Curious whether the new 2010 Honda Accord has an optional neck massager? How about the tow rating on the Ford F-150? And what about those European cars, they're always adding some new totally nonessential technological "feature."
Now there's an easy way to find out. Our 2010 Buyer's Guide lists every model change from every manufacturer. From colors to options to full redesigns, it's all there.
Inside Line tests hundreds of vehicles a year, but not every vehicle gets a full writeup. The numbers still tell a story, though, so we present "IL Track Tested." It's a quick rundown of all the data we collected at the track, along with comments direct from the test drivers. Enjoy.
It's rare that a sedan in this class surprises us. Compact budget sedans like the 2010 Kia Forte aren't really supposed to surprise you, they're supposed to get you to and from work as efficiently and trouble-free as possible. Surprises are generally a bad thing in this category.
That wasn't the case here, however, as the Kia Forte turned in some track test results that had our test driver taking notice. We don't want to oversell this. The Kia Forte is not going to run circles around a Honda Civic Si, but as the numbers show, it wouldn't be all that far behind.
Granted, our Kia Forte test car was the SX model, which gets an upgraded 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine with 173 horsepower, a five-speed automatic and 17-inch wheels and tires. Still, with a starting price of $18,495 it's every bit the economy sedan. Click through to see how it fared at the track and why it might surprise you, too.
Continue reading IL Track Tested: 2010 Kia Forte SX.
Kia Motors announced today that it will enter the 2010 Grand Am KONI Sports Car Challenge Series in the Street Tuner class with two race-prepped Forte Koups. The company hooked up with the Kinetic Group of Atlanta to build and run the two-car team in the series which features vehicles from the U.S., Europe and Asia.
Kia, the company that brought you the Kia Sephia, has unveiled in Korea its latest name with a luxury car attached to it, the Kia Cadenza.
The presumed Amanti replacement is based on the KND-5 concept car and will appear first at the Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Dubai auto shows at the end of the year. The company has not released any specifications on this new big sedan. Nor has Kia mentioned when exactly it might replace the Amanti on the U.S. market. But surely the Cadenza, which Kia is aiming directly at the Ford Taurus and Buick LaCrosse, will be powered by a V6 engine. That's all well and good, but if so why name it after a frivolous and fruity piece furniture?
Oh, C-A-D-E-N-Z-A. Okay, forget it.
The expected slow September after Cash-for-Clunkers August came to pass, and you can get the full, brand-by-brand analysis on Auto Observer. Hyundai/Kia was the major bright spot, as the company continued its record-setting 2009 pace: It sold 55,134 vehicles -- a 26-percent year-over-year increase from September 2008.
Ford saw its year-over-year sales decline slightly, but was still encouraged by its third-quarter results -- sales were up 5 percent compared to 3rd-quarter 2008 and incentive spending decreased by an average of $1,400 per vehicle. Plus, the company's market share was 15 percent for September compared to 14 percent a year ago.
Among the exceptions for September was BMW, which saw its first year-over-year increase of 2009, selling 19,175 vehicles for an increase of 3.6 percent. The other manufacturer on its way to a record year, Subaru, recorded steady sales for September. It sold 14,593 vehicles for an increase of 1 percent (citing a 63-percent increase in Outback sales and +24% for the Legacy); Subaru is up 10 percent for all of 2009 with 158,421 units sold. Volkswagen saw a 1.5-percent year-over-year increase for September, selling 17,358 vehicles.
Finally, respectable Boxster and Cayman demand kept the Cayenne from dragging down Porsche, which sold 1,581 vehicles -- an increase of 8.4 percent.
Auto Observer: Automakers Eager to Move Past September's Tepid Sales
The Kia Sorento is coming back for 2011, after taking MY2010 off, and it's nothing like the original. It's finally a unit-body crossover SUV that's in step with the times. It has the face of a Forte, thanks to Kia's designer in chief, Peter Schreyer, and it's the first Kia to be built at the company's new plant in West Point, Georgia.
Engineering Editor Jay Kavanagh had the pleasure of driving it in Atlanta's recent monsoon, and he reports that it's an agreeable five-passenger crossover with the ability to carry two additional kids in an optional third-row seat that's just large enough not to be silly. Like the Toyota RAV4 and Chevrolet Equinox, it offers both four-cylinder and V6 engine options, and like those two, its overall demeanor is decidedly car-like.
Perhaps best of all, Kia plans to keep prices within $200 of the tired, body-on-frame 2009 Sorento, whose base MSRP range stretched from $21K to $27K.
Just over three weeks ahead of the press days for the 2009 Tokyo Auto Show, Hyundai has announced it is dropping out. This means that, save for Lotus and Alpina, showgoers will see cars from only Japanese domestic brands.
