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Filed under: Car Buying , Trends , Japan , Marketing/Advertising , Lifestyle Could the country that gave us the NSX, Godzilla -- and the other Godzilla -- and The Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift be on the verge of giving up cars for good? With car buying down by close to 33-percent since 1990, Japan is claimed to be in the grips of kuruma banare , which, for Japanese carmakers, is the polar opposite of hakuna matata . It's being labeled the "demotorization" process, and it involves large numbers of people in Japan's urban centers not buying cars. Surveys have revealed a variety of reasons, from the cost of purchase and ownership, to vehicles simply not being status symbols anymore, to cars being passé -- as in "so 20th century." The greatest worry is that young folks are simply not into cars, preferring cell phones and gadgets to Cubes and keis. Losing their audience before the love affair has even begun is no doubt causing JDM manufacturers to lose...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Trends , Etc. , Hatchbacks , Volkswagen , Lifestyle This quarter, the Volkswagen Rabbit knocks the Toyota Yaris out of the top spot on Gaywheels.com's list of top-researched cars . The Yaris, which had hung on to the numero uno spot for the last twelve months, dropped to third place as the VeeDub managed to snag the second spot as well with the hardtop-convertible Eos, which is also a chick car . Making their first appearances on the list are the Volvo C30 at number nine and the Mazda 3 at the tenth spot. Interestingly, Joe LaMuraglia from Gaywheels.com points out, "60% of the vehicles on the most-researched list are hatchbacks and four of those six have a MSRP starting at under $16K." You'll also see that the entire list, which is available after the jump, is populated with gas-sippers. Note too that each vehicle on the Most-Researched list is offered by a gay-friendly brand -- based on corporate policies for offering domestic-partner benefits...
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Filed under: Car Buying , MINI , Lifestyle , UK Click above for live high-res images of the JCW Minis from Geneva Car-obsessed readers of Autoblog may not have any problem thinking of their car as a social expression of who they are, but that's not necessarily true for the majority of the population of the world. Many people consider their car a necessary appliance, something required in life that they care little about. But recently, stylish, trendy and lovable vehicles are causing more people to form a personal attachment to their car, one that they would like to share with others. A look at social networking sites such as Facebook shows that people are interested in getting to know other drivers with the same type of car. So, with that information established, what kind of car is most likely to attract attention? According to a recent survey by the U.K. "used car hypermarket" Carcraft shows that MINI owners are the most likely to reach out on the interwebs, with Honda Civic...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Japan , Marketing/Advertising , Toyota , Lifestyle Kids in the U.S. want computers in their cars, but kids in Japan want computers instead of cars. Add that craziness to Japan's dwindling population and popular mass-transit options and you'll understand why the Japanese car market dropped to just 5.3 million vehicles, a 27-year low. Toyota, Japan's sales leader in America, is not immune to the sales downturn , accounting for 2.26 million of those new car sales. In order to catch the attention of younger potential car-buyers, Toyota has taken drastic measures: opening its own mall, complete with 220 stores, restaurants and... car dealerships? Not only are there a number of dealerships integrated into the mall, but there are Toyota's littered throughout the walkways. In addition to showcasing its latest new vehicles, Toyota is also showing off its high-tech robots, some of which, oddly enough, play musical instruments. [Source: AP via Motor Authority...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Trends , BMW , Mercedes Benz , Toyota , Lifestyle Automakers work very hard at the branding process, which takes years and years of effort to achieve. For instance, when a consumer hears Porsche, he or she likely sthink of sports cars and iconic design principles -- despite the fact that the German brand sells plenty of SUVs, too. And when a brand starts to get a negative image, it can take years to overcome that bad stigma -- just ask Ford . So, with all of this in mind, Kelley Blue Book has announced the winners of its 2008 Brand Image Awards, which are based on consumer perception studies of which KBB keeps track. The big winners this year are Toyota for "Best Overall Interior Design", BMW for "Best Overall Exterior Design" and Mercedes-Benz for "Best Overall Prestige Brand". We would have expected Audi to do well in the interior design category, but these awards are not based on reality, but perception instead. For a complete run...