FREE! Tallahassee's ONLY weekly print source for select Cars.com cars, trucks, SUVs and more! For advertising information, contact your local Cars.com On-The-Move Sales Team at 599-2329. Confidence Comes Standard! Visit Cars.com for side-by-side comparisons, consumer, expert reviews and more! ON-THE-MOVE Q Which luxury crossover is a best buy? A Cars.com lists several 2012 crossover SUVs as Best Bets for 2012, giv- ing you a variety of good choices. Among them are the Acura MDX, BMW X3, Infiniti EX35, Lexus RX 350, Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class and the Volvo XC60. In addition, the BMW X5 35d diesel and Lexus RX 450h are “green” Best Bets because of their fuel economy. All of these SUVs qualify as Best Bets because they have average to above-average fuel economy within their segments, average or better reliability and average or better performance in crash tests, plus they earned a seal of approval from the Cars.com’s edi- tors who reviewed them. You can use the Cars.com Vehicle Rec- ommender to narrow down the candidates to the ones that offer the attributes and features that matter most. ASK.CARS.COM The Lexus RX 350 crossover SUV makes Cars.com’s Best Bets list for 2012. R E A D M O R E A T Go to Cars.com for reviews and advice, and Ask.cars.com to find answers to your questions. TOYOTA Luxury crossovers earn approval ADVICE TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Toyota’s top U.S. sales executive predicts that his company will add jobs and build more mod- els in North America as a hedge against a strong yen. Jim Lentz, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., said Toyota already makes around 70 percent of the models sold in North America in the region. He sees that percentage continuing to grow. “With the yen where it is today, I think it’s only a matter of time,” Lentz said. Toyota Motor Corp. has been hammered by the strong yen, putting extra pressure on the automaker to stay lean and come up with innova- tions. A strong yen cuts into overseas earnings for all Japanese auto- makers, and makes it harder to offer products at cheaper prices abroad. It takes just 78 yen to buy a dollar, fewer than the 100 yen it took in 2009. It’s a sign of the currency’s growing strength against the greenback, and a tough trend for Japanese manufacturers. So in the past eight months, the world’s top automaker has an- nounced it would hire 3,500 workers in North America and invest $1.6 billion its factories here. “The hedge against currency is to build cars where you sell them,” he said. Lentz said further in- vestment depends on the value of the yen, sales and the ability of Toyota Toyota exec predicts growth in North America Move is hedge against strong foreign currency Jim Lentz, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A, who makes the Prius, predicts that his company will add jobs and build more models in North America AP NORTH AMERICA PRODUCTION Toyota builds12 Toyota and Lexus models in North America, including the Camry and popular Corolla. Its new Avalon large sedan was engineered and designed near Ann Arbor, Mich., and the company expects more models to be designed in the U.S., where it employs about 30,000 people. By Tom Krisher Associated Press See TOYOTA » 2D TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT » MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2012
For advertising information, contact your local Cars.com On-The-Move Sales Team at 599-2329.
Confidence Comes Standard! Visit Cars.com for side-by-side comparisons, consumer, expert reviews andmore!
ON-THE-MOVE
Q Which luxury crossover is abest buy?
A Cars.com lists several 2012crossover SUVs as
Best Bets for 2012, giv-ing you a variety of goodchoices. Among them arethe Acura MDX, BMWX3, Infiniti EX35, LexusRX 350, Mercedes-BenzGLK-Class and theVolvo XC60.
In addition, the BMWX5 35d diesel and Lexus RX 450hare “green” Best Bets because oftheir fuel economy.
All of these SUVs qualify as BestBets because they have average toabove-average fuel economy withintheir segments, average or better
reliability and average orbetter performance incrash tests, plus theyearned a seal of approvalfrom the Cars.com’s edi-tors who reviewed them.
You can use theCars.com Vehicle Rec-ommender to narrowdown the candidates to
the ones that offer the attributes andfeatures that matter most.
ASK.CARS.COM
The Lexus RX 350 crossover SUV makes Cars.com’s Best Bets list for 2012.
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find answersto your questions.
