Auto sales should be full-speed ahead Tuesday - USA TODAY

Better supplies of redesigned 2015 Ford F-150 should help boost January auto sales.(Photo: Ford Motor)

The U.S. auto industry has a head of steam that is expected to show again in January new-vehicle sales to be reported Tuesday.

Forecasters say the first monthly sales tally this year will be about 14% better than the year-ago number, and will translate to a strong, seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 16.6 million or 16.7 million.

For all of 2014, automakers sold 16.52 million new cars and trucks, up 5.9% from 15.6 million in 2013, according to sales tracker Autodata.

"The sales momentum seen throughout 2014 is continuing into 2015," said John Humphrey, senior vice president of the global automotive practice at consultant J.D. Power. Power forecast sales this year will total 17 million — most optimistic of the forecasts.

Since surviving the recession and 2009 bankruptcy reorganizations of General Motors and Chrysler Group — now part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles — the industry has enjoyed dramatic sales increases that have resulted in adding shifts, hiring workers and overhauling factories to build more vehicles.

January usually is the year's lowest month in total sales because of "weather, holiday spending hangover and lower incentive offers," notes auto shopping and research site TrueCar.com. And, indeed, raw sales are expected to come in 20% short of the December total. But they should be healthy compared with other January totals over the years on the seasonally adjusted calculus.

"Automakers rely on delivering a higher portion of fleet sales in the month to offset slower retail activity," said John Krafcik, TrueCar's president. "This January the industry may have caught a break as we've avoided the kind of substantial storms that are a drag on sales, particularly when they hit on a weekend."

Except for the New England blizzard, of course, but it's unclear how much impact that will have.

Ford is expected to report the biggest year-over-year gain — 17.8%, Edmunds says — as supplies of its new-design F-150 pickup improve.

More important to car companies than sales totals, however, is how much it cost to sell those vehicles, and whether they were high-profit, well-equipped models, or lower-end vehicles for value hunters. And the outlook there is good.

"Our projected revenue growth of 4.8% is the result of increasing sales volume and rising average transaction prices," said Eric Lyman, vice president of industry insights for TrueCar. Incentive spending by automakers averaged $2,642 per vehicle in January, up 3.6% from a year ago, but down 10.4% from December 2014, TrueCar calculates.

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Source : http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/02/01/auto-sales-january-preview/22593709/

Philly Auto Show: 5 can't miss things to see at the show - NJ.com

Get your engines started because this year's Philadelphia Auto Show -- at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia -- has some fun, quirky finds. Usually people go looking to spot their next new car, but there are other things to see here. Promise. 

First, one car has been getting a lot of attention. Built by high school students and their teachers,make sure you don't walk past this sporty blue gem. At the Workshop School in Philadelphia, students and teachers designed and built a car that runs on bio-diesel fuel. 

The bio-diesel fuel came from leftover fryer oil from Federal Donuts. So basically, the car runs on Federal Donuts fryer oil. Really. It does.

"The students at the school have been making hybrid and electric vehicles for a long time," said Simon Hauger, the school's principal. 

But the goal of this car was to make it "fast, cool-looking and earth-friendly."

And this car is definitely all of those things. And running on fryer oil -- vegetable oil -- is environmentally friendly, "it burns cleaner" than regular diesel fuel, Hauger said, it "removes the product from the waste stream," and it's a "much better engine lubricant."

"There are tons of upsides," he said. 

Second, make sure you take a ride at Came Jeep. This reporter hopped into a 2016 black Wrangler Rubicon with driver T.J. and off we went. 

Just make sure you put on your seatbelt. It's definitely a bumpy ride. You go over bumpy "logs," steep inclines and more. And be prepared to lean over. The Wranger rode over a steep hill and didn't tip over. But it sure feels like it will. 

It's a lot of fun. And it doesn't cost anything to take a ride. 

Third, take a walk over to the exotic cars. Ever wanted to see a Maserati or Lamborghini up close. I know, these are definitely out-of-reach dream cars that everyone drools over. It's a lot of to dream, though. 

There's a huge section of exotic cars, so take your time and browse. 

Fourth, check out the Corvette Z06 pre-production car that product specialist Sean Bennett said "gives a foreign performance for a domestic price." 

"It's in a league of it's own. It's an argument-ending car," he added.

But don't go running to purchase this car yet. It starts at $78,000. That's still nothing to sneeze at. 

Finally, check out the classic cars section. 

There's the 1929 DuPont Le Mans Speedster, the 1970 Plymouth Superbird and the 1954 Austin-Healy. People love looking at classic cars, and there are tons to see here. 

You can't sit in these cars, but you can get pretty close. 

Philadelphia Auto Show tickets are $13 for adults, $6 for seniors and children, children 6 and under are free. The show runs from Jan. 31 through Feb. 8. For more information, visit www.phillyautoshow.com.

Kristie Rearick may be reached at krearick@southjerseymedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KArearick. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.

Recommended article: Chomsky: We Are All – Fill in the Blank.
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Source : http://www.nj.com/indulge/index.ssf/2015/02/philly_auto_show_5_must-see_cars_and_things_to_do.html

Auto sales should be full-speed ahead Tuesday - USA TODAY

Better supplies of redesigned 2015 Ford F-150 should help boost January auto sales.(Photo: Ford Motor)

The U.S. auto industry has a head of steam that is expected to show again in January new-vehicle sales to be reported Tuesday.

