Episode 1003 – Chrysler Makes Strides in 3Q, Ford Tumbles in Reliability, Hot Wheels Camaro
October 30th, 2012 at 11:58am
Runtime: 9:36
The results are in and Chrysler had a strong showing in the third quarter of 2012, while Ford started to struggle. All the details inside. Ford takes another on the chin as it tumbles to the bottom of the Consumer Reports Reliability Survey. How much would you pay for a super-sized version of a Hot Wheels Camaro? Find out the price. All that and more, plus John McElroy has his review of the 2013 Toyota Avalon.
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Hello and welcome to Autoline Daily, where we’re going to give you a little bit of rest from all the news about the big hurricane hitting the East Coast of the United States. So here’s what’s going on in the automotive universe.
FORD EARNINGS ALL OVER THE MAP
Ford and Chrysler have reported their third-quarter earnings so let’s get to the numbers, starting with Ford. The company saw its vehicle sales drop by 17,000 units worldwide. That pulled down its revenue by $1 billion, and yet Ford’s operating profit increased to just over $2 billion. However, the bottom line is what counts the most and Ford saw a slight decrease in its net profit to $1.6 billion. On a regional basis, Ford’s performance was all over the map. Its North American operations set an all-time record profit and achieved an operating margin of 12 percent. But in South America, Ford’s profit plummeted to only $9 million and racked up $468 million in losses in Europe. And yet in the Asia-Pacific region Ford showed a strong rebound.
CHRYSLER’S SPECTACULAR GROWTH
Meanwhile, Chrysler showed spectacular improvements across the board. Vehicle sales easily topped half a million units, a gain of 12 percent. Chrysler was able to get better pricing for those vehicles and revenue was up 18 percent to $15.5 billion. The company achieved a 46 percent improvement in its operating profit, and a staggering 80 percent improvement in net profit to $381 million. Chrysler’s cash holdings now stand at just under $12 billion, which is up significantly from a year ago but down a little bit from the previous quarter.
Here’s my Autoline Insight. It’s good to see that Ford is now taking drastic action in Europe. It’s out in front of everyone else in making the moves that will fix its problems. But its lackluster performance in South America certainly is puzzling. A 12 percent drop in sales practically wiped out the company’s profit there. And while Chrysler’s financial performance is truly impressive it’s hard to see how the company can continue posting these kinds of increases. Unless Chrysler can substantially boost sales outside of NAFTA, we should look for its growth to start slowing.
CONSUMER REPORTS TRASHES FORD
Consumer Reports trashes Ford and Lincoln in its annual Reliability Survey. Only two years ago, the company was in the top 10, but this year the Blue Oval dropped to next to last among the 28 brands in the survey. Several of its new vehicles came out with more problems than normal, MyFord Touch continues to have issues and three of its more reliable vehicles weren’t included because they were refreshed for 2013 and data isn’t available yet. While Ford took a beating, Toyota was declared king of the hill. Each of its brands, Scion, Toyota, and Lexus finished first, second and third respectively. The top American brand was Cadillac and the top European brand was Audi.
HOT WHEELS CAMARO
You can tell the men from the boys by the price of their toys so the saying goes. Maybe that’s why Chevy revealed a Hot Wheels version of the Camaro at the SEMA show in Las Vegas. The company will build a limited number of them. It’s available as a coupe or convertible and can be equipped with a 3.6L V6 or a 6.2L V8. It shares a few exterior cues with the ZL1 including the rear spoiler and front upper grille. And the exterior and interior also feature the Hot Wheels logo, along with other unique styling cues. The price of the Hot Wheels package is about $7,000, so you’ll really have to like Hot Wheels if you want to get this.
CAR THEFT DROPS
There’s good news for drivers in the U.S. The FBI says car thefts dropped by 3.3 percent last year, to about 715,000 vehicles.. That seems like a lot but it’s a drop of 43 percent since 2002.
INDY AXES CEO
IndyCar announced that CEO, Randy Bernard, will step down from his position but will remain as an advisor. Bernard joined the series in 2010 and even though he has two years remaining on his contract the split was called “amicable.” Indy Motor Speedway President and CEO, Jeff Belskus will take over on an interim basis.
