In the best score ever achieved for a pickup, the third-generation Ford Ranger received five stars in crash tests from Euro NCAP. Ford, however, says it remains committed to its two pickup sales strategy worldwide with the F-Series in the U.S. and Ranger elsewhere around the globe.
Investors are finding the little-noticed niche Buy Here Pay Here to be smart money investments. An example of this is Palo Alto, Calif.-based private equity firm Altamont Capital Partners that just put down $50 million to the JD Byrider chain. Byrider has 135 lots and did $740 million in sales last year.
Compact car prices were "incredibly bad" in the first two weeks of October, says NADA Used Car Guide's Jonathan Banks, spurred by a large returning rental supply. The market has already seen between a 3% to 6% decline depending on the model year, Banks shared during a National Auto Auction Association webinar that also included NAAA's Ira Silver and Frank Hackett.
Chrysler Group LLC will partner with the U.S. Department of Energy to deliver five demonstration fleet Ram 1500 plug-in hybrid electric pickup trucks to CenterPoint Energy's electric utility in Houston. As part of a national strictly demonstration fleet of 140 vehicles, the Ram 1500 PHEVs will be used during the next three years to evaluate customer usage, drive cycles, charging, thermal management, fuel economy, emissions and impact on the region's electric grid.
GfK Custom Research North America says brand loyalty is down as more consumers looking for new features such as enhanced navigation systems, voice-activated services and Internet radio are more likely now to switch brands to find what they want. Ford has avoided the declining loyalty trend by adding small cars and boosting the fuel efficiency of its cars and trucks as well as introducing features such as SYNC communication systems.