After the model picked up an honor at the New York International Auto Show, Nissan Americas decided to accelerate the U.S. market launch of the Nissan LEAF. Beginning May 1, the company explained it will reopen reservations to select consumers as both vehicle production and U.S. deliveries move into the many thousands. Nissan recapped that […] [Read More]

Toyota Motor Sales USA will recall more than 300,000 RAV4 and Highlander models to swap out the airbag sensor assembly, the company announced late last week. Included in the voluntary safety recall are about 214,000 RAV4 units from model years 2007 and 2008, as well as 94,000 Highlander and Highlander HV units from model-year 2008. [Read More]

Group 1 Automotive has broadened its presence in the company’s home state with the purchase of a BMW and Mini dealership in El Paso, Texas. The dealer group expects that the franchises — which will be called BMW of El Paso and Mini of El Paso — will pull in yearly revenues of $55 million. […] [Read More]

When it comes to the certified pre-owned market, Toyota Canada’s Mitch Gauthier said his company has found that Canadian consumers place the greatest importance on three key benefits of the automaker’s CPO program. Gauthier, the company’s manager of pre-owned sales, said that according to a survey of Toyota Canada’s CPO customers, the aspect of the […] [Read More]

CarProof reported earlier this week that another automaker in Canada is now using the company’s vehicle history reports as part of its certified pre-owned program. Joining the list of automakers implementing CarProof’s reports is Volvo, whose Volvo Cars of Canada Corp. CPO program has augmented its inspection process by requiring all certified units to include […] [Read More]

While Hyundai recently halted its vehicle return program that allowed customers to bring a vehicle back if they lost their job, the automaker has apparently stepped up to replace this offering with a new gimmick. It is guaranteeing the trade-in values of their models for months 24 through 48. The Hyundai Assurance Trade-in Value Guarantee […] [Read More]

On Wednesday at the New York International Auto Show, Nissan Americas announced it plans to push its localized production mix in the Americas from 69 percent to more than 85 percent by 2015. In total, the changes will increase Nissan’s production in the Americas by more than 50 percent — from 1.1 million units in […] [Read More]

A positive indicator for the auto market is not just that sales have increased, but it’s the manner in which the industry is improving, said IHS senior principal automotive economist George Magliano on Tuesday. He pointed out the positive trends of decreased incentives, more robust leasing and looser credit. That being said, the industry is dealing […] [Read More]

Fiat announced it expects to hit its last performance event, or build a vehicle based on a Fiat platform with an EPA label of 40 miles per U.S. gallon, before the end of the year. This means the company expects to increase its Chrysler stake yet again by year-end. In announcing first-quarter results, Fiat Group […] [Read More]

While April new-vehicle retail sales have shown unexpected strength ahead of expected inventory shortages, J.D. Power and Associates believes the selling pace is expected to be slower during the second half of the month. Analysts project April new-vehicle retail sales to come in at 948,100 units, which represent a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) of […] [Read More]