FTC staff comes out in favor of Tesla, direct vehicle sales

On the subject of Tesla Motors and its efforts to legally sell its electric vehicles directly to consumers without franchised dealerships, the FTC has taken aim at Missouri and New Jersey. The Commission hasn't made any nationwide decision on the subject quite yet, but in a May 16 statement it encouraged the two states to reconsider policies that would further prohibit automakers from selling directly to consumers. And the FTC didn't mince words, calling such laws an example of "protection that is likely harming both competition and consumers." This is much further than the FTC has ever gone before in support of direct vehicle sales.

FTC didn't mince words, saying such laws were "likely harming both competition and consumers."

The statement follows an April blog post from three FTC officials, who wrote that the anti-direct sales mandates were "protectionist" and "bad policy." Tesla has been doing battle with a number of states as well as lobbying efforts from the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), which represents 16,000 new car and truck dealerships representing about 32,000 domestic and international franchises. The NADA has been supporting dealers who oppose Tesla's direct sales for years.

In fact, Jonathan Collegio, vice president of public affairs for the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), maintained that the states need to retain the right to regulate the automobile sales distribution channel.

"These arguments ignore the fact that fierce competition between local dealers drives down prices both within and across brands. When three Ford dealers compete for the same customer, the customer wins, period," Collegio wrote in an e-mail to AutoblogGreen. ""Finally, it's a major fallacy to compare buying cars with buying other goods, like books or computers. New cars are major purchases that require licensing, insurance, complex financing involving trade-ins, contain hazardous materials, and if operated incorrectly can cause serious bodily injury."

Tesla representatives didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from AutoblogGreen.

New Jersey and Missouri have both been in the news lately. Garden State politicos have created a bit of a grey area, first voting in mid-March to stop Tesla stores from selling cars starting April 1, then extending the deadline to April 15. Tesla appealed the ban with the state Superior Court last month, and the FTC says the " limited, selective set of exceptions" are "very likely anticompetitive and harmful to consumers." In Missouri, Tesla appears to be winning the on-the-ground fight, but if a proposed bill against direct sales there becomes law, it will "amplify the adverse effects of the current prohibition" and "discourage innovation," the FTC says. Read more below.
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Foreign car sales on the rise in Japan

Historically, the Japanese auto market has been a tough nut to crack for foreign automakers. The country's buyers have a reputation of preferring driving vehicles from domestic companies. However, the last fiscal year that ended in March indicated that things don't have to be so insular. As Japan's economy improved, imported models have seen their sales surge.

According to Bloomberg, the last fiscal year was one of the best ever for foreign automakers in Japan. There were 302,000 imported vehicle sales, the best since 1997, and they had an 8.8 percent of the non-kei car market share, the highest since 1989. Granted, domestic cars still dominated the market with roughly 90 percent of the country's business.

Volkswagen led Japan in terms of units sold at about 72,000 cars, and the Golf was the single best-selling foreign model, with about 31,000 sold. However, Maserati saw the biggest gains, with sales more than doubling to about 714 vehicles. Even Mercedes-Benz saw about a 40 percent gain, with the new A-Class accounting for about a quarter of its models.

Unfortunately, the boom may be short-lived. Japan instituted a higher consumption tax in April, and auto sales took a tumble. According to Bloomberg, the first month after the increase foreign deliveries dropped 24 percent, and the overall market fell 5.5 percent. However, analysts predict that if the economy improves, then import sales could rebound anew.
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Ford Fiesta 1.0L EcoBoost sales robust in early going

Okay, okay, okay, so I was just a smidge wrong. Those that read my review of the Ford Fiesta with the new 1.0-liter, EcoBoost engine will know that while I really enjoyed the torquey little three-cylinder, I was concerned that Ford's decision to force 1.0-liter owners into a manual transmission, steel wheels and one trim level might hurt sales of the new engine. I was also concerned that the promised 45-mile-per-gallon highway rating wouldn't be enough to tempt buyers into trying an engine that's so far outside of what the general public is use to. My concerns, though, seem to have been for naught.

While not doing a booming business on the triple-equipped Fiesta, Ford is seeing a take rate of four to eight percent per month in the engine's first few months on sale. Now, four to eight percent might not sound like a lot - if, like last year, the Fiesta sells around 71,000 units, there'd be barely 5,600 1.0-liter models on the road. It is also small potatoes relative to the take rate on EcoBoost-equipped vehicles across the Ford range, which US sales analyst Erich Merkle estimates to be roughly 35 to 40 percent of retail sales. Still, according to The Detroit News, the 1.0-liter is getting adopted at roughly the same rate as the sparkling Fiesta ST, which should be a solid indication of just how well this little engine is doing.

The 1.0-liter's success "really speaks volumes, not just to what we're doing with the Fiesta, but with EcoBoost in general," Merkle told Autoblog.

The biggest issue that Ford seems to be facing in regards to the 1.0-liter is a supply issue - engines just can't be built quickly enough. Production at the Cologne, Germany factory where the triple is built was doubled to 1,000 engines per day last year, in the face of growing European demand. Despite this, widespread availability in the US is still rather far off. And it's only going to get more difficult to snap up a 1.0-liter Fiesta, as Ford will begin offering the tiny engine in the Focus later this year. Customers that have purchased the triple - around 1,000 people, a third of whom are from California, according to The Detroit News - have had to custom order their vehicles.

