2009 CIAS: Are used cars the new new cars?

If you were looking for Canadian-specific industry news like announcements about new plant openings or new products to be built here, this year's CIAS media day was not the place to be.

Oh sure, there was some news about Chrysler’s ongoing sustainability plan.

The Detroit automaker will start nickel-and-diming their dealer network by cutting dealer profits on vehicles and forcing them to fill up the gas tanks of Chryslers when they arrive from the factory. Oh, and dealers will be charged $1 (yes one loonie) everytime they access the company’s internal inventory system (like when they’re looking for a vehicle for a customer from another dealer.)

Other than that, the reality of a long new car sales downturn as highlighted by January’s big drop is starting to permeate with most Canadian retailers.

In the U.S., predictions of what the 2009 annual new vehicle sales run rate range from as low as 8.5 to 11.5 million units. Take the usual U.S. to Canada sales ratio of 10 to 1, and most in the biz know that 2008’s 1,635,986 units sold last year in this country are now officially nostalgia.

Behind the optimistic media presentations, here at what is usually the kickoff to the spring sales season here at CIAS, off the record, several Canadian auto exes are concerned new car sales could get much worse before they get better. 

The first threat is that cars have become too reliable, durable and feature filled. The scenario goes something like this.

You own a four-year old Blah-de-blah 5000. Your lifestyle hasn’t changed (that’s fancy marketer talk for you haven’t added any offspring to the house, and for the foreseeable future you’re going to hang on to your job.)

Your 5000 isn’t rusty, it’s been reliable, fuel efficient enough for your budget—and maybe most importantly—you’ve managed to pay it off.

So, if you’re like most Canadians girding for the recession, why would you buy a new car?

The second threat new car retailers are facing is the lesser of two evils—the glut of low-mileage used cars.

According to analysts at DesRosiers & Associates, off fleet and off lease vehicles will reach record levels this year in Canada and “provide a serious downside threat to the new vehicle market.”

In other words, those buyers who absolutely, positively have to get a new car will have more choice than ever before to NOT buy new.

One auto executive told me they’ll be implementing a certified pre-owned program as soon as possible. And for the first time, BMW Canada is running national TV advertising for its CPO program.

How real do you think either of these threats are to new car sales are?

If you’re in the market to get a car new, will you buy new, slightly used, or stay put with old reliable?

[Source: DesRosiers & Associates]

2009 CIAS: Ladies and gentlemen, your vehicles of the year!

The culmination of over five months of on-road evaluation, voting—and then voting again—the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada kicked off this year’s CIAS by announcing the winners of the 2009 Canadian Car, Utility, Design and Technology awards.

Mitsubishi’s sophisticated new AWD system that debuted on the 2009 Lancer Evolution super sports compact was chosen by us journo types over General Motors’ OnStar stolen vehicle locator technology and Infiniti’s 360-degree surround parking system for the 2009 Best New Technology Award.

The highlight of the Mitsu’s system is its ability to toggle torque laterally between the two rear wheels.

For the 2009 Best New Design Award, the functionality of the Honda’s new Fit won out over the flashier Jaguar XF Supercharged and the Volkswagen Passat CC.

It was no surprise Ford’s Flex beat out the Mercedes-Benz M Class and the Subaru Forester for this year’s Best New Utility Vehicle.

The ‘Benz only came to the game with a new clean diesel engine. And the Subaru is tops in its segment, but doesn’t really move the yardsticks in the cute-ute class.

Maybe this award will help the Flex’s slow sales start.

OK (drum roll, please), now to the highly coveted 2009 Best New Car of the Year…

After last year’s backlash when the über performing (and über expensive and über rare) Audi R8 won the big prize, bang for-the-buck won out with all three of this year’s finalists: Mazda6, Toyota corolla and Hyundai Genesis.

And the winnuh is…the Hyundai Genesis.

As the Genesis has the potential to measurably move the perception of the Hyundai AND offers real value for tens of thousands of dollars less than comparable and more established luxury brands, history may look on the car as the most significant to debut this year.

Do you think the Flex and Genesis are deserved winners?

Are there new 2009 models were missing from the list of finalists?

Do COTY awards have any value in helping you with your car purchase?

(Soon to be) Live from Toronto! It’s the 2009 CIAS!

At one point in my early automotive enthusiast life, I wouldn't blink at making the eight-hour return drive from Ottawa to Toronto in the dead of winter to take in the auto show (officially known as the Canadian International Auto Show) during the public days at the Skydome (now officially known as the Rogers Centre), if only to get a gander at the latest and greatest cars.

Now, as a coddled auto writer, I get the luxury of the relatively more civil and less crowded media day, which by the way, happens to be this Wednesday.

To help pay my way, I’ll be blogging live from the show floor this year. The day kicks of early around 8:00 a.m. with respective announcements of the 2009 Canadian Car and Truck of the Year.

Check in for that, and any other industry news I can dig up.