Here are the seven must-read, must-watch auto news stories, reviews and videos for Monday, September 7, 2015.
FUTURE
GoodCarBadCar briefly covered the release of the new, 2017 Porsche 911 last night with a look at the current car’s sales performance in North America and plenty of pictures. For more detailed coverage of the car itself, read up at CAR Magazine, evo Magazine, and Car & Driver.
INSIDE THE AUTO INDUSTRY
Reuters reports on the most significant GM sales decline in China in five months. The rapid expansion of the Chinese auto market has certainly come to an end, but there’s more to the story than simply aligning GM’s decline in the tremendously important Chinese market with an overall decline. Toyota, Honda, and Mercedes-Benz all posted improvements.
TTAC
If the Ford Ranger returns to North America, Americans won’t buy more than 300,000 per year as they did in the late 90s. Nor will Americans buy 200,000 Rangers per year as they did in the early part of this century. But the Ranger, like the Colorado and Canyon before it, could grow the small/midsize truck category, rather than eating into it.
JALOPNIK
Through the first eight months of 2015, these are America’s five best-selling cars, five best-selling SUVs/crossovers, five best-selling pickup trucks, five best-selling vans, five best-selling premium brand cars, and five best-selling premium brand SUVs and crossovers.
REVIEW
Do you want to drive a BMW 3-Series with a three-cylinder engine? Maybe you ought to give it a try before you write it off as untenable.
RECALL
FCA is recalling 158,671 Jeep Grand Cherokees (model year 2014) because, “Use of the front windshield wipers on dry glass may cause damage to the body control module.”
FCA is recalling 7810 brand new Jeep Renegades (model year 2015) because, “the affected vehicles are equipped with radios that have software vulnerabilities that can allow third-party access to certain networked vehicle control systems.”
Nissan is recalling 298,747 Versa sedans (model years 2012-2015) and Versa Notes (model years 2014-2015), because the center console trim panel, “may catch the driver’s shoe and delay the transition from the accelerator pedal to the brake pedal.”
Nissan is also recalling 1554 Armada SUVs (model year 2015), because they, “may have been built with driver or front passenger seat belt assemblies that may not properly latch or that may not unlatch when the release button is pressed.”
WATCH
One drops its top; one does not. One has a rear seat; the other does not. One has power but doesn’t feel that quick; the other has very little power but feels sufficiently quick. evo magazine’s Dan Prosser compares the Toyota GT86 and the new Mazda MX-5. Call it Scion FR-S vs. Mazda MX-5 Miata.
