* Barrett-Jackson sets records. Collector cars continue to be hot sellers, as the 37th Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event in Scottsdale, Ariz., recently proved. The auction set a record attendance of more than 280,000 and had more than 100 million Web site hits (with Internet sales of $2.46 million, more than double 2007 Web sales).
Though the 2008 event featured 100 fewer cars than last year, total sales boomed to more than $88 million. The top 100 cars brought in $27.1 million, with the top three selling for $1 million or more. Those included a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe Rondine concept car selling for $1.6 million, followed by a 1928 Duesenberg J and 2009 Corvette ZR-1 concept each selling for $1 million.
"Despite premature predictions, Barrett-Jackson showed that the collector car market remains strong and viable for the collectors across the board," said Craig Jackson, CEO and chairman of Barrett-Jackson Auction Co.
The 2008 event featured a broad spectrum of concept, custom, muscle, and collector cars, and raised more than $5 million for charities. Dozens of show biz, sports, and racing celebrities were on hand, including vehicle designer Carroll Shelby, retired boxer Muhammad Ali, and car collector/enthusiast Jay Leno of the "Tonight Show," who drove the ZR-1 across the auction block.
* China sales brisk for automakers. 2007 vehicle sales in China indicate that cars and trucks from global manufactures are strong. Ford Motor Co.'s sales for 2007 were up 30 percent, with total units sold posted at 216,324 (Ford, Lincoln, Volvo, Jaguar, and Land Rover brands) and another 217,000 vehicles sold in a joint venture with Changan Ford Mazda. The best-selling Ford vehicle was the Focus, with sales of 124,972 units, up 57 percent over 2006.
Audi sold 100,888 vehicles in the Chinese market in 2007 (up 24.9 percent), with 93,168 units produced in the country, including 73,404 Audi A6 vehicles. Chrysler posted increased sales in 2007, and Chrysler Group (China) Sales Co. Ltd. is completing its goal of having more than 120 Chrysler/Jeep dealers in place around the country, as well as a Dodge dealership network.
Vehicles sold there include the Chrysler 300C, PT Cruiser, and Grand Voyager; the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Commander, and Zhi Nan Zhe (Compass) models; and Dodge Viper, Caravan, Caliber, and Avenger models.
General Motors sales for 2007 increased 19 percent to 1.03 million vehicles. GM joint venture partner Shanghai General Motors Corp. sold 479,427 vehicles while SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co. had sales of 548,945. Buick remains GM's biggest seller in China with 2007 sales of more than 332,000 vehicles.
Italian automaker Fiat, among others, will enter the Chinese market in 2008 with three models, and Shanghai Delphi Automotive Air Conditioning Co., China's largest auto air-conditioning system supplier, signed a joint venture agreement in late December to build a factory in Beijing that will produce 200,000 air conditioners annually.
Overall sales in China grew 25 percent in 2007 with more than 7.2 million vehicle sales, making it the second-largest auto market. Watch for many of the compact segment, fuel-efficient cars being produced there under joint ventures to enter the North American market over the next two years
* New American tire plant. Kumho Tire Co. Inc., a South Korean tire manufacturer for more than 40 years, will open its first North American tire plant soon near Macon, Ga. Kumho manufactures a variety of passenger, light-truck, and commercial truck and bus tires.
* More fuel tax proposed. On Jan. 15, the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission proposed an annual 5 to 8 percent increase in the nation's fuel taxes for the next five years to fund urgent transportation repairs. The measure proposed by the federal commission was passed by a 9-3 vote, with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters among the dissenters.
"Raising fuel taxes won't improve traffic congestion; it will only perpetuate our ineffective reliance on fossil-based fuels to fund infrastructure and send more Americans' hard-earned money to Washington to be squandered on earmarks and special-interest programs," Peters said.