Automotive News quoted Toyokazu Ishida, manager of international exhibitions for the Japanese Automotive Manufacturers Association (JAMA), as saying that the phone call to cancel came on Friday afternoon. JAMA said that Hyundai would be stuck with $122,000 in nonrefundable fees for its 4,300-square-foot exhibit space, but of course, that's nothing compared to the millions it would have cost Hyundai to transport cars, set them up and staff the space during the show.
Automotive News (sub.req)
Kia announced pricing for the 2010 Kia Forte Koup yesterday, and as expected, the coupe starts significantly above the Forte sedan. A base Forte Koup EX with the 156-hp 2.0-liter inline-4 and a five-speed manual gearbox costs $17,290 with destination -- $2,900 more than the cheapest Forte sedan. Tack on another $1,000 if you want the four-speed automatic.
We're a little more interested in the 2010 Forte Koup SX, which gets a 173-hp 2.4-liter along with more aggressive suspension tuning and wider, lower-profile 215/45R17 tires (instead of 205/55R16s on the EX). It comes in at $18,390 with a six-speed manual gearbox and $19,390 with a five-speed automatic.
Options include leather seats for the SX ($1,000) and a moonroof ($600) for all but the manual-shift EX Koup. Still no word on timing for a factory navigation system or the Infinity audio system that Harman International developed for the Forte.
No one knows if the momentum will last, but most automakers did well in August, particularly those with plenty of models qualifying for the Cash for Clunkers (CARS) program.
Hyundai/Kia broke 100,000 in monthly sales for the first time ever, and the Honda division had its second-best month ever -- and its best ever August. Toyota sold more passenger cars in a month than it ever has before, though this was balanced by continuing declines among its trucks and SUVs (save for the RAV4). Mazda had its best sales month since August 2003, and 58 percent of customers went home with a Mazda 3. (Alas, Miata sales were way down year over year, as hyperrational buyers evidently have no use for roadsters.)
Audi was one of the few premium-brand automakers to see a significant bump in sales (+26% over August 2008). More significant is that the automaker estimates the CARS program accounted for less than 10 percent of the increase. Similarly, there's Subaru: Undoubtedly, much of its 52 percent year-over-year increase had to do with CARS, but Subaru's sales are still up 11 percent for all of 2009.
Ford was the only one of the domestics to see a significant increase in August, as GM and Chrysler simply didn't have a good stock of fuel-efficient models to attract customers.
Interestingly, hybrid sales didn't rise as much as you'd think in August. Prius sales were way up, but most other gains were modest. "Few models did as well in August as in July," says Green Car Advisor John O'Dell, "an indication that when fuel costs are soft, as they have been much of the summer, and a program like C4C effectively softens the price of other, conventional vehicles, hybrids still are in second place on most Americans' shopping lists."
Auto Observer: Post-Clunkers Second Half Becomes Huge Sales Question Mark
A steady stream of new models is always the lifeblood of any car company, but with the current downturn every new product launch has become vitally important. A new analysis by the Edmunds.com data team shows just how important new models can be to an individual company's sales numbers.
Consider the new Audi Q5 SUV. It's now the company's second best-selling vehicle behind the A4 making up 17 percent of Audi's total sales volume. There's also the Kia Soul, a new model that now constitutes nearly 12 percent of the company's sales. Not bad for two models that didn't exist last year.
AutoObserver: New Kids on the Block Become Important to Their Brands
Kia has been trying to position itself as the "sporty" brand from Korea for years. The only problem? It's lineup wasn't all that sporty. With the introduction of the 2010 Kia Forte Koup, the company finally has a vehicle that can legitimately call itself sporty, maybe even fun.
Engineering editor Jay Kavanagh went to Korea to find out if the Koup lives up to the promise of its attractive exterior styling. The weather gods didn't exactly help Kia's case, but Jay still got enough seat time to realize that the Koup is a good starting point for a true sport coupe. Get all the details in our latest first drive from Seoul.
First Drive: 2010 Kia Forte Koup
Continue reading Crash Test Videos: 2009 Kia Forte.
The Insurance Institure for Highway Safety (IIHS) has just released bumper tests on 7 "minicars" as it likes to call them and the results weren't pretty.
Smart Fortwo -- Acceptable
Chevrolet Aveo -- Marginal
Mini Cooper -- Poor
Toyota Yaris -- Poor
Honda Fit -- Poor
Hyundai Accent -- Poor
Kia Rio -- Poor
In the case of the Kia Rio, IIHS noted that repair costs from a 6mph frontal impact would result in $3,701 in damage, which equates to rougthly 30% of the car's original cost. The solid rating for the Smart car was largely a consequence of its easily replaceable pre-painted body panels.
IIHS: Mini and Micro Car Bumper Allow Pricey Damage
Continue reading Crash Test Videos: 2010 Kia Soul.
Volt-Based Opel Ampera Plug-In Still a Go Under Magna/Sberbank Control
September 16, 2009 9:11 AM
GM to Sell 55-Percent Stake in Opel to Magna/Sberbank
September 10, 2009 9:00 AM
