threat for many years. As a further sign of the hurtin' that SUVs and crossovers have put on today's four-doors, a new report from Automotive News points to the increasing use of incentives by brands reliant on cars and light on CUVs and pickups.
Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen and Kia have all been stung by double-digit increases in their incentives-to-transaction price ratio, according to AN, which cites data from TrueCar. Honda's ratio is up 14 percent, while Toyota, VW and Kia are up 18, 15 and 19 percent, respectively.
"Most of the incentive growth we have seen is in product segments with low demand - midsized or large sedans," TrueCar CEO John Krafcik told AN. "As this trend goes on, the brands with three-sedan strategies are going to be in worse shape on incentive spending than the crossover brands."

Did Lexus make a BMW? Or did BMW make a Lexus? This and other 2017 surprises

It's that time of year again. The calendar is about to reach its end, Star Trek Cats 2018 is about to take its place, and I'm reflecting about all the cars that graced my driveway this year or summoned me to exotic places. You know, like Stuttgart or Phoenix. In 2017, I drove at least 57, and as I perused the list of them, I started to notice a common refrain: "This car surprised me." Most were pleasant surprises, but there were a few head scratchers and facepalms for good measure. In both cases, it was generally the result of car companies seemingly trying to break out of an existing mold. Nowhere was that more apparent than the pair of Lexuses slathered in Infrared paint: The LS 500 that left me this week and the LC 500 that was my favorite car of 2017. Though Lexus has been trying to shake its crusty, gold-packaged reputation for some time now, its efforts always seemed like an old man choosing Hollister to redo his wardrobe after realizing it hasn't been updated since 1987. I fell in love with the LC, genuinely floored by its near-perfect take on the GT. It's characterful in sound, appearance and tactility. It was at home in the city, in the mountain and on the open road. It was both comfortable and thrilling, and after driving the mechanically related LS 500, I can report that the LC's talents aren't an outlier. The LS 500's turbo V6 may make different noises than the LC's naturally aspirated V8, but it nevertheless invigorates the cabin when the car is placed in Sport+ mode. The steering is truly communicative, body motions are kept in miraculous check, and I absolutely forgot I was in an enormous luxury limo ... and a Lexus one at that. It was everything that the BMW 530e was not. I drove that on the exact same roads and was utterly bored the entire time. Generally doughy, lifeless steering, more distant than Planet 9. And no, the plug-in hybrid powertrain had nothing to do with that. At least it shouldn't. The Porsche Panamera S e-Hybrid I also drove this year proves that, as do the Hyundai Ioniqs, which are surprisingly adept and fun little cars regardless of what powers their wheels (Hyundai + hybrid = fun really blew me away). I would drive that Lexus LS F Sport over the BMW 5 Series any day of the week, which seems like a shocking thing to say in relation to either car. While Lexus is seemingly breaking out of its old crusty mold, BMW seems to be climbing into one.

Kia to show widebody custom Stinger at SEMA

Kia will take to the SEMA Show later this month with a modified version of its Stinger fastback sedan that it developed with West Coast Customs. This tuned version gets a number of high-performance enhancements, including a widened body, lowered front and rear suspension, gloss black front grille, carbon fiber aero kit, 21-inch forged wheels, widebody fender flares, rear diffuser and squared-off exhaust tips. The Stinger is a fastback sedan and the brand's first GT offering, inspired by the grand touring cars of the '60s and '70s, designed in Frankfurt and developed on the Nurburgring circuit. When it goes on sale in December, it'll come in a choice of two engines: a base 2.0-liter turbocharged four pushing out 255 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque, and a GT version with a 3.3-liter twin-turbo V6 generating 365 hp and 376 lb-ft that's also found in the Genesis G90. It also comes in rear- and all-wheel-drive configurations, with standard Nappa leather interior and plenty of passenger and cargo space. You can read our First Drive impressions of the GT version here. Kia also promises upgrades to the tuned Stinger's cockpit. It'll be unveiled Oct. 31 alongside two other custom Kia vehicles, with more news to come in the days ahead.Related Video: Featured Gallery Kia Stinger GT Widebody by West Coast Customs: SEMA 2017 View 9 Photos Image Credit: Copyright 2017 Drew Phillips / Autoblog.com SEMA Show Kia Sedan kia stinger gt west coast customs