The World Car Awards nominations have been announced.

The journey on The Road to the World Car continues with today’s announcement of the finalists in all five award categories.

This release kicks off the countdown for the 2015 World Car Awards (the WCAs) prize-giving ceremony to be hosted by the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS), Bridgestone Corporation and Autoneum on Thursday, April 2, 2015. Winners of the 2015 World Car of the Year, World Luxury Car, World Performance Car, World Green Car and World Car Design of the Year will all be declared at this time.

A jury of 75 distinguished international automotive journalists selected the following finalists in the World Car of the Year, World Luxury Car and World Performance Car categories by secret ballot, based on their experience with each candidate as part of their professional work. For more details about our jurors, and their outlets please visit our web site: www.wcoty.com and click < Jurors.

The international accounting firm KPMG tabulated the jurors’ ballots and announced the finalists on the evening of February 9.   

The 2015 World Car of the Year (WCOTY) will be selected from the following ten finalists listed in alphabetical order:

• BMW 2 Series Active Tourer                  
• Citroën C4 Cactus
• Ford Mustang
• Hyundai Genesis
• Jeep Renegade
• Mazda2
• Mercedes-Benz C-Class
• MINI 5 door / MINI 4 door
• Nissan Qashqai
• Volkswagen Passat

The 2015 World Luxury Car will be chosen from one of these top ten finalists:

• BMW i8
• BMW X6
• Cadillac ATS Coupe
• Cadillac Escalade / ESV
• Kia K900
• Lexus NX
• Lexus RC
• Lincoln MKC
• Mercedes-Benz S Coupe
• Range Rover Autobiography Black LWB

The 2015 World Performance Car top ten finalists are:

• Audi S1
• Audi S3
• Audi TT / TTS
• Bentley Continental GT Speed
• BMW M4 Coupe / M3 Sedan
• Corvette Z06
• Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat
• Jaguar F-TYPE R Coupe
• Lexus RC-F
• Mercedes-Benz AMG GT

The 2015 World Green Car category is handled differently. Five experts in “green” technology were appointed by the World Car Awards Steering Committee to extensively review all documentation and specs associated with each candidate on the list of nominees.  The experts then create a short-list of finalists for review by the 75 jurors in their second round of voting this month. 

The finalists for 2015 are:

• BMW i8
• Hyundai x35 / Tucson Fuel Cell
• Kia Soul EV
• Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine
• Volkswagen Golf GTE

The five experts on the advisory panel are in alphabetical order: Phil Berg (USA - PopularMechanics.com); Richard Bremner (UK - Autocar magazine), Claus-Peter Koeth (Germany - automobil-industrie.de); Yumi Kawabata (Japan - environmental journalist) and John Voelcker (USA - GreenCarReports.com).

Cars eligible for the 2015 World Car Design of the Year award are taken from the list of World Car candidates or may be included as a stand-alone entry provided the vehicle is available in quantities of at least 10 in one major market during the period beginning January 1, 2014 and ending May 31, 2015.  Candidates may be pre-production or all-new production.

Again, a design panel consisting of five highly respected world design experts was asked to first review each candidate, then establish a short-list of recommendations for the jurors. The design experts are: Masatsugu Arimoto (Japan – Freelance design journalist); Silvia Baruffaldi (Italy – Auto & Design magazine); Gernot Bracht (Germany – Pforzheim Design School); Sam Livingstone (UK - Car Design Research and Royal College of Art) and Tom Matano (USA - School of Industrial Design at Academy of Art University in San Francisco).

The five finalists chosen for the jurors are:

• BMW 2 Series Active Tourer
• Citroën C4 Cactus
• Mercedes-Benz C-Class
• Porsche Macan
• Volvo XC90

The Road to the World Car began in Paris on October 2, followed by a stop in Los Angeles for a test-drive of the North American contenders in November, and continues with the finalists’ announcement. The next stop is at the Geneva International Auto Show on Tuesday, March 3 when the top three finalists in all categories will be announced.   The journey ends at the New York International Auto Show on Thursday, April 2^nd, 2015 when all winners are declared.

JANUARY USA SALES - GM - Best January in seven year with some models up significantly.

• Chevrolet up 20 percent with Silverado up 25 percent
• GMC up 29 percent as every truck and crossover posts gains
• Cadillac up 3 percent driven by XTS, Escalade

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) dealers in the United States delivered 202,786 vehicles last month for the company’s best January sales in seven years. Total sales were up 18 percent compared to a year ago. Retail sales were up 14 percent and fleet deliveries were up 32 percent.

“Consumers feel very good because more people are working, the U.S. economy is expanding and fuel prices are low,” said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president of Sales Operations. “Consumer and commercial demand for trucks and crossovers is really driving our business, and our move into the small crossover segment with the Chevrolet Trax and Buick Encore, and mid-size pickups with the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon, was well-timed.”

