With few exceptions, most automakers saw a significant downturn in August sales compared to August 2009 when the CARS “Cash for Clunkers” program spurred consumer buying.
August sales for Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac decreased by a combined 11% compared to last August, a month in which the automotive industry experienced the highest level of sales in 2009 due to the “Cash for Clunkers” stimulus program. Compared to July 2010, sales for GM's brands were down 7%.  -Read more-

Of the 1,160 dealers that lost their contracts with General Motors last year and that filed to papers to have their franchises reinstated, up to 661 might get the green light to start selling GM vehicles again.

Auto Meter Products Inc., Sycamore, Ill., has acquired the rights to produce the air-core movement that it currently uses to power many of its automotive performance gauges from Lapeer, Mich.-based SIMCO Ltd. Auto Meter has acquired the exclusive rights to manufacture and sell the Micro Air Core (“MAC”) movements for the performance automotive aftermarket. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The MAC movements feature a patented design that the companies say delivers a high degree of accuracy and reliable pointer indication in gauge applications. The compact design of these air-core movements enables the use of thin instruments with greater lighting freedom and gauge design.

Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, Mich., confirmed that all substantive commercial terms relating to the potential sale of Volvo Car Corp. have been settled between Ford and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. Ltd., Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.

While some work still remains to be completed before signing-e — including final documentation, financing and government approvals — Ford and Geely anticipate that a definitive sale agreement will be signed in the first quarter of 2010, with closing of the sale likely to occur in the second quarter 2010, subject to appropriate regulatory approvals.

Counter to what some analysts believed during and immediately after the Cash for Clunkers program — that vehicle sales would slump through the remainder of 2009 — December sales for several carmakers jumped well above same-month sales in 2008.

Both Ford and Subaru posted sales leaps of 33% for December 2009 over the same period in 2008. And Hyundai beat those carmakers with a 34% gain.

Only recently have some analysts begun to reevaluate their SAAR projections for 2009.

Also posting solid December sales were Honda at 24%, Nissan at 18% and Volkswagen at 16%.

A billion here, a billion there and pretty soon you’re talking real money.

It’s unclear who opined those words (though it was attributed to Sen. Everett Dirksen, the longtime Illinois Republican who served from the 1950s through the end of the’60s, who was rumored to have been misquoted but thought the phrase was so good he let it ride on his coattails), but they have an especial meaning nowadays.

 

In-dash GPS units, such as this Tomtom from Eclipse should be easy to install by anyone with experience installing an audio/video units.

 

Global positioning system devices, or GPS, are becoming more popular as travelers, on foot and, especially, in vehicles discover the wayfinding devices, with their street-by-street directions, aid them in pinpointing where they are and where they want to be.