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Green , GM , Lifestyle Consumers prefer cup holders and heated seats over fuel efficiency, according to CNW Marketing Research. That's right, we all talk about how we want our vehicles to be environmentally friendly and easy on gas, but when it comes down to it, what we really want are things to hold our coffee and keep our derrières warm. On the plus side, General Motors is saying fuel economy is becoming more of a priority to shoppers - it points out that four years ago it wasn't even in the top ten (studies by GM list fuel economy behind styling and value). So, what is it going to take to wake up consumers and make fuel efficiency a priority? Most experts feel that a significant hike in the cost of gas will be the kick that sets us straight. Just don't take away the cup holders. [Source: Forbes via AutoblogGreen ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Car Buying , Etc. , Lifestyle Forbes has a slideshow of the best and worst places to own a car, and you might be surprised at a few of the winners and losers. The rankings are based on the results of Edmunds.com's True Cost to Own (TCO) study. That study takes into account depreciation, financing, insurance, taxes and fees, fuel, maintenance, and repairs, and figures out how much those little costs you rarely consider as a lump sum will really subtract from your bank account over time. (Or pockets or shoeboxes, depending on where you keep your money.) Depreciation and fuel are, of course, the biggest costs, and insurance can add a fair chunk over time. The difference between the last spot and the first spot on each list wasn't great -- about $4,000 in each case. But the difference between the best place (least expensive) to own a car and the worst place (most expensive) -- which wasn't New York City -- worked out to almost $12,000 over five years. Click the link...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Green , Lifestyle It could be CAFE, it could be gas prices, it could be the everpresent chatter on all things green, it could be that it's just so bloody hot on Earth nowadays, it could be all those folks in California begging for clean air. But according to recent data and a study by Edmunds.com, V8's simply aren't in vogue anymore, with overall uptake among new car buyers dropping four percent over the last two years. Along with the decline in SUV purchases, those who are still buying SUV's are shunning V8's twice as quickly, with a nine-percent decline over the last two years. Among full-size sedan and coupe buyers, seven-percent fewer checked the "Big V8" box on the options checklist. The only place V8's aren't sliding down the mountain is in the full-size pickup market, where four-percent more buyers are still going for stump-pulling power. The theory is that "casual" pickup buyers are opting for something less...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Etc. , Lifestyle What's the second biggest purchase after a home? Most of the time, it's a car. And with so many people losing their homes, it's really no surprise that so many people are also losing their cars. Repossession companies are reporting record business -- so much so in fact that they are securing additional lots on which to store the delinquent goods. It's estimated that this year will see a 10-percent rise in car repossessions, with 1.6 million vehicles expected to disappear from driveways and streets. It would be the second year of double-digit rises in repos. (And that doesn't count recreational vehicles like boats, which should suffer even higher rates of return.) And it appears no one has been spared -- repo men report taking back high-end trucks as well as luxury cars from gated communities. The culprit, as in the housing debacle, has been claimed by some to be the generous auto loans given to those who perhaps should have...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Etc. , Lifestyle On March 1, 2008, Second Life will host the grand opening of the Automobile Dealer Relations Center (ARDC) called AutoLand. While that sounds like the kind of place where you'll have to run for your life from a cyborg Yul Brenner , it will actually be home to a multi-brand showroom in the virtual life sim that was created by customer relationship management software maker iMagic. What's more, you'll be able to chat with up to 50 dealers nationwide about pricing, availability and service issues. We have to admit that we find the idea of a virtual car showroom kind of funky (disclaimer: this blogger has never been in or on or at Second Life before today). After all, Second Life's graphics aren't cutting edge, so at best you'll only be able to look at chunky representations of the car you're interested in buying. As for chatting with dealers, virtual sales don't affect the brick-and-mortar bottom line much, and if the...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Gadgets , CES , Tech , Ford , Lifestyle Ford developed its SYNC system with Microsoft and has an 18-month exclusive license to sell the system, which is something we weren't aware of until recently. It turns out, however, that the exclusive rights aren't being wasted: Ford reports that SYNC-equipped cars are finding twice as many buyers as cars without SYNC. One dealer said "People who won't spend a dollar more for power door locks have to have SYNC." Keep in mind this news is coming from Ford, but clearly SYNC is appealing to the common customer. The multi-media controlling option appears to have won so many over by being easy to learn, genuinely useful for different age groups, and cheap at only $395. Scott Burgess of The Detroit News , when building his dream car , called it "the best $395 option of 2007." It also appears to be inverting the car buying decision for some, with people knowing that they want a car with SYNC then...
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