Year-over-year pickup deliveries increased 42 percent, following last month’s 43 percent increase. Large pickup sales were up 22 percent and more than 8,000 all-new mid-size trucks were delivered. GM is the only U.S.-based automaker competing in this segment.

Sales of crossovers and SUVs were up 36 percent year over year, with the Chevrolet Equinox and Traverse, the GMC Terrain and the Buick Encore all posting their highest January sales ever. Chevrolet will unveil a redesigned Equinox at the Chicago Auto Show on February 12.

Highlights (vs. 2014 except as noted)

Chevrolet:

• Chevrolet had its best January total and retail sales since 2008.
• Silverado deliveries increased 25 percent and in just five months, the all-new Colorado has overtaken the Nissan Frontier to become No. 2 in retail market share in the mid-size pickup segment.
• Tahoe sales were up 88 percent, Suburban sales more than doubled and the Traverse was up 89 percent.
• The Chevrolet Cruze, which had its best annual sales ever in 2014, began 2015 with its best January sales ever, as did the Spark.

GMC:

• GMC had its best retail sales since 2004. 
• Sierra sales were up 14 percent.
• Every GMC crossover and SUV saw higher sales: Yukon and Yukon XL sales more than doubled; Terrain was up 25 percent and Acadia was up 8 percent.
• The Canyon had its best January in 10 years following the launch of the all-new model late last year. 

Buick:

• Encore deliveries rose 46 percent for its best January ever.

Cadillac:

• Deliveries of the XTS were up 14 percent.
• Demand for the new Escalade continues to exceed expectations, with deliveries up 149 percent.

Average Transaction Prices (ATPs):    

• ATPs were $34,800, according to J.D. Power PIN estimates through Jan. 25, up $2,400 per unit compared to a year ago.    

Incentives:

• Month over month, GM reduced incentive spending as a percentage of ATPs, according to PIN estimates. The company has had the lowest incentives of all domestic automakers on an ATP basis in 11 of the last 13 months.
• Incentive spending as a percentage of ATPs was 10.5 percent in January, down 0.3 points month over month, while industry average spending was 9.6 percent of ATPs, down 0.7 points. 

Fleet and Commercial:

• Commercial deliveries were up 17 percent, for the 15th consecutive monthly year-over-year increase.  Truck, SUV and crossover deliveries all were higher.
• Sales to government customers were up 27 percent driven by crossover and SUV deliveries, including the new Chevrolet Tahoe Police Pursuit Vehicle.

Industry Sales:

• GM estimates that the seasonally adjusted annual selling rate (SAAR) for light vehicles in January was 16.6 million. 

Old defunct brands from GM will not be making a comeback anytime soon !

General Motors CEO Mary Barra, at the recent Automotive News World Congress, said the company doesn’t miss any of the brands that were discontinued during the company’s 2008-09 bankruptcy and restructuring -- Saturn, Saab, Hummer and Pontiac.

You can take that to mean that none will ever be revived by GM, at least while Barra is in power.

But that doesn’t mean displaced customers of two of the brands -- Hummer and Pontiac -- have nowhere to go.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is building a lineup that would be a natural home for displaced Hummer and Pontiac customers.

Looking at Jeep’s staggering global growth and the worldwide explosion in popularity of SUVs and crossovers, you have to think a Hummer customer’s first choice would be a Jeep. (Don’t forget the two brands shared the same basic seven-slot grille.) GM no longer has a dedicated brand of rugged off-road vehicles.

But I see the biggest migration of GM customers to coming from Pontiac -- and going to Dodge.

“Dodge is the American performance brand,” Tim Kuniskis boasted during a presentation of Fiat Chrysler’s new five-year plan in May.

Kuniskis, CEO of Dodge, is trimming and recasting the brand’s lineup to focus on performance -- putting its tires squarely on the turf that transformed Pontiac into a performance powerhouse in the 1960s.

Pontiac’s performance image, spawned by such cars as the GTO, Firebird, Super Duty Trans Am and others, lasted well into the 1980s. It was in the midst of being reborn when GM killed the brand in 2009.

Dodge’s Grand Caravan minivan is about to join the midsize Avenger sedan in automotive history books. And by 2018, Kuniskis says, Dodge will have seven performance-oriented nameplates. That plan is already in motion with the outrageous new 707-hp Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcat muscle cars, and the V-10 Viper sports car.

I asked Kuniskis if Dodge will actively pursue Pontiac fans with direct mail appeals, discounts and other tactics, since GM no longer has a brand dedicated to performance vehicles.

“The Dodge brand is open to any buyer who is looking for performance,” he said. “Every Dodge vehicle is designed to deliver that visceral feel that reminds buyers why they fell in love with driving in the first place, and we’re open to any buyer who is looking for that feeling, regardless of the brand they’ve previously driven.”

