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Mystery shoppers love Infiniti, hate Tesla

Infiniti, followed by Lexus tied with Mercedes-Benz took the top two spots for best sales experience according to mystery shoppers from the latest Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index, while EV manufacturer Tesla recorded the lowest overall score. Not surprisingly, premium brands dominated the top ranks. Including the three already mentioned, luxury brands occupied seven of the top ten spots and included Audi, BMW, Porsche, and the only American brand to crack the upper echelon, Cadillac. Toyota, Volkswagen, and Nissan rounded out the first ten positions. The news for domestic automakers isn't good. Aside from Caddy, the only other star-spangled automaker to score above the industry average is Chrysler. The rest of FCA, most of GM, and all of Ford fell below the line. But Pied Piper's mystery shoppers handed Tesla the biggest walloping – the company is ten full points below the next lowest brand, Volvo, and its score of 86 is 17 below the average of 103. It's baffling, considering the company's touted direct-sales model. "Tesla leaves me scratching my head," Fred O'Hagan, Pied Piper's president and CEO, told Wards Auto. "They own all of their stores, so you would think each one would be doing the same thing. But they're not. Tesla is consistent in its inconsistencies." O'Hagan added that there's a "huge variation" in Tesla's store-to-store effectiveness, and that in some cases, shoppers found showroom workers that acted more like "museum curators," Wards Auto reports. It might be popular to call Tesla the Apple of the car world, but based on Pied Piper's work, the brand has a long way to go to emulate the uniform shopping experience of an Apple Store. The news might be bad for Tesla, but even for the brands that scored below average, there's cause for celebration. Only Tesla and Mini lost points in this year's rankings, and only Mercedes and Lincoln held steady. Every other brand, including Infiniti, which topped the index for the first time, gained at least one point. The biggest improvements belong to Porsche, Land Rover, and Mitsubishi, which all jumped five points. Pied Piper's annual Prospect Satisfaction Index uses mystery shoppers – over 6,100 this year – from across the country to assess dealers and generate rankings from over 50 individual factors. News Source: Pied Piper via WardsAuto Green Audi BMW Cadillac Chrysler Infiniti Lexus Mercedes-Benz Nissan Tesla Toyota Car Buying Car Dealers study

Ford tops GM in US vehicle sales in May, driven by fleets

DETROIT - Ford, bolstered by heavy sales to fleet customers, surpassed General Motors in US new vehicle sales in May, according to figures reported Thursday. Ford said May sales rose 2.2 percent from a year ago to 241,126 units. GM sales dropped 1.3 percent to 237,364. GM said it had been trimming sales of heavily discounted vehicles to car rental companies. Such fleet sales made up about 19 percent of its total sales in May. Ford's fleet sales rose 8.4 percent, representing more than 34 percent of total sales. The industry average is around 20 percent. Analysts had expected mixed results for the industry, with sales likely propped up by heavy discounts. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said May sales dipped 0.9 percent to 193,040. Toyota's US sales dropped 0.5 percent to 218,248. Nissan said US sales in May rose 3.0 percent, to 137,471. After demand fell in March and April, analysts estimated May sales at just over 1.5 million. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales in May was estimated at 16.8 million to 16.9 million vehicles, about the same as April. A year earlier, sales stood at 17.55 million vehicles. Early reports indicated that sales over the three-day Memorial Day weekend were helped by heavy discounts. "While demand for new vehicles is still relatively strong, it's a bit of smoke and mirrors," said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of industry analysis at Edmunds, the car shopping website. Manufacturers and dealers "really pushed the deals over the holiday weekend to prop up their May numbers," she said. "Incentives were up sharply, and it seems automakers are putting more cash on the hood to nudge car shoppers to buy versus lease." General Motors dealers were offering discounts of up to $12,000 on the full-size Chevrolet Silverado pickup, while some dealer discounts on Ford Motor Co's F-series pickups were more than $10,000 on 2017 models and more than $14,000 on leftover 2016 models. The 2017 model year started eight months ago. Reporting by Paul LienertRelated Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Earnings/Financials Chrysler Fiat Ford GM Nissan Toyota US

2016 Toyota Tacoma shows its face ahead of Detroit debut

Here's your first full look at the 2016 Toyota Tacoma ahead of its debut at next week's Detroit Auto Show. No details have been released just yet, but at first blush, the revised Taco looks to be a much-needed step forward for the Japanese midsize pickup. We like the chiseled, modern face of the new Tacoma – it's pretty clean, not to mention rugged and handsome. The body sides almost look carried over from the current pickup (they very well could be), and around back, there's a new tailgate with badging stamped into the sheetmetal, as well as some fresh new taillamps. We can't yet see inside the Tacoma's cabin, though we expect it to have been thoroughly refreshed, as well – that's the place where the current truck really shows its age. As we said, Toyota hasn't released any other details, but the badging on this truck shows a V6 engine lies underhood. A four-cylinder option makes sense, as well – especially if the Tacoma wants to adequately compete with the recently launched (and well-liked) Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon twins. We'll know soon if this Tacoma is a fully baked, all-new model, or if its just a thorough refresh on an existing (and old) truck. Stay tuned. Featured Gallery 2016 Toyota Tacoma Limited View 13 Photos Detroit Auto Show Toyota Truck 2015 Detroit Auto Show