Dodge eyes Police Car Market

Dodge is set to conquer the police car market later this year with its all-new 2006 Dodge Charger police vehicle. A four-door sedan with all the power, handling and functionality required to effectively patrol streets, the 2006 Dodge Charger is perfect for the job. “With rear-wheel drive and available HEMIВ® power at the pavement, the Dodge Charger provides optimum police car pursuit performance,” said Darryl Jackson, Vice President – Dodge Marketing, Chrysler Group. “Dodge has a strong police heritage and is proud to offer vehicles armed with modern muscle and cutting-edge technology”. The Dodge Charger police vehicle will join the Dodge Magnum, another Dodge model previously announced to charge into the market. The two models will round out Dodge’s growing fleet of bold, powerful and capable vehicles designed for law enforcement agencies.
“We listened to what law enforcement officers asked for and paid attention to the details that are important to them,” said Ray Fisher, Vice President – Sales, Service and Parts Operations, Chrysler Group. “By integrating features and functionality into the original design of the Dodge Charger, we can give our police customers an affordable, capable vehicle with industry-leading innovations.”
The Dodge Charger police vehicle will be available with a 5.7-liter HEMI V-8 engine that produces 340 Horsepower at 5000 rpm and 390 lbs.-ft. of torque at 4000 rpm. The V-8 HEMI engine also features Chrysler Group’s Multi-Displacement System (MDS). This system effortlessly alternates between smooth, high economy four-cylinder mode when less power is needed and V-8 mode when more power is required. With the MDS in place fuel efficiency is also improved by up to 20 percent without compromising performance. The HEMI engines will also allow the Dodge Charger police vehicle to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in just 6.0 seconds.
Meanwhile, the Dodge Charger is also available with a powerful 3.5 liter High Output V-6 engine hat provides 250 horsepower at 6400 rpm and 250 lbs.-ft. of torque at 3800 rpm. Other excellent features include a fully electronic five-speed automatic transmission with an Electronically Modulated Converter Clutch offering improved shift feel to match a variety of driving styles, situations and road conditions. This will prove to be very useful in police operations throughout the country. This transmission is standard in all Dodge Charger police cars. Meanwhile, tough brakes and linings will provide a secure and stable deceleration and braking capability.
With these two models, Dodge will once again dominate the police car market which it lorded over in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. During that period, the former Chrysler Corporation had a market share of 45-60 percent in the US. Some of the police vehicles manufactured by the former Chrysler Corporation include Dodge Monaco, Dodge Royal Monaco, Dodge Coronet, Dodge Diplomat, Dodge Dart, Dodge St. Regis, Plymouth Fury, Plymouth Gran Fury, Plymouth Volare and Chrysler Newport.
Dodge, Chrysler’s best selling brand, currently enjoys a US market share of seven percent, making it the fifth largest nameplate in the US automotive market. Dodge also continues to lead the minivan market with a 20 percent share of the market. Meanwhile, when it comes to Dodge auto parts, one of the leading online suppliers is Auto Parts Train. With years of industry experience and an excellent reputation, Parts Train is one of the best sources of low priced but high quality Dodge Parts in the US today. They have a large inventory of Dodge parts available anytime.

New Car Launches in India

The Indian car industry has gathered steam only in the last decade. Just imagine – 15 years back, there were only two cars being manufactured in India, the vintage Hindustan Ambassador and the venerable Premier Padmini. The Ambassador was the Indian version of the Morris Oxford, while the Padmini was based on an ancient Fiat model. Compare that to today, when every major automobile manufacturer has its cars on the road in India. 2005 is the year when India is poised to see more automobile launches that before. Let’s take a look at the vehicles that are expected.
Toyota Innova
Toyota has three vehicles in the Indian market – the Toyota Qualis, Camry and Corolla. The Qualis is the most outdated of the lot, with the looks of a breadbox. However, this model was extremely succesful in India due to its reliability and was used by many taxi operators in the country. Toyota has just withdrawn the vehicle from the market, and is about to introduce the Innova, a much more modern MPV in the minivan mould that can hold its own amongst the latest international vehicles. The pricing is expected to be around that of the now-extinct Qualis, making it approachable for the Indian middle-class.
Skoda Fabia
Skoda will be launching its small car Fabia in India by mid-2005. While the ocompany has yet not decided on whether the model in India should be a sedan, hatchback or estate, this car is bound to have a following. This is partly due to the tremendous reputation Skoda enjoys in India due to its highly succesful Octavia range. The power unit too is still undecided, but what we believe is that it will be priced at the same level as Honda’s highly succesful small car, the Honda City.
Chevrolet Aveo
Maruti Suzuki Swift
Maruti is India’s most succesful automobile company, and Suzuki recently acquired a controlling stake in it. The Swift will be Maruti’s first radical, contemporary vehicle. The company has always preferred to play it safe, and has introduced tried-and-tested vehicle models from the Suzuki stable. The Swift is based on Suzuki’s famous Concept S design unveiled at teh 2002 Paris Auto Show, and will be launched in India with the reliable Maruti Esteem’s (an older Suzuki Swift version) 1300 cc petrol engine in India.
Toyota Fortuner
The Fortuner will be launched in the later half 2005 in India. It is a small-SUV which should give a run to the Honda CR-V which rules th SUV market in India now. The Fortuner is based on the same platform as the Innova. Excellent styling, car-like interiors and slightly cheaper pricing that its competitors will see it doing well in the Indian market. This ladder-on-chassis, common rail diesel engine (CRDI) seems to the perfect recipe for the penny-pinching but power-loving Indian.
Ford Fusion
The Fusion has already been launched in India. It is a small car, but with SUV style. The car is positioned in India as vehicle for the active young driver who has a family. The car is powered by a 16 Valve, 1600 cc light-weight alloy engine that is good enough for around 100 bhp. The reviewers have loved it, and the market seems to be falling for it too, though it is too early to tell.
There are some other cars too – such as the Chevrolet Aveo and the Hyundai Tucson – but details are still not forthcoming at this point.

