2011 Top Selling Cars - USA

All right, the new year has just begun and memories of the year that was would still be fresh in the back of our minds. Before they start fading away, it is time to look at what clicked and what not in 2011. Though it has lost its charm as the world's biggest automotive market with China taking up that enviable position, the 'all is well as long as its big' market of United States of America is still the second largest in the world by volume and a big contributor to the profitability of auto manufacturers.

So, here are the top selling automobiles in USA for 2011. There are no surprises at the top with the Ford F-Series taking the crown as the largest selling vehicle for 30th year in a row. Now you know why we said all is well there as long as its big. The usual suspects of Chevrolet Silverado and Toyota Camry come second and third, the latter impressively holding its forte despite Toyota's troubles with the recalls and production disruptments caused by natural calamities in Japan and Thailand.

Nissan Altima and Ford Escape posted big gains and pushed the Honda Accord and Crosstour twins to sixth. Ford Fusion and Ram Pickup continue their impressive run climbing to seventh and eighth positions relegating the usual big-seller Toyota Corolla to ninth. With Ford's all-new Escape and Fusion coming in, things are looking mighty good for the blue oval brand. Chevrolet's success story with the Cruze across the world unfolded in USA too with the new Chevy entering the top ten with a bang.

2011 Top 10 in USA:
 

1. Ford F-Series - 584,917
2. Chevrolet Silverado - 415,130
3. Toyota Camry - 308,510
4. Nissan Altima - 268,981
5. Ford Escape - 254,293
6. Honda Accord/Crosstour - 253,599
7. Ford Fusion - 248,067
8. Ram Pickup - 244,763
9. Toyota Corolla/Matrix - 240,259
10. Chevrolet Cruze - 232,588

* Star Performer of 2011 - Ford Escape
* Expected Star Performer for 2012 - Chevrolet Cruze

Source for Figures: www.examiner.com


As we predicted last year, Hyundai Sonata continued to sell in big numbers and the model almost made it to the top ten with Hyundai still not able to make enough of Sonatas and Elantras. Honda's rather average redesign of the Civic and the production disruptions at Japan and Thailand ensured that our predictions of Accord and Civic overtaking Toyota's Camry and Corolla in sales went haywire. Also to be noted is Volkswagen's slow and silent climb with the new Jetta putting in an impressive show.

Ford Escape's massive climb from well outside the top ten to as high as fifth in the list makes it the stand-out performer in 2011. For 2012 though, we expect the hot-selling Chevrolet Cruze to make even more giant and rapid strides up the list. Wait for another year to find out if our predictions come true.

Is Nissan not done with the Sunny variants yet?

We all know that Nissan launched the Sunny sedan in India a few months back. Though the model is based on the same V Platform as the Micra hatchback, Nissan has done well to create a new identity for the Sunny completely distinguishing it from its hatch sibling. Merely months after the launch, Nissan surprised us all by launching the diesel variants. We had driven and posted a comprehensive review of the Sunny Diesel here.

Just when we thought that the Sunny is all settled for now, we receive images of this vehicle being tested in the outskirts of Chennai with its badges and logo masked. On close observation, it dawns on us that nothing is new in this Sunny variant except for the red color with a pinkish tint in it. The absence of Pure Drive badging and the alloy wheels makes it clear that this is the top-end petrol variant being tested.

So, what are you cooking up Nissan? We are all ears.

Bajaj unveils RE60, a low-cost four-wheeler

In what could be termed as the perfect precedent to the forthcoming Indian Auto Expo, Bajaj Auto unveiled the RE60, it's low cost 4-wheeler in New Delhi yesterday. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Rajiv Bajaj, MD of Bajaj Auto made it amply clear that this vehicle is intended to be an evolution of their three-wheeler and, as such, it is a big step-up in the right direction. Unlike many other stories doing rounds in the media, we do not want to fool you by saying that this vehicle is a Tata Nano competitor. Well, to be frank, this is not even a car.

True to its tradition of creating brands out of individual models, Bajaj has not used its logo or name anywhere in the vehicle. Since this is being pitched in as a replacement to the three-wheeled auto-rickshaw which is a commercial vehicle, Bajaj has branded this vehicle as RE. The last two digits in RE60 denotes its 60 g/km of CO2 emissions, which is just half of what an average small car emit. The RE60 will be powered by a 200cc, water-cooled, 4-valve petrol engine with twin spark technology (DTS-i) and closed loop fuel injection system.

Look at it as a car and it looks truly horrible. But, as Bajaj rightly pointed out, look at it as a potential replacement to the auto rickshaw and it suddenly looks better. The RE60 is narrow, tall and made of a monocoque metal polymer hybrid body structure that results in a very less kerb weight of just around 400 kg. There were two variants showcased - a commercial and a deluxe. The Kia Soul-inspired headlamps and wheels of the deluxe version, that also has body colored bumpers and mirrors are the only true highlights of the design.