TOYOTA
Luxury crossovers earn approvalADVICE
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.— Toyota’s top U.S. salesexecutive predicts thathis company will addjobs and buildmoremod-els inNorthAmerica as ahedge against a strongyen.
Jim Lentz, presidentandCEOof ToyotaMotorSales U.S.A., said Toyotaalready makes around70 percent of the modelssold in North America inthe region. He sees thatpercentage continuing togrow.
“With the yenwhere itis today, I think it’s only amatter of time,” Lentzsaid.
Toyota Motor Corp.has been hammered bythe strong yen, puttingextra pressure on theautomaker to stay leanandcomeupwith innova-tions. A strong yen cutsinto overseas earningsfor all Japanese auto-makers, and makes itharder to offer productsat cheaperprices abroad.It takes just 78 yen to buy
a dollar, fewer than the100yen it took in2009. It’sa sign of the currency’sgrowing strength againstthe greenback, and atough trend for Japanesemanufacturers.
So in the past eightmonths, the world’s topautomaker has an-nounced it would hire3,500 workers in North
America and invest$1.6 billion its factorieshere.
“The hedge againstcurrency is to build carswhere you sell them,” hesaid.
Lentz said further in-vestment depends on thevalue of the yen, salesand the ability of Toyota
Toyota exec predictsgrowth in North AmericaMove is hedgeagainst strongforeign currency
Jim Lentz, president and CEO of Toyota Motor SalesU.S.A, who makes the Prius, predicts that his companywill add jobs and build more models in North America AP
NORTH AMERICA PRODUCTIONToyota builds 12 Toyota and Lexus models in North America,including the Camry and popular Corolla. Its new Avalonlarge sedan was engineered and designed near Ann Arbor,Mich., and the company expects more models to be designedin the U.S., where it employs about 30,000 people.
The 2013 Porsche Panamera mightjust be the perfect car for the mom
or dad wanting prestige, performanceand panache, with just enough comfortand functionality thrown in to work as adaily driver.
Rather than having asporty car for fun and a fam-ily sedan for function, blendthe two in the 2013 Panam-era GTS, which is a new-comer to the model’s lineup.
Because it’s so long, thePanamera can have fourfull-sized doors so rear passengers caneasily climb in and out. And its largerrear end results in a hatchback cargo
space that’s big enough for most tasks afamily can throw at it.
The two seats in the back were a goodfit for two kids, even inbooster seats.
While I generally lovedmy two weeks in the Panam-era GTS, I missed keylessaccess and start, ventilatedseats and steering-wheel-mounted audio controls.
Acceleration in thePanamera GTS is shockingly smooth.Braking was also incredibly smoothand responsive.
REVIEW
PORSCHE
KICKINGTIRES.NET
The U.S. sales of diesel-poweredvehicles are on a roll. Accord-
ing to research firm Baum andAssociates, sales of diesel vehiclesduring the first six months of 2012are up 27.5 percent.
Through June of this year, 61,214diesel-powered vehicles have beensold in the U.S., which doesn’t looklike much, but sales are on a steadyclimb. U.S. sales of clean-dieselvehicles increased 22.3 percent inJune, compared with last June. Sim-
ilarly, they increased 14.4 percent inMay and 28.2 percent in April com-pared with those months in 2011.
This is in the face of higher pricesfor diesel fuel.
Bright spots in the market,according to Baum’s report, areAudi TDI trims. They made up 64.8percent of sales of the Audi A3compact hatchback and 37.1 per-cent of Audi Q7 SUV sales. Volk-swagen’s Passat is sharing similarsuccess: The TDI trim made up 21percent of the sedan’s sales in June.
TRENDS
AUDI
The diesel trim for the Audi A3 compact hatchback is proving to be popular.
Diesel car sales climbingPanamera can cater to families
Acceleration and braking are impressively smooth in the 2013 Panamera GTS.
2013 Porsche PanameraStarting MSRP: $75,850 to $175,300
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about cars.
to engineer anddesignve-hicles in the U.S.
