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November U.S. new car sales mixed as automakers deepen discounts

DETROIT — Major automakers posted mixed U.S. November new vehicle sales on Friday and predicted a competitive December as they rushed to sell vehicles and boost their numbers before 2017 ends. Automakers are trying to sell down 2017 model-year vehicles, offering high discounts to consumers as the year-end nears. In 2016, the industry reported record annual sales of 17.55 million units. According to consultancies J.D. Power and LMC, discounts have been above 10 percent of the average transaction price for 16 of the past 17 months, a level experts say is unhealthy and unsustainable. The November sales results come as the National Automobile Dealers Association said on Friday it expects new vehicle sales to decline to 16.7 million units in 2018, after dropping to 17.1 million for the full year in 2017. If that forecast comes true, the race to move new vehicles off dealers' lots will only intensify next year. Brandon Mason, a director at PwC's automotive practice, said a worrying trend for the industry was a rising number of subprime loans. He said subprime levels are at just over 20 percent of originations, against more than 30 percent prior to the Great Recession, but recent increases remain a concern. "That's a bit of a red flag," Mason said. "It's something to keep an eye on as we move into 2018." November results by automaker: General Motors: Sales fell 2.9 percent, with sales to consumers flat against the same month in 2016. Much of the decrease was driven by lower fleet sales. GM said strong SUV and crossover sales pushed its average transaction price for the month above $37,000 for the first time. The level of unsold cars, which has been a concern for analysts and the industry, rose slightly to 83 days' supply, from 80 days at the end of October. "More vehicles are sold in December than any other month, and we are very well positioned because we have momentum in so many segments, but especially in crossovers," said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president of sales operations. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: Fleet sales are low-margin, and FCA in particular has targeted a significant reduction in this type of sale in 2017. It posted a 4 percent overall decrease in sales for November, but fleet sales were down 25 percent while sales to consumers were up 2 percent on the year. Ford: The No. 2 U.S. automaker reported a 6.7 percent increase for the month, with fleet sales up nearly 26 percent and retail sales 1.3 percent higher than in November 2016.

2015 Nissan Murano First Drive

The Murano has an interesting position within the Nissan stable. On one hand, its size puts it between the Rogue and Pathfinder, both of which are geared more toward families, big and small. And while the Murano could easily be used for hauling your brood, that's not exactly its forte. After all, unlike it's siblings, it offers no third row accommodations. There's no rear-seat entertainment system available. There are no clever storage systems. That's because, in Nissan's eyes, the Murano is the flagship of its crossover range, and it's geared more toward older couples – empty-nesters, or folks who just never got around to having kids. This allows the Murano to be more premium in terms its styling and its available content. The Murano is less about taking the kids to soccer practice and more about taking four adults out to a wine tasting. Premium styling is indeed the big story here – this Murano looks fantastic, and is a rather dramatic departure from the oft-disliked second-generation model it replaces. Beyond that, the new Murano is more in line with the radical-looking, first-gen CUV that debuted in the early 2000s. But Nissan says the whole Murano package was developed with this flagship theme in mind – the company's executives call this the Maxima of its crossovers. To find out if that all holds true for the 2015 Murano, I headed up to California wine country – the vehicle's natural habitat, I've been led to understand – to see what's what. When it came time to pen the 2015 model, Nissan strived to "push the reset button." I don't think anyone loves the Nissan Murano as much as the automaker's senior creative manager in North America, Ken Lee. While presenting the third-generation crossover to members of the media during the car's launch in Napa, CA, Lee said it was the original Murano that made him want to work for Nissan in the first place. So when it came time to pen the 2015 model, Lee strived to "push the reset button," and create a product with an equally strong styling statement. The goal here was to design a Murano that would resonate as a premium vehicle not only as part of the Nissan lineup, but within the midsize crossover segment as a whole. I use the word "resonate" for a reason. Think back to the 2013 Detroit Auto Show, when Nissan debuted its Resonance concept – an aggressive, modern showcar that clearly showed a new direction for not just the Murano itself, but for all of the Japanese automaker's future designs.

Nissan presents NV200 is the brave new face of London taxis [w/video]

In most cities, just about any vehicle can serve as a taxi - so long as it meets the owner/operator's requirements for reliability, comfort and utility. But certain cities have their own unique taxis, and Nissan has been working hard to corner those markets. It has already designed specific taxis for such locations as New York, Barcelona and Tokyo, but its latest effort will bring a new Hackney Carriage to the streets of London.
A year and a half ago, Nissan displayed its NV200 on the streets of London in traditional black livery. But this new design takes the customization for the British capital one step further. Working closely with the mayor's office and with cab drivers across the city, Nissan's European design center in the Paddington district has reskinned the NV200 specifically to serve as the new black cab in London. The new face features round headlights, a new grille, LED lighting and a restyled front bumper. The steering has also been reconfigured to meet the 25-foot turning circle requirements for Hackney Carriages, as the black cabs are known on the streets of London.
The result is a distinctly British take on the NV200 taxi - one that we're guessing won't go without its fair share of controversy. Nissan will begin offering the black cab at the end of the year with a 1.6-liter gasoline engine mated to an automatic transmission, a powertrain said to be cleaner than the diesels used in existing taxis. And Nissan should know, having supplied many of those 2.7-liter turbodiesels in the '80s and '90s. But if that's not clean enough, the Japanese automaker will also begin selling an electric version, the e-NV200, starting next year. Watch the video clip and read the full details in the press release below.