The RE60 is bare-bone minimal when it comes to features but, then again, compare it to an auto-rickshaw and it brings in never-heard-before features for the segment such as doors, hard-top roof, seat belts and, above all, the safety and stability of four wheels. With the engine producing around 20 bhp of power, the RE60 will have a limited top speed of around 70 km/hr which is enough for its target application of intra-city passenger transport. The RE60 is claimed to have a real world fuel-efficiency of 35 km/l and will come with LPG and CNG fuel options too.

We all know that Bajaj entered into an ultimately-failed alliance with Renault-Nissan to develop a low cost car to compete with the Tata Nano. A prototype was even displayed at the 2008 Auto Expo which looked and felt like a car. Over the course of time, it seems that development has changed track and what we have now is this, a basic four-wheeler that does not fit into the passenger car segment. But, Bajaj says that Renault-Nissan has still not seen the vehicle and are free to decide whether to sell this under their brand names or not.

To sum it up, the RE60 is a thumbs-up evolution of the auto rickshaw and we really wouldn't mind this replacing those notorious three-wheelers from our cities. While Bajaj has not announced the pricing of the RE60 yet, reports indicate that it is expected to be priced around 1.5 Lakh Rupees when it goes on sale later this year. With the Tata Nano not really setting the sales charts on fire in India owing to its cheap image and fire-related incidents, whether the market will welcome the Bajaj RE60 with open arms is anybody's guess.

DC Design to launch India's first supercar at 2012 Auto Expo

Let's face it. Anybody who calls themselves an automobile enthusiast in India will be knowing DC Design. Though most of their designs are a bit weird and outlandish, there is no denying the fact that they are all head-turners. Owned and named after Dilip Chhabria, arguably India's most popular automobile designer, DC Design now plans to move away from being only a design house and customization firm to join the big league.

And the forthcoming 2012 Auto Expo is the event in which the design house is planning to unveil its first production model. True to their heritage, it will be a sports-car and reports indicate that the car is going to be powered by a turbocharged V6 engine sourced from Honda producing close to 400 HP. That's not all. With the car itself touted to weigh 1560 kg, the power-to-weight ratio of 257 bhp/tonne is surreal and is sure to set the pulses racing.

“With this car, we are making the transformation from a design house to a production house,” said Dilip Chhabria, the promoter of DC Design. “It will offer the looks, feel, dimensions, quality and fit and finish comparable to super-cars from Lamborghini and Ferrari, minus the horsepower.” Though this seems to be a pretty tall claim, we are eagerly waiting to get our hands on what can be touted as India's first and only super-car till date.

And the best thing of them all is that this super-car is not coming with a hyper price tag. Various sources indicate that DC Design plans to launch this car at a price of around 30 Lakh Rupees. At that price point, it makes tremendous sense as the Indian market is devoid of sports cars at that price range. Internationally, cars like Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro and Hyundai Genesis Coupe are quite a rage and this DC car could well become one in India.

We wish you a very happy New Year

Let's dig into a little bit of history here. Anything On Wheels was started as a personal blog a couple of years ago with the sole intention of using it as a platform for expressing my personal views and opinions on what is happening in the automotive industry. Slowly and steadily, the blog has gathered steam and is growing day-by-day into a reliable source of interesting information related to anything on wheels.

2011 has been easily the best year yet with a lot of media friends identifying and recognizing the blog for the hard work that was done in the form of posts that included Spy Shots, New Launches, Test Drives, Milestones and what not. A lot of friends from and outside the industry sent me mails stating that Anything On Wheels has become a sort of Spy Shots specialist and they continuously come to the blog to get updates.

Above all, what makes me really happy is that, through this blog, I have gained a rather large chunk of readers (or, should I call them well-wishers?) who not only spend their valuable time reading my posts, but also take pains in sending mails giving their feedback and comments. Consenting to such kind-hearted souls, Anything On Wheels has now started posting on all important happenings in the industry.

On this note, I would like to wish all the readers and media friends a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2012. In this year, I will take all steps to streamline the posts and change the overall look and feel of this blog to something more formal and professional. You might have noted that a few steps in that direction has already started and I can assure you that they will continue to make the overall experience much better.

With the increasing viewership comes the ever-increasing responsibility to bring out the best. And with that I admit that I am no more the sole soul involved in this blog. Arun Varadarajan and Abishek have become a sort of camera crew for the blog participating actively in most of the photo-shoots that we undertake for our posts. Once again, in a true automobile enthusiast fashion, have a fantastic and free-revving New Year!