Subaru car line manager Todd Hill and communications executives Infante and Jessica Tullman came to the Automotion garage in Middleboro, Massachusetts, on April 11 to show off the 2014 Forester, both the normally aspirated 2.5i and turbocharged 2.0XT models.
Sixty percent of people shopping for a new car today are looking in either the compact-SUV or the midsize-sedan segments. “Combine those two groups and you have what we call the ‘Super Segment,’” Mike Murphy, Ford’s Global C-Car marketing manager, told NEMPA. Furthermore, by the end of 2013 compact SUVs are projected to account for 50 percent of all SUV sales.
Automakers & Media celebrate 15 years of awards and 25 years of NEMPA
Even to NEMPA it was a surprise when Bentley Motors adopted Boston as its second home in 2010, and installed a sales and marketing office at Copley Place under president and COO Christophe Georges. But the US-especially southern California, Florida and New York-has traditionally been Bentley’s best market, only surpassed by China in the first half of 2012.
When you throw a dart, the object is to hit the scoring section of the board. The same is true in the auto world, where Dodge is launching its 2013 Dart at the sweet spot in the compact segment of the market.
Buick returned to Automotion HQ on February 21, this time to introduce its new compact deluxe sedan, the Verano, to the New England Motor Press.
The Mazda CX-5, a new entry in the hyper-competitive, five-seat compact SUV segment, is notable because it is the first vehicle to benefit from the full scope of Mazda’s “Skyactiv” technologies, which reduce weight and improve fuel efficiency while enhancing the company’s signature Zoom-Zoom driving characteristics.
Jeep’s re-engineered Grand Cherokee has won more than 30 awards in the past year, including NEMPA’s Winter Vehicle of 2011. That award was especially meaningful because New England now buys 22 percent of Jeep production, the most for any region in the United States.
Hybrid drivetrains have advanced significantly since 1999, when the first modern gas-electric car became available in the US. Buick presented one of the latest evolutions of this technology to NEMPA on October 4, when it brought several LaCrosse sedans, and its new eAssist technology, to Automotion International, in Middleborough, Massachusetts, for the membership to inspect and drive.
To some, putting a diesel powerplant into the Mercedes-Benz S-Class is heresy. But some current owners-Mercedes executives expect that they will make up 5 to 10 percent of buyers-are reacting with, “It’s about time.”