Honda Civicdevelopment
Toyota isn’t alone inmoving research and pro-duction toNorthAmerica.Honda announced at theconference that engi-neers in the U.S. wouldlead development of the
next-generation of Civiccompact cars.
Honda builds in NorthAmerica more than85 percent of the vehiclesit sells in the region.About 30 percent of itsNorth American modellineup was developedhere, said Erik Berkman,the company’s presidentof research and develop-ment for the Americas.North America leads de-velopmentofallAcurave-hicles and all light trucks,including the Honda Rid-geline and Pilot, he said.
The company has aproduct development re-search center near Co-lumbus, Ohio.
Toyota already builds12 Toyota and Lexus mod-els in North America, in-cluding the top-sellingCamry and popular Corol-la. Its new Avalon largesedanwasengineeredanddesigned near Ann Arbor,Mich., and the companyexpects more models tobe designed in the U.S.,where it employs about30,000 people.
Toyota doesn’t have
firmplans to shift produc-tion of more models fromJapan to North America,he said. But one modelToyota would considerbuilding here is the LexusES series.
Toyota, like otherman-ufacturers, would makechanges to squeeze moreproduction out of existingplants rather than build-ingnewbuildings, he said.A new plant costs about$1 billion, Lentz said.
Toyota still thinksauto-makers can sell 14.3 mil-lion vehicles in U.S. this
year, he said, even thoughsaleshave slowed thepasttwo months, and someanalysts have cut theirforecasts. But Lentz saidpent-up demand shouldprop up sales. The aver-age vehicle in the U.S. isnearly 11 years old, andpeople have to replacetheir aging rides.
Toyota, he said, hasfully recovered from theMarch 2011 earthquakeand tsunami that hobbledits Japanese factories andcaused model shortagesworldwide. In theU.S., the
company’s dealer inven-tory dropped to around120,000 vehicles last sum-mer. Now it’s back to299,000, which is near the300,000 that Toyota con-siders optimal.
Lentz also said dis-counts are starting to sur-face in the luxurymarket,which has dropped toaround 10 percent of totalU.S. sales this year. Nor-mally it’s around 12 per-cent,hesaid.Butalthoughdiscounts may rise, Lentzdoesn’t think an all-outprice war will break out.
The 260-horsepower 2013 Pathfinder, above and below, is on sale this fall.
USA TODAY
N issan has unveiled the new production version of the 2013 Pathfind-er, a family hauler that sheds 500 pounds for better fuel economycompared with the outgoing model.
The Pathfinder shifts from being a body-on-frame SUV to being a unibodycrossover to achieve most of its weight savings. Nissan says the result will bea 30 percent improvement in gas mileage.
The front-wheel-drive version can now achieve 20 miles per gallon in thecity and 26 mpg on the highway. Yet it still can tow up to 5,000 pounds.
All 2013 Pathfinderscome equipped with anadvanced 260-horsepow-er 3.5-liter V-6 enginematched with a continu-ously variable transmis-sion. Nissan says it willbe the only vehicle in itsclass with selectable two-or four-wheel drive.
“While traditionalSUV customers are look-ing for improved fuel economy, they still demand a vehicle that can do all thethings they need, like carrying seven people, towing, and providing the sure-footedness in all conditions of a four-wheel drive,” Al Castignetti, generalmanager of the Nissan division, said in a statement.
The new Pathfinder will be built in Smyrna, Tenn., and goes on sale in thefall.
By MARK PHELANDETROIT FREE PRESS
There’s both more and less thanyou may expect to Cadillac’snew 2013 ATS sport sedan, and
those are both good things. I spent a dayrecently with the engineering anddesign team driving the car in the hillsand on a racetrack near Atlanta.
A couple of things leapt out at meafter my day with the ATS:
1. It’s bigger than I expected, withmore road presence. The car is a com-pact, by the interior-space-based vehi-cle classes the EPA uses, but it’s noGolf- or Civic-size luxury wannabe.
The ATS is 2 inches longer than aMercedes-Benz C250, 0.3-incheslonger than a BMW 3-series. Devel-oped to compete with the world’s bestsport sedans, it’s squarely in their classof size and power. The cars we tested
carried myself, another journalist andan engineer quickly and comfortably.
