Fusion Hybrid to Get 38 MPG

The upcoming 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid will get at least 38 MPG in the city. Mercury will also get a hybrid version of its Milan. Ford has not released the official fuel economy numbers but they are targeting to beat the Toyota Camay Hybrid by at least 5 MPG. This hybrid system is the next generation of the system in the Ford Escape. The Fusion will be able to reach 47 MPH using only the electric motor. The nickel metal hydride battery pack is 30 percent smaller and 20 percent lighter. The instrument cluster has LCD screens on each side that grows leaves to encourage your fuel efficient driving.

Source Inside Line

End of the Road for Dodge Durango and Hybrid

Chrysler is moving up the closure of its Newark Delaware plant to the end of the year. This will be the end of the Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen. The production of the hybrid versions will also end. The sales of the large SUVs are terrible due to high gas prices and the poor economy. Chrysler’s sales have dropped more than any other automaker. Durango sales are down 54 percent from last year and Aspen sales are down 21 percent. Chrysler said it is not killing off the SUVs but they have not announced a plant that production will move to.

Source MSNBC

Photos of 2010 Toyota Prius Leaked

Toyota planned to show off the next generation Prius at the Detroit Auto Show in January, but photos of it have been leaked onto the internet. Follow the link for more photos.

Source Inside Line

Cerberus Looking to Offload Chrysler

Reports surfaced last week that Chrysler was looking to merge with General Motors. The news this week is that Chrysler has talked to several international automakers. The credit crisis, economic woes, and gasoline prices are wreaking havoc on the automakers. Chrysler is the weakest of the Detroit Three. It is looking for a merger just to survive. Cerberus would want a meaningful stake in the company that merges with Chrysler. A merger with GM would not make any sense since their business overlap so much. Chrysler would be better off with a foreign automaker that does not have a large presence in the U.S. Nissan would be a good fit and talks are ongoing. Chrysler has also met with Fiat of Italy and Tata Motors of India.

Source CNN Money

Lower Gas, Incentives Increase Truck Sales

How quickly people forget $4 gas. Vehicle sales tanked in September but truck and SUV sales rose. Light truck sales also increased in August. The key to the sales increases are high incentives and dropping gasoline prices. There are also predictions that gas could hit $2 a gallon next year. This trend could destroy the Detroit Automakers. They are spending billions right now to retool factories to build small cars. All that money will be a total waste if consumers return to trucks as soon as gas starts to drop. We need consistency in gas prices so automakers know what vehicles consumers will want. We need to add a fluctuating tax to gasoline so that the price remains near $4 a gallon. This will move drivers into smaller cars and eliminate our dependence on foreign oil.

Source MSNBC

Global Auto Sales to Shrink in 2009

J.D. Power and Associates predict that global auto sales may collapse in 2009. Shortage of credit and the economic slowdown with put downward pressure on global auto sales. U.S. auto sales will drop to 13.2 million in 2009 from the 13.6 million that is predicted in 2008. Mature auto markets will be affected more than emerging markets, but every country will be affected.

Source MSNBC

September Auto Sales Drop to 1993 Levels

September was the first month since February 1993 to have auto sales below a million units. A slow economy and constant bad financial news brought down sales 26.6% compared with last September. Every auto maker was affected. Toyota saw sales drop 32.3%. GM had sales drop 15.6%. They were help by Employee Pricing Sale. The credit crisis is affecting dealerships and consumers. The dealers use credit to finance their inventories and many consumers are being denied loans or have to put up bigger down payments.

Source USA Today