Aussie Motoring

The Nissan Motor Company is about to issue recall notices for 204,361 vehicles in the United States.

The recall is to check for a fault in the passenger side airbag that could occure in a range of models built between March 12, 2007 and May 27, 2008. Nissan suspects that the number of vehicles that are actually carrying the fault coul be as low as 2000.

The part causing the problem is manufactured by a 3rd party and the part is unique to Nissan.

Recalls are never popular with anyone. Owners are inconvenienced and left with a negative impression of the vehicle and the company. Dealers are left to handle unhappy customers and carry out the repairs or inspections that they’re not always fully reimbursed for and the company is left with a huge bill and a potential public relations disaster on its hands.

2005 saw an increase in the number of new vehicles sold in Australia but at the same time it also saw an increase in unsold vehicles held my GMH and Ford.

In an effort to clear stocks Holden ran a discount campaign that was to finish at the end of December but, as I write this, it’s still going on. On the other hand Ford’s discount programme does appear to have finised at the end of December.

Final figures for the year put Toyota ahead of GMH and Ford for Australian sales.

In the United States the domestic manufacturers’ market share fell to a new low of just 57% and Toyota claimed that its Camry sedan was the best selling car in the US for the fourth year in a row. Toyota’s Lexus vehicles were the best-selling luxury brand.

And Toyota wasn’t the only foreign car manufacturer to do well in the United States during 2005. Nissan and Hyunda joined Toyota in reporting at least a 9% increase in sales in the US in 2005.

The world’s biggest car manufacturer has announced that it will close 12 plants across the US and sack over 30,000 people in an attempt to move back into the black.

Sales of new cars and trucks fell this year to the point where the company lost more in the first nine months of this year than it earned in the whole of 2004. While GM likes to suggest that it’s economic woes are due to the costs or running a pension plan for its retirees there are several other major factors involved as well.

In recent years the company has focused on marketing its light trucks and SUVs and, as fuel prices have increased, those vehicles have become less popular.

Previous marketing ploys have also brought the company to the point where it is today. Immediately after the attacks on the World Trade Centre General Motors announced that it would support the sale of its vehicles with interest free loans and that certainly worked in the short term.

Now however the US car buyer expects that sort of deal all the time and sales only rise when great deals are offered.

During the recent hurricanes that hit Florida and New Orleans we saw the price of petrol in the United States finally begin to catch up to what the rest of the world pays for fuel.

Over time those increasing petrol prices are going to affect everyone, including those who live an affluent lifestyle. So it should come as no surprise that the luxury car market is beginning become a little soft although once you’ve experienced true luxury you really don’w ant to give it up if you can avoid it.

So in the US the luxury car market is beginning to see more owners trading their top of the range vehicles like this Hummer for entry level luxury cars.

But even worse may be to come for some buyers who until recently frequented the luxury car market are actually downsizing to cheaper and more affordable non-luxury cars.

I wonder what it’s like to move from a Hummer to a Hyundai Getz?