Motorcycle Values $ – Buying or selling? You will need the motorcycle values

And Japanese Motorcycles Only is here to help!
There are basically two ways to obtain motorcycle values:
1.- In the books
2.- In the market
THE BOOKS
In the United States the two main pricing guides are: the Kelley Blue Book and the N.A.D.A. guides.
Personally I like very much the N.A.D.A. guides. They give faithful information about almost every motor vehicle produced since 1933, and several configuration options to help you get an accurate value of your motorcycle or the one you want to buy.
The National Automobile Dealers Association (N.A.D.A.) is nowadays the largest publisher of Appraisal Guides in the world. Their guides provide information for most of the motor vehicles ever made: cars, motorcycles, boats, recreation vehicles and more. Since 1933, N.A.D.A. has been helping buyers to make informative, responsible and safe decisions when buying motor vehicles.
The N.A.D.A. guide for motorcycles are better know as: the “Motorcycle Blue book”.
THE MARKET
Another way to check for prices is to look into your local market. You can do it online and/or offline. Search in the newspaper, bulletin boards, classified adds, E-Bay, shops, friends. Compare prices take a look at the physical condition of different used motorcycles.
RECOMMENDATION
Prices may vary (sometimes a lot) depending where in the world you are located in. So, always check in the books AND in your local market to get accurate values.
Enjoy the Ride!
Daniel Levy

Auto Trader or Ebay

For Auto Dealers across the nation, today’s market is getting harder and harder to handle.  Sales are seeing a downturn after such a long up swing in the market.  To counteract the ever increasing expense of running and maintaining a profitable dealership, dealers need to be savvy in today’s market.
New trends are emerging in today’s market.  Down turn markets always seem to bring out the new ideas and help to hone them.  Internet sales, once a hard to handle and mysterious market, are on the upswing.  Sites like Ebay and Auto Trader are actually selling cars.  In fact they are both selling so many cars that it is getting impossible to ignore selling online.  With Auto Trader and Ebay Motors doing over half of the online sales for vehicles, it is apparent that dealers are figuring out how to sell online with the help of these emerging two giants.
The ease and success of selling online has been evolving and today’s savvy dealer is using both Ebay and Auto Trader to boost sales and gain profit margin in an ever tightening market.  The conventional newspaper advertisement is being replaced on the advertising budget with an online sales budget.  Sales percentages are showing that they are dollars well spent.
Some dealers have gone so far as to hire and train their own internet department.  Other dealers are taking the smart way and hiring a consulting firm that is well versed in online sales.  Whether the dealer is handling online sales in house or hiring it out, the bottom line is the same, better use of the advertising dollar.
Conventional newspaper advertisements have less than 4 people look at a particular vehicle.  Most people are not even looking at the auto advertisements; they are reading  the paper for something else.  11% of all buyers attribute the Internet as the source that led them to the vehicle they purchased versus 9% for newspapers.  Internet customers are looking for a vehicle when they look online.  Could this be why so many are purchasing online?
Ecommerce for the Auto Dealer is becoming more and more necessary.  Being an expert in selling cars and being an internet expert is no longer necessary.  Hiring a consultant firm that is both reasonable in fees and knowledgeable in online auto sales is becoming a must for the successful auto dealer.  Consulting firms for online sales work after the dealer closes for the day and provides sales support 7 days a week.  Helping the dealer to sell online even when they are closed.
Checking out references and sell through percentages is necessary when choosing your internet consulting firm.  Consider which venues they sell on and are familiar with.  Auto Trader is responsible for 35% of the cars sold online, Ebay is responsible for 22% of the cars sold online.  With over half of the market, the online consulting firm a dealer hires needs to be well versed in both.
Today’s market demands the best for online sales from auto dealers.