But now this small and independent company has a brand new problem on its hands, increasing production so it can meet demand. Yasuyuki Yoshinaga had earlier predicted that Subaru was going to achieve its goal of 600,000 vehicles sold in North America in 2015 which would mean an 8th consecutive year of growth for them as well as a 7th consecutive year with record sales.
Subaru's Taking the Market by Storm
The sales may have been even higher if Subaru were able to sell more vehicles. What? Yes, that is their conundrum. The capacity strained company began December with as few units on hand as it did in any month during the year. They only had enough cars to last 16 days if it retained its sales pace from November. They are going to need to revise their target numbers in the future. Currently, their plant in Indiana is the only one they have outside of Japan.
Looks like they need another plant in America! Perhaps they can buy one that is not be used currently, retrofit it, and get it up and running in a year or so?
Nissan is a Dying Brand
Apart from the 370Z and the expensive GT-R, the Nissan lineup is rather unappealing. It is still doing well and is looking to capture 10% of the US market by 2017. But many dealers believe that Nissan has started setting unrealistic sales targets because of a few years of rapid growth. This forces dealers to sell at a loss just so they can qualify for the stair step incentives that Nissan offers.
The aggressive dealership terminations by the company has impacted its value negatively as far as current and even potential owners are concerned.
Buick gets a New AWD
The LaCrosse sedan has seen mid-level success at the most in the United States. Its 2017 model comes with a new twin clutch all-wheel drive system from GKN Driveline but are buyers going to care about it? That's the big question here.
The GKN's system uses a couple of electronically controlled clutch packs to control torque between axles and sends 100% torque to the back or the front depending on driving conditions.
Car's Bid Farewell
There are a number of cars which are going to be out of production after 2016. Apart from the Mazda 5 minivan and the Lancer Evo, the rest, like the Lincoln MKS, aren't really going to be missed.
The new Lincoln Continental is going to be replacing the MKS. It did look heavy and awkward and it was a forgettable car nonetheless. The trunk was impractical and production will stop before the Continental goes on sale. Someone did not think this car all the way through. Some auto engineers seem to have made several mistakes when designing and fabricating this car.
VW gets some Breathing Space
Even though the Volkswagen (VW) has submitted a repair plan for CARB and the EPA, CARB has extended its approval deadline to the 14th of January. They said that they were going to extend the deadline by around 3 weeks after they received updates from VW.
VW said that they were co-operating with CARB and the EPA fully in order to find a remedy as quickly as they can. For the newer vehicles, they will be able to fix the problem with a software update, but for the older vehicles, they are going to have to change the emissions hardware too. That is a minor setback and something VW is not smiling about but they will come through with this fix and long term adjustment.
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