-An interesting thing happened on the second day of our test of the 2016 Dodge Journey: We started noticing them everywhere. Schools, fast-food joints, athletic-field parking lots. Sure, we nodded approvingly when Dodge overhauled the dismal first-gen Journey for 2011 and admired the tougher-looking Crossroad trim that debuted in 2014. But until now, any Journeys we've encountered in the wild have disappeared into the landscape. READ MORE ››
CARS.COM - French automaker Groupe PSA, which also owns the Peugeot, Citroën and DS automotive brands, has announced it will return to the U.S. market. Carlos Tavares, chairman of the managing board of PSA, said earlier today that the company, the second-largest automaker in Europe behind Volkswagen, plans to return to the U.S. market in a measured rollout over the next 10 years.
It won't be a rapid return, Tavares said, but will be a careful expansion to bring PSA back to North America after a nearly 25-year absence for any of its brands. The plan will be a three-step process that will start with a car-sharing partnership.
Related: More Industry News
One partner the automaker is exploring is Bolloré Group, a French conglomerate with involvement in electric vehicles and car sharing. In the U.S., it operates an electric car-sharing service in Indianapolis under the name BlueIndy. The city and company have partnered to install nearly 100 charging stations throughout the city, with plans for up to 200 stations and 500 cars in the service.
After PSA gets a feel for the U.S. market through its car-sharing service partnership, it would then introduce its own vehicles into the service. The company did not specify what type of vehicles (gas or electric) or which of its three brands would be used.
Should this prove popular, PSA then would offer its cars for sale through dedicated dealerships. These vehicles would be "locally sourced," according to Tavares, meaning production would be in North America.
CARS.COM
Vehicles Affected: Approximately 15,000 model-year 2015-16 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango SUVs manufactured from Dec. 9, 2015, to Jan. 14, 2016
The Problem: The left front brake caliper may crack due to being made from an incorrect material, lengthening the distance needed to stop the vehicle and increasing the risk of a crash.
The Fix: Dealers will inspect the left front brake caliper and, depending on its casting date, replace it for free.
What Owners Should Do: Chrysler did not immediately provide an owner-notification schedule. Owners can call the automaker at 800-853-1403 or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's vehicle-safety hotline at 888-327-4236, or go to www.safercar.gov, for more info.
Need to Find a Dealer for Service? Go to Cars.com Service & Repair to find your local dealer.
-The Ford Focus RS is a car so special and so emotionally rewarding that it needs no rational justification. But just in case you need one-say, for a skeptical spouse-we have you covered: The $40,000 Focus is a stonking value. READ MORE ››
CARS.COM - So much for the ides of March. Amid still-low gas prices and steady economic strength, overall auto sales picked up 3.2 percent, according to Autodata Corp. Among the seven biggest automakers, Ford, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Honda and Nissan led the gains with big increases from trucks and SUVs. In the non-luxury product segments, subcompact and midsize SUVs boomed.
Related: Top 10 Best-Selling Cars: February 2016
March's top 10 bestsellers all are February repeats, and all but two had sales increases. The lone declines came from the Toyota Corolla (down 8.4 percent versus a strong March 2015) and the Camry (down 9.3 percent). Camry shoppers had a lot of new alternatives, from a redesigned Chevrolet Malibu to a refreshed Honda Accord and Nissan Altima. All three rivals saw sales increases in March, while the Camry fell - and that's despite higher cash rebates versus year-ago levels.
Here are the top 10 best-selling cars:
Cars.com chart by Paul Dolan
The bump for some family sedans kept that segment relatively flat in March, as shoppers traded interest in the Chrysler 200 (down 67.8 percent) and Kia Optima (down 24.3 percent) for hot sellers such as the Hyundai Sonata (up 56.9 percent) and Chevrolet Malibu (up 33.3 percent). Trucks, meanwhile, found plenty of buyers as the construction market continues to strengthen. February housing starts hit their fourth-best month since the recession; it's little surprise that in March, full-size pickups gained 8.2 percent, while utility vans added 27.2 percent.
It's unclear how much of the overall sales surge comes from the elevated incentives we've seen since last summer. Prior-month incentives data typically doesn't come until the end of a sales day, but J.D. Power and Associates hinted at a spike in deals. Thomas King, vice president of Power Information Network, noted yesterday that average incentives over the first quarter of 2016 amounted to 9.6 percent of MSRP. That's up significantly versus Q1 2015, when they were 8.7 percent of MSRP.
Still, other economic data suggests shoppers are hitting dealerships not just because of deals. Unemployment is low, consumer confidence is high and shoppers' investments have recovered some of the beating they took in January and February. Interest rates still are low, and the Federal Reserve's current tone suggests rates will stay that way for months to come.
That means the good times still are rolling, at least for now. But J.D. Power notes some storm clouds: rising incentives, longer-term loans and record levels of leasing, and declining credit scores for some shoppers.
"Auto sales figures continue to post strong results," King said in a statement yesterday. "But when you peel back just one layer beneath the surface, some worrisome trends are taking hold."
CARS.COM - So much for the ides of March. Amid still-low gas prices and steady economic strength, overall auto sales picked up 3.2 percent, according to Autodata Corp. Among the seven biggest automakers, Ford, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Honda and Nissan led the gains with big increases from trucks and SUVs. In the non-luxury product segments, subcompact and midsize SUVs boomed.
Related: Top 10 Best-Selling Cars: February 2016
March's top 10 bestsellers all are February repeats, and all but two had sales increases. The lone declines came from the Toyota Corolla (down 8.4 percent versus a strong March 2015) and the Camry (down 9.3 percent). Camry shoppers had a lot of new alternatives, from a redesigned Chevrolet Malibu to a refreshed Honda Accord and Nissan Altima. All three rivals saw sales increases in March, while the Camry fell - and that's despite higher cash rebates versus year-ago levels.
Here are the top 10 best-selling cars:
Cars.com chart by Paul Dolan
The bump for some family sedans kept that segment relatively flat in March, as shoppers traded interest in the Chrysler 200 (down 67.8 percent) and Kia Optima (down 24.3 percent) for hot sellers such as the Hyundai Sonata (up 56.9 percent) and Chevrolet Malibu (up 33.3 percent). Trucks, meanwhile, found plenty of buyers as the construction market continues to strengthen. February housing starts hit their fourth-best month since the recession; it's little surprise that in March, full-size pickups gained 8.2 percent, while utility vans added 27.2 percent.
It's unclear how much of the overall sales surge comes from the elevated incentives we've seen since last summer. Prior-month incentives data typically doesn't come until the end of a sales day, but J.D. Power and Associates hinted at a spike in deals. Thomas King, vice president of Power Information Network, noted yesterday that average incentives over the first quarter of 2016 amounted to 9.6 percent of MSRP. That's up significantly versus Q1 2015, when they were 8.7 percent of MSRP.
Still, other economic data suggests shoppers are hitting dealerships not just because of deals. Unemployment is low, consumer confidence is high and shoppers' investments have recovered some of the beating they took in January and February. Interest rates still are low, and the Federal Reserve's current tone suggests rates will stay that way for months to come.
That means the good times still are rolling, at least for now. But J.D. Power notes some storm clouds: rising incentives, longer-term loans and record levels of leasing, and declining credit scores for some shoppers.
"Auto sales figures continue to post strong results," King said in a statement yesterday. "But when you peel back just one layer beneath the surface, some worrisome trends are taking hold."
