Autoblog

By most estimates, there are about 250 million registered passenger cars in the United States (you can drop the number down by a few hundred if you still don't consider the Yugo GV a car). For many motorists, it seems that every single one of those cars is trying to park in their location -- their frustration of looking for parking is only compounded by the countless unused parking spaces that sit empty all day long.

Less than two years ago, a 24-year-old entrepreneur from London, England, launched ParkAtMyHouse with the intent of marrying despondent drivers with unused parking slots. Overnight, the "driveway rental business" was hatched. His site connected drivers with open parking spaces in Great Britain in a rather simple manner. The Internet-based program asked visitors to input either an address, postal code, or area name. The search results displayed on an easy-to-read Google map, with clickable icons representing the parking locations and their associated fees. The clever idea caught on, and their resulting success was the catalyst for recent expansion to the States.

On this side of the Pond, the "driveway renters" won't find themselves alone. Other companies such as ParkingHunter and ParkingSearch have already established themselves in the sector. All of the sites operate in a similar manner, keeping the learning curve shallow for newbies. And, since fees only change hands once the slot is rented, nothing prevents a parking space from being listed on more than one site. Now, if they could just get the system to work at the mall during the holidays...

[Source: ParkatmyHouse]

Speaking with Automotive News, George Pipas, a Ford sales analyst, explained that the automaker will continue to cut its sales to rental fleets in 2008, but not to the extent that it did this year. In 2007, FoMoCo decreased the amount of vehicles offloaded to rental lots by 30-percent, or 135,000 units.

The cuts next year will be spread evenly across Ford's lineup, rather than focusing on one or two specific models. However, the automaker still plans to pursue fleet sales to government and commercial entities, as it provides a substantial source of income.

Pipas goes on to say that although Ford wants to reduce the Blue Oval's rental car saturation, those programs provide the automaker a place for consumers to interact with its vehicles first hand, and it may compel some to head to their local dealer to pursue a more long-term relationship.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

OK, this seems like a no-brainer. As GM and Ford have gradually pulled back from the low-margin fleet sales market, import fleet sales have surged. After all, somebody has to keep the rental car lots filled. It's mostly been the mainline Asian automakers that have stepped in to fill the void. Toyota, Nissan, Mazda and Kia have all increased their corporate sales of cars and trucks, but they still remain bit players overall. About 11 percent of U.S. import brand sales are to fleets so far this year. That is up from just 8% last year. In comparison, the domestics sell 31 percent of their overall production to corporate customers. Although some fleet sales can be quite lucrative, the vast majority of rental car sales are end-of-year surplus that is heavily discounted to move.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req.]

Automakers often report their sales figures in whatever way makes them look most positive, and for a long time including fleet sales has been an effective way to make a slow selling vehicle look more popular with consumers on paper. Automakers don't distinguish between fleet and retail when reporting their sales, so we've been forced to believe them recently when we've been told that fleet sales are being reduced. General Motors, Ford and the Chrysler Group have all claimed that reducing fleet sales is a component of each company's respective turnaround plan, but we've found a document that suggests they're still way behind Toyota and Honda when it comes to resisting the easy route to higher sales.

These PDF documents from fleet-central.com, which we've converted to images and included below in a handy gallery, report in detail the percentage of sales sold to fleet operators in the first half of 2007. It's broken down by both vehicle segment and specific models, which allows us to pinpoint exactly which depend more on fleet sales than others.

Let's dive right in and pick out some of the more interesting numbers that you may be curious to know.


Subcompacts: (fleet) 149,766 | (retail) 825,697 | (total) 975,463 | (% fleet) 15.4%
Chevrolet Cobalt: 29,090 | 44,141 | 73,231 | 39.7%
Ford Focus: 19,660 | 54,621 | 74,281 | 26.5%
Toyota Corolla 22,999 | 121,348 | 144,347 | 15.9%
Honda Civic: 2,817 | 128,113 | 130,930 | 2.2%

VERDICT: Not surprising: While the Focus is older than the Cobalt, it enjoys a smaller percentage of fleet sales. The Corolla has a lot of fleet sales, but its retail sales are so large that its percentage of fleet sales is relatively small. The Civic's retail sales are higher than the Corolla's, however, which means that it is actually the real best-selling subcompact.

More segments after the jump! All the numbers can be viewed in the gallery below.

UPDATE: Fleet sales for trucks, minivans and SUVs added to the gallery.

[Source: fleet-central.com via AutoSpies]

For the domestic automakers, 2007 was supposed to be the year that they weaned themselves off the fleet sales teat. For GM, they've been doing pretty well, limiting their offloads of 10 or more vehicles to one company to around 24-percent of total sales. Chrysler and Ford, on the other hand, are still relying on the practice, coming in at 36-percent and 34-percent respectively – the highest of any automakers.