Provided Ford can really ramp up production and come to grips with its supply issues, the future looks bright for its newest EcoBoost engine.
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Fiat Chrysler target 850k sales in China by 2018

Filed under: SUV, China, Crossover, Chrysler, Jeep, Alfa Romeo, Fiat

Behind the vanguard of numerous Jeep models, two Chryslers, a smattering of Fiats and Alfa Romeos and local production through a joint venture with Guangzhou Automotive Group (GAG), Fiat Chrysler wants to increase sales in China more than six-fold by 2018. The group sold 130,000 cars in China in 2013, the aim for 2018 being 850,000 cars.

Ultimately it's expected that the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Cherokee, Wrangler, Renegade, the coming Grand Wagoneer and a sub-Renegade-sized crossover will either be built in or exported to the People's Republic. The Chrysler Town & Country and 300 will join the export list in 2016 and 2018 respectively, according to a report in Automotive News.

With a number of those vehicles not in production or perhaps even envisaged yet, and others not due on the local market until 2018, it will be interesting to see how Fiat Chrysler plans to achieve the target in the specified timeframe. The joint venture with GAG builds two products now, the Dodge Dart-based Fiat Viaggio launched two years ago - supposedly designed just for China - and the just-launched Fiat Ottimo, a hatchback version of the Viaggio. Fiat projected 300,000 Viagio sales in its first two years, that number has been adjusted downward to 94,000 and there doesn't appear to be an analyst alive that sees a good future for Fiat in China's overrun mainstream market. Still, last year's 130,000 group sales in China is a huge jump from 2012 sales of 66,000 units, but less than half the 300,000 units it projected.

Jeep, on the other hand, is in a much better position as a "tough," aspirational brand and made plenty of noise for the locals with four styling concepts at this year's Beijing Motor Show. Nevertheless, while much lower pricing on locally-built models, the expanded dealership network and projected 2015 sales of 53,000 Jeep products will assist in the push, finding those additional hundreds of thousands of units leaves a lot of ground to cover. The 850K number represents about 12 percent of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' global sales target of nearly seven million units by 2018.

Fiat Chrysler target 850k sales in China by 2018 originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 11 May 2014 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lotus Evora Belonging to Bob Lutz Up for Sale!

Former GM chairman, and current spokesman for VIA Motors, Bob Lutz commissioned a special Lotus Evora S for himself, yet it seems that he didn`t fancy the car very much, as it is now for sale with just 40 miles on the odometer.

It features special kit like a reversing camera, FGD Design rims, and a green exterior finish, with contrasting longitudinal yellow stripes. It also has the optional Technology package fitted as well as the Premium Sport pack. It is now priced at $95,015, for those interested.

Nevertheless, for a car with so many features and a famous former owner, it will most likely get sold rather quickly. We particularly like how the exterior body finish is nicely complimented by the yellow stripes and the great-looking rims.

However, the red calipers clash a bit with the overall colour, and the dashes of yellow, and we say they should have been painted to match the stripes, or they could have been left plain metallic grey.

News Source: lotustalk.com

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Toyota Prius Is California's Best Selling Car in 2012

California's love affair with Toyota's Prius is well-known, and the fact that it is the US state's best selling car in 2012 really comes as no surprise. Still, it is impressive how a 'green' vehicle has become the best selling anything, anywhere - a rare feat, as such vehicles are still struggling for acceptance elsewhere.

WIth a total of 60,668 units shifted through 2012, the Prius just managed to etch ahead of the Toyota Camry, which sold 57,124 units. The third best-seller in California is the Honda Accord, with 49,420 sales in 2012.

Total registrations (retail and fleets) increased by 25% in 2011, from 1,290,920 units up to 1,617,103 units.

According to the chairman of the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA), Darryl Holter, “With California’s economy on the rebound, consumers feel confident again about buying a new car, and there has never been a wider selection of models to choose from.”

Also, lead vehicle analyst for the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE), Shruti Vaidyanathan was quoted as saying: “The vehicles at the top of this year’s rankings are proof that automakers are really ramping up their offerings. There are more hybrid and electric options on the market this year than ever before and the race for a spot on the Greenest list is increasingly competitive.”

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Europe - 35% of Buyers Are Willing to Spend More on Green Tech Despite Recession

A recent poll, conducted and sponsored by Ford, found out something particularly interesting about the European car buyer. Apparently, some 35% of Europeans would be willing to spend more on a new car, if it came loaded with green tech, and would be more environmentally-friendly.

This is odd, considering the sorry state of the continent's economy, as unemployment rates go up, and salaries stagnate. Still, something more in-tune with the current situation is the 71% of consumers who said fuel-efficiency was a major deciding factor for the purchase of a new car.

The same poll also discovered that 68% of European drivers actually think about fuel economy as they are driving - we find that perfectly normal, and we encourage it. Also, some 53% of those questioned say that climate change is the most important challenge faced by our current society, while 57% admitted that they would like to live a greener lifestyle.

This begs the question, then: Why, if they have discovered that people are willing to pay more for green tech, does Ford not sell any of its own hybrids in Europe, to prove their own point.

“The survey shows that even in economically difficult times there is a clear desire for vehicles that are more environmentally friendly,” says Barb Samardzich, VP of Product Development for Ford's European branch. She added that “Ford is extremely focused on meeting this demand now and in the future, and this goes hand-in-hand with delivering products that help reduce running costs.”

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