2. GM may have figured out how tobuild a really good, really light car.
Every extra pound reduces fuel econ-omy and performance. The ATS is sig-nificantly lighter than the 3-series,C-class and Audi A4.
“Every gram had to earn its way intothis car,” ATS engineering managerLarry Craig said.
Building a light vehicle takes atten-tion to detail, and a willingness to spendmoney on materials like magnesium,aluminum and high-strength steel.Cadillac engineers shaved 2.2 poundsfrom the rear suspension by evaluatingevery bolt and using smaller ones wherepossible.
Feather-light magnesium enginemounts secure the four-cylinderengines to the chassis.
Cadillac makes weight a priorityas it builds new 2013 ATS
PHOTOS BY NISSAN
TRENDSREVIEW
Nissan readies PathfinderNew, lighter 2013 model to get better gas mileage
GM
“Every gram had to earn its way into this car,” said an ATS engineering manager.
Additional horsepower and increasedfuel efficiency aren’t
always mutually exclusive.For the 2013 model year,Mercedes-Benz’s refreshedpremium compact SUV gotboth.
The 2013 GLK getspower from last year’s 3.5-liter V-6. In the updatedmodel, it makes 302 horse-power, up 34 hp from last year.
According to the EPA, fuel economyis also up: The 2012 version was rated
at 16/21 mpg city/highway and the2013 model is rated at 19/24 mpg.
Mercedes-Benz says thempg jump is thanks in partto a new automaticstart/stop system andelectromechanical steering,which replaces the priorhydraulic setup. When theauto stop/start feature isactivated, the car shuts offwhile stopped and auto-
matically restarts when your foot leavesthe brake pedal. It’s engaged via a but-ton on the instrument panel.
PICKUPTRUCKS.COM
Sales continue headed in the positive direction for the pickup truck seg-ment, with Ford still dominating the dealership wars in July.
As expected, the midsize Toyota Tacoma, Nissan Frontier and Chevy Col-orado are doing very well.
As good as these numbers are, they could be getting better, as it is notunusual to see stronger full-size truck sales numbers in the second half ofthe year, as buyers prepare for the coming winter months. Some analystspredict 55 percent of the year’s sales to happen in the final six months.
FORD MOTOR CO.MERCEDES-BENZ
TRENDSTRENDS
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1. Ford F-Series: 350,4552. Chevrolet Silverado: 223,4803. Ram Trucks: 162,4054. GMC Sierra: 84,0505. Toyota Tacoma: 78,503
6. Toyota Tundra: 54,2877. Nissan Frontier: 34,9968. Chevrolet Colorado: 25,5539. Ford Ranger: 18,85510. Chevrolet Avalanche: 12,825
F-Series still leads in sales
Top 10 year-to-date truck sales as of July 2012
The 2012 sales figure forFord F-Series trucksshows 350,455 soldthrough July.
Mercedes adds power to GLKThe 2013 Mercedes-Benz GLK compact SUV is rated at 19/24 mpg city/highway.
Prices of recent-model usedcars have risen so much thatsome are nowwithin a few hun-dreddollars of the samevehiclenew.
Onaverage,newvehiclesareselling for only 11.5 percentmore than a comparable 1-year-old used car, says Kelley BlueBook, a price-tracking service.
Some models have virtuallyclosed the gap.Ayear-oldChev-rolet Camaro LT, for instance,sold for an average of $25,135 inthemostrecentsurveyofactualprices paid, only $126 less thanthe average paid for a new2012.A 2011Toyota 4Runner SR5wasonly $254 less.
“It’s just crazy,” says JuanFlores, KBB’s director of vehi-cle valuation. He says the gap,which can range up to 20 per-cent, appears to be the narrow-
est in 14 years of trackingprices.
Used-carpriceshaverisen inrecent years as supply, particu-larly of late-model cars, shrank:Fewerpeople traded invehiclesbecauseofa tougheconomyandcredit squeeze. At the depths ofthe recession, car leasing, a bigsource of recent-vintage usedcars, all but dried up. And theoverall quality of vehicles hasrisen, so consumers aren’t asfearful of holding onto an older
car.Meanwhile, automakers
have cut new-car manufactur-ing to try to keep supply in linewith demand, also leading tohigher resale values.
