Mazda3's the best-selling new car

And as recession eases, Canadians are back to buying bigger vehicles again, analyst says

Feb 27, 2010

Special to the Star

According to the Canadian new-car sales numbers for January, industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers has noticed a few trends.

"I'm always careful not to read too much into one month and especially January, where a lot of strange things can happen in the auto markets due to year-end issues addressed in December," said DesRosiers.

Having said that, he saw January as a very interesting month.

It looks like the Mazda3 is ousting Honda's Civic as the best-selling new car in Canada.

The Mazda was No. 1 in January and, in the last few years, the Civic has only been the best-selling car for "a month or two."

Second, Canadians have started to buy light trucks again, a "continuation" of a trend that had been building in 2009.

In fact, Ford's F-Series pickup trucks are the No. 1 selling vehicle in Canada.

And trucks aren't the only large vehicles that are becoming more popular with Canadian new-car buyers.

DesRosiers said entry-level cars sales last month were down 1.4 per cent in a market up 6.2 per cent since this time last year. The subcompact, compact and small-van segments are all in decline while large, luxury and sport vehicles were up 25.3 per cent.

Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid coming in 2011

Despite the gasps from traditionalists after going on sale almost seven years ago, Porsche's first-ever SUV, the Cayenne, quickly became its best-selling model in Canada. And now a thoroughly new model is coming for model year 2011.

With the Lexus RX 450h clearly in its sights, the big news is the Cayenne S Hybrid.

Porsche says the hybrid's gasoline-electric drivetrain "combines the performance of an eight-cylinder with the economy of a six."

To back that boast, the hybrid Cayenne has the supercharged 3.0-litre V6 found in the Audi S4, matched to an electric motor for a combined 380 hp.

Apparently, the mid-size, five-passenger Porsche SUV sips just 8.2 L/100 km (43.5 mpg) on the New European Driving Cycle, and "can cover short distances on electric power alone, free of emissions and noise to 60 km/h."

Unlike most hybrids, the Cayenne can travel at highway speeds on electric juice alone – up to 156 km/h – says the German automaker.

As before, there will also be gas-only V6 and V8 engines available.

Porsche brags that, put up against the last-generation Cayennes, fuel consumption is "down by up to 23 per cent and CO2 emissions are significantly reduced." The new V8 models (Porsche Cayenne S and Cayenne Turbo) go on sale in Canada in July. Canadian Porsche dealers will start selling the V6 and hybrids in the fall.

F800 Style concept Mercedes preview of things to come

As Mercedes-Benz methodically rolls out its family of mid-size E-class variants – sedan, coupe, wagon and convertible – the last missing iteration was the CLS sporty four-door.

It seems, though, the wait is over.

For all intents and purposes, the F800 Style concept that Mercedes will be unveiling at next month's Geneva Motor Show is a preview of what we can expect as the replacement for the original CLS sporty sedan, which debuted at the 2003 Frankfurt show as the Vision CLS.

The original CLS was a seminal car. Although it had four doors and a B-pillar, Mercedes got away with marketing the CLS as a "four-door coupé."

Its design influence can be seen on various vehicles, such as the BMW X6 Sports Activity Coupé and the new 2011 Hyundai Sonata.

Under the hood, the F800 sports a plug-in gasoline-electric hybrid drivetrain. A 300 hp V6 is supplanted by a 109 hp electric motor embedded in the automatic gearbox. On lithium-ion battery power alone, conceptually, Benz says the F800 can go up to 120 km/h but only for about 28 km.

Mercedes said its fuel-cell technology also could be adapted to the F800, combining a 136 hp, rear-drive electric motor with a fuel cell stack. The range is over 600 km.

As usual with Mercedes concepts, the F800 is jammed with new high-tech goodies. The central control system is now a touchpad interface.

Expect more details of the F800's eventual CLS production counterpart later in the year.

Mercedes-Benz and Renault to team up

Mercedes-Benz's Smart ForTwo car is still an oddity on city roads. The diminutive two-seater debuted here in 2004, but has been on sale in Europe since 1998. So an all-new version is long overdue.

Parent Mercedes has been trying to get an all-new replacement on the road,and has been trying to find a partner to shoulder some of the costs of what is a relatively expensive car to design and build.

After stuttering attempts with BMW's Mini and the French Peugeot/Citroën twins, a report in Automobile Magazine says the German automaker has decided to hook up with the other carmaker from France, Renault.

Apparently, both automakers will sell distinctly different versions under the Smart and Renault-Nissan brands by "late 2014."

However, Renault will play the leading role in engineering, purchasing and production (the ForTwo is currently made in France and Germany) and will develop a purely electric version

The French-German partnership also calls for more Smarts. Expect a replacement for the current two-seat ForTwo, an all-new four-seat ForFour and perhaps a ForMore microvan.

Only the ForTwo is currently slated for the North American market.

Toronto Star