Coming up next, Toyota is counting on swoopy styling, solid chassis dynamics and impressive fuel economy numbers to build back sales of its flagship sedan. That’s coming up next.
2013 TOYOTA AVALON
The Toyota Avalon used to be one of the best selling big cars in the American market. But then Toyota seemed to lose interest in the car. So far this year it only sold around 22,000. But with the all-new 2013 models, Toyota ultimately hopes to boost sales to 70,000 a year in the American market, as well as export it to Canada, the Middle East, and South Korea.
As it always has been, the Avalon is built off the platform that is shared by the Toyota Camry and Lexus ES. But now it represents a big step forward for Toyota’s U.S. operations. This car was designed in California, engineered in Michigan and is manufactured in Kentucky.
Toyota especially wanted to make something of a styling statement with this car. The design features crisp lines, tight radii and compound curves. The body panels have a greater depth of draw, and the car has a decidedly more sculptural look than we typically see from Toyota. Take note of the split projector beam headlights. It’s really kind of a styling trick, there’s only one bulb behind those projectors.
Inside, Toyota wanted to show off its craftsmanship. Many interior trim pieces are wrapped by hand and stitched together by sewing machine, instead of wrapped by machine with molded in stitching. The Avalon uses a three tone color scheme to give the car more upscale look. It paid close attention to the graphics on the gauges to make them attractive and very easy to read. And look at those big radio knobs, which are perfectly placed so you don’t accidentally hit the other capacitive switches.
But the beauty is more than skin deep, this car drives far better than previous models. The body structure is far stiffer and even has 70 more spot welds on it. The front springs are counter wound to offset twisting motions when they are compressed. And there are rebound springs in the dampers to improve handling. It all pays off. This car handles far better than before. In fact, the sport version with 18-inch wheels can actually be fun to drive on a tight, twisty road.
The base engine is a 3.5 L V-6 that develops 268 hp and 240 pound-feet of torque. With its six-speed automatic transmission, it’s rated at a combined 26 miles per gallon. And Toyota claims it will run from 0 to 60 miles an hour in only 6.7 seconds.
There’s also a hybrid version, powered by a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine mated to a CVT. It’s rated at a combined 40 miles per gallon and will accelerate to 60 miles an hour in 8.2 seconds.
Prices of the new Avalon started just under $32,000 for the base model and just over $40,000 for the top-of-the-line Limited. If you want a hybrid version you can add $1,750 on up to $2,360 depending on the model.
Toyota hopes to sell around 30,000 Avalons in the American market in its first year, and then build sales back to 70,000 units a year. With all the other full-size cars out there now, that’s not going to be easy, especially with competitors like the Chrysler 300, Chevy Impala and Hyundai Azera. But there’s no question the new Avalon gets Toyota a better shot at that target.
The average age of an Avalon buyer is about 65 years old. Toyota is hoping the new car lowers that average age to the mid-50s.
And that wraps up today’s report, thanks for watching, we’ll see you tomorrow.
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Comments (37)
October 30th, 2012 at 12:12 pm
I wonder if Ford’s US sales will start to match those of Europe and So America now that CR has once again lowered Ford’s reliability results and people will start asking themselves, why pay more for a Ford than a more reliable GM or Asian offering?
October 30th, 2012 at 12:18 pm
………………according to CR; I put more credence in J.D. Powers. JMO
October 30th, 2012 at 12:30 pm
Way to go Toyota, Your the 1st to borrow the 2013 Fusion grille for your car.Also like they way you borrowed from the Hyundai /Kia sculpted body lines. At least your trying to change your blandtastic ways. Good luck though if you think sales will increase after the initial year of release.Very rarely have I seen a car increase sales after the 1st year of a new styling change.
Really CR are you still crying over My Ford Touch? Most buyers won’t use a fraction of the features any way.
October 30th, 2012 at 12:35 pm
XA: No, not CR, but CR subscribers who spend Honda money for a Ford and now complain cause they did not get Honda quality. Got fooled by the media kissing Ford and Mullaly’s derriere.
