Cars
Remember when it came time to buy a new car and you decided between small, midsize, or large? Unless you wanted a two-door, or perhaps a convertible. Trucks, or anything with flat load floors like an SUV, did not take up 50% of sales, and the choices were mostly domestic and limited.
Now there's the BMW X6, Mercedes-Benz CLS, Peugeot 1007, Isuzu VehiCROSS, Honda Element and many more. The X6, yet to be introduced as a production vehicle but being fast-tracked to the auto shows, is a 'coupe-inspired SUV'.
CLS-class Benz's are a 'four-door' coupe, which makes it two doors heavier than every other coupe. Cool car, nonetheless.
Peugeot's wonky 1007 is a supermini with mini-van style sliding doors, carrying a smart fortwo kind of image. Doesn't work quite as well.
The VehiCROSS came and went from the US market after three years of intentionally limited sales. Attempting, somehow, to be an exotic SUV for the SUV maker that Isuzu was, the VehiCROSS was techy and capable off-road, but with two-doors and limited practicality, it was never going to win much praise.
Honda's Element is a great vehicle, potentially more useful than the CR-V on which it is based. Sharing much of what lies underneath, the Element goes to full-on cube dimensions and looks funky.
Manufacturers want to exercise their ability to sell multiple vehicles with similar architecture by marketing niche vehicles to people who really want something different. In 2007, people buy cars that they love and reject cars that they hate. However, anything that treads the middle road, and inspires neither reaction, may not sell at all. The goal is to create vehicles, such as the E-class Mercedes and the CLS-class, that cater to different buyers while basically being the same vehicle underneath. E550 = normal. CLS550 = niche.
- Small Suv Sales And Small Luxury Suv Sales In Canada - July 2010
A decision has been made. The Good Car Guy's analysis of Canada's July 2010 auto sales picture will, more often than not, concentrate on the basement dwellers, not the inhabitants of skyscraper penthouses. This is normally the place where I expound...
- Small Suv Sales, Midsize Suv Sales And Large Suv Sales In Canada - June 2010
Break it down like this: the Ford Escape is inexpensive, spacious, fuel-efficient (enough), powerful (enough), and well-freakin'-known. Sales are through the roof. To go along with that, sales of the very, very similar Mazda Tribute are higher in...
- Sales Of Niche Cars In The Usa - May 2010
Available now in three bodystyles, the Mini Cooper is part of BMW's route around CAFE and EU CO2 emissions control while also bringing BMW a huge source of small car profitability. With a few engines, one platform, and one undying style ethos, the...
- Niche Car Sales In Canada - April 2010
Unlike its equivalent Sales Stats chart from the United States, Canada's Niche Car Sales Graph doesn't include any so-called 4-door coupes. There's not a single Scion, either. Scions won't be available in Canada for a few months and the...
- Where The Bmw X6 Sits $$$-wise
BMW has taken some heat - from here and other sources - for the effort it has taken to introduce an uglified X5. Not only is the X6 odd-looking; but its purpose is still somewhat undiscovered. One might suggest that the X6 is BMW's answer to the question...
Cars
THE PROLIFERATION OF THE NICHE VEHICLE
Remember when it came time to buy a new car and you decided between small, midsize, or large? Unless you wanted a two-door, or perhaps a convertible. Trucks, or anything with flat load floors like an SUV, did not take up 50% of sales, and the choices were mostly domestic and limited.
Now there's the BMW X6, Mercedes-Benz CLS, Peugeot 1007, Isuzu VehiCROSS, Honda Element and many more. The X6, yet to be introduced as a production vehicle but being fast-tracked to the auto shows, is a 'coupe-inspired SUV'.
CLS-class Benz's are a 'four-door' coupe, which makes it two doors heavier than every other coupe. Cool car, nonetheless.
Peugeot's wonky 1007 is a supermini with mini-van style sliding doors, carrying a smart fortwo kind of image. Doesn't work quite as well.
The VehiCROSS came and went from the US market after three years of intentionally limited sales. Attempting, somehow, to be an exotic SUV for the SUV maker that Isuzu was, the VehiCROSS was techy and capable off-road, but with two-doors and limited practicality, it was never going to win much praise.
Honda's Element is a great vehicle, potentially more useful than the CR-V on which it is based. Sharing much of what lies underneath, the Element goes to full-on cube dimensions and looks funky.
Manufacturers want to exercise their ability to sell multiple vehicles with similar architecture by marketing niche vehicles to people who really want something different. In 2007, people buy cars that they love and reject cars that they hate. However, anything that treads the middle road, and inspires neither reaction, may not sell at all. The goal is to create vehicles, such as the E-class Mercedes and the CLS-class, that cater to different buyers while basically being the same vehicle underneath. E550 = normal. CLS550 = niche.
- Small Suv Sales And Small Luxury Suv Sales In Canada - July 2010
A decision has been made. The Good Car Guy's analysis of Canada's July 2010 auto sales picture will, more often than not, concentrate on the basement dwellers, not the inhabitants of skyscraper penthouses. This is normally the place where I expound...
- Small Suv Sales, Midsize Suv Sales And Large Suv Sales In Canada - June 2010
Break it down like this: the Ford Escape is inexpensive, spacious, fuel-efficient (enough), powerful (enough), and well-freakin'-known. Sales are through the roof. To go along with that, sales of the very, very similar Mazda Tribute are higher in...
- Sales Of Niche Cars In The Usa - May 2010
Available now in three bodystyles, the Mini Cooper is part of BMW's route around CAFE and EU CO2 emissions control while also bringing BMW a huge source of small car profitability. With a few engines, one platform, and one undying style ethos, the...
- Niche Car Sales In Canada - April 2010
Unlike its equivalent Sales Stats chart from the United States, Canada's Niche Car Sales Graph doesn't include any so-called 4-door coupes. There's not a single Scion, either. Scions won't be available in Canada for a few months and the...
- Where The Bmw X6 Sits $$$-wise
BMW has taken some heat - from here and other sources - for the effort it has taken to introduce an uglified X5. Not only is the X6 odd-looking; but its purpose is still somewhat undiscovered. One might suggest that the X6 is BMW's answer to the question...