2001 Porsche 996 Cabriolet With Hardtop - 41k Miles on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Despite premium carmakers going downmarket, luxury auto sales stick at 10-11%

According to research conducted by global information company IHS Automotive, the leporine birthing of new models by luxury manufacturers over the past six years hasn't increased their market share in the US. Even as car sales reached 15.6 million units, IHS says what's happened instead is that luxury buyers are merely moving from one brand to another, moving from larger luxury vehicles into hot segments like compact luxury crossovers or leaving the market at the same rate as other buyers enter.
Whether broken out by makes or by segment, market share has rollercoastered inside a narrow band from 10.5 to 11.5 percent since "at least" 2008. Closer investigation reveals the shifting boundaries in the aspirational pond, with brands like Mercedes-Benz and Audi gaining territory as Lexus and Lincoln lost it, and Saab and Hummer were buried, dead, under it. One neat note is that Tesla has gone from a share of zip to .12 percent.
The subcompact and compact crossover segments show growth, with those little high-riders jumping from .3 percent to 1.16 percent of overall industry sales. Their rise, though, is concomitant with the decline of four other segments: compact and midsize cars and fullsize cars and SUVs. We think the next few years that will tell if the small-car expansion can overcome the large-car retraction, with a phalanx of smaller offerings like the CLA only recently hitting the market and others like the GLA, Macan and Q1 doing so in the near future.

Recharge Wrap-up: Porsche 918 Spyder named Robb Report Car of the Year, cheap E85 in MN

Robb Report has named the Porsche 918 Spyder as its 2015 Car of the Year. The luxury lifestyle publication chose the powerful hybrid for being "the rarest, fastest, quickest, and most groundbreaking production Porsche ever," says Robb Report automotive consultant Robert Ross. About 140 judges were involved in the decision, which was announced at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week. Read more at Robb Report. Samsung SDI brought four new batteries to the Detroit Auto Show. One is a 120-Ah battery with a range of over 300 kilometers (186 miles). A second is interoperable between plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles. A third is a compact hybrid battery that offers smaller packaging without losing capacity. The fourth is a low-voltage system meant to replace or work alongside lead-acid batteries and improve fuel economy. Read more at The Korea Economic Daily, or in the press release below. A relationship between a Minnesota ethanol producer and retailers means cheap E85 for customers. The DENCO II ethanol plant began blending its own E85 fuel in 2011, and now sells directly to 45 gas stations. DENCO II sets the pricing for the fuel, and has been running a promotion for certain retailers to sell E85 for about a dollar cheaper than E10 gasoline. That promotion includes a Cenex station in Alexandria, MN selling E85 for just 85 cents per gallon. The result has been success for both the producer and gas stations, with customers having more cash to spend on retail goods when they go inside to warm up. Read more at Ethanol Producer Magazine. Samsung SDI, targeting the North American market with automotive batteries and high-tech materials ? Display batteries and materials for automobiles at NAIAS from January 12, 2015 ? Introduce high capacity battery cells providing 300km driving distance per charge ? Present Non-Painting Metallic Material, the winner of SPE Automotive Innovation Award ? Samsung SDI, the world-leading material and energy solution provider introduced automotive batteries and engineering plastic materials targeting the North American market at the Detroit auto show. Samsung SDI showed off automotive batteries for electric vehicles as well as advanced materials for the interiors and exteriors of conventional vehicles at the 2015 North American International Auto Show.

Porsche 911 going all-turbo this year save for GT3 and GT3 RS

The coming Porsche 911 GT3 RS will represent another high-water mark for the brand, and another milestone. Its 500-or-so horsepower and extreme aero are predicted to lop more than five seconds off the 7:20 Nurburgring lap time of the current GT3, making it "comfortably less" than 7:20. Beyond that, its naturally-aspirated 3.8-liter will form the basis of the turbocharged engines going into the standard range of 911s later this year as 2016 models. That's right – if you're looking for a sub-GT3 911 that gulps its air without compressed assistance, then you've only got a few months to get a new one into your garage. Emissions regulations are the reason, of course, with Porsche's R&D chief Wolfgang Hatz saying that, "Every new model will have lower CO2 than before," and "if you look at euro per g/km, then it's turbo." We don't know what the engine lineup will look like, however; a few months ago Car reported that the base 911 would get a smaller-displacement version of the engine, while the S would stick with 3.8-liter displacement and jump to 520 horsepower, which is the same as the current Turbo. After that, Hatz said, "at the end of the decade electrification has to be the next huge step." That means a hybrid 911 is being cooked up somewhere. Yet even as the brand leaps into the new, there's a chance it could dip a toe back into the old: the 911 GT3 RS will launch with a PDK, but Hatz's team is considering adding the option of a seven-speed manual. Elsewhere in the range, the Cayman GT4 is being engineered by Porsche Motorsport as an entry-level racer, with more power than the current Cayman GTS to go with some serious weight loss. They are also developing a track-only model for privateers. The standard Boxster and Cayman will get turbocharged flat-four engines, but there'll be a sporty Boxster that also loses weight and gets more power than the 325-hp Boxster GTS. And that mid-level supercar that's been floating in the ether for years and supposedly sent to purgatory again just last November? It's on the way by 2020 "at the latest," and will use a version of the new V8 that will eventually go into the Cayenne and Panamera. Featured Gallery 2015 Porsche 911 GT3 RS: Winter Testing Spy Shots View 13 Photos News Source: Top Gear, AutocarImage Credit: CarPix Green Porsche Emissions Convertible Coupe Hybrid Luxury Performance Supercars porsche 911 gt3 wolfgang hatz porsche supercar