Forecasters say the first monthly sales tally this year will be about 14% better than the year-ago number, and will translate to a strong, seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 16.6 million or 16.7 million.

For all of 2014, automakers sold 16.52 million new cars and trucks, up 5.9% from 15.6 million in 2013, according to sales tracker Autodata.

"The sales momentum seen throughout 2014 is continuing into 2015," said John Humphrey, senior vice president of the global automotive practice at consultant J.D. Power. Power forecast sales this year will total 17 million — most optimistic of the forecasts.

Since surviving the recession and 2009 bankruptcy reorganizations of General Motors and Chrysler Group — now part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles — the industry has enjoyed dramatic sales increases that have resulted in adding shifts, hiring workers and overhauling factories to build more vehicles.

January usually is the year's lowest month in total sales because of "weather, holiday spending hangover and lower incentive offers," notes auto shopping and research site TrueCar.com. And, indeed, raw sales are expected to come in 20% short of the December total. But they should be healthy compared with other January totals over the years on the seasonally adjusted calculus.

"Automakers rely on delivering a higher portion of fleet sales in the month to offset slower retail activity," said John Krafcik, TrueCar's president. "This January the industry may have caught a break as we've avoided the kind of substantial storms that are a drag on sales, particularly when they hit on a weekend."

Except for the New England blizzard, of course, but it's unclear how much impact that will have.

Ford is expected to report the biggest year-over-year gain — 17.8%, Edmunds says — as supplies of its new-design F-150 pickup improve.

More important to car companies than sales totals, however, is how much it cost to sell those vehicles, and whether they were high-profit, well-equipped models, or lower-end vehicles for value hunters. And the outlook there is good.

"Our projected revenue growth of 4.8% is the result of increasing sales volume and rising average transaction prices," said Eric Lyman, vice president of industry insights for TrueCar. Incentive spending by automakers averaged $2,642 per vehicle in January, up 3.6% from a year ago, but down 10.4% from December 2014, TrueCar calculates.

Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1BLQb8x

Recommended article: Chomsky: We Are All – Fill in the Blank.
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Source : http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/02/01/auto-sales-january-preview/22593709/

Philly Auto Show: 5 can't miss things to see at the show - NJ.com

Get your engines started because this year's Philadelphia Auto Show -- at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia -- has some fun, quirky finds. Usually people go looking to spot their next new car, but there are other things to see here. Promise. 

First, one car has been getting a lot of attention. Built by high school students and their teachers,make sure you don't walk past this sporty blue gem. At the Workshop School in Philadelphia, students and teachers designed and built a car that runs on bio-diesel fuel. 

The bio-diesel fuel came from leftover fryer oil from Federal Donuts. So basically, the car runs on Federal Donuts fryer oil. Really. It does.

"The students at the school have been making hybrid and electric vehicles for a long time," said Simon Hauger, the school's principal. 

But the goal of this car was to make it "fast, cool-looking and earth-friendly."

And this car is definitely all of those things. And running on fryer oil -- vegetable oil -- is environmentally friendly, "it burns cleaner" than regular diesel fuel, Hauger said, it "removes the product from the waste stream," and it's a "much better engine lubricant."

"There are tons of upsides," he said. 

Second, make sure you take a ride at Came Jeep. This reporter hopped into a 2016 black Wrangler Rubicon with driver T.J. and off we went. 

Just make sure you put on your seatbelt. It's definitely a bumpy ride. You go over bumpy "logs," steep inclines and more. And be prepared to lean over. The Wranger rode over a steep hill and didn't tip over. But it sure feels like it will. 

It's a lot of fun. And it doesn't cost anything to take a ride. 

Third, take a walk over to the exotic cars. Ever wanted to see a Maserati or Lamborghini up close. I know, these are definitely out-of-reach dream cars that everyone drools over. It's a lot of to dream, though. 

There's a huge section of exotic cars, so take your time and browse. 

Fourth, check out the Corvette Z06 pre-production car that product specialist Sean Bennett said "gives a foreign performance for a domestic price." 

"It's in a league of it's own. It's an argument-ending car," he added.

But don't go running to purchase this car yet. It starts at $78,000. That's still nothing to sneeze at. 

Finally, check out the classic cars section. 

There's the 1929 DuPont Le Mans Speedster, the 1970 Plymouth Superbird and the 1954 Austin-Healy. People love looking at classic cars, and there are tons to see here. 

You can't sit in these cars, but you can get pretty close. 

Philadelphia Auto Show tickets are $13 for adults, $6 for seniors and children, children 6 and under are free. The show runs from Jan. 31 through Feb. 8. For more information, visit www.phillyautoshow.com.

Kristie Rearick may be reached at krearick@southjerseymedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KArearick. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.

Recommended article: Chomsky: We Are All – Fill in the Blank.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.

Source : http://www.nj.com/indulge/index.ssf/2015/02/philly_auto_show_5_must-see_cars_and_things_to_do.html