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Nissan, Toyota offering payment deferments to people affected by government shutdown

Two weeks into the budget-related government shutdown and it sounds like some progress is finally being made, but that doesn't really help furloughed government employees pay their bills. To help out a little, Nissan and Toyota are joining Hyundai with offering payment deferments to current owners and lessees.
In a release, a Nissan spokesperson said the company is "sympathetic to any of our customers who find themselves in difficult financial circumstances - many times outside of their control."
Both Japanese automakers are allowing payment extensions of up to 90 days without penalties or fees. Unlike the Hyundai Assurance Plan, though, it doesn't seem like the Nissan or Toyota assistance will be extended to those who are still in the buying process. Scroll down for press releases from both companies about their respective payment deferment programs.

Nissan GT-R LM Nismo pulls its way to Chi-town

We generally take it as a given that, as far as performance goes, rear-wheel drive is better than front. All-wheel drive can be better than either, in some cases, but you need power going to the wheels that aren't also handling the steering while leaving the others just tagging along for the ride. Right? Well Nissan is here to upend that notion with the new GT-R LM Nismo, presented here at the 2015 Chicago Auto Show. After supporting the DeltaWing project a couple of years ago and fielding its own ZEOD RC prototype last year, Nissan is returning to Le Mans this year with another oddball endurance racer. Only this time, it's going for gold, competing against the likes of Porsche, Audi and Toyota for the overall win in the top-tier LMP1 class. Tying this front-drive, 1,250-horsepower hybrid racing prototype to the all-wheel-drive GT-R may be tenuous, but we have to hand it to Nissan for shaking things up. In the process, Nissan has also confirmed the hot shoes who'll be tasked with manhandling this beast around the Circuit de la Sarthe (and the rest of the tracks on the 2015 FIA WEC calendar). Joining former Le Mans winner and longtime Ferrari test driver Marc Gene will be Super GT champion Tsuigio Matsuda as well as Harry Tincknell and Olivier Pla (both experienced from the largely Nissan-powered LMP2 field), Nissan factory driver Michael Krumm and GT Academy graduates Lucas Ordonez and Jann Mardenborough, both of whom have made their way into professional racing on the merit of their video gaming abilities. We'll be looking forward to watching them try to get the best out of this most innovative Datsun.

More than half of Mazdas sold in 2018 are CX-5s, and other interesting sales facts

Last year was a seriously good year for carmakers. Overall, more vehicles were sold than in 2017, and the total number wasn't far off of the all-time record in 2016. Digging deeper into the numbers, you'll find some pretty usual stuff including the Ford F-Series still being the bestselling pickup truck in America, and a continued trend toward crossovers. But there are also some oddball factoids tucked in these sales reports, some that defy the trends, and some that are extremes of the public's buying preferences. We've compiled several interesting tidbits from last year's sales right here for your enjoyment. More than half of Mazda's sales were of CX-5s Yes, over half of all Mazda sales were of this one model. The company sold 300,325 cars in America last year, and 150,622 of them were CX-5 crossovers, or 50.1 percent. Just for emphasis, that means the other 49.8 percent of Mazda's sales were split among five other models, the Miata, 3, 6, CX-3 and CX-9. Breaking that down further, the second-best seller was the Mazda3 at 64,638, which isn't even half of the CX-5's sales. People are crazy for Mazda's middle crossover. Volkswagen actually sold more cars than crossovers It's clear that the crossover is the future king of car sales. For most mainstream brands, it already is. Chevy, Ford, Honda, Toyota, Subaru, Mazda and Nissan all sold more crossovers and SUVs than they did conventional sedans and hatchbacks. There are holdouts, though, and one of them is Volkswagen. At the end of 2018, the company sold 189,343 cars and 164,721 crossovers in the U.S. So that's one win for the classic car set, and it's justification for VW to maintain its car line for the foreseeable future. It's a bit of a hollow victory, though. Look closer and you'll see that car sales were down 28 percent from 2017, when VW sold 262,029 cars. Crossovers, on the other hand, jumped 112 percent from 2017 when 77,647 crossovers moved through U.S. dealers. So expect the tables to turn very soon. Mustang is still the muscle-car sales king, but Challenger is the only one to improve Once again, the Ford Mustang topped the muscle-car sales charts, beating out the Dodge Challenger and Chevy Camaro. Ford moved 75,842 of the ponies in 2018, while Dodge sold 66,716 Challengers for second place, and Chevy sold 50,963 Camaros to bring up the rear.