Including financing costs, aused car actually can cost moreoverall than a new one, as used-car loans typically carry higherrates.
Car-shopper site Edmund-s.com calculates, for instance,that you’d likely pay $452 a
month for a year-old Honda Od-yssey minivan, versus $445 amonth for a new one. Edmundsbases that on typical 60-monthloanrates fornewandusedcarsand average transaction prices.
The narrow gap betweennew and slightly used carswon’t last, says Tom Kontos,chief economist for Adesa,which runs used-car wholesaleauctions. Supplywill rise again,loweringprices. “Atsomepoint,something has to give.”
Used cars edge closer to newmodels in priceBy Chris Woodyardand James R. HealeyUSA Today
■ 290-hp V-6 or 360-hp V-8; three 4WD systems; availableQuadra-Lift air suspension; 7,400-pound towing capacity; newhigh-performance 470-hp SRT8 version. For 2012, V-6-poweredGrand Cherokees now have electro-hydraulic power steering, andV-8-equipped models have a revised automatic transmission thatprovides six manual-shift gears. Seats five.
■ City: 12 to 17 mpg; Highway: 18 to 23 mpg
■ Sleeker-looking than the model it replaced, the Grand Cherokeestill resembles a Jeep, but it’s perhaps the brand’s greatest stretchso far. Traditional Grand Cherokee cues remain, including a seven-slot grille and horizontally arranged headlights, but the rear end wascompletely reworked. Exterior features include: standard 17-inch alu-minum wheels; 18- or 20-inch wheels optional; standard heatedpower side mirrors; standard fog lights; optional power liftgate;optional sunroof; optional high-intensity-discharge headlights.
■ The cabin has nice materials, with well-integrated center con-trols and genuine wood trim on uplevel models. Available leather-wrapped dashboard. Interior features include: standard clothupholstery; leather available; rear seats can recline severaldegrees or fold flat in a 60/40 split; available heated and ventilatedfront seats; available heated rear seats; available heated steeringwheel with power tilt/telescoping adjustments; available navigationsystem and panoramic sunroof.
■ Standard safety features include front-seat side-impact airbagsand side curtain airbags for both rows. Active head restraints, four-wheel-disc antilock brakes and an electronic stability system arealso standard. Available: backup camera; rear parking sensors;blind spot warning system; rear cross path detection; collision alert.
■ All engines are E85 compatible; six-speed automatic; seats upto nine; available backup camera; StabiliTrak now includes elec-tronic trailer-sway control and hill start assist. Four-wheel drive isavailable.The Yukon SLT now comes standard with heated leatherfront seats; a heated steering wheel is optional. When properlyequipped, can tow up to 8,500 pounds.
■ City: 13 to 15 mpg; Highway: 18 to 21 mpg
■ The Yukon has a one-piece grille and taller headlights than its sis-ter Tahoe, with jewel-like bezels and a wider, lower air dam. The restof the body features blocky fenders, long rear-quarter windows anda squared-off back end. Higher-end Denali models come with 20-inch wheels, chrome exterior trim and a power-operated liftgate.Integrated running boards; standard 17-inch aluminum wheels; stan-dard heated power side mirrors; optional 20-inch wheels; chromehoneycomb grille (Denali); optional power-operated running boards.
■ The domed instrument panel, carlike dashboard and flush-mounted buttons make for a handsome design. Can seat up tonine occupants when benches are placed in all three rows. Somemodels replace first- and second-row benches with captain’schairs, lowering seating capacity to seven. Standard leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls; standard Bose stereo;available sunroof, cloth or leather-appointed seats, integrated back-up camera in rearview mirror, and heated/cooled front seats.
■ Options include a blind spot warning system, rear parking sensorsand backup camera. Standard features: side curtain airbags withrollover sensor; seat-mounted side-impact airbags for the front row;four-wheel-disc antilock brakes; electronic stability system with trac-tion control, trailer-sway control and hill start assist; recovery hooks.