I don’t want to give you the impression that GM no longer cares about performance cars and Pontiac customers. Cadillac is largely about luxury and tire-shredding performance. At the North American International Auto Show, Cadillac showcased the new CTS-V, a 640-hp road rocket.

And Chevrolet has some interesting cars, such as the SS, which is a new version of the discontinued Pontiac G8 sports sedan, and the Corvette and Camaro. But GM has no mainstream brand purely devoted to performance or even with a strong performance image.

Even if Dodge does capture a good share of Pontiac buyers, success is not guaranteed, says AutoPacific analyst Dave Sullivan.

For one thing, GM won’t give up Pontiac customers easily.

GM spokeswoman Ryndee Carney says GM consistently communicates with Pontiac customers, alerting them of new GM models and offering loyalty incentives to stay with GM. The company won’t disclose or quantify how successful it has been at retaining Pontiac customers, Carney said.

U.S. buyers have many performance vehicles from which to choose.

“When you look at other performance models -- the Ford Focus ST, the Raptor, BMW’s M series, Audi’s S and RS models -- none of those automakers dedicate a whole brand to performance,” Sullivan says. “There is a limited market for go-fast stuff. Look how many Accords, Camrys and Altimas sold last year.”

Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Chrysler, is not known to have a lot of patience. But he may need it with Dodge.

Says Sullivan: “It’s going to take a few product cycles, maybe 10 or 15 years, to fix memories of the Caliber and Journey.”

Richard Truett

REPORT HERE

UK RECALL #20 - CADILLAC/CHEVY - Ignition May turn off by accident.

Vehicle Details
Reference :	R/2014/130
Manufacturer Ref :	140902EU
Make:	CADILLAC
Model :	Cadillac CTS, Cadillac SRX, Cadillac DTS and Chevrolet Alero
Launch Date :	02/12/2014
Numbers Involved :	11190
Build Start Date :	20/03/2003
Build End Date :	17/05/2004

Recall Details
Concern :	VEHICLE IGNITION MAY INADVERTENTLY TURN OFF
Description :	It has been identified that if the key ring carries additional weight and the vehicle experiences any extreme road conditions, for instance, off road or harsh events, then the keys can rotate away from the run position on the ignition switch. This will result in the loss of engine power and associated function. Also, the air bags will not deploy if the vehicle is involved in a collision.
Remedial Action :	Recall all affected vehicles to modify the ignition keys.
Vehicle Id :

Other Vehicles Affected (Click the vehicle to perform an extended search)

CADILLAC - SRX CADILLAC - SRX CADILLAC - DTS CADILLAC - CTS CADILLAC - DTS CADILLAC - SRX

Jag, Land Rover, GM and AUDI stop selling cars in Russia this week, as the market worsens.

General Motors, Audi and Jaguar Land Rover temporarily stopped selling cars in Russia this week, deciding that taking a timeout from the market was the best way to deal with the ruble’s collapse.

Automakers are battling a more than 40 percent drop in the value of the ruble since June, Russia’s biggest financial crisis since 1998.

In recent weeks, Russian customers has been snapping up Porsches and other cars to convert their savings into something tangible. That temporary boon for the industry soon turned to a liability as the ruble’s drop ate into what the manufacturers earned from their vehicles.

GM suspended sales to dealers on Dec. 16 to “manage its business risk” in light of the volatility of the ruble, the carmaker’s Russian unit said. GM, which didn’t set a date to resume wholesale deliveries, will deliver Chevrolet, Opel and Cadillac cars that have already been purchased at the agreed-on price.

Jaguar Land Rover said that it had halted sales until Dec. 19 because of the current economic situation.

Audi also halted sales in Russia on Dec. 16. The Volkswagen Group unit will restart after it sets a new price list in the near future, said Aleksey Kozhukhov, a spokesman for Audi’s Russian operations. Audi, the No. 2 luxury-car brand globally, is also halting production at a plant in Kaluga from Dec. 22 to Jan. 12 for a regular holiday break.

The ruble’s abrupt drop is “causing major pain,” Arndt Ellinghorst, an analyst with Evercore ISI, said yesterday in a note.

BMW impact

BMW, one of the few carmakers that discloses its ruble exposure, may lose 100 million to 150 million euros ($123 million to $185 million) in earnings in the fourth quarter if the ruble loses half its value, Ellinghorst estimated. Daimler, Volkswagen, Renault and Hyundai Motor Co. probably face an even larger impact, the analyst said.

To reduce its Russia-related risks, BMW began reallocating cars to more attractive markets in early summer, said Nikolai Glies, a BMW spokesman.

The world’s largest maker of luxury vehicles sold 33,465 BMW and Mini cars in Russia through November, a 17 percent decrease from last year. Industrywide auto sales have fallen 12 percent in the first 11 months of 2014.

Volkswagen said it is still selling cars in Russia but is watching the market with concern.

REPORT HERE