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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.

Viral video helps catch unlicensed teen hit-and-run driver

A video of a driver mangling a Porsche SUV was uploaded for a laugh on YouTube last week, but police recognized the vehicle and suspected it was used in an early crime. The video titled How to park your Porsche in Vancouver recently surfaced on YouTube and was meant to be a source of entertainment. However, it appeared that there is damage on the passenger side of the vehicle, opposite the side being scraped away on the garage wall. A few days after its initial posting, the video came to the attention of the Vancouver Police Department who used it as evidence to find a hit-and-run driver. Constable Brian Montague of the VPD said that the vehicle shown in the video hit a parked, unoccupied car on June 16. Using the video, VPD officers tracked down the Porsche driver, who turned out to be a sixteen-year-old kid with no license. Montague stated that if the young driver had stayed at the scene of the crash, they very likely would have gotten off with a fine for driving without a license. Unfortunately, because they fled the scene, the driver is facing multiple, costly charges including hit-and-run and driving without a license. The driver will also be responsible to damage caused to the parked car and to the house they damaged while trying to hide the Porsche. Related Video: News Source: Global News Auto News Weird Car News Porsche Driving Safety viral video bad driver parking fail

Porsche 918 Spyder goes ice drifting in Finland

Along with the Ferrari Laferrari and McLaren P1, the Porsche 918 Spyder is one of the trio of hybrid supercars potentially defining the path for these rarified vehicles going forward. When thinking about high-performance machines like this, the mind usually goes to precise driving around a circuit or maybe along a beautifully undulating road... not so much in the snow. Still, this group has more than enough power to make it through a little bit of powder, and the 918 proves that at the Porsche Driving Experience winter camp in Finland. Although, the set of studded snow tires certainly helps. Even with the trick all-wheel drive system in the Porsche combining a mid-mounted V8 and electric motors, this 918 has absolutely no problem lighting up the rear end in the snow and ice. Even at relatively low speeds, just a blip of the throttle is all it takes for the back tires to step out. However, the handling still looks quite controllable. It's hard to grin as this rare supercar does the Scandinavian Flick to set up a perfect drift between the snow banks.