GM
New or notable
SUVs offer high-end touches
COMPARISON2012 Jeep Grand CherokeeStarting MSRP: $27,195 to $54,670
2012 GMC YukonStarting MSRP: $40,085 to $58,005
Safety
Fuel economy
Interior
Exterior
Jeep redesignedthe Grand
Cherokee SUV for2011, moving it fur-ther into thecrossover realm bygiving it a carlikefour-wheel-inde-pendent suspen-sion. Based on priceand equipment, the2012 GMCYukonsits between theChevrolet Tahoe andCadillac Escalade.
What Chevy calls its “most capabletrack-day” Camaro yet, the 2013
Chevrolet Camaro with the1LE Performance Packagemakes good on the carmak-er’s promise of coming inunder $40,000. It will start at$37,035, including a $900destination charge, when itgoes on sale later this year.
The new 1LE Perform-ance Package is offered onSS coupes with a manual transmissiononly. Updates in the $3,500 packageinclude a variable-effort electric power-steering system, a dual-mode exhaust
system, a manual transmission with liq-uid cooling and a higher final-driveratio, and monotube rear dampers.
Twenty-inch aluminumwheels and ultra-high-per-formance Goodyear tirescomplete the package.
Aesthetically, the 1LEcan be picked out from acrowd of Camaros by itsdistinct matte-black hood,front splitter, rear spoilerand unique 10-spoke alloy
wheels. In the cabin there’s a flat-bot-tom, suede-wrapped steering wheel anda shifter trimmed in suede microfibers.
The car goes on sale later this fall.
New Camaro stays under $40KA matte-black hood and 10-spoke wheels help set the 2013 Camaro 1LE apart.
GM
TRENDSTRENDS
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Top-selling vehicles in JulyHonda, Toyota sales soar with help from popular models
Nissan sold 26,602 Altimas in July, making it one of the best-selling vehicles.
Best-selling vehiclesin July1. Ford F-Series: 49,3142. Toyota Camry: 29,9133. Chevy Silverado: 28,9724. Honda Accord: 28,6395. Nissan Altima: 26,6026. Honda Civic: 25,0047. Ram 1500/HD: 23,8248. Toyota Corolla/Matrix: 23,6409. Ford Fusion: 23,32610. Ford Escape: 21,572
KICKINGTIRES.NET
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Sales in July flew 45.3 percent at Hondaand 26.1 percent at Toyota, as cars like
the outgoing Honda Accord and redesignedHonda Civic trumped onetime top-10 plac-ers the Chevy Malibu and Hyundai Sonata.
The Accord has as many incentives asHonda would ever unleash; the Civic’s inven-tory is back to near-industry-average levels.
Higher incentives brought shoppers tothe Ford Fusion, whose sales over July2011 gained 20.7 percent for its best Julyever. Nissan says the redesigned Altimaplayed a big part in the nameplate’s 24.7percent sales gain.
NISSAN
DETROIT — Ford Motor Co.says its newC-Max hybridwag-on gets 47 miles a gallon in cityand highway driving.
That beats its chief rival, theToyota Prius V, which gets acombined 42 miles a gallon.
Ford announced the gas
mileage Tuesday after it wascertified by the EnvironmentalProtection Agency.
The C-Max is Ford’s first hy-brid-only vehicle. It’s intendedto compete directly with thePrius. The C-Max starts at$25,200, which is $1,300 lessthan the Prius V.
Ford will also offer plug-in
hybrid and electric versions ofthe C-Max. The company saysthe plug-in hybrid will go up to85 miles per hour in all-electricmode, or 20milesperhourhigh-er than the plug-in Prius.
The plug-in version will beavailable in19U.S.markets thisfall. Ford plans to offer it in all50 states by early next year.
The EPA has certified that Ford’s new C-Max hybrid wagon gets 47miles a gallon in city and highway driving. PAUL SANCY/AP
New Ford C-Max hybrid bestsToyota Prius in gas mileageAssociated Press