While this keeps overall sales up, it's a proven fact that it increases depreciation and limits profits.

As devout members of Our Lady of Blowers and Burnouts, most of us can sympathize with someone that rents the Shelby GT-H and then has to return the 'Stang to their local Hertz office. It must be a tough pill to swallow, but at the end of the day, what's the alternative?

For one weary soul in Arizona, the idea of leaving the keys with a pimple-faced teen at the rental counter and then catching a ride with his wife back to his moribund existence house was too much to bear. So he decided to keep the gold and black beauty – for six months.

[Source: StangNet.com via MustangBlog]

What did Chrysler do with its highly publicized production glut? Unloaded them onto fleets. Between September and February, 48.5-percent of Chrysler's sales were sold in quantities of ten or more. Even more troubling to dealers and consumers, close to 80-percent were bought up by rental car companies, versus GM and Ford whose rental sales are closer to half of their total fleet sales.

Mainly comprised of Chrysler minivans and the ubiquitous Sebring, DCX's fleet sales accounted for 34.3-percent of total sales, closer in line with FoMoCo at 32.8-percent and the General at 26.6-percent.

But the trouble isn't just at Chrysler. During that same period, Pontiac fleet sales just skimmed the halfway mark at 44.9-percent. A tough blow, as General Motors has been doing it damnedest to limit fleet sales throughout its line up. Thankfully, it's dropping – down to 31-percent for February – but Pontiac's retail registrations aren't what they used to be this time last year.

With the introduction of the new Sebring convertible and the new Malibu, both DaimlerChrysler and General Motors are looking to limit future bulk sales. Whether either automaker's bottom line can handle it remains to be seen, but in order to keep resale values from skimming the bottom of the retail ocean, neither has a choice.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req. – Chrysler article, Pontiac article]

Hey, it's red, but it's definitely not pulled along by tiny reindeer. UK Ferrari Hire is offering you the ability to treat yourself this Christmas and drive that Ferrari you've always wanted. At least for a little while. A half-day hire at the 50% off holiday rate is about $400 with current exchange rates. Unfortunately, this is only in the UK, but lucky blokes and birds willing to pony up the pounds will be able to drive themselves around instructor-free, on public roads AND the track. A personalized gift voucher, redeemable any time in 2007 is included. UK Ferrari Hire will even deliver to any UK address. We do not recommend dashing through the snow.

[Source: newcarnet]

We spend so much time on this blog bemoaning the fact that Ford has yet to offer to the "Euro" Focus in the United States. So much time, in fact, that we fear the concept of a C1-based Focus on U.S. soil has been placed on a pedestal and is widely considered to be the smartest move Ford has never made.

While all that might be true, it was refreshing to read Edmunds editor Erin Riches recount her experience renting a Ford Focus ZX5 TDCi in France (Editor's note: we have no idea if she visited Paris while there, but who goes to France and doesn't visit Paris?). Franc-ly, she was not impressed. Knowing the Euro Focus is based on the same platform as the lauded Mazda3 and Volvo S3, perhaps she was expecting a car that could carve a twisty path between wineries and plow down cobblestone streets with aplomb. Alas, she found the ride "soft, soft, soft" and the steering uncommunicative, which surprised her considering how fun our Focus can be to drive in any trim level. The nail in the coffin was Ford's 1.6-liter TDCi diesel engine, which while able to lurch around for 400 miles between fill ups, was noisier and clunkier than modern day diesels from Volkswagen.

Of course, this doesn't mean Ford is off the hook with the North American market. It just means that now we want Ford to fix the soft suspension, sharpen up the steering and have a better diesel available before it brings the Euro Focus to our dealers. You know what? Forget all that, just sell the Focus ST here and we'll call it even.

[Source: The Driving Woman]

Before Ford and Hertz ever thought of resurrecting the original Rent-A-Racer, Saleen and Budget Rent-A-Car beat them to it. Saleen built 30 special S281 Mustangs for Budget back in 1996, and the number 14 car is our RR of the Day today. Along with all of the standard (or not-so-standard) Saleen modifications, which included a tuned Racecraft suspension, 3.27:1 factory gears, a Saleen/Borla exhaust and Mach 460 sound system, the Budget cars also rolled on 18-inch Speedline mag wheels. Flickr member pthornton has added a long list of his own performance mods. After rolling his Budget Saleen on the dyno to the tune of 377 rear-wheel horsepower and 376 ft-lbs. of torque, it's clear this car will send a Shelby GT-H back to the airport with tailpipe lodged firmly between its legs. Nice rare ride, pthornton.

If you'd like to see your own ride featured here, simply upload photos of your ride into our Flickr group. We select one image to highlight each week day, and on the weekend let you vote for a RR of the Week. Detailed instructions can be found after the jump.