October 30th, 2012 at 12:37 pm
A 1998 Toyota Avalon was the first “Buick” I ever liked. This new Avalon seems to be hitting on all cylinders.
October 30th, 2012 at 12:45 pm
The new Avalon should outsell the ES350 cause you get more car for the money, but people rather buy into luxury than an everyday, everyman’s brand.
October 30th, 2012 at 12:52 pm
#3,
CR doesn’t fill out the surveys. They just mail them out, and the people who own the cars fill them out. It seems that a lot of these Ford drivers are having “issues” with their cars.
October 30th, 2012 at 12:59 pm
I am not here to speak up or defend CR, but I would venture to say that the people who subscribe to CR have some degree of education and intelligence, I usually see them at high end homes and clients. I used to subscribe until I lost my intelligence to advanced age.
October 30th, 2012 at 1:21 pm
#2,
Check the JD Powers and Ford is… at number 27 also….
Sorry I don’t like the new frontend of the Avalon. The two piece grill looks like it is from two different cars IMHO.
October 30th, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Avalon looks like a nice car that I will be old enough for in a few years…Just wish they would change the “Ford” front end, though…Then again, compared to the Lincoln’s front end, it is beautiful!! Seriously, to get a entry-luxury car with Toyota quality seems like a pretty good combo to me…
October 30th, 2012 at 1:29 pm
The front of the new Avalon is kind of like the C-Max, a look which I’m not too crazy about, even though C-Max is my favorite car of what Ford sells.
Ford is near the bottom in Powers initial quality survey, but a few are worse. Land Rover and VW are worse, as expected, but MINI is also among the really bad. I guess I’ve been lucky with my MINI, having no problems in almost 3 years of ownership.
October 30th, 2012 at 1:35 pm
I expect the new Avalon to do well. The old one was a carry over after the new Camry come out for 2012 model year, so a lot of Avalon prospects probably would have waited for the new one.
October 30th, 2012 at 1:47 pm
Maybe the ‘My fordtouch’should follow the ‘kiss’ method,’keep it simple stupid’.Or the ‘less is more’ approach.Just how much junk does one need to scroll through when your driving? As for lower quality,shame on you Ford.VW might just kick yer butt.
October 30th, 2012 at 3:21 pm
The GM highlights of the CR Survey…
- 16 GM vehicles recommended, up from 11 last year
- Chevy Recommended – Avalanche, Camaro, Cruze, Equinox, Silverado 1500, Sonic, Suburban, Traverse and Volt
- Buick Recommended – Enclave and Regal Turbo
- GMC Recommended – Acadia, Terrain, Sierra 1500 and Yukon XL
- Cadillac Recommended – CTS
New models not eligible in the survey include the 2013 Malibu, Spark, XTS and ATS
GM Reliability Results
- Cadillac now ranked 11th, moving up 14 spots from last year
- CTS Coupe the most reliable domestic car
- GMC now ranked 12th, moving up 10 spots
- Chevy now ranked 15th, moving up two spots
- Volt continues to have above-average reliability
- Cruze reliability improves to average this year
- Buick now ranked 21st, moving up three spots
- Chevy, GMC and Cadillac were all above industry average in brand reliability scores
Industry Reliability Results
- Scion, Toyota and Lexus are the top three spots in reliability
- Ford’s drop attributed to launch problems with Explorer, Fiesta and Focus as well as continued problems with MyFord/MyLincoln Touch
- Mazda, Subaru, Honda, Acura, Audi, Infiniti and Kia round out the top 10
- All three Chrysler brands were down in reliability scores compared to last year
October 30th, 2012 at 3:41 pm
while i am no fan of CR, i still think it is ford’s fault for slipping in quality and a few scathing reports. my ford touch is atrocius and should be completly abandoned. edmonds.com is full of very unhappy blogs of new ford owners regarding quality issues. they should let the ford teams in europe run the operations in usa and fire the clowns that let this happen….
October 30th, 2012 at 4:09 pm
Chrysler’s Gains ;
In comparison to what ? The previous two years when the company was technically speaking all but bankrupt ? Context please ! Without context the numbers are in fact meaningless . As far as CR is concerned . They lost their credibility years ago for anyone with eyes wide open : educated or not . Believing in the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus would benefit one more than trusting anything CR says these days .
October 30th, 2012 at 4:23 pm
Until someone comes out with a better system, CR and JD Power are it, pal. Unless you’d rather believe the Motor Trends of the world.
October 30th, 2012 at 4:51 pm
#16,
Chrysler is on track to sell around 1.5 million vehicles for the 2012 model. That puts them 4th in U.S. market share, well ahead of number 5 Honda. By any standards, Chrysler is doing pretty well right now.
I agree with John, though, that these gains can’t continue. There is only so much total market out there, and Chrysler is too heavily invested in big, thirsty vehicles. They have some good ones, though, for the price, in the 300 and Charger.
October 30th, 2012 at 4:52 pm
#16
Hey Kid, the bailouts and Bankruptcy were the end of April 2009! By this time 2010, they were well out of it.
And as far as this information from CR, it is them compiling owner survey’s, not their opinion but the voice of the actual customers…
October 30th, 2012 at 4:55 pm
Chrysler needs to have a midsize to compete with the current crop and if they can only put out something like the Dart, that won’t work, this Dart can not compete against the tough crop of compacts out now.
October 30th, 2012 at 5:05 pm
17,
Exactly. CR and JD Power are the only game in town with enough data to be very meaningful. Also, CR is the only “second source” of decently controlled mpg data to go along with the EPA numbers.
There is another source, though, truedelta.com, that is interesting. Their sample sizes may be small for most cars, but there is good information, and you can read actual comments about people’s service experiences. It’s a good site.
October 30th, 2012 at 5:10 pm
#20,
Yeah, while the 200 is better than the Sebring, it is still probably worst-in-class. They need to do better in that huge market segment.
The Dart seems to be too much of a “niche” car, with its mix of power trains, etc. I like that they offer all those power trains, and manual transmissions, but I don’t buy cars in that segment.
October 30th, 2012 at 5:12 pm
Kit, I do read Truedelta, but I wonder how much of it is just BS and jerks fooling around just because they may like or dislike some particular maker or model and make up phony data.
October 30th, 2012 at 5:14 pm
Yeah, I’m sure there is a certain amount of that with truedelta. Most of the comments, etc., seem to be “real,” but I’m sure there are exceptions.
October 30th, 2012 at 5:18 pm
ChrysCo has not been competitive in the midsize or compact class for as long as I can remember, I don’t know why, the 300 / Charger are very good in the large car segment segment,better than Taurus, IMO, just having RWD alone puts them in a unique class at that price point.
October 30th, 2012 at 5:37 pm
The RWD gives Charger/300 some special appeal, but the cars seem to work pretty well, even for those who don’t care about that. To me, the current Taurus is an exercise in what not to do. They started with the 500/Montego, and with every refresh, it got bigger on the outside, smaller on the inside, and more expensive.
October 30th, 2012 at 5:39 pm
@kit- from yesterday
We did’nt buy any new cars. I won an Escape SE with the “Touch” and my wife loaned her Edge to her folks for a month to vacation, in return for their MKZ. I’m selling the car to my needy sister for a song, but my son took to the “Touch System” in a flash on his trip to watch a Spartans game. I drove it a few times since and had no beefs, exept that it does/can do way too much for my desires.
The in-laws Lincoln had the 3rd version update to the Touch System,which the new models will have. My son said it was easier to use. I have to be honest; It did everything my wife or I wanted without trouble or confusion. I did try the Caddy “Cue” and liked it a lot better than the Ford. I don’t know how much easier it can get,but I would like to compare others. As long as I have pre-set buttons and voice commands, I’ll be able to enjoy my driving just fine. CR and it’s followers can fiddle with gadgets as they could apparently care less HOW they are driving.
October 30th, 2012 at 5:50 pm
I have been getting by all my adult life w/o any car info systems or even a so-called smart phone and travel, rent hotels, find restaurants just by using my pc at home and printing maps and then I write my own directions, plus I get a good idea of where the main highways and bi-ways are whenever I go. My son took his I-phone to NY to get around and find places and the damn battery kept running out, forcing him to go back to the hotel to recharge it.
October 30th, 2012 at 6:11 pm
Cwolf, thanks for the info. I’ve played with myford touch and cue a little, and yeah, I thought cue was better. I have probably made myself “learn” too much electonic stuff, having an iMac, a Windows laptop, an Android phone, and an iPod Touch. Still, I’d rather not have yet another computer in the dash of my car to learn. Does your Escape have the 1.6 turbo? How does it drive, once you get past the “touch”?
October 30th, 2012 at 6:40 pm
Kit, the Escape handles like a car,comfortable,quiet and,for what it’s worth, more spunk than my 4 cyl. Milan. My son keeps topping-off the tank before I can accuratly measure the mpg’s, but the gauge says over 32. My sis will pick-up the car soon, so putting on too many more miles may tick her off. If it were more loaded my wife may have kept it. After driving the Lincoln, I think the wifey is eyeing the 2013 MKZ. If so, this means I’ll have to buy something which can haul stuff; like the C-Max maybe. The fit and finish on both the Linc and Escape interior and exterior was very good. I suppose pedro and CR find the Toyota better,but I think pedro spends too much time under the sun and CR is influenced by a distant relative of Hyundai Smoke! Do you remember this character?
October 30th, 2012 at 7:10 pm
Yeah, I remember Smoke.
I think Pedro has just had a very good experience with a Toyota with 300K miles, and had bad experiences with American cars years ago.
As far as myself, I’ll buy any brand, if they have what I really like. I bought a MINI, for which I think JD Power has always had low reliability ratings, and I had a VW fairly recently. I bought the Prius, not because it has exceptional reliability ratings, but because I like the mpg and the hatchback utility. It’s nice that Priuses are exceptionally reliable, but the least reliable cars today are pretty good, compared to what I drove not too many years ago. Now, the very worst cars in the JD Power initial quality ratings have about 1.5 problems during the first year. The best have half that, which is great, but I’d consider another VW sometime, even if they continue to be at the bottom.
October 30th, 2012 at 7:10 pm
cwolf I will be referred to as Toyota Smoke from now on, thank you very much!
October 30th, 2012 at 7:37 pm
I admit I am ol’school American brand influenced and forever devoted, but I do find varying interests regardless of brand. I know I will never change, yet appreciate the good fortunes of others prefering a brand different from my own, like pedro’s vibrolla. But I enjoy taunting all you other guys because I know it stirs emotions and there is something which pleases me that lets you know I’m still here and will always brey you and your foreign brands. And because many of you have come to know me, you know it’s all about having fun sharing our automotive differences and ,yes likes. Hey, Toyota Smoke; I hope its the Cuban stuff!
October 30th, 2012 at 9:27 pm
Wow first mark fields says no we will not lose police market after discontinued crown Vic, have not seen any Taurus police cars, plenty of chargers—Chrysler needs to thank ford for that market
I wonder who the Einstein was that let quality go–all the aotumakers tothank ford for that one.
Lincoln—you have to be kidding— mkz nice but not even close to Lincoln stature of past.
What is going on? Not good signs.
October 30th, 2012 at 9:54 pm
Kit, you also had the Malibu Maxx which was good for you as well, perhaps you get lucky with cars plus you treat them gently and maintain them well.
October 30th, 2012 at 10:38 pm
I buy new cars too often to maximize my financial well being, and too often to really test long-term durability. I do test what JD Power calls “initial quality,” and their idea of “durability,” which is three years. All of my cars, since my 1982 J2000 have been mostly reliable while I’ve had them. That ’82 was not.
Yes, I am generally easy on cars, and maintain them well. I tend to be fanatical about keeping interiors looking like new, and about avoiding door dings.
October 30th, 2012 at 10:43 pm
Maybe I’ve been lucky with the VW’s, a ’98 GTi VR6, and an ’02 TDI Jetta wagon. I had no trouble with the Jetta, and only a window operation problem with the GTi.