Report: Suzuki's US Sales Nosediving into Oblivion

Remember yesterday when we said Suzuki got smacked by an average 68% sales drop compared to last August (and -52% from the beginning of the year) in the US? Well, we decided to take a deeper look at the company's sales figures and discovered some interesting facts.

All in all, Suzuki sold a mere 1,878 cars and SUVs in August, down from 5,751 units the same month a year ago. The Japanese automaker says it has around 300 dealers in the U.S. If you do the math, that comes to a little over 6 vehicles sold per dealer in August... Here are some more details on the company's sales broken down model by model:

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Suzuki's "best"-selling models, the Grand Vitara and Equator, took a 73% sales dive. Not far off that, the SX4's sales fell by 75% while the XL7 and and Forenza/Reno took 99% and 100% drops (granted, the Forenza/Reno was discontinued and only moved a laughable 12 units in 2010).

The all-new and much promising Kizashi, which hasn't officially dropped in sales because it wasn't available last August, has barely managed to bring in 478 buyers in August. For all the other scary Suzuki sales figures, scroll on down.

Looking at these depressing stats, it's no wonder they're holding off on debuting the Swift here.

By Phil Alex

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Paris Preshow: 2011 Renault Laguna Facelift, First Official Photos

And the news alerts from the upcoming Paris auto salon keep coming in. This time we have the first images of the refreshed Renault Laguna lift-back and Sports Tourer models that will join the European-spec Latitude flagship sedan and whatever else the French firm has in store for us at this year's Paris show.

The facelift includes a redesign of the Laguna's fascia with new eyelashed headlamps and a restyled bumper incorporating a more prominent grille.

The 2011 versions of the Laguna also get a cleaner 1.5-liter dCi 110HP diesel engine emitting 120g/km of CO2, while Renault's 4Control four-wheel steering system is now available on the core range dCi 130HP and dCi 150HP diesel engines.

Stay tuned to Carscoop for complete coverage of the Paris motor show on September 30 and October 1.

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Amen: Ferrari Finally Admits 458 Italia Fire Risks, Recalling 1,148 Cars

It took 11 accidents involving the freshly launched 458 Italia with five of them being ruined by fire, and a whole lot of media attention from the internet, for Ferrari to finally investigate the issue and announce a total recall on their latest supercar.

Being that Ferrari considers itself as something out of this world that is not subject to the same unwritten rules as the rest of the automakers, the company did not publish a broadly available press release to inform the media, and consequently, the public, about a problematic product that puts at a fiery risk the lives of its clients. Instead, the Italian brand simply answered questions to individual media outlets such as CNN through its spokespersons.

According to CNN, Ferrari's investigators discovered "defects in the bonding adhesive used to attach the heat-shield to the wheel arch in each of the five cars" that caught fire. Since the heat-shield is used to shelter the wheel arch housing from the exhaust pipe, if the glue dissolves, then the housing is exposed to extremely high temperatures and can catch on fire.

However, the Italian company claims that it takes a combination of extreme conditions to actually cause a fire.

"Heavy usage of the car, such as driving very fast down a twisty road or up a mountain, will increase the temperature inside the engine bay," the Ferrari spokeswoman said. (And we all know that everyone buys a Ferrari to cruise at 50mph on the highway...)

"If that is combined with extremely high ambient temperatures, which has been the case throughout Europe especially this summer, then this will cause the defamation of the wheel arch, bringing it closer to the exhaust and causing the car to smoke or ignite."

The company told the news site that it plans to recall and examine all 1,148 cars produced up to July 30 this year. The five fire-related incidents have occurred in the U.S., Britain, France, Switzerland and China.

"We're contacting clients across the world to get them to bring their cars back to the dealers so we can check the wheel arch," the spokesperson said. "If necessary we will replace the heat-shield with a new heat-shield that is riveted to the wheel arch rather than attached with the adhesive."

Source: CNN

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Mazda MX-5 Sales Hit the 100,000 Mark in the UK

The most popular roadster of all time, the Mazda MX-5 (otherwise known as the Miata), has achieved yet another milestone by surpassing the 100,000 sales mark in the UK, some twenty years after its first arrived in the country in 1990.

The rear-wheel drive roadster, now in its third generation, has enjoyed consistent sales success in the UK with almost 40 percent of European sales coming from British buyers. Furthermore, since launch, the MX-5's sales in the UK account for over 10% of cumulative global sales.

"The legendary Mazda MX-5 is the car most people associate with Mazda," said Mark Cameron, sales director, Mazda UK. "To hit 100,000 sales in the UK is a significant milestone for Mazda. We are the biggest market for this car due to our love of open-top two seat sportscars. The Mazda MX-5 finds its roots in the British heritage of soft top sportscars and has been loved by British motorists since the day it arrived on these shores," Cameron concluded.

The all-time high record in UK sales was set in 2007, with 9,234 examples of the MX-5 roadster finding new homes that year.

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