Houston Cars

Love Kia or hate Kia, this is not a brand that sits back and watches the world go by. Instead of following GM’s method of failure, Kia has instead opted to keep their products fresh. Even after a pretty big update for 2009, Kia has an all-new Sportage due for the 2011 model year. The 2011 Sportage is estimated to arrive sometime mid-2010.

Currently Sportage buyers can opt for a 4 cylinder or a V6 – and I don’t see any reason for that to change. Unless Kia retricts the Sportage to a 4 cylinder engine only, and reserves the V6 for the Sorento. When more details beocme available, you’ll see them here.

See more spy shots here.

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Categories: Kia, Spy Shots

As usual, I won’t bore you with every single detail on how June’s auto sales went. Instead, I’ll touch on some of the best, and some of the worst. If you don’t see it here, then you can safely assume that brand falls somewhere in between. To start off with, let’s take a look at some top performing brands:

June’s Best Performers

• Subaru +3.4% Subaru has been probably the best brand at weathering the auto sales apocalypse. Showing a 3.4% sales gain is nothing short of tremendous, and the folks at Subaru should be commended for it.
• Volve +0.6% Volvo up? Really?
• Kia -5.1%

June’s Worst Performers

• Suzuki -78% Time to shut ‘er down, Suzuki. Stick a fork it in, you’re done here.
• Porsche -66% Actually surprising in a way. Though not really, since Porsche’s aren’t exactly inexpensive.
• Saturn -60% Who knew – a dead brand saw their sale tank. Crazy, that.

As for major companies, Chrysler was down a total of 41%, while Ford was down just 10%. The combination of Chrysler’s bankruptcy, and Ford’s shunning of free Uncle Sam money is the difference here. I’m hoping that Ford can continue to move forward without accepting huge government loans. So far it seems to have provided a sales boost, or at least a smaller decline.

All in all, June was bad. But not nearly as bad as the past few months have been. Perhaps there’s a chance that we’re getting near the bottom in this whole mess. What do you think?

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Categories: Auto Industry News

Well that was fast. Just about a week after we saw the prototype X1, BMW ha released some official pictures. The 2010 BMW X1 should be for sale in Europe by the end of the year, and available in the US early 2010. Specs are still pending, at least for US spec models. European buyers will of course have their choice of gas or diesel options, though the diesel probably won’t make it over here.

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Categories: BMW

Owners of 09 Expeditions and Navigators should be keeping an eye on their mailbox.  Ford recalled a relatively small number ( 1,357 ) of these full-size SUV’s , for what is realistically a pretty small problem.  The brake stop lamp switch in some of these vehicles is adjusted wrong, which could make the break lights slow to light up.  Not a great thing to have happen, but not like the cruise control fires of years past.

If you can’t wait for the notice to show up in the mail, please contact Ford directly at 866-436-7332, to find out if your vehicle is affected.

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Categories: Ford, Recall

BMW is a bit behind in the luxury hybrid game. Both Lexus and Mercedes-Benz have luxury hybrid sedans on the market right now, ready for sale today. Though BMW is late to the game, they plan on arriving in serious style. Meet the BMW 755ih – the first hybrid that will wear a BMW badge.

BMW 755ih Specs

• 407 HP 4.4 liter gas engine
• 20 HP / 155 lb-ft electric motor
• Target fuel consumption 15% better than gas only

Ok, the 755ih is no Prius challenger. And a 15% fuel economy increase won’t change the world – especially when you consider the dismal fuel economy that a 7 series BMW gets. But I’d bet that BMW will sell quite a few of these puppies at a nice premium. Rich people love to feel like they’re saving the world, even when they’re doing no such thing.

Check out the rest of the spy shots.

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Categories: BMW, Hybrids