PriceWheels Blog

Yup, the title says it all. InsideLine.com recently posted an article that really caught my attention. It was about how in the Persian Gulf, certain people were paying upwards of $1 Million dollars for personalized license plates. That’s right, license plates. Now these aren’t diamond studded, gold plated, designer plates or anything. We’re talking about regular license plates.

I’ve copied and pasted some of the article here:

“It’s not enough just to have a Ferrari anymore,” said Abdullah Al-Mannaei, organizer of Abu Dhabi’s monthly auction of desirable license plate numbers. Earlier this year, one 25-year-old Abu Dhabi businessman made the Guinness World Records when he paid $14 million for the tag with the single digit “1.” Another paid $9 million for “5,” which is said to be the second-largest amount ever paid for a license plate. The owner of the “5″ plate also spent more than $120,000 to put a “430″ plate on his Ferrari F430, which lists for about $180,000.

Apparently, all the proceeds from the auction are going to be used to build a new trauma center for vehicular accident victims. The auctions are usually staged in the Emirates Palace, a luxury hotel. The theme music from the movie Chariots of Fire accompanies the event. I’m gonna go ahead and not comment on that last part, since this is for a good cause. Hopefully…

A link to the full article is here: http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=128337#4

Above: “Hey Look! My license plate is worth more than my Ferrari…” 

The evidence is everywhere. Saddled with bad decisions, and horrible foresight, the U.S. auto industry is taking quite a thrashing nowadays. Did they actually think there was a sustainable future with gas-guzzling SUV’s and trucks?!? Well they were very wrong and many companies are finding themselves rethinking their entire future lineups.

One company though, has been right on the money all along. Honda has been pushing fuel-efficient cars since the company came to the States. The biggest car in their lineup is the Ridgeline large-lifestyle-truck thing. Though the Ridgeline indirectly competes with large trucks and SUV’s for potential owners, it’s powered by a fuel efficient V6 not a V8. In fact, a V8 isn’t even an option!

The result of all this was American Honda Motor reporting record sales in June while the rest of the industry was crying for mercy. Mostly, the reason was Honda’s fuel-efficient small-car lineup that includes the Honda Civic and Fit. The Acura division also said the TSX sedan posted its best-ever June sales results, and they’re gonna offer a diesel option soon.

American Honda posted total June sales of 142,539. That’s up 13.8 percent, setting a new record for that month. Total car sales at Honda set a new June record for the first time since 1990 at 97,639, which is up 34.2 percent compared with last year. The company also said its Fit posted its best month ever with sales of 10,003, up 100.5 percent! Meanwhile the neo-classic Civic hit a new June record as well. Civic sales (coupe and sedan, including Si) were up 23.1 percent to 39,967 total units sold.

So it seems while other auto manufactures didn’t have much future insight, Honda new exactly what was coming. Their fuel efficient cars are tried and true while other manufactures are just now getting deep into that technology. Seems in this department Honda is already a few steps ahead, and it shows.

Tesla Motors CEO, Ze’ev Drori, and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced today that Tesla’s next product, a 4-door, 5-passenger sedan, will be manufactured at a facility in California.

Tesla currently manufactures its battery pack in California, along with the final assembly of the Tesla Roadster, reports The Auto Channel.

“Today’s announcement is incredible news for California’s economy and its environment,” said Schwarzenegger.   ”If California was a baseball team, this would be like winning the first round draft pick and recruiting a player who is a perfect fit on our roster because Tesla Motors and its all-electric cars belong in California.”

The Tesla Roadster

Tesla currently produces the Roadster, an electric two-seater.  According to Tesla’s Web site, the Roadster can go about 220 miles on one charge.  Then you just plug it in at night to recharge the battery.  The company also says the Roadster gets the equivalent of 256 mpg and can go 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds.

The new 4-door sedan will be geared toward families and is targeted for late 2010 production.

General Motors has extended its 72-hour sale until July 7.  Qualified buyers can get 0% financing for loans as long as six years (72 months) on most 2008 models. 

GM’s most popular models, like the Chevy Malibu and Cadillac CTS, will not be included in the promotion, nor will any hybrid vehicles.

A full list of vehicles included in the 72-hour sale can be found at www.gm.com.

GM, Ford and Toyota all had double-digit sales declines in June, as car shoppers leaned toward small, fuel-friendly cars, reports The Detroit News.  On the flip side, Honda was able to pull off an 11.4 percent gain for the month.

GM, although down in sales, held onto the top spot as the U.S.’s number one car seller.  GM sold 265,937 units in June, down 18.5 percent from last year.

Ford’s U.S. sales dropped 28 percent in June compared to last year.  Its small Focus car saw sales increase 53 percent in June, while SUV and truck sales fell by as much as 40 percent for some models.

Toyota posted a 21.4 percent drop in U.S. sales for the month, only moving 193,234 units.  The Camry increased sales by more than 10 percent and the Corolla increased sales by 16 percent.  Prius hybrid sales figures remain strong as well.

Honda was able to sell 142,539 units in the U.S. in June, increasing their sales by 11.4 percent.  Popular models for June were the Accord and Civic sedans.

The Toyota Prius is the hardest-to-get vehicle.

Even though we constantly hear in the media how bad the auto industry is doing and how vehicle sales are way down, there are a few vehicles that are selling.

Actually, they aren’t only selling well, they are often times sold out and are difficult to get.  With current gas prices around $4 a gallon, it’s no surprise that the Toyota Prius hybrid is listed as the number one hardest-to-get vehicle.

The second vehicle on the list, surprisingly, is the Lexus LX Series full-size luxury SUV, which costs a staggering $74,700 and only gets about 14 mpg, reports Forbes.com and Yahoo.

Other vehicles that are hard to come by include the 2008 Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Audi A5, Honda Civic and Honda Civic hybrid.

It seems fuel efficiency and demand for luxury are things car buyers are factoring in when shopping for a new car in a slow market.

Toyota Motor Co. recently announced that they were opening a new $1 billion dollar car manufacturing facility in Brazil. The new plant will be located in the state of Sao Paulo and will be the company’s second factory in the country. Toyota also has a plant in Indaiatuba, which produces a version of the Corolla sub-compact.

The new plant is expected to start building variations of the Vitz/Yaris subcompact. Toyota is also considering building new models derived from the iQ minicar concept that Toyota unveiled last fall. The iQ has been designed primarily to provide a low-cost platform for a range of affordable vehicles. These vehicles are aimed more at emerging markets, but have the possibility for a more global role in the future if needed.

The new facility will be completed in 2010 and will also have the capabilities to build engines. Toyota says it expects the new plant to churn out around 200,000 units a year.

The largest privately owned automobile manufacturer is cutting back on 2,400 jobs and closing two plants that make mini-vans. Given Chrysler created this category of automobile, this is a major blow. It is also going to effect production of Dodge Rams, which also are seeing slowing sales caused by high gas prices.

With the news of higher oil and gas prices, you can expect this type of announcement to be common amongst manufacturers who make larger gas eaters. If gas prices don’t level off soon, by year end I expect you will be seeing entire lines of trucks dropped permanently. You also will be seeing even bigger offers to buy these trucks like the Dodge Ram.

You can see more about the Chrysler cutbacks at Marketwatch.com

Residual value. It’s a term often uttered, but rarely really understood. It could mean the difference between a good purchase and a money pit. Residual value is what makes your car purchase a good long-term investment, not just a good buy the day you pick it up from the dealer.

Edmunds.com has released it’s newest list for the top ten cars with the best residual value. The list includes the percentage of its original value that each vehicle is likely to retain after five years with an annual mileage of 15,000. Edmunds residual value percentages are based on each car’s national True Market Value^® (TMV) price, plus typical options and destination charge.

Here is the top ten list:

1. 2008 Mini Cooper Clubman — 56.4%

2. 2008 Mini Cooper — 53.1%

3. 2008 BMW M3 — 52.8%

4. 2008 Lexus IS F — 49.6%

5. 2008 Scion xB — 49.2%

6. 2008 Volkswagen R32 — 49.0%

7. 2008 Infiniti G37 — 47.2%

8. 2008 Chevrolet Corvette — 47.1%

9. 2008 BMW 1 Series — 47.0%

10.2008 Volkswagen Eos — 47.0%

For more information, check out Edmund’s site by clicking the link here: http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/list/top10/

Porsche has just announced it will be moving it’s production of the Boxster and Cayman models from Finland to Austria. It’s longtime manufacturing partner Valmet in Finland will be substituted by Magna Steyr in Austria in 2012. The German automaker gave the reason behing their decision by saying that Magna Steyr has “submitted the most financially attractive offer.” Valmet’s contract runs out in 2012.

Valmet started building the Boxster in 1997 when Porsche’s home factory in Zuffenhausen began running out of capacity. The Boxster’s and Cayman’s midengine layouts required a different assembly process than for the rear-engine 911 series, so outsourcing it’s manufacturing was a perfect solution for Porsche. The company has built more than 200,000 cars for Porsche.

Porsche did make a point to say, “Our decision not to continue our successful cooperation is in no way a vote against Valmet. Rather, it was the high development capacity and competence of Magna Steyr that tipped the balance.” Porsche also stated that various companies in the Magna group already supply it with such components as convertible tops. The company says that the change  will not affect owners from a consumer standpoint.