Crossovers, those blends of sport-utilities and sedans, may be the industry’s hottest segment, but automakers facing another decline in annual sales have a lot riding on high-volume passenger cars, minivans and truck-based SUVs for 2008.
Redesigned versions of the Honda Accord and Chevrolet Malibu aim squarely at the Toyota Camry, the most popular passenger car in the U.S., and Focus is revamped to rekindle interest in what has become Ford’s best-selling car largely by default.
For Chrysler, the big news is the redesigned Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country minivans, and General Motors gets its first full-fledged hybrids, which it turns out the industry’s first truck-based hybrids.
Sales of crossovers, are up 17 percent this year, and they now outsell truck-based SUVs, but most of the new hardware coming for 2008 is in other segments, thanks to the typical 5-year life cycle. Such is the case with the Accord and Malibu, major players among family sedans.
Honda Accord
Accord, Honda’s best-selling U.S. model, returns in sedan and coupe forms with larger dimensions and a little more flair. The sedan is 3 inches longer, at 194.1, and 1.1 inches wider, at 72.7, to qualify as a large car under the EPA’s interior volume index. The coupe is 3 inches shorter with more aggressive styling.
The hybrid is gone, but Honda offers a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine in 177- and 190-horsepower versions and a 3.5-liter V-6 that achieves 268-h.p., the most powerful in Accord’s 32 years.
Chevrolet Malibu
Malibu squares off with Accord and Camry, No. 2 and 1, respectively, with U.S. buyers. Malibu sports dramatic new styling and an upscale interior. Ask Chevy and you’ll find it beats rivals in ride, handling, noise, comfort and other key areas.
Engine choices are a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder and 3.6-liter V-6. A new 6-speed automatic is standard with the V-6 and optional with the 4. A “mild hybrid” with the 4-cylinder is due late this year. It shuts off the engine at stops and boosts acceleration and passing power. EPA ratings are 24 city and 32 highway for the hybrid, two more m.p.g. each than the regular 4.
Ford Focus
Ford gives the Focus its first overhaul since it bowed for 2000, including an exterior freshening to resemble the Fusion upfront and a revamped interior that offers Sync, Ford’s communications and entertainment system that integrates MP3 players and mobile phones. Focus comes in only coupe and sedan; wagon and two- and four-door hatchbacks are gone.
The compact Focus is Ford’s smallest car. Though sales of small cars have grown the last two years, Focus has declined every year since 2000. Still it became Ford’s top-selling car in 2006 as the midsize Taurus was phased out.
Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable
Taurus is back after a brief absence as largely a rebadged Five Hundred. The 2008 Taurus gets new front and rear styling, a 3.5-liter V-6 (replacing a 3-liter) and more standard safety features. It’s Chicago-made siblings, the Mercury Sable (nee Montego) and Taurus X (nee Freestyle), get similar treatment.
Among luxury sedans, the redesigned Cadillac CTS and Mercedes-Benz C-Class represent nearly 25 percent of sales for their brands. What’s more, they compete against the BMW 3-Series, whose sales have soared 25 percent this year to help solidify BMW’s No. 2 ranking behind Lexus. Mercedes is third and Cadillac fourth.
Cadillac CTS
Styling on the rear-wheel-drive CTS, the smallest Caddy, gets edgier and a 3.6-liter V-6 cranked up to generate 263 h.p. as standard. Not enough brawn? Options include a new 304-h.p. 3.6-liter with direct injection, all-wheel drive, headlamps that swivel in the direction steered and a 40-gigabyte hard drive for the audio system.
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Mercedes’ C-Class sedan comes in C300 Sport and Luxury flavors, both with a 3-liter V-6 that burns premium gas or E85, that trendy ethanol blend. The C350 Sport has a 3.5-liter, 268-h.p. V-6. A 6-speed manual transmission is standard on the C300 Sport, and a 7-speed automatic is standard on the others. Overall length on the C-class has grown 3.9 inches, to 182.3, and width has increased 1.7 inches, to 69.7.
Smart ForTwo
Would you take something smaller in a Mercedes? In the first quarter of 2008, some dealers in major urban areas will begin selling the second-generation of the tiny Smart ForTwo. At 106 inches long, the two-seater is about 3 feet shorter than a Mini Cooper. It has a 1-liter, 3-cylinder gas engine, an automatic transmission with manual shift capability and base prices under $12,000 for a hardtop and $17,000 for a convertible with a power top.
Smart has been selling cars in Europe since 1998, and this will be the official U.S. debut for the ForTwo. Smart is owned by DaimlerChrysler and is part of the Mercedes Car Group.
Chrysler Town & Country/Dodge Grand Caravan
Chrysler, now jettisoned by Daimler, targets a much different audience with the redesigned Grand Caravan and Town & Country minivans, which seat up to seven and offer Swivel ‘N Go, a new $495 option that has two center-row seats that swivel to face the rear and a table that fastens to the floor between them.
The fifth generation of Chrysler’s minivans, launched in 1984, come in one size only, 121.2-inch wheelbase and 202.5-inch overall length. New features include a 4-liter V-6, 6-speed automatic, a removable center console that also slides back 21 inches, a dual DVD entertainment system that can play different media at the same time and Sirius television for the second and third rows that offers programs from the Disney Channel, Cartoon Network Mobile and Nickelodeon Mobile.
Toyota Highlander
Toyota rolls out the second-generation Highlander crossover (derived from the Camry platform) that grows 4 inches, to 188.4, and comes only with V-6 engines. Regular versions have a 3.5-liter V-6, and the hybrid keeps last year’s 3.3-liter but adds a new electric mode that travels up to three miles on battery power before the gas engine kicks in.
Chevrolet Tahoe/GMC Yukon
GM, along with the other automakers, has trailed Toyota in hybrids but scores a first with the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon due in late fall. They’re powered by GM’s two-mode hybrid system that operates in city and highway driving (most hybrids provide little benefit on the highway). EPA numbers aren’t available, but GM predicts they will get 25 percent better mileage than regular models, rated at 16 m.p.g. city/highway combined.
Chrysler, which collaborated with GM and BMW on the technology will offer a similar system on its Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen SUVs in the first quarter of 2008.
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12 more to come
*Ford Mustang Bullitt (due out in fall)
*Infiniti G37 coupe
*Infiniti EX35
*Nissan Rogue
*Pontiac G8 (due in early ’08)
*Saturn Astra
*Saturn Vue Green Line two-mode hybrid (due later in model year)
*Scion xB
*Scion xD
*Toyota Sequoia
*Volkswagen Jetta TDI (due March ’08)
*Volvo C30
*Volvo V70/XC70
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Say goodbye
In 2008, we bid adieu to these vehicles. No telling whether it’s a tearful one.
*Buick Rainier
*Buick Rendezvous
*Buick Terraza
*Chevy Monte Carlo
*Ford Five Hundred
(now Taurus)
*Ford Freestar
*Ford Freestyle
(now Taurus X)
*Honda Accord Hybrid
*Hummer H1
*Mazda6 wagon
*MazdaSpeed6
*Mercury Montego
(now Sable)
*Mercury Monterey
*Nissan Murano
(back as a 2009)
*Pontiac GTO
*Pontiac Montana SV6
*Saturn Ion
*Saturn Relay
*Scion xA
*Suzuki Aerio
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